Chapter 79

"Two Sub-Dragons, should I go as well?"

"Yes, preferably right away. They have appeared in a location far from Desibatoru, so it's difficult to gather enough forces to fight even one of them."

"How far is it from here?"

"The second closest town, Clakenia, is about a day's ride by horse, and the nearest city, Ikarinia, is about three hours from there. However, the headquarters is in Clakenia in case of a fall, so we should head there first."

Close.

Due to the ancient documents, I am not in Desibatoru but in a city called Akaden, which is about a two-day ride from there. If it's far from Desibatoru, it's probably inland, on the opposite side of this town from Desibatoru.

Generally, the strength of adventurers decreases the further they are from the territory of monsters, so the lack of strength is quite serious.

In fact, it wouldn't be strange if there were hardly any adventurers capable of being counted as a force against Sub-Dragons.

There are two of them.

If left alone, this town will probably be destroyed, or worse, the nearest city might already be destroyed.

There is no option but to go.

"Understood, do you have a map?"

"There is no map, but the roads between towns are mostly straight, so I don't think you'll get lost. First, go out this gate..."

According to the explanation, Clakenia is directly on the opposite side of Desibatoru from here.

It's tough without a magic sword, but adventurers have dealt with Sub-Dragons before without using magic swords, even in large numbers.

Without a magic sword, the physical strength of a Metal Lizard Metal blade and the mobility and defense provided by magic should be enough to manage.

"Alright, I'll go now, I'll leave immediately."

Besides, I'm already tired of reading.

I know I need to do research since Sub-Dragons, which don't usually appear unless a Dragon is defeated, have shown up.

I seem to have a good grasp of the language system, so I'll leave the rest to the scholars. That's what I'll do.

After about an hour of flying carefully to avoid getting lost, I arrived in Clakenia.

The town itself is quite ordinary.

However, it seems crowded.

It's not the kind of abnormal congestion you see during a festival, but rather a town that is usually not very crowded with more people than usual.

From the air, it seemed that many people were camping out.

They are probably refugees.

The first place I was told to go was the Sub-Dragon Countermeasures Headquarters in the town's guild.

This is the first time I've seen a Sub-Dragon Countermeasures Headquarters (until now, I've encountered and defeated them before such a thing could be set up), but unlike the large headquarters you see on TV, there are only two men who look important and about three people who seem to be in charge of communication.

In a world where information is not abundant, this might be just right.

I don't recognize any of the faces, but one of the men will be talking to me.

"Are you Kaede? I've heard about you."

"Uh, yes."

What kind of rumors?

"I've heard that you can fly as fast as a Sub-Dragon and can withstand their attacks. Is that true?"

"Well, I basically use magic to create armor to block their attacks, so I haven't been hit directly. As for speed, it depends on the altitude, but if I can fly at low altitude without worrying about collateral damage, I can probably fly faster than any Sub-Dragon I've seen."

I don't want to break the sound barrier near the ground and cause shockwaves, so I don't want to do that in areas with people.

"Ah, I see. If that's the case, we can use one of the plans we prepared."

"Prepared?"

"Yes, a plan in case Kaede came and his abilities were as rumored. I thought the chances of using it were low, but we prepared a special plan. After all, with this level of strength, there's almost no hope of winning a direct fight."

It's that bad...

"So, what's the plan?"

I hope it's not something like, "Go in alone and defeat both of them, and if it gets dangerous, run away." That's not even a plan.

"Basically, we wait. The detailed instructions will be given by Benof, who is in Ikarinia, but we will wait without provoking the Sub-Dragons as much as possible."

Ikarinia, I assume.

"Wait? Do I need to be there?"

"No, that's the problem. According to the latest reports, we have managed to lure the Sub-Dragons into the forest, but we don't know when they will attack again. In fact, they might already be attacking Ikarinia without us knowing. We don't have the strength to lure them again, let alone defeat them. ... Except for you, Kaede."

"So, you want me to wait for them to come out and deal with them?"

"In simple terms, yes. We are short on other adventurers, but you can at least serve as a decoy. Try to buy us six days. By then, reinforcements should arrive from Desibatoru."

I don't want to be a decoy.

However, even without a magic sword, my magical mobility is far superior.

I should be able to draw their attention and shake them off in the forest, even with two of them.

By the way, how did the adventurers without my speed manage to lure the Sub-Dragons into the forest and leave them there?

It's not like they would easily lose sight of them.

... I'll just not think about it.

"Understood."

"Good, we're counting on you. Also, please give this letter to Benof."

It's supposed to be a three-hour ride, but Ikarinia is only about ten minutes away at my speed.

It might be the limit due to communication, but if the Sub-Dragons are allowed to run rampant, Clakenia won't be safe either.

Unlike Desibatoru, the residents here aren't all fast runners, so Ikarinia is essentially the last line of defense.

And you want me to defend it from two Sub-Dragons alone.

What do you think I am?

When I gave the letter to Benof, a defense system centered around me was quickly set up.

It sounds good to say "centered around me," but it seems that the preparation for self-defense has been almost abandoned, and the system is set up to "inform me immediately if the Sub-Dragons come."

It seems that my location is always reported to ensure constant communication, and the letter probably said something like, "If anything happens, Kaede will take care of it."

It's a bit of a hand-off, but there were no adventurers of the level I saw in Desibatoru, so it can't be helped.

It's a miracle that they managed to lure the Sub-Dragons at all.

During this time, I had to stay in a place where I could receive information, so I was bored.

Having nothing to do is stressful.

At first, I went to the church, which was like a field hospital, and used recovery magic on everyone.

However, all the patients recovered by the end of the first day, and I was back to having nothing to do.

On the second day, I helped with food distribution and disassembled a monster from my item box to get a feel for using a sword I hadn't used in a while.

I thought nothing would happen, but on the third day, the situation changed.

At first, I thought I heard a distant scream, but someone who heard it shouted the same thing, and it was passed on like a game of telephone until it reached us.

"The Sub-Dragons are approaching!"

The information is minimal, probably to transmit it as quickly and accurately as possible.

But I know what to do.

I immediately cast a spell and took to the air.

The direction is the same as where the Sub-Dragons were before.

"I'm going!"

"How should the adventurers support you!?"

"I can handle it alone if you just want to run!"

If you want to use me as a disposable, that's a different story, but they seem weaker than the lowest-level adventurers in Desibatoru.

With two Sub-Dragons, I don't have the luxury to worry about them, so I'll have them stay back.

I spotted one of the Sub-Dragons while flying.

They seem to be about the same size as the Ignis Wyvern.

With the distance being so close, I can't afford to be leisurely.

I immediately accelerated to full speed and slashed at the Wyvern with my blade cane.

As expected, the sensation was different from the magic sword.

I was repelled by the hard resistance, but I managed to leave a three-centimeter deep wound on the Sub-Dragon.

Even at subsonic speed, it's a significant hit.

The magic sword is in a different league.

The wound heals quickly.

However, I seem to have achieved my initial goal of drawing the Sub-Dragon's attention.

Recognizing me as an enemy, the Sub-Dragon turned to face me and immediately breathed a fire breath.

My position was not prepared for the breath attack, but the acceleration magic, which has become much more powerful from repeated battles with Sub-Dragons and Dragons, easily allowed me to dodge.

I approached the other Sub-Dragon with the same acceleration and slashed at it.

This time, I tried touching the blade part as I did with the magic sword, but it seemed to have no effect.

However, the Metal Lizard Metal, which has been used so much without a single chip, is truly a fantasy metal.

With the goal of drawing both Sub-Dragons, I accelerated to subsonic speed again and headed deep into the forest.

This forest, while not a monster territory, is quite large, so luring them deep inside will make things easier.

The Sub-Dragons pursued me in flight and continued to breathe fire.

I dodged by moving in all directions, but these Sub-Dragons seem to breathe fire more frequently than usual.

In the midst of flying and dodging, I checked their MP, which is probably about twice as much as any Sub-Dragon I've seen before.

Fighting two of them with a sword that has significantly reduced power will be quite difficult.

However, the goal this time is to buy time, not to defeat them.

I lured them deep into the forest.

Deciding that I could shake them off, I accelerated to subsonic speed again to avoid collateral damage.

I assumed that at this speed, they wouldn't be able to keep up.

Still, I continued to accelerate to the center of the forest, just in case, and then finally turned around.

—The Sub-Dragons were still following.

Did I misjudge their speed, or are they particularly fast?

If I lead them to the other side of the forest, there will be casualties.

I gave up on escaping, slowed down, and turned to face the Sub-Dragons.

I was told to buy time, but...

It wouldn't be a problem to defeat them, right?