Save the Starving Frontier! The “Buyer” of the Reversed Chastity World - 31

Chapter 31: Dragon

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The one who brought the urgent news was a female squire who had returned with the wagons.

“Terrible news! There’s a dragon!”

A considerable number of wagons returned all at once. Some were even carrying the injured. Seeing that many come back at once made me wonder if the others still had enough supplies over there.

“A dragon, you say?”

The one whose expression stiffened at the report was Vice Commander Mial.

A dragon. Seriously? That kind of monster was in the mountains? But Vice Commander Mial wasn’t satisfied. She pressed the squire who had returned for details.

“What do you mean? If a creature as large as a dragon were there, we’d be able to see it from here! Are you sure you didn’t mistake it for something else? Tell me the situation clearly!”

“N-no, it wasn’t a mistake…!”

I handed cold drinks to both the confused squire and Vice Commander Mial. Whatever the case, nothing could be discussed if they both stayed shaken.

“First, calm down. Welcome back. Drink that, and slowly, accurately, tell us what happened.”

“Y-yes! Thank you!”

The female squire cracked open the drink and gulped it down in one go. She seemed to settle a bit. Vice Commander Mial also took a sip, regaining her composure for the moment.

The squire’s story went like this.

While marching, they had camped halfway up the mountain. During a meal, monsters appeared.

It was common for magical beasts to be drawn to the smell of food. In fact, sometimes they were even hunted and used as rations during the march.

The guard detail standing watch had gone out to intercept them, but that was when things took a strange turn. The monsters that attacked were “eaten.” Not by knights or squires. But by something far larger.

That creature had suddenly appeared on the mountain trail. Huge membranous wings, powerful claws and fangs, horns, and skin covered in scales. There was no mistaking it—a dragon species.

Hearing the report up to that point left Vice Commander Mial pale.

“Impossible…! A dragon, such a rare species, shouldn’t exist in this country…!”

“I-I will continue the report.”

That dragon, with wings, had breathed fire. A breath attack.

At that point, everyone present fully realized—it wasn’t some lesser species like an earth dragon or a running drake… To me, they’d be closer to dinosaurs though. This was something entirely different.

“So that’s why you sent the supply train and the wounded back first. What about Commander Sharon?”

“The commander and the regular knights fought to hold it off, in order to let us retreat. To buy us time. We were ordered to throw away all our cargo and keep fleeing, no matter what we saw or heard!”

So they’d made a stand to buy time for the noncombatants to escape. That was bad.

No matter how fast empty wagons ran, at least a day must have passed since the encounter. If things went badly, it might’ve already been too late for Commander Sharon and the others.

As I thought that, Vice Commander Mial asked with a tense face.

“All the provisions were left there, correct?”

“Y-yes! By the commander’s orders, we lightened the wagons as much as possible!”

“I see…” 

Vice Commander Mial fell into thought. 

Supplies… Food… Ah, I get it.

“Hey, Vice Commander. If the knight order fled the scene immediately, is there a chance the dragon might just eat the abandoned provisions and be satisfied with it?”

“It’s a faint hope, but yes. If they retreated well, they might not be eaten. It depends on whether the dragon lets the knights it attacked escape…”

So the possibility they were alive wasn’t zero. The abandoned supplies were considerable. If the dragon was omnivorous rather than purely carnivorous, it might fill its belly on that. If so, while it was distracted by the food, there was a chance the knights could slip away onto the mountain trail.

Knowing Commander Sharon, she had probably anticipated that when she ordered them to dump the cargo.

“If that’s why the Commander left the food, then… It means the knight order isn’t planning to die just to hold it off?”

“That’s right. There’s a fair chance they’ve managed to retreat. We must hurry to organize a rescue team.”

What we needed were medical supplies and replacements for the abandoned food. Treatment could be handled partly with magic, so I should at least provide more of what I’d already been supplying.

As I thought that, the female squire suddenly screamed while looking up at the distant sky.

“V-Vice-Commander! There! That’s the dragon species we encountered!”

I turned toward the mountains. The western mountain where the knight order had gone on expedition. On its slope, I saw the shadow of a massive monster. If it was visible from this distance, it was enormous. The monster spread its wings and took to the sky.

It was flying this way… Toward the city!?

“H-hey! Isn’t it heading straight here!?”

“Impossible! There’s no way such a massive silhouette could have gone unseen until now! From where…!?”

Vice Commander Mial faltered, but she was still a knight. At once, she sent messengers to the Margrave and the surrounding guards.

The enemy silhouette was flying toward us. There was no mistaking it—a dragon. And not some pterosaur-like flying reptile either. It had the bulk of a kaiju straight out of a monster movie. Could something with a body that massive really fly on those wings alone!? Another world really had no limits!

“Kaito! You’re safe!”

The one who rode up on horseback was the female warrior, Margrave Wahlheit. It seemed that the moment the silhouette appeared—or more likely, the moment the report from the returning squires reached her—she had already headed this way. She probably crossed paths with the messengers. Her speed of action was remarkable.

“The knight barracks will be the forward command! Have the troops been mustered!?”

“Yes! Only the military police unit was left behind, but they are being called up! We’ve also requested aid from the Adventurers’ Guild!”

Vice Commander Mial reported. So they had even requested help from the adventurers. That was quick work.

The dragon’s silhouette was without a doubt flying straight toward the city. Screams began rising from the noble quarter, the air turning restless.

“Kaito. Don’t you dare leave my side. Etna, Pirika, you too.”

“Y-yeah, Aisha-neechan!”

My bodyguard Aisha had drawn her sword, ready for combat. If riots broke out in the noble quarter, my safety would also be in danger. Both Margrave Wahlheit and Vice Commander Mial wore grave expressions. This was no longer an ordinary situation. If things went badly, this city itself might become the battlefield. Whether we were up against a dragon… Or fellow humans.

But a danger even greater than getting caught in riots suddenly loomed over me. The dragon appeared in the sky above the barracks.

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