NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 54: Hero (Yuusha) Vs Dragon, Part One
Zect's POV
The communication crystal glows... this is a direct message from the Holy Land.
Since Ceres left, things have been bad... So, we asked them to bring him back.
But that failed... and the Holy Church decided to act directly.
Maybe... this is the message.
"Yes!"
"Zect-dono, there's a 'request' from Pope Romalis."
A request... isn't it about Ceres?
Well, the Hero (Yuusha) is considered a messenger of the goddess, so although it's a 'request,' this is an 'order' that cannot be refused.
"Archbishop Roanne... a request? Of course, I would never refuse a 'request' of the Pope... please tell me what it is."
"I'm glad you asked."
No way...
Archbishop Roanne says many dragons are coming up behind us.
He said we shouldn't just let them pass... we should slay them.
In short, like that.
"Why is this happening? We've never heard of dragons moving in mass before... what's going on?"
"There are reports that Ceres-dono, the Hero (Eiyuu) of the kingdom, has hunted many dragons... Well, this is just a rumor, but the dragons were scared of him... They ran away... But as a result, something like this is happening... well, it's a speculation. Still, that's what they're saying."
Even if it is Ceres... there's no way.
Sure, he's incredible, and he has hunted dragons before. But dragons are afraid of him?
There's no such thing.
"Sure, Ceres is a great guy... but that's no way."
"'Certainly dragons are afraid of him' is most likely a lie... but Ceres-dono has hunted many dragons... This is a fact, and the dragons are active... Now, the dragons are coming from behind you, and they are moving toward Bushya, the major town, and if you do not stop or divert them, the people of that town will die... We wish you the best of luck."
Are you kidding me...
We're in bad shape... We can't fight a herd of dragons.
No, even if Ceres was here, we wouldn't be able to handle them.
"Even we can't handle that many dragons..." said Zect.
"That's right... even if it's one dragon, I can't deal it..." said Lida
"There's a limit to the amount of offensive magic I can use, too," said Mel.
"I specialize in recovery magic. So, only three of us can handle multiple dragon species like that," said Maria.
"Is that so? I mean, you drove out the 'Hero (Eiyuu)' Ceres-dono for whatever reason... isn't it a problem if you can't defeat the beings that he was able to defeat? Besides, would that 'Hero (Eiyuu)' really say that he can't do it under the same circumstances? Even if he really can't do it, he would say, 'I'll do my best'...at least, he never made any weak words when you were with him, right?"
Yes, it's true... Ceres has saved us from a tight spot on more than one occasion with some kind of plan.
But... I don't think Ceres can do anything about this situation.
"I don't think Ceres can handle this situation."
"I wasn't sure whether to say this or not, but... many people say that 'the hero's party took all the credit that Ceres-dono alone had made'... so far... I don't believe that you guys have done such a thing. But now, if I compare the credit of Ceres-dono with that of you guys after Ceres-dono left the hero's party... I cannot say that it is a lie..."
"But..."
"If you can't do it by yourselves, don't you have to cooperate with the Lords of the 'Bushya' or go to the Adventurers' Guild or the church and ask for help? You are a 'Hero (Yuusha)'... What's that privilege you have? You have the right to borrow Knights. You have the right to borrow power from nobles and churches... Don't you think so...? Are you really pushing all of them to Ceres-dono?"
"No, I did not..."
"Then that's good... but look... this crisis is about a lot of lives... and I need you to act now."
"Yes, I'll do it."
* * *
"What the hell! Does anyone here... know this stuff? Hey, Maria..."
"I-I was there when Ceres asked the church for help... Well, it wasn't really asked for assistance at the time, just some special herbs..."
"Come to think of it, I accompanied Ceres to a nobleman's residence once before."
Then, that makes it easy...
"Maria, go to the church, Mel to the Lord, and Lida to the Adventurers' Guild... split up and ask for help... I'll go with Mel to the Lord."
"""Understood."""
I thought that if I braved it out... something would change.
And now, the Lord met me immediately because I was the Hero (Yuusha). But...
"Zect-dono the Hero, Mel-dono the Sage, I understand your situation... I will lend you as many knights and commoners as you want... how many knights do you need? Should they carry swords or spears? How many men? What's the plan?"
I don't know what he's talking about.
"Mel... you're in charge."
Mel's face turned blue.
"Uh, 30,000 knights? And spears..."
The Lord's face turned dejected.
"Huff~ Even though it's a major town, it's not a royal capital... we even don't have a hundred knights... Even if we gather all our troops and mobilize adventurers, we'll only have about 5,000 at most... Maybe Zect-dono and the others... you don't have any experience in command?"
Yes... In fact, I've never done anything like that.
Ceres once told me to read the 'book'...
He told me to learn about strategy, of course, but also about manners and stuff... but I didn't do it.
Now, since there was no one among us who could command.
Count Bouyan was in charge of the Knights.
Bishop Amir, who holds the title of holy knight, was in charge of the church troop.
And Bran, the guild master, was in command of the adventurers.
We were assigned to take the lead in reducing the dragons' numbers before they could fight.
* * *
"Zect, it's impossible... Let's fight with the others."
"Lida, we can't give up our position in the front line."
""Zect!""
In the distance, a cloud of dust rose from the sky.
The rampaging dragons are coming into view.
Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m fr𝒆ewebnove(l).com