6
After that rather long lecture, Petra and I were on our way to the next location.
“Hmph, hmph, hmm♪”
“…”
Having gotten all of that off her chest, Petra was humming contentedly, walking ahead of me with a look of pure relief. I, on the other hand, felt an unexpected wave of exhaustion wash over me.
“Come on, you’re slow.”
“I am matching your pace.”
“Idiot. I’m the one matching you.”
“Oh, is that so. Thanks.”
Petra looked triumphant, her mood completely transformed from before.
…Her mood swings are way too intense.
I managed to drag my heavy legs along, picking up the pace just a bit. I fell into step beside her, and we were just about to reach the next site… when it happened.
“Hm? Do you hear that?”
“…Yeah, I do.”
A faint sound of something slicing through the air reached us.
We both looked up. Large wings, sharp fangs, leathery skin… and a body covered in hard scales came into view.
“Uh, something’s flying this way… What is that? It’s huge.”
“It’s just one of the Provisional Elite Corps’s dragon mount.”
The small black dot quickly grew into the large silhouette of a dragon, which hovered in the air above us.
“Heeeeey, Al-chi! …And Petra-chaaaan!”
Straddling the enormous dragon and waving frantically at us was a smiling Mia.
“Mia?”
“Hah. What’s the detached unit doing all the way out here? Slacking off?”
“I-I’m not slacking! …R-Right.”
“You’re definitely slacking. Get back to your post.”
Cowed by Petra, Mia slowly brought the dragon down to the ground. As soon as she landed, she made a show of wiping sweat from her brow.
“…Phew.”
“Stop acting like you just finished a hard day’s work. I’ll rip out that uselessly pretty blue hair of yours.”
“La la la, I can’t hear you! I didn’t do anything wrong!”
…Seriously, what is she doing here?
She was supposed to be on a different mission with Ritziareite in the northern Dyrst region.
There’s no reason for her to be in the south with us… but, then again, wondering why is probably a waste of time.
“So. Did something happen?”
I asked, and as Mia dismounted, her eyes went wide as if she’d just remembered.
“Oh, right! I came here because I was looking for another one of our units! See, definitely not slacking off. Nope.”
“That’s what she says. What do you think?”
“Smells like a lie to me…”
“What a coincidence. So do I…”
“Why do I have zero credibility?! You’re both being way too harsh on me!”
We ignored Mia as she slumped in dismay and exchanged a look.
Setting aside our opinion of Mia, if she had a reason to fly her dragon all the way out here, it was probably something serious.
“Mia, no lying. Tell us the truth. Are you slacking, or is this serious?”
“It’s serious!”
“I see. Understood.”
Petra nodded once, then put a finger to her lips, thinking.
“I’ll ask just to be sure… why were you looking for another unit? You should have had enough people.”
“Umm. Well, things got a little messy. General Ritziareite told me to find reinforcements, as fast as possible…”
That was all I needed to hear.
“An enemy attack…”
“Y-Yeah. We were just scouting where to station troops for the war, and we had the bad luck of running into a gang of bandits.”
“That’s not good…”
Bandit gangs often make their lairs in the mountains or along the coast, so a place like the Dyrst region, with few cities, is crawling with them. And since it was just a scouting mission, they wouldn’t have been equipped for a major fight.
That explains why Ritziareite would send for help. This mission wasn’t supposed to involve any fighting. We could have moved out with a full-strength force, but we prioritized speed. And that hasty decision backfired… This is the worst.
“What was the situation?”
“They were way outnumbered. General Ritziareite didn’t have her dragon, so she can’t use her usual firepower. And their equipment was pretty light, too…”
“Then why didn’t you join the fight? You have a dragon!”
“Wha! No way, against that many of them, even I couldn’t have turned the tide! It was a… a power retreat?”
“A ‘strategic retreat.'”
“Right, that!”
So, realizing they couldn’t win a straight fight, Mia went to find friendly forces in the area to call for reinforcements.
“Petra, are the horses nearby?”
“No. We left them all with the others.”
“Then Mia’s dragon is our only way there…”
It’s just the three of us here. We don’t have time to call back the others.
“It’ll have to be just us… but…”
I’m not sure if the three of us will be enough. I don’t intend to lose, but I can’t guarantee a victory. And there’s an even bigger problem.
“Krrr…?”
…The fact that I can’t ride a dragon mount.
“Wasting time here is useless. We have to go, even if it’s just us!”
“You’re right. We have to hurry!”
The two of them were already on the dragon, ready to take off.
…Hah. No choice, then. The fear of losing my comrades is far, far greater than my fear of riding a dragon. It was wrong to even compare them. I steeled myself and climbed onto the dragon’s back.
It’s higher off the ground than it looks, but… it’s fine. I can manage.
“Mia, get us there as fast as you can. We will save them.”
“Okay!”
I took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. At the same time, Mia pulled back on the dragon’s reins.
“Okay, let’s go, Pochi! Hya!”
“GYEEEEEEH!”
I had a lot of issues with Mia’s naming sense for her dragon, but for now, I had to focus on the battle ahead.
“Aldia, what’s the plan when we get there?”
“First, we assess the situation from the air.”
“And then?”
“Petra and I will find a safe landing zone, and we’ll join the fight from there. If things are too desperate, we might have to just drop in… We’ll play it by ear.”
“Got it. By the way…”
Petra put a hand on my back, her brow furrowed with worry.
“You look really pale… Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Honestly… I feel like I’m going to puke. I might not be in any condition to fight… Ugh.”
“Ew. Lame.”
Hey! It’s my first time on a dragon, give me a break. Anyone would feel sick, flying this fast and getting thrown around.
It’s nothing like riding a horse. The terror of having no solid ground beneath you and that stomach-lurching, floating sensation… I’d never get used to this.
7
We could see the chaotic melee clearly, even from a distance.
“I see them!”
A battlefield, with arrows and magic flying, spread out below us. Ritziareite’s Provisional Elite Corps soldiers were clearly outnumbered.
“We’re not exactly ‘in time,’ are we?”
“But they’re still fighting hard, with General Ritziareite leading them!”
Even surrounded by bandits, Ritziareite’s soldiers were fighting as a coordinated unit, with her at the center. They were somehow holding their ground. It looked like they were keeping casualties to a minimum.
If we’d been any later, Ritziareite would have reached her limit.
“Mia. I’m getting off here.”
“Huh? But…”
Mia sounded confused, but the battle below was desperate. We didn’t have a second to waste looking for a landing zone.
“You’re going to jump? From this high!? Are you insane!?”
“The bandits aren’t watching the sky. Now’s our chance.”
I let go of the dragon and stood up.
“Petra, I need magic support from above. Mia, find an opening and link up with General Ritziareite.”
With only those words, I spread my arms and jumped, aiming straight for the crowd of bandits.
“Wha—wait! He… he really jumped. That guy’s got guts…”
“It can’t be helped. That’s Aldia for you.”
“Oh, right… If it’s Al-chi, I guess that’s normal!”
I felt the wind rush over my entire body, accelerating my fall.
From a height of about ten meters. I drew the jet-black sword from my hip.
…My target is… there.
The landing spot: the gap diagonally behind the bandits who were focused on the Provisional Elite Corps!
Quietly, but decisively, I raised my sword—
“Hah…!”
“Gueargh!”
I’d taken the bandit’s life from completely outside his awareness.
“Hey, what was that!?”
“S-Something just fell from the sky!”
Listening to their shouts, I lightly brushed the dust from my clothes.
I could have just splattered on the ground and died, but… I managed.
“…Now, I just have to kill them all.”
The voice that came out was so cold it surprised even me. I was completely surrounded by enemies, well out of range of any support.
“But with no friendlies nearby… I don’t have to hold back.”
If there’s nothing but enemies on all sides, I can cut loose. Taking prisoners isn’t an option. My allies were being killed. Ritziareite’s life was in danger.
Slaughter is the only answer.
“Hey, hey. The hell are you?”
“Watch your mouth, you filth. I’m going to kill every last one of you.”
“Hah? Don’t get cocky, kid!”
The axe came down, surprisingly slow. The trajectory was pathetically straight.
I dodged it with a minimal shift in balance and cut him down with a single flash of my blade before he could even recover.
“Gah…”
Blood dripped heavily onto the ground.
Staring at it, I sneered at the dying man.
“Hey. Are you scared to die?”
“Y-You… bastard… cough!”
“Too bad for you, I’m not. I wouldn’t think twice about dying if it meant exterminating pests like you.”
I felt my heart turn to ice. Every last positive emotion within me vanished completely. All that was left was pure, unadulterated killing intent and a raging inferno of negative emotion. I flicked the filthy blood from my blade and smiled, a twisted, ugly expression.
“I’m sending every last one of you to hell.”
“Don’t get cocky, you little shit!”
“Everyone, kill him!”
The second I provoked them, their attention snapped from Ritziareite’s group to me.
Good. That’s right. I won’t let any more of my comrades die. With this sword, I will take the head of every single bandit here.
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