CH 197

Chapter 197

Those Who Take Each Other's Hands : Three Dragon Knights, Part 4 — The Golden Dragon Knight

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「Lexus, aren’t you being awfully nice?」

「Oh, did you find out?」

「In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve known each other for almost three years. What are you up to?」

「No, there’s nothing. For once, I’m not planning anything. It’s called pure favoritism.」

Lexus chuckles.

「That little girl was starting to look fine in a short period of time, so I was happy, you know? I’m sure there are many mercenaries of that caliber, but the rate of her growth is amazing. I wonder if she could possibly be a great mercenary.」

「Well, you think so too.」

「So, that means Miss…」

But Rui did not answer, only grinned.

「Then, whether she was an enemy or an ally, the bigger the better. If they’re allies, they’re reliable, and if they’re enemies, they’re worth fighting for.」

「Yes, I agree. I’m unwilling, but I agree with you on that one. I’d like to cross swords with her with all my might someday.」

「If that happens, one of you will probably die. I hope the beautiful one lives.」

「Again with the light talk,」

「I mean it. It’s a loss to the world when beautiful women die.」

Lexus pours himself a glass of liquor. Then Alfiris had just returned, and Lisa, who seemed to have been asleep, sat up abruptly. At the same time, Amarina was listening attentively.

「It sounds like the cry of a dragon.」

「That’s not all. I also hear a faint wind noise.」

「Seriously, this late at night? I don’t think they fly dragons at night unless it’s an emergency….」

Lexus is also sensitive to signs. On the ground, he is sometimes more sensitive than Lisa, but when it comes to the air, Amarina has a slight advantage.

「It would be a flying dragon ridden by a dragon knight, and there are many of them.」

Suddenly Gwendolf spoke up, and they were all surprised. Alfiris and her group could imagine it, but Rui and her group couldn’t understand how Gwendolf, who looked like a nice man in front of them, could know such a thing and wondered about it.

Lisa, too, was concentrating and sensing.

「I see, Gwen is right. 34 riders in total.」

「Dragon knights in a place like this?」

「They’re from Romansland, aren’t they?」

Amarina replies as if it were a matter of course.

「But we’re in the Brügal territory, right? Isn’t that a border violation?」

「It doesn’t matter to Romansland. They are an arrogant country, so they don’t pay any respect to their vassal states. After all, a low-ranking diplomat in Romansland is so busy meddling in the politics of a vassal state that he has to fatten his own pocketbook.」

「That’s not very nice.」

「I agree. But that’s not the point. The question is, why here, and in the middle of the night? They are also halfway in number. They’re somewhere between a company and a battalion, and I don’t know what they’re doing.」

Miranda makes the point realistically. Again, Amarina opened her mouth at those words.

「Come to think of it, I flew my dragon for reconnaissance, and there was a checkpoint at the exit to Brügal territory just down the road.」

「Checkpoint?」

「You guys explained it to me earlier. If you’ve caused trouble in Febran, you can’t be surprised if checkpoints are set up.」

「But, isn’t it absurdly quick?」

According to Miranda’s calculations, it was supposed to be a little later. That is why they stayed in this town for two days. The time between the report to upper management and the checkpoints being set up was too soon.

「I guess the report must have gone to the guys who were on a regular inspection tour. We’re in bad luck.」

「W–What should we do… I guess the physiognomy gives it away, right?」

「I mean, traveling with this many people, almost exclusively women, would stand out even if you didn’t want to.」

Miranda’s words were well taken. In fact, Alfiris and others were attracting a lot of attention from passersby as they moved along the streets. It’s rare to see a group traveling with only women, and above all, they’re all beautiful. The horses are big, and Gwendolf is a rather beautiful looking man. It’s hard to imagine this not attracting attention.

And the problem is that the tracker is from Romansland. The largest military power in the world, Romansland is overshadowing Church Of Arnelia. The country prided itself on being strong enough to operate without the need for assistance from the Arnelian religion. It is easy to predict that Miranda’s disclosure of her identity will only add fuel to the fire of unnecessary strife.

Even if they ran away now, they wouldn’t be able to escape from the dragon’s paw, and honestly telling the truth would only sound like a bitter excuse. And if you are a military man, no matter how many excuses you make, you may not be able to get through. As they did so, they heard the cries of the flying dragons and saw them descending on the town one after another. The sound of armor scraping against each other can no longer be heard outside the inn. Hearing the sound, Amarina sits up.

「Amarina-san, where are you going?」

「You know what’s going on, aren’t you, Rui? I’m going upstairs. I think it would be better for Rui to leave.」

「I don’t mind. I’m still here to see what happens.」

「I see. Well, I’ll see you in the morning.」

「Yes.」

After saying that, Amarina went upstairs as quickly as she could. Rui and Lexus were eating the food and sipping their drinks as if nothing had happened.

In the meantime, Lisa tells them that the dragon knights have landed in this town. And that they’re heading this way in a straight line. Since this is the largest inn in town, they guess this is the place to start looking into it.

「What should we do?」

「We have done nothing wrong. But if it takes too much time, we will force our way through without mentioning the name of the Church of Arnelia.」

「Is it okay? There’s a lot of things that could go wrong later.」

「It’s more trouble than it’s worth. Well, let’s just hope the commander is someone we can talk to.」

Even as she said this, the sound of footsteps was already approaching outside the inn. The door of the inn was opened, and those who appeared to be dragon knights in armor entered.

「Proprietor, excuse me for this late hour!」

A dignified voice echoed through the inn’s tavern, and the knight who entered was a beautiful woman who defied the expectations of Alfiris and her group. Her hair was even darker than Miranda’s, a stunning brunette. The hair, just a little longer than her shoulders, left to its natural wave, shines in the light as if it were a halo. Even by candlelight at night, it must be dazzling when seen under the light of day.

And like a knight, she has a tight mouth and tight golden eyes. She was a beautiful woman, but she was also fully equipped with dignity. Only the woman at the front was not wearing armor, but her jacket was black with gold trim on the sleeves and collar. It somewhat resembled Blackhawk’s attire. The cloak was crimson, with a large three-headed dragon head emblem on the back.

「I’m pretty sure it’s Romansland’s Dragon Knight Order.」

Miranda mutters involuntarily. As a pilgrim, she is familiar with the heraldry of each country. The female dragon knight then tossed the spear in her hand carelessly to the men following her and called for the innkeeper.

「We are from the Order of the Dragon Knights of Romansland, 3rd Division! Who is the owner of this inn!?」

「Y–Yes!! It is me!!」

The man who owns the inn comes out to roll around. To the man, whose face is pale but with a tight smile, the female dragon knight doesn’t change her expression but asks him a question in a clerical manner.

「Is there a group of women with a child and a minstrel staying here?」

「Y–Yes. Because of what these people did?」

「You do not need to know, shut up and answer my question!」

At the female dragon knight’s exhortation, the master shrinks back even more.

「Are they here or not!?」

「I–In that case…」

The master looked fearfully at Alfiris and the others. At the same time, the female dragon knight also turned her gaze toward them.

「I see, the physiognomy is similar to the ones reported.」

「Tch, it’s going to be a pain in the ass.」

Miranda clucked her tongue, but her prediction was dead on.

「All right, get them.」

「「「Hah!」」」

At the female dragon knight’s command, the dragon knights who had been waiting behind her move in unison.

「Wait a minute! Why should we be held captive?」

「If you have an excuse, make it later. For now, the mere fact that you resemble the wanted persons is reason enough for us to take you all into custody.」

「That’s absurd.」

「It is worse to do something in this area that would catch our attention. I don’t see any children. Are they upstairs?」

The female dragon knight turns her cold eyes upstairs. She then orders more dragon knights with her chin, and some of them try to go upstairs.

「Hey, don’t be rough with a kid! She’s just a little girl, you know?」

「Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you. As long as you don’t resist.」

「No way!」

And when a dragon knight, who had gone behind Alfiris, tried to tie her hands,

「I’m telling you to hold it!」

Alfiris threw the dragon knight who tried to grab her hand away. The expressions on the dragon knights’ faces changed from surprised to grim, as if they didn’t expect to be resisted, as well as the fact that Alfiris threw the dragon knight away so easily. However, the orders of the female dragon knight, who seems to be the captain, are absolute, or so she puts her hand on her sword but doesn’t draw it. This is indeed different from a mere ruffian.

Then the female dragon knight turned even more stern and glared at Alfiris.

「Are you going to resist?」

「I’m the one telling you to hold it. We have no reason to be treated so arrogantly!」

「Tch, I was trying to keep things civil. I don’t care if I have to hurt you a little, and if you resist, don’t hesitate!」

At the same time, the dragon knights drew their swords. Alfiris and the others drew their swords in response, and the bar was on tenterhooks.

The customers ran away, and the owner sneaked out from the counter to watch. Only Rui and Lexus were drinking in the back of the restaurant, looking unconcerned.

「You’re going to pull the sword out and hurt me a little bit?」

「I can’t help but feel that Lisa is ready to kill me?」

「This is rougher than beastmen. So this is the great northern power.」

「I see. The people in the outside world are not so different from the barbarians.」

Each of them takes up a weapon and readies it, as if it were unavoidable. In the lead, Alfiris looks apologetic.

「Guys, I’m sorry?」

「It’s fine, Alfie is our leader, so act as you see fit.」

「I am sorry to be so thoughtless, but this time, well, I guess it can’t be helped. An eye for an eye.」

「And that means we’ll have to bring Il. We’ll break out of here as soon as we beat the crap out of these guys.」

「Umu, those outside are mine.」

「Try not to kill as many people as possible, okay?」

Everyone nodded in agreement with Alfiris’ instructions, but the female dragon knight heard them and seemed to take it as an insult.

「Don’t lick it! I’m gonna…」

「Captain!」

Just as the female dragon knight was about to signal the start of the battle, more dragon knights came in from outside. The female dragon knight was interrupted in her signal and answered wildly without trying to hide her irritation.

「What is it!」

「A big problem, the captain’s dragon!」

「What happened to Dolce!?」

「Suddenly she started suffering and collapsed…」

Hearing this, the female dragon knight’s face instantly paled. Then, she stopped once and looked at Alfiris and the others.

「You lot, I’ll let you off the hook for the time being. But do not leave this inn, get it!?」

After saying this, the female dragon knight left without hearing Alfiris’ reply.