I Couldn't Become a Knight, But for Some Reason, I'm Beloved by Dragons - Chapter 19: Flames of Condemnation

Chapter 19: Flames of Condemnation

“N-no, stop it!”

“Shut up, betch. Should we just take her and have some fun?”

“Hey, we came here to steal goods, not to do this.”

“Let’s take her valuable belongings too. We’ll kill the men and sell the women as slaves anyway. There’s no good future waiting for them, so let’s give them a good time for now.”

“Seriously… Well, he’s not wrong either.”

For the group of merchants, these were words of misfortune.

They were not only a group of merchants who traveled to other countries, including Dragonis, but were also on their way to the capital of Dragonis with local products from other countries in their hands.

Each of them had loved ones, and there were several couples who had deepened their relationships with each other among the merchants.

“Damn it… damn it!”

Among them, the woman who was pulled out of the carriage by a filthy bandit and grabbed by the arm, had a look of regret on her face.

Although they were merchants and had taken every precaution against attacks by bandits, it was all in vain… as there was a traitor among them.

“Rosalie! Kuh! Let go of her, you bastards!”

“Aan? Trying to act tough, huh, you little brat?”

“Alan!!”

A man ran out to rescue the woman called Rosalie.

He was much younger than Rosalie, but he was her recent lover, who had taught her the first bittersweet taste of love.

“Kill him quickly. I’ll have some fun with Rosalie in the meantime.”

“Hey, I was going to do it first… but whatever, he’s our employer, so let’s hope for some crumbs to fall our way.”

The merchant who they thought they could trust was now touching Rosalie’s clothes.

Alan tried to save her, but he was surrounded by bandits with considerable strength… and the other merchants were desperate to protect themselves.

(Why… Why is this happening… I hate this… I absolutely hate it!!)

Rosalie struggled despite the fact that she was getting dirty. Rosalie struggles against the situation, questioning whether this kind of ending is acceptable and whether it’s okay to lose her precious lover.

(Help me… somebody…)

She prayed for the dragon, the guardian deity of Dragonis, where she was raised… and with a miracle her wish was answered.

“W-what’s going on?”

It started with the bewildered voice of the traitor.

Although it was supposed to be early morning, the surroundings had turned completely red, as if it were sunset.

“What…?”

Rosalie, Alan, and even the bandits stopped and looked up at the sky.

“Ah…ahh…!”

Then, they saw the cause of the strange phenomenon in the sky. It was like a meteor —a red one that rained down at an incredible speed, accurately falling only on the bandits.

“Argh—?”

“What the—”

Without even saying a word, they were enveloped in the red flare. Although Rosalie realized it was flames, she didn’t feel any heat, even though it should have been intensely hot enough to incinerate those inside.

“Run…!”

As they were engulfed by the flames and disappeared without even having time to scream, the traitor tried to run away, but the flames approached him as well.

“Damn it, if that’s how it is!!”

“Kyaa!?”

The traitor used Rosalie as a shield. As a result, the flames also fell on Rosalie, but she did not feel the scorching heat.

“Arghhh…!”

“…Huh?”

Despite being in the same flames, Rosalie was completely unscathed while the traitor behind her disappeared without a trace.

The traitor did not even leave a single bone, piece of flesh, or hair.

Rosalie murmured in astonishment.

“It’s warm…”

“Rosalie!”

The flames that enveloped her were warm, as if they were gently embracing her.

The bandits who had been by Alan’s side, almost killed, were also wiped out by the flames. But he reached out his hand to Rosalie, who was still wrapped in flames. In that instant, the flames disappeared, and there was nothing standing between the two of them.

“Alan!”

The other merchants gathered around the two hugging each other.

They wondered what had happened, and someone must have helped them. Then, it descended upon them.

Descending like a gust of wind, it was a silver dragon. It was said to be the protector of the country, but it was so scary that they felt as if it were a real god.

“… Alright, it looks like there aren’t any casualties or anything like that.”

“…”

“Oh, thank you, Luna. —Um, there don’t seem to be any other suspicious people around here except for the thieves from earlier. Please continue on to the capital.”

The words of the man who was riding on the dragon’s back resonated well.

“I’m really glad you’re safe.”

That’s all he said, and the dragon spread its wings and flew into the sky again. The next moment, a loud cheer erupted among them.

▽▼

“…I felt like I was a knight, in a way”

~For them, we’re probably like heroes~

“Well, that’s all thanks to Luna. You truly are my partner!”

~Is that so? You could praise me a little more, you know?~

After managing to save a group of merchants who were under attack, Luna and I were enjoying our flight in the best mood.

Thanks to Luna’s wide-range detection magic, we confirmed that there were no malicious entities along the route to the capital and in its vicinity. Therefore, I conveyed to them that it was safe to continue towards the capital instead of Luna.

“Dragons… they’re really cool. If I were in their position, I’d be completely in love with Luna.”

~Well, if the other person was Xeno, then it wouldn’t matter… but for me, I’d prefer to be loved for my cute or feminine aspects rather than my strength.~

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that. Luna is always cute.”

~…Love.~

…That one whispered word made me quite nervous. We were silent for a while after that, but soon we saw the city we had chosen as our first stop.

“…Is that it?”

“That’s the trading city of Karsananta.”

As a trading city, it was a place where many people gathered, and I had never been there before, so I immediately agreed to Luna’s proposal. Even though it was still far away, with Luna’s speed, we would arrive soon… It was really big.

“Hey Luna, but what are we really going to do?”

~Find a way to get inside?~

“Yeah, but how?”

~Leave it to me. I’ve thought about it properly.~

“…Well, that’s good then.”

I really didn’t want to leave her outside and go into the city alone.

Luna said she had a secret plan, so I felt relieved for now, but I never expected it to be so surprising that my jaw would drop.