Recruiting Dragon Slayers

Freira rubbed her eyes. When she sat up groggily, she found herself in the middle of a snowy plain.

"…."

Her eye level was strangely low. Her arms and legs were much smaller than before.

Another one of these dreams.

Her body moved on its own, against her thoughts, as if compelled to reenact the memory perfectly.

How long had she run through the bone-chilling cold? In the distance, she spotted a woman.

Frost settled around her with every step. Sky-blue hair just like her own. Eyes of impenetrable emerald.

The difference with Freira… was the two curved horns sprouting from the woman's head.

"Why did you come."

The woman was suddenly right in front of her. Freira grabbed her collar in fear.

"…Mom."

"Aha. Ahahaha!"

The woman sneered at those words. A venomous, malice-filled mockery tore at Freira's heart.

The laughter cut off abruptly.

"I never should have given birth to trash like you. A vulgar wretch mixed with worm blood."

The Frost Witch's face twisted grotesquely.

After that, as always, came the unintelligible murmurs.

…Ma. …Too much… holding… …Shine… …Name…

"Milady?"

I spoke to Freira, who was staring blankly beyond the wall. Ash-mixed snow fell onto the umbrella I'd placed over her.

"…Yeah. It's a bit cold."

Freira murmured vacantly. Her gaze remained fixed on the northern plains.

I knew what she was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thinking about. Her tenth birthday.

'The day her mother abandoned her.'

Freira Karstein's worst trauma. The trigger that would lead to her blackening if left unaddressed.

"Hamel. You know, right? I'm going on the expedition too."

That must have been why. When the subjugation force against the Fire Dragon was formed, the Grand Duke's daughter was the first to volunteer.

Against ordinary monsters, defending from the wall would be best. But this was the Dragon of Oblivion. Sieging it would be suicide.

The wall couldn't stop a winged beast. If the Fire Dragon flew into the Grand Duchy and breathed its breath, the North would end that day.

Anyone touched by Malgrath's breath—the Memory-Eater—would forget everything.

"Friggin' endless."

"Where the hell do they even come from?"

Gunfire erupted repeatedly from the wall. Figures descending from the north dropped one by one. The knights looked sick of the endless waves.

Oblivion Spawn.

Those scorched by the Fire Dragon's breath. A direct hit would have killed them, but these unfortunates had only been grazed, forgetting everything.

"Every time I see 'em, the armor styles are consistent. Some ancient civilization?"

"I think it's old Imperial units. …But who knows. They forgot everything, and the records are gone."

No.

I inwardly denied the knights' words.

No one in this world would remember. Only I, who possessed this body after watching from outside, knew.

'Perk of being a possessor, I guess.'

The continent once had more nations than just the central Empire and eastern Holy Kingdom.

Like kingdoms.

The Northern Wall wasn't originally humanity's front line. Just a border. Farther north lay the Empire's oldest ally, a kingdom.

One day, the kingdom vanished from history. Burned to ashes by the Dragon of Oblivion. On the same day, books in libraries across the continent changed. All mentions of the kingdom cleanly erased.

The Memory-Eater had devoured the kingdom's memories.

"Hold, the front."

"Burned by fire, forget. Avoid, the flames."

The Oblivion Spawn approached the wall, repeating the same phrases. Moments later, magic rifles felled them.

Most of those pitiful souls were probably the kingdom's knights and soldiers.

'The Fire Dragon's nest is in the kingdom ruins' deepest heart, the royal palace.'

It was still recovering its strength. Right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after waking from hibernation, now was the perfect time to strike.

"Hamel. What're you thinking?"

"Ways to toughen you up, milady."

"Huh, me? By you, Hamel?"

Freira was key to the expedition. My current modules couldn't handle a 'Calamity'. Especially not a dragon using Dragon Tongue.

The Grand Duke's daughter had to wield the sorcery inherited from her mother effectively.

I gently lifted Freira's arm.

"Can you make an ice pillar?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll try. …But it'll be cold."

I activated heating mode and hugged her from behind. Freira flinched.

"D-Do we have to do it like this? There are people watching…?"

"Can't exactly do heart massage with people watching…"

"Hey, stop! Quiet!!"

Freira blushed and began her incantation. Mana gathered, forming the first ring behind her head.

"Freeze."

The falling snow rose, hardening into a sharp ice pillar.

"Launch it. At that Oblivion Spawn over there."

"I-Is that okay?"

It was. They'd been forgotten too long ago to regain memories. Killing them was the humane thing.

"G-Go, fly."

The hurled ice pillar pierced the Oblivion Spawn's arm. It screamed in agony. Knights on the wall finished it with magic rifles.

"Hmm… Feels kinda bad. Can't aim precisely yet."

"It's fine. We have a solution. This time, trap an ignition spell inside the ice pillar."

"…Won't the ice melt?"

That depends on you.

Freira formed another ice pillar. A fireball blazed inside its transparent surface, like a beating heart.

"Done. Now what?"

"Launch it. Aim for that bald Oblivion Spawn this time."

The Grand Duke's daughter steadied her breath. Her voice carried more power than before.

"Pierce."

The ice pillar shot forward, embedding in the Oblivion Spawn's shoulder. Others gathered blankly around it.

"H-Hamel. Next?"

"Detonate it. Nice and big."

"Huh…? Okay!"

Freira snapped her fingers.

"Explode."

A boom echoed from afar. Flames shredded the surrounding Oblivion Spawn. Knights prepping finishing shots gaped in shock.

'Nice.'

It only stuck to the surface for now, but penetration was coming soon. Imagine piercing magitech armor and exploding inside.

The pilot dies.

Yeah. Armor-piercing incendiary round.

Freira turned to me, eyes wide.

"Hamel. How do you even know this stuff?"

"…Learned it. From someone precious."

"………Someone precious?"

Shadow fell rapidly over the Grand Duke's daughter's face. That damp stare felt a bit yandere-ish…

'Learned it from you. Future you.'

Frostfire Round.

Your invention from the late game, after a month of racking your brain.

"Don't worry. No one is more precious to me than you, milady."

"Good answer. …But I still can't aim well. Aimed for the chest, hit the shoulder."

"Milady. Repeat after me."

"Huh? Okay."

I mimed stroking a nonexistent mustache.

"Artillery is the god of romcoms."

"Artillery is the god of… romcoms?"

Can't precision strike? No problem.

"Just fire a ton. Enough that they can't dodge and get caught in the blasts."

Just imagining it made my nonexistent crotch stiffen.

"Hamel. Won't mana run out?"

Not doing it now. No point exhausting before departure. As Freira said, maybe one or two shots max. Mass Frostfire barrages were for when enemies swarmed…

"…For facing the Fire Dragon."

"…Yeah. Got it."

The Grand Duke's daughter's face calmed instantly. Understandable. Her mother's departure tied to the Fire Dragon too.

Pact of Frost.

Freira clutched her deep blue necklace tightly.

The cathedral's dawn bells tolled distantly. The world remained hushed.

The Karstein Grand Duke's Residence iron ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gates creaked open. Knights lined up on ash-snow.

Their armor bore the Grand Duke's crest: a wall ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠defying frost.

Behind them, holy knights raised iron maces. Two golden-armored paladins received the bishop's blessing.

"May the Lord God illuminate all creation."

As prayers began, the wind stilled. Amid ominous ash flurries, the Grand Duke placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

That was it. No words. The limping Ulrich would only slow the march.

Ulrich drew his sword. Knight Captain Adelheit lowered his visor.

"In Karstein's name, advance."

Warhorses moved, pulling tents and sleds of preserves. As they passed the plaza, onlookers tossed flowers one by one.

No one bid us return. Memory loss made it impossible to know if we'd come back.

The march lasted days. Knights stood night watches in shifts. Sleepless, I patrolled the camp, clearing monsters periodically.

After Alsanna held a few more dawn masses and Freira gazed at the auroras…

We reached the first waypoint.

"…Wall folk have come."

"To offer wives? Call the chieftain. Ready weapons."

Barbarian territory now. Log cabins mixed with crude igloos.

Savages approached the expedition, eyes gleaming. Most scanned for suitable women.

"Halt. We come not to fight. In Karstein's name, we request… a guide."

A wolf-pelted barbarian retorted to Knight Captain Adelheit. The Grand Duke's daughter tilted her head behind him.

"I'll answer. Freira Karstein, daughter of the Grand Duke."

"…Heard that name. The woman Ragnor proposed to?"

Barbarians murmured, weapons glinting. Freira smiled faintly and beckoned me.

I stepped forward, sinking deep into snow. Warriors turned at the faint lube scent from my chassis.

"Tell your great chieftain. The warrior who felled Ragnor's heir stands here."

Ragnor. The great chieftain's firstborn.

His slayer had come. The father would appear.

Soon, the ground shook. Barbarians cheered, banging shields.

A horned-helmeted, fur-cloaked giant loomed over me. More giantkin than man. Easily three meters tall.

"…."

Golden eyes flashed through the visor.