Chapter 95: It Pays to Give Proper Instruction
“There’s actually good news and bad news. The first is that, separate from the dragon in Korche, a Spike Dragon also appeared in Rosenne—but we managed to hold out and defeat it somehow.”
“Don’t tell me… the bad news has something to do with you teaching her how to increase the power of Fireball?”
When I grinned and shrugged, Dale clutched his head and collapsed to a sitting position.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Didn’t Leon just say it…? No way…”
“You’re saying there’s a dragon here too? That’s a joke, right!”
“You’ve got to be kidding…”
“Ahh, I’m starting to want to quit being an adventurer.”
“It’s fine. Both the Armored Dragon and the Spike Dragon were taken down by mages, and with Farana’s skill, she can handle it too.”
“You jinx! Are you planning to make my precious daughter fight a dragon?!”
“At this point, what are you saying now? You let her fight Armor Buffaloes—so we can’t just run away because it’s a dragon.”
“We roughly know where the dragon is. If you do exactly as I say, there won’t be a problem.”
“Leon, how can you be so sure?”
Farana’s dad leaned in close, his deep voice full of intensity.
“Dale, you’re scary. Please step back a bit.”
“Hey, you—move, you’re in the way!”
Ah—Mom grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back.
I couldn’t help but laugh, but I went ahead and taught them the method for slaying a dragon. After that, all they had to do was adapt to the situation on site.
I gathered everyone and explained the method Lindy used when she defeated the Armored Dragon.
“A pitfall?! What is that supposed to mean?!”
“Even dragons are basically big lizards. If you get close, they’ll lash out with that long tongue. You drop its legs into a pit, solidify them so it can’t move, then strike it with lightning. Farana could finish it in one shot by firing a Fireball into its mouth—but telling someone to do that right off the bat would be unrealistic.”
“Is it really that hard?”
“You’ll understand once you face one—the pressure is overwhelming. Attacking from inside a dome is safest, but if there’s no bait, the dragon will just leave.”
“So Lindy used herself as bait, dropped its legs into the pit, and sealed its movement?”
“She said she thought it might escape with just one leg trapped, so she dropped both legs in and completely immobilized it. She thought it died from the lightning, but when adventurers and knights swarmed it, it was still alive—so the finishing blow was a Stone Lance thrust up from the ground into its head.”
“I’ll practice making pitfalls a bit.”
“Farana, are you okay on mana?”
“I’ll drink a mana recovery potion, so I’ll be fine.”
A few moments later—
“Isn’t that Allen from Mighty Strength over there?”
“Yeah. If he came this way, it means things are dangerous here.”
“We’ll need Leon’s report before deciding on deployments.”
“Hey, Lindy. I heard you took down an Armored Dragon.”
“So Rosenne finally has a Dragon Slayer, huh?”
“Didn’t I hear that Olga and the others defeated a dragon too?”
“No way. Leon just spun it around and tossed it.”
“And then handed it to us and told us to finish it.”
“He thinks he’s hiding behind us.”
“He flies, spins Armor Buffaloes and Spike Dragons like toys—what part of that is a ‘gentle breeze’?”
“That’s true. Without Leon teaching me magic, I couldn’t even beat tiger-types or bears, let alone a dragon.”
“So where is that guy now?”
“He went scouting beyond Korche. The beasts coming from that direction just won’t stop.”
“The guild master said he’s moving other high-rank adventurers here, so things should ease up soon.”
“I hope so. What about the Spike Dragon?”
“Huh? What about it?”
“Even before it was defeated, the magistrate and noble mage units were wandering around noisily.”
“They’re aiming for the dragon. But the kingdom’s knights refused, saying stealing an adventurer’s prey would disgrace them—so things are tense with the magistrate.”
“The mage unit just watches instead of helping adventurers fight beasts, and even laughs when someone gets injured.”
“They killed a few beasts while ‘guarding’ the road and now act all high and mighty. It leaves a bad taste.”
“Speak of the devil—here comes another group.”
Kreuz glared bitterly at the group approaching in flashy robes, flanked by what looked like subordinates.
“Hey! You’re the adventurers who defeated this dragon, right?”
“And who might you be?”
When Olga snapped back irritably, the arrogant man’s face went pale.
The similarly dressed men froze as well, and even the knights who seemed to be guards desperately held their sword hilts—but none had the nerve to draw.
“As you can see, this is the front line of beast suppression. If you have business, take it up in town.”
“Y-you…”
“You. I’m a B-rank adventurer with a gold card. Even if you serve nobility, if you interfere with a forced mobilization, I’ll butcher you along with the beasts.”
Bathed in the killing intent from Olga’s group, the men trembled, unable to say a word.
“Olga, a herd of Horn Boars.”
Lindy’s relaxed voice instantly dispelled the tension.
“I’ll handle that. I’ll get these guys ready to be thrown into the beast herd.”
At Olga’s words, the men recoiled in terror.
“You’re in the way. Don’t ever come back.”
Terrified by the flat declaration, the men fled like startled rabbits.
“As expected. We couldn’t give off that kind of killing intent.”
“The one who doesn’t show killing intent is the scariest.”
“That’s true. Especially when there’s a guy who swings Armor Buffalo herds around and dumps the finishing blow on us.”
I got irritated watching the dragon loiter near the forest edge, so I decided to drive it out.
I tossed about ten head-sized stones from my magic pouch into a fat Whirlwind.
I didn’t want to injure it directly and cause a fuss over who did it, so I brought the whirlwind close to the dragon instead.
It mowed down trees and grass—trees as thick as my thigh snapped in one hit, filling the air with crack and bang sounds as it closed in.
The dragon seemed to realize the whirlwind was dangerous and slowly began moving south.
It looked full, but I had my own circumstances, so I kept driving it onward.
Once I forced it into the grasslands, I gained altitude, confirmed Farana’s position, and slammed the stones from the whirlwind into the ground near the dragon to keep it moving.
“Isn’t that Leon?”
“If someone’s floating, it has to be him.”
“He’s going up and down…”
“You’ve got to be kidding—there’s something huge near him!”
“Huge doesn’t even cover it!”
“Is that… one?”
“It’s enormous compared to Leon—so probably.”
“Admit it—that’s a dragon! Didn’t Leon teach Farana how to fight it? If you run now, he’ll laugh at you. Farana, steel yourself!”
“Dale, your wife’s guts are something else…”
“Don’t say it! She used to be cute like Farana, you know. And you know that too!”
“You’re ready, right?”
“Yeah. Trust your husband!”
“That’s a dragon! It’s heading for the hollow!”
“No way—I’m running!”
“You’re abandoning your post?!”
“Yeah. I’m only Bronze. No one’ll complain if I run. Leave that thing to high-rank mages!”
“True—we only came out here hoping to pick up scraps anyway.”
“I’ll stay and watch.”
“You don’t see a dragon every day. On my deathbed, I’ll lie to my wife and kids with tales of slaying one.”
“You don’t even have a wife—talk about thinking long-term.”
“Hey—Leon’s driving it toward us, isn’t he?”
“I can tell he’s using a massive whirlwind.”
“No, Farana’s right. He’s placing the whirlwind behind the dragon and pushing it forward.”
“He’s planning to have Farana slay it.”
“You really caught the eye of an outrageous guy.”
“But… I think I can live up to it. He taught me how, after all.”
Good—once it climbs out of the hollow, it’ll come right in front of Farana’s dome. Just a little more.
I’d been chased out of town and, while traveling the Brange Highway, casually taught magic to harmless parties. I never thought it’d pay off like this.
…And then the dragon sat down.
It looked full, so maybe its side hurt from the sudden exertion.
I rose a bit higher, waved at Farana’s group, and motioned them over. After a few gestures, they understood and ran over.
No other beasts were nearby—this should be a perfect setup.
“Waaah! D-d-d-dragon!”
“What are you yelling for? You ran here expecting a dragon!”
“You talk big, but a bow won’t kill a dragon!”
“And you’ve got a shop-bought short spear—there aren’t any goblins here!”
“Move! The dragon—!”
“Waaah—h-help!”
With Dale’s group making a racket atop the hill, the dragon got stimulated and started charging up the slope.
Whirlwind! Rotate!
I aimed the whirlwind at its head—BOOM!
A blast rang out, everything turned red, and my ears rang.
I sat down in shock. The dragon stopped moving, and the whirlwind vanished.
Looks like Farana’s Fireball blew it away.
With power like that, she can finish it.
I moved behind her and decided to focus on backup.