Chapter 71 – Dragon 4 Part 3
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
“So, Alan. What do you want us to do?”
“Oh, um, we of Shining Star would like to welcome the dragon together with Gale here. Once the dragon appears, I’m sure it’ll cause quite a commotion. I was thinking if the people saw us welcoming the dragon calmly, it would help alleviate the people’s fears. It won’t be dangerous, of course. The ones who will be the closest to the dragon will be us from Shining Star. I’m sure this won’t happen, but just in case the dragon goes on a rampage, Shining Star will take responsibility and handle it.”
“So that’s how you want to go about it huh. Okay then. We accept. But a dragon huh… I’m really excited to see one up close.”
If I remember correctly, Gale was a Clan with about 60 members. When combined with us, we’ll have more than a hundred people deployed. I’m sure we’ll be able to make ourselves useful.
“If that’s the case, then I’ll have some of our men from the guild help out as well. I’m sure there would be a lot of curious onlookers at the scene, so let us handle them.”
“Thank you very much, chief. That would really help.”
Yosh. It looks like I managed to arrange everything somehow. I honestly expected having a harder time convincing everyone, but it went more smoothly than I ever hoped. It looks like this might be the result of the trust we’ve built up in this city as well.
Karl and his men started discussing with Chief Kevin and the staff member to iron out the details.
Since there’s still three hours left before the schedule I set, I guess I’ll go back to our Home first to take a quick bath and a meal. I only ate dried jerky for dinner last night after all. I’m kinda starving already.
Come to think of it, I have to tell Selena and the others about what’s going to happen as well.
I and the rest of the Clan headed for the city gates an hour before the scheduled dragon visit. There should be no problems, but I’d better check just in case.
When we got to the gates, there was already a throng of onlookers present. It looks like the story has spread to the rest of the city. Oh, and here comes a call from Selena.
(Alan, we should be reaching Gantz in another thirty minutes. What’s the situation over there?)
After I told them the plan earlier via call, Selena split the A Team into two groups. Fifteen of them headed back to Gantz in advance and the remaining thirty-nine men escorted the captured bandits and will be arriving a bit later. Cleria, Elna, and Walter were part of the advance group as well. That’s perfect. I’d like to introduce Gloria to Cleria and the others as well.
(There are no problems here. I’ve already made the arrangements and am about to call Gloria.)
(Please wait until we arrive, Alan.)
(Okay, I understand. We’ll wait for you then. Alan out.)
Now then, I wonder which spot would be best to dump that dragon corpse. It should be a place that won’t obstruct pedestrian traffic but would provide easy access for the workers later.
“Hey there, Alan. It’s been a while.”
Someone suddenly called out to me from behind. I turned around and saw that it was Silas-san. Arista-san, Karina-san, and Natalie-san were with him as well. They also had a guard detail of more than ten burly-looking men.
“It truly has been. It’s good to see you again, Silas-san, Arista-san.”
“Oi, Alan. I heard you know. Did you really finish off a dragon?”
“Yeah. It was mostly just luck though.”
“Oh come on. You can’t finish off a dragon by just relying on luck. And I was also told another dragon helped you out as well?”
“Yeah. She got pretty attached to me. Dragons are unexpectedly very intelligent creatures.”
“It’s my first time hearing about that. I’ll see for myself later then. Something like this is exceedingly rare after all.”
“The sight of a real dragon packs quite a bit of impact you know. I’m sure you’ll be able to enjoy seeing her later.”
“Alan-sama, will the dragon be arriving in about an hour?”
“Yes, she probably will. But dragons don’t really mind time all that much, so I can’t say what time she’ll arrive for certain. By the way Karina-san, where should be the best place to put down the dragon corpse?”
“Let’s see… Oh, Alan-san, how large is the dragon corpse?”
“Let’s see. It should be about fifteen meters when standing straight.”
“Fifteen meters! If so, then we’ll need a pretty spacious spot to dismantle the corpse. How about that spot over there?”
The place Karina-san pointed toward was a wide and spacious spot a hundred meters or so away from the main gate. It was about fifty meters away from the road and wouldn’t obstruct pedestrian traffic at all. Fumu. It certainly looks perfect.
“Alright then. That place should do perfectly.”
“Um… How exactly will you tell the dragon where to land later, Alan-sama?”
“Ah, well, I’ll gesture for it to land on the place where I’m at later.”
“I see. Well then, we better prepare that spot for her landing.”
I went with Karina-san along with fifteen men carrying farming sickles in order to prepare the spot she selected. Judging from their clothes, the men must be guild employees.
“Let’s start around here.”
At Karina-san’s orders, the men began to mow the sparsely growing grass. The stones littered around the place were also cleared out, and before long, a fifty-square-meter-wide clearing was opened up. This should be more than enough.
I saw several people on horseback when I turned back to the highway. It looks like Selena and the others are here.
“Oooh! Alan-sama! I’m so glad to see you safe and sound!”
Walter jumped off from his horse and frantically held my hands in relief. It looks like he was even shedding tears.
“Yeah. It looks like I made you worry a lot. Sorry, Walter.”
Before long, Cleria, Elna, Selena, Sharon… Uh, all fifteen recently returned Clan-mates surrounded me.
“Alan! So you’re okay!”
Cleria and Elna also seemed close to tears even now. Ah, look at how much worry I caused all of them. I’m really sorry for worrying you, everyone.
“Yeah, of course. It’s not like I can be finished off by just some dragon, right?”
“That’s right! If it’s Alan, then I think you’ll even be able to defeat a dragon one day.”
Cleria exclaimed excitedly with a radiant smile.
When they heard her, a subtle atmosphere descended on the others from B Team. Now then, I better start explaining things once more.
I had the Clan members who just returned gather at a spot a little apart from the people from the Commerce Guild and started explaining everything that’s happened to them. This is definitely the first time in my life that I got to witness so many shocked faces in the span of a single day.
“…And so, Gloria will be coming over later to bring the dragon corpse here. I’ll introduce her to everyone, so it would be best if you manage to get along with her.”
“Amazing…… You’re amazing, Alan! To think you’d be able to make a dragon one of our comrades!”
“It’s truly very surprising. Is this really possible!?”
Cleria and Elna both looked very happy. It would be nice if they don’t get scared once they meet Gloria later though.
“Oi, Alan! Sorry, we’re late! Did we manage to make it?”
It looks like Karl and the rest of his men from Gale have arrived as well. There were probably close to seventy of them.
“Yeah, you’re just in time. I’ll be counting on you later, Karl.”
“Of course. Just leave it to us… is what I’d like to say. But we don’t really have to do anything later, right?”
“Yeah. The dragon will be landing at this spot. It would be fine if we can project the appearance of protecting the people of Gantz just in case something goes wrong later to pacify the citizens.”
“Something like that is a piece of cake. But… uh, I’d also like to see the dragon up close, actually. Can I?”
“It should probably be fine, but wait for a bit so the dragon can get used to the presence of humans first. Once she calms down, I’ll let you come near her.”
“Ooh! I see. I’ll do that then.”
Karl led the members of Gale and positioned themselves in a spot I pointed out.
It’s about time. We’ve done all preparations over here, and I’d like to get things over with before evening comes.
“Yosh. Gloria should be coming over soon. Get ready, everyone!”
After my reminder, the people around made their preparations such as securing their luggage and horses somewhere safe.
(Iris, it should be fine for you two to come here already. How about it?)
『We can come over anytime, Captain. I’ve monitored the entire situation from here as well. Gloria has already eaten all the magic stones and replenished her energy stores. We’re all set.』
(Yosh, go ahead and come over then.)
It’s finally time. Man. It would be bad if Gloria fails to carry the dragon corpse huh.
I projected an image feed of her on my virtual HUD.
Gloria’s wings started to flutter and she took off to the skies. She then dived down and grabbed the shoulders of the dragon corpse and began to lift it up.
Oh! She managed to lift it!
However, she only managed to lift it 10 meters off the ground and was flying very slowly. It looks like it really was hard for her to carry something far larger than her.
Four drones revealed themselves and approached Gloria. They extended their Flexible Arms to about 40 meters and wrapped them around each of the limbs of the dragon corpse. They then began to fly in tandem with Gloria.
Their altitude and speed both began to rise steadily, and when they reached an altitude of 50 meters above the ground, they began to fly at a considerable speed.
Yosh. It looks like they managed it somehow. At that speed, they should be able to arrive in no time.
“It’s about time. Have the folks from the Commerce Guild move further back just in case.”
I instructed Karina-san to retreat further along with the Commerce Guild employees. I want to introduce my Clan members to Gloria first after all.
“Understood. Please do be careful, Alan-sama.”
“It’ll be alright. Please leave everything to us.”
It looks like my Clan members were feeling nervous. No one spoke as they gazed intently at the sky in the direction of the Great Demon Forest.
After about five minutes, my enhanced vision caught sight of Gloria.
“Yosh! Everyone, she’s here!”
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