kscans

Chapter 54 - 9. Reflection

When I woke up, a woman with a refined face was looking down at me. She lightly tapped my cheeks. I blinked my eyes.

"He's awake."

It was only when I heard her voice that I finally recognized her as Clau. My head was still spinning. What happened again?

"Alright. Now that our key player has awoken, let us raise a victory cry once more."

"...Huh?"

I heard a rustling sound as many people around me stood up. It was then I realized I had been sleeping in the center of a circle formed by the men. I tried to stand in a hurry, but sitting up was all I could manage.

Clau supported me from behind.

"This monster subjugation is a victory for our Third Knight Order."

"""""Our victory. Uoooooooh!"""""

With Clau pulling my arm, I managed to join in. Once the victory cry ended, the knights began bumping their fists with one another. Many of them came over to me, holding out their own fists.

"I was just cowering in the back..."

It felt incredibly awkward to be treated as a comrade by these men who had risked their lives in battle. After all, I had been behind them, with Clau protecting me on top of that.

"This is an achievement no one can deny. Not only did you save the Adele family name, but it is thanks to you, Ricardo, that I was able to avenge my brother."

"No, no, if anything, you're my lifesaver, Clau-dono."

What would have happened in that final moment if Clau hadn't pushed me and rolled down the slope with me? Her arms and legs were covered in scrapes.

"Hmph. That was a mission bestowed upon me by Her Highness."

Clau turned her face away.

"Clau-dono."

"What."

"You have some soot on your cheek."

My head was unceremoniously pushed down onto the wooden planks.

Still unsteady on my feet, I walked toward the prince. The three unit commanders quickly parted to make way. The glares I received from his two adjutants were terrifying.

Before Prince Craig lay three bodies, wrapped in the order's banner.

"The fatalities are these three men. We have twelve wounded."

The adjutant's report to Prince Craig made me realize they were the victims of the battle, and the blood drained from my face in an instant. The prince raised his sword toward the three fallen soldiers.

My head spun. If only I had gathered more pollen. No, if I had been able to refine and extract the active ingredient, there might not have been any casualties...

"Why the long face? You're the hero of this subjugation."

"Ah, no, my apologies. The hero...?"

"You are the one who allowed us to so easily defeat the dragon that inflicted over two hundred casualties on the Second Knight Order. From the training methods before we deployed, to the countermeasures for the dragon's greatest weapons, its flight and its breath. Did everything not proceed exactly according to your plan?"

The prince said to me.

"You look surprised that there were deaths. I take it our battle was still found wanting in your eyes?"

"No, it's not like that."

No, that's not it. This is the face of an idiot who, even now, can't truly grasp the reality of people dying. I'm still dragging my peacetime complacency with me.

I closed my eyes for a moment and steadied my breath.

"The credit belongs to the knights who stood and faced the dragon."

And then there was this prince. He wasn't some figurehead, or some royal trying to look good on the front lines. I saw it myself. He had charisma... no, he was a hero. At the very least, he was a type of person I had never encountered before, not even in my past life.

"Good grief. A giant beast that flies and breathes fire, and you, who enabled us to defeat it with such ease. I wonder which of you is truly more frightening. Especially..."

The prince was smiling, but his true thoughts were hidden. His two adjutants stared at me with renewed awe. Right now, the most frightening thing here is you, for even saying something like that.

"No, as I explained in the sage's room, finding that was a pure coincidence. This is just business for me. As long as I get paid, I'm happy."

I lowered my voice.

Fulsy developed the poison. I'm just the merchant who delivered it. That's the story I'd prefer. A shame it can't be that simple. Well, the matter of the poison can't be made public anyway. I'll just have to let the heroic prince who subjugated the dragon soak up all the glory.

"...Even if someone else were to find that by chance, I cannot imagine they would think to defeat a dragon with it. And according to the sage, the method you used to discover it could stop the beast's breathing was far from ordinary."

Prince Craig lowered his voice as well.

My head aches. An efficient method for investigating tax evasion in noble territories, a way to measure magical records using tree rings, a strategy for defeating a dragon. How many secrets that could get me killed with a single leak is that now? Knowledge is supposed to be the one thing that protects the weak, yet I feel like my life becomes cheaper with every secret I add to the pile.

That aside, keeping this information from the Empire is going to be a challenge.

I looked at the three bodies. Even if the Empire had lost dozens of times this number. It wouldn't be right, at least not now. If the power balance, maintained in part by the very existence of monsters, were to collapse, it could lead to tens of thousands of deaths. It could lead to war.

The Empire should protect itself, and the Kingdom should protect itself. That is the fundamental principle. Surely the Empire thinks along the same, proper lines.

"I would recommend saying that the dragon was easily defeated because it had exhausted its power due to the weak magic vein. But that's impossible, isn't it."

There's no way I can downplay the achievement of the knights who fought and risked their lives. That's not something you can weigh against the risks of information getting out. Today is the first time I've truly understood that.

"Well, that aside, let's talk about you. Ricardo Vinder."

"No, but... didn't we just conclude that I'm only here on business..."

"Your position is irrelevant. Ricardo, you not only made the greatest contribution to the Knight Order's victory this day."

The prince said, then looked around at the assembled knights.

"You stood with us in the face of danger."

The prince's finger pointed to the crater where the dragon's fireball had exploded. Well, yeah, I almost died, but...

"Therefore, you are a comrade-in-arms to us, the Third Knight Order."

Craig declared, clapping me on the shoulder. The surrounding knights rattled the hilts of their swords in unison.

"Ha, haha... I-I am honored."

"Alfina will surely be able to achieve any wish she has with you by her side. Well, I've had a small glimpse of what you're capable of during this subjugation. I suppose I will be less wary of you."

At the prince's amused words, the glares from his two adjutants softened.

Putting that aside, I wanted to ask him what he was planning to do. This event made Prince Craig a genuine hero. In terms of public popularity, he'd probably leave even the king in the dust. At the very least, the first and second princes, who did nothing, would be no match for him. But primogeniture is supposed to be absolute.

I don't sense any ambition for the throne, for power, from the prince himself. But then, if he were foolish enough to let me see such ambition, he wouldn't be a problem to begin with. More importantly, it's not about power. This prince is the type to use his own strength to do what he wants.

He'd leave a company no matter how well he was treated, never satisfied until he reached the top. He seems to share a temperament with many of the charismatic CEOs I read about. If that's the case, isn't his ultimate destination already set? The question of whether there is even a place for a man like him in this rigid nation will only grow larger with time. Still, things will be fine if stability continues as it has. But what if these fluctuations in the magic veins make such incidents more frequent? It goes without saying who the public's hopes will be pinned on.

"Hmph. You're finally back to wearing the face of a strategist. I wonder what you're targeting this time."

There's no way I can tell you I was just thinking about how to deal with you.

"Well, no matter. You will accompany us on our triumphant return. My comrade-in-arms."

"...I suppose I have no choice."

There's also the matter of Alfina's parents, to whom I am personally grateful. I can't just keep saying I don't want to stand out. Besides, if what the miners told me during this subjugation process is true, then I can't simply leave Kurtheite to its fate.

Even so, there is much to reflect on this time. I forced Alfina into an unreasonable situation and got myself dragged onto a battlefield. This whole tightrope act was a complete failure from a self-preservation standpoint. The prince seemed exasperated, but having that pollen on hand was a complete coincidence.

I sighed as I watched the prince's back while he gave the order to descend the mountain.

"What is it, Ricardo? Are you still in pain somewhere?"

Clau peered into my face.

"Ah, no. I was just thinking that if something like this happens again, I can't afford to rely on luck."

Clau shook her head from side to side.

"...To think the man who was just trembling is already worried about the next battle. How utterly absurd."

"N-no, that's not what I meant."

Clau just shook her head. What I was trying to say is that next time, I need to handle things more reliably to ensure my own survival.