177 – theorem-11

“What are you standing there for? Wake up! Move!”

The guards looked at their captain in horror.

“Gee, are you serious? You want to fight that one?”

“It’s just a flying beast! The soldiers on the front line would have fought with much tougher guys!”

“Are you insane? The knife won’t even stick! In the first place, to the flying guy…”

“Bring your bow, arrows, and long spear! Even if you’re blocked by black scales, you’ll feel a tingling sensation when stabbed with a spear!”

The captain of the guard took his bow.

“It’s crazy! We need to call in knights and wizards. We’re stopping dogs from dying!”

“Stop talking nonsense! Dog deaths? If there’s one human being that should be killed by dogs first in this capital, it’s us!”

The guard’s eyes gradually grew stronger.

“A knight or wizard might be able to injure that dragon, but we have to wait until then!”

Only then, the guards began to move busily.

“Leave your sword and shield! Anyway, that dragon won’t eat it!”

“Don’t throw it all away! If you go to the warehouse, there will be several shields as tall as a man. Bring them all! If that dragon breathes out, we need a way to block it!”

“Gather those who are ready!”

Fortunately or unfortunately, the place where the dragon broke through the land and soared up was a deserted empty space without people.

Considering those gigantic wings, it might move to a private house or an aristocrat’s mansion in an instant.

However, the soaring morale of the guards was mostly lost when they got close to the dragon.

“This, this…”

Big. There was something more frightening because it was a legendary dragon, but the fear that bloomed just by seeing a huge creature gnawed at the human spirit.

Standing in front of a tiger or a wild boar that is slightly larger than a human is nothing to be afraid of. Even more so, it was perfect for a dragon that was continuously emitting huge roars.

“Form up!”

The captain of the guard sighed at the sloppy guards’ progress. However, the basis of the guards is to maintain public order in the capital.

Even though they were accustomed to fighting in a small square with 10 or 20 people, it was difficult to expect all of them to move as one body.

“What about support?”

“The Capital Defense Forces are on the move, and Sir Reinhardt is gathering the knights of the Imperial Palace and moving.”

The messenger stopped talking, biting his lip. The captain of the guard protested.

“Don’t be intimidated and speak quickly! There’s no time! Dragons have appeared in the capital, but that can’t be all!”

“That’s… that’s all.”

“what?”

The captain of the guard felt his head dizzy.

There was no word that the expected mages were coming, and Reinhardt and the knights of the imperial palace were of course powerful, but the number was absolutely insufficient.

“What’s going on! Are there multiple invasions happening elsewhere?”

If it was a force capable of summoning such a dragon, it would be easy to summon a few monsters.

A hypothesis flashed through the head of the guard that the reason why the guards were able to arrive here first could have been ‘because they weren’t noticed’.

“Ah… no!”

“Then why!”

There was no way he was unaware of the seriousness of the situation. The dragon that broke through the earth and soared into the sky attracted enough attention for everyone in the capital to see it.

“Hwa, the royal family… urgently called the knights for escort…”

“shit…”

Again, it was political logic. The captain of the guard couldn’t help but sigh.

“Without His Majesty the Emperor, if the imperial family is annihilated, the security of the nation is at stake…”

“Damn it, where is the person who doesn’t know that! First of all, shouldn’t the enemy be defeated!”

The dragon is definitely a legendary divine beast. Its enormous mass, destructive breath, hard, tough scales and sharp claws were enough to make people fearful.

However, it is not absolute. If a dragon appeared in a rural village, he would be able to escape and find his own way, but this is the capital of the empire.

There were also knights with tremendous prowess, wizards with enormous magic, and priests who could create miracles.

No matter how strong the dragon was, it was a creature whose victory could not be guaranteed if it fought against the best talents in the empire in the capital.

“Ho, there might be people trying to assassinate each other taking advantage of the confusion, and there might be other members of the royal family behind the incident…”

The messenger who delivered it, the guard captain who listened to it, and the imperial family who brought up such words would know. That it was a blatant lie and a deception.

It’s just that I don’t want to waste power on something like this. Of course, it would be nice to have the honor of defeating a dragon with the minimum number of knights, but honor and major are nothing if there are no knights and forces to protect that honor.

In addition, even if there is a member of the imperial family who insists on fighting, it is difficult to speak out. The nobles next to them are not ‘people who have to be them’.

If the knights, soldiers, and their property were consumed in a slightly dangerous place, they would abandon them and go out to support another candidate for emperor.

“The future of the empire is bleak…”

However, no matter which of them becomes the next emperor, the citizens will remember this event.

And the emperor will use force or power to quell their dissatisfaction, and in the end another good citizen will suffer.

“Uh, what can I do?”

“Don’t be shaken! Our work has not changed! Let’s wait for Lord Reinhardt’s support!”

The guard commander desperately encouraged his subordinates.

“Even if there is no support from the Templar level, there are many honorable knights in the Empire! If we hold out here, they will come out and help us!

What he said wasn’t necessarily wrong. Even though Reinhardt was old, he was a strong knight, and the knights who followed him were not weak either.

But, in fact, that was all. Of course, as he said, if the guards are fighting here, many aspiring knights hiding in the empire will come out.

However, it was overly hopeful to expect that the idiots who were leaving in search of honor without even joining the knights could hurt the dragon.

Blinded by the title of dragon slayer, novices will gather who think, ‘If a dragon is this tired, even at my level…’. Compared to the proper article, they were too weak.

“Hwa, the princess? Have you contacted the Platinum Knights?”

A light of hope flashed in the captain’s head.

Even after being away for a long time, Eleanor was the strongest knight in the Empire.

With her help, even a somewhat inferior situation could certainly be turned upside down.

“That… the princess said it was a ‘waste of time’…”

“What?”

I couldn’t understand. I wasn’t the one to say that.

Right now, that dragon was only roaring wildly and shooting flames into the sky.

However, you never know when that fire will turn toward the citizens. The vicious aura it radiated was also formidable.

“There’s no way the princess would say something like that!”

“I… heard it myself.”

The captain of the guard couldn’t believe it. Since she was still a minor, she had seen with her own eyes how she was helping out in the slums and clearing out criminals.

Although she was much younger than the captain of the guard, he respected her.

“Nonsense!”

“I-I really do! But since you told the other Templars, ‘It doesn’t matter if they move voluntarily,’ they’ll get support!”

“i get it.”

The dragon moved. After roaming the sky and moving back and forth in the clearing for a long time, the dragon turned its gaze to the imperial palace and slowly flapped its wings.

“Former guards, open fire! Fire arrows!”

Numerous arrows flew towards the dragon. However, the dragon’s wings could not be scratched.

“I-I saw this way!”

However, it was enough to draw attention.

/////

“Aren’t you guys going together?”

Eleanor asked quietly, looking at the remaining knights.

“Well, to be honest, dragons are a bit scary. Wouldn’t it be best to hide in a spot on your back when it’s so vicious?”

One of the Platinum Knights made a joke. nobody believed him

If it’s honor, if it’s the right thing, they’re the ones who risk their lives. If he was only going to run away out of fear of the dragon, he shouldn’t have come here in the first place.

Except for a few knights left here, everyone else left to stop the dragon. Less than a third of the knights remained guarding this place.

“…There’s a place where you’re stuck, so why don’t we go together?”

“Didn’t you do something like an invitation in the first place?”

As Captain of the Knights Templar, Eleanor always gave orders to her members. Seeing her using such soft words was quite a refreshing sight even for the knights who had served the princess for a long time.

“I have to do something else. It’s just… cleaning up.”

Eleanor, who even confirmed that the dragon had risen, had no reason to stay any longer.

No plan will ever fail. Wizards and priests were carefully selected, and everything they needed was equipped.

Having used up all its uses, only her shell remained.

Eleanor had hoped that even this shell would not remain.