---

“So, what are we going to do?”

“…Damn it.”

As I jabbed Ophelia, she began to shake her head in confusion.

Well, it’s no surprise. I felt dizzy to the point of wanting to die myself.

For now, we were surrounded by the balista aiming precisely at us—in particular, at Blackie. The soldiers readied themselves with their halberds in a formation, preparing for a complete encirclement.

Ah, of course, they weren’t just any soldiers but the elite of the elite.

“…Hah.”

I was trying to clear up the misunderstanding, but the mere presence of a dragon instilled fear in people.

Blackie hadn’t even awakened Dragon Fear yet, and having been raised by that difficult woman named Ophelia from birth, he had become somewhat docile around humans. However, to others, he was still a legendary monster.

Moreover, we certainly looked rather shabby ourselves.

Having been stranded on the island where Blackie was, the condition of our ship wasn’t great, and above all, we were carrying a dragon that looked extremely suspicious.

It was only natural for the soldiers to react so intensely.

“First of all, there seems to be a misunderstanding, so please give us a chance to explain.”

I protested desperately, but the soldier holding the halberd was trembling.

At the same time, a massive harpoon-loaded balista was aimed directly at us.

If that thing fell, someone would definitely be blown apart.

“Albrecht, you’re a Sword Saint, right? Can’t you do something?”

“…And you’re the Hero.”

Albrecht replied, as if incredulous.

“And it seems the personality of the commanding officer here is rather sensitive for attempting conversation.”

“Hey you! Don’t roll your eyes!”

Bang!

A knight clad in full-body armor, resembling a Viking, stepped forward, slamming the ground with authority.

His eyes, visible through the helmet, glinted sharply.

“What were you planning to do bringing a dragon into our Ice Palace? You are terrorists! Remnants of the demon race!”

“Are all the folks from the Ice Palace this aggressive?”

“Well, I guess it’s understandable considering they’re the closest ones to the demon race.”

“Stop mumbling! I could shoot you right now!”

The commander shouted vehemently.

However, the fact that the commander showed his face meant he didn’t intend to kill us.

There was room for dialogue.

I stepped forward and said, “So, you can shoot?”

“…What?”

“Go ahead and try. But you have to kill us all in one shot. If you can’t do that, then your Ice Palace is finished.”

“…What?”

The commander’s eyes widened.

I merely shrugged my shoulders.

I’d seen that pattern of behavior from the palace, the empire, and even during my time with the mercenaries.

He couldn’t shoot, not really.

“You crazy bastard, what good does it do to threaten him like that!”

Ophelia grabbed my coat, but I ignored her.

I am the Hero.

That means I’ve got the right to make a scene anywhere.

“Can’t you shoot? You’ve got the guts to shout, but it seems you’re lacking the courage to take responsibility?”

“Y-You’d do well to keep your mouth shut now that you’ve come this far!”

“Do you even know who I am?”

I bared my gauntlets in front of them.

“Do the Shield of the Continent not recognize the Spear of the Continent?”

As I snickered, the commander’s face turned pale.

Simultaneously, the soldiers surrounding us began to waver. As the murmurs grew louder, the commander slammed his fist against the wall.

“Calm down! It’s a fake! The demons deceive the eyes of the soldiers! Didn’t you see it in the manual…!”

“…What a tightly wound idiot.”

Ophelia’s assessment was spot on.

But a commander couldn’t sit in that position unless he was tightly wound.

And they were a group that knew how to grasp the situation well.

“Imprison them. We’ll interrogate them in the barracks.”

In the end, the commander yielded.

Interrogation, huh. There was no way he would have the guts to interrogate a Hero. For now, he must be thinking of locking us up and figuring things out.

However, someone who looked like a lieutenant asked him, “Uh, Commander?”

“What is it?”

“What about the dragon?”

“….”

The commander turned to me.

“Um….”

After a moment’s thought, I said, “Put it in the stable.”

“…The stable?”

“Just keep it away from the other animals.”

It could eat them, after all.

I didn’t need to explain further, but the soldiers’ faces had turned pale.

*

“It seems the Hero’s ship will soon arrive at the Eastern Coast.”

“I see. I heard. They sent a letter directly from the Great Forest.”

The Ice Palace, quite literally made of ice, has stood for almost a thousand years, preventing the fiends and demons of the far north from advancing southward.

The title of the Shield of the Continent wasn’t just given lightly. The Imperial Guards that protect this palace are one of the finest knight orders in the entire continent.

Naturally, the title of the commander of the Imperial Guards was closely related to the Ice Palace.

Cecilia Ethelgarand, the Ice Warrior, sighed as she took off her glasses.

“So, the elves are going to visit the Ice Palace. It might be a historic moment.”

The Great Forest and the Ice Palace had been disconnected for a long time.

It was not historically opposed, just merely that they were far apart geographically, with the Empire acting as a barrier, thus there was no need for direct encounters.

The previous Hero party did have the elf warrior Kaius, but they passed through the Erosion Zone without bothering with the Ice Palace.

The Ice Palace also didn’t attend the last continent conference. They could just hear the news directly since they shared a border with the Empire.

Perhaps it was the first time an elven delegation was visiting the Ice Palace.

“Let’s get ready to welcome them. There’s a Hero, so we should treat them with the utmost respect. For now, let the eastern outpost know too.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, a Hero… They must be strong.”

Cecilia was secretly looking forward to it.

She was a person known as the greatest warrior of the north.

Having already crossed swords with the renowned Golden Lion of the south and the greatest knight, the Sword Saint, she found their skills astonishing, but she didn’t feel they were insurmountable walls for her.

Yet a Hero was different.

Cecilia had never met a Hero before, let alone had the chance to gauge their abilities.

She had heard the news that during the last continental conference, a Hero defeated a Sword Saint in a duel.

For Cecilia, it was an intriguing matter.

“They defeated that Sword Saint, huh. It seems the title, Warrior of God, isn’t just a falsehood.”

Muttering like that, Cecilia donned her armor and carefully sheathed her katana.

But a problem arose right after.

“Bad news!”

A messenger urgently knocked on the door.

As soon as it opened, the messenger rushed in, panting and wiping the sweat off his brow.

He had run here urgently enough to be sweating in this weather.

“What’s the matter?”

Cecilia asked, and the messenger, after regaining some breath, blurted out, “The Hero has arrived.”

“Okay. Didn’t I say? The Hero will be at the Eastern Coast soon….”

“With a dragon.”

“….”

Cecilia tilted her head.

She was suspicious if what she just heard was true.

A dragon.

A creature that had become a legend just by existing.

According to the records of the Ice Palace, the last sighting of a dragon was a White Dragon witnessed during a massive eruption sixty years ago.

So, at first, Cecilia couldn’t wrap her head around the messenger’s words.

“Am I hearing things wrong? A dragon?”

“Yes. A dragon, uh, was there….”

“No, what nonsense….”

“It was there! A Black Dragon…!”

In that desperate gasp, Cecilia recognized that what the messenger was saying wasn’t just a absurd tale.

*

And moments later.

“Is that… a dragon?”

After hearing the soldier’s report, Cecilia arrived at the Eastern outpost after riding for over two hours.

And she confirmed the dragon that was supposed to be in the stable.

It really resembled the dragons described in legends.

However.

“…Why is it munching on grass?”

“Hmm… It seems to be an omnivore….”

The stable keeper replied, almost on the verge of tears.

The Black Dragon, the dragon of legend, was peacefully munching on grass while shaking its head inside the stable.

Overcome by the mere existence of such a dragon, the horses nearby had already huddled against the walls in fear.

“…So, you’re saying that the Hero’s party brought this?”

“It seems that it claims to be the Hero.”

“Well, who else could it be?”

I let out a deep sigh.

Who was the commander of the Eastern Legion again?

“Galerius. That idiot.”

He was told to welcome the Hero but ended up imprisoning them?

Of course, there was that variable of bringing a dragon, but there’s no way he wouldn’t have recognized the Hero’s Divine Mark or the mark stamped on the Sword Saint’s cheek.

He was just acting out because he couldn’t accept that his judgment had been wrong.

“It’s bad news. We’ve offended the Hero’s party like this….”

Cecilia gnawed her lips and ran toward the residence.

It was time to release the Hero’s party who should be imprisoned and apologize for the uproar.

However.

“….”

Upon entering the residence, Cecilia was once again left in shock.

“Grrr.”

“That little brat, barely a mouthful.”

The central hall was in complete disarray.

All the furniture had been overturned, and the soldiers were sitting cowering in fear.

In the center was a girl who was beating up Commander Galerius, who was meant to be reprimanded by Cecilia.

“Spit!”

With a last nail in the coffin, the girl spat at the swollen cheek of Galerius, who was now bruised, and turned to look at Cecilia.

“Saintess….”

The moment Cecilia recognized the girl’s amber eyes, she realized this was Ophelia Meredein, the Saintess of the Hero’s party.

But the confusion didn’t end there.

Why on earth was the Saintess of the Hero’s party beating up the commander?

And where were the others?

“Huh?”

Ophelia licked her lips as she glanced over Cecilia’s expensive armor.

“What? Are you one of that guy’s subordinates?”

“…No, I’m just….”

“Your armor looks nice.”

“Uh?”

The girl dressed in holy garments walked over boldly and started examining Cecilia from head to toe.

“Wanna duel in that armor?”

“…Duel, you say?”

“Yeah.”

Ophelia grinned and poked Cecilia right in the chest with a branch she was holding.

“Why? Are you scared?”

“….”

Cecilia was left speechless as she couldn’t follow the unfolding events.

 

---