NOTE FROM TL: As per the blog post last week, I am still busy this time of the year due to university. I managed to finish this one due to a sliver of free time I managed to afford from all the work. Since I will still be preoccupied for this month, I can’t guarantee any ETA on The Legend of the Dragon 3, the next release.
Previous Chapter: The Legend of the Dragon 1
Dragon knight Muller caught sight of the demonic creature attacking the young woman.
“Nice, looks like we’ll make it in time!”
First, he caught the beast’s attention with his wyvern’s roar. For a moment, the beast stopped in its tracks, buying time for them to put themselves in between the woman and the beast.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Attacking people is bad! What say we punish it, partner? Give ‘em a taste of your flame bullet!”
The wyvern let out a ball of flame, an attack which uses magic isolated from mankind. The beast was engulfed in hell-like fire, turning it into a flaming carcass. In the span of just a few seconds, the 6-legged beast was dead.
“Heh, could’ve been bad if it ate us.”
He let out his honest thoughts on the matter. Turning back, he saw the young woman looking up at him, shaking. He has to convince the scared woman to let her guard down since it was okay now. Muller jumped from his wyvern to the ground and stood before the woman. Removing his metal combat helmet, he let out a smile and stretched out his hand.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
The woman was still a bit stiff. Her life was in danger so it was understandable. Slowly but surely, she reached out for his hand.
“T-Thank you.”
Taking his hand, she slowly stood up as she looked at Muller. Her cheeks were subtly red for some reason and she frightfully stared at him with her cloudy eyes but he paid no attention to it.
After the battle was over, the SDF personnel finally reached them. Although the terrain was hard to run in and they came with all their heavy gear, they arrived fairly quickly. This piqued Muller’s interest.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. The monster attacking this woman has been dealt with.”
Muller pointed to the blackened corpse of the beast.
“…Wow.”
The SDF personnel let out their honest thoughts.
・・・
From Enecy’s perspective
I was ready to die. When I prayed to the gods, they sent me a knight.
Even if it were a normal knight, they would have stolen my heart. However, the knight that appeared before me rode in a dragon, a beast that I’ve only seen in those legends.
He… was a dragon knight.
Controlling his dragon, he slayed the strong beast that was trying to attack me in a short amount of time. The dragon’s power was far more than what a mere human could do. The knight, my knight, climbed down from his dragon before me and thinking of me, he reached out for me and asked me. His voice was a bit low as it seemed like it wrapped around me. I felt like melting away just by hearing his voice. When I finally saw his face when he took off his helmet… Dear gods, he’s so handsome!!!
His hand which he reached out to me was fairly rugged, a sign of a true man. I have already fallen for his enticing features.
I looked at my dragon knight with all my feelings. As I was admiring him, several men wearing motted, dirty clothing emerged from the forest. Savages is what I’d describe them.
“Is everything okay?”
They asked me and my knight.
Ohhh, I see. These might be Sir Knight’s henchmen. Looking at them, I could only feel Sir Knight’s warm and all-encompassing care to take under his wing and feed these savages without batting an eye.
Eventually, a man wearing tight clothing came running our way, out of breath. I’m sorry, who are you?
Meh, it doesn’t matter.
What matters is that the gods have finally brought to me my dragon knight. His commoner henchmen may not have been fit for this fateful meeting but I do understand that Sir Knight couldn’t make this journey alone.
Ah, right. I first have to properly give my thanks as the daughter of the house of Wysk.
Enecy began to speak to the Lourian dragon knight Mullet and his comrades.
・・・
Looking at Muller, Enecy began to speak. For some reason, her eyes were wet.
“Umm… Sir Dragon Knight… Thank you for saving me.”
She looked at him with upturned eyes.
“Nah. It’s cool.”
His figure as he said those short words… Description omitted. (TL note: This is seriously what’s written lol)
Enecy then turned towards the SDF personnel and the diplomat.
“As for you, Sir Dragon Knight’s henchmen, my name is Enecy, daughter of Duke Wysk, one of the 3 great lords in the kingdom. As thanks for saving me, I would like to invite you all to a feast at the manor. If it’s fine with you, Sir Knight, then your henchmen may come along.”
“H-…Henchmen?”
Diplomat Kitamura tried to explain when she continued.
“Just past that point are the gates to the capital. I do not know where you came from, but I owe you sirs for saving my life. Please follow me.”
Kitamura breathed a sigh of relief at the favorable circumstances surrounding their first contact. Having saved the daughter of a duke, their image of them should be favorable too. With this different take on things, their chances at a good diplomatic development was high.
Enecy continued.
“Sir Dragon Knight, may I know your name?”
“Ah, it’s Muller.”
“Sir Muller… What a wonderful name…”
Enecy mumbled.
“It’s a fitting name for my fated husband to be.”
Everyone else who heard her mumbling looked at her in silence.
“Ah! I’m happy that you think so highly of me but, you see, I have a wi-“
“Ow ow ow ow ow!!!”
Kitamura forcefully stopped Muller from saying his next words. He then whispered into Muller’s ear.
“Wait!!! Please don’t say something that will hinder our diplomatic opening just as we found one!!!”
“See, I have a wife… If I don’t turn her down flatly it’ll also be bad for her.”
“Personal feelings are unnecessary in diplomacy.”
“But I’m no diplomat???”
“Grr… Look, if you happen to cause something that will make the Japanese government lose out on its interests, then it will also not turn out well for the Louria Kingdom. Okay, um… We only need to keep this act until we make contact with the duke so please don’t ruin this for us. I beg you.”
Muller reluctantly obliged.
“Awww, I’m so glad that you think of me that way!”
Ignoring Muller, who didn’t know what to do, the group headed out for Archul, capital of Caluamique.
・・・
At some ruins 50km east of Mt. Loode, Caluamique
Near the ruins was a human village that was quickly built. The village, which manifested within the forest seemingly out of nowhere, was populated by people wearing black robes. In their midst was a man who wore splendid jewelry, making him stand out above the rest, talking with a mage.
“Sir Mauli, we have completed the magical flame-driven tank.”
The mage mentioned the name of the man, Mauli, one of the three great lords of Caluamique.
“I see… What about its capabilities?”
“It can withstand almost any attack magic a human can do. Its armor and wheels are made of steel. No one in this world is capable of stopping this magical flame-driven tank.”
“Oh? Well, how far along is the analysis of the ruins?”
“To be honest, the ruins are so sophisticated that we are going nowhere. However, we managed to recreate this superweapon with what little knowledge we managed to analyze. The creation of the magical beasts that we could control was also created from what we analyzed in the ruins.”
“That much huh? Makes me want to see the tank now.”
An evil grin surfaced on the mage’s face.
“With that in mind, we have captured Raga. We have set up the arena to have Raga fight the tank one on one, so please, see its power for yourself.”
“Raga? The magical swordsman Raga? You’ve managed to capture that beast of a man?”
“By taking his family hostage, we got him to listen to what we say. Right this way.”
Duke Mauli Hanmann, one of the kingdom’s three great lords, and the mage went to the arena set up in the village’s heart.
In the past, the wide, circular, hastily-built arena was the site of many experiments on magical beasts. Mauli Hanmann took his seat at a seat reserved for nobility.
“Can’t wait to see the magical swordsman, Raga, fight!”
The magical swordsman Raga, said to be Caluamique’s strongest man, makes great use of the legendary blade and armor his ancestors procured from the same ruins that were nearby, earning the admiration of the kingdom and its people. His legendary strength is said to be strong enough to single-handedly take on 200 knights and come out victorious.
“First, we will have him fight against a beast. By putting a value on Raga’s power, we can better measure the power of the magical flame-driven tank once he faces it.”
At the mage’s signal, a man was taken to the center of the arena. His hands were bound by cuffs and his neck was collared. As these shackles were removed, a box was laid out before him.
“Open it.”
He opened the box.
“Are you sure? Once I get my equipment back, I will kill all of you and leave nothing standing.”
“Do that and your family will die. It doesn’t matter to us. If you win in the second round, we will set you and your family free, as well as give you enough gold to live out your entire lives.”
“Once I am fully equipped, no one can stand before me.”
Once he secures two victories and the safety of his family, Raga intends to bring those that took them hostage to his own brand of justice. With this, he dons his equipment. With the legendary blade Vilun from ages past in his hand and the legendary armor Rin to protect him, he now possessed otherworldly power in his hands. Timing it with Raga’s preparation, the announcer’s voice sent the arena to motion.
“Good day everyone! Today you will be able to witness a match fought by that magic swordsman, Raga! For his first opponent…”
Drums began to thunder across the arena.
“A sufficiently strong magical beast… It’s the 12-horned beast!!! Protected by its steel-like fur, the 12-horned beast can easily deflect swords and requires an entire group of knights to bring down! How will it fare against Raga?!”
“Begin!!!”
The doors opposite to where Raga was was opened and from it emerged an angry 12-horned beast.
Grrrrr…
The beast was itching to kill.
Raga raised his legendary blade, infusing it with magical power. The crest edged onto the blade began to glow a bright blue before the whole blade itself was engulfed in the aura.
“Hoho…”
Mauli Hanmann was enthralled by the fight.
ROAAAR!!!
The magical beast began its charge with its hard horns pointed at Raga. Taking his time, Raga readied his blade.
“Hiya!”
Raga’s first strike…
The magical beast, which couldn’t even manage to make contact with Raga, smashed into the wall with its momentum. A heavy sound shook the arena. The beast, with its head separated from its body, lay dead on the ground.
“It only took one strike?!”
The arena erupted in hushes at the power displayed by Raga in what can be said to be an instant kill.
“Oi! Will that weapon of yours be alright? Can it really defeat that beast of a man down there?”
Mauli Hanmann asked the mage next to him.
“Yes. There is nothing to fret about. While the magical flame-driven tank needs 4 mages to operate it, its power is nothing short of staggering.”
Mauli pondered.
“Let’s move to the next match!!!”
Out from a different gate from before emerged something. If there were any contemporary age people watching this match, they’d probably think it was a small tank without any sort of gun.
“How odd.”
Raga offered his frank impressions.
“Begin!!!”
At the same time as the signal, the tank was suddenly wrapped in flames. Like before, Raga infused his blade with magical power.
“I do not know what kind of beast this is, but there is nothing that this blade cannot defeat!”
The flame-engulfed tank began its charge against Raga. Its speed far surpassed that of a human at running pace. Narrowly avoiding the tank’s charge, Raga struck the tank with his blade.
A sharp, metallic sound rang out across the arena.
“Huh?!”
The blade was chipped off. Meanwhile, the tank suffered no damage from the hit as it turned to face Raga.
“Ngghh!!!”
Raga began to growl as flames began to form on his blade.
“Is that…?!”
“Hmm. He may be gathering explosion magic at the tip of his blade to use a technique specialized in piercing armor. Mana Strike, if I recall correctly.”
“Graaaaaagh!!!”
With a shout brimming with energy, Raga began to run towards the tank.
WoooOOOOOO
A blue ball of light shined on the tip of the blade as Raga unleashed his strike at ungodly speeds. A strike backed up by so much magical power can go through the thickest of armor. Using the technique he continued to refine, Raga struck the tank.
An explosion emerged in the arena, engulfing the vicinity in a cloud of dust.
“What power! I guess him being designated the strongest wasn’t just for show.”
Everyone in the arena thought so. The showdown was already decided from the start.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
An exhausted expression emerged on Raga’s face.
“N-No way!!!”
The cloud of dust cleared. The magical flame-driven tank, having received two blows from Raga, continued to move as if nothing happened.
“Sir Mauli, that tank isn’t made to only move.”
At the mage’s signal, the flames around the tank grew stronger.
“What the hell is it going to do now?!”
Letting out a deep growl, the flame-engulfed tank unleashed a ball of flames towards Raga.
“Hoho!!! A flame bullet!!!”
For every 5 seconds, the tank loosed a flame bullet.
“Tsk!”
Raga dodged all the fireballs but…
“Ack! Fuck!!!”
As it continued to spout flames, the charging tank set fire onto Raga. Beset by flames, he fell to the ground like a doll.
Silence…
“What the hell… It defeated that Raga like he was nothing.”
It was an appalling sight.
“Heh… HAHAHAHAHA!!! That was great!!!”
“Heh. I am honored to be the recipient of your praise. No one in this world can stand up to the tank. With the ores we have, we could create 20.”
“Oh? I can get my hands on 20 of those things? That’s more than enough! As soon as they’re ready, we will move. Waizer, Duke Ioan’s town, will fall!!! His domain is rife with those magical ores! Hahaha! This kingdom is as good as mine!”
Mauli Hanmann raised his hands in victory.
“Sir Mauli, what do we do with Raga’s family?”
“Right. We planned to feed them to the monsters, right? Do with them as you wish.”
“Of course.”
One of Caluamique’s 3 great lords, Mauli Hanmann, steadily proceeded with his plans of conquest.
・・・
Wysk Manor, Archul, Caluamique
What the hell happened?
Duke Wysk, one of the kingdom’s 3 great lords, upon listening to his daughter’s explanation, clutched his head in confusion.
Organizing what had happened…
Today, his daughter, Enecy, despite having been warned, disobeyed his orders and ventured outside the capital’s walls to look for flowers as decorations for the Founding Festival. There, she was chanced upon by a 12-horned beast, which wasn’t caught by their patrols. It was a life-threatening situation. He couldn’t bear to let her go out anymore without any escort. There, a gallant knight riding a dragon appeared, easily killing off the 12-horned beast and saving Enecy.The timing felt too good for a story. It felt too manufactured.
Then, there are these dirty men wearing green patterned clothing right in front of him. They were clearly barbarians. Probably the henchmen of the dragon knight. Right now there were 2 people in front of him who at least have decent appearances: The dragon knight named Muller whom his daughter explained to him in great confidence and the foreigner named Kitamura.
According to them, the dragon was left behind in the forest. In the end, what’s undisputable is that they saved his daughter’s life.
“Thank you very much for saving my daughter. Why don’t we continue our talks over a meal?”
The dragon knight and his henchmen were led into the manor.
“Enecy… You surely did bring home some weird ones.”
Duke Wysk murmured with a dumbfounded look.
“…and with that, father, Sir Muller was so strong, fantastic, and cool!!!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
His daughter’s story was going through his ear and out the other.
He doesn’t know what has happened as dragons and the like only existed in books. Moreover, people riding on them was unheard of.
How dubious…
“Father, are you even listening?!”
“Yeah, yeah, what is it?”
“Is it fine for us and Sir Muller to be excused? I want to show him the flowers in the garden…”
“Mmm… Go ahead.”
Muller and the Enecy got up from their seats.
“Alright…”
With his daughter gone, he decided to ask these people some questions to probe them of their intentions regarding his daughter. Based on his experience, this is an effective way to hint at a reward.
“Thank you very much for saving my daughter. I want to show you my gratitude so do you have something in mind?”
“Something in mind… Not really. We’re not asking for anything in particular.”
“Hoh… Unselfish, are we? Still, as you may know, I am one of the three great lords of this kingdom. I don’t think I’ll be able to show my face to my ancestors if I can’t even show my gratitude to those that have saved my daughter. By the way, I have never seen clothing such as yours before. From which region did you come from?”
“Your Excellency…”
The one who introduced himself as Kitamura stood up.
“Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am Kitamura from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of Japan. Japan is an island country situated far to the southwest of this kingdom. We’ve come to make first contact on the basis of establishing diplomatic ties. If possible, we would be glad if you could introduce us to this kingdom’s foreign affairs body.”
Duke Wysk’s eyes widened.
“I can refer you to the one handling our foreign affairs. However, I cannot guarantee that diplomatic ties can be established this way. It’s not that we are excluding other countries, but it’s impossible to establish any diplomatic ties if we don’t know what kind of country we are dealing with and what terms they’re putting on the table. Also, forgive me, but a delegation coming from beyond the sea is unheard of so there will be an investigation as to whether the country you say you come from is actually legitimate or not.”
Not knowing what Japan is and what terms they’re offering, the duke’s statement is quite natural. If they’re the kind of country that would impose unequal terms, then it would be inexcusable.
“I understand.”
“Still… It truly is surprising for emissaries to come from beyond the sea. As you know, in this world, in order to access the sea, we have to brave the cliffs on the edge of our kingdoms. In the past, there was once a survey team that managed to create small boats and lowered them onto the sea from the cliffs. However, after traversing a considerable distance, a massive mountain range emerging from barren land appeared. They were able to scale the mountains but all they found was more ocean beyond it. It was pointed out that there may be lands beyond the ocean where people live but there are no instances in our official records where there came people from the outside, let alone any army with plans for conquest. As you can see, when we say world, we are referring to this simple island of ours.”
“I see… Once diplomatic ties have been normalized between our countries, it will be possible to easily break through this formidable, natural barrier. Your Excellency, allow us to introduce to you the country of Japan.”
Kitamura booted up the laptop he brought along and placed it in front of Duke Wysk. Interested in the strange device, Duke Wysk looked at its screen.
An excerpt from Duke Wysk’s diary that day…
Today, my worldview has changed. How the hell do you put this… Today, I was visited by people who came from outside the world. Moreover, they had saved the life of my daughter.
They introduced to me their country through moving pictures displayed on a magical device. Theirs was a country that was extremely developed and had progressed far more than our own. If the moving pictures that I was shown were real, our kingdom was probably more than a millennium behind them in any sort of development. One of their points was to help the kingdom develop through its diplomatic relationship with their country, Japan. What a godsend.
However, depending on how they move, the kingdom’s survival may be in danger. I plan to pass this along to the diplomatic bureau tomorrow. Thinking of what kind of changes will occur in the kingdom moving forward, I could only feel excited, interested, and scared. Just where the hell will our kingdom end up moving forward…?
・・・
The following day
The Japanese diplomatic delegation, which was allowed by the Duke Wysk to stay at his manor for the night, were invited to the diplomatic bureau of the Caluamique Kingdom. Since they were accompanied by one of the three great lords of the kingdom, their documents were processed to the highest level at breakneck speed. During the process, Duke Wysk reported to the king to brief him on their circumstances. The diplomatic bureau received the delegation politely but they were refused for the meantime.
“The approval process will take a few days. Once it is done, you will be interviewed by those at the top. We will contact you as soon as the schedule is decided.”
During that time, the Japanese delegation stayed over at Wysk Manor at the strong request of the duke.
・・・
Waizer City, Duchy of Ioan, Caluamique
“Tsk! They’re too strong!!!”
The Phoenix Knights, the traditional knight unit of the Duchy of Ioan, the western territory of one of the kingdom’s three great lords, having lost more than ⅘ of its original strength, was now on the verge of annihilation.
The city continued to burn.
Screams of townsfolk continued to echo throughout the vicinity.
Magical beasts continued to roam the streets as if it were their own.
They were too helpless. Just why did so many powerful magical beasts appear out of nowhere? The only beasts that the traditional Phoenix Knights could slay were the granman lizards, which were comparably small fry.
“D-damn it all!!!”
In front of the commander of the knights appeared a 12-horned beast. Many of his subordinates fell to this beast. It may be powerful, but if he can’t at least hurt this one beast, he couldn’t bear to show his face around those that have died. The commander tightened his grip on his sword.
“Hiyah!!!”
With a shout, he swung his sword.
Clink!
The beast’s fur was cut in some places but its body was hardly damaged.
“Hahaha! It seems that not even the traditional Phoenix Knights could stand up to my magical army! I haven’t even brought out my trump cards! My army sure has gotten overwhelmingly powerful!”
The commander looked towards the direction of the voice. He saw a man who had once sat in the seat next to the king in one of his ceremonies.
“Sir Mauli Hanmann?! Why are you here?!”
He donned armor and wore a flashy, metallic helmet over his head but the commander was sure that the man was indeed the duke that he had seen before.
“It’s been a while, commander.”
“This is Duke Ioan’s domain! Why are you here?!”
“Whaat? Have you not seen my powerful subordinates? I’ve come to play a bit while doing some experiments. There’s a lot of weird-looking soldiers around here huh.”
He continued.
“Well, this is but the first step to changing the king of Caluamique, the first step in this kingdom’s world conquest! You are witnessing history here! Feel the glory as I send you to the other world!”
Before he knew it, the commander was surrounded by magical beasts as his allies were all gone.
“H-How dare you rise up against the king! Why?! You’re already one of the great lords! Why do you need to do this?!”
“You don’t get it? In this little world of ours, it is more than abnormal to have 3 kingdoms coexisting with one another. First, I will unite this world under my overwhelming power. Next, I will venture out into the world outside!”
“Outside?! We don’t even know if there’s anything outside… What’s more… You’ve caused so much tragedy just for the sake of your experiments!!!”
“There is an outside!!! It’s a big world out there! Off to the west, I know that there are some kingdoms and nations. I do not know what kind of people they are but with this power that we have, no matter what kind of kingdom or army they have, we won’t lose! Once Caluamique is under the umbrella of my power, we will progress like never before!”
“Bastard!!!”
Mauli Hanmann turned to the mage next to him.
“Hey now, we can’t let our guest here wait for too long. Send him off.”
The magical beasts all converged on him. As they attacked, the commander left this plane of existence.
On this day, the city of Waizer was set on fire by the hands of Mauli Hanmann’s army, reducing it to ash. The shock of this news would be felt even by the capital as the kingdom, now seeing the gravity of the situation, decided to place all regions under a state of emergency.
NOTE FROM TL: As per the blog post last week, I am still busy this time of the year due to university. I managed to finish this one due to a sliver of free time I managed to afford from all the work. Since I will still be preoccupied for this month, I can’t guarantee any ETA on The Legend of the Dragon 3, the next release.
Previous Chapter: The Legend of the Dragon 1
Dragon knight Muller caught sight of the demonic creature attacking the young woman.
“Nice, looks like we’ll make it in time!”
First, he caught the beast’s attention with his wyvern’s roar. For a moment, the beast stopped in its tracks, buying time for them to put themselves in between the woman and the beast.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Attacking people is bad! What say we punish it, partner? Give ‘em a taste of your flame bullet!”
The wyvern let out a ball of flame, an attack which uses magic isolated from mankind. The beast was engulfed in hell-like fire, turning it into a flaming carcass. In the span of just a few seconds, the 6-legged beast was dead.
“Heh, could’ve been bad if it ate us.”
He let out his honest thoughts on the matter. Turning back, he saw the young woman looking up at him, shaking. He has to convince the scared woman to let her guard down since it was okay now. Muller jumped from his wyvern to the ground and stood before the woman. Removing his metal combat helmet, he let out a smile and stretched out his hand.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
The woman was still a bit stiff. Her life was in danger so it was understandable. Slowly but surely, she reached out for his hand.
“T-Thank you.”
Taking his hand, she slowly stood up as she looked at Muller. Her cheeks were subtly red for some reason and she frightfully stared at him with her cloudy eyes but he paid no attention to it.
After the battle was over, the SDF personnel finally reached them. Although the terrain was hard to run in and they came with all their heavy gear, they arrived fairly quickly. This piqued Muller’s interest.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. The monster attacking this woman has been dealt with.”
Muller pointed to the blackened corpse of the beast.
“…Wow.”
The SDF personnel let out their honest thoughts.
・・・
From Enecy’s perspective
I was ready to die. When I prayed to the gods, they sent me a knight.
Even if it were a normal knight, they would have stolen my heart. However, the knight that appeared before me rode in a dragon, a beast that I’ve only seen in those legends.
He… was a dragon knight.
Controlling his dragon, he slayed the strong beast that was trying to attack me in a short amount of time. The dragon’s power was far more than what a mere human could do. The knight, my knight, climbed down from his dragon before me and thinking of me, he reached out for me and asked me. His voice was a bit low as it seemed like it wrapped around me. I felt like melting away just by hearing his voice. When I finally saw his face when he took off his helmet… Dear gods, he’s so handsome!!!
His hand which he reached out to me was fairly rugged, a sign of a true man. I have already fallen for his enticing features.
I looked at my dragon knight with all my feelings. As I was admiring him, several men wearing motted, dirty clothing emerged from the forest. Savages is what I’d describe them.
“Is everything okay?”
They asked me and my knight.
Ohhh, I see. These might be Sir Knight’s henchmen. Looking at them, I could only feel Sir Knight’s warm and all-encompassing care to take under his wing and feed these savages without batting an eye.
Eventually, a man wearing tight clothing came running our way, out of breath. I’m sorry, who are you?
Meh, it doesn’t matter.
What matters is that the gods have finally brought to me my dragon knight. His commoner henchmen may not have been fit for this fateful meeting but I do understand that Sir Knight couldn’t make this journey alone.
Ah, right. I first have to properly give my thanks as the daughter of the house of Wysk.
Enecy began to speak to the Lourian dragon knight Mullet and his comrades.
・・・
Looking at Muller, Enecy began to speak. For some reason, her eyes were wet.
“Umm… Sir Dragon Knight… Thank you for saving me.”
She looked at him with upturned eyes.
“Nah. It’s cool.”
His figure as he said those short words… Description omitted. (TL note: This is seriously what’s written lol)
Enecy then turned towards the SDF personnel and the diplomat.
“As for you, Sir Dragon Knight’s henchmen, my name is Enecy, daughter of Duke Wysk, one of the 3 great lords in the kingdom. As thanks for saving me, I would like to invite you all to a feast at the manor. If it’s fine with you, Sir Knight, then your henchmen may come along.”
“H-…Henchmen?”
Diplomat Kitamura tried to explain when she continued.
“Just past that point are the gates to the capital. I do not know where you came from, but I owe you sirs for saving my life. Please follow me.”
Kitamura breathed a sigh of relief at the favorable circumstances surrounding their first contact. Having saved the daughter of a duke, their image of them should be favorable too. With this different take on things, their chances at a good diplomatic development was high.
Enecy continued.
“Sir Dragon Knight, may I know your name?”
“Ah, it’s Muller.”
“Sir Muller… What a wonderful name…”
Enecy mumbled.
“It’s a fitting name for my fated husband to be.”
Everyone else who heard her mumbling looked at her in silence.
“Ah! I’m happy that you think so highly of me but, you see, I have a wi-“
“Ow ow ow ow ow!!!”
Kitamura forcefully stopped Muller from saying his next words. He then whispered into Muller’s ear.
“Wait!!! Please don’t say something that will hinder our diplomatic opening just as we found one!!!”
“See, I have a wife… If I don’t turn her down flatly it’ll also be bad for her.”
“Personal feelings are unnecessary in diplomacy.”
“But I’m no diplomat???”
“Grr… Look, if you happen to cause something that will make the Japanese government lose out on its interests, then it will also not turn out well for the Louria Kingdom. Okay, um… We only need to keep this act until we make contact with the duke so please don’t ruin this for us. I beg you.”
Muller reluctantly obliged.
“Awww, I’m so glad that you think of me that way!”
Ignoring Muller, who didn’t know what to do, the group headed out for Archul, capital of Caluamique.
・・・
At some ruins 50km east of Mt. Loode, Caluamique
Near the ruins was a human village that was quickly built. The village, which manifested within the forest seemingly out of nowhere, was populated by people wearing black robes. In their midst was a man who wore splendid jewelry, making him stand out above the rest, talking with a mage.
“Sir Mauli, we have completed the magical flame-driven tank.”
The mage mentioned the name of the man, Mauli, one of the three great lords of Caluamique.
“I see… What about its capabilities?”
“It can withstand almost any attack magic a human can do. Its armor and wheels are made of steel. No one in this world is capable of stopping this magical flame-driven tank.”
“Oh? Well, how far along is the analysis of the ruins?”
“To be honest, the ruins are so sophisticated that we are going nowhere. However, we managed to recreate this superweapon with what little knowledge we managed to analyze. The creation of the magical beasts that we could control was also created from what we analyzed in the ruins.”
“That much huh? Makes me want to see the tank now.”
An evil grin surfaced on the mage’s face.
“With that in mind, we have captured Raga. We have set up the arena to have Raga fight the tank one on one, so please, see its power for yourself.”
“Raga? The magical swordsman Raga? You’ve managed to capture that beast of a man?”
“By taking his family hostage, we got him to listen to what we say. Right this way.”
Duke Mauli Hanmann, one of the kingdom’s three great lords, and the mage went to the arena set up in the village’s heart.
In the past, the wide, circular, hastily-built arena was the site of many experiments on magical beasts. Mauli Hanmann took his seat at a seat reserved for nobility.
“Can’t wait to see the magical swordsman, Raga, fight!”
The magical swordsman Raga, said to be Caluamique’s strongest man, makes great use of the legendary blade and armor his ancestors procured from the same ruins that were nearby, earning the admiration of the kingdom and its people. His legendary strength is said to be strong enough to single-handedly take on 200 knights and come out victorious.
“First, we will have him fight against a beast. By putting a value on Raga’s power, we can better measure the power of the magical flame-driven tank once he faces it.”
At the mage’s signal, a man was taken to the center of the arena. His hands were bound by cuffs and his neck was collared. As these shackles were removed, a box was laid out before him.
“Open it.”
He opened the box.
“Are you sure? Once I get my equipment back, I will kill all of you and leave nothing standing.”
“Do that and your family will die. It doesn’t matter to us. If you win in the second round, we will set you and your family free, as well as give you enough gold to live out your entire lives.”
“Once I am fully equipped, no one can stand before me.”
Once he secures two victories and the safety of his family, Raga intends to bring those that took them hostage to his own brand of justice. With this, he dons his equipment. With the legendary blade Vilun from ages past in his hand and the legendary armor Rin to protect him, he now possessed otherworldly power in his hands. Timing it with Raga’s preparation, the announcer’s voice sent the arena to motion.
“Good day everyone! Today you will be able to witness a match fought by that magic swordsman, Raga! For his first opponent…”
Drums began to thunder across the arena.
“A sufficiently strong magical beast… It’s the 12-horned beast!!! Protected by its steel-like fur, the 12-horned beast can easily deflect swords and requires an entire group of knights to bring down! How will it fare against Raga?!”
“Begin!!!”
The doors opposite to where Raga was was opened and from it emerged an angry 12-horned beast.
Grrrrr…
The beast was itching to kill.
Raga raised his legendary blade, infusing it with magical power. The crest edged onto the blade began to glow a bright blue before the whole blade itself was engulfed in the aura.
“Hoho…”
Mauli Hanmann was enthralled by the fight.
ROAAAR!!!
The magical beast began its charge with its hard horns pointed at Raga. Taking his time, Raga readied his blade.
“Hiya!”
Raga’s first strike…
The magical beast, which couldn’t even manage to make contact with Raga, smashed into the wall with its momentum. A heavy sound shook the arena. The beast, with its head separated from its body, lay dead on the ground.
“It only took one strike?!”
The arena erupted in hushes at the power displayed by Raga in what can be said to be an instant kill.
“Oi! Will that weapon of yours be alright? Can it really defeat that beast of a man down there?”
Mauli Hanmann asked the mage next to him.
“Yes. There is nothing to fret about. While the magical flame-driven tank needs 4 mages to operate it, its power is nothing short of staggering.”
Mauli pondered.
“Let’s move to the next match!!!”
Out from a different gate from before emerged something. If there were any contemporary age people watching this match, they’d probably think it was a small tank without any sort of gun.
“How odd.”
Raga offered his frank impressions.
“Begin!!!”
At the same time as the signal, the tank was suddenly wrapped in flames. Like before, Raga infused his blade with magical power.
“I do not know what kind of beast this is, but there is nothing that this blade cannot defeat!”
The flame-engulfed tank began its charge against Raga. Its speed far surpassed that of a human at running pace. Narrowly avoiding the tank’s charge, Raga struck the tank with his blade.
A sharp, metallic sound rang out across the arena.
“Huh?!”
The blade was chipped off. Meanwhile, the tank suffered no damage from the hit as it turned to face Raga.
“Ngghh!!!”
Raga began to growl as flames began to form on his blade.
“Is that…?!”
“Hmm. He may be gathering explosion magic at the tip of his blade to use a technique specialized in piercing armor. Mana Strike, if I recall correctly.”
“Graaaaaagh!!!”
With a shout brimming with energy, Raga began to run towards the tank.
WoooOOOOOO
A blue ball of light shined on the tip of the blade as Raga unleashed his strike at ungodly speeds. A strike backed up by so much magical power can go through the thickest of armor. Using the technique he continued to refine, Raga struck the tank.
An explosion emerged in the arena, engulfing the vicinity in a cloud of dust.
“What power! I guess him being designated the strongest wasn’t just for show.”
Everyone in the arena thought so. The showdown was already decided from the start.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
An exhausted expression emerged on Raga’s face.
“N-No way!!!”
The cloud of dust cleared. The magical flame-driven tank, having received two blows from Raga, continued to move as if nothing happened.
“Sir Mauli, that tank isn’t made to only move.”
At the mage’s signal, the flames around the tank grew stronger.
“What the hell is it going to do now?!”
Letting out a deep growl, the flame-engulfed tank unleashed a ball of flames towards Raga.
“Hoho!!! A flame bullet!!!”
For every 5 seconds, the tank loosed a flame bullet.
“Tsk!”
Raga dodged all the fireballs but…
“Ack! Fuck!!!”
As it continued to spout flames, the charging tank set fire onto Raga. Beset by flames, he fell to the ground like a doll.
Silence…
“What the hell… It defeated that Raga like he was nothing.”
It was an appalling sight.
“Heh… HAHAHAHAHA!!! That was great!!!”
“Heh. I am honored to be the recipient of your praise. No one in this world can stand up to the tank. With the ores we have, we could create 20.”
“Oh? I can get my hands on 20 of those things? That’s more than enough! As soon as they’re ready, we will move. Waizer, Duke Ioan’s town, will fall!!! His domain is rife with those magical ores! Hahaha! This kingdom is as good as mine!”
Mauli Hanmann raised his hands in victory.
“Sir Mauli, what do we do with Raga’s family?”
“Right. We planned to feed them to the monsters, right? Do with them as you wish.”
“Of course.”
One of Caluamique’s 3 great lords, Mauli Hanmann, steadily proceeded with his plans of conquest.
・・・
Wysk Manor, Archul, Caluamique
What the hell happened?
Duke Wysk, one of the kingdom’s 3 great lords, upon listening to his daughter’s explanation, clutched his head in confusion.
Organizing what had happened…
Today, his daughter, Enecy, despite having been warned, disobeyed his orders and ventured outside the capital’s walls to look for flowers as decorations for the Founding Festival. There, she was chanced upon by a 12-horned beast, which wasn’t caught by their patrols. It was a life-threatening situation. He couldn’t bear to let her go out anymore without any escort. There, a gallant knight riding a dragon appeared, easily killing off the 12-horned beast and saving Enecy.The timing felt too good for a story. It felt too manufactured.
Then, there are these dirty men wearing green patterned clothing right in front of him. They were clearly barbarians. Probably the henchmen of the dragon knight. Right now there were 2 people in front of him who at least have decent appearances: The dragon knight named Muller whom his daughter explained to him in great confidence and the foreigner named Kitamura.
According to them, the dragon was left behind in the forest. In the end, what’s undisputable is that they saved his daughter’s life.
“Thank you very much for saving my daughter. Why don’t we continue our talks over a meal?”
The dragon knight and his henchmen were led into the manor.
“Enecy… You surely did bring home some weird ones.”
Duke Wysk murmured with a dumbfounded look.
“…and with that, father, Sir Muller was so strong, fantastic, and cool!!!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
His daughter’s story was going through his ear and out the other.
He doesn’t know what has happened as dragons and the like only existed in books. Moreover, people riding on them was unheard of.
How dubious…
“Father, are you even listening?!”
“Yeah, yeah, what is it?”
“Is it fine for us and Sir Muller to be excused? I want to show him the flowers in the garden…”
“Mmm… Go ahead.”
Muller and the Enecy got up from their seats.
“Alright…”
With his daughter gone, he decided to ask these people some questions to probe them of their intentions regarding his daughter. Based on his experience, this is an effective way to hint at a reward.
“Thank you very much for saving my daughter. I want to show you my gratitude so do you have something in mind?”
“Something in mind… Not really. We’re not asking for anything in particular.”
“Hoh… Unselfish, are we? Still, as you may know, I am one of the three great lords of this kingdom. I don’t think I’ll be able to show my face to my ancestors if I can’t even show my gratitude to those that have saved my daughter. By the way, I have never seen clothing such as yours before. From which region did you come from?”
“Your Excellency…”
The one who introduced himself as Kitamura stood up.
“Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am Kitamura from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of Japan. Japan is an island country situated far to the southwest of this kingdom. We’ve come to make first contact on the basis of establishing diplomatic ties. If possible, we would be glad if you could introduce us to this kingdom’s foreign affairs body.”
Duke Wysk’s eyes widened.
“I can refer you to the one handling our foreign affairs. However, I cannot guarantee that diplomatic ties can be established this way. It’s not that we are excluding other countries, but it’s impossible to establish any diplomatic ties if we don’t know what kind of country we are dealing with and what terms they’re putting on the table. Also, forgive me, but a delegation coming from beyond the sea is unheard of so there will be an investigation as to whether the country you say you come from is actually legitimate or not.”
Not knowing what Japan is and what terms they’re offering, the duke’s statement is quite natural. If they’re the kind of country that would impose unequal terms, then it would be inexcusable.
“I understand.”
“Still… It truly is surprising for emissaries to come from beyond the sea. As you know, in this world, in order to access the sea, we have to brave the cliffs on the edge of our kingdoms. In the past, there was once a survey team that managed to create small boats and lowered them onto the sea from the cliffs. However, after traversing a considerable distance, a massive mountain range emerging from barren land appeared. They were able to scale the mountains but all they found was more ocean beyond it. It was pointed out that there may be lands beyond the ocean where people live but there are no instances in our official records where there came people from the outside, let alone any army with plans for conquest. As you can see, when we say world, we are referring to this simple island of ours.”
“I see… Once diplomatic ties have been normalized between our countries, it will be possible to easily break through this formidable, natural barrier. Your Excellency, allow us to introduce to you the country of Japan.”
Kitamura booted up the laptop he brought along and placed it in front of Duke Wysk. Interested in the strange device, Duke Wysk looked at its screen.
An excerpt from Duke Wysk’s diary that day…
Today, my worldview has changed. How the hell do you put this… Today, I was visited by people who came from outside the world. Moreover, they had saved the life of my daughter.
They introduced to me their country through moving pictures displayed on a magical device. Theirs was a country that was extremely developed and had progressed far more than our own. If the moving pictures that I was shown were real, our kingdom was probably more than a millennium behind them in any sort of development. One of their points was to help the kingdom develop through its diplomatic relationship with their country, Japan. What a godsend.
However, depending on how they move, the kingdom’s survival may be in danger. I plan to pass this along to the diplomatic bureau tomorrow. Thinking of what kind of changes will occur in the kingdom moving forward, I could only feel excited, interested, and scared. Just where the hell will our kingdom end up moving forward…?
・・・
The following day
The Japanese diplomatic delegation, which was allowed by the Duke Wysk to stay at his manor for the night, were invited to the diplomatic bureau of the Caluamique Kingdom. Since they were accompanied by one of the three great lords of the kingdom, their documents were processed to the highest level at breakneck speed. During the process, Duke Wysk reported to the king to brief him on their circumstances. The diplomatic bureau received the delegation politely but they were refused for the meantime.
“The approval process will take a few days. Once it is done, you will be interviewed by those at the top. We will contact you as soon as the schedule is decided.”
During that time, the Japanese delegation stayed over at Wysk Manor at the strong request of the duke.
・・・
Waizer City, Duchy of Ioan, Caluamique
“Tsk! They’re too strong!!!”
The Phoenix Knights, the traditional knight unit of the Duchy of Ioan, the western territory of one of the kingdom’s three great lords, having lost more than ⅘ of its original strength, was now on the verge of annihilation.
The city continued to burn.
Screams of townsfolk continued to echo throughout the vicinity.
Magical beasts continued to roam the streets as if it were their own.
They were too helpless. Just why did so many powerful magical beasts appear out of nowhere? The only beasts that the traditional Phoenix Knights could slay were the granman lizards, which were comparably small fry.
“D-damn it all!!!”
In front of the commander of the knights appeared a 12-horned beast. Many of his subordinates fell to this beast. It may be powerful, but if he can’t at least hurt this one beast, he couldn’t bear to show his face around those that have died. The commander tightened his grip on his sword.
“Hiyah!!!”
With a shout, he swung his sword.
Clink!
The beast’s fur was cut in some places but its body was hardly damaged.
“Hahaha! It seems that not even the traditional Phoenix Knights could stand up to my magical army! I haven’t even brought out my trump cards! My army sure has gotten overwhelmingly powerful!”
The commander looked towards the direction of the voice. He saw a man who had once sat in the seat next to the king in one of his ceremonies.
“Sir Mauli Hanmann?! Why are you here?!”
He donned armor and wore a flashy, metallic helmet over his head but the commander was sure that the man was indeed the duke that he had seen before.
“It’s been a while, commander.”
“This is Duke Ioan’s domain! Why are you here?!”
“Whaat? Have you not seen my powerful subordinates? I’ve come to play a bit while doing some experiments. There’s a lot of weird-looking soldiers around here huh.”
He continued.
“Well, this is but the first step to changing the king of Caluamique, the first step in this kingdom’s world conquest! You are witnessing history here! Feel the glory as I send you to the other world!”
Before he knew it, the commander was surrounded by magical beasts as his allies were all gone.
“H-How dare you rise up against the king! Why?! You’re already one of the great lords! Why do you need to do this?!”
“You don’t get it? In this little world of ours, it is more than abnormal to have 3 kingdoms coexisting with one another. First, I will unite this world under my overwhelming power. Next, I will venture out into the world outside!”
“Outside?! We don’t even know if there’s anything outside… What’s more… You’ve caused so much tragedy just for the sake of your experiments!!!”
“There is an outside!!! It’s a big world out there! Off to the west, I know that there are some kingdoms and nations. I do not know what kind of people they are but with this power that we have, no matter what kind of kingdom or army they have, we won’t lose! Once Caluamique is under the umbrella of my power, we will progress like never before!”
“Bastard!!!”
Mauli Hanmann turned to the mage next to him.
“Hey now, we can’t let our guest here wait for too long. Send him off.”
The magical beasts all converged on him. As they attacked, the commander left this plane of existence.
On this day, the city of Waizer was set on fire by the hands of Mauli Hanmann’s army, reducing it to ash. The shock of this news would be felt even by the capital as the kingdom, now seeing the gravity of the situation, decided to place all regions under a state of emergency.
