Chapter 354: Critical Damage
Just after we arrived back from our secret night walk, Neia came running into the mansion.
“Emm!! Where’s Hilda-san!?”
“I’m here?”
Hilda was still in the process of putting her clothes back on and Neia was startled to see Hilda without her top, but she held her ground.
“Th, That, job……can you follow me!?”
“Work? Did anyone get hurt?”
“Yes……ah, no, Laila-san said, 『It’s probably urgent, bring her』……”
“……Laila-chan, I know. I understand”
Hilda turns from the loose atmosphere after sex and stands up wearing her clothes.
“Andy-kun, will you stay here with Sharon-chan? I’ll borrow Tetes-chan for guidance”
“Ah, yes”
I was left behind with Sharon, who had no way to talk.
“I wonder what’s going on……”
“……Laila made her call Hilda-san by name, which means……well, someone must have been hurt”
I was waiting for more news in a restless mood as Sharon and I looked at each other, unable to let the speculation develop. I think it’s a good thing we went along too, but the fact that they lined up Sharon and Tetes, who are also Rennesto landowners and left Sharon behind……probably means that they considered her ability as an escort. In other words, they considered the possibility of me being targeted. And considering the speed at which they arrived, it was best to leave the useless personnel behind. They must have decided that it was that urgent.
“At any rate, there might be something there. Sharon, let’s arm ourselves”
“Right”
I took a crossbow and a breath caliber out of my luggage and Sharon also put on a sword. I feel like I’m overreacting from anxiety, but with that swordplay, anything could have happened. Needless to say, it is a hundred times better to overreact and shrug it off than to cry because you are unprepared.
After about 30 minutes, Laila and the others returned to the mansion. Laila, Maia and Neia brought with them, respectively, t100-man commander Becker and General Kingfisher. The sight was shocking.
“Wh, What’s wrong with that!?”
Becker’s one arm was missing from above the elbow and General Kingfisher had one of his wings broken off.
“Haa……we got hit. I cornered a suspicious guy and got ganged up on from the side by a strange woman”
“I happened to be walking nearby. I saw Becker’s blind ball, so I went to see what he was doing……damn, if it was daytime I would have told him he got hit with a feather back”
“I’m going to go look for the arm and the feather. Maybe I can smell the blood and find them”
“Wait, Maia. If you are ambushed by Rainer, even a dragon is in danger. I’ll go with you”
“Yes”
Maia and Neia run out. And Hilda, the most important person, is not there.
“Laila, Hilda-san should have gone too……”
“Ho. After a brief treatment, she went to get some medicine”
“……I see. This is certainly not a condition that can be managed by a traveling doctor……”
But. What kind of trick is it to completely outsmart 100-man commander Becker and General Kingfisher?
“Damn it……I let my guard down……hey Smithson, listen to me properly. You know, the person who beat me was a silver-haired woman who……ah sh*t, I must have dropped too much blood or something, ’cause I’m getting weird chills. She was probably over 20 years old and she was a little taller. She was about the size of Dancing Spear Almeida and she had no weapons……”
“He, Hey, Becker, asshole, it’s like a will and testament”
“Shut up, even though you’re a bird, it’s the worst shame for a secret agent to die without leaving any information. So, so, where were we?”
100-man special duty commander Becker’s pale face was getting pale and his speech was getting faster and faster. I was getting scared, too. If I lost my arm, I could have died of blood loss. But this was the only person I knew would never die. That’s what it’s all about……
“It’s not an exaggeration. He’s not going to die because I treated it with magic and needles☆ He survived by fighting back even if Andy-kun was slashed by his foot butter, so please learn a little”
Then, Hilda finally returned.
“Hilda!”
“I’m going to continue with the treatment, so please help me, Tetes-chan and Laila-chan”
“Yes”
“Ho. Me?”
“I’m sure you’re more used to messing with raw meat than the other kids. ……So, what happened to Keiron-kun?”
“Ho. Yes, my master. I’d like you to go and pick up the fox. It’s a tavern called the Cherry Tree Resting Pavilion”
“Ah, I know that place”
“I see. Well then, Sharon, please show me the way”
There is nothing I can do about the surgery that is about to begin. I’ll have Sharon take me there and pick up Keiron.
Keiron was assigned to do the dishes. He is not a very portable person, so he was not able to pay for four people’s bills.
“Smithson~n……thank you for saving my life”
“I’m not going to cry over something as trivial as washing the dishes”
“I was scared because the general of the kitchen yelled at me every time because Laila-san was stingy on the taste of alcohol”
Sharon paid the bill with her generosity. The waitstaff, who had been excited when they heard that we had come to pick up Keiron, were now unperturbed by the appearance of a Black Arm.
“I’m sorry, Sharon. You can pick it up from Laila later”
“It’s okay. We’re all slaves to each other”
“……Don’t be so careless with the dragons. They are outrageous when it comes to wasting money”
They are gourmets and their stomachs are nearly bottomless.
“Y, Yes”
Sharon shrugged, but that was okay. I don’t want to get into financial trouble or anything fishy with my female slaves.
-
The two lost hands and wings were apparently recovered safely and Hilda-san worked at full speed to complete the joining by dawn. But
“I’ve connected them, but……it’s going to take half a year to get back to the field if I heal them normally”
After all, even with Hilda’s technique, it seems that it will not be so easy to restore.
“Kua……if I can fly properly in six months, that’s a bonus……”
General Kingfisher looked sadly at one of his feathers, which had been plucked (apparently in the way of sutures) and showed the skin of the skin and said so sadly. It’s probably because of his miserable condition that he doesn’t have a tone with what he says.
“……I felt good with Lucia-sensei, but she was just a little too good to be true……”
“Oh, why? It’s not an honor injury”
General Kingfisher shakes his head, even though Hilda says so.
“I’m not going to let a poor birdman’s feathers get the better of me. It’s over……”
“That’s birdman’s value, isn’t it?”
“Then where else can he appeal to the public? Birdman’s charm is his feathers! Damn it, I’m done”
“I’m in trouble……I can have you back to full strength in a week or so if you just want to recover from your injury”
“I’ve lost confidence in my ability to live beyond this point”
General Kingfisher is dispirited. ……At that moment, there was a knock at the front door. The procedure was being done in the entrance hall, so everyone’s attention was on the door.
“Excuse me. I heard there was some kind of trouble……Sieg Becker was killed? This is serious”
It was Sir Buster. As soon as he came in, he looked at 100-man commander Becker, who was sleeping on the couch and made a bitter face. He had been put to sleep by magic because he was slightly delirious from too much blood being drained from his body. The bandages covering his arms have been magically tightened into a cast.
“I heard that he is one of the best in Celesta when it comes to assassination skills and evasive maneuvers”
“I have no doubt about that, though. That’s just irresistible”
General Kingfisher’s eyes sharpened.
“The man that Becker was chasing was a very skilled man alone, but the woman who came out later was also very skilled. She’s also in Captain Dianne’s class.
“……Dragon?”
Sir Buster mutters. Everyone in this place probably didn’t say it, speculating. At least, when Neia was there, Kalwin had no female hero other than Neia. If that is the case, where did the mysterious handmaiden who joined Rainer Exeliza come from? If it is a dragon, the explanation is simple. It is both a means of transportation and an escort. And that also means the possibility of completely revoking our military superiority. A master knight class. There are a number of them in our squadron, but only dragons can seriously compete with……dragons. When it comes to an empty battle between dragons, you can’t afford it. And more than that.
“If that man is a dragon rider, then I and Maia are untouchable in the first place……”
“What’s that?”
Sir Buster raised an eyebrow.
“A dragon is basically untouchable by dragon riders. That is what the pact says. In the event of a dragon rider conflict, the dragons of both camps may not touch the rider until the rider himself has settled the matter”
“……What is the point of such a rule? I don’t understand”
“Once a dragon and its rider have been touched, they are no longer under the protection of the pact. The whole tribe will be nothing more than an evil dragon and its herald, who must naturally be defeated. If that happens, there is no future for them, even if they make it out of the situation”
“I see……and the rider himself is as powerful as the dragon. It gets harder”
“Umm”
The two men fell silent with serious faces. Kalwin is distorted and unassailable, if at all reachable. Even though it is only an intermediate goal in the development of the demon territory, it cannot be ignored, of course.
“……But we will manage. It will be difficult to win by force……but well, that’s not all there is to negotiating with a nation”
Sir Buster ends the conversation with a sigh. He looks like he’s in trouble, but I’m sure he has a plan to prepare. Then he turns to General Kingfisher and looks sullenly at his feathers.
“……Pitiful”
“Could you not say that, please. I’m depressed about this too”
“No, pitiful is pitiful. Very uncool”
“Kuaa!!”
“But you know what I think? ……A man is only strong when he admits his faults”
“Kua?”
“What do you think, Cray Kingfisher? ……You wanna give me a shot?”
“What?”
“I’ve been working on a spell to make this barren land grow back for fifteen years, but it hasn’t worked. Sometimes things grow that aren’t supposed to grow, sometimes it’s just rough skin……”
“……Is good”
“Well, wait. But the research is in its final stages. I’ve managed to turn a shaved puppy into a hairball in three days. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the hair is not only the hair, but also the body. But”
“……You look as if you are saying, wouldn’t we birdmen be like that to begin with”
“No, no, even if your whole body did that, your house would just grow back. What I want you to help me with is selective hair growth follow-up”
“……Kua?”
“In other words, I’d like to take a chance and try to induce rapid hair growth in 70% of this balding area. If it fails, a birdman will just get more feathers, so it won’t do much harm, right?”
“……Ku, Kua”
“Okay? The disgusting baldness might be cured soon. No, it will heal. It’s just that there might be some extra growth”
“Kua……”
Sir Buster and General Kingfisher stared at each other. And Tetes, who was listening to them, looked dumbfounded.
“Emm……I think it’s better to do those negotiations behind closed doors, brother”
“!”
“!”
Apparently, they had forgotten that they were negotiating this trivial but earnest negotiation in front of the public.
- ToC -