abcnovels
Chapter 212: The Dragon Who Left the Nest
Chapter 212: The Dragon Who Left the Nest
Chapter 212: The Dragon Who Left the Nest
Leobold looked at Zigarion with disdain as he whined and moaned after being hit by the ether cannon and returning to Lare.
Wasn’t he much weaker than expected?
He understood that he was weak since he said so himself, but he didn’t expect him to be chased away by the barrage of dozens of airships.
By the ether cannon, which boasted inaccurate and feeble power.
Arma speculated that the ether cannon had an effect of piercing through the dragon’s barrier magic.
“The dragon’s barrier magic is not well understood, but the usual barriers used for city defense are weak against pinpoint attacks. The ether cannon seems to be able to change its mode.”
“So you mean it can concentrate on one point like a laser and increase its penetration power? But can’t he use magic to avoid getting hit?”
He could hide his appearance with invisibility or use his superior mobility to evade the attacks.
But in the battle footage that Arma showed, he only saw the dragon getting hit by the cannon while preparing to breathe lightning.
“It’s certain that he has little combat experience.”
He was weak, timid, and always tried to avoid fighting, so he couldn’t have accumulated any experience.
His dragon life for hundreds of years must have been filled with running away.
“He really ran away during the dragon war. He survived until now, which is impressive.”
“Or you could say that he survived until now because he ran away so much. All the other dragons are dead.”
“Well, I guess that’s his way of survival.”
But it was definitely a problem that he used that survival skill against humans or elves.
He had overwhelming power, so he could have subdued them easily, but he screamed and ran away as soon as he felt a little pain, which was not befitting of a dragon’s dignity.
“Still, we achieved our goal of preventing the airships from landing, so I guess that’s fortunate?”
“It seems more likely that the airships retreated because they were startled by the existence of a dragon.”
It was like a cow stepping back and catching a mouse.
Anyway, the airships retreated as soon as they saw the dragon and returned to their base.
There were also incidents of them colliding with each other, so landing seemed difficult for a while.
The ether circuits attached to the current floating stones could not raise the altitude any further.
They had to rely on rising air currents, but the atmosphere at 10km altitude was so unstable that it was almost impossible to ride on them.
If they went up wrong, they could be swept away by a giant wave like a straw boat.
It took at least thousands of gold to build a small airship like Altema, so they wouldn’t want to gamble on such a low possibility.
“More than anything, the crew’s physical exhaustion is severe. The temperature is very low and the oxygen is scarce, so they are all suffering from serious altitude sickness.”
They changed their altitude rapidly, so they were tormented by altitude sickness and some even fell asleep.
The temperature was around minus 40 degrees and the oxygen was scarce, so the crew’s morale was not good.
“If they just get up to the floating continent, most of them will be solved, but they won’t think that far.”
Strangely enough, the temperature of the floating continent’s land was around 10 degrees Celsius, which was reasonable, and the pressure and oxygen were similar to the ground.
Arma was investigating the cause, but nothing special came out.
“It seems that there is a fight between the airship crew and our troops. There are also airships that run away saying that you should go up.”
“We can just leave them alone for a while.”
As always, life would find a way, but it would take some time in this harsh environment.
By the time they overcome that, all kinds of facilities would be built on the floating continent, so there was no big worry.
What Leobold was concerned about was that Zigarion showed himself.
“We can’t hide him forever, so we’ll have to show him eventually, but will it have a negative impact on our plan?”
“I have something to show you about that.”
Arma showed him a video.
It was about digging something out of the land that Elvrande gained from the war.
Leobold didn’t know what it was at first, but when he saw a pile of dirt being dug up and a gray bone being exposed, he gasped.
“That’s quite big for a bone.”
“It’s likely to be a dragon. Probably one that died during the dragon war. I couldn’t confirm its species name.”
“It’s hard to identify what kind of dragon it is by just looking at the bone. What are they going to do with digging it up?”
“I don’t think even the elves on site know very well. Sometimes high-ranking officials appear, but there is a high level of magic going on, so it’s hard to break through.”
“Are they doing something sinister like resurrecting a dragon? I don’t know if that’s possible.”
“There is a possibility, since there were necromancers in this world until 200 years ago.”
They are gone now because the elves, who hated black magic, killed them all.
Their hatred for black magic was astonishing, and they chased and killed the last one and burned their corpses.
Elvrande hid many records in the Infinite Library, but they openly displayed the extermination of necromancers.
It was probably a warning to prevent such a thing from happening again.
“They killed them all and then hid and used them… They’re similar to me.”
Not only that, but intelligent beings tend to have that tendency.
There was a reason why nepotism existed.
“There is not enough data to make a hasty guess, but it is likely to be true.”
“Let’s just watch for now. It doesn’t seem like something they can do right away. But keep a close eye on the bone and related personnel.”
“Understood.”
“And did you put out a bounty for ether-related personnel?”
“I contacted a few people recommended by Prince Ruad, but they don’t seem very interested.”
“Is money not enough?”
“I guess it’s because the territory is in the corner… The established talents have no reason to come, and the fresh graduates care a lot about their first job.”
“I wouldn’t come either if I were them.”
The first job is very important for job seekers.
If they get caught by a lord with a weird personality or the environment doesn’t support them, their future career could be messed up.
They needed some merit, but the current Vanduss baron territory only had an image of a typical miser.
“But there is one talent who is interested in this side. A mage sent me a reply saying that she would consider it positively.”
“That’s a relief. What kind of person is she?”
“She’s a mage named Stephina, a female in her twenties. She left her family for a similar reason as your original body and fought as a mercenary until she decided to settle down in a territory.”
“Is her skill reliable?”
“She seems to be above average. That’s what she claims, anyway.”
“That’s good enough. As long as she’s not a complete mess, accept her.”
Once she settled in the territory, he could make her not want to leave.
He could provide her with not only wages, but also ether stones and other resources that were incomparable to other places.
Leobold gave a few more orders, such as securing the Sagris silver mine, and then met Zigarion, who was still whining.
The sight of a dragon with the size of an airship stuck in the corner of Lare and complaining of pain was quite annoying.
“How could you get hit by that so stupidly without using magic?”
“Damn it! How was I supposed to know they would attack like that! How dare they, those lowly humans!”
Leobold looked at Zigarion with disdain as he whined and moaned after being hit by the ether cannon and returning to Lare.
Wasn’t he much weaker than expected?
He understood that he was weak since he said so himself, but he didn’t expect him to be chased away by the barrage of dozens of airships.
By the ether cannon, which boasted inaccurate and feeble power.
Arma speculated that the ether cannon had an effect of piercing through the dragon’s barrier magic.
“The dragon’s barrier magic is not well understood, but the usual barriers used for city defense are weak against pinpoint attacks. The ether cannon seems to be able to change its mode.”
“So you mean it can concentrate on one point like a laser and increase its penetration power? But can’t he use magic to avoid getting hit?”
He could hide his appearance with invisibility or use his superior mobility to evade the attacks.
But in the battle footage that Arma showed, he only saw the dragon getting hit by the cannon while preparing to breathe lightning.
“It’s certain that he has little combat experience.”
He was weak, timid, and always tried to avoid fighting, so he couldn’t have accumulated any experience.
His dragon life for hundreds of years must have been filled with running away.
“He really ran away during the dragon war. He survived until now, which is impressive.”
“Or you could say that he survived until now because he ran away so much. All the other dragons are dead.”
“Well, I guess that’s his way of survival.”
But it was definitely a problem that he used that survival skill against humans or elves.
He had overwhelming power, so he could have subdued them easily, but he screamed and ran away as soon as he felt a little pain, which was not befitting of a dragon’s dignity.
“Still, we achieved our goal of preventing the airships from landing, so I guess that’s fortunate?”
“It seems more likely that the airships retreated because they were startled by the existence of a dragon.”
It was like a cow stepping back and catching a mouse.
Anyway, the airships retreated as soon as they saw the dragon and returned to their base.
There were also incidents of them colliding with each other, so landing seemed difficult for a while.
The ether circuits attached to the current floating stones could not raise the altitude any further.
They had to rely on rising air currents, but the atmosphere at 10km altitude was so unstable that it was almost impossible to ride on them.
If they went up wrong, they could be swept away by a giant wave like a straw boat.
It took at least thousands of gold to build a small airship like Altema, so they wouldn’t want to gamble on such a low possibility.
“More than anything, the crew’s physical exhaustion is severe. The temperature is very low and the oxygen is scarce, so they are all suffering from serious altitude sickness.”
They changed their altitude rapidly, so they were tormented by altitude sickness and some even fell asleep.
The temperature was around minus 40 degrees and the oxygen was scarce, so the crew’s morale was not good.
“If they just get up to the floating continent, most of them will be solved, but they won’t think that far.”
Strangely enough, the temperature of the floating continent’s land was around 10 degrees Celsius, which was reasonable, and the pressure and oxygen were similar to the ground.
Arma was investigating the cause, but nothing special came out.
“It seems that there is a fight between the airship crew and our troops. There are also airships that run away saying that you should go up.”
“We can just leave them alone for a while.”
As always, life would find a way, but it would take some time in this harsh environment.
By the time they overcome that, all kinds of facilities would be built on the floating continent, so there was no big worry.
What Leobold was concerned about was that Zigarion showed himself.
“We can’t hide him forever, so we’ll have to show him eventually, but will it have a negative impact on our plan?”
“I have something to show you about that.”
Arma showed him a video.
It was about digging something out of the land that Elvrande gained from the war.
Leobold didn’t know what it was at first, but when he saw a pile of dirt being dug up and a gray bone being exposed, he gasped.
“That’s quite big for a bone.”
“It’s likely to be a dragon. Probably one that died during the dragon war. I couldn’t confirm its species name.”
“It’s hard to identify what kind of dragon it is by just looking at the bone. What are they going to do with digging it up?”
“I don’t think even the elves on site know very well. Sometimes high-ranking officials appear, but there is a high level of magic going on, so it’s hard to break through.”
“Are they doing something sinister like resurrecting a dragon? I don’t know if that’s possible.”
“There is a possibility, since there were necromancers in this world until 200 years ago.”
They are gone now because the elves, who hated black magic, killed them all.
Their hatred for black magic was astonishing, and they chased and killed the last one and burned their corpses.
Elvrande hid many records in the Infinite Library, but they openly displayed the extermination of necromancers.
It was probably a warning to prevent such a thing from happening again.
“They killed them all and then hid and used them… They’re similar to me.”
Not only that, but intelligent beings tend to have that tendency.
There was a reason why nepotism existed.
“There is not enough data to make a hasty guess, but it is likely to be true.”
“Let’s just watch for now. It doesn’t seem like something they can do right away. But keep a close eye on the bone and related personnel.”
“Understood.”
“And did you put out a bounty for ether-related personnel?”
“I contacted a few people recommended by Prince Ruad, but they don’t seem very interested.”
“Is money not enough?”
“I guess it’s because the territory is in the corner… The established talents have no reason to come, and the fresh graduates care a lot about their first job.”
“I wouldn’t come either if I were them.”
The first job is very important for job seekers.
If they get caught by a lord with a weird personality or the environment doesn’t support them, their future career could be messed up.
They needed some merit, but the current Vanduss baron territory only had an image of a typical miser.
“But there is one talent who is interested in this side. A mage sent me a reply saying that she would consider it positively.”
“That’s a relief. What kind of person is she?”
“She’s a mage named Stephina, a female in her twenties. She left her family for a similar reason as your original body and fought as a mercenary until she decided to settle down in a territory.”
“Is her skill reliable?”
“She seems to be above average. That’s what she claims, anyway.”
“That’s good enough. As long as she’s not a complete mess, accept her.”
Once she settled in the territory, he could make her not want to leave.
He could provide her with not only wages, but also ether stones and other resources that were incomparable to other places.
Leobold gave a few more orders, such as securing the Sagris silver mine, and then met Zigarion, who was still whining.
***
The sight of a dragon with the size of an airship stuck in the corner of Lare and complaining of pain was quite annoying.
“How could you get hit by that so stupidly without using magic?”
“Damn it! How was I supposed to know they would attack like that! How dare they, those lowly humans!”
“Who are you to get beaten up and run away from those humans? And I’m also human, you know.”
Zigarion had nothing to say and turned his head away from him.
Leobold sighed and walked up to him and tapped his leg.
“You’re not dead, so it’s fine. You can heal your wounds. Don’t you have any healing magic?”
“You don’t know anything. Most of the gods died 200 years ago. You need gods to give you divine power.”
The dragon war resulted in the mutual destruction of gods and dragons, and the influence of the Holy Kingdom Palma decreased greatly.
But there were some surviving gods, so sometimes there were divine orders in the Pantheon.
The reason why the saintess led the holy knights and visited various countries was also because of finding someone with divine orders.
“I see. So there’s no way to heal your wounds quickly?”
“They’ll heal on their own. But my wounded heart won’t recover.”
He curled his tail and grumbled, looking like he was shocked by the attack.
He had been observing the ground from the floating continent for so long and looked down on them as barbaric humans, but he didn’t expect to run away like that.
His pride must have been hurt a lot.
He brought it upon himself, but Leobold couldn’t afford to have him show such weakness all the time.
He had to play the role of the guardian dragon of the empire someday.
‘It seems more like a mental problem than being weak…’
He had never fought before, so he panicked and ran away at the slightest pain.
He just needed some encouragement and proper guidance to fight well.
His power was not weak at all.
He snapped his fingers and workers disguised as golems brought a large chest outside.
“Open it.”
“…”
Zigarion looked uninterested, but he couldn’t resist his curiosity and opened the chest with his claws.
“It’s impossible for a dragon to run away from such an attack. Not all dragons are as powerful as Altema, but we shouldn’t underestimate them.”
“You’re right. Maybe it was trying to lure us into the floating continent.”
The elves thought differently from the reality, which was that Zigaleon had fled because of the pain.
They had fought against formidable dragons in the past.
After much deliberation, the Council reached a conclusion.
—We have defeated the dragon, but we have lost millions of our kin. They are dangerous, so we will prohibit any approach to the floating continent from now on.
—We are not afraid of it. We are just preparing to annihilate it more efficiently. We will deploy half of our airship power to the floating continent and start shelling training.
It was a rather quick decision for the Council, which was known for its slow schedule.
Perhaps it was because the dragon was their archenemy.
The elves, who usually acted leisurely, would go berserk when they fought against humans.
However, there was a hidden reason behind it. Elvrande was working on something with the bones of the dragon.
Only a few people knew about it, and thanks to the magic that was cast, no rumors spread. But they were definitely excavating the bones of the dragons that died during the Great War.
Those bones belonged to a very small number of dragons that sided with the elves.
It was absurd that a living dragon appeared in the midst of this.
Who on earth is that? The elders of the Council asked the intelligence agency, but there was no way to investigate it right away.
They had to be able to go up to the floating continent.
Compared to Elvrande’s turmoil, other countries were relatively welcoming.
Many of the dragons had sided with humans and Ains during the Dragon War.
There could be various interpretations of this, but anyway, humans trusted the dragons that were recorded in their history books.
—We made a mistake because of the sudden appearance of the dragon. We have to express our position that it was not intentional.
—We should write a message on our airship and patrol near the floating continent in case it shows up again.
Especially, Zaium Empire was enthusiastic.
They might have thought that they could compete with Elvrande if they could recruit the dragon somehow.
Thanks to that, there was no quiet day in the southern airspace of the floating continent, where Zaium’s airships with welcome messages and Elvrande’s conflicts were flying around.
There was no shelling, but some casualties occurred due to threatening maneuvers.
While the south of the floating continent was noisy, someone visited Vandus’s barony.
It was a mage named Zion who wore an old-fashioned hat.
He originally wanted Leon, but he had to choose Zion because it was too similar to Leobold.
“Is this Vandus’s barony? It’s really tiny.”
The people were trembling with fear because of his sleek appearance and blatantly arrogant speech.
Mages were mostly from noble families and could do whatever they wanted.
This remote barony would value talent, so the lord couldn’t do anything rash. And there were many cases where mages were arrogant and reckless.
However, Zion was not interested in ordinary people and treated others fairly, so they didn’t have much complaints.
“Zaium’s fallen noble. I lost my power due to court intrigues and came here. My original name is long, but you can just call me Zion.”
“Oh, you’re from Zaium.”
“That place is killing nobles every day…”
Zaium Empire was a country with the largest population in Astera and abused noble titles, resulting in a huge number of nobles.
The court intrigues that killed dozens of people every day were basic, and civil wars broke out without regard to seasons, making it impossible to stabilize.
The reason why humans were losing badly in their conflict with Elvrande was also because Zaium couldn’t play a big role due to internal strife.
Even if they were normal, it would be hard to compete with Elvrande.
Zion glanced at Leobold’s men and muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Hmm… Are these guys your subordinates?”
“It’s lord, not you.”
Whack!
The moment Leobold hit Zion’s back of his head, their ranks were clearly imprinted in people’s minds.
Zion raged at what he had done, but he couldn’t stand up to Leobold.
“I’ll make it clear here. I won’t tolerate any mistakes from now on. Your mistakes could kill tens or hundreds of people, so get your mind straight. Got it?”
Zion had no choice but to tuck his tail under his eyes that were full of killing intent.
Leobold didn’t want to crush Zion’s spirit too much either, so he praised his skills.
“You’re good enough to be invited by the royal family. You’ll be a strong pillar of our barony.”
“Hmm, I’m not surprised by that.”
Zion definitely attracted the attention of the people, but he was soon forgotten.
Mages were usually creatures that stayed in their labs and did their own things.
They used to use magic often for monster hunting and such, but recently they solved everything with Goliath, so they had no chance to see it.
And there was another reason why the people’s attention was focused elsewhere.
The saintess and the holy knights of the Holy State of Palma visited this remote barony.
A woman who wore a deep white veil and the knights who followed her in silver armor entered the barony with dignity.
Their official purpose was missionary work, but Leobold knew why she visited here.
And that she was looking for him.