17 – Ready
“My dear, do you have any plans for now?”
Charlotte gently shook the wine glass in her hand and asked me the wine in it.
I put on a slightly tired expression, wondering if I was going to get drunk again like last night, but immediately the warning to straighten my face came back as it was a simple aperitif.
Charlotte and I were the only people sitting at the splendid dining table that stretched out to the left and right. It seemed to be 20m even if it was not long.
It was full of all sorts of food. I wondered if it was too much of a waste for only two people to eat.
I was summoned here as soon as I returned to the castle after forcibly removing Serena, who clung to me, saying that she had to be punished for hurting me, and that she would leave soon.
It was as if the timing was waiting for me and Serena to fall.
As she was examining the food on the table, Charlotte pointed her finger at the chair across from her.
I thought he would ask me to sit right next to him, but to be honest, I was surprised. In the seats in front of Charlotte and me, there was a steak cut into bite-sized pieces.
“I have one. I have to stop by the city I was in with Serena. Serena has work to do there as Serena did, and I have work to do there myself.”
“If so, after you deal with that?”
“Well. After that, I don’t have anything set in mind. I’ve been looking for dragons and I’ve lived without caring about anything else, but I’ve been entangled with you guys since yesterday.
It took 8 years to collect information alone to find the dragon’s nest, and it took another 2 weeks to go. Much more time has passed than I thought, so it was rather difficult for me to adapt to the current situation.
Serena suddenly appears, and Christine suddenly appears and fights with Serena.
I wanted to calm down a little, but I was teleported to the royal palace where Charlotte was, Charlotte was in a mess again at night, and in the morning, she and Serena got entangled. To be honest, the incident went by so quickly that I was still distracted.
Moreover, even the dragon failed to kill me, so I feel a little discouraged.
“Then, I recommend that you stay in the palace for a while and spend time with me. I promise you the best hospitality. It must be a very attractive proposal, how about it?”
Charlotte leaned her chin on one hand and tilted her wine glass towards me with a grin.
“Well… think about it some more. First of all, I have something to do right now, so I have to deal with that first. After that, if I can’t think of anything to do, I think it’s okay to stay here for a few days.”
“Ohhh, then if I kill you repeatedly so you don’t think about what to do, can I take that as a sign that you’ll stay here?”
“How does that translate into that meaning?”
“I’m joking. Just take it to mean that I missed you that much.”
Instead of answering, he took a fork to the steak in front of him and took a piece and put it in his mouth.
As soon as you bite into the moderately crispy surface with your teeth, the juices hidden inside burst out. The smell of properly blended spices wafted through the nostrils and into the nostrils.
Even if you don’t eat food, you don’t have to starve to death anyway, so there’s no need to eat, but it’s possible to feel the pleasure that comes from the act of eating delicious food.
Sometimes the tongue has to be happy.
When I put the third piece into my mouth like that, Charlotte started talking to me again.
“Come to think of it, did you also say that you had work left to do?”
“It’s not something that needs to be resolved right away. Serena’s work is urgent, so we’re going to take care of it together while we’re gone.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes and looked at me. I meant to tell you right away what happened.
“It was herbal gathering.”
“Gathering herbs…? Were you doing such trivial things?”
“On the surface, I’m a low-level adventurer, so that kind of thing suits me best. And when someone asks me what I’ve been doing for a month outside, I should have at least one excuse to answer. I was looking for a dragon to die, can’t I honestly answer? “
“If there are people who talk arrogantly to you like that, I would like them to say something to me. I could torture them until they say please kill me.”
“…”
“It’s just something I’ve said, so relax your mind, my lady. Anyway, I guess I have to report that the request has been completed.”
He nodded in affirmation.
“That’s right. I’m also cleaning up the manor house that Serena cut in half.”
“Have you ever had a fight since you cut the manor house in half?”
“It’s nothing special. The lord of that city must have told Serena that it’s an honor to meet the 1st Knight Commander of the royal family who serves you. Hearing that, he said he’d go back and pick up the mansion, but I don’t know the details. I didn’t see it myself, and Serena said Because you did it.”
“I understand roughly. It’s the same as it is, the woman.”
“Well, it’s not my fault either. I left you all alone for too long. Especially Serena. It’s you, it’s been a long time since I met you—”
Before I could finish my words, something pierced my throat. I could feel the taste of blood in my mouth.
He coughed, and a dark red liquid gushed out and fell onto the steak on the plate. A bitter cold rose from his throat. When I lowered my head, I saw something with a pale blue light.
Oh, that’s it. ice pick.
Charlotte’s ice spear pierced my uvula and completely tore my vocal chords.
First of all, there was a mistake in trying to mention her age, so she was going to quietly spit out the blood that was regurgitating inside her mouth, but Charlotte opened her mouth in a pitiful voice.
“My dear, it is taboo for a girl to mention her age. Do you mean that she doesn’t know how she deliberately chose this appearance to look the same age as you?”
I wanted to answer, but my throat was so full that I couldn’t speak. When I let out a gurgling sound, Charlotte snapped her fingers.
Immediately, the ice awl melted and disappeared, the completely shattered throat recovered, and the taste of blood that filled the mouth disappeared.
“…Because I left you and Serena alone for too long. I should have kept in touch with you in between. Living so long, the notion of time becomes fuzzy. “
“Why didn’t you rather ask me? If you could have used the search magic to scan the entire continent, you wouldn’t have to use such a troublesome method. I’m proud that it would have been much better than wasting 8 years alone?”
“That’s right. It would have been much easier to leave it to you. I could have searched the entire continent in a week at the most.”
“Oh, that means there’s another reason you didn’t ask me.”
“Because dragons aren’t that easy.”
It is an oral story that is now almost forgotten, and there is a story that a long time ago, there was a great war between dragons, and at that time, a crack formed in the dragon’s lair and leaked mana spread all over the continent, allowing humans to use mana.
At the time I was born, it was already referred to as a traditional fairy tale from a long time ago.
The important fact in this story is that the dragon lair actually exists, and that the dragon lair is a place filled with pure mana so that no matter other than dragons can exist.
I must have discovered it myself when I was in the middle of my research on immortality in the Magic Tower.
In fact, a creature called dragon is close to a natural disaster if you look at it from a human or monster standard, but if you take that standard as your surroundings, the story is a little different.
To put it bluntly, my guess is that either Charlotte or Serena can defeat the dragon alone.
It is natural that they can overwhelm the dragon’s breath with pure firepower, and even the total amount of mana will probably be superior to those two.
Of course, this isn’t because dragons are weak, it’s an exception because Serena and Charlotte are ridiculous geniuses.
However, in terms of purity of mana, they also fall far short of dragons.
For example, if Charlotte can use 100 magic with 1 mana, the dragon can use over 10,000 magic with 1 mana.
Charlotte, who took over the data I had researched in the past, flatly declared that it was impossible to derive this level of efficiency with a human body.
That’s why I was looking for the whereabouts of the dragon, hoping for it. I wondered if it would be something different if it was a breath made of pure mana that even Charlotte could not touch. Well, as you can see, the results were bad.
There was a reason why I hadn’t attempted suicide with a dragon in all these years, knowing so much about dragons.
That is, they are a tribe that usually locks themselves in their lair and never comes out.
I don’t know anything about why dragons are out of rare. I just didn’t miss the golden opportunity that there was a dragon out of the rarity and seized it.
“Charlotte, didn’t you find out where the dragon rare is?”
“Since you were so strongly convinced of the existence of the dragon rare, I don’t doubt its existence… but it was a little surprising that it didn’t even fall under my search magic. But, does that have anything to do with why you didn’t ask me?”
“Of course. Dragons are very sensitive to the flow of mana directed towards them.”
“That’s new knowledge again.”
“It must have been a knowledge that you, like me, would have learned naturally after digging for dragons for about 100 years. Ah, now it’s not like the time when I just left the Mage’s Tower, where the continent is going back to ruin, so it’s impossible.”
At my words, Charlotte’s lips pouted out.
“If you want a continent full of chaos, I can do it right now.”
“It’s a compliment that our Queen Charlotte is ruling the country wonderfully. Why are you making such a face?”
“You know what I don’t know. That’s grossly unfair. I’m sure you’ve asked me to tell you everything you know.”
“I just forgot and remembered.”
The reason Charlotte couldn’t find the dragon rare is simple.
Because it’s in another dimension. It was purely by accident that I found this out too. A dramatic coincidence that made me wonder if such luck would ever happen again.
“Perhaps, Charlotte, if you had used search magic to find the dragon, you would have noticed it and re-entered Rare. If you missed it, it was an opportunity you never knew would come back, so I chose to find it myself, even if it took a long time.”
“It means that the purpose can be discerned from the search magic that sweeps the entire continent.”
“Especially, you’re stronger than dragons. I might be able to ignore the search magic performed by those lesser than myself, but I can’t ignore the search magic you use, Charlotte. And above all, I wouldn’t have even tried it if you hadn’t told me there’s a little idiosyncrasy about dragons. It’s okay, that’s enough.”
It’s real. It was thanks to Charlotte’s mention of the volcanic anomaly that I was able to even attempt a search.
I don’t know what the person who had to be away from me for 8 years would think because of that.
After I finished talking, I was about to eat the steak again, but I tilted my head to see that the amount hadn’t decreased even though I had eaten a few pieces earlier.
What is this? Obviously, the amount had been decreasing by then.
I glanced at Charlotte’s plate. Charlotte was just about to put a piece of steak off her fork into her mouth.
I counted the remaining pieces on my plate. five things. And six if you count what Charlotte just put in her mouth.
The steak was cut into nine pieces, and I ate about three—
“……Did you change the plate?”
“Oh, it seems you noticed.”
Charlotte smiled calmly at my questioning and pulled out the tip of the fork she had put in her mouth. The silver thread connecting the tip of the fork to the lips shone briefly before breaking.
“You’re not denying it?”
“Didn’t you notice. If I deny it here, it will only be a lie.”
“When did you change it?”
“It was right after I put an ice spear in your neck.”
“No, the steak must have been stained with blood from being stabbed in the neck…”
As my words continued, the smile on Charlotte’s lips grew deeper. It was a smile as if what I was saying was the correct answer.
“That’s right. This steak was covered with the blood from your mouth. That’s why I changed it. Although it doesn’t taste or smell… the fact that it was stained with the sticky liquid that flowed from you is enough.”
“It’s just blood. What is that viscous liquid that leaked out?”
“Are you going to make that girl speak directly? That’s cheesy.”
Charlotte took the fork to the steak once again, ignoring my disquieting gaze. Cook, he stabbed the steak, and bright red juices and clear oil leaked out and spread on the plate.
It’s a steak that doesn’t look much different from the outside, and it actually was. It’s impossible now to find out in any way that my blood was there.
You wouldn’t even feel the taste of blood. However, the mere fact that my blood had been stained for a moment made Charlotte look as if she were eating delicacies.
Well, I have no intention of arguing about something like that. Some would chew my fingers and some would goug my eyes out, but that was perfectly normal.
Even worse than this, I just skipped over it. It’s a way of expressing affection.
Suddenly, the door to the banquet hall was thrown open.
“I’ve come to see you, lord.”
Hearing that voice, Charlotte’s smile seemed to disappear in an instant, and then it changed to expressionless.
I was sitting with my back to the door, so I couldn’t tell who came in, but seeing Charlotte make that expression, it was obvious.
“Are you ready already, Serena?”
“Because the lord has commanded us to prepare.”
The person who opened the door was Serena. Charlotte’s expression frowned in real time.
“You really did not learn manners and ate it, Commander of the 1st Knights. Can’t you see that Jim is having a meal with a guest?”
“Eat. Whether you eat the food here or not is none of my concern. I’m just here to serve my lord.”
“Enough, both of you.”
When I went out and shouted to stop before cursing started, Serena immediately shut up, and Charlotte looked like she had a lot to say, but she followed me anyway.
Do these guys start by exchanging harsh words with each other as soon as they meet? Seriously, it’s tolerable that the capital hasn’t been destroyed for eight years.
“How do you guys fight as soon as you see them?”
“I’m just telling the truth.”
“I’m just telling the truth, lord.”
“…”
