[V10C18] The Genius of Tea Stain Removal Recommends Polishing With Salt

Dunning, the captain of the 7th Investigation Division, was a gloomy-looking man in his early fifties, with sprinkles of white throughout his black hair.

He seemed rather short and slender for a member of the Dragon Knights, and his glasses only furthered his intellectual-like appearance. Monica secretly thought that he would look more at place lecturing a class in front of a blackboard.

“Welcome, and thank you for coming, Silent Witch-sama, Dragon Slayer Mage-sama.”

Dunning gave a polite greeting to the two in the reception room of the garrison. However, he did not show the slightest hint of a smile, and the tone of his voice matched his gloomy expression.

The so-called ‘reception room’ that Monica and Silas were ushered into seemed far too basic to welcome important guests. The simple decorations made it look more like a slightly more spacious office, and the chairs given to them seemed rough and sturdy. Perhaps they were intended for use by larger men, as Monica’s feet didn’t even reach the floor.

Monica had a habit of swinging her legs back and forth under such circumstances, but she held back and looked Dunning in the eyes with a straight posture.

After all, she was here as a representative of the Seven Sages, and needed to act dignified as Silas’s senior.

“Could you please inform us of the current situation?” Monica began.

“Yes, of course. The Red Dragon of Dalsmore was first sighted about a month ago, and since then, there were multiple reports of it appearing near the foothills——within human territory. We have determined that it is a considerably large female.”

Dunning spread out a map and began pointing to the locations of the confirmed sightings.

Dalsmore was a large mountain range, and its foothills marked the boundary separating dragon territory from human territory. The sightings of the red dragon were concentrated in the forested area right on top of this boundary.

However, the reported locations were all over the forest, and did have any noticeable pattern. It seemed as though the red dragon was wandering through the foothills at random.

Silas furrowed his brow at this realization.

“These reported sightings seem too far apart…” Silas muttered. “Just to double check, you’re sure there’s only one red dragon here, right? Greater dragons aren’t known for flocking together, but it’s not impossible for two to coincidentally descend into human territory at the same time.”

Dunning nodded. “Yes, we have confirmed the dragon’s height, tail length, scale color, and other features, so the chance of there being two is incredibly low… But of course, we should consider that possibility as well, in order to slay the dragon without leaving any room for error.”

Those words caused Monica to unconsciously hold her breath. Dunning’s eyes had radiated genuine bloodlust.

(So Captain Dunning really is an extremist supporting dragon extermination…)

Perhaps noticing Monica’s unease, Dunning turned to Monica and stared at her from behind his glasses.

As the youngest of the Seven Sages, Monica was used to people looking down on her with disdain, or trying to assess her. Dunning was the latter. Not only was he interested in the power of the Silent Witch, but also her view on dragons.

Monica grew tense under his gaze, as Silas continued the conversation.

“Do you have any scales from the red dragon? Blood or a scrap of skin would work too. As long as I have something, I can use my magical tool to track it down to a certain extent.”

Silas explained while taking the pocket watch-shaped tool from his pocket. This caused Dunning to widen his eyes.

For the first time, a hint of delight appeared on his gloomy face.

“Yes, we do have some scales… How wonderful. There is nothing I love more than certainty… And with you two, we are certain to bring down that red dragon.”

“…Um.”

Interrupted by Monica, the joy vanished from Dunning’s face and he returned to the same gloomy expression as before.

“What is it, Silent Witch-sama?”

“…Have you made contact with the red dragon? Tried talking to it?”

While greater dragons could generally understand human language, they did not have the vocal cords to speak fluently in dragon form. Thus, most greater dragons preferred to communicate in the spirit language instead.

It was only natural for the Dragon Knights to hire someone fluent in the spirit language. Even Monica could communicate in the spirit language to some extent.

If the greater dragon under investigation had a reason for appearing near human settlements, then negotiation could potentially lead to a peaceful resolution.

However, Dunning shook his head at Monica.

“The dragon has not shown any intention of engaging in dialogue. It keeps leaving and reappearing at a different location. I have seen many dragons that kill humans for entertainment. The only solution is to dispose of it before it comes to that.”

Had Dunning really made an attempt at dialogue? Monica began to feel uneasy.

Due to fear of retaliation, humans do not hunt greater dragons without reason. Likewise, greater dragons were smart enough to understand the fearsome possibility of human retaliation. Thus, they tended to avoid setting foot in human territory.

Monica believed that she needed to carefully assess the situation.

Perhaps this was a similar case to how a careless black dragon got a bird bone stuck in his throat, and was simply asking for help.

“…What do the magical biologists say?” Monica continued her questions.

When investigating a dragon, it was common for the Dragon Knights to enlist the support of a magical creature biologist specializing in dragon ecology. Almost all of these biologists would first attempt to communicate with the dragon.

However, Dunning shook his head in irritation.

“Nothing important. Magical biologists are just a gathering of fools who spout idealistic theories without looking at reality. I won’t allow myself to be dragged down by their stupidity.”

His voice was filled with pure hatred and fury, and Monica fell silent under that pressure. Dunning, as if suppressing his own rage, pressed a finger against his glasses to hold it in place.

“The forecast says it will be raining the entire night,” Dunning continued. “That means the red dragon will be rendered unable to fly due to its weakness to water… Let us enter the mountains right at dawn. I look forward to your accomplishments.”

＊　＊　＊

Following the meeting with Dunning, Silas exited the room with Monica and almost let out a deep sigh, before quickly holding himself back.

There were several members of the Dragon Knights in the garrison, and he noticed many sneaking glances at them.

At first, Silas had thought they were looking down on him for being a newbie Sage, as well as Monica for her childish appearance. However, he quickly realized his mistake.

The Dragon Knights were certainly assessing them but, at the same time, they expected great things.

Silas had named himself the Dragon Slayer Mage, and Monica was the Silent Witch, famed for defeating two evil dragons. Many believed that if anyone could bring down the red dragon, it was them.

(…Dammit.)

Silas clenched his teeth, as if holding back the bitter emotions to prevent them from spilling out of his mouth.

Not too long ago, Silas had been nothing more than a nameless mage with no affiliation. There was no one expecting anything from him.

But now, Silas was one of the Seven Sages. The burden on his shoulders was much greater.

(So, this is what it means to be a Sage.)

The weight of one’s title was directly proportional to the weight on their shoulders, and Silas did not know if he could meet these expectations. Could he confidently say, “Leave it all to me; I’ll take care of everything”?

(But I can’t back down. I named myself the Dragon Slayer Mage for a reason: because I wanted to become a mage powerful enough to kill any dragon.)

The sun had already set, and it was pitch black outside the window. The faint smell of damp earth was in the air. Just like Dunning had mentioned, the rain was likely to start soon.

“Let’s get back to the inn before it rains,” Monica whispered.

Silas noticed the tense expression of the young girl at his side. She, too, must feel the weight of expectations from those around her… After all, even if everyone called her a prodigy, she was still much younger than him.

(What the hell am I doing? I need to pull myself together.)

After reminding himself of this, Silas borrowed a lantern from one of the Dragon Knights. Their inn was about a ten minute walk from the garrison, so it wasn’t far enough to warrant preparing a carriage.

“Nee-san, follow me. I’ll lead the way.”

“Oh, okay.”

Silas walked ahead, and Monica hurriedly followed at a light jog. Only then did Silas realize that their strides were different, and slowed down his pace.

He was once again reminded that Monica was still a little girl. Despite supposedly being nineteen, she looked to be in her mid-teens.

Silas still found it hard to believe that she had repelled the Black Dragon of Worgan and defeated the Curse Dragon of Reinberg.

Red dragons were classified with a lower danger level than black dragons or curse dragons, but by no means did this mean that their investigation into the Red Dragon of Dalsmore would be safe.

“Nee-san, based on the reports, the red dragon is really big. The size of a dragon has a direct correlation to its mana capacity, so it won’t go down unless we slam it with a triple-reinforced spell to the weakspot on its forehead. This isn’t gonna be easy.”

“R-Right.”

“What’s more, this pattern of sightings means it’s probably taunting us… In my experience, dragons like that tend to hunt humans for sport.”

Many dragons, both lesser or greater, had a temperament to enjoy hunting. Silas knew many people who met their ends at the claws of such dragons.

“This will not be an easy hunt. I can understand why they called on the Seven Sages.”

The moment Silas spoke those words, he realized something.

——It feels like I’m making excuses in case I fail.

(Am I scared…? Is that why I’m listing off all these excuses? To a little girl like her…?)

“We’ll manage somehow,” Monica said, cutting off Silas’s thoughts.

Silas looked into her round eyes, which shone with a greenish color by reflecting the light of the lantern.

“Because we’re two of the Seven Sages,” Monica continued.

Her youthful face displayed an eerie lack of expression. Silas held his breath at the indescribable pressure, until Monica loosened up.

After returning back to her usual face, Monica twiddled her fingers in embarrassment while continuing.

“I may seem unreliable, but I’ll make sure to back you up… and, um, I’m good at hitting a dragon’s forehead!”

Good at hitting a dragon’s forehead? Silas couldn’t tell if this was a joke or not, so he replied in an awkward tone.

“But you know how hard it is to do that with a triple-reinforced spell, right?”

“It’ll hit if I do all the calculations, so don’t worry. It should be much easier than a water dragon…”

Multiple reinforcement formulas were used to increase the power of spells, but in exchange, they came with longer incantations, more difficult mana maintenance, and a significant drop to accuracy.

Monica made it sound easy, but Silas could not even imagine how many calculations would be required to reliably hit the forehead of a red dragon with a triple-reinforced spell.

This was why Silas preferred using a triple-reinforced spear of lightning to impale the dragon’s forehead directly, rather than casting offensive magic at range.

“Nee-san, can you, uh, do triple reinforcement without chanting…?”

“Y-Yes, I can.”

Silas felt himself shuddering. This was a witch capable of shooting down over twenty wyverns in an instant.

“Slaying a dragon is easy,” Monica said with a wry smile. “What’s never easy is… always the human side.”

Her casual and matter-of-fact tone made Silas realize his misconception. The girl walking next to him was a genuine genius.

“I’m starting to wonder if someone like me should really be in the Seven Sages…”

“I-I think everyone feels that way at first… Um, I still do sometimes…”

Monica clenched her small hands into fists, with determination on her youthful face.

“For now, I’ll just do what I can.”

Silas felt that those words fit surprisingly well.

(That’s exactly right, no matter how much I overthink it… I can only do what I can.)

The simplicity of her argument had a strange appeal to it. Silas chuckled and raised the corner of his lips.

“Nee-san, you’ve got more guts than me, even though you’re younger.”

Surprised at the sudden praise, Monica widened her eyes and blushed in embarrassment. Her small hands began fidgeting again.

“Well, um, I recently got a disciple… so I wanted to start trying a little harder…”

“Whoa, a disciple at that age? That’s pretty amazing.”

“It’s not me who’s amazing, it’s my disciple!” Monica exclaimed with a sparkle in her eye. “Our teacups are always spotless!”

“…Uh, okay?”

“My disciple is a genius at removing tea stains!”

Silas was at a loss for words. Was this a joke to lighten the mood?

The small senior waved her arms meaninglessly while continuing to praise her disciple.

“And cooking too! Any ingredient magically becomes delicious! Sour plums turn into delicious cakes, and small fish turn into tasty soups. Oh, and I don’t really like lamb, but the lamb stew my disciple made was so good I couldn’t help but finish it!”

“…”

After carefully choosing his next words, Silas expressed his honest opinion.

“Nee-san, that sounds more like the job of a servant…”

“Um, well, my disciple is amazing at magic too!”

Monica passionately explained in great detail just how amazing her disciple was, only stopping once they reached the inn.

However, the detail of being ‘a genius at removing tea stains’ left a strong first impression in Silas’s mind. He believed that, without a doubt, the Silent Witch’s disciple was a mature woman who was very skilled at housework.

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