Chapter 98

Greshel Dragon fiercely pinned down the struggling Lagradora Dragon. The four knights who had accompanied me as my guards from the mansion rushed out and cast some kind of magic at the Lagradora Dragon. Taking advantage of the moment, the Zero Knight quickly removed the leather belt that prevented falling and pulled out two spears from his back, throwing them at the Lagradora Dragon's face. The first spear, glowing with magic, was deflected by the Lagradora Dragon's hard horn, but the second spear pierced its right eye.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The Lagradora Dragon let out a sharp scream, thrashing about and swinging its tail wildly, scattering debris. The Zero Knight took a step back from the Lagradora Dragon, leaving the scene to the other knights and kneeling on one knee.

The dragon's scream, which seemed to be about to rupture my eardrums, left me with no choice but to watch, as I had no idea how to fight. But I couldn't take my eyes off the Zero Knight.

"First, we need to escape, Natalie must protect the king!"

"Understood!"

"Princess, please come with me now."

Natalie headed towards the mansion, and Captain Blanche, carrying me, moved with Lillian. No, I can't. I can't leave them behind. I must protect them. With these thoughts overflowing, I stopped Captain Blanche.

"Captain Blanche, wait!"

"Princess?"

"That knight, Aristide, must be protected."

In the direction of my gaze, the Zero Knight, breathing heavily, slowly stood up. Even without being told, I knew it was Aristide. He looked as if he was about to collapse from the exhaustion of using so much magic. For someone who should possess such vast amounts of magic, to be this exhausted...

A knight who was trying to bind the Lagradora Dragon with a net-like object shouted, "Sir, please step back!"

"No, if it flies, more people will die! We need to do something while I can still hold it down!"

Hearing his voice, I let go of Captain Blanche's hand and stumbled to the ground. My head was spinning from the fever, but I had no time to worry about it. Golden magic was overflowing from Aristide's body, countering the Lagradora Dragon's breath of fire. His magic eyes must have been activated. If he runs out of magic, Aristide's life will be in danger.

(Oh, this person, if he can protect someone, he would be willing to die here.)

At that moment, I forgot the fear of the dragon and took a step forward.

"Princess, you are too weak to fight the dragon!"

As I was about to run, Captain Blanche grabbed my shoulder, and I shouted back.

"I'm not going to fight! I'm going to protect him!"

Aristide's waist net contained my cloudy crystal. I had to somehow activate it, just like last time. The battle between the Lagradora Dragon and the Greshel Dragon was intense, and if I got caught in it, I would be finished.

The Greshel Dragon, having regained its composure, landed on the base of the Lagradora Dragon's tail to prevent it from escaping. The chaos caused by the three dragons had destroyed the main gate and the walls, and the trees used for cover were being knocked down.

"Mylady!"

I called out to Muriel, who had dismounted from the Greshel Dragon, raising my voice to be heard over the dragon's roar.

"Muriel, give me the cloudy crystal!"

Muriel, who had been keeping a distance from the dragons with her spear, turned to me in surprise, then ran over.

"Mylady, it's dangerous, please run!"

"I'll run after I activate the magic!"

Muriel's face and cloak were partially sooty. Her usually gentle brown eyes were glaring, making her look like a different person. Ignoring this, I grabbed the net from Muriel's waist and took the cloudy crystal out.

"Mylady, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to activate the defensive barrier! Muriel, please throw this at the Lagradora Dragon!"

This cloudy crystal's magic is modern magic from Odilon, so I just need to chant the words written on it. Odilon's simple spell, but the magic circle drawn is a meticulously crafted regular magic circle.

"At the Lagradora Dragon? Why!?"

After confirming the spell, I handed the cloudy crystal to the anxious Muriel.

"If we temporarily enclose it in a defensive barrier, it won't be able to escape. I'll activate the magic!"

"Ah, I see!"

Being protected from external attacks means that internal attacks won't get through either. While the Lagradora Dragon is enclosed, the kingdom's knights or someone else will come to help. The magic of the Ygrosh centipede crab is strong enough to last for a while. Muriel, who correctly understood my brief explanation, took my hand and started running.

"But, Mylady, if you throw it at the ground, it will be crushed, right?"

"Yes, so can you somehow throw it into its mouth?"

I remembered that when Bergenion swallowed the cloudy crystal, the magic worked well. The cloudy crystal has a lid, so it shouldn't dissolve in the stomach.

Lillian, who had come to protect me, muttered, "Ah... the princess is being influenced by Sir."

Captain Blanche, who usually scolds Lillian's actions, said nothing about this.

"We need to conserve Sir's magic, so we'll handle it. Can you give it a big hit, Captain Blanche?"

"Can I? Muriel, who are you talking to?"

Captain Blanche borrowed a spear from Muriel's back, overtook me and Lillian, who had stopped at what seemed to be the edge of the range, and threw the spear at the Lagradora Dragon while running.

"I am the captain of the unit named after me, here it goes!"

The spear, dyed in crimson magic, pierced the Lagradora Dragon's shoulder straight (Lillian said, "There it is! Captain Blanche's 'Galeo Drop'!" and Captain Blanche turned around and denied it, "No!" Her face was inexplicably red).

Muriel, who had been restraining the Lagradora Dragon, jumped towards it with something in her mouth, aiming for its mouth.

"Everyone! Sir! Mylady's incredible magic is about to activate, please step back!"

As she shouted, Muriel threw the cloudy crystal. The two Greshel Dragons, which had been restraining the Lagradora Dragon, suddenly flapped their wings and ascended, and Muriel jumped onto the back leg of one of them and left the scene.

The Lagradora Dragon, with a foreign object thrown into its throat, spat out dark, bloody saliva, but the cloudy crystal didn't come out. I immediately chanted the spell to activate the defensive barrier.

"No magic or attack shall pass through! Absolute defensive barrier, activate!"

A short spell, and a moment later, the area around the Lagradora Dragon's throat began to glow with the blue blood of the Ygrosh centipede crab. The magic spread in a ball, covering the Lagradora Dragon, and the breath of fire that Aristide had been countering stopped. As long as I don't stop the magic, the Lagradora Dragon won't be able to attack us. Of course, we can't attack it either.

The heat from the fever made it difficult to control my magic, and my red hair glowed as if it were burning.

(It's okay, stay calm, Melfi... I can do this, I can do this.)

Captain Blanche and Lillian stood in front of me, swords drawn, ready to move at any moment. The Lagradora Dragon, trapped in the blue, cocoon-like barrier, tried to fly but the strong magic of Odilon didn't budge. I looked for Aristide.

(Aristide...)

Aristide, who had been breathing heavily and coughing, bent over, cut off the magic he had been using. Muriel, who had returned, sweaty, stood next to him. From here, I couldn't see the extent of his injuries, but he seemed to be okay.

"Muriel... is that Melfi?"

"Take a deep breath while you can. Yes, it's Mylady's absolute defensive magic. Here, Sir, would you like some water?"

Aristide took off his helmet and drank from the leather water flask Muriel handed him. His eyes were still glowing gold, and they met mine.

"Melfi!"

Aristide ran to me, unable to move because I was maintaining the magic. Aristide was as sooty as Muriel, his black iron armor dented in places, and the hem of his cloak was torn to shreds. Seeing this, tears welled up in the corners of my eyes.

"Melfi, I'm sorry, I thought you had already escaped."

Aristide, touching my hair as if to comfort me, looked away from my gaze for a moment, his eyebrows drooping in a tired expression.

"I won't run as long as I can do something."

"Melfi..."

"I'll protect you, Aristide. If I don't, you'll do something reckless, won't you?"

I took the cloudy crystal from Aristide's waist and layered the defensive barrier. When the blue light overlapped and the Lagradora Dragon inside was no longer visible, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"The kingdom's knights seem to have arrived. Please rest while the barrier is up."

On the other side of the broken wall, the kingdom's knights, who had heard the commotion, were visible. They seemed to be unsure if the blue sphere contained the Lagradora Dragon, and they were retreating in surprise at the occasional roar.

"Of course, you have a lot of nerve."

"Aristide, please have your injuries treated first."

"No, not yet. The extermination is not complete."

"While the barrier is up, they can't do anything."

"I understand. Your magic is reliable. It's not ancient magic, but it works."

Aristide took off his gauntlet and touched my cheek with his bare hand. The interaction reminded me of when we faced Bergenion and the Celestial Wolf. Aristide's fingertips were cold, which felt good against my feverish body, and I rubbed my cheek against his hand.

"Melfi? You... you're burning up!"

Aristide, startled, put his hand on my forehead. Captain Blanche looked away awkwardly, and Lillian acted suspiciously.

"What happened? Could it be the magic? You're burning up!"

"No, it's not the magic. I'm fine, I just have a slight cold."

"With a fever like this, you can't be fine! Medic, someone, Melfi!"

Aristide, panicked, hugged me. The black iron armor was colder than his fingertips, and I leaned into it, enjoying the cold.

"Aristide, it's cold."

"Cold?!"

"...It feels good."

"What?!"

Aristide, noticing my wobbly body from the fever, picked me up in his arms. Just then,

"Hey, you two. No reckless actions. It's normal for the knights, but Melfi is just a regular girl. Let's take some medicine and go back to bed, okay?"

The voice of the medic who had treated me made me look up. His rare purple eyes were narrowed in a gentle, scolding manner. The medic, who seemed unconcerned about the battle with the Lagradora Dragon, slowly walked up to us.

"Hello, Aristide. It's been a while."

"O...Oh..."

I remembered that he had mentioned knowing each other. Aristide, hugging me tightly, made it hard to breathe.

"Why are you here?!"

Thank you for always reading.

On March 2, the novel version of "The Gluttoness and the Mad Duke 2" was released by K Novel Books f! The comic version is also well-received, with the second volume now available!