Chapter 68

It was thanks to the well-trained dragon.

Holding the reins, I didn't fall off as the dragon slowly circled above the fallen Cerberus.

"It's quiet now." "That was fun!" "I want to do it again~"

"Thank you, I'm saved."

A gentle breeze playfully caressed my ear.

I was saved because the spirits were willing to help.

The roar of Cerberus, which shook the air, seemed to have annoyed the wind spirits.

"Still..." "There are still some?" "There are small ones." "They're making a 'kyu' sound."

"Small ones...?"

The wind blew from behind, pushing the dragon away.

In that direction was the nest where Cerberus had been hiding until just now.

"Wait a moment. I need to talk to my friends."

"What do you mean by 'a moment'?" "What is a moment?" "Noah, hurry up, hurry up!"

On the ground, Tristan and the others were looking up at me.

"Noah, kick with your left foot! Pull the reins in the same direction! Slowly!"

Following Alice's advice, the dragon slowly descended.

The wind followed playfully, and the landing point was a bit off, but it was within the acceptable range for a beginner.

If we had been carried away by the wind, we would have crashed into the bushes.

Encountering other monsters alone would be something I'd rather avoid.

"Alice, are you okay? How about everyone else?"

"Yes, no one is injured. Some knights are wounded, but all are minor injuries."

"Hey, how was the sky trip?"

Quincy appeared, covered in mud.

"I saw the horizon for the first time in a while. How about the mercenaries?"

"One broke his leg. The rest are fine, I guess."

When the rope on Cerberus's right head loosened, the mercenary at the end was caught up and lifted into the air.

He was thrown to the ground and broke his leg.

"I'll ask the sixth squad to check on the injured. Alice, can you tend to them? I'll go with Quincy to Tristan."

"Understood."

I headed with Quincy to where the knights were inspecting Cerberus.

"Tristan, good work."

"Yes. Peyton, I'll leave the rest to you."

Tristan handed over to the captain of the third squad and walked over with Deputy Baldo.

Tristan, who usually kept a neat appearance as a knight, was now covered in mud and dirt.

When Quincy reported the mercenaries' injuries, Tristan quickly instructed the members to provide treatment.

"Pretty lenient with mere mercenaries, aren't you?"

Quincy deliberately used words to mock the nobility.

"It's only natural."

"No, it's unusual. You've been quite influenced by Noah, haven't you?"

I tilted my head.

Tristan didn't react to Quincy's provocative words.

Baldo, who reacted slightly, relaxed when he saw me.

I think Tristan has always been tolerant of status and rank.

Despite being from a ducal family, he doesn't seem to think that nobles are absolutely superior.

I was about to speak, but Tristan cut me off.

"By the way, did you have something to say?"

"Oh, right. There's something that's been bothering me..."

I vaguely mentioned the spirits and suggested that the nest should be checked.

"That will be done by a survey team eventually. Our job is done."

"True. We can't just leave Cerberus's body here, but we can't move it all at once."

Tristan and Baldo made a reasonable point, leaving me at a loss for words.

Quincy, staring at the direction of the nest, asked me a question.

"You were trying to get close to the nest on the dragon, right? Did you see anything?"

When Quincy said this, Tristan and the others looked at my face.

"...I heard a cry."

"A cry?"

After a brief silence, Quincy said he would take a few injured people and go check it out.

He walked off as if he were going for a walk.

"Let's leave it to Quincy."

"Yeah, okay."

Tristan and I silently watched Quincy and a few others disappear into the bushes.

It might have been unnecessary to tell Quincy to be careful, but there was no time for that.

While waiting for Quincy, we began to clean up the situation.

The injured were given temporary treatment and were resting.

Those who could move were pulling Cerberus's heads out of the swamp or collecting ropes and stakes.

"Noah, come here."

Called by Tristan, I was examining parts of Cerberus that could be used as materials.

I'm used to seeing monster corpses, but the fresh cuts were vivid.

Teeth, eyes, claws, and fur were all valuable materials, but they were so large that they had to be dismantled one by one.

Moreover, Cerberus, which had rarely been defeated, was quite rare.

If left as is, other monsters would eat all the materials before they could be stripped.

The heads, as proof of the kill, were to be loaded onto a cart and taken to the capital first.

The rest would be transported as much as possible, and a protective barrier would be set up to keep other monsters away.

"Noah-san!"

"Luke!"

Luke, who had received the news of the successful kill from the tenth squad, had come to meet us with a cart.

"Thank you! I'm glad no one is injured! Come on, Alice and the dragon! The cart is waiting at the entrance of the swamp."

Luke, after quickly confirming my safety, pushed me from behind.

"Luke, wait. Let's take the injured first."

"Yes, that's right. Don't worry, we have more than one cart. We also have a cart for the heads, sir."

As expected of Luke.

The sun was setting, and the bodies soaked in the swamp water were getting cold.

I was also mentally exhausted and wanted to sit in the cart right away.

However, Quincy and the others hadn't returned yet.

"---Grrrr" "Kyuun"

A growl came from the bushes.

We all turned to look, and Quincy's face appeared, pushing through the trees.

"Hey, don't cast any spells. Hey, Noah, we've got a hit."

Raising his hands to calm the wary knights, Quincy pulled the rope he was holding.

It was a young Cerberus.

Even as a child, it was much larger than a large dog.

Quincy and three mercenaries were holding it down with a rope.

The spirits must have been talking about the young Cerberus.

Perhaps this was why Cerberus didn't want to leave the nest.

"It's a full-grown three-headed one. What do we do with it?"

What do we do? What do we do?

Cerberus is a rare monster.

If adventurers or mercenaries caught it, they might sell it to wealthy collectors for money.

If the parent were alive, it might cause trouble like the wyvern that chased eggs in Albus, but we've already defeated the parent.

However, that's a naive thought.

The growth rate of monsters is much faster than that of humans.

Those blinded by money often forget that they will eventually be unable to handle it.

"---Normally, we'd just kill it. There was nothing else in the nest, and whether it's the father or the mother, I don't think there's another Cerberus in this swamp."

Quincy had a good reason for saying this.

It's rare for monsters to raise their young for a long time.

There are no known cases of both parents raising their young.

Moreover, this swamp is not very large.

The amount of food available is limited.

The Cerberus, having lost one head, probably fled to this swamp because it couldn't raise its young in its original habitat.

"But it's a rare individual. It might die soon, but it would be very useful for research."

Research on monster ecology is not very advanced. It might also be a key to understanding the anomalies occurring in various places.

After thinking quietly, Tristan decided to put the young Cerberus in a cage and transport it.

"Let's take it to a village near the capital first. Once we get the king's permission, we'll bring it to the capital."