Chapter 246 – The Narrow Path to Vireocean

As promised, Kaglai prepared a carriage for Hikaru where he stayed most of the time. A total of twenty carriages and 500 knights were headed to Vireocean. It was quite the spectacle.

Hikaru checked the knights’ Soul Boards, but none really stood out, so he stopped. One had four points on Sword, while most had three. A few even had only two points.

Ponsonia’s knights are a bit stronger, Hikaru thought. Forestia’s about two levels weaker overall, though.

A remarkably elegant carriage was prepared for the emperor. Hikaru’s Mana Detection, however, sensed it wasn’t Kaglai who was riding in it, but his double. The real Kaglai was in a carriage behind Hikaru’s.

Hikaru couldn’t help but give a strained laugh. It was as though the emperor was telling him “You will protect me if something happens, right?”. He seemed to have high hopes on his abilities.

Hikaru’s existence itself was being kept secret, but this kind of special treatment drew attention. Moreover, he stayed inside all day and disappeared at night. All he did was have dinner secretly in town and buy food, though.

The knights visited the pubs in town as well. Hikaru followed them without his mask and sat on a table beside them, listening closely to their conversation.

「I know who’s riding in that ghost carriage.」one said.

Of all the things to call it, they came up with “ghost,” huh? He couldn’t blame them, though. He did try to hide himself the whole time.

The knights huddled together and talked in low whispers, never letting go of their beer mugs.

「Really? Who is it?」

「Don’t tell anyone else about this, okay? Apparently, it’s the daughter of His Majesty’s distant relative. She’ll be married to someone in Vireocean.」

「What? That calls for a celebration. Why hide her?」

「Well… it’s her looks.」

「Not much to look at, huh?」

「You’re being disrespectful.」

「Who cares at this point? We’re guarding a carriage we know nothing about.」

「Strengthening our alliance, huh? But why present such a lady?」

「His Majesty doesn’t have children. There’s probably no other candidate.」

「Strengthening our alliance should be a joyous matter, but her looks calls for things to be done quietly. Is that it?」

「So that’s the reason for the sudden trip to Vireocean. To show that His Majesty was handing over someone important, not a plain-looking person.」

「Yes, that makes sense.」

「Right? I heard the Foreign Minister talk about it to his personal attendant. He said there’s no other explanation.」

「Wait, that sounds like even the Foreign Minister doesn’t know the truth.」

「That’s strange, then. The Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister sounds like they’d know.」

「Well, they both stayed behind in the capital.」

Hikaru didn’t even know he became Kaglai’s distant relative. It would seem that any information related to him was kept top-secret, probably to show that he was valued Hikaru that much.

Well, well. Aren’t we good at making arrangements?

Part of him only escorted the emperor because it felt like he didn’t have much of a choice. However, he also wanted to visit Vireocean at least once. Furthermore, it was the first time he’d heard of the Ruined Continent. He didn’t want to flat-out reject Kaglai as he thought he could build a good relationship with the man.

Nothing unusual occurred on their journey until they approached the border between Vireocean and Quinbland. Advancing through a narrow path in the mountains required the carriages to form a long line with guards positioned at the front and back. High cliffs towered on both sides of the road.

It was early afternoon. Hikaru was lying down, nibbling dried meat while reading a book he bought from the town they stopped at. It was a collection of Vireocean’s folklores. It cost him quite a lot since he actually bought it, but he could just sell it after Lavia was done reading.

「We’re under attack!」

A high-pitched metallic sound rang out. Enemy attack? Hikaru got up. Then the ground rumbled, followed by shouts.

A monster.

No bandits would think about attacking such a heavily-guarded convoy. Hikaru got out the carriage and climbed up. He saw clouds of dust rising up ahead where the convoy stopped.

「Damn it, this thing’s hard!」a knight wielding a short spear yelled, the tip of his spearhead broken.

They were fighting a Rock Dragon as big as a semi-truck. Overall, it looked like a turtle, but instead of a shell, it carried a rock on its back. The creature had two heads and eight legs as well.

The Rock Dragon’s mouth trembled as it released a vibration. Smoke rose. Under the dragon’s thick, slightly-opened eyelids were golden eyes. The knights attempted to rain a barrage of attacks on its face, but it quickly withdrew its head into its shell. Spearheads quickly broke as they thrust their weapons onto the rock.

「Surround it! It can’t move with its head inside—」

As a commanding officer gave out orders, the Rock Dragon charged into a nearby knight.

「What the?!」

Its two heads were still inside the shell. The knight quickly tried to retreat, but the creature rammed into his horse, sending it flying. The hard shell struck the knight’s leg, tearing his flesh into shreds.

「Archers! Aim for its eyes!」

「Strike its feet to stop it from moving!」

「It’s surprisingly fast! Don’t stay in one spot!」

The knights’ movements were disciplined, but they didn’t seem to be dealing any damage at the Rock Dragon. They managed to dodge some of the monster’s attacks. Although, its attacks hit every once a while, slowly reducing the knights’ numbers.

「I heard rumors of a dragon here, but I didn’t expect one to actually show up.」

「What do we do?! His Majesty is at the back!」

「We have no choice but to retreat for now—」

The moment the commanding officer decided to withdraw, a silhouette seemed to appear before the monster. The Rock Dragon buried its face inside its shell, using its hard skull to block arrows. But it would have to use its eyes to gauge the situation. And when it peeked for a bit, a person clad in black appeared out of nowhere, wearing a silver mask, and stabbed the dragon’s golden eye. The blade went deeper without much resistance.

「What the…?! 」

A chill ran down the spines of the knights as they watched the blade.

「So the other head is a dummy.」

In an instant, the Rock Dragon’s huge body collapsed to the ground. Wind caused clouds of dust to rise, blocking the black clothes from sight.

「Ugh… Where’d he go?!」a man said, coughing up from the dust.

The black figure was long gone.

While the Rock Dragon had two heads, only one actually gave orders to its whole body. Hikaru saw through it with his Life Detection. The head was a serious weak point of a creature that had a shell for protection. Perhaps the creature evolved to grow another head to make up for that, or maybe it was a spare for when the other stopped functioning. Hikaru didn’t know. But either way, he concluded that the dragon would stop functioning if he destroyed the other head, and he was right.

Hikaru wanted to raise his soul rank and the dragon was a perfect target. As a matter of fact, his rank went up by one. Using the clouds of dust as cover, Hikaru used his Stealth and returned to his carriage.

Then a shadow appeared up ahead. Hikaru looked up, but saw nothing.

Dragons had been spotted in these mountains, but Hikaru thought the timing of the attack was too perfect. The route they had chosen should be safe for the emperor. Even if there was a possibility for a dragon to appear, whoever planned this route believed the chances to be almost nil. Yet despite the odds, a dragon appeared.

Is it just a coincidence? Hikaru returned to the carriage, absorbed in his thoughts.

「What are you doing here?」Hikaru asked.

「Oh, there you are. You did great. Thank you.」

Kaglai was in Hikaru’s carriage with an unfamiliar man by his side.

「I came here because I thought you would be bored. Do you want some?」the emperor asked, raising a bottle and a beautiful glass.

「I don’t drink.」

「Is that so? Then we will drink ourselves.」

「Your Majesty, if you want to drink, you may do so alone.」

「As always, you are too uptight.」

Hikaru eyed the man. He appeared to be in his forties or fifties—if he were human. He wore a rigid expression, and his build suggested he was not a military man.

「I serve as the empire’s Prime Minister.」

The man on top of the internal government. I thought he stayed behind.

「We’ll end up creating an opening without me around.」the Prime Minister said, as though reading Hikaru’s mind.「It won’t last long, but I pretended to stay in the capital and tagged along quietly. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Sir Silver Face.」

「Likewise.」

「Thank you for taking care of the Rock Dragon. When I heard a dragon appeared, my blood froze for a moment.」

「So you already know.」

「Yes… Our knights still need more training.」

「It’s not their fault. The enemy was just too much for them to handle.」

「That makes me feel at ease. We’ll pay you for the kill as well.」

The man didn’t pry much and only mentioned the necessary information. He didn’t trust Hikaru, but he didn’t perceive him as an enemy either. This type of person isn’t so bad, Hikaru thought.

「Come take a seat, Silver Face. We still have a long way to go.」Kaglai said cheerfully.

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