Chapter 161: Riding Gear for Dragon
「――And so, although unofficial, I have been entrusted with the position of research director.」
「… Err.」
As I spoke enthusiastically, Platy seemed unsure whether she should be purely happy about it or not.
「A fortress… Though it's only on loan… The director… But it's about necromancy… And the transport is Lyla…」
Platy groaned, deep in thought, muttering "Hmm… hmm…"
「Well, as long as you’re getting along with His Majesty and building a good relationship, that’s what matters.」
Seems like she just forced herself to find something positive.
「Even parent and children won't get along unconditionally…」
And then she started gazing off into the distance… Uh, hmm… I bet Gorillacia was sneezing right now.
Also, it was not like I actually got along with the Demon King… I’m just going along with the flow… Though, for some reason, he seems to be having a great time.Anyway, the meeting with Platy was done. It ended up being a post-facto report, but since the Demon King had already approved it, there was no particular opposition from Platy, which was a relief.
The Necromancy Research Institute――My base of operations, essentially a secret hideout. I knew that I was too old for this, but I couldn’t help getting excited.
However, it didn't mean that I couldn't start using the fortress right away. The Demon King had ordered the Corvut clan to renovate it, and it would take at least a week before it was usable. Once the repairs are complete, I’ll just casually come and go like no big deal.
Since the Corvut clan belongs to the Rubyfia faction, this measure was to prevent any misunderstandings that I’ve aligned myself with them.
Well, some people might be wondering something along the line of "Why is His Majesty bothering to renovate a fortress he won’t even use?" But it should attract less attention than if I openly asked the Corvut clan myself or gathered a large crew of beastfolk laborers for the construction.
『What dost thou intend to do should curious folk come to observe?』
Ante asked with a mischievous voice.
Wasn’t it obvious?—— They’d be sentenced to death for the crime of trying to expose a state secret!!
Putting that aside, one of the things I wanted to do once I returned to the Demon King castle was to procure equipment for Lyla—Yup, not horse riding gear, but rather dragon riding gear.
Properly speaking, I could just repurpose an existing horse saddle, but having the whole set—leather straps, stirrups, and the saddle—would be bulky and inconvenient. If I could create something more compact and convenient with magic, something really slick to a dragon's back, that would be the better option.
And so, I took Lyla and Liliana with me and paid a long-overdue visit to the dwarves' workshop.
「Long time no see, Your Highness.」
The head of the Dwarven Workshop’s Demon King Castle branch, Ficelle, greeted me with his usual formality. He was a skilled craftsman who forged the scale armor 【Sindikaios】 using the scales of a Faravugi.
「Long time no see. How's your arm after that?」
「I've never feel better in my life.」
Ficelle, ever the stern-looking type, replied with his mouth set in a grim line beneath his rough, bushy white beard. His once-lost dominant arm, which had been severed and corroded by a curse, was now fully restored to its former strong and muscular form. It was hard to believe there had ever been a time when it was missing.
「Your Highness, I trust you have been well?」
Ficelle asked in return, but of course, he wasn’t inquiring about my physical condition.
「Yeah. I had returned to my maternal family's territory until yesterday, and during training, I put the Sindikaios to the test. I was struck, slashed, and stabbed countless times, yet the armor itself didn’t sustain a single scratch. I can say with all due confidence that it is of unparalleled craftsmanship, and I am thoroughly satisfied.」
Unfazed by my excessive praise, Ficelle simply nodded as if to say, "That's only natural".
「――Come next spring, I too will be heading to the frontline. Not for a single moment have I forgotten our pact. It will continue to be upheld, steadfast and unwavering.」
As I spoke with a solemn expression, Ficelle's face also grew stern, and he bowed deeply with grave respect.
Due to my pact with Ficelle, I swore not to harm the dwarves as long as I wore the Sindikaios. This ensured that the dwarves on the battlefield would be spared from my wrath—— However, in exchange, I would be protected from the blades of the alliance's soldiers, inevitably leading to even more deaths.
Though it was unavoidable given his status as a prisoner, as a dwarven blacksmith from the Alliance, he must surely be unable to shake his sense of shame and regret…
「By the way, there's something I'd like to request today.」
I deliberately changed the topic.
「It's an enchanted item. The request is somewhat unusual, but I figured that if anyone could handle it, a dwarf craftsman might be the most suitable one.」
「Tell me about your request.」
Ficelle responded in his usual easygoing manner, yet with an expression filled with the pride of a craftsman. When spoken to like this, a dwarf—regardless of their position—couldn’t bring themselves to refuse. I couldn’t help but find it amusing when I noticed that even the other dwarves, busy with their smithing work, had turned their attention toward us.
I wrapped my arm around Lyla's waist and pulled her closer.
「Can you make an enchanted saddle to ride this girl?」
Lyla, feeling the subtle gazes from Ficelle and the other dwarves, looked slightly bashful.
「This… Girl?」
Ficelle cast a wary glance at Lyla’s horns—— Those distinct, straight-back extensions characteristic of a dragon in human form――
「Nice to meet you. I'm Lyla, a white dragon.」
「White…」
Ficelle started to repeat my words back in a parroted manner, but suddenly realized something, jolting backwards in shock.
「She's the daughter of Faravugi.」
With my added explanation, the forge—once roaring with heat—Suddenly felt as if it had gone completely cold.
Cold… or rather, tense with fear, might be the better way to describe it. The blacksmiths who had been swinging their hammers instinctively paused and turned around, while a craftsman carrying materials lost his grip, sending steel clattering noisily onto the floor.
It was the dwarves who forged armor from Faravugi’s scales, just as it was the dwarves of the Demon King castle who once crafted the collar that had been placed on Lyla――
「…」
Ficelle let out an inarticulate groan and instinctively took a step back. I had never seen him this shaken before.
『That must be the greatest shock in his life.』
Well, I expected this reaction, but taking Lyla’s measurements was necessary, so it was unavoidable. Besides, making her wait outside alone until the introductions were over would’ve felt just as wrong…
「Don’t worry about her. I’m sure you all have your own thoughts on the matter… But that was our problem to deal with.」
「Uh, well… I know it’s not my place to say this, but please don’t worry about it…」
Lyla leaned in with a solemn expression, as if to emphasize her intimate relationship with me, but partway through, she seemed to grow embarrassed and blush.
「……Ah, um. So you're asking for an enchanted saddle, was it?」
Ficelle was stunned for a while after that, but perhaps driven by his pride as a craftsman, he snapped back to reality and continued speaking while wiping the sweat from his brow.
「Are you saying… That you intend to ride this young lady in her dragon form?」
「Uhm? Is there any other reason other than that?」
「Ah, no, you're right.」
Ficelle wiped his sweat again with his sleeve, glancing between me and Lyla with a look that suggested he had plenty to say――
「… Have you tried to ride her?」
「Well, I’ve already ridden her multiple times, but it’s been a bit unstable, pretty much just clinging onto her neck with my bare hands. So, I figured a proper saddle would be a good idea.」
「M-Multiple times…」
Ficelle was left speechless, and it wasn’t just him, the other dwarves, who had been eavesdropping, also stirred in uneasy murmurs.
「Oi, oi… just how reckless is that prince…?」
「Poor girl. I'm sure that dragon girl's heart is also…」
「Sssh! He can hear you!」
I could hear you, dude.
「Woof.」
Liliana clung tightly to my leg, as if to say, "That's not fair, why is it only Lyla?" Now that I thought about it, I had been neglecting her for a while. "Sorry, sorry" I said, gently patting her head to make up for it.
「…」
Ficelle was looking at me as if he was looking at a monster.
「… Let me hear the details that you need.」
Even so, the fact that his tone didn’t change was impressive in its own right.
――What I requested was an enchanted saddle that fits Lyla in her dragon form, is easy to attach and remove, and is also convenient to carry when she’s in her human form.
「…What should we do? It's clearly almost impossible to make such a saddle with metal.」
「It'd be too heavy after all.」
「It won’t be a problem in her dragon form, but carrying such a thing in her human form would be troublesome――」
The craftsmen gathered around Ficelle and started a discussion.
「…If we use dragon materials, it would be light, that’s for sure, but…」
「You idiot! That’s a bad idea!」
「You’ll get eaten alive!」
…Dwarves really weren’t suited for secret conversations, huh.
『Verily, these knaves doth possess voices most thunderous…』
Well, I suppose it could not be helped, given the clamor of the forge…
「So leather is the only option after all…」
「Something that’s easy to attach and remove, yet convenient to carry…」
「Such a complex mechanism… There’s probably only one person who can handle this job…」
After a brief period of lively discussion…
「Your Highness, there is one craftsman who may be able to fulfil your request…」
Ficelle returned to say those words to me with a grim look on his face.
「Oo, as expected of the dwarves.」
But why did he look like he just swallowed a bitter bug?
「Well… That fella is quite the rarity among us dwarves, being more skilled in leatherworking than metalcraft. and their craftsmanship is impeccable, however…」
「Is there a problem with that person?」
「That fella is an oddball among oddballs. Will that be acceptable?」
「I, too, have often been called an oddball. As long as their skills are reliable, I have no complaints.」
Satisfied with my response, as if to say, "Well, that makes sense", Ficelle went off to fetch the craftsman in question… Somehow, that annoys me.
And then, after waiting for a while――
「I heard that His Highness has summoned me, and I have arrived with all haste——!」
A high-pitched voice, unfamiliar in the dwarven workshop, resounded in the forge.
A short, slightly round girl came sprinting hastily with loud footsteps.
「A, girl!?」
I was a bit surprised. Most of the people here were essentially prisoners—— Meaning that they were captured on the battlefield.
To think I would see a dwarven woman in the Demon King castle…
「Yes! I am the leatherworker—— Xemône!」
The female craftsman, Xemône, snapped to attention with a sharp salute, then, breathing heavily through her nose, aggressively closed in the distance between us.
「I heard I get to design a tight-fitting leather outfit for a dragon gi――Ooh, is this the girl in question!? She's absolutely adorable!!」
Yep, this one was definitely an oddball.
I was instantly convinced.
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My first CN project, why waifu though? Well, coz the main heroine's job is buying soy sauce till the end of act 1
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Harem, Hero, Demon King, Seven Deadly Sin, Seven Virtue, Sacred Beast, Sword and Magic, Dystopian Future, DESTINY PROJECT HAD IT REALIZED!, Dungeon, Dragon, 72 Demons, Reincarnations
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