Chapter 320: Chapter 318 – A Chance Encounter with the Enemy

A Chance Encounter with the Enemy

Bigger than the one Gorja brought with him, the silver dragon towered high. Petrified soldiers watched in mute amazement. Some, however, immediately moved. Galixon and the bodyguards stood in front of Paula to protect her. Doriachi walked in front of the group.

『Is Koukimaru there?』he asked in a quiet, but clear voice.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

A man appeared on top of the dragon’s head. He had his long, gray hair tied behind, and he wore a cloak that looked to be a rag. His clothes, although crude in appearance, was made of monster hide.

Doriachi turned speechless as soon as he saw Koukimaru’s eyes. What was supposed to be the white part of the eye had turned black.

『Are you the current king?』

『Y-Yes. Koukimaru... the exiled sage. What happened to your eyes?』

『My eyes?』

Koukimaru ran his hand over his eyes, as though he only noticed it for the first time.

『Ah... It’s a price I had to pay to learn the truth.』

『Truth?』

『More importantly, are you abandoning the city?』

A deserted city. Whether or not Koukimaru saw this coming was unknown, but the outcome was probably just as he said.

『We are.』

A dry, incessant laughter came bursting out of Koukimaru. It almost never stopped.

『Are you happy things turned out the way you wanted it to be?』

『No, I didn’t wish this to happen.』Suddenly, he stopped laughing.『This city was but a small obstacle, a lone pebble lying on my master’s path.』

『What...?』

『How dare you act all high and mighty!』Duinkler was furious.『You’re the one who ordered the monster attack!』

『Calm down.』Doriachi rebuked.

『But Your Majesty—』

『Quiet.』the king said.『Koukimaru. If you think we’re nothing but pebbles, surely you won’t mind letting us through? Like you said, we’re abandoning the city.』

『Very well. You may go.』

『That’s good to hear. We’ll be going, then.』

Doriachi took the lead and started walking, and the soldiers hurriedly followed.

Why?! Why do we have to run away and suffer such disgrace?! The enemy ringleader is right in front of us!

Duinkler held himself back from shouting. With the silver dragon blocking the way, they had to pass through gaps. He knew provoking the creature now was pointless. They couldn’t possibly land a fatal blow on the dragon without their blast cannons.

The ship docked at the harbor were equipped with blast cannons, but it was a little too far away. If the weapons missed, Duinkler and the others might get hit.

Doriachi, Duinkler’s beloved king, must have considered all of this in an instant and talked to Koukimari. The king’s fists were clenched tight. Even though they managed to minimize the number of victims, numerous soldiers still died. And the enemy was right before their very eyes.

His Majesty must be frustrated the most...

Duinkler himself had both hands clenched. The silver dragon watched the column of people pass with great interest. Everyone walked with their heads down, avoiding eye contact.

Men carrying Deena on a stretcher passed through. She was tied up and unconscious. Koukimaru didn’t notice her, but the silver dragon purred as though curious about the lady.

『What’s wrong?』Koukimaru asked.

The dragon, however, twisted its head and turned its attention to the person walking in front, not Deena. There was probably no meaning whatsoever in the creature’s actions. It just smelled a familiar scent, and then felt like eating the man that had its attention for a while now.

『H-Hey!』

Koukimaru tried to call out to the creature, but it wasn’t as though he had full control of the dragon. It moved its head, aiming straight for the person in front with such speed that the soldiers couldn’t react in time. The dragon opened its mouth wide and gnawed at him before spreading its wings and flying away.

『Tch. You stupid dragon... Why even eat something so worthless.』

Blood spilled from the dragon’s mouth, dripping onto the ground.

Hikaru and Lavia made it all the way east of the city. Running while showing themselves to the monsters was quite thrilling. Hikaru’s Mana Detection helped them in making sure none got ahead of them, and so they arrived safely.

The riverbank far enough from the harbor was the finish line of their escape route.

「Should be about time.」

「Are you okay?」Lavia asked.

「This is nothing. Running around all night is much draining.」

「Same here.」

Both yawned and smiled.

『Hello? Monsters are headed this way!』Drake said.『How can you two be so relaxed?!』

Monsters were indeed heading straight towards them, leaving clouds of dust in their wake. They would get to them in less than a minute.

「We should be fine.」Hikaru said.「All righty, then. Let’s go.」

「I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be hurt, but...」

『Wh-What are you going to do?』

With a strained laugh, Hikaru took out his revolver. The monsters were just a stone’s throw away now.

「Aight. Hold on tight.」

「‘Kay.」

『Hey! What are you gonna do?!』

The moment a cheetah-like creature—five times bigger than normal—leaped at them, Hikaru pulled the trigger. An orange ray of light shot out the muzzle, and they flew diagonally into the air. It was a bullet loaded with Flame Laser. The swarm of monsters quickly turned small in their eyes. Those that couldn’t stop their momentum plunged into the river.

「Waaaahhh!」

『Whhhoooaaaa!』

「Welcome to our not-so-pleasant flight. Wait, Drake. Can’t you fly?」

『This is different from what I’m used to, okay?!』

Hikaru fired one more shot while in the air to propel them across the river and onto the other side.

「Hmm?」

During that time, Hikaru spotted a huge dragon flying north.

Did it come from the city? Paula would be safe with her Stealth, but not the others.

But the ship at the harbor seemed undamaged and set sail without a problem. The evacuation was a success.

「H-Hikaru! We’re falling!」

「Oh, right.」

『Nooooo!』

「Can’t you fly— never mind.」

They were descending at an incredible speed, but with the Gravity Balancer, they managed to land gently. Lavia and Drake sank down on the ground.

「This is really bad for the body.」Lavia said.

「Yeah, I agree. I don’t really wanna use it unless really necessary... Ugh.」

「How’s your arm?」

The recoil put too much strain on his arm. Bearing the pain, Hikaru wiped the sweat off his forehead.

「I wish I could get used to the pain...」

「You should’ve asked Paula for her healing magic too. Here, I’ll lend you my shoulder.」

「Thanks.」

Once Hikaru made it back to the city, he met up with Lavia to reload his bullets. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get in touch with Paula, and there were too many people around a while ago.

「I’m sure we’ll see her again soon.」

Instead, he asked her to come here—on the south side of the river—once they made it safely to the ship.

『You’re too reckless...』

「I think getting to move that fast by only giving up an arm is a good deal. But anyway, Drake.」

『What?』

「What did you mean by “dig a hole”?」

Drake, who was fast asleep after eating a dragon stone, woke up in the middle of the night, and the first thing he said to Lavia was to dig a hole. Unfortunately, things were too hectic to know what he meant by that.

『Oh right, that! Actually...』

After listening until the end, Hikaru looked to the skies.

「Seriously...?」

Hikaru tried to rub wrinkle on his forehead, but stopped when he realized it was his injured arm.

「Listen. If that’s possible... No, never mind. We don’t know if it works. I think what I did was the best course of action we could’ve taken.」

「Well, this is Drake we’re talking about.」Lavia said.

「You’re right.」

『Now wait a sec. When I say I’ll do it, I’ll really do it.』

「Yeah. That really defies common sense.」

『You’re one to talk. You just flew through the air!』

「How rude. Anyone can do that with some overpowered magic item.」

『Oh, yeah? Well, in my case, any drakon can do it.』

「Yeah, and what’s “natural” for a drakon sounds crazy to me...」

As they were walking, Hikaru spotted people coming towards them.

「Hi— Lord Silver Face!」

Paula waved her hand furiously from afar, it almost looked like it would come off her body. She quickly healed Hikaru’s arm.

「Thanks... Wait, what’s wrong?」

It wasn’t just Paula. Her bodyguards looked glum as well.

「Sir Silver Face—」

「It’s okay, Mr. Galixon. I’ll tell him.」Paula said.「While on our way to the docks, a silver dragon actually appeared.」

「Oh, must be the one I saw. Wait, you actually encountered it?」

「Yes. And then...」Paula cast her eyes downward.「The dragon tried to eat His Majesty. No one could react in time, except Mr. Duinkler.」

Hikaru knew where this was going.

「He was eaten by the dragon. I think he died instantly.」

Duinkler sacrificed himself for the king. It affected Hikaru more than he thought it would.

「His Majesty was really shaken up about it. He got on board the ship and followed the ones ahead.」

「I see. So he didn’t stay behind.」

Perhaps it was a good thing that the king’s mind was in chaos. He would’ve wanted to remain here.

「I see. He’s dead.」

A plump man who loved politics and outwitting his opponents. He was a sly old fox. But his convictions were crystal clear and everything he did, he did for the king.

Hikaru drew a deep breath and exhaled. Duinkler was by no means a decent man. If Hikaru was an enemy, the man would’ve no doubt attacked him without mercy. But he firmly stuck to his principles, never once abandoning them. Every move he made was in accordance to his beliefs. Hikaru was, to his surprise, fond of the man.

「I will kill that dragon.」Hikaru said with firm determination.「I swear.」