Chapter 23 – Phantom Dragon

We ride in the Recreational Vehicle(RV) on a road along the base of the mountain.

We are approximately 400km away from the Alsara Kingdom’s capital.
It’s not established exactly, but a national border is somewhere around here.
To get to our destination, Ekbana, we have to cross this mountain.

The RV struggles at the mountain’s foot.
We get off the vehicle and take a little break.
Because the RV attracts attention, I hid it with concealment magic.

When we enter a nearby town, Tira looks at me with a dubious expression.

「It seems to be a bit noisy here」

It seemed like a quiet rural town, something is wrong.
Armed men are all around the town.

「Adventurers? But, why in a rural place like this?」

「Seems like a dragon has a nest on the nearby mountain」

I answer Ellen’s question after confirming the situation with〈Pinnacle of Information〉.

It sometimes comes down from the mountain to hunt for food.
There haven’t been any human victims yet, but the residents made a subjugation request to the guild.

Moreover, according to eye-witnesses, this dragon is quite a rare species.
Scales, fangs, and bones of rare dragons seem to sell for a considerably high price.
That’s why adventurers from various places gather here.

「Since we are already here, let’s also have a look」

◇ ◇ ◇

「Hiii」
「No way we can defeat something like that!」

While we are ascending to the place where the dragon supposedly lives, a large group of adventurers is running down.

They are obviously tattered.
They are fleeing before they become victims.
They pass by us and quickly run down to the foot of the mountain.

「I see. It seems that the dragon is quite formidable」

That’s something to look forward, Ellen laughs fearlessly.

When we advance further, a voice calls us from behind.

「Have you guys also come to hunt the dragon?」

It was a young man.
Moreover, an ikemen with a tall figure, a type of person who can kill with just his looks.
He seems to be quite confident in his physical strength as he’s carrying a large sword on his back.

There are two girls who are most likely his party members.
Both of them are quite cute.
Maa, they can’t match my brides, though!

「That’s right, you are?」

「We are also going. I’m Gard. Best regards」

「I’m Karuna. Nice to meet you」

I grasp the presented hand.
Quite a refreshing guy.

「Gard……? Sounds familiar」

Ellen mutters and the two girls behind Gard exclaim proudly.

「Naturally! Gard is A-rank adventurer, after all!」

「Hahaha, I still have a way to go」

Gard says humbly.

「I see. The fellow who solo slain the Red Dragon and the Two-headed Dragon in the past, you are that Dragon Killer Gard?」

Ellen nods in consent.
Ellen seems to know quite a bit about strong adventurers since she’s a musclehead.

「The dragon, this time, is apparently very strong, I won’t be necessarily able to subjugate it」

Gard is a humble fellow, huh. Ikemen with a nice personality……
But, his party members retort him,

「What are you talking about? No dragon is a match for you, Gard」 Ojousama
「That’s right, that’s right! Besides, we are also here!」Noisy one

By the way, these two are B-rank adventurers.
The noisy one is a mage.
The other ojousama-like girl is a Healing user.

「It is unfortunate for you, but we will be taking the game. In the first place, I do not think that you would be able to subjugate it, though」

The healing ojousama said something disagreeable.

「Furthermore, taking a child to such a place! Pupu, are you stupid?」

The mage girl spurts out.
Gard seems like a good guy, but these two have bad characters.

Hahaha, Gard smiles bitterly,

「Howevere, I’m certainly slightly worried. You have many girls with you…… tte, we are the same. I see. Since we are all here, would you like to come with us? The opponent is a dragon. Having more companions would be better for all of us, don’t you think?」

「You are nice as always, Gard」Ojousama
「Really! You should leave them alone! How great! It seems like you guys won’t be dying today!」Noisy one

Tira angrily frowns.
Ellen seems like she wants to pummel the girls to the ground so I hold her back.
Filia mutters「New mamas arrived?」quietly. This girl doesn’t discriminate……

Maa, competing for the game would be troublesome.
It’s not like there’s a particular item I need or something.

「Alright」

I plainly OK the suggestion.

Thus, we arrived in the cave the dragon was supposedly nested, but

「Not here?」

It’s empty.
We have searched every corner of the spacious cave, but there’s no sign of the dragon.

「Has it already been subjugated?」

「No. It seems like we have passed by each other」

「Passed by?」

「It will return back soon」

The two girls in Gard’s party looked at me with faces which said ‘What is that guy talking about?’, but my words were proven right immediately.

Gou, a violent wind suddenly blew into the cave.

The next moment, that fellow has appeared before us.

Rather than a dragon, an oriental-like dragon may be more appropriate.

It has no wings, but it magically hovers in the air.
The overall length is about 8m. It looks like a huge snake.

Its whole body is covered in snow-white scales, moreover they are glowing faintly.
It looks very magical.
However, the feeling it gives off far exceeds the Red Dragon I encountered in『Tower of the Great Sage』.

「Wha…… I have never seen a dragon like this before?」

Gard stares with his eyes wide open.

「That’s only natural. This fellow is Bright White Dragon」

「Biright White Dragon!? Impossible…… isn’t that a species of Divine Dragons!」

Gard is even more surprised than me when I found the dragon’s species with〈Pinnacle of Appraisal〉.

The dragons are divided into three grades, the Lower Dragons, the Medium Dragons and the Superior Dragons.
The Superior Dragons are the strongest ones, for example, the Red Dragon fits in that category.

The difficulty of the Superior Dragon subjugation is A.
If you subjugate it alone, you will immediately be promoted to A-rank.

But, there are legendary grades above the Superior dragons.

The first one, Ultra Dragons.
A monster of calamity that will easily destroy a whole country if it starts acting violently.

A subjugation party of ten A-rank adventurers was formed in order to subjugate a Nine-headed Hydra in the past. It’s said that more than half of the adventurers died before they successfully subjugated the Hydra.

And then, there are the Divine Dragons one grade above the Ultra Dragons.

This is a dragon way rarer than an Ultra Dragon.
They rarely come down on the ground.
Because their existence itself is doubted, they are being called the Phantom Dragons.

The Bright White Dragon is a species of the Divine Dragons.

However, to meet such a rare fellow, as expected of〈Pinnacle of Fortune〉, it’s worthwhile having such skill.

…… Yosh.
I have decided.

「Let’s make this fellow our family pet」