Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Wyvern Subjugation
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It was a situation that naturally drew a sigh.
Some dismissed wyverns and drakes as mere half-dragons, sneering at them as sub-dragon species.
'Just ignorant fools talking nonsense.'
During the Spring Festival, Dimitri from the Sword Family had smuggled in a drake.
Sure, I was much weaker back then, but even one of those beasts had nearly killed me.
Sub-dragon monsters were among the most powerful and ferocious of all creatures.
Wyverns, in particular, unlike drakes, weren't solitary—they lived in packs.
In other words, you had to be prepared to face an entire horde of the damn things to hunt even one.
And that was deep inside the Dragon Mountains, a monster paradise.
Leading an army to subjugate them? The casualties in supplies and manpower would be incalculable.
"...It might've been better if you'd just said it was impossible to make."
This wasn't some twisted torture or taunt.
"...S-Sorry."
Aria looked lost, seeing my defeated expression.
It wasn't the kind of face you wanted to put on someone who'd unraveled the secrets of the dispel weapon.
"...No, how could this be Lady Aria's fault?"
Aria or Set.
The headaches they'd brought were both critically important matters that could sway the entire Imperial War.
If we couldn't develop a dispel weapon to shatter Aria's grand magic armor, the Five Nations Alliance—unable to counter the Empire's legions—would be sliced apart in no time.
And as Set said, if we failed to save Paeonia and Ishwar died, the Osiris Kingdom, the backbone of the alliance's eastern front, would fracture in civil war.
In the end, both problems had to be solved.
'Guess that's my fate.'
After living a shitty previous life, maybe I was doomed to roll through shit in this one too.
That's why people needed to live straight and true.
"......"
After a brief stray thought, I sorted my mind and opened my eyes.
"...Let's tackle Lady Aria's issue first."
"What?! You're putting the Osiris Kingdom on the back burner?!"
True to his prickly nature, Set glared and bellowed.
"Calm down, Young Master Set. We're just solving what we can, one step at a time."
I soothed the bristling Set, resolving to hammer some maturity into his shitty temper at the first opportunity in this life.
"To save Paeonia, we'd either have to storm the islands militarily or snag her through merchant channels. But the Dragon Mountains border our family's Banten territory."
Set wasn't stupid. The efficient choice was obvious.
As I spoke, his irritated glare softened.
"...Fine."
Though some resentment lingered, of course.
'Now, how to handle the wyvern hunt.'
Charging in with an army wouldn't work.
Even if the entire Shield Family mobilized, we'd be wiped out before reaching their habitat—save for a few.
'...Small elite team. That's the only way.'
Ideally, bringing my father, Bacchus von Carviot, would make it easiest.
'But that's out too.'
If the Holy Empire caught wind of his absence, the risks were too high.
'Beskin, Saladin... Miron’s too green still.'
They could survive tossed into the mountains, but both were geared for human combat—not dragons.
'Someone better suited for crowds or giant monsters...?!'
"......?"
"......?"
There they were—the pair I'd just been talking to.
One, a mage renowned as the Crimson Flame Sorceress, master of fire magic.
The other, a Black Lion wielding Extreme Yang, a scorching heterogenous power dubbed Solar Fire.
No need to look far.
Clap!
I clapped lightly, drawing their blank stares as my thoughts clicked into place.
"Alright, here's the plan. You two come with me to the Dragon Mountains."
"...What?! Young Master Jerome, I'm the second son of the Vulcan Marquis house..."
"Exactly, Second Young Master Set. The kind who could vanish tomorrow and no one would care. Far from the succession. A young master with all the time in the world. This is for the alliance—lend a hand?"
"What do you mean?! I'm here for Master Ishwar's recovery..."
"Oh dear. And here I was about to mobilize our merchant network to help. Starting with the Wendinel Duke house of Fran Kingdom and the rest of the Five Nations Alliance."
Set wasn't the only one who froze at my words.
"Y-Young Master Jerome? Why drag our family into this...?"
"Because the second son of Osiris Kingdom's famed Vulcan Marquis house will help hunt a wyvern for the dispel weapon materials?"
"......?!"
"......?!"
Aria and Set exchanged bewildered glances.
"And crucially, if you don't play along, I won't budge."
"!"
"!"
"If you're going to make others roll, you'd better be ready to roll yourself, right?"
Acquiring party members for the dispel weapon material hunt—step one, success.
The next day, after Aria and Set departed, we headed straight to the royal presence where Queen Michell awaited.
"Your Majesty, we're ready to take our leave."
"Very well, Young Master Jerome. Satisfied with your selections?"
"Yes. We've obtained some truly excellent items, thanks to your generosity."
The rewards far outweighed the ordeal—almost problematically so.
"No need for thanks. May this bond we forged endure for years to come."
Queen Michell smiled warmly at us.
"I'll prepare the token of our promise. Call on it whenever you're ready."
Marquis Midas, at her side, added his words.
"Thank you, Marquis. We'll be in touch soon."
After farewells to the Queen and Marquis, we exited via the Nile route, entering southern Ikenia Kingdom.
The main change from the outbound trip? Aria and Set tagging along.
They'd contacted their families after hearing my terms the day before.
Both matters being critical, they'd received orders to stick with me for the time being.
Thanks to them, the wyvern hunt in the Dragon Mountains should go smoother...
"So, the fire you wield is ultimately fake. It's not the elemental fire born of nature—it's some illusory flame from your inner delusions. That airy nonsense isn't real fire."
"Such a narrow, book-bound mage's view. This flame is my blazing ambition to make a name in the world, given form. As long as my drive doesn't fade, it never extinguishes. Your 'natural fire'? Pfft, snuffed by a little rain?"
"Done talking?"
"Not quite."
Whoosh!
"...Enough, both of you."
I sighed and intervened.
"Tch!"
"Hmph!"
They turned away, clearly sick of each other.
'This tribalism between fire specialists, huh.'
In my past life, both were uniquely attuned to 'fire' powers.
Who was better? I'd never settled that.
Now stuck together, rivalry was already sparking.
One had taken my life before.
The other had fought beside me.
A strange connection.
"......"
Meanwhile, Miron had been silent since starting back to Banten.
"Miron, what's up?"
"...Am I... still too weak, Young Master?"
Miron mumbled dejectedly.
"I couldn't help you at all. What's the point of all that training...?"
'So that's what was eating him.'
Smack!
I walloped his back hard.
"Ow!"
Caught off-guard, he yelped in surprise as I spoke.
"Your contributions were huge. Without you, Lady Aria over there—busy stuffing her face—would've fallen to some Vladimir or whatever. And I couldn't have focused solely on my duel with Sir Michael Shen at Maginot Fortress if you hadn't handled the small fry."
"...Still..."
"You're."
I cut off his uncharacteristic hesitation firmly.
"Young. And you did great this time."
Pat pat.
I gently rubbed the spot I'd hit.
"Having you around is a huge relief. Chin up."
"...Yes, Young Master!"
His face lit up instantly at my encouragement. Set and Aria watched us enviously.
"Quite the loyal knight. And he's even mastered a heterogenous power... Impressive."
"...Enviable."
"Huh?"
"What?"
Aria's words hinted at envying different things; Set turned naturally, but she stared back innocently.
Same phrase, yet somehow off.
"...Never mind. Nothing."
Set sensed it was best not to pry and brushed it off.
The sweltering summer when we'd left to suppress Philador's rebellion under Prince Julius's orders had cooled by the time we reached Banten.
Unlike the warm southern Philador, Banten always welcomed autumn a bit early.
The familiar Dragon Mountains, the steadfast border soldiers—all unchanged.
But one thing differed from right after my return to the past.
"Hey! Guards!! Open the gates!! Third Young Master Jerome is back!!"
The attitude of Banten's people toward me.
"Third Young Master, you must've suffered greatly!"
The gate guard's demeanor was a complete 180 from three years ago.
"Thank you. But do you all know why I left the family?"
The guard nodded vigorously, as if it were obvious.
"Of course! Word's spreading like wildfire through all Banten—how you quelled Philador's rebellion!"
...Something was off.
An event under a month old, from southern Philador to here? Too fast, even for rumors traveling a thousand miles.
My doubts cleared the moment I entered the lord's office to report.
"Ah, the hero of Philador's suppression! Welcome back."
Arandal, pride of Banten and leader of the Hexagon, greeted me while stifling laughs.
"...Sir Arandal. What the hell is this?"
And understandably so.
He held a banner.
-Congrats! Welcoming Third Young Master Jerome, Suppressor of the Alliance Nation's Rebellion!
With the most embarrassing wording imaginable.
"Pfft! Well, Young Master Dwayne insisted."
"...Dwayne?"
"Yep. Said we had to spread the word far and wide, neighborhood to neighborhood."
What scheme is that guy cooking up now?
"What else? Advertising you, Young Master."
Seeing Dwayne after so long sparked two new questions.
Gulp gulp gulp!
First: Where the hell did all that food go?
"Man, I eat and eat, but I'm still hungry."
Second: ...Why cultivate that jiggling gut when his past-life looks were so different?
"...Advertising?"
"Yep, advertising."
I blocked his reaching hand from the wine.
"Spreading word of a kingdom's top-secret mission like this—what the hell?!"
A mission personally ordered by the crown prince himself, no less!
But Dwayne wiped his mouth casually.
"It's already done, right? And given the stakes, it'll leak anyway soon enough. Plus."
His beady eyes gleamed amid the fat.
"It's about time I acknowledged you myself."