"First of all, I apologize." (Cyril)
In the luxurious conference room at the end of the long hallway of the central building of the Knights, Cyril, the First Knight Commander, spoke words of apology while looking around at the people seated at the round table.
"I may not be able to provide good direction for today's meeting. Normally, I would consider the agenda in advance and confirm the direction before calling the meeting, but this time there were too many unknown factors. I couldn't fully understand the content."
It was usually improbable for a moderator to start a meeting by saying that he did not understand the topic of discussion.
However, not a single person complained about Cyril's statement.
In fact, some of them frowned, as if they didn't want to hear it, and the rest remained expressionless.
It was because today's attendees were limited to those above the rank of knight captain who resided in the capital.
Cyril, Captain of the First Knight Brigade.
Desmond, Captain of the Second Knight Brigade.
Enoch, Captain of the Third Mage Knight Brigade.
Quentin, Captain of the Fourth Monster Tamer Knight Brigade.
Clarissa, Captain of the Fifth Knight Brigade.
Zachary, Captain of the Sixth Knight Brigade.
Curtis, Captain of the Thirteenth Knight Brigade.
Savvis, Commander of the Knight Order. These eight people were all in attendance.
It was because, just this time, knights were not allowed to accompany him.
In other words, it was implied in advance that a top-secret topic would be discussed, and under such circumstances, Cyril's remark, "There are too many unknown elements, so I can't fully understand the content," made the attendees' faces cloudy.
"So? I think today's schedule is packed with topics ranging from topics you don't want to hear to topics you want to cover your ears. Which are you going to listen first?" (Cyril)
Desmond replied to Cyril, twirling the pen in his hand.
"I'm ready for anything. Come on!" (Desmond)
After silently staring at the brave-looking Desmond, Cyril flicked the paper in his hand with his fingers.
"...That's right. Well then, let's start with the information Desmond already knows. As some of you may know, there is a familiar of Fia Ruud who belongs to the First Knight Brigade." (Cyril)
As soon as Desmond heard Cyril's words, he jumped up and down and said to himself, "What, are you going to do something as important as that first?"
Quentin, Zachary, and Curtis quickly took their eyes off Cyril and stared at the round table.
The rest of them had strange looks on their faces.
"This is the first time I've heard that Fia has a familiar, but I wonder if it's something you're going to bother to include in this meeting?" (Clarissa)
Clarissa asked a question on behalf of the Knight Captain, who was hearing about Fia's familiar for the first time.
Then, Cyril replied smoothly.
"Yes, that's what we're going to discuss at this meeting. Fia's familiar is the Black Dragon." (Cyril)
As soon as Clarissa heard Cyril's words, she bursted out into laughter.
"Pffft, Cyril also makes jokes like that! It was so unexpected that it was a little funny." (Clarissa)
"That's fine. But, as you might imagine, I don't make jokes like this." (Cyril)
"What, you just said that!" (Clarissa)
Cyril let out a sigh in front of Clarissa, who had a quizzical look on her face as if wondering what he was talking about.
"I thought many times that everything would be a joke, but unfortunately it is true. As you know, the black dragon is the guardian sacred beast of Näv Kingdom. Fia has made the black dragon her familiar. The other day, when she went to inspect the Gazard Margrave territory, she brought a black dragon back to the royal castle from Blackpeak Mountain." (Cyril)
"Huuh?" (Clarissa)
Cyril frowned at Clarissa who raised her voice with a half-hearted expression.
"When I saw a creature with black wings flying around the garden of the royal castle, I couldn't believe my eyes. But for some reason, Fia didn't disguise it as a black dragon. It's allowed to fly freely around the royal castle." (Cyril)
Clarissa, who had a strong ability to sympathize with others, gasped and agreed with Cyril's words.
"...I saw it, I saw it too! I saw Fia happily talking to the black bird! There's no way a bird could understand human words, but Fia was talking so enthusiastically. I thought she really liked birds, but..." (Clarissa)
However, she paused and continued, as if she was reluctant to speak.
"But it was the size that could fit in the palm of Fia's hand, so it was a normal bird! The black dragon must be big enough to look up at, and to begin with, it's much stronger, smarter, and superior to humans. She can't make him follow her." (Clarissa)
"Hey," Clarissa said, looking at Quentin.
Quentin spread his arms and nodded loudly at Clarissa's words.
"That's right. The Black Dragon King is a great, magnificent, and divine being! There's no way he would obey a petty person!!"
Quentin tried to say something more, but Clarissa finished hearing what she wanted to hear and looked up at Cyril as if to say look at him.
So, Quentin kept his mouth shut.
Cyril continued to explain with a stiff expression on his face.
"In the first place, Fia was able to subdue a black dragon before she joined our Knights. When I checked with Fia's father, Vice-Commander Dolph, he said, 'Not a black dragon, but black-ish and dragon-ish creature.' There is no doubt that it is a black dragon. Black dragon is the only one with black wings." (Cyril)
"Huuh?" (Clarissa)
Clarissa let out a high-pitched voice, looking like she didn't trust him at all, and Enoch was shifting his body uncomfortably next to her.
Cyril lowered his eyebrows in confusion.
"I'm sorry that it's hard to understand. I understand that I'm not very good at explaining things. In addition to the content being unbelievable, there is no solid evidence that can be presented, so even if I explain it in order, the story won't flow. I thought it was just a matter of going forward, so I told you the conclusion first. It seems like that caused unnecessary confusion." (Cyril)
"...Don't you have any proof?" (Clarissa)
Clarissa asked, and Cyril nodded clearly.
"There are witnesses.…The black dragon search was previously discussed at this meeting, right? After that, Quentin and Zachary took Fia to explore the forest, and the two of them met Fia. They saw her subduing the black dragon." (Cyril)
"Yeah!? Quentin, you just said, 'Black dragons don't obey people', didn't you!" (Clarissa)
When Clarissa approached Quentin, he looked intently at his colleague.
"You were the one who interrupted in the middle of the story. There is more to the story. Of course, the great Black Dragon King would never obey a petty person, but Lady Fia is an exception! She is a wonderful person who completely subdued the Black Dragon King, who is a powerful figure, in the blink of an eye!!" (Quentin)
Quentin clenched his fists in excitement, as he always did when talking about the Black Dragon, and everyone gave him a cold look.
Zachary picked up Quentin's words.
"I was also present, and I will testify that Fia definitely had the Black Dragon at her side. According to the explanation Quentin heard, Fia happened to come across the scene where the Black Dragon was seriously injured. That's right. At that time, she healed the Black Dragon's injury with the healing potion she happened to have, and it seemed that the Black Dragon felt indebted to her and became Fia's familiar." (Zachary)
Enoch, who had been listening silently until then, opened his mouth in disbelief.
Since he was usually the quiet type who didn't interfere with words, he must have been very interested.
"The story is well organized, but the opponent is a legendary guardian beast. There's no way she could make a contract that easily. I've heard that Fia is a mediocre knight in the first place. To have the power to suppress the black dragon..." (Enoch)
Cyril interrupted Enoch, who was about to speak.
"Excuse me, Enoch. I didn't finish the necessary explanation. As Quentin said, Fia has completely subdued the Black Dragon, so they are always connected. Therefore, the Black Dragon can read the emotions and thoughts of Fia. If Fia feels even the slightest negative emotion towards the person she is facing, there is a high possibility that the Black Dragon will come to tear them apart." (Cyril)
"What...what is that, the highest level of horror...?"
Enoch covered his mouth with both hands, and his eyes wandered into space.
"No, but Fia isn't even here, so she can't hear what I'm saying right now, right?" (Enoch)
Cyril smiled compassionately at Enoch, whose eyes widened in fear.
"I sincerely hope that's the case. However, the Black Dragon lives within the royal castle, and it is unknown how good the monster's hearing is, so I guess it would be best to refrain from making thoughtless comments." (Cyril)
"Ah, ah...that's right." (Enoch)
Desmond fixed his gaze on Enoch, who was still looking around with a look of fear and worry, and murmured with deep emotion, "It's like I'm looking at the old me."
Leaving those two alone, Cyril opened his mouth to the remaining members.
"As long as Fia doesn't say it herself, if we spread the word that Fia's familiar is the Black Dragon, there is a risk that the Black Dragon will think that we have gone against Fia's wishes. Therefore, until now, information was only shared with a minimum number of people who were prepared to be killed by the black dragon." (Cyril)
Cyril continued as the members gulped, saying that that's why there was no way he could question Fia himself, and that's why he hadn't summoned her to this place today either.
"However, since the situation has reached a point where I can no longer take care of myself, I have decided to share the information. Of course, Fia has let the Black Dragon go free in a size-reduced form, one of the factors was that Fia decided that she had lost the will to hide the black dragon." (Cyril)
"Cy-Cyril, you’re not going to be happy…"
Desmond asked with a fearful look on his face.
Then, Cyril waved around the multiple sheets of documents he had.
"I'll explain that slowly from now on. To put it simply, this next topic, the next topic, and the next topic will all be about Fia Ruud." (Cyril)
"Heh!"
"You're kidding!?"
Not only Enoch, but Desmond and Zachary also let out a cry of surprise and stood up from their chairs with a thud.
Cyril silently accepted their gaze and smiled beautifully.
"Please sit down. There are more topics to discuss." (Cyril)
"......!"
"...Ah, maybe the Grim Reaper is smiling like this."
For some reason, the Knight Commander felt the same way, and while thinking that they had a bad feeling about it, they returned their hips back to their chairs.