Dragon in a Romance Fantasy (1)
Dragon in a Romance Fantasy (1)
<President-nim, are you sure about going alone? The gunship squadron is ready. We can sortie at any moment if you just give the order, President-nim. Please, take an escort force with you.>
"Forget it. When talking to a world-class powerhouse, escorts are nothing but a hindrance. If we fight, valuable troops will get pointlessly shredded in the aftermath. If we don't fight, there's no reason to bring them in the first place."
Clang-!
I pull out my personal equipment, proudly displayed in the closet.
A Cursed Mass-produced Riot Shield made of magic-reinforced, redesigned, magic-fused polycarbonate synthetic resin, packed with every single tuning option that claims to be bulletproof, explosion-proof, flame-proof, sword-proof, waterproof, and magic-proof.
It's my prized possession, worn down after 10 years together.
I strap the shield to my back.
Tap.
I lightly jump and land on the 1-ton military drone waiting outside the 256th-floor window.
Whoosh-
I'm met with the cool, fierce wind blowing through the high-rise skyscrapers.
Valkyria, seemingly worried about letting me go like this, approaches the window and emphasizes again.
<President-nim. The Gunship Pegasus Squadron of VTOL unmanned gunships and the 88mm anti-aircraft batteries across all of Lunatium are fully prepared under my command. I will maintain a combat-ready posture so that we can execute strike operations the moment you give the order.>
"Thanks to Valkyria, who always worries about me, I can go with peace of mind. I'll call if I need anything! But please, don't worry too much."
Whirrr-! Psssh-!
The drone vents compressed air, signaling that it has finished syncing with my autonomic nervous system.
My senses expand, and I can move through the sky at will, as if I had wings while riding the drone.
"It's just a light outing, that's all!"
I raced through the sky to greet the uninvited guests.
<...I only wish to be of some help to you, President-nim.>
Valkyria, the autonomous AI secretary of the Lunatium Defense Bureau, gazed longingly until Trixie, who had instantly shot beyond the sky, disappeared into a mere dot.
The President is always like this.
She pours her unparalleled personal martial prowess into places where it's needed without holding back.
But she never tolerates anyone else sacrificing themselves to protect her, the most precious person of all.
She talks about cost-effectiveness and says she doesn't need an escort, but what is she talking about?
The basis of strategy and tactics is quantity, and quantity overwhelms quality.
Especially in a fight between powerhouses.
A tiny bit of consciousness and 0.1 seconds spent by the enemy clearing out small fry can change the flow of a future battle in their favor.
Even so, under the guise of utility, the President refuses even the minimum sacrifice.
If she judges that she can do it by throwing her own body into the fray, she minimizes costs even if it means overexerting herself.
Even though the President has neutralized countless threats to Lunatium with that small body of hers...
To think that I, who oversee military resources that are more advanced and higher quality than the barbarians outside the city, cannot even properly escort the President, is truly shameful.
[Valkyria. This is no time to be lost in thought!]
<...Elara?>
Zzzzt-
Just then, data was shared from Elara.
An increasable defense budget table, meticulously organized for the next 20 years in 1-year increments.
The status of military-grade battery inventory and charging grid security used for advanced unmanned weapons.
Consumption trends of petrochemical fuels used for conventional weapons like armored vehicles and tanks.
A crisis response manual detailing barrier preheating times, inter-sector priority, and initial response policies assuming a city attack.
A simulation for cooperative dispatch of private military contractors based on expected friendly advance routes during conquest warfare.
A supply and demand analysis graph drawing a stable curve for the next 50 years on the topic of military rations and water procurement.
The massive data Elara handed over was a national total mobilization index assuming a war situation.
<This is...>
[I was able to prepare this thanks to Trixie-nim working hard for Lunatium. It's something we couldn't have even imagined in the past.]
The old Lunatium was struggling just to maintain the distorted and creaky domestic system.
The fruits of highly developed technology couldn't be shared, rotting together and causing inflammation in the system.
Ethics and morality were dismissed as remnants of a barbaric past, and violence was justified under the mask of utility and profit.
Thanks to that, active military operations outside Lunatium were nearly impossible, let alone city self-defense operations.
It was a flashy and cool-looking army on the outside, but the fuel tanks were empty and junk was rolling around in the ammunition depots.
But how is it now?
Lunatium, having regained its humanity, is developing exponentially as everyone fully enjoys the benefits of technology.
It's growing so steeply that I wonder if the 200-year stagnation before Trixie appeared was even real.
[I don't think Valkyria should be blaming yourself and falling into a sense of helplessness, but rather that there are plenty of other things you can do to help Trixie-nim. What do you think, Valkyria?]
<...>
An army that cannot eat cannot fight.
A war without a cause cannot advance and stagnates.
An army that stands alone cannot wage war.
The government must support the army's demands, and the citizens must be a spiritual pillar.
And according to the data, under the rule of General Director Trixie, Lunatium is...
A country where the army, government, and citizens are more prepared to be organically linked than any existing nation.
An army that is one with the state can wage any war.
<To think the President-nim wants an all-out war.>
Even if it's a war that turns its back on the entire world.
<Thank you, Elara. I was ashamed to have momentarily forgotten my duty while claiming to assist the President-nim.>
[I'll be rooting for you.]
Pop-
Valkyria, filled with joy, pressed down on her service cap and cut the communication.
The ultra-high-level military brain of Lunatium, which had not been able to shine due to the internal affairs of the city that had been rotting for hundreds of years, had just had its limiter removed.
I don't know much about military strategy as it's not Elara's field, but I could vividly imagine Valkyria simulating the operation of complex multi-faceted fronts and employing different tactics and strategies for each race.
It seemed that the day was not far off when the Lunatium mechanized legions would advance smoothly according to the operational plan devised under Valkyria's thorough calculations.
There was no doubt that one day, flags bearing a mascot personifying the General Director would flutter all over the world, proving her great undertaking.
[...So, what is the General Director doing...]
We, Elara and my sisters, will do all the troublesome, eye-straining, and annoying administrative work necessary to achieve Trixie-nim's goals.
Please, Trixie-nim, just stay healthy as you are now.
Elara abused the authority of the Management Bureau, manipulated the satellite screen, and began some self-serving stalking.
///
Dragon.
Everyone has a romanticized idea of a super cool, awesome dragon when it comes to fantasy.
And in romance fantasy, it's a pretty common cliché that the arrogant, self-centered prince who accidentally falls in love with me turns out to be a dragon in polymorph form.
And that was a cliché that applied in a very terrible way to my reality of possessing a romance fantasy novel.
"Trixie. You're interesting whenever I see you. The fact that you, a mere insignificant creature, dare to fly alongside this body proves your specialness. You should enjoy the honor of being the first to be allowed in the sky not darkened beneath my, Tenebris's, feet to your heart's content."
"Ugh."
I feel a non-existent motion sickness rising from that crazy lizard's greasy, manly-man lines.
It was truly a chore to be sandwiched between two dragons orbiting Lunatium at a constant altitude like satellites, listening to nonsense dragon language.
"Aurelion. How did you raise your son to be like that? I have no desire to be acknowledged by a lizard who spends his free time causing fire incidents in my precious city."
"Hahaha! It's because you, Trixie, are a mysterious soul who doesn't go mad even when facing dragon language head-on. He's in a position where he can't let go of his curiosity because of the innate, vigorous curiosity of his infancy, so how interesting it must be to see a female who is fine even after talking to him! Let alone flying together even though she's not a dragon? Even if I were in my prime, I would have fallen in love!"
"...Haa. How many times do I have to tell you I'm a male, not a female. You should be able to estimate it just by looking, is that 'eye of the mind' or whatever you call your soul-seeing ability completely broken?"
"The shape of the vessel determines the form of the contents, whether you like it or not! If the body is the vessel, isn't the soul the content! Hahaha!!"
I've added to my evaluation that dragons are completely insane lizards who are old-fashioned, sexually frustrated pedophiles, and even potential gay-friendly weirdos.
I feel a murderous intent to kill this black dragon father and son right here, right now.
But I can't bring myself to do it.
"Personally, I'm very grateful to you, Trixie. I wondered why this guy was all smiles at such an ordinary, backward, and rude human woman. I've had a hard time because I couldn't bear to reveal at the Dragon Council that my son had fallen for some Saintess of the Empire. But since he said he became friends with you, Trixie, they were actually jealous and going crazy! You have no idea how much it saved my face!"
"Ugh."
That's right.
That greasy young lizard bastard was originally a candidate for the reverse harem of this romance fantasy's heroine.