kscans

Chapter 50 - Chapter 7. Middle Part, The Dragon's Threat

"My father would never behave in such a cowardly manner."

Claudia pleaded with the prince, her eyes full of earnestness. According to the retainers who were with her father, Count Adele had not fled. On the contrary, he had confronted the dragon that suddenly attacked from the rear and was injured. But that's just testimony from his own people, isn't it.

"Hmm, I never doubted the count's honor as a warrior, but..."

"Yes, exactly. The blame for the defeat was forced upon my father."

"However, the laborers the count was supervising fled at a speed that would have been impossible had they waited for the official retreat order. And while many knights died in battle, the count himself was helped by those same laborers to escape the battlefield. I must say that these facts remain unchanged."

"Th, that's..."

Claudia fell silent. Huh, is that it? To put it bluntly, all Claudia had said was that she and her family believed in her father. That was likely true. The possibility that he was being used as a scapegoat to cover for the defeat was entirely plausible.

But others don't know her father the way she and her family do. Suppose there are enemies who are trying to maliciously frame Count Adele, and on the other side, there is Claudia and her allies who believe in him. In between them is a vast number of people who fall into neither camp.

She can only see the malicious enemies and the allies who believe in her. But the majority in the middle don't know Count Adele as well as his allies do. And unlike his enemies, they don't have any particular malice or reason to doubt the count.

In that situation, simply asking them to believe is ineffective. To move the undecided, you need clear, undeniable facts. Indeed, while the prince's expression was hard to read, the gazes of the two adjutants beside him were severe as they looked at Claudia.

"As I said, the Second Knight Order's losses were too great. The attrition rate exceeds thirty percent. It will take time to rebuild."

As if to say the conversation was over, the prince turned to face me. The Second Knight Order has five hundred combat personnel alone, equipped with weapons and armor that can be enhanced by magic. For a single beast to devastate a force of that size, the dragons in this world must be the real deal.

The Third Prince explained about the dragon, named Heyreit. The Knight Order, attempting to approach Tuvil Mountain, was first met with a surprise attack by Heyreit. The dragon dove from high in the sky, completely catching the knights off guard. It extended wings woven from magical energy from its arms and could freely alter their shape, allowing it to fly with effortless changes in speed. Its maneuverability was something this world, which lacked any form of air power, could not possibly handle.

Furthermore, it had unleashed a high-temperature breath attack as it dove. That single strike resulted in over ten casualties. When Heyreit landed on the ground, it was said to be the size of three or four military carriages. Those military carriages I saw lined up in the square earlier. They were as big as vans. So this thing is basically the size of a Tyrannosaurus, no, a Giganotosaurus. More knights fell to the tail and fangs that it swung with a speed belying its massive frame. The commander of the Second Knight Order decided that fighting on flat ground was impossible and immediately began to retreat.

Fortunately, the dragon did not pursue them. It seems to be true that there's a limit to how far they can operate away from a magic vein. Incidentally, the scorched bodies were not recovered. That, I was told, is how it earned the name Heyreit, the Glutton Dragon.

After giving up the fight on the plains, their attempt to assault the dragon in its mountain nest was even more tragic. Their magic-infused armor, when charged with magic, is said to be lighter than leather and stronger than metal, but they couldn't use horses. By hiding behind rocks and trees, they halved the enemy's mobility advantage, but the breath attack that Heyreit had used only once on the plains was now unleashed repeatedly, turning dozens of knights into cinders. It was a tragedy because even their magic-imbued armor couldn't protect them.

"That is the record of the Second Knight Order's defeat, or rather, their valiant battle."

No wonder this is being kept from the public. This information is too much for a commoner like me. My first instinct was that I'd rather not have known.

Diving from an altitude arrows can't reach and breathing fire, that's just unfair. On top of that, it can perform high speed flight, sharp turns, and even hover. Just hearing about it, I can tell it's an unbeatable opponent. In a world that doesn't even have guns, it's like trying to fight a fighter jet. And the fact that it can hover means it also functions as a combat helicopter.

A giant monster possessing the abilities of flight and fire breath, which are utterly beyond human capabilities, is rampaging around the kingdom's second largest city and its surroundings. Moreover, its aerial mobility makes it untouchable on the plains, and attempting a guerrilla war in the highlands means fighting on the enemy's home turf, right on a magic vein.

There is a high probability that Heyreit is what I suspect, a descendant of dinosaurs. The speed and stamina mentioned in the story support this. Living in the highlands where magic veins are dense, I can predict its respiratory system must be specially adapted.

"A defeat of this magnitude will shake the balance of power in the royal court. The Knight Order is desperate to save face. It's not just Count Adele. It has even gone so far as to blame the miners who served as mountain guides and laborers."

"What in the world?"

I couldn't help but scowl.

"Miners from the rock salt mines were mobilized for the battle on Tuvil Mountain. While the Knight Order suffered many casualties, most of the miners managed to escape. They're saying that's suspicious."

"They're not combatants, so of course they would."

"As I just said, the argument is that they were able to escape because they had already started fleeing before the retreat order was given. The laborers were the ones who carried Count Adele. The suspicion, therefore, is that the count abandoned the Knight Order to save his own skin and fled with them. The knights were supposedly thrown into disarray by people fleeing from behind them, and that's what caused the battle line to collapse."

It's certainly strange if you look at it that way, but based on what I just heard, I can't bring myself to blame them even if they were the first to run. Count Adele, as a military officer, might have to accept responsibility as a consequence, but pinning it on the conscripted miners is just cruel. You can't expect non-combatants to remain calm on a battlefield. I'm confident I'd wet myself if I were there.

Besides, if they were miners accustomed to working in the highlands...

"That's just..."

"So, what is the plan now?"

I cut Claudia off. She would only repeat herself. Besides, I still didn't know why I had been summoned here. This wasn't the time to be making assertions.

What does this prince, a knight commander, want from me after giving me all this heavy information?

"Naturally, I will be going. The First Knight Order cannot be moved from the Royal Capital."

The prince said it as if it were obvious. In contrast, I could see tension flash across the faces of his two adjutants.

"I believe the Third Knight Order wasn't very large..."

"It was half the size of the Second, but it has been reinforced somewhat after the predictions of a monster flood in the west. It's now a little over sixty percent of their strength."

So, two-thirds the strength of the defeated Second Knight Order. In terms of knight count, that's just over three hundred. The Second Knight Order must have had more experience, too. Thinking about it logically, it's impossible. It's like going on a suicide mission.

"You did say that rash actions were a bad idea..."

My unspoken question was whether he had some chance of success.

"There are two time limits. The first is Kurtheite's food supply. The blockaded city will run out of food sooner or later. I heard from the Grand Duchess that thanks to your efforts, they have a certain amount of surplus. Even so, it only extended their supply by about a month. According to the Chancellor's calculations, they have two months, three at most."

So it wasn't very useful, but I guess it was better than nothing. Still, unless Heyreit is driven away, the outcome will be the same.

"And our job is not to slay the dragon, but to escort the food transport to Kurtheite."

"But, that's..."

I tilted my head. Including the neighboring ducal territory, there is food available in the surrounding area. But if they could transport it, there would be no problem. And ultimately, if they can't defeat the dragon, the crisis won't end.

"That brings us to the second time limit."

The prince frowned.

"There is talk of accepting reinforcements from the Empire."

"The Empire...?"

"Yes, they claim to have the know-how to repel dragons. Apparently, dragons sometimes come from the Blood Mountains. So they are prepared to dispatch a unit. If we supply them with food, their reinforcements will come."

"Isn't the Empire suffering from monster attacks of its own? If they can fight a dragon, that must be their most elite unit. I can't imagine they have the leeway to dispatch troops to another country."

"They claim they can drive it away with a unit of about two hundred men. They say that high-level monsters can't easily replenish their magic on a weak magic vein, so if they inflict a certain amount of damage, the dragon will fear magic depletion and retreat back to the Blood Mountains."

I see, so the story about higher-level monsters consuming vast amounts of magic is true.

"That's a very generous offer, considering we're not exactly allies..."

"Of course, it's not for free. They demand a supply of goods that the Empire lacks, starting with food and rock salt. This is separate from normal trade. The numbers are..."

The prince glanced at one of his adjutants. I thought she seemed slender for a soldier, and then I realized she was a woman. The figures she recited were quite substantial. While not everything had to be paid upfront, the amount of food alone would be enough to deplete the kingdom's stockpiles.

"That's a considerable amount. And on top of that, the Imperial army would be crossing through our territory all the way to Kurtheite, wouldn't they."

"Yes, that's what it would mean. And that's the problem."

"I want to avoid letting the Imperial army deep into our eastern territories, and I want to avoid creating a situation where we couldn't handle a disaster without borrowing the Empire's power. Of course, the Knight Order's pride is not the top priority here, but the risks are simply too great. Furthermore, there's no guarantee this will be the last dragon attack, nor that the Empire will send aid next time. At worst..."

"They could use the intelligence on the kingdom gained this time, along with the food we give them, to..."

They would gain knowledge of about seventy percent of the kingdom's main routes to Kurtheite. On top of that, it would come with the propaganda that the Empire defeated a monster the kingdom couldn't handle. It's a terrible prospect.

But as long as we can't deal with the dragon, the kingdom's strength will decline and internal unrest will grow. That's also a major problem. So, it's only natural that people would emerge who think we should accept the Empire's offer.

"Even the Chancellor resisted at first, but he's now leaning toward accepting it as unavoidable. He's never been fond of spending money on the military."

"Two time limits..."

It's a pincer attack from both domestic and foreign pressures.

"Based on these conditions, I believe Heyreit must be repelled by the kingdom's own hands. Of course, that is only if it is possible."

The prince said this and looked at me. Hold on, what do you expect from me? I've only just now grasped the situation.