Chapter 160
< Running Away from the Hero! 160 #19. Life is a continuous escape (1)>
-Master, the dragon smackdown mission, start!
-Good work!
And now, its ti. I turned around after receiving the tal bats report and loudly proclaid to everyone. We leave it in your capable hands, Sir Hero!
Do your best!
S-sure thing
The magicians participating in the expedition began injecting magical energy into the prepared magic circle.
As for the other combatants, they observed from the sidelines while raucously cheering for the hero.
Of course, said hero making a very stiff face was an open secret, but anyways
No need to be so tense, Sir Hero.
Yes, you can do it if its you!
Didnt your teacher say it, Sir Hero? That dragon has a fatal weakness, doesnt it!
Yep, I did say sothing like that.
Every dragon had a reverse scale on its body sowhere, so if the hero manages to hit that, he could achieve victory today. Thats what I said.
Too bad, talking was cheap in this case. We were talking about a dragons reverse scale here, after all.
Just one single scale among many scales of a dragon.
A scale that has supposedly grown in the reverse direction to all the other scales! A spot that acts as both a weakness and a trigger thatd set off even the most placid dragon in pure rage when touched!
Yes, talking was very cheap in this case. Just how many scales did a dragon possess?
Itd be near impossible to find that one reverse scale in the dragons large body, even if the dragon in question was kind enough to sit still.
But heres the thing, which dragon would remain perfectly still when a human had shown up to kill it?
Obviously, not a single one.
And our current opponent was an evil dragon that totally disregarded the commandnts set by its fellow dragons!
Theres no freaking way itd graciously wait for a human to freely attack it!
And thats why our dear hero mustve been feeling like a farm animal getting dragged into an abattoir right now.
Sir Hero!
We pray that you best the insidious evil dragon!
The Order of Nature, hooray!
Sir Hero of Light, Sir Swinn, hooray!
Unfortunately for him, though, the atmosphere was such that he couldnt back out anymore.
If he dared to chicken out now, not just him but even the Order of Nature would be subjected to a torrent of criticism.
And if its that Goddess of Nature, theres no way shed take that lying down! Shed probably send down an oracle or sothing to prevent the hero from fleeing the scene.
Well, if he still tries to flee, then I could also just flee from here while everyones attention was razor-focused on him.
-Master, Im almost done now~?
-Very good.
Its now, everyone!
N-no, hang on a sec
The bright light flashed briefly and the hero punk disappeared from our view.
What happened was that he had been teleported to an open field not too far from this location.
Is the preparation complete?
Yes, Sir Sage! No one is permitted to approach the battle location so that Sir Hero wouldnt have to worry about collateral damage!
Even the traps we prepared are not magic-based, but physical! We heeded your advice that even a dragon would find it hard to detect traps without magical power.
In that case, I shall go ahead and rescue the princess.
Will it be fine by yourself, sir?
Of course.
I nodded bravely and got ready to rescue the princess.
Thanks to the insidious heros nefarious sche, my daughter had to stay in the royal castle as a hostage, aning I couldnt make a careless move here.
But things should get simpler for
with the excuse of rescuing the princess and returning to the castle.
Sure, invading a dragons lair for this purpose was an act of sheer insanity, but
It doesnt apply to .
You here, master?
Dragons were creatures of magic.
Fitting for a lifeform at the peak of all things magic, a dragon could do pretty much anything they wanted using magic!
But just who am I?
I was the pinnacle of anti-magic, with my whole body akin to sothing like the famous Imagine Breaker!
I might not erase magic like a certain fictional character, but it also doesnt work on , either. Thats just who I am!
Hmm, lets see
Long blue hair
Fair complexion and smooth skin even for a northerner
Seeing her breathe so shallowly and weakly, I couldnt help but think that this beautiful woman embodied the frailty itself.
Well, shes the princess, alright.
The evil dragon didnt kidnap anyone else, so who else could it be, master~?
The princess was lying on a rather flashy bed that didnt suit the ambience of this dark cave. After taking a look at her state, I got down to work. Now lets see, over here and over here
Ah! Shouldnt that be a bit more to the side, master?
No, this is fine since the floors a bit tilted to the side.
What I was installing at the mont was a one-ti use teleportation gate.
Although it was a bit of a waste of resources to build a single-use item like this, this gate was an absolute necessity if I wanted to rescue the princess safely.
I could waltz right in without activating any of the dragons magic traps but our princess would surely end up triggering them all without fail.
If she got caught in one of those traps and died, then itd be ga over for everyone involved.
And thats why the sorcerers and magicians of the royal court had to manufacture a tool like this After I hounded them like crazy, of course!
Although, it kinda felt like they took a bit too long on a task that the imperial court magicians wouldve finished in a jiffy!
Installation, complete!
In that case, dear older sis? Ill see you a bit later, okie~?
After the tal bat finished waving her hand at the princess, I led her outside the lair.
Sir Sage!
Did you succeed, sir?
When I erged from the lair completely unscathed, the Neidon Kingdoms archmage, Yulkelis gawked at
with eyes full of respect.
-Master, your cheating ways are affecting even this innocent uncle now
-This is purely my ability, so Im not cheating!
I acquired this uh, ability, despite not being able to use any magic or the sword aura.
It is an ability, am I right? Right?
Yes, its done.
This renewed surge of unfairness welled up inside , but I wasnt so rookie whod show that on my face.
Thank you so much, Sir Sage.
Ah, aaah Her Highness
While Yulkelis bowed slightly in my direction, Serel the lady-in-waiting was softly wiping away her tears of relief.
Judging from how other soldiers were also looking greatly relieved, it seed that the princesss daily conduct had been pretty exemplary.
-Master, what do you think wouldve happened if it was that Imperial Princess sister who keeps chasing you around?
-I guess everyone in the imperial court would start praying for the dragons happiness in the next life?
In all honesty, if its that imperial princess She would have soloed the dragon raid, returned ho, and ordered her underlings to go and procure the dragon carcass.
Then, shed order the dragons at and bones to be split up before selling them to the imperial court.
-But master, does that an her daily conduct was pretty good? Is that it?
-In a certain sense, sure
Only a precious few sovereigns were trusted so deeply by their retainers.
A bond so profound that your underlings would willingly stay by your side even after all your wealth and power were gone? How many could claim to have ford such a bond?
Even among the many imperial princes and princesses, those able to claim such a bond could be counted in one hand.
-But master, didnt you flee from the imperial princess sister~?
-I was working back then, thats why.
I an, dont you know how scared I was of the imperial court?
It used to be great fun bullying Da Reia but after my slip of the tongue regarding her last boyfriend, I couldnt even get to enjoy that pasti anymore. And the Imperial Princess would start harassing
over the most trivial things if sothing ticked her off.
Thats not all
her harassnt would go on to start a chain of events that culminated in
getting summoned before the imperial court to receive a peerage. I obviously tried to prevent my peerage from getting upgraded by sharing my achievents with my underlings, which in turn made them even more loyal to
And when those uselessly capable underlings of mine ended up sweeping up all the achievents and caused my peerage to get upgraded, I I had to accept the title of Count while shedding tears of lant, didnt I?
All thanks to that, just how much envy and jealousy of the others did I have to suffer through?
Your Highness!
While swimming in the reminiscence of the terrifying days Ive spent in the imperial court, the princesss lady-in-waiting, Serels urgent cry exploded out from a spot not too far from .
It seed that they had successfully rescued the princess through the temporary teleportation gate.
Is she unhard?
Yes. Other than the sleep magic cast on her, it seems that shes not been hard in any way.
Several magicians rushed in and began cancelling the dragons magic.
It seed that the dragon wasnt serious about casting the sleep magic on the princess because she relatively quickly regained her consciousness after five magicians collapsed out of exhaustion.
Where am I
Your Highness!
Is it you, Serel?
The princesss soft, frail-sounding voice caused Serel, ever her loyal servant, to break down in a flood of tears. The princess seed a bit overwheld by her surroundings but still gently patted Serel on her back to calm her down.
After the lady-in-waiting had cald down, Yulkelis stepped up as the leader of the expedition and explained what happened so far, eventually recomnding that the princess should evacuate back to the royal castle for her safety. But then
No, I must not. Our brave Sir Hero is battling against the evil dragon to save my life even as we speak. I simply cannot forsake such courage just to ensure my safety!
She bloody announced in a forthright attitude that she must spectate on the dragon versus hero death match!
-You kidding ?! What about my perfect plan?!
-But master, I thought most of your so-called perfect plans end in abject failure?
-N-no way thats true! Hell no!
Thanks to the princesss insistence, my perfect plan of taking her back to the castle, then fleeing the capital along with my daughter, was in danger of going down the drain.
No, Your Highness! Its too dangerous!
Your Highness, Sir Hero will definitely erge victorious. That is why we recomnd that
Since his victory is already assured, I shall not back down from my position!
What the hell is up with this forthright attitude?!
If youre really a royalty, shouldnt you be saying things like, Leave the lowly job of fighting to a commoner hero and let us evacuate to the castle! and then, order your unwilling retainers to retreat from here? Isnt that the usual course of action?!
Your Highness, may I be permitted to speak?
Who are you, sir?
Thats why she needed to be
talked out of this.
An average royalty wouldve thrown a fit while saying, How dare a lowly commoner speak to ! but she didnt seem like your average royalty at all. Thats why I chose to address her without holding back.
Your Highness, this gentleman is Sir Naruan, a Grand Sage and the teacher of the Hero of Light, Sir Swinn.
Everything that has happened so far has unfolded according to Sir Grand Sages ticulous planning, Your Highness.
Yes. And it was Sir Grand Sage who bravely ventured into the dragons lair to ensure your safe escape, Your Highness!
When the princess locked her gaze on , her close aides began pouring out all sorts of praises reserved for , starting from Yulkelis himself.
-M-master, you just evolved from a sage to a grand sage
-Huh. To think that Id beco a Grand Sage overnight just because I rescued a princess.
Was it because I was referred to as the heros teacher, or because others called
the Grand Sage? If not, then maybe, it might have sothing to do with the revelation that I had saved her.
This one is Vera rick Neidon, hailing from the kingdom of Neidon, sir.
Please call
Naruan, Your Highness.
Judging from how courteously she bowed her head, yep, she was definitely an irregular, alright.
The battle between my disciple, the Hero of the Light, and the evil dragon has been ticulously planned out, Your Highness. Introducing a variable at this stage could potentially endanger his life.
My conscience was pricked by the idea of simply throwing that idiot in front of the dragon, so I begrudgingly had so traps installed for him.
As such he should be able to look after himself, at the very least!
Thats why I strongly recomnd that you patiently wait for my disciples return back in the royal castle, Your Highness.
Yes, and with , too!
No, Sir Grand Sage. I believe itll be fine. I cannot, in my good conscience, forsake the one who is risking his life for my sake.
Ah, aaaah Your Highness, our princess
As I thought, Her Highness is
Hey, listen here, you dolts. Its all good and nice for you to be moved to tears by the princess. Its also acceptable to sing praises of her, too. But theres no way our hero can win against a dragon, you know? Lets be realistic here!
Your Highness, even if Sir Grand Sage has co up with a perfect plan, a dragon is the strongest lifeform in existence. A creature that a lone person cannot hope to best.
As expected of a magician.
As expected of the top dog of a profession filled with geniuses, the archmage! Sir Yulkelis, I knew youd see the reality as it is!
Thats why, I, Yulkelis, will sacrifice my life if Sir Hero finds himself in danger and protect him!
Thats not iiiiit!
Sir Yulkelis!
I am of the sa opinion! I cannot abandon the brave hero who is fighting the evil dragon for the sake of our sovereign, Her Highness!
Yes,
too!
Everyone
And to make matters worse, the princess began tearing up emotionally at this scene, too!
N-no! This cant be! I know that its super fun to watch things burning down and people fighting each other, but this is different. Youll only be signing your death warrant by trying to spectate on the mortal combat between a hero and a dragon!
The dragon is bound to notice a large gathering of people showing up, Your Highness. Which could negatively interfere with my disciples fight as well. I understand all of your noble sentints, but
I must stop this. I must stop this madness at all cost!
With how things are going, Ill definitely get dragged into the ranks of these suicidal idiots, too!
Thats why all of you must
Yes, all of you must do as recomnded and stay here. The Grand Sage, Sir Naruan will surely protect
while we are there.
What on earth is this dumb little girl even spewing here?!
Yes, if it is Sir Naruan accompanying you, we can rest easy!
Indeed, if its the Grand Sage who broke through the dragons lair without any injuries!
We shall leave it in your capable hands, Sir Naruan!
I hadnt said a single thing yet, but these damn idiots went ahead and decided it all by themselves.
Of course. You can leave it to .
However, so said that with great risks co great rewards.
Showing her the scene of our hero being wrecked by the dragon should make it easier for
to convince her to safely evacuate back to the royal castle.
As for where we should stay and witness the fight, I figured that so distant hilly location with a full view of the heros epic struggle against the dragon should suffice.
Allow
to accompany you!
Well, if its one more person
Itd not be such a bad idea to have another person when convincing the princess. Especially more so if that another person happens to be the princesss closest confidante, her lady-in-waiting!
And so, we arrived in a location with a good view of the hero versus dragon fight. But when we got there, I was struck by a certain realisation.
Ah.
That realisation was about the fatal flaw in my so-called perfect plan.
Ah, ah!
Oh, Sir Hero!
I glanced at the princess and her lady-in-waiting as the duos eyes sparkled so brightly, then turned my head to take in the spectacle of the heros battle against the almighty dragon.
-Diiiie, you evil dragon!
-Kuwaaaaahk!
Which happened to be the spectacle of the evil dragon screaming and falling down at the heros sword strike!
Yes, thats right!
If the hero manages to defeat the dragon, then Then my entire plan would go down the drain, just like that!
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