With a sigh, I let out the frustration at my own incompetence that had been building up inside of me. And then I shifted my focus to the future.
Looking back, I saw the knights who had been divided into groups during the search for the black dragon eating lunch. Looking at the knights, I couldn't help but say aloud, "What should I do...?"
The knights who participated in the search for the black dragon were divided into three groups, but each group had different perceptions and understandings of Fia. Should we all share information so that many people could respond if something happened to Fia in the future, or should we keep the information secret and keep it to as few people as possible, given the seriousness of the problem?
As I wavered between the two options, I glanced at Quentin, who was standing next to me.
At this point, there was too little information to make a good judgement. First, I should gather as much information as possible.
"Quentin, there's something I want to ask you. Come here a bit." (Zachary)
I led Quentin into a grove away from the knights and, as was my habit when questioning someone, I peered at him from close range.
"Quentin, when I asked you this morning about the probability of encountering a black dragon on this expedition, you said it was 100%. But you… knew for a while that Fia’s familiar was the black dragon, right?" (Zachary)
"Exactly." (Quentin)
Quentin's calm response inspired anger.
"That's not good at all! Why are you silent about something so important?" (Zachary)
"Because I have never heard the definitive statement from either Lady Fia or the Black Dragon King that Lady Fia's familiar is the Black Dragon. ...In other words, it would be wrong for me to babble on about facts that Lady Fia has not stated." (Quentin)
"No, it's not a matter of being wrong or anything like that! It's the black dragon! You know better than anyone how amazing it is to make the black dragon a familiar! Why would you leave Fia in such a state!" (Zachary)
"That's because I know more about monsters than anyone else. Do you know, Zachary, that the extent of familiar submission is proportional to the time it takes to subdue a monster, right?" (Quentin)
As he spoke, Quentin rolled up his sleeves.
Under Quentin's clothes, the evidence of his familiar was visible—scales that ran diagonally from his wrist to his upper arm, coiled like a snake.
"Look, this is the proof of my familiarity when I had an A-rank griffin at my command. Because it took a long time to subdue it, the proof extends all the way down to my shoulder, and because the griffin resisted, the proof is not a single line, but broken in places. This is normal. ...But Lady Fia's is completely different. Even though she has the SS-rank Black Dragon King at her command, her familiar proof is only 1 mm wide, and it forms a single, unbroken line. It is the shortest and most complete proof of familiarity, completing in just one revolution.... This means that the Black Dragon King, the strongest monster, has been completely subjugated in the time it takes to blink an eye." (Quentin)
"……I see" (Zachary)
As I nodded, Quentin shook his head from side to side as if to deny it.
"No, Zachary, you don't understand... It is said that a fully subjugated monster can read the emotions of its master. In other words, even without orders from its master, a familiar will consider its master's wishes and realize them in advance. ...Got it? Without the consent of Lady Fia, who has never explicitly stated that his familiar is the Black Dragon King, try revealing that Lady Fia's familiar is the Black Dragon King. In an instant, the Black Dragon King will consider her as his master, and everyone who spoke and heard the story will all be turned into a lump of meat! At least, that's the risk." (Quentin)
"………………" (Zachary)
A chill ran down my spine as I began to understand what Quentin was trying to say.
Quentin looked at me, nodded, and continued on.
"I heard the story from Lady Fia when she made the Black Dragon King a familiar. Apparently, the Black Dragon King had been seriously injured and had turned into a juvenile, but Lady Fia healed him by giving him a healing potion... To be honest, I'm left with nothing but questions. No matter how much I think about it, it's impossible to heal an injury that an ancient dragon species with the highest self-healing ability can't heal through external influence." (Quentin)
As if imagining that moment, Quentin ran his hand through his hair and stared into space.
"But since there is no need for Lady Fia to lie, it must be true. However, there is no doubt that Lady Fia has omitted the core of the story. That's why, I don't have the whole picture. I can't grasp it, but I would never ask about something that she herself doesn't intend to talk about. If the Black Dragon King decides that something isn't what Lady Fia wants, even a little, then at that moment I'll become a lump of meat." (Quentin)
"That's a scary story..." (Zachary)
Hearing a story I had never imagined, I couldn't help but mutter.
"...Okay? The scary thing here is what will happen if the Black Dragon King makes a judgment. The fact is, it doesn't matter whether it was in line with Lady Fia's wishes or not. The moment the Black Dragon King decides that it wasn't in line with his wishes, it's over." (Quentin)
"...What kind of thing does Fia have?" (Zachary)
When I understood what Quentin was saying, I blurted it out.
... Fia, no matter how injured it was, she's not going to pick up the Black Dragon so easily. It's probably not something that could be picked up easily though.
While I was exhausted, Quentin continued in excitement.
"Of course, it's the legendary ancient species, the Black Dragon King! Listen, it seems the Black Dragon King can read Lady Fia's emotions even from a distance, so don't do anything stupid, okay?" (Quentin)
"...Isn't this a dead end?" (Zachary)
As I received more information from Quentin, the exit became even more obscured. Quentin looked at me with pity as I hung my head, then, as if he had remembered something, he added another word.
"Zachary, you should be a bit more careful with Lady Fia. It was just like what you did earlier. Your careless question caused Lady Fia to suffer a sudden attack of pain. If Lady Fia had instantly resented you at that time, the Black Dragon King would have appeared, ripping through space, and turned you into a lump of flesh." (Quentin)
"...You! Now that I think about it, you suddenly distanced yourself from us that time! I thought you were moving away to calm Fia down so that your presence wouldn't get in her way! But you moved away so that you wouldn't get caught up in the black dragon's attack!" (Zachary)
"We need to divide up the roles. When you turn into a lump of meat, someone will need to report this series of events. If you can't fulfill that role, then I'm the only one left." (Quentin)
"What you're saying isn't wrong. It's not wrong, but... why does it make me want to hit you?" (Zachary)
"That's because you're narrow-minded." (Quentin)
"Hahaha, you should just stay quiet. My murderous intent will only grow." (Zachary)
To resist the urge to hit Quentin, you took a deep breath, crossed your arms, and leaned against a nearby tree.
Quentin looked at me and continued speaking with a straight face.
"Therefore, we must proceed with the utmost caution. Even if we were to report everything to the commander, if it turns out that our report goes against Lady Fia's wishes, then the commander will become one of the Black Dragon King's targets." (Quentin)
"………………" (Zachary)
...There really is no way out of this.
"But, thankfully and with a lot of respect, the Black Dragon King left his horn behind." (Quentin)
"...So what?" (Zachary)
"If we were to make a sword out of such a unique material, it would inevitably stand out. And since it would be nearly impossible to break the horn from the Black Dragon King, everyone would know that he offered it to us of his own accord. In other words, I believe that the fact that the Black Dragon King gave us the horn is permission to make it clear that he is on our side. So... I think that, as long as we reach a minimum number of people, it would be fine to let them know that the Black Dragon King is a familiar of Lady Fia." (Quentin)
"How sure are you?" (Zachary)
"At most 30%." (Quentin)
"You... what happened to your confidence when you spoke about the probability of encountering a black dragon?" (Zachary)
"The lives of the commander and the other knights are at stake. This is not something that can be discussed with wishful thinking." (Quentin)
"You..., your mind starts working properly once you leave Fia." (Zachary)
The voice that came out unintentionally had a tone of exasperation.
"The Black Dragon King cares very deeply for Lady Fia. Therefore, even if I say something without Lady Fia's permission, if it ends up benefiting Lady Fia, the Black Dragon King will surely forgive me." (Quentin)
"For Fia's sake... if he has the Black Dragon backing her up, isn't she already the strongest? Is there anything we can do?" (Zachary)
I stroked my neck with my hand and muttered to myself.
"More than that, Fia is an incredibly dangerous person. From what you've said, Fia and the Black Dragon are now synonymous. Should we really continue to let them loose in the wild like this?" (Quentin)
"No problem. Lady Fia is a compassionate person." (Zachary)
"Aah?" (Quentin)
I couldn't help but look at Quentin, who suddenly said something completely unexpected.
"Human emotions fluctuate. A single word or action can instantly cause a person to feel tremendous anger or murderous intent... normally. Of course, after a while those emotions will subside, but monsters won't be able to understand those emotions. That's because if a monster hates you, they won't hold back and will kill you on the spot." (Quentin)
"Well, that's true. For monsters, their own emotions and power are everything." (Zachary)
Even though I couldn't see where the conversation was going, I nodded along to Quentin.
"So, before the Black Dragon King learned that human emotions are fluctuating, it wasn't surprising that several people were turned into lumps of flesh whenever Lady Fia felt anger. However, not a single person has ever been turned into a lump of flesh by the Black Dragon King... I guess Lady Fia doesn't hate or resent anyone deeply. Even when our Gideon was quite rude to Lady Fia, the Black Dragon King apparently responded with childish harassment. I'm sure Lady Fia's feelings were anger at the level of harassment." (Quentin)
"...Well, it's true that Fia doesn't seem like the type to resent or hate others." (Zachary)
"Humans don't change that easily. If Lady Fia stays the way she is, there won't be any problems. Besides, if we have to isolate those with power simply because they are powerful, then the same goes for you, me, Commander, and Cyril. If she felt like it, she could wipe out around 100 knights, right?" (Quentin)
"………………" (Zachary)
"But, just because you change and get the knights killed doesn't mean I won't treat you like a dangerous person." (Quentin)
"Thank you for that." (Zachary)
As I replied, realizing that my voice lacked any emotion, I suddenly began to wonder about Fia's family.
"...She was the youngest daughter, right? I'm sure she was raised with great care by her family. Since she was raised with great care by everyone, she probably didn't know any ill will, and she never suspected or hated anyone." (Zachary)
I spoke my mind and Quentin agreed.
"That's a strong possibility. Lady Fia is a very innocent young person. She must have been loved by not only his family but everyone in the territory, and she must have grown up freely." (Quentin)
I got up from the tree I was leaning against and returned to the knights with Quentin.
My stomach settled as I walked.—This information wasn't something I was actively spreading.
Having decided on my response, I immediately went round to each unit. I interviewed each unit and organized the information, while giving instructions to keep the information within the unit's knights only.
I then headed towards the commander with Quentin and Gideon. To give a very superficial report. We reported to the commander that we had encountered a black dragon, but that he was too large to be familiar, and that we had thrown a stone from Blackpeak Mountain, which caused the black dragon to return to his lair. I added that I would provide further information when the time came, and the commander seemed to sense something, as he let us go, thanking us for our efforts.
...Right. Honestly telling everything wasn't necessarily in the Commander's interest. If receiving a report meant risking Commander becoming a target for the Black Dragon, then it was my responsibility to select and report only the information that I thought was appropriate.
The risk would be borne by the hot-blooded First Knight Captain Cyril and the Military Police Commander Desmond, who is in a position to know everything. If all the information was disclosed to these two and they waited for a while, and the Black Dragon did not intervene, it could be assumed that the Black Dragon had given his permission to make the information public. Only then I would report this to the commander.
I headed with Quentin and Gideon to the conference room where Cyril and Desmond were waiting.
——Looking at the results alone, both Cyril and Desmond agreed to the matter. I agreed, but—to put it mildly, the room where the report was given became extremely chaotic and complicated. However, as far as Fia was concerned, there were three people with the illness that were causing abnormal behavior—Cyril, Quentin, and Gideon—so I understood that there was no other way.
...or so I thought, but maybe there was still something I couldn't swallow. That night, a meat festival was held again, using the flesh of the Flower-horned Deer that was defeated by the knight, but they realized they had drunk a little too much. However, since Cyril and Quentin, who are not affected by alcohol, were always showing off their former selves, my disgraceful behavior was probably within the realms of acceptability. Fia was laughing happily, and the meat was so delicious that she ate it without worrying about her expanding belly—so it seemed like it wasn't a bad day after all. ...Ah, when I thought back on that day, it's amazing that even though so much happened, not a single person died.
In the end, Fia returned to the First Knight Order without having accomplished any of the purposes for which she was sent to the Fourth Monster Knight Order. From the outside, it would seem that Fia was just playing around and not fulfilling any role during her stay with the Fourth Monster Knight Order for a few days. I worried that the knights who were not happy about this would be harsh towards Fia.
...I'd need to keep an eye on Fia for a while. However, I was afraid that my very act of caring about Fia might be seen as special treatment, which might lead to further dissatisfaction with Fia...
In order to alleviate the dissatisfaction of his colleagues, I advised Fia to remain with the Fourth Demon Knight Order for a few more days and allow her to complete her duties, but Cyril would not listen. No good, right now Cyril was just like a mother bird trying to protect her chicks.
At the sole discretion of First Knight Captain Cyril, Fia would be accompanying Cyril for a while starting tomorrow...
Author's Note
[Thank you] During the delay in updates (←I am aware of this), I have received many comments, reviews, reports of typos, bookmarks, and ratings.
Thank you always.