We all had curry for lunch.
We served it to the carpenters as well, and they were very pleased.
However, since rice isn’t commonly eaten here, more people preferred eating the curry with baked bread as a substitute for naan rather than with rice.
Maybe it's just hard to enjoy a meal if you're not used to it.
Well, the rice we had prepared was eaten up just by us anyway. The younger group’s appetites are really something else.
Our mentor ate the same food as us, so from now on, rice might become a staple.
After the meal, we told the carpenters to take a break, then gathered all combat-capable members for a strategy meeting.
"What exactly do we do in a strategy meeting?"
Leonis-san and the rest of the team (excluding Luna and Ryunne) gathered.
"There’s a possibility this place might be attacked. Since we have non-combatants and pets that can’t fight, we want to make a plan ahead of time to prevent any casualties. I’m sorry to ask this, but Leonis-san, would you mind protecting our mentor if something happens?"
"Ah, I don’t mind… but with all of you here, is a ‘something’ even possible?"
Since Shimaou returned, no monsters have come near this area, and the danger seems to have passed. Jude and the others have returned to Mare.
Leonis is here today because Luna has been acting strange and he took the day off from the guild. Though, I wonder if taking so many days off might get him fired…
"The enemy can fly, so there’s a chance it might ignore us and go for the others instead…"
"Flying monsters, huh… that’s troublesome. But how do you know that?"
"Due to… certain circumstances. I have a Dragon Orb that can detect the dragon’s location. This, right here."
I pulled out the Dragon Orb I borrowed from Lord Spell.
It shows where dragons are, but apparently dragons can also sense this orb.
Though I had heard from Lord Spell that having this orb would keep dragons from attacking…
Normally, the orb displays lightning-like flashes, but now it’s turned green and is giving off turbulent wind-like energy. It also shows the dragon is approaching from the north.
"A dragon is heading this way."
At my words, everyone except Rust gave me a look of disbelief.
Just because I have the orb doesn’t mean I’m the reason for this!
"It’s not my fault!"
"Yeah, well, I guess… but still, trouble always seems to happen around you, Crain."
"We were told from the beginning that the dragon might target Rust and the others. Don’t blame Crain too much."
Neither Reus nor my brother are doing a good job of defending me. It’s not like disasters happen just because I’m around.
Even Crow grumbled that everything was peaceful before I came back.
I want to insist that we’re not being attacked because I returned, but honestly, everyone except Rust probably thinks I’m a troublemaker.
But I’m the one who detects danger early and suggests countermeasures… I just want them to cooperate so we can be ready before we’re attacked.
"For someone claiming a dragon is attacking, you’re awfully calm."
Leonis said, and I chuckled bitterly.
It’s because I don’t feel any real threat to our lives this time.
"It might just be a scout this time. I don’t sense any real danger… If possible, I’d like to capture it alive. Still, there might be something else coming, so we need to stay alert."
"I see… If it’s an aerial battle, we’ll need magic and bows. Are we ready for that?"
"My brother can use a bow. Reus and Ars have practiced, but…"
"Nope, no way. A bow’s not gonna help against a dragon."
"I can use a bow too, but I’d rather be swinging a sword. Maybe let Naga and the others handle it."
When Leonis asked about ranged fighters, I listed those who could use bows, but Reus shot it down immediately.
My brother has better accuracy anyway, and while the others have practiced, they aren’t reliable enough in actual combat.
So only my brother will be using a bow, mostly for support.
"Magic will be me and Crow."
To minimize risk to our mentor, I’d like my brother to stay in the rear. He can also use magic, so I’d like him to adapt depending on the situation.
Leonis agreed to stay near our mentor as backup but said we should fight freely on the front lines. Then he left the meeting.
I guess he doesn’t want to interfere too much.
Still, it seems like he considers our fighting strength sufficient—even against a dragon.
Well, my brother and Naga are monsters in terms of strength, and Reus and Ars have gotten really strong too.
"Now, moving on to specifics—what about Rust-san and Tiga-san?"
"Hm? I’ll participate."
"I’ll fight too. I guess the girls won’t be joining?"
"To be honest, if someone sees a monster and runs away, or freezes in fear, it could cause confusion and collapse the whole battle line."
In battle, allies who panic are the hardest to deal with. If someone saw this in a prophetic dream and still couldn’t handle it, they’re not ready for the real thing.
"They don’t have real combat experience, and they’re not suited for fighting in the first place. It’s better not to include them. If Luna ends up using her demon powers out of panic, that’s even more dangerous. So, Luna’s out. That means we don’t need to force Ryunne to join either."
If they ran and the monster chased them, that would be the worst-case scenario. If Rust is likely to do the same, I’d rather he not join either.
I glanced at him, but he gave a firm nod and said, “I’ll be fine.”
---
“Alright then, Rust, you’ll join the rear guard. Considering the possibility of multiple enemies, we’ll split into two groups. Rust, Tiga, me, and Ars will be one team. My brother, Naga, Reus, and Crow will be the other. Anyone have any objections?”
“Switch me and Rust. Don’t put me on the hyper-aggressive team. Besides, our roles overlap too much.”
“Hmm… Well, it’s true that you and my brother have quite a bit of overlap in the magic you’ve learned, and it would make sense to have someone like Rust who’s got different skills… But I just thought Rust might not be able to keep up with the pace if he were on the main attack team.”
Crow’s point is valid. Maybe it’s a racial affinity thing, but both he and my brother have learned almost the same wind and lightning spells. Crow has higher magical attack power, but in terms of spell variety, there’s not much difference. Basically, anything Crow can do, my brother can also do.
Sure, the team setup is a bit on the aggressive side, but Naga has excellent tanking abilities, so the safety is still there.
“What about you, Rust? You’ll probably be facing the main monster group if you go with them. Which do you prefer?”
“Let’s see… I’ll join that ‘aggressive’ party, then. I’ll swap with Crow.”
“Crane, is that okay with you?”
“Yeah, if he’s willing and understands the situation, I’m fine with it. But just to be clear—there won’t be a dedicated healer, so don’t push yourselves too hard. I’ll be nearby, but still.”
“If we keep Caro with us, she’ll probably heal us when she feels like it.”
The swap was finalized after confirming with Rust directly.
Still… Reus, “when she feels like it” isn’t really reliable. But I guess having some healing in a pinch is better than none at all.
“…Please make sure to fall back before things get too dangerous. I’ll be careful and keep an eye out for healing too.”
“Got it!”
“I’ll take the lead against the dragon. If reinforcements show up, my brother’s team will handle them. Since both sides are likely to involve flying enemies, be extra cautious.”
As a last resort, we have Leonis on standby in the rear.
I should probably also inform Diana, even though she’s not part of the fighting force as a healer.
“I’d really rather not turn the fields into a battlefield, but what do you think?”
“Not sure if we can lead them there, but I figure the fight will probably be on the ranch side. Even if the barn gets damaged, the loss will be minimal.”
“…Can the combat-capable monsters participate?”
“Yes. I’ll leave that to Naga, but make sure to evacuate the livestock. Also, can I borrow Olive? I want to give commands directly.”
“…Is that okay?”
“Sha-raaa…”
Olive let out a slightly displeased sound, but still came over and stood at my feet.
Looks like she’ll be waiting by my side, so I told her, “I’m counting on you,” and she responded with a “Sha~.” I have no idea what that meant, though.
We don’t want to damage the land we’ve been working so hard to improve, so we’ll intercept them from the north. And maybe it’s just intuition, but I feel like Olive will be a key part in fighting the dragon.
“By the way, do we know when they’ll attack?”
“The tracking’s not that accurate. Brother, just watch the skies and alert us when you see anything.”
We finalized the strategy and each of us began preparations.
I didn’t expect Naga to include the bees in the battle, though…
Some of the newly joined honeybees will apparently fight too. But large insects are just kind of gross.
When I asked one to scout, I found it could fly quite high—maybe useful for luring the enemy. We should try to fight in a location that gives us the advantage.
“Groo~”
“Shimaou, thanks for coming.”
While I was waiting on the barn roof, Shimaou climbed up. Or rather, jumped up effortlessly. That jumping power is impressive.
He’s probably using wind magic to boost himself. I can’t manage upward movement like that very well.
Shimaou nuzzled up to me, and I stroked his head. It’s been a while—this really warms the heart. Momo joined in and we all relaxed for a bit. Then my brother suddenly leapt onto the roof with a whoosh.
“Crane! They’re here… A green dragon with four wyverns behind it. Battle positions!”
At my brother’s signal, everyone prepared their weapons. But while he could see them clearly, I still couldn’t even spot a speck in the distance…
Wait, did I just see a tiny green sparkle? Maybe that’s it?
“Momo. Can you go tell Leonis we’re under attack?”
“Naa~”
I sent Momo to deliver the warning to Leonis and the others, just to be safe.
There’s still some distance, so we should have time to finish preparations.
As they approach, I slowly gather magic power, preparing to unleash my strongest spell.
----
“Cool! It’s really a dragon!”
“So cool~”
“Reus, Rust… be serious.”
Reus was excited, and Rust was impressed, but the mood was a bit too relaxed for an upcoming battle. Thankfully, Tiga stepped in to keep them focused.
“Sigh… What should we do? That dragon’s clearly wind-elemental. It’s of a higher rank than me.”
“Crow, the wyverns don’t have much magic resistance. Want to go deal with them instead? I think your lightning magic is more than enough to bring them down. There are four of them, so could you support that side?”
“So I’m on wyvern duty after all…”
Yeah… I’ve recently started to realize that this kind of intuition-based thinking is one of my hidden strengths.
I thought I mentioned the possibility of it being wind-element… Well, it’s an option to leave the dragon to my brother’s group, but I’d like to capture it alive.
“Tiga, Ars, please continue focusing on the dragon.”
“Understood.”
“Y-Yeah… I’ll do my best.”
“Well, we can’t do anything until it’s knocked out of the sky, so just give us a moment.”
I’ve already gathered enough magic to land a solid hit on the approaching dragon. I’d like to hit the wyverns as well if possible…
I thought I’d be more scared, but surprisingly, I’m not feeling as threatened by the dragon as I expected. The wyverns trailing behind it seem like more of a problem if they get away.
“You sure about this?”
My brother asked worriedly, but Crow’s elemental disadvantage makes him less useful against the dragon, so being one man short isn’t really a problem.
Dragons usually have high magic resistance, but wyverns shouldn’t be as tough in that regard, so my brother’s team should be more effective.
“With Olive here, we can keep them in check with water magic. After intimidating them with spells, we’ll handle the rest.”
I nodded at my brother’s confirmation and readied my sword. The rest of the team was already prepared.
“I’m going to cast a wide-range spell between the dragon and the wyverns… Judgment Ray!”
Countless beams of holy magic rained down on the dragon and the wyverns.
However, the dragon came to a stop in midair and spread its wings, taking most of the attack head-on. As a result, the wyverns were barely affected. Too bad—looks like I missed.
As expected, the dragon has high magic resistance. And with its tough skin, it’s also highly resistant to physical attacks.
“Crow, sync up! I’m dropping lightning!”
“Sigh… Fine…”
“Thunderbolt!”
Nice.
My brother and Crow cast their spells on the wyverns at the same time.
With a huge crash, one of the wyverns was blasted out of the sky and fell to the ground.
Crow’s spell brought one down. Even with the same spell, his higher INT makes his magic more powerful.
The wyvern my brother targeted managed to endure the hit.
“PUUUUUU!”
However, Rot cast a follow-up lightning spell on the same wyvern my brother attacked. With that additional strike, the second wyvern went down, and Reus and Naga finished it off on the ground.
The remaining wyvern, apparently seeing Crow as a threat, tried to charge him, but Naga intercepted it, and Reus leapt onto its back.
Looks like that side will be able to take care of things without any issues.
---
"Alright… it's our turn now."
I turned to face the green dragon that had drawn close. I thought my holy magic attack earlier hadn’t worked, but looking more closely, it seems it did cause some damage.
The dragon’s once-glowing green skin now looked dirty and scorched in spots.
As the dragon positioned itself almost directly overhead, I began gathering magic power again.
"Olive, can you spray water? Time it with that dragon’s breath attack."
"Sha~!"
At my command, Olive returned to her larger form. Just as the dragon unleashed a breath attack of wind and fire from above, Olive countered with a breath of water.
Synchronizing with Olive's attack, I chanted my spells.
"Water Lance! Freezing!"
I shot a spear of water magic into the dragon's wing and instantly froze it.
The base of its wet wing froze in a flash. But even with its wings immobilized, it kept itself afloat using wind magic.
Still, its flight became unstable compared to before, and it had to stop its breath attack. Olive’s water breath landed a direct hit.
"Freezing!"
I continued, freezing the soaking-wet surface of the dragon’s skin. As a result, the dragon plummeted.
With a crash even louder than when the wyverns fell, the ground shook violently.
No surprise—what a massive body. Just as I started to lose my balance, the dragon let out a roar.
"GYAAAAOOOOOO!!"
This is bad!
I quickly checked on Tiga—he had taken the roar at close range and was holding his ears in pain.
I stepped in front of the staggering Tiga to shield him.
"Heal! Refresh!"
While healing Tiga, I checked on the wyverns.
One of the wyverns, which had been stunned by lightning magic, now had glowing red eyes and began to move again.
“It’s gone berserk! Its attack power’s increased—watch out!!”
Crow shouted the warning loudly. But what worried me even more was the effect of the dragon's roar.
I glanced over at Reus, and unlike with the water dragon before, he didn’t seem affected—he even waved at me.
Just as I was about to check on Naga-kun, another roar rang out.
"GYAOO!"
That short roar came from Naga-kun. And as soon as the wyverns heard it, they twitched and then stopped moving.
"Naga-kun!!"
"…Yeah, I’m fine."
Naga-kun was still sane.
It seems his roar had been intended to calm the wyverns.
But now, something was off about the dragon.
"Tiga-san, are you alright?"
"Ah, sorry… I was a bit dizzy, but I’m good now."
The dragon, which had been full of hostility just moments ago, now seemed confused. No—more like… it was frightened by Naga-kun’s roar.
Not understanding what was going on, I glanced at Naga-kun again—only to find two wyverns bowing their heads to him.
Wait… is he trying to tame them? Seriously? I mean, okay, but… he just killed two of their companions. Is that even possible?
Then again, Olive was in a similar state when we found her. Maybe sub-dragons instinctively obey stronger beings.
“Um… is it okay if I attack now?”
“Now that’s the question.”
“For now, I’ll restrain it… Ivy Cage!”
Both Ars and Tiga seemed hesitant to attack the dragon, and honestly, so was I.
Ideally, I want to bind the dragon with magic and make sure it can’t escape.
My brother’s group had finished their battle with the wyverns and were heading our way.
"That was mean!"
"Huh?"
A high-pitched voice rang out, and the dragon, which should’ve been restrained by vines, suddenly vanished.
Just as I thought "Oh no!" and started to run, Shimaou pounced on the spot where the dragon had just been.
"Ruff!"
"Shimaou?"
I rushed over to Shimaou, and there he was, pinning down a green object about 30 cm long with his right paw. The tiny creature was fluttering its wings—it must be the dragon.
"I see… just like Olive, it can shrink. Thanks, Shimaou."
"Grrrr~"
I thanked Shimaou and had him continue restraining it for now. I brought out a cage I had prepared for small creatures like Yakokko, placed the dragon inside, and cast Reflection to prevent it from breaking the cage with magic.
We managed to capture the dragon just as planned, but the ending felt strangely anticlimactic.
"So… what do dragons eat?"
My brother was already worrying about its diet, even though we weren’t planning to keep it…
The whole point of capturing it was to use it as an intermediary with the dragon elders—not to keep it as a pet.
“Naga-kun.”
“…No way.”
Apparently, he had no intention of taming it. That was a relief.
But the two wyverns behind him definitely looked tamed.
They were big enough to carry two people each.
If we’re going to keep these two, I guess we’ll need to build another stable. One just for wyverns. I wonder if there are any references on that…
“Well, anyway, good job, everyone.”
“Good work~”
“G-Good job…”
I greeted the team as the battle concluded, but only Reus and Ars responded.
“Well then, I’ll take a break. I’ll go tell Granny and Leonis we’re done here.”
“Ah, Crow—actually, I’ll go instead, so stay here. Crain, Ars and I will take the evacuated beasts back to the stable. Let’s go, Ars!”
“Eh? O-Okay.”
“Mind if I come too?”
Rust decided to go with Reus and the others, leaving just me, my brother, Tiga, Naga-kun—and Crow, who was about to escape but got told to stay.
Well, Naga-kun seemed more focused on disciplining the two wyverns to make sure they don’t attack the others, so he didn’t look like he was planning to join our group right now.
Since we’ve gone to the trouble of capturing this dragon, let’s try and get some answers out of it.