Chapter 87 – Rescue Operation 3 Part 2
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
Gloria came up to me and bared her fangs menacingly.
“Gaoooo!”
I only heard a cute girly voice shouting ‘Gaooo!’, but those around should have heard a frightening dragon’s roar instead.
When I opened a virtual window to display overhead footage being taken by one of the drones, I found that many nobles were leaning out of the windows and balcony of the castle’s fourth floor to observe what was happening just as planned. The prime minister and the king were among the crowd as well.
Good. There’s no meaning in performing a show without an audience after all.
Footage of the castle wall right behind Gloria which was taken from right above it was displayed on a separate smaller virtual window. Some castle guards were sneakily positioning four ballistae on top of the ramparts.
I thought I already told them that it was useless.
(Gloria, behind you.)
“Yes?”
Gloria obediently turned around and saw the castle guards sneaking around behind her.
“Hey! The castle guards over there! Don’t try to do anything stupid and just run! You’re gonna get killed!”
I’m not sure if they heard me or not, but the guards started backing away from the ballistae.
“Chief, what are those?”
(They’re weapons used by humans. They wanted to hurt Gloria with those.)
“……It looks like they really are underestimating us dragons. Do they really think such puny spears can hurt me?”
(Well, yeah, I suppose. You can rampage around a bit. Just be sure not to kill them. Go ahead and burn those things to ash.)
“Okay!”
Gloria took a deep breath and spat out a jet of flame that quickly torched the ballistae positioned on top of the wall one after another.
Her fire breath didn’t seem to be just normal flames. It turned the ballistae into burnt dregs in a matter of seconds, and they collapse into blackened heaps.
Gloria looked up at the sky and unleashed a roar even more deafening than the previous ones. Even the translation program wasn’t able to register it anymore.
Gloria maintained her momentum and started burning down the nearby trees, lawn grasses, and flowering shrubs planted all around the courtyard.
Whenever she couldn’t burn down a certain spot with a simple fire breath, she spat out a fireball instead.
She looked up at the sky and roared once more, giving off the feeling that her rage still hasn’t been abated even after burning the castle grounds to cinders.
Gloria raised both her forelimbs and swung them down right at me.
The impact caused the ground to tremble intensely.
Whoah! That surprised me a bit, man!
Gloria swung her claws down on spots about three meters to my left and right.
Due to her huge and sharp claws, the stone pavement got pulverized, and the impact resulted in large potholes on the ground.
She now had both forelimbs on the ground and proceeded to bring her giant maw just one meter away from my head.
“How was that, chief!?”
The breaths leaking out of Gloria’s jaws were as hot as steam gusts produced by a boiler.
(That was great. Now the humans residing in this castle will truly feel the fearsomeness of dragons.)
“That’s great! I really did my best you know.”
(Yosh. After this, we’ll act as if I managed to persuade you to return quietly to the Sea of Trees. I want to impress upon the humans that although dragons are scary when provoked, they are also smart and rational creatures.)
“Understood.”
“Gloria! Go back to the Sea of Trees!”
I confidently bellowed at Gloria and pointed to the direction of the Sea of Trees.
Gloria acted as if she flinched away upon hearing my angry shout. Great acting, Gloria!
“Gloria! Go back! Back to the Sea of Trees!”
Gloria appeared to be even more sheepish, and she stood up while trembling. Yeah, her acting really was spot on. In fact, I even think she had the potential to develop into a seasoned actress.
“Gloria! The Sea of Trees! Now!”
Gloria acted as if she finally headed my order and flapped her wing to fly up.
She was now flying, but she was still hovering above the castle while looking at me. When I pointed in the direction of the Sea of Trees again, she acted as if she finally submitted and flew away.
(Did I do a good job, chief?)
(It was the best, Gloria. Sorry about making you do something so trivial. You were a big help.)
(No, it was my pleasure to help, chief.)
(Go and fly above the clouds around the area again first. Wait for Iris’s orders.)
(Understood.)
Phew. I didn’t do anything particularly strenuous, but I still felt quite drained. When I sat down on the spot, I heard cheers go up from all around me.
The castle guards appeared out of nowhere and quickly crowded around me, and when I looked up at the castle, I saw the nobles cheering on the balcony and windows of the fourth floor.
“That was amazing, Lord Baron.”
The one who spoke was one of the castle guards who came with me from the banquet hall earlier. He came beside me and dropped to one knee.
“No, not at all. When the dragon spotted the ballistae, I honestly thought it was all over.”
“We’re truly sorry. We failed to abide by your orders.”
“I just hope you all learned your lesson. The next time you anger a dragon, you might really lose your lives.”
“Yes, we shall take this lesson to heart.”
When I looked around, I noticed that around twenty or so guards were now kneeling toward me. I guess I managed to earn their respect huh. Though, in truth, we only performed a little play for them to see.
Phew. In any case, it looks like the strategy was a success. Selena and the others were able to board the carriage safely while Gloria was going about burning stuff to the ground. No one was able to notice them.
Now, we only need to wait until the end of the banquet.
“Lord Corinth, His Majesty is summoning you for an audience. He would like you to head back to the banquet hall as soon as you’re feeling better.”
“I understand.”
Since the king was calling, that means I had to rush to his side immediately. When I started heading back to the banquet hall, five castle guards wordlessly took the lead, and five more followed me from behind.
Just what did they mean by this? I hope they aren’t doing this to apprehend me or something. I’ll just have to pray that’s not the case.
When we arrived back at the banquet hall and went inside, the nobles within gave me a round of applause.
Because it was the king who summoned me, I approached the royal table and knelt five meters away from where the king was sitting.
“I allow you to raise your head.”
“I’m truly sorry, Your Majesty. The castle ended up getting damaged. All responsibility lies with me.”
I was welcomed with applause after all. I suppose it’s just proper to humble myself like this. And it’s true that the responsibility for all the damage caused lied with me anyway.
“No, it is fine. Rather, I should say that we are most fortunate that the damage to the castle is only to this extent. If it weren’t for those ballistae drawing the dragon’s ire, perhaps it might have simply left without causing so much trouble.”
“I am of the same opinion. As you have all witnessed, a creature like that isn’t something humans can normally stand up to. It is simply seeking death if one provokes its ire.”
“Fumu. But you yourself have managed to slay a dragon though.”
“……That is true. However, that was nothing but pure luck. I have no confidence I can come out alive if such a thing happens to me again.”
“……That is reasonable. I didn’t expect it to be such a fearsome creature…… You are truly an honest and upright man, Lord Corinth. ……Just why did the dragon show up here at the royal castle, to begin with though?”
“……That I don’t know, Your Majesty. That dragon was the one I met previously. I’m not sure of the exact reason, but since she came to the castle while I was here, perhaps she simply wanted to see me. However, perhaps since I look nothing like my appearance when I met her previously, perhaps she failed to recognize me at first.”
“……It did indeed feel that way. However, it did obey your words in the end, did it not?”
“Yes. It was quite a close call. Perhaps it was just too agitated. Though I cannot confirm any of my conjectures at present.”
“In the end, we know next to nothing at all. However, everyone present no longer doubts that you indeed possess the courage to confront a dragon on your own.
Lord Corinth, well done on confronting the dragon. You have rendered great merit once more.”
“Yes! I am truly grateful for such overwhelming praise.”
Afterward, the king himself took the lead in offering a toast, and the celebration banquet continued on without any more trouble. Judging from the atmosphere of the place, it looks like they treated it as if I actually managed to defeat the dragon.
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