Chapter 120: Scout (2)
"Ha, you bastards. Having fun without me, huh?"
The Swordmaster, Ballor.
He grinned like a boy who had just found a new toy.
"Follow me."
Ignoring the knights frozen by his sudden appearance, he grabbed my arm and started dragging me somewhere.
"Aren't you supposed to blindfold me? Usually, in secretive places like this, you blindfold the person being led..."
"Cut the crap and just follow me. As if you couldn't figure out the location anyway."
Blindfolding wouldn't stop me from calculating the position based on my steps—that was one of the basics.
"Not like you're coming back here or that you'd even dare to mess with those who reside here, so it's fine."
Before I knew it, we arrived at a large, tightly closed door, where Ballor came to a halt.
Bang!
Just like he kicked open the party hall's door before, he smashed this heavy wooden door open with his foot.
"Welcome."
Standing in the forcibly opened doorway was a golden woman.
I hadn't been able to get a clear look at her when she bombarded the Frost Hydra last time, but here, in her non-combat mode, her restrained mana revealed her true form.
Golden mana shimmered softly around her like sunlight. Radiant horns protruded from her temples, and dragon wings unfolded behind her, glowing like a halo.
Her hair was so long it should have been dragging on the floor, yet it floated weightlessly, swaying gently. Her serene, smiling lips brought a strange sense of comfort.
This was Seyra, the kingdom's guardian dragon and a half-dragon herself.
"Hello."
"...Why are you here?"
Sitting to her left, casually waving his hand, was someone with blue eyes—a girl I thought I recognized at first, but no. It was an old man.
Frederica Endymion.
One of the legendary heroes who defeated the Demon King in the past, he was the only one still active today and the founder of the kingdom's alchemy guild.
Then there was the Swordmaster, Ballor, who trudged over to an empty seat and sat down—the sword that annihilates the kingdom's enemies.
The three pillars supporting the kingdom were gathered here.
At the head of the table sat Seyra, who seemed to embody authority. Even with her eyes closed, it felt like she could see right through me, stripping my soul bare.
"Don't be nervous. Come closer. I mean no harm."
"Yes."
"Do you know why we called you here, Ban?"
Seyra opened her eyes.
'Eyes as golden as the sun...'
Among the women I'd met, Hayang... the priestess from the Lamia village also had golden eyes blessed by a primordial god. But if her gaze reflected a soft, divine glow, Seyra's eyes were like miniature suns embedded in her sockets, radiating brilliance.
And yet, they weren't blinding. They had an existence akin to light itself. Just looking into them made my mind feel faint and overwhelmed.
'No... I'm losing focus.'
Dragons, by their very nature, exude an overwhelming presence. This is what's often called "Dragon Fear."
This is why they say that even knights can hardly bear being near a dragon unless the dragon suppresses its aura. I'd heard that Seyra, the guardian dragon, waited in the deepest part of the old royal castle for this reason.
But the reality was different. Even knights couldn't endure it. Just meeting her gaze made my mind blur.
'Think of something else... anything else... Don't focus on her eyes...'
I decided to distract myself with a random thought to keep my mind from locking up. A question I had been pondering surfaced.
'Which parent is the dragon, her father or her mother?'
If it were a human father and a dragon mother, the father must have been quite the explorer to venture into a dragon's lair and impregnate her. On the flip side, if it were a dragon father and a human mother, she would've had to endure, well... a massive ordeal.
And are half-dragons born from eggs, or are they live-born? Or perhaps they're some mix of both, conceived in an egg and birthed from the womb?
Dragons are usually egg-laying creatures, but with half-dragons, it was hard to say. Lost in thought, I rested my chin in my hand, mulling it over deeply.
"He seems to have gotten lost in thought from shock. Do you think he's guessed our intentions?"
"No, knowing him, he's probably entertaining some unholy thoughts about the guardian dragon."
Damn it. That old man knows me too well.
Thanks to Frederica's interruption and my growing familiarity with such pressure, I managed to reduce the Dragon Fear to something akin to a light choke around my neck.
"May I ask what it is you want from me?"
"Let's get straight to the point, then. Change jobs."
Ballor's bluntness was extreme—like cutting off 50% of a head and body in one swing, leaving only the torso. It was so abrupt that I couldn't understand what he meant.
Knowing his communication skills were abysmal due to a life spent wielding a sword, I didn't bother expecting a proper explanation from him. Instead, I turned my gaze to Seyra for clarification.
"Trainee knight Ban of the Magic Knights. We thank you for carrying out the mission in the northern marshlands last time."
"It was nothing. I was just doing my duty."
Seyra, the guardian dragon, was someone even Hayang and other reptilian races referred to as an elder.
Last time, under her arrangements, I accepted Hayang's request to deal with the Frost Hydra. After battling it intensely and subduing it to some degree, Seyra herself stepped in to completely annihilate the creature.
"We three are secretly gathering forces to address the kingdom's crises. We would like you, Ban, to assist us in this effort."
"Does His Majesty the King know about this?"
"No."
Ballor's blunt response left no room for interpretation.
"Then isn't this treason? The royal family absolutely abhors the creation of private militias..."
Although I didn't have much affection for the royal family—especially given their recent behavior of promoting division among the knights and disbanding the female knight academy—the idea of being accused of treason was a completely different matter.
One misstep and I could be executed along with my entire family.
"And why would the kingdom's guardian dragon gather forces behind the royal family's back?"
"Because I am the kingdom's guardian dragon."
"So why... Ah!"
In that moment, I had an epiphany and understood the meaning behind her words.
'Is it like the difference between the Magic Knights and the Royal Guard?'
The Magic Knights are loyal to the kingdom. While they mostly follow orders from the royal family and the king, their ultimate loyalty lies with the kingdom as a whole.
On the other hand, the Royal Guard is loyal solely to the king.
So far, there hadn't been any major problems because the king and the kingdom were one and the same. But in an extreme situation, the Magic Knights would support efforts to depose or imprison a king who led the kingdom astray, while the Royal Guard would blindly follow a mad king's orders, even if it meant the kingdom's ruin.
It was a similar distinction. Seyra considered herself the guardian of the kingdom.
In other words...
"No matter what ideology the king holds, I protect the kingdom. And the kingdom includes those not within the king's immediate sphere of concern."
Just as she had proposed new homes for the Lamia and Lizardmen, who had faced extinction due to a lack of males, Seyra's actions were not for the royal family but for the entire kingdom.
"Let me be clear, I'm different. While I lean more towards loyalty to the royal family, if the king goes mad and runs amok, I'll crush the Royal Guard and slap some sense into him myself."
It wasn't about supporting the king's vision of a kingdom—for humans and the royal family alone. This was about building a kingdom where multiple races could coexist and thrive.
"Why me, of all people?"
"Because you're good."
"And by 'good,' you mean?"
"You get the job done. Others either give up or do a half-assed job, but you see things through no matter what."
It sounded like a compliment, but coming from Ballor's mocking tone, it felt oddly dirty.
"If you believe Seyra, most of your accomplishments seem to be more about screwing than slashing, though."
"That's not true. I resolve things through earnest conversation..."
I paused, thinking of the time Dane declared independence for the beastman village while I was holding the catgirl and pounding into her from behind.
'I can't even deny it.'
"But I can't just quit being a knight."
"Procedurally, you'd leave the Magic Knights and officially join a private knight order under Seyra's authority. Outwardly, nothing would change. Even the senior knights of the Magic Knights have ties to us, so while your official affiliation changes, your day-to-day life won't be very different."
'So it's not really much different from taking on regular missions?'
"You'd also gain more freedom of movement. As for compensation, you'd receive slightly better terms than the formal appointment standards of the Magic Knights."
The terms weren't bad.
Plus, skipping the remaining two years of my trainee period to be treated as a full knight right away meant my career would be two years ahead of schedule.
"Of course, if you refuse, there's nothing we can do."
"I'll do it."
"...You bastard... agreeing so easily?"
"There's no downside. The missions are freer, I can build my career faster, and the pay is better. Why would I refuse such good terms?"
Weighing the pros and cons, the only downside was my official affiliation changing. But since my daily life wouldn't be affected and I'd just handle special missions, there wasn't any real loss.
"No lying here. Are you really going to transfer under my authority?"
Seyra's gaze pierced through me as she asked, and I nodded confidently.
"Yes."
"Thank goodness..."
As soon as I agreed, Seyra and Frederica let out sighs of relief.
"It's such a relief. If Ban had rejected the offer, it would have been a big problem."
"Is talent really that scarce? My peers are also capable."
"Only two knights in your group lack noble patronage. Proposing a transfer to knights backed by noble families would create all sorts of complications."
Now that I thought about it, everyone except Dane and me already had noble lady sponsors.
"I'll give you your first mission."
When Seyra closed her eyes, the oppressive weight she exuded vanished, and I could comfortably meet her gaze.
'The difference in pressure just from whether her eyes are open or closed...'
Even as a half-dragon, she truly was a dragon.
"Right now?"
Seyra smiled warmly and nodded. For a moment, I wondered if I'd made a mistake, but I couldn't break my promise now.
"Investigate the product [Mermaid's Eggs] being produced in the Baran Duchy."
Mermaid's eggs? Wasn't that the disgusting, oversized fish roe I tasted earlier at the party?
It had been nauseatingly slimy and reeked so much that I nearly vomited upon eating it. Nobles who considered it a delicacy were truly insane.
"You mean the ones being farmed in the Baran Duchy?"
Frederica answered for her.
"Based on our analysis, it doesn't seem to be ordinary fish roe."
No wonder it felt so revolting the moment it entered my mouth!
'If it's not fish roe, is it frog eggs or something from a reptile?'
"Shouldn't customs or the food safety department in Baran handle this?"
"Our analysis shows it's not from a normal animal. It's from an unknown organism, something people aren't usually exposed to."
"So..."
"It might actually be mermaid eggs."
Hearing Frederica's words, I almost felt the mermaid's eggs I had eaten earlier crawling back up my throat.f,