[V10C23] A Senpai's Back

The formula composition of flight magic was subtly different for short and long-distance flight, similarly to how people adjust their running style between marathons and sprints.

Mages proficient in flight magic were generally skilled at this sort of pace management, and Silas was no exception. He continued flying low through the forest while maintaining a decent pace.

Maximizing speed would make it too difficult to avoid trees and exhaust his mana, so Silas minimized mana consumption by limiting himself to the speed of a person running on the ground.

Even so, they saved a considerable amount of time by ignoring the terrain.

“Silas-san, continue in the two o’clock direction.”

“Got it.”

Monica guided Silas while checking the display of the magical tool, using the map in her head to scan the greatest amount of area with the shortest route.

From within Monica’s hood, the red dragon-turned-tanuki began murmuring.

“Riding on flight magic feels so weird, much different from using my wings. Now that I think about it, I haven’t done any low-altitude flights recently. Since I’m so big, all those trees and stuff keep rubbing against my belly.”

“…Should you really be so laid-back?” Silas muttered toward his back without turning around.

He seemed to be criticizing the red dragon for her seeming indifference, despite how her child was possibly being chased by humans.

“Of course I’m worried. It’s just, wouldn’t the humans be in more danger than my boy?”

“Um, your child is still too young to fly very high, right?”

Monica was not very knowledgeable about the ecology of juvenile dragons, but she had understood the dragon should be very young if he couldn’t fly properly. It sounded as though the dragonling was even weaker than a wild boar or bear, much less the heavily armed Dragon Knights.

“Well, my boy couldn’t breathe fire when he got separated from me, but it’s about time for his flame sac to develop. Before I got the chance to teach him how to breathe fire…”

Monica got a bad feeling about this and hesitantly asked, “Um, does that mean… he’s unable to control the fire?”

“Pretty much. He might cause a tiny explosion when he sneezes. You know, like at the ‘choo’ part of the ‘achoo!’ Also, if he accidentally yawns while breathing fire, all the flames spill out to the ground like a waterfall. That’s pretty embarrassing because it looks like you’re drooling.”

The lecture on the little-known ecology of greater dragons caused Monica and Silas to go speechless. In other words, the young red dragon might accidentally cause a disaster with an ill-timed sneeze or yawn. This was not something to be taken lightly.

Monica reaffirmed her resolve to hurry, looking back at the display of the magical tool. Right then, a small red dot flashed at the edge for a split second.

Silas’s tool displayed detected dragons with white dots, and the white dot floating at the center was reacting to the Red Dragon of Dalsmore in Monica’s hood. On the other hand, the dragon that the scale came from would be displayed as a red dot.

“Got a lock on the dragonling! Silas-san, please fly towards eleven o’clock.”

“Roger that. I’ll pick up the speed a bit.”

Silas took a deep breath, then began an incantation. True to his declaration, they started flying much faster. The magical tool now displayed a solid red dot, which appeared to be on the move.

After guiding Silas in that direction, Monica compared their location with the map in her memories.

(This is a region with many cliffs, and there’s also a river… Red dragons are weak to water, so maybe they’re trying to corner the dragonling against the river. Captain Dunning’s team should be in the vicinity, and given their expertise in tracking dragons, they’ve probably already found the target.)

If Dunning were to show hostility and attempt to harm the red dragon’s child, what should she do? Monica clenched her teeth as she pondered the scenario.

(I’ll start with persuasion. The Seven Sages have a duty to protect the peace of the nation——harming a dragonling and provoking the mother dragon’s wrath would go against that.)

Persuading someone was a challenging task for Monica, but she had no choice but to do it. This was her job as the most senior Sage here.

“Nee-san, the river is in sight.”

“Continue along the riverbank.”

Monica activated farsight magic and scanned the area ahead.

She saw the figures of four people from the investigation unit, but Dunning was not among them. Two of them seemed to be chasing something in a straight line. The other two were circling around from the left and right, likely in an attempt to block escape routes.

The creature being chased by them was slightly larger than a rabbit and covered in reddish-brown mud.

(That’s him…)

The red dragonling was desperately running with his short legs to escape a volley of ice arrows. The investigation team was launching offensive magic at it.

The high magical resistance of dragons protected them from such spells, aside from their weakpoint on the forehead. However, the same could not be said of the soft scales of younger dragons.

The dragonling managed to avoid the ice arrows by changing course. Unfortunately, this caused him to run right into a water spell cast by another member of the investigation unit.

The spell had only created a simple ball of water, but the red dragon’s innate weakness to water meant it suffered a significant decrease in speed. Moreover, the dragonling was currently running toward the river.

This meant the dragonling was cornered, as red dragons could not swim.

“Silas-san, accelerate to maximum speed, then drop me when I give the signal. Take the dragonling into your custody and remain on standby.”

“D-Drop…?” Silas asked back in surprise.

(…I hope he doesn’t notice my hands trembling.)

Monica grabbed onto Silas’s shoulders. She may still be an unreliable senior, but she wanted to do the best she was capable of. To act in a way she could be proud of.

Because Monica had seen the backs of her own seniors walking with pride.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

Silas’s shoulders flinched a bit, because he understood the weight of the phrase “I’ll take care of it.”

“Aight. Hold on tight!”

Silas recited a shortened incantation, which boosted them to even higher speeds.

Monica kept her eyes open despite the strong winds, calculating the optimal timing. She saw a member of the investigation team preparing another volley of ice arrows.

“——Now!”

Simultaneously with her shout, Monica dropped down from Silas’s back.

Since Monica was not nearly as athletic as Louis, she could not land without assistance. Thus, she invoked chantless magic to create a gust of wind at her landing point and soften her fall. That same wind also served to deflect the ice arrows from the investigation team.

“…Silent Witch-sama!?”

The one responsible for shooting the ice arrows shouted in surprise. The rest also noticed Monica and stopped in their tracks.

Meanwhile, Silas took advantage of the opening to fly in and lift the dragonling into his hands. The dragonling struggled to get free, but his movements were sluggish, likely due to being wet.

Monica stood in front of Silas and the dragonling, glancing at the two members of the investigation team in front of her, followed by the two to her left and right. Now she was the one backed against the river.

Not to mention the Red Dragon of Dalsmore, who was still disguised as a tanuki and hidden in Monica’s hood. For whatever reason, it seemed the mother dragon intended to remain silent in this situation.

(She must be testing me…)

Monica swallowed a gulp before addressing the investigation team chasing after the dragonling.

“Where is Captain Dunning?”

“…I’m right here.”

Dunning emerged from behind a tree next to the river. There was a throwing spear in his hands.

Captain Dunning of the 7th Investigation Division looked like a slender man, making him seem more like a teacher than a knight. However, he walked through the uneven riverbank with firm steps. A split second was likely enough for him to launch that spear at lethal speed.

With his other hand, Dunning pushed up his glasses and gave Silas a faint smile with his gloomy face.

“…As impressive as always, Dragon Slayer Mage-sama. I see you have already captured the dragonling… Please, bring it here. We have prepared a cage.”

Silas glanced at Monica, his eyes signaling the message of “What should we do, Nee-san?”

Monica nodded back, then answered Dunning in his place.

“Captain Dunning. Why did you permit the use of offensive magic? I didn’t see the dragonling showing any hostile intent.”

“Because that is the safest and most certain way to capture the dragonling, of course.”

“B-But that method has the risk of injuring the dragonling.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

Dunning answered in complete monotone, letting out a bit of his camouflaged contempt. He looked down on Monica with exasperation, like a teacher annoyed by a clueless student who refused to learn.

“Silent Witch-sama, it seems that you misunderstand our intentions. When we discover a dragonling, we would never kill it for no reason. However, we may be forced to attack it in self-defense. No one can blame us for that.

Dunning justified himself with complete confidence, as if had nothing to hide.

Monica internally told herself not to flinch as she continued her attempt as persuasion.

“It looked to me like your investigation team launching a one-sided attack at the dragonling, not self-defense. The Society of Magical Creature Biologists recommends returning the dragonlings to their habitats.”

“True, but that is merely a recommendation. We all know that killing dragonlings is prohibited by law, but I assure you that I had no intention of killing it.”

Dunning’s eyes gleamed with hatred from behind his glasses. He clenched his spear with enough force to make his veins bulge.

“I simply wanted to use it as bait to lure out the mother… And there is no law preventing me from slaying an adult dragon.”

Robson’s suspicions turned out to be correct.

Since Dunning intended to lure out and slay the mother dragon, then injuring the dragonling was all part of the plan. That way, the scent of blood would draw her out even faster. Then, he could finish off the dragonling after killing the mother.

Once everything was over, Dunning could claim that the dragonling got violent before he could release it in its habitat. That excuse would be enough to let him get away scot-free.

“The red dragon you are investigating is a mother searching for her child!” Monica shouted back. “Once she finds him, she’ll return to dragon territory peacefully…”

“You mean the greater dragon that has already invaded our borders once? Can you prove that it won’t harm humans in the future?”

The tanuki inside Monica’s hood remained motionless and silent. Meanwhile, Dunning continued his argument in front of the speechless Monica.

“Threats must be eliminated. As the Silent Witch, surely you understand this much? After all, you have brought down two evil dragons yourself!”

Monica suddenly felt as though her hood had grown much heavier, though of course, this was just her imagination.

She had yet to tell the Red Dragon of Dalsmore that she was a dragon slayer.

The Silent Witch was renowned for bringing down two evil dragons and a flock of wyverns, making her a hero to humankind.

However, Monica failed to consider how her accomplishments looked from a dragon’s point of view. Nero and Thule didn’t care about such things, so it had completely slipped her mind.

“…!”

What did the Red Dragon of Dalsmore think about her now, after listening to all of this from inside her hood?

As Monica gave no response, Dunning continued in a softer tone.

“Please, lend us your power. With the support of the Seven Sages, we can bring an end to the dangerous creatures that threaten mankind.”

Monica took a slow and deep breath. She was a human and a member of the Seven Sages, who act for the benefit of humans.

(And that’s why…)

Monica planted her feet firmly on the ground and straightened her back, delivering her counterargument.

“…What makes your actions so different from the injustices you’ve suffered?”

Dunning’s temple twitched slightly. His hand gripping the spear was also trembling, clearly from intense anger.

“Silent Witch-sama… You know nothing about the terror of dragons, so I would ask that you refrain from making such a naive argument.”

To Dunning, Monica was just an ignorant little girl. Her genius at magecraft allowed her to easily eliminate any dragon with chantless magic, so she understood nothing of how fearsome they could be.

As a man who had dedicated his entire life to the extermination of dragons, Dunning likely found Monica to be very unpleasant.

But no matter how he resented her, Monica intended to say what needed to be said. Because she was the Silent Witch, one of the Seven Sages.

“I am not being naive. This is a matter of interests. As one of the Seven Sages, I have a duty to act for the benefit of Ridill’s people.”

“Then why…!”

“I believe that avoiding unnecessary conflicts with dragons is in the best interest of mankind. Therefore, I cannot agree with your reckless approach, which would provoke their anger.”

Monica suppressed all her inner turmoil and continued in a firm tone.

“…I’ll say it one more time. We are to protect the dragonling and return him to his mother. Then, we let them return to dragon territory together.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I order you with the authority of the Seven Sages. The 7th Investigation Division of the Dragon Knights will protect the dragonling and return him to his habitat unharmed.”

At that moment, the high-pitched squeal of the dragonling echoed through the air, followed by a flustered “Hey, wait!” from Silas.

The dragonling had slipped out of Silas’s arms and rushed toward Monica. Presumably, he had noticed the presence of his mother.

The investigation team began chanting spells, and Dunning raised his spear.

Silas also raised his staff and began a chant of his own. Perhaps he intended to recapture the escaped dragonling, or maybe even counterattack Dunning and the others.

Monica shouted, “Silas-san, stand down!” at the top of her lungs. This caused Silas to drop his chant.

However, Dunning and his investigation team refused to stop. They fully intended to attack the dragonling. One even held a signal flare in his hands.

(They intend to call for reinforcements… I have to settle things now.)

Monica invoked chantless magic to erect a defensive barrier around the dragonling. This deflected the throwing spear from Dunning.

Almost simultaneously, she also cast a wide-range lightning spell. Fine threads of lightning spread out, in the shape of a spider web with Monica at the center. The spell entangled Dunning and his subordinates, paralyzing them.

All of his subordinates collapsed to the ground unconscious. Meanwhile, Dunning fell to his knees while barely holding onto his consciousness.

Perhaps this was the power of his anger and hatred toward dragonkind.

“…So this is your response… Silent Witch-sama…”

“…”

Dunning stared vacantly at the silent Monica, but it felt as if those eyes were staring at someone other than her.

“You are a fool… for protecting dragons… Sooner or later… you will meet your ruin… just like that man did…”

Dunning finally collapsed to the ground.

Looking down at his figure, Monica thought to herself.

——Slaying a dragon is easy. What’s never easy is the human side.

The same thing that Monica had told Silas the other day.

(…I failed to persuade him. I’ll never be able to mediate arguments like Maywood-sama… It’s way too hard.)

If Monica had more knowledge of dragon disasters, or if she had more time to formulate her arguments, could she have convinced Dunning? Could they have reached a peaceful resolution?

Monica bit her lip in thought, when her hood grew lighter all of sudden. The Red Dragon of Dalsmore, which had been rolled up in her hood, had suddenly leaped out.

The tanuki’s body was enveloped in particles of red light, before swelling up in an instant. The mass of light grew much larger than Monica, Silas, and even the surrounding trees.

Only once it reached the height of a second or third-story building did it stop growing. Then, it gained details before finally ending in the shape of a dragon.

Vivid red scales changing hues as though each was a flickering flame. Huge golden eyes staring down at them. Hefty claws and razor-sharp fangs.

Silas muttered to himself, “So this is… the Red Dragon of Dalsmore…”

The red dragon bent down in front of her wet child, exhaling a whoosh of fiery breath from her mouth.

Her flames enveloped the dragonling with heat comparable to a fireball spell from an advanced mage, but the child simply sat there and took it to the face. In fact, he seemed to be chirping happily now that his scales were dry.

After drying her child, the red dragon turned her huge head to look down at Monica.

Monica didn’t know what to say. She had tried to persuade Dunning from the perspective of human interests. What would the Red Dragon of Dalsmore think of her prioritizing humans over dragons?

(…There’s no way she would like it very much…)

Moreover, Monica was the Silent Witch, famous for slaying countless dragons.

While looking down on Monica with her golden eyes, the red dragon vibrated her throat, emitting a cry in the spirit language.

“…Huh?”

While Monica was still perplexed by those words, the red dragon grabbed her child by the scruff of his neck and spread her large wingspan. The resulting wind knocked Monica on her backside.

Then, the red dragon took off towards the depths of the mountains——the dragon territory——while carrying her child in her mouth.

“…I guess it’s over.”

“Seems like it.”

Silas and Monica exchanged glances, before noticing the footsteps of someone approaching. It was Robson.

Robson scanned the surroundings and furrowed his brow. It was pretty obvious that Dunning and his subordinates had not been knocked unconscious by the dragon, so he awkwardly glanced at Monica.

“This is…”

“Um, I did it.”

Upon hearing Monica’s admission, Robson murmured as he scratched his black hair.

“Oh dear. I saw the dragon returning to its territory, so that’s good… but you attacking the investigation team is less than ideal. You might have to take some sort of penalty, at least until we can get things cleared up.”

“I’m prepared for that. Besides…”

Monica took a deep breath and continued.

“I’ll bear the blame alone. Silas-san just protected the dragon.”

＊　＊　＊

Silas cursed inwardly, feeling frustrated at himself for his inability to do anything.

Despite having sworn to eradicate dragons, he could sympathize with the arguments from both Dunning and Monica. These conflicting feelings collided in his mind, making it impossible to determine what was the right course of action.

However, there was one thing he could be sure about. No, one thing he wanted to shout out loud.

(No, dammit! You can’t do this, Nee-san. No…)

It was only now that Silas understood.

Monica had instructed him to focus on protecting the dragonling. This was to prevent him from fighting the investigation team.

His softly-spoken senior had shouted that order so that he would receive no punishment. She did not want to burden her junior with the responsibility of causing trouble with the Dragon Knights.

(──Why are you so damn cool?!)

Silas ruffled his blond hair and gritted his teeth.

Despite all of this, Monica did not appear to be satisfied with the outcome. Even though she had done everything she could, while also ensuring Silas’s wellbeing.

(Dammit…!)

Silas slapped his cheeks with a resounding sound. It was so loud that Monica looked up and let out a gasp.

“S-Silas-san. Um, that sounded really painful…”

“I’m fine.”

Silas continued by voicing what had been on his mind for a while now.

“By the way, what did that Auntie say before leaving?”

“Oh, yes. Um, she said ‘split them’ or something in the spirit language…?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I’m not entirely sure either…”

Monica lowered her head and began fidgeting with her fingers. In the process, her hood shifted slightly, revealing something buried within the fabric.

“Nee-san, there’s something in your hood.”

“Huh?”

Monica reached into her hood and fumbled around until her small hands picked something up. Once she pulled it out, she opened her palm to reveal two round acorns.

——Have some acorns. Make sure to split them up nice and fair.

Silas could almost hear the red dragon’s voice echoing in his head. Perhaps Monica had heard the same thing, as she offered one of the acorns to Silas.

Silas accepted it, albeit hesitantly.

“…Kinda feels like I lost to her,” he mumbled.

Monica only put on a wry smile.

Today had been a series of defeats. First to the red dragon taking the form of a tanuki. Second to the petite senior of his.

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