[V10C17] Weight of Words

The day after Monica and Silas were tasked with the investigation of a red dragon in Dalsmore, they met up with the member of the Dragon Knights who would act as their guide.

“Hey, nice to meet you guys!”

The friendly greeting came from a man of average build dressed in the standard uniform of the Dragon Knights. His appearance of messy black hair, stubble, and dark circles under his eyes suggested he was in his late thirties or forties.

“I’m Robson from the 7th Investigation Division. Feel free to ask me if you need anything.”

Monica had thought that the Dragon Knights were all intimidating-looking men with loud voices, but Robson did not seem to fit that pattern at all. In fact, Silas, who was standing next to her, seemed much more stern and imposing.

As Monica pondered this discrepancy, Robson looked up at Silas and put on a grin.

“Oh and I suppose you must be… uh, the Silent Witch’s father, right?”

“…”

“…”

Monica and Silas were only six years apart. However, due to Silas looking like he was in his thirties and Monica in her mid-teens, it wasn’t entirely implausible for someone to believe they were father and daughter.

The silence continued until Robson broke into laughter.

“Haha, just kidding! A little Dragon Knight-style joke to lighten up the mood. I take it you’ve hired a bodyguard?”

“I’m not a bodyguard,” Silas interjected. “She’s my senior.”

This made Robson glance at Monica and murmur, “…Senior?” Going by appearances, Monica was clearly the junior in this pairing.

Meanwhile, Monica firmly gripped her staff and finally spoke up.

“This is the Dragon Slayer Mage, a new member of the Seven Sages, and I am watching over him! Please tell me if he does anything wrong! I’ll make sure to have him fix it!”

“Yeah! What she said!” Silas followed, energetically bowing his head.

After another glance at the small senior and the large junior, Robson gave a hesitant nod, looking slightly taken aback.

＊　＊　＊

Monica and Silas boarded a carriage marked with the Dragon Knight insignia, and after a journey of about three and a half days, they arrived in the town of Lugaroa, where the main unit was currently stationed.

Lugaroa was the closest human settlement to the Dalsmore mountain range. Although not a very large town, many of the buildings looked relatively new, and the streets were neatly paved.

Since it was mid-afternoon, the streets still seemed reasonably lively.

“Nee-san, you okay?”

But unfortunately, Monica was suffering from motion sickness by the time they arrived at their destination. She didn’t even have the energy for a proper response.

Come to think of it, Monica had been traveling to and from Rainfield and the royal capital, and didn’t have much time to rest after the large-scale magical dedication and her match with Silas. She had likely been accumulating fatigue ever since she left Sazandol.

To make matters worse, the carriage provided by the Dragon Knights went at a brisk pace due to the urgency of their mission, resulting in heavy swaying.

“S-Sorry… I’m fine…”

“No, Nee-san, you’re clearly not fine. Let me carry you.”

Monica knew that she would probably collapse after three steps on her own, so she decided to accept Silas’s offer.

Noticing this, Robson took it upon himself to carry Monica and Silas’s luggage. He didn’t look particularly strong for a member of the Dragon Knights, but it seems he was a man who could pay attention to such details. Perhaps that was why he was chosen as their liaison to the Sages.

“I’ll make sure your luggage reaches the inn. You two can rest up for a bit.”

This suggestion from Robson caused Silas to furrow his brow and question the decision.

“But don’t we need to meet the captain right away?”

As the man who claimed the title of Dragon Slayer Mage, Silas seemed eager to subjugate the red dragon right away.

Monica contemplated the best way to calm him down as his senior, but Robson responded with a shrug before she had a chance to speak.

“Nah, I bet most of the squad is still in the mountains right now. They won’t be back until evening.”

“But the captain is still in town, right? In that case, shouldn’t we at least go greet him…?”

“Well, the thing is, our captain has gotten really enthusiastic about this case. He’s personally taking command on-site.”

According to Robson, only the personnel in charge of communications were currently in town.

(The captain is directly commanding on-site…? Has the situation become that urgent? It didn’t seem that way judging by what Louis-san said…)

Monica pondered the implications of this while being carried on Silas’s back. Meanwhile, Robson continued explaining while pulling out a cigarette.

“You see, our captain has always supported the immediate subjugation of dragons. Even so, it feels like there’s something else driving him this time… Maybe because he’s been in this area before.”

“Sounds like I might get along with him,” Silas replied. “I’m also in favor of immediate subjugation.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Robson responded with an ambiguous nod that could be interpreted as either affirmation or denial.

Seemingly dissatisfied, Silas pressed him for clarity.

“What about you? Are you on the side of immediate subjugation? Or a more cautious approach?”

“If I have to pick, I’d honestly rather err on the side of caution. Dragons are terrifying creatures, and it’s always better to avoid fighting them if possible.”

“But if a fight is unavoidable…” Silas mumbled.

Monica had assumed he would continue with something along the lines of “I’ll kill those dragons by my own hands,” but for whatever reason, Silas trailed off and went completely silent.

Without further inquiry, Robson continued gathering their luggage.

“Alright then, let’s meet up at the station after sunset. Oh, and if you’re looking for a place to eat, I recommend going over to the next…”

“Yeah, I know… This is my hometown.”

Silas interrupted Robson and walked off, carrying Monica on his back.

He had been radiating an aura of displeasure ever since Robson mentioned favoring caution over subjugation.

Those who advocate for subjugation are often witnesses or victims who have personally suffered from dragon attacks.

Silas said that Lugaroa was his hometown, and given its proximity to Dalsmore, he had undoubtedly experienced more than a handful of dragon disasters.

Since Monica was being carried on Silas’s back, she could not see the expression on his face. However, it was easy to imagine that his already intimidating face had grown even more sullen.

As Monica was thinking of a way to break the silence, Silas spoke first.

“Nee-san, let’s sit down and have something to eat. I know you probably don’t feel like eating, but at least you’ll be more comfortable sitting down.”

“Okay…”

Silas spoke in a curt tone, but Monica could sense the kindness in his words. He even made sure to walk carefully and avoid shaking her too much.

Monica thought back to the water dragon subjugation in Sazandol. Back then, she had tried to show off as a cool master, but ended up getting carried by her disciple after suffering from seasickness.

And now, she was trying to act as a proper senior, but ended up getting carried by her junior after suffering from motion sickness.

(Maybe I need to go outside more…)

Monica began feeling a bit dejected, when Silas started speaking in a mumble.

“Hey, Nee-san. You see all the newish-looking buildings everywhere?”

“…? Um, yes.”

“That’s because we rebuilt them after they got trampled by the dragons.”

Monica raised her head off of Silas’s back and glanced around the town. The signs of repair were everywhere. These were the scars the dragons had inflicted.

They passed by a young man who greeted them with a “Hey, Silas.” Silas also replied with a simple “Hey.” After watching this interaction, Monica could not help but open her mouth.

“Dragon Slayer Mage-sama…”

“Just call me Silas.”

“Silas-san, did you grow up in this town?”

“Yeah, though I left in my late teens to go hunting dragons… Nee-san, can we take a little detour?”

Monica nodded, so Silas turned around and started walking in the opposite direction of the street lined with restaurants.

＊　＊　＊

Just how many times had he walked down this road?

While carrying the petite girl on his back, Silas immersed himself in his memories.

“When I was just a nine-year-old brat, we had a huge dragon disaster. An entire herd of earth dragons rampaged all over the place.”

This caused the girl to stiffen slightly. She probably already had a vague understanding of why Silas hated dragons. Even so, Silas felt like he should tell the story. The life of the man calling himself the Dragon Slayer Mage.

“We were holding a festival that day, and I was playing in town with my friends… Several of them died right in front of my eyes.”

With the lid to his memories reopened, Silas felt that fateful day coming back to him. Once one memory resurfaced, the rest followed in a chain, one after another.

Over ten years had passed since the tragedy of Lugaroa, and many of his memories had grown hazy.

But there were some fragments he still remembered vividly. The exact shape of the debris that had crushed his friend. The unnaturally cut-off screams. The single shoe rolling across the ground——these had been burned into his memory, never to be forgotten.

On that day, the adults had brought Silas along in the evacuation, and he followed them in a daze.

Everyone in his family managed to make it out safe, and they shared a tearful reunion in the shelter, followed by a long hug.

“Even after reuniting with my family, I couldn’t accept reality right away. I just didn’t know how to deal with the deaths of my friends. I was too scared. And then, after living in the shelter for a few days, I saw the boy from my neighbor’s house staring out from the entrance of the shelter.”

That boy had been the son of a doctor, three years younger than Silas, but much smarter than him. Not only was he good at studying, but he also had a kind of deeper understanding that went far beyond his years.

The nine-year-old Silas had been a bit of a brat, so he often went around saying “Call me Leader,” and fancied himself as the most important kid in town.

When that boy asked, “Leader of what?” Silas replied, “Doesn’t matter. Just show some respect and call me Leader.” Then the boy responded, “If you want respect, you need to earn it.” This was an exchange Silas still remembered to this day. That boy did not seem like a six-year-old at all.

Thus, when Silas saw the boy who was supposedly much smarter than him standing aimlessly at the entrance to the shelter, he couldn’t understand why.

“So I asked him, and he almost broke down into tears and said his dad wasn’t coming back. His dad was a doctor, so he had gone back to rescue the injured… Even though the dragons were still in town.”

Silas tried to reassure the boy. He wanted to cheer him up, as a brother figure and as a respectable ‘Leader’.

“And so I said, ‘It’s okay, everything will work out somehow‘…”

A red glow flickered in Silas’s eyes——a powerful, deep-seated anger.

“…Without taking any responsibility for my words.”

Whenever Silas thought about the foolish mistake he made that day, he felt an urge to bash his head against the wall.

Silas clenched his molars and continued in a low growl.

“The next day, we learned that his dad was dead.”

The girl on his back let out a small gasp.

Ever after being informed of his father’s death, the boy did not cry. Many people in the shelter said that this was because he was still too young to fully comprehend death.

The young Silas had also been unable to grasp the death of his friends, so he agreed with this line of thinking. The boy who was even younger than him could not possibly understand.

But that was a mistake.

“…I found him hiding from the adults and silently crying by himself.”

As the son of a doctor, the boy understood death very well. He simply endured the urge to cry because he didn’t want to worry his mother or the other adults.

There was one night where Silas woke up to go to the bathroom, and he caught a glimpse of the boy crying at the entrance of the shelter. The pained whispers of “Dad… Dad…” intertwined with suppressed sobbing was a memory that Silas could never forget.

This was the moment when the young Silas finally understood the concept of death, which had seemed unreal until then.

“And that’s why I hate seeing kids cry. It reminds me of my own helplessness and stupidity back then.”

＊　＊　＊

After listening to Silas’s story, Monica didn’t say a single word. All she could do was bite her lips.

(So that’s why…)

Yes, Silas hated dragons. But to an equal extent, he hated himself for being irresponsible and powerless.

That said, who could possibly blame the nine-year-old Silas?

(He was just trying to cheer up a friend…)

The words that had been spoken with childish innocence lingered on him like a curse.

Eventually, Silas’s slow gait came to a complete pause.

The straight road they were on ended in a small plaza with a monument at the center. The polished surface was inscribed with the words “Lugaroa Reconstruction Memorial.”

Monica asked Silas to put her down, then she silently observed the monument. Several white flowers had been placed in front of it.

Meanwhile, Silas bought a single white flower from a nearby stall and placed it there as well.

“If there’s another crying kid waiting for his dad to come home, I want to tell him, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll get your dad back. I’ll drive away all the dragons.’”

Silas stared at the monument with a sharp gaze, yet he exuded regret and sorrow.

“I want to be able to say, ‘I’ll take care of everything’ no matter the situation… That’s my goal as a mage.”

And yet, to this day, he could not bring himself to say those words.

Monica recalled the earlier exchange between Silas and Robson.

What about you? Are you on the side of immediate subjugation? Or a more cautious approach?

If I have to pick, I’d honestly rather err on the side of caution. Dragons are terrifying creatures, and it’s always better to avoid fighting them if possible.

But if a fight is unavoidable…

Surely, those were the words that Silas had swallowed.

——”I’ll take care of everything.”

But Silas could not voice those words anymore, because he hated himself for giving such an irresponsible ‘everything will work out somehow’ to his friend so long ago.

What advice was Monica supposed to give as his senior in this situation?

(If he were to suddenly attack the red dragon for no reason… could I stop him?)

“Hey, Nee-san.”

Silas shifted his gaze from the stone monument to Monica. He seemed to be smiling, but it looked more like a self-deprecating laugh at his own inexperience.

“Just so you know, I’m not sure if I can negotiate peacefully when face-to-face with a red dragon. Sorry to say, but if I screw up, can you slap some sense into me with your chantless magic?”

Just being able to admit that made Monica think he was already pretty mature.

After all, Louis would probably say something like, “Sorry, but you won’t be able to stop me, so don’t bother trying.”

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