Dragon Life - Chapter 12

The Subjugation of the Man Eating Dragon = My Subjugation

“Lutoria! Its been a while. I heard you gained some more merit in the battle the other day! As expected of my childhood friend!*”

While I was thinking, a loud person came over.

He cut off my train of thought, and I was glad that he came over. But i was also disgruntled because he was also really loud. But, when I see the person’s clothes I bow my head in reflex.

―――This person, he’s the prince.

I have passed by him sometimes in the castle, but this is my first time seeing him so clearly. Or with such a large smile.

His name is LeBlanche-something-Aruvina. In his full name, instead of ‘something’ he has dozens of names continuously strung together, there’s no way I’d remember. I think that people who can actually remember are amazing. Yup.

His eye-blinding bright blonde hair is tied in the back with a red sting, and his eyes are blue. He looks like some fairy taile prince on a white horse, straight out of a book. His clothes, while garnished with ornaments, was cut for easy movement like casual clothes. There was a dagger at his waist. I think if a commoner sold it, they could live off the money for a few years.

“LeBlance…”

“Ah, your highness.”

The captain only gives a little nod. The vice-captain bows like me but also includes the knight’s signature hand on the chest. It’s kind of cool. Maybe I could try imitating it the next time I’m alone. Aye-aye sir! Hahaha…

“So you were here too, Adolf! You also did well.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“Lutoria. I came here because there was something I wanted to consult you about. Since Adolf is conveniently here too, I saved some time.”

Ah, a really troublesome person came. I’m not really good with higher ups. I feel like I’ll get involved with some love crazy people because of them, so I don’t really have many good feelings to associate with them. Moreover, he’s a prince? If I go further, he’s the current heir to the throne. He’s the type of person I really do not want to get involved with. If I was seen together with the prince by one of the noble ladies, what kind of harassment would I receive… Ah, its giving me a headache. Can I just leave because I don’t have anything to do with the conversation now?

I quickly hid in the vice-captain’s large shadow and came face to face with a fire drake. …Its actually surprisingly cute. What does it eat? Probably meat from animals. Although if it was a vegetarian, it would be really funny.

“I want you to take on a mission.”

“A mission… reconnaissance?”

“This time it’s different. There’s a bit of a situation…so I wanted to ask you to take it up.”

Wait a moment, the prince called the captain Lutoria right? Since the Vice-captain always calls the captain “captain lu” does that mean captain’s name is Lutoria? …I don’t know because he never introduced himself. I never heard his name from the Madam either. Somehow I suddenly feel bothered. Eh, ‘captain’ is fine. It’s too much of a hassle.

“I want you to exterminate the ‘man-eating dragon’ that lives on Vizannu Mountain east of here”

Nn? Now that I think about it, he also said something about childhood friends. Maybe they’re old friends, he didn’t use honorifics after all. What is there relationship―――・・・

――――――huh?

“The rumors of a man-eating dragon has existed from a while back. Just in case I hired some mercenaries and sent them to subdue the dragon, but they haven’t come back. The villagers in the vicinity have discovered traces of a battle and corpses. They were all probably killed and eaten.”

――――Eh?

“Since it was too difficult for the mercenaries, I sent out some soldiers from the first knight corps recently. But, as I thought, they did not all come back. Over half of them were killed… I understand the risks. You’re the only one I can rely on. You’re the Fourth Knight Corps Captain, you know what your dragon handling is compared to others, right?  I can’t just let it go free, leaving the villagers and general public to fear.”

――w-wait, I just heard something I should not miss! What!? Extermination of the man-eating dragon!? That…could it be… m e?

“’Man-eating dragon’… I’ve heard of it as well. It’s rumored that it’s incredibly violent and its body is as large as a third of the mountain, has pointed, bloodshot eyes that with one look can paralyze your body and all moving things are pierced by its sharp jagged fangs and are eaten.”

I’ve heard Vice-captain’s story from somewhere else before… but the story is seriously dramatized. If there was such a monster, even I would abandon everything and run.

“I thought it might be ‘that’ dragon, but its actions show low intelligence. Villagers have seen it flying so a herd of Wurms must have moved in and are rampaging.”

Well sorry my intelligence is low. I was disgruntled but I kept calm.

“Rutoria, you can decide the subjugation troops. Actually I would like to go to see what kind of dragon it is but I’m currently being swarmed with work. Tell me about your trip later.”

“…roger.”

After saying a few words, the prince left like the storm.** However, he seemed to have noticed my presence and left with a wink in my direction. I’m getting goosebumps. This is my first time seeing a man wink. Even if he is a handsome prince, so I can barely comprehend this. I think I’ll have a heart attack if the Vice-captain did it. …uhya, I imagined it.

“Adolf, rumor details.”

“I don’t know the specifics myself but apparently it resided on the largest mountain of the Vizannu Mountains, the one with Tienu village at the base. Apparently sometimes its cries can be heard, so it’s definitely there.”

“Tienu Village… Tienu”

The captain turned to me like he remembered something.

“Vito, from Tienu, correct?”

Ah, so he remembered that when I introduced myself I had Tienu as my last name. I’m surprised. The Vice-captain also looked surprised, and muttered ‘now that you mention it’ to himself.

“Do you know anything about this, Vito?”

I hesitated. I can’t slip up and say ‘it’s me’.

Comparing the two before me, I pondered what to do, and in the end decided to only tell things that would do no harm.

“Yes, even in my village there were some people who went into the mountains and never returned. After that everyone got scared and stopped going into the mountains.”

“Has anyone seen the dragon?”

“Not that I know of, sorry…”

It might have been a mistake to make Tienu Village my hometown. Apparently its become a little famous because of the man-eating dragon.

The two asked me a few questions but I never answered in detail. Maybe they believed me, but they didn’t ask me any more questions after that.

I am very thankfull.

＊＊＊

The Captain and his comrades left early the next morning.

Apparently the members of the subjugation troops were the captain and vice-captain, Rance and Stefano and a few other knights. Since they’re going there using the Fire-drakes, they’re all Dragon Riders.

When they were leaving I saw them off, and the captain’s braid then was really, really cute. Since long braids gets in the way of riding fire drakes, it was neatly put away. His hair is thin, so it must have been pretty easy to put together. Half of his hair is braided neatly like a farm*** and usually wild hair is tamed to a smooth wave. It kind of looks like the hairstyle of a noble’s daughter. It really suited him. More like it looked really cute. Hey, can you please wear a dress? A wedding dress would really suit you!

Since I saw something nice from the morning, my will to do my work increased.

Besides, there is no dragon on that mountain so I don’t need to worry. Because that very dragon is here, cleaning.

So I saw them off with confidence.

I saw them off but.

“Hm…?”

While I was wondering what Nasso would make for dinner today, I felt that something was off.

I wonder what it is. Something is making me anxious. I tried to think of various things, but I still couldn’t figure out what it was.

―――Speaking of which.

I suddenly remembered something the prince said yesterday.

“Since it was too difficult for the mercenaries, I sent out some soldiers from the first knight corps recently. But, as I thought, they did not all come back. Over half of them were killed.”

Something is off? Since I was panicking then, I didn’t notice anything weird. But now that I am calm and looking back, something is definitely weird.

Over half was killed? That mean about half of them returned alive.

When I fought against people, I didn’t let even a single one escape.

I don’t know what they mean by recently, but I’ve been here among people for several months now.

Since I was getting hungry, I was thinking of going to a faraway place and eating someone with magical powers.

Could the ‘recently’ the prince mentioned really be ‘the other day’?****

But I am not at Vizannu Mountain.

…then the Man-eating dragon that mountain is?

Early release! I had some time on my hands, and this chapter wasn’t so bad.

**TN: I’m not really sure what they meant, maybe something like ‘he left as quickly as he came’?

***TN: I’m guessing something like French braids, or cornrows. He probably has something like an elaborate French braid.

****TN: The kanji used here was 先日 with means the other day, but it could also mean recently.