kscans

Chapter 128 - Chapter 14: Part Two - The Trick

Preparations for withdrawal were underway at the fort as dusk fell. The spoils of war were great, so there was much to transport. In addition to the total of 110 monsters that had attacked from the front and rear, another 20 that had entered through the back gate to rescue their allies were caught in the traps. It seemed only about 30 had managed to escape.

We had also managed to capture one Horse-Dragon alive, one that had injured its leg in a pitfall trap at the beginning of the assault and had taken refuge outside the fort. This meant we had wiped out over sixty percent of the confirmed Horse-Dragon unit. I didn't know how many they had left in the Empire proper, but they would surely need them to defend their homeland from magic beasts, even if things were currently calm.

On top of all that, their commander had fallen into our hands.

Of course, considering the strength of the Horse-Dragons, even the remaining force was a significant threat. This was especially true in an open field battle, where the pollen was difficult to use. Still, their movements should be severely restricted from now on. They would never suspect that we were almost completely out of pollen.

We should be able to manage until this year's harvest, which Jacob and his team were collecting, arrived.

The next problem was...

"I'm not going to be able to figure this out without the director, Noel, and Mia's help."

I tilted my head, studying the pattern drawn on the Horse-Dragon's reins. Just then, a summons came from Prince Craig.

◇◇

Inside a simple tent set up within the fort, the black-clad prince was tied to a chair.

"You're here. I'm in the middle of questioning our prisoner, but I wanted your advice, Ricardo."

Prince Craig spoke, pointedly ignoring Alfina, who was clinging to my side. Personally, I didn't want Alfina anywhere near Dagobard's sight. However, it was better for her to be aware of the information manipulation we'd employed for the sake of the future.

The prince, bound to his chair, glared at me. The academy during the Shoken Festival, the royal palace after the Heyleight subjugation, and now here. This is the third time we've met.

"You're that person from... I see, so you weren't a commoner after all."

Dagobard said, looking between me and Alfina. He was mistaken, but it was a more sensible reaction than his older brother's. Alfina's grip on my arm tightened.

"So, I need you to explain that poison. Our prisoner here is insisting that it shouldn't have any effect on Horse-Dragons. Apparently, they tested it by feeding them a large amount before they came to attack us."

"So they went with hypothesis two. I really can't underestimate them."

I remarked. Leave it to the experts on magic beasts.

"But are you sure it's alright to tell him?"

"Yes, we won't be able to use the same trick again anyway. Besides, to be honest, I don't fully understand it myself."

"I did explain it to you. Starting from the point that the more herbivorous a bird is, the less effective the pollen becomes."

He has no idea how much trouble I put Dalgan through for that.

"Hahaha, if even I don't fully understand it, then our secret is perfectly safe," Prince Craig said with a meaningful glance.

"Understood. Well then, let's conduct a little experiment."

This is also a good opportunity to gauge the Empire's scientific level. I had them bring me the remaining acid and some meat. I soaked thin strips of meat in the acid, which was in a glass jar.

"The stomachs of animals, including humans, produce acid to dissolve meat."

"..."

I stirred the liquid with a rod, dissolving the meat. The prince watched me with a gaze that was pure, murderous intent.

"That's why the stomachs of animals with stronger carnivorous tendencies produce more acid."

I think the experiment that proved the effect of gastric acid involved making a bird of prey swallow meat inside a metal cage. It was in one of my old textbooks. The dragons that attacked the kingdom and Princess Lisabet's hometown eat people. They must be full of stomach acid.

"And this acid is the same substance found in a human stomach."

The main component of gastric juice is hydrochloric acid, one of the two acids that make up aqua regia. Here, I believe it's called Crucid.

"The pollen dissolves in the stomach and becomes toxic, was it not?"

"Yes, the pollen itself is not poisonous. It only becomes toxic when it reacts with stomach acid."

"Horse-Dragons have stomachs," Dagobard stated.

So he has that level of anatomical knowledge. This might have been a closer call than I thought. In my mind, I raised my assessment of the Empire.

"They do. But animals that only eat grass, like Horse-Dragons, have a different stomach structure from meat-eaters."

Taking cows as an example, ruminants have four stomachs. The first stomach, closest to the mouth, is less a stomach and more of a microbial fermentation tank. It's used to convert dietary fiber, a form of sugar that animals cannot digest, into energy via bacteria.

There is no way they would douse the bacteria working hard to turn grass into energy with acid. The first stomach doesn't produce gastric acid. If I recall correctly, the chamber equivalent to a human stomach isn't until the third one.

What's more, they repeatedly regurgitate and re-chew the grass to aid digestion. The pollen wouldn't stand a chance in an environment where even grass is being broken down. For the bacteria, it would be a valuable source of protein.

Even if a tiny amount of pollen were to pass through, herbivores produce very little stomach acid to begin with. If they ate the same amount as a carnivorous dragon, we'd be lucky if it had one-hundredth of the effect.

Even in humans, potassium cyanide is ineffective on those with conditions that prevent them from producing stomach acid.

"And so, the pollen in its raw form is not poisonous to Horse-Dragons. On the other hand, their respiratory system is the same as a dragon's, so it works if they inhale the pollen's components after they have reacted with acid."

And that was the trick behind the great Horse-Dragon slaying case. For a moment, I felt like a famous detective. I couldn't help but flash a triumphant grin at the prince.

"Knowledge that uses no sorcery... no magic whatsoever."

"To be precise, it's that I cannot use it," I said with a nod. Dagobard's face went slack with shock.

"You..."

He looked at me as if he were seeing something unbelievable.

"You are the cause of all this!"

You don't have to look at me like I murdered your parents. ...Come to think of it, I wasn't the detective. I was the culprit.

◇◇

"When I heard you were giving the pollen to the Empire, I wondered what you were up to, but you tricked them beautifully," Prince Craig said after we had "loaded" Dagobard into a carriage.

"Tricked is a harsh way to put it. We only said it was a poison effective against dragons."

"You must have anticipated they would test it not just on dragons, but on Horse-Dragons as well."

"No, to be honest, I thought there was only about a fifty-fifty chance the Empire would go that far. But whether they did or not, what we had to do remained the same."

The only way to use the poison effectively was to turn it into a gas. That was true regardless of whether the enemy knew the "pollen" was ineffective against Horse-Dragons. Of course, the fact that they were confident it wouldn't work made things much easier for us.

Well, I did trick them, though.

"Besides, at that stage, the most important thing was to buy time, no matter what."

Delaying the start of the war was the top priority. I can still remember the feeling of my blood running cold when I saw the past seventy years of fluctuations in the Empire's magical veins.

In fact, if the war had started just one month earlier, the Royal Capital might be under siege right now.

"The kingdom as a whole had almost no awareness that a war was even coming," Prince Craig agreed with a nod.

"Um, Ricardo-kun, from the very beginning, were you using Princess Lisabet...?"

"That's right," I said. It seems Alfina is under the misunderstanding that I'm a good person, so I'd like to take this opportunity to correct that.

"Princess Lisabet must have been so shocked. And yet I..."

I had braced myself for the impact of her pulling away, but Alfina only wore a troubled expression.

"Please, just go with 'Princess Alfina knew nothing.'"

That was the other reason. It wasn't about whether Lisabet would believe such a thing, but about Alfina's own state of mind. There was a chance Lisabet would be involved in future negotiations with the Empire. I couldn't have Alfina feeling guilty at a time like that.

"Now then, let's discuss what's next."

"Yes. At the very least, there is someone on their side with enough knowledge to judge that Horse-Dragons are similar to dragons and to test whether the pollen is ineffective. Please focus the prisoner's interrogation on that point."

If they had gone a step further and conducted pharmacokinetic tests, we would have been in real trouble. Though I had already judged that Fulsy's magic detection technology was superior.

If that assumption was wrong, it would imply a technological gap so vast we likely couldn't win, in which case we'd have to just give up.

"Hmm. Between that and their battering ram, they certainly can't be underestimated. Well, we have Ricardo, so there should be no problem."

"Prince Craig, Ricardo-kun is a merchant," Alfina said, pulling on my arm as if to separate me from the prince. When she gets this close, even with my short range, I'm well within the effective zone...

"In what world is there a merchant who wipes out the enemy's main force?" Prince Craig laughed.

"As I've said before, luck was a big factor with this pollen. Now, I just hope they withdraw after this..." I trailed off. I'm making preparations that don't rely on luck, but in the end, it still comes down to it.

"The other Imperial unit. It's true we haven't seen any sign of them. I fully expected them to cross over after we secured the bridgehead..."

"Yes, and related to that. Back when the Empire was seeking trade, instead of the Royal Capital, they wanted Kurth—"

"Your Highness. It's an emergency."

My words were cut off by an aide who came running in.

"What is it?"

"K-Kurtheite has..."

"...What about the Grand Duke of Kurtheite?" Prince Craig's voice deepened. Come to think of it, he was reluctant to dispatch troops even at this late stage. But I thought he had already departed.

"No, Your Highness, not the Grand Duke. A report has just arrived. Kurtheite has fallen into Imperial hands."

While we were victorious in the west, it seems they were being defeated in the east.