Scales that contain noticeable amounts of sharmelkolle, the strongest metal known to the world of Zenkon, faintly glow in response to mana around them. Teeth nearly as long as a human forearm hang imposingly like deadly spears in the air as a chaotic wind passes between them. Muscles that can crumble stone loosen and tighten in small motions as a great creature lies in ready to retaliate.
Daniel’s heart is racing. He is but an average human from Earth, where the only living dragons are a species of monitor lizard serving as a perfect example of island gigantism.
The humble mechanic has experienced a great deal of incredible things since he was spontaneously spirited away to the world of Zenkon, not least of which was the magical transportation itself. He has the imagination and presence of mind to roll with the punches, thanks to his combined life experiences. The moment it sank in that he was in another world, he had to start accepting everything he sees as what it is, no matter how unbelievable it would be on Earth.
And, like the first time Daniel saw a fish larger than himself while scuba diving, seeing the majestic draconid known as Yaulwembor up close is stunning. He feels absolutely tiny compared to her head alone, and her massive, piercing gaze follows every movement of his, hypnotized by her own fear. Daniel is incomprehensible to the Faormyr because he is able to wound her, even with magic, and she can’t instinctively copy the ‘spell’ he’s using. Sentient races are able to understand -eventually- that it is a weapon evolved a long way from the humble bow and arrow, and given how intelligent Yaulwembor appears to be, she might be able to understand it if specifically shown.
The human Emperor can barely hear his own words as he tries to communicate with the ancient archfiend of Mattarglos. “Nod like this if you understand me. Yes? Do you understand my words?” He is still cautiously stepping closer, but Yaulwembor’s gaze doesn’t change, other than she cocks her head a little. Her eyes tilt briefly to glance behind him, but then return to him just as quickly. She tenses a little, and Daniel comes to a stop, keeping his hands visible.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. Let’s just stay calm.” His voice is wavering, but he’s doing his best to keep it soft and gentle. He’s about twenty yards from the ancient colossus, and they’re both afraid of each other. Daniel’s advantage is that he has a pretty good idea of what he’s up against.
She doesn’t.
This works against him a little, since he’s trying to get her to stand down peacefully so they can bring her in and try to prevent her from going on a rampage anymore.
And, while the archfiend seems to understand that she's outmatched for once, she doesn't seem to understand Daniel's attempts at direct communication.
The mechanic wants to glance over his shoulder for silent brainstorming, but he dares not look away from the apex predator before him. He thinks carefully, and he notices Yaulwembor glance at the others behind him once more.
He can only hope that his companions aren’t doing anything restless.
He says gently, “Yaulwembor, look at me.” He waves his hands gently, drawing her attention again, and this causes her to growl. Thankfully, she doesn’t make a move yet, but she is still on guard and shrunken in such a posture that she could spring an attack at any second.
Daniel points at her eggs; four hard-shelled oval-shaped objects in a small nest, but otherwise being ignored by the beast.
She glances briefly, and then snaps her gaze back to him with more of an edge to her scowl. He keeps his hands visible, cooing as carefully and sincerely as he can, “Easy, easy… I want to help.” He gestures at the archfiend, and then points behind himself with his hands, specifically indicating the Dragon Empresses, who are standing as close to Daniel as possible without worsening Yaulwembor’s tension.
The Faormyr looks at Geirahoel, Reignleif, and Ryuogriar, beginning to snarl. Neith starts to move closer to them, but this only causes her to roar.
“HEY!” shouts Daniel as he puts his hand on Nemaisol. No sooner do his fingers wrap around the grip does the archfiend snap her gaze back to Daniel. He keeps his right hand on the grip while waving his left hand gently. “Calm down, please. I want you to have the same.” He keeps gesturing at her, relaxing his grip on the magic weapon in rifle-form. He takes a couple of steps closer, now operating his magic bag to withdraw the food they prepared, courtesy of Aoloan directing the effort. He begins setting it down closer to her, watching her for a moment.
Daniel backs away a few steps, gesturing at the food.
The draconic being glances around, noticeably taking interest in the food, but still highly suspicious. Daniel says over his shoulders, “Everyone relax your guard, please. We’re friendly today.”
He already discussed this with Helbeit, especially, that he needs to keep his own rifle ready to fire in a hurry, even when Daniel tells everyone to stand down. Yaulwembor is still a ‘wild animal’, in a sense, so it’s dangerous to let down their guard too much. Likewise, Doephluev is still ready to react in a flash, as is Senn.
The mechanic sinks to a kneel and waits patiently, and Yaulwembor wearily sits up. The growling has softened, and she keeps glancing at the meat dish. Daniel gestures at it again to encourage her. It’s clear that Yaulwembor is fairly intelligent, she just can’t communicate as directly as a person. But, even cats and dogs can learn to communicate their desires, even without speaking.
Daniel withdraws another meat dish, walking on his knees to put it down beside the first one, and then retreating on his hands and knees to give her a little space, repeating the gesture for her to enjoy.
Yaulwembor finally relaxes a tiny amount. Her gaze never stops suspiciously searching the group, especially Daniel, but she eases forward enough to reach the meals with her tongue, lapping each one up quickly before retreating back. Daniel withdraws a third, this time walking a little closer. The Faormyr tenses a little, and the human sets the tray down, easing back as he has repeated so far. She glances at it, and then at Daniel.
While his heart is still pounding, a moment of relief washes over Daniel once more.
Her gaze is expectant.
Daniel smiles and withdraws two more dishes, setting them down by the first of this set, retreating back a couple of steps.
The draconic being huffs and crawls forward cautiously. She laps up the meals just as quickly as she has been, now only retreating away from the trays to what would be a couple of steps away from Daniel. It seems her hunger is winning out over her caution.
Daniel obliges, feeding the draconic being with an increasing amount of food until it reaches the point that the Faormyr closes the distance, eating the food almost as quickly as he can get it out of his bag and set it down.
He tries to move with a steady pace, since he has around seventy people standing around watching as he feeds a terrifying monster, adding in dishes of every kind of milk he could get.
When he sets down a particularly small dish of milk, Yaulwembor nearly sucks it down as quickly as the rest of the meal before halting. She snorts and backs away a step.
Daniel chuckles. “You really don’t like the lady Dragons, do you?”
She stares at him, sniffing and lifting her muzzle into the air to sample the scents present. Her gaze is drawn to Reignleif, and the colossus growls.
“Hey now, be nice. I’ve got other things for you.”
He sets another tray of rose milk, which the draconid hastily drinks while Daniel returns the dragon milk to his bag. He then tries cookies, which Geirahoel made, and he can hear her audibly huff behind him. She grumbles, “Why are you wasting them on this thing? I made those for you…”
Yaulwembor gobbles them down with abandon, seemingly not noticing Geirahoel’s scent on them.
Daniel does the unthinkable, wavering only for a moment with his hand raised. He touches Yaulwembor’s snout, and the ancient guardian of the forest halts. Her eyes look directly at Daniel, and he gently slides his hand across her massive nose.
“D-Daniel…!?” whispers Geirahoel loudly enough to be heard. He’s sure everyone is on edge, and the Faormyr herself takes notice, growling lightly.
“Shhhh, it’s alright,” coos Daniel. “It’s okay.” He realizes she could snap her jaws shut around his whole body before he could even return his hand to his side if she wanted to. Wild animals of Earth would be highly likely to do exactly that, depending on their temperament.
He’s giving her a lot more credit than a wild animal. The archfiend may not be ‘sentient’ by certain definitions, but she’s capable of strategizing, complex magic spells, and understands when to play nice, even after a fearsome battle. Really, Daniel only defines her as ‘non-sentient’, personally, because she doesn’t seem to speak, but he’s not so sure she can’t. Like Lugrae, the Feral Feldrok, she could very likely be simply ‘wild’ in the same way; having somehow survived her whole life without sentient parents to guide and teach her. That said, pretty much everyone is convinced she’s older than Neith, making her the second oldest person present, depending on whether or not she exceeds Senn’s age. If she is that old, it’s unlikely she never encountered people or dragons who tried to communicate with her.
Those are problems for when Daniel figures out what to do. He has successfully proven that she will be non-hostile under the right conditions, and a blast of hot air from her nostrils confirms that she is losing any aggression she had before.
Still, she’s on edge with so many hostiles present. Daniel instructs over his shoulder, “I’d like everyone but Neith, Senn, and Doephluev to fall back, please.”
“No!” snaps Geirahoel.
“It’s okay, Geira-Mukori. I just want her to relax more, and she doesn’t seem to like you four lady dragons, particularly.”
Neith explains gently, “It’s instinct to prioritize herself first. I believe her Grace Reignleif is the most instigating in this case.”
“M-Me?” murmurs the blue dragon in surprise.
The grey knight nods. “Your Grace Ryuogriar, please take a couple of steps forward.”
Ryuogriar looks at Daniel, who bobs his head in assent. She walks forward with grace and tranquility, avoiding any sort of hostility.
Yaulwembor watches her cautiously.
“Your Grace Reignleif,” suggest Neith.
The azure empress takes one single step and the Faormyr bears her teeth, which Reignleif takes as a cue to step back. The knights and Stalvaltan guards all flinch nervously, since the titan had been fairly passive for a while now.
Geirahoel takes three steps forward cautiously, knowing the leader of the Einherjars was going to suggest it next. Again, the archfiend watches her, but doesn’t growl nearly as aggressively. Considering she accepted the cookies, it must mean that, to the draconid’s instincts, the two currently pregnant dragons don’t pose a threat of ‘competing’ for a potential mate.
Daniel would like to think she’s not going to turn out to be the draconic form of a praying mantis.
Daniel says gently, “I’m sorry, Reina-Mukori…”
“I understand,” murmurs the gentle blue dragon. “I’ll return ahead of the group. I will remain on standby with the troops, though.”
Yaulwembor watches Reignleif depart with the knights and soldiers, leaving behind the gatonines, Neith, Doephluev, Senn, Geirahoel, Ryuogriar, and Daniel.
Gwenesphia asks as gently as she can over the distance, “Daniel, what do you plan to do next?”
He watches the colossus for a moment as she visibly relaxes some. She still seems a little nervous, but for now, she seems to have accepted the unofficial peace treaty.
Daniel replies, “Try to get her to sleep, if we can.” Daniel slides his hand around in circles on his chest, then pointing to Yaulwembor’s. She doesn’t seem to understand at first, so Daniel tries a few other things, including hitting his own chest with his fist and tapping Nemaisol with his hand without moving to draw it.
“{If only you had a goddess you could summon to make this easier, eh Daniel?}”
Very funny. Even if I wanted to, I already used my wish.
“{Pfft! So? You think it’d be much more severe than what she did for Shek?}”
Daniel thinks for a moment. In truth, he’s beginning to worry that the original plan is faltering. Among the dishes that Yaulwembor scarfed down were the trapdoor lobster organs, which an individual specimen was supposed to be able to tranquilize a dragon. The Faormyr could have stronger natural defenses, but that definitely complicates things.
Finally seeming to understand, the draconic being rolls from her crouching all-fours position to lay on her side, exposing her chest to Daniel. There, he can see the dull greyness of her scales from all of the magic being negated around the sharmelkolle content of them. Shards of the anti-magic bullet lodged into the gaps and surfaces of the scales, which are the tiny thread by which a terrifyingly powerful and talented warlock of a magic beast is prevented from tapping into her magic.
And, Daniel intends to remove them.
Even if he didn’t want to, he won’t be able to transport her by magic by any means; magic bag or teleportation. Additionally, healing magic won’t work on her so long as her mana is negated.
Daniel makes eye contact with Yaulwembor, and he brushes off his chest, then gesturing at her chest.
She moves her head to nuzzle him, pushing him somewhat forcefully. He stumbles, feeling like he just got bumped by a forklift with how unyieldingly blunt the ‘nudge’ was. But he laughs and walks to the impact zone of the polonium bullet, switching his gloves to disposable ones that he can leave behind, as well as tweezers. It’ll be time-consuming work, but it shouldn’t be too terrible. The smallest shards will likely have already alpha-decayed into lead, meaning he just needs to focus on the larger pieces. Her scales are thick, and the specialized shell didn’t penetrate, meaning the flecks remaining are all it takes to negate her mana.
Ryuogriar has approached a little closer, using her own void bag to produce food, which occupies the titan. She hesitantly accepts the additional food, allowing the platinum dragon empress to remain much closer to Daniel, just in case. “Mukori, this seems to be a lot of work.”
“A lot less work than actually fighting her, don’t you think?”
“I suppose… Though, if this were an option to begin with…”
“I’m aware.”
“My love, have you thought about what happens when she wakes up in a strange place?”
“A little. We’ll start with an illusion and try to convince her to remain peaceful.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“I hope the barriers are actually indestructible,” remarks Treia dryly. “Otherwise, the Citadel will likely be uninhabitable for another few centuries.”
“I think she’s smarter than we originally thought. We’ll try language comprehension magic on her again once her mana is restored.”
“Around the same time she launches her attack,” grumbles the gatonine Empress.
Gwenesphia and Peiburi laugh uneasily, while Goelselmo murmurs, standing a little ways away, “Unbelievable… To think the day would come that I would see the Yaulwembor this close…”
“Father, are we sure we shouldn’t just finish it off?” asks Kuboen nervously.
“Remember, son, that these demon staves do not possess the mana capable of damaging the creature. Only the one Sir Helbeit or Lord Daniel have can penetrate its scales.”
“Shouldn’t we be careful of saying too much around it-I mean- her?” asks Peiburi cautiously. “Just because we think she can’t understand speech doesn’t mean she actually can’t. She could be faking it.”
The gatonine baron nods in agreement, “You’re right.”
Daniel carefully extracts the shards and chunks of polonium that he can find. Some of the splinters he pulls out of the scales seem to be other materials, possibly collected over years of life. He’s not sure how often Yaulwembor sheds her scales, but it’s possible it takes a long time. Each one is about the size of his palm, and even then, there are hundreds across her body, only possessing a slightly different color tone along her belly and the undersides of her neck and tail. The ridges on those adorning the upper surfaces, in contrast, are more pronounced, effective at diffusing and deflecting attacks of all kinds.
While he works, he jokes softly as to not raise Yaulwembor’s suspicions, “I wonder if I should be singing you a lullaby, huh? Though, I guess I’ve forgotten most of them… Hmm…” Daniel does his best, humming a tune, but the only words he can remember to murmur -since the song was actually in Japanese with exception of a single phrase-, “Good… sleep… sheep… sheep…,” trailing off his tone gently.
He laughs at himself. “Yeah, that won’t do… Oh! I know, how about the Black Wake Lullaby?”
Yaulwembor blinks once, shifting her head only a little as she watches Daniel with his tedious work.
“♪ Here we are, your time stopped here,
The end of your road with me.
We gave ‘em hell for many a year,
Now I carry your memory.
So rest well me love, and go on ahead.
I’ll see you at the end o’ the line.
The weight o’ the world be damned and be shed.
Our next round of drinks be mine. ♪”
The mechanic deposits the polonium shards in a small lead container to allow him to seal it and store the shards in his void bag for later disposal.
The ancient being watches him when she’s not actively eating the food provided by Ryuogriar, curious about the delicate precision work he’s doing to clean her scales. He doubts she knows at the moment that it’s what took away her mana, but she’ll likely figure it out.
Hekate calls out with the loudest voice Yaulwembor will allow without going on edge, “Daniel! You didn’t tell me you could sing!”
He scoffs. “What can I say other than ‘you never asked’?”
The feldrok empress huffs. “You must sing for me immediately when we’re done!”
He laughs, “Fine, fine. As you…” He trails off when he glances around to see many expectant stares looking at him. He sighs. “It’s not like I’m any good…”
“Pardon my saying so, Mukori, but we’ll be the judge of that,” replies Ryuogriar.
Daniel sighs with a smile on his lips. “You know I won’t refuse you. I’ll do my best.”
There are gleeful giggles around him, as well as one exasperated huff from Kuboen.
Daniel keeps working, placing one more particularly large piece of polonium into the container, and just then, a strange sensation washes over him, sort of like a sudden hot breeze from wind blowing across a fire. It’s not actual heat though, but a sort of foreboding feeling, and everyone around him seems to notice it as well. Ryuogriar tenses, Geirahoel suddenly spreads into a combat-ready posture, the gatonines take a defensive few steps back, and Neith and Doephluev start to stalk towards Daniel to defend him. Hekate’s ears fold back, and she growls, “D-Daniel?”
The human looks nervously at Yaulwembor, but her eyes are closed, and her breathing is steady. He suspects what he just felt, confirmed by everyone else going on guard, is the Faormyr’s imposing pool of mana immediately beginning to restore itself thanks to the anti-magic effect being removed.
“{Is this where you say ‘seemed like a good idea at the time’, Daniel?}”
The wayward mechanic does his best to stay calm. It’s the goal they had. It seems Yaulwembor the Archfiend of Mattarglos has finally fallen asleep from the tranquilizing toxins of the trapdoor lobsters Daniel fed to her. She looks rather majestic and peaceful, standing in stark contrast to the terrifying titan that attacked suddenly in the middle of another battle.
“I-Is she… asleep?” asks Gwenesphia nervously.
Daniel touches Yaulwembor’s chest, watching the colossal eye for any movements in response.
Hekate asks, “Daniel?”
“Sorry, yes, she’s asleep. You have a bag handy?”
The feldrok girl cautiously stalks forward as Ryuogriar steps up behind Daniel, observing as he seals the lead container and puts it in his magic bag.
“Will she even fit in the largest magic bag?” asks Ryuogriar as she observes the titan from up close.
“Mr. Lugrae does,” replies Hekate, now dragging a large magic bag that she had in a smaller one that she keeps in the special pouch on her belt. She’s referring to the Feral Feldrok, which Daniel stored in a large void bag after defeating it. He suspects that it’s possible that the reason Hekate hasn’t heard the voices of the other feldroks yet is that they are still ‘bound’ to Lugrae’s body, since it was almost immediately that he put the body into the void bag that it still remains in today.
They may also hold off on speaking to her to allow her to grow more before imparting ancient wisdom, but he’ll have to address the former guardian of the Citadel eventually.
Daniel and Hekate operate the large void bag with Geirahoel and Ryuogriar following them closely. Because Yaulwembor is so large, it takes a bit longer to store her in her entirety.
Just as the colossal tail is disappearing into the bag, the gatonines that are present approach.
Peiburi murmurs, “I… I don’t believe it…”
“Some risk remains,” points out Ryuogriar warningly. “As intelligent as this powerful being is, she’d likely be able to return if she is able to leave our control.”
“I have some ideas on how to handle that,” replies Daniel. “I’ll have to run them by Wenlianna and Ahok to be sure, and might need a dragon to test it.”
““I am at your service, my Liege,”” declare two dragons simultaneously; the leader of the Einherjars, and the fourth of the Valkyries, Neith and Roeta respectively. They glance at each other, and Ryuogriar giggles into her hand warmly.
“If… I had not seen it all for myself, I fear I would not believe it…” murmurs Goelselmo, reiterating his sentiments from earlier. “The battle, the sheer power… that it could even be defeated.”
“That’s where you and Veiranoei will come in,” replies Hekate, taking charge of the conversation. “You’ll have to tell everyone that it’s defeated. To… um… confirm it?” She looks at Daniel, and he smiles and nods.
“That’s a good idea, Sweetpea.” He’s not good at it, but the mechanic -the ‘Emperor’ of the Fievegal-, hopes to reinforce the fact that Hekate is the ruler. Of course, she doesn’t make it easy when she beams with a big, child-like grin of bashful giddiness.
Daniel addresses the two dragons who volunteered for the testing next; “It’ll be painful. I won’t force or order anyone to do it. But, we’ll need some countermeasures in case Yaulwembor tries to test boundaries.”
Geirahoel clings to Daniel’s arm, glaring down at the large void bag that now contains one of the deadliest beings in the world. “You could just give the bag to me, Mukori. You won’t have to feel guilty or anything…”
Daniel puts his hand on hers, and she trails off, looking away from him guiltily.
“I appreciate the sentiment, I do, Mukori. But, she’s a unique being, as far as we can tell. I want to know if the Faormyrs really are non-sentient, or if her strength can be put to use for the Fievegal. At the very least, if she won’t be a problem anymore, then that’s good enough.”
“It’s a big gamble,” murmurs the orange Dragon Empress.
“At the very least,” starts Treia gently as she approaches, eyeing the bag suspiciously. “For the foreseeable future, Yaulwembor won’t be a problem. Now, we just have to get rid of Rohgattabor.”
“I have a question before we move on,” interjects Kuboen before anyone can respond to Treia. He glares at Daniel, asking somewhat caustically, “What’s supposed to make us so certain the demons won’t simply use Yaulwembor as a weapon against eastern nations?”
“Listen, you…!” snaps Hekate as she points at him, but Daniel puts his hand on her shoulder. Geirahoel only resists her own outburst by seeing Daniel stop the feldrok girl, and she squeezes his arm a little painfully in order to temper herself.
Daniel replies with a hint of coldness, “Our allies won’t need to worry about that, Lord Kuboen.”
This only hardens the male gatonine’s expression, and it makes Gwenesphia and Veiranoei look a little concerned. But, the human continues his retort.
“You have the good fortune of never facing a dragon in direct combat before, let alone the golems of the Citadel. To feel the heat of stone melting less than ten feet away from yourself. The acrid smell of armor, sand, and stone turning into glass in seconds. You don’t have to believe me, but I don’t need Yaulwembor for anything.”
The mechanic looks at Gwenesphia, saying gently, “I will ensure there are contingencies when we awaken Yaulwembor. If she can be made an ally, though, our family will benefit.”
The gatonine Empress fidgets with her hands and smiles. “I know.”
“If I may, then, what is our plan for Rohgattabor?” asks Lyrtef. “If you did successfully wound it, I doubt it’s going to fall for any of our attempts to bait it out again.”
“A graetcheth mantarouck is a monster,” replies Senn. “It may try to outsmart us, but it won't likely be out of self-preservation.”
“How well can dragons swim?” asks Daniel as he looks at Neith specifically.
“Excellently, your Grace!” answers Roeta a little overzealously, stepping forward to try to bring attention to herself. “I will do it.”
“You don’t even know what he wants,” teases Treia.
“I trust the Emperor with my life, and I will serve his will.”
Daniel begins laughing warmly, and everyone looks at him. Roeta blushes a little, asking, “Y-Your Grace?”
“Sorry, sorry. But, don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Dame Roeta.”
She flinches, glancing at Hekate, Ryuogriar, and Geirahoel each in turn. “M-M-My Liege, I-I-I don’t know what you mean!”
“He means you’re sucking up to him,” retorts Doephluev bluntly. “I would know.” She grins, adding playfully, “I do it all the time.”
The pink Valkyrie stammers, and Ryuogriar says more regally, “You want promotions and prestige. I understand, my loyal Dame Roeta. You need not be so enthusiastic, though. As our loyal guardian, I shall ensure you are never without opportunities to shine.”
The young lesser dragon smiles and nods. “Th-Thank you, your Graces. I just… wish to do more.”
The Emperor sighs with a soft smile. He understands. He woefully under-tasks his followers, and they want to impress him. “My plan is to make a helmet that’ll let you breathe underwater so you can track down Rohgattabor. Once you locate it, we can attack it with magic from above.”
“Unless of course you simply want to drag it out of the water,” adds Doephluev with a cuteness to her tone.
“Gah! I was going to say that!” whines Hekate. “Daniel! I was going to say that!”
“Seems that’s two things I’m better than you at, your Greatness,” retorts the archoneldwyn smugly. The feldrok Empress clenches her fists, glaring angrily at the arrogant pseudo-elf.
Daniel calms her by putting his hand on her head between her large triangular ears. He says softly, “She’s better than me at magic, Sweetpea.”
Hekate glares up at him, now, confused by why he would say it that way. Her ears fold back, expressing her irritation. Everyone is better at magic than he is. Hekate curls her lip to pout, and Daniel does his best to smile gently to emphasize his point without saying it.
Suddenly, the young ravenette’s ears flick back up, and her eyes go wide. Daniel’s smile widens.
To many, he is the strongest and most powerful ‘sorcerer’ in the entire world. For him to point out that someone else is stronger than he is at something is to make the simple statement; everyone is better at something than someone else. Doephluev has more combat skill as an assassin, and she happened to make a point just before Hekate. However, Hekate has the most mana of any of them. She’s growing more and more skilled with firearms, especially elemental blasters, and few can use teleportation magic as effectively as she can, since it lets her justify being close to Daniel more often.
The young teen’s expressive ears fold down to the sides this time, disappointed with herself. She murmurs, “I’m better at other things…”
Daniel grins, ruffling her hair. “Not least of which is being the most adorable, Hekate. So, either prove her wrong or ignore her.”
“If I ignore her, she’ll just seduce you,” retorts the youngest of the empresses, putting on some impressive pouting.
“I was going to say that,” remarks Ryuogriar, winking at Daniel.
“You’re the biggest seducer! You… temptress!”
Ryuogriar and Geirahoel snicker, and Hekate bickers with them both, her cheeks rosy red from embarrassment.
With her self-esteem restored and a more vicious fight with Doephluev avoided, Daniel asks Goelselmo, “Baron Goelselmo, do you still wish to attempt slaying Rohgattabor under the power of your-...?”
“Forgive me, Emperor Daniel, but no. It was reckless of us to make such a request.”
“Father!?” snaps Kuboen.
“Enough, Kuboen. I won’t endanger us unnecessarily again. If the Fievegal can eliminate it in an instant, there is no reason for us to drag out the fight.”
“I could make a suggestion…,” offers Treia as she raises her hand.
Everyone looks at her for a moment, and she clears her throat. “Would your family be able to take credit if Gwenesphia were the one to finish it off? I suspect the Dragonslayer can finish it with one hit, yes?” She looks to Daniel for confirmation.
“It should be able to, given the injuries it sustained so far. At least, as long as the shot finds its mark. The flesh is much less durable than dragon scale.”
“So it shall be!” declares Roeta proudly. “I’ll find and drag the beast from the water, and her Grace Gwenesphia shall finish it with the Dragonslayer. It would be my honor to carry out this plan, my Liege.”
Daniel and the others laugh warmly, and he replies, “That’ll be a big help. Baron?”
Goelselmo nods. “Yes, if one of my children defends our lands from Rohgattabor and ends its tyranny,...”
“That’s good. Only a handful of people in the entire world have the unique ability to cast the spell dormant within the Dragonslayer,” replies Geirahoel pointedly. When everyone looks at her, she blushes and crosses her arms. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
The strange emphasis she puts on that point makes everyone realize it. She’s making it ‘special’ that Gwenesphia will be one of the ‘chosen ones’ that can use the Dragonslayer, as if it is a magic weapon that chooses its wielders.
“{Heh heh heh… If you want, Daniel I could… wait, nevermind. Ask your goddess to do just that, though. She could turn it into a magic weapon that only fires for the ‘chosen one(s)’.}”
Daniel smirks at Kaeralegier’s suggestion. It’s very tempting, but if that were the case, he’d like all of the firearms he produces to be usable only by their original owners. Because it’s mechanical, he’d have to devise a way to implement magic components just to allow the spell effect to work, and that would also mean letting magic artisans take a peek at the design more closely. But, if it means preventing them from falling into the hands of enemies, it may be more worth it.
The piles of projects he needs to tackle continue to multiply. Maybe it’s for the best that he’ll be on ‘house arrest’ again for the foreseeable future.
I’ll ask her if she’d be willing.
“{I’m sure she will. Not just anyone would throw away their status for a mere human. No offense.}”
None taken. But, she simply tried to take responsibility for something beyond her control. Even Ladies Chaos and Order didn’t seem that upset.
“{Hah! They don’t get ‘upset’, Daniel. All of ‘that’ was a show.}”
This surprises Daniel, and thankfully, Hekate is the one guiding the conversation between the others by asking if water magic could pull Rohgattabor out of the lake, and Senn explains the potential consequences, as well as the massive amount of mana that would be required -which could always have the potential to spawn more monsters-.
A… show? thinks Daniel, which Kaeralegier can hear.
“{Of course. The two primordials define existence. They aren’t so petty as to actually love or hate anyone or anything. We are all products of their whims, but only because that is the nature of their eternal being. They don’t need worship or prayer, they don’t have petty grievances with this race or that, and they don’t get upset by mistakes, even if it means the destruction of a world. The problem is, they may decide that a being must be removed. That said, that’s why Ryukana was never in any real danger. If she was truly problematic, she would have been erased instantly. We ‘gods’ and ‘goddesses’ of the Divine Realm fear destruction as you humans do with death, but for them, it is nothing more than erasing a pencil mark, whether it was right or wrong. Oh, and before you ask, don’t. There is no ‘why’ with them. Or at least, ‘letting life be life’ is the only answer you’ll ever truly get. The show was just treat the gods and goddesses like the living beings they are; beings that need guidance, purpose, discipline, and praise.}”
I see…
Daniel looks at everyone around him. Were it not for Ryukana, he would likely be rotting away at his job, drinking his nights and weekends away to race towards the end of his life in a world of poisonous luxury.
It has been said that good times make weak men, and weak men make hard times. Somewhere in that part of the cycle is where Daniel was.
Daniel doesn’t know if he’s truly in the category of ‘strong men’ to make good times out of the hard times, but, as he observes his loved ones and friends discussing in various tones of respect, bickering, cheer, and confusion, he can’t help but feel immensely lucky and thankful to Ryukana, as well as the Primordial Goddesses who allowed everything to work out.
Maybe I should be praying to you and Ryukana. You are goddesses after all.
Kaeralegier’s voice laughs warmly in his head, for no other reason than she enjoys the thought.
***