We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
I caught them in the wheat field.
“Well then, let me see what you’ve got.”
Rudoriado-san seemed genuinely unmotivated, retreating to the rear to watch casually.
Thanks to that, my right hand, which had been held, was freed, but I couldn’t help but feel something was off.
I mean, as a patrol soldier platoon leader, I’d expect you to step in and maintain order when there’s trouble right in front of you.
But then again, I can’t rely on someone who’s not motivated.
Besides, I’m going to solve this problem myself!
Fortunately, the Itsukuryūjin zoku I’m facing, while looking tough, don’t seem to possess any great abilities.
It’s because I spar with Mistral all the time.
Mistral alone is more of a threat to me than these twenty-odd villainous Itsukuryūjin zoku in front of me.
The Itsukuryūjin zoku are grinning at my determination.
They’re completely looking down on me.
But it can’t be helped.
They’re all burly men holding weapons, while I’m just a boy with a strange wooden sword at my right hip.
However, I’ll show them that their overconfidence will be their downfall.
I drew the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword with my left hand and raised my right hand overhead.
Then, I concentrated and refined my Dragon Energy.
The power drawn from the Dragon Vein was instantly refined within my body, transforming into Dragon Energy and converging on my raised right palm.
The Itsukuryūjin zoku, unable to sense Dragon Energy, watched my movements with complete composure.
If they were real Dragonkin, they should be surprised by my refined Dragon Energy as a human, but…
Their lack of reaction is a clear sign that they are fakes.
I unleashed the converged Dragon Energy before me with a yell.
“…”
“…”
“…”
And at my feet, a chicken appeared.
A chicken made of a deep green mist.
Yes, this is my ultimate move against opponents!
Even so, it looked like a chicken, and not only the Itsukuryūjin zoku but Rudoriado-san himself was dumbfounded.
The chicken, manifested by my Dragon Energy, moved like a real chicken and walked towards the group of Itsukuryūjin zoku with little steps.
“…”
The Itsukuryūjin zoku, still unable to comprehend the bizarre situation before them, just stared blankly.
The chicken, ignoring them, walked into the group and dissipated in the middle.
A green mist spread among the Itsukuryūjin zoku.
“Huh?”
“…What were you trying to do?”
The Itsukuryūjin zoku looked at me with disdainful eyes.
“Tch, can’t be bothered with idiots…!”
One of the Itsukuryūjin zoku, exasperated and finally showing an irritated expression, moved and suddenly collapsed.
“What!?”
“Gah!”
Then, one after another, the Itsukuryūjin zoku collapsed with pained expressions.
I confirmed the success of my technique.
“W-what is this…”
However, a few seemed to have endured it and, though wobbly, tried to ready their weapons.
Hmm. So there were some with curse power.
The moment I thought that, I had already leaped behind the Itsukuryūjin zoku who hadn’t fallen.
With the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword in my left hand, I knocked one down.
Then I immediately jumped and delivered a roundhouse kick to another, knocking him down.
The remaining two were a little farther away.
Despite being shaken by my sudden movements, they readied their weapons with their wobbly bodies.
But at that moment, I had already moved behind both of them again.
I knocked down one who had lost sight of me with my wooden sword and struck the last one in the solar plexus the moment he turned around, knocking him down.
In an instant, I had subdued the group of over twenty Itsukuryūjin zoku.
But it wasn’t anticlimactic; I swayed and promptly sat down on the spot.
Rudoriado-san, clapping his hands, approached from a short distance away after confirming the end of the battle.
“Now, that was certainly interesting. I never expected you to be such a master. I couldn’t even track your movements.”
He came towards me with a smile and looked around at the fallen Itsukuryūjin zoku.
“I’m curious, what kind of technique did you use? Please tell me.”
Rudoriado-san asked with great interest, but that was impossible.
I couldn’t reveal the technique I used. After all, it was a technique that used Dragon Energy.
Based on my experience when a Magic Sword user appeared in the ruins and the advice from Mistral and Old Man Sleigsta, I had developed a technique.
At that time, despite having almost no Dragon Power, I drew from every Dragon Vein I could find and used it like water.
However, this resulted in the repeated depletion and recovery of my Dragon Power, leading to a period of weakness and confinement to bed.
So, what would happen if I forcibly induced that in an opponent?
As you can see, the Itsukuryūjin zoku collapsing around Rudoriado-san and me were proof.
I condensed the Dragon Energy I had meticulously refined and refined it into the shape of a chicken.
The reason I chose a chicken was to make the opponent let their guard down.
A spear or arrow shape would also work, but if it looked too threatening, seasoned opponents might evade it.
This technique has a rather narrow effective range. It can’t be helped due to my lack of power.
Even so, I desperately wanted to avoid leaving any of the Itsukuryūjin zoku outside the range.
Therefore, I manifested it as a deliberately nonsensical chicken to lure them into a false sense of security.
And when the chicken entered the group, it dissipated.
The dissipated chicken changed back into Dragon Energy and spread throughout the area.
The spread Dragon Energy was forcibly supplemented to the surrounding Itsukuryūjin zoku. However, since people who aren’t Dragonkin shouldn’t possess Dragon Power, the forcibly supplemented Dragon Energy was automatically released.
I struggled considerably with developing this part, but it seems to have worked well.
The Itsukuryūjin zoku, forced to replenish and deplete by my Dragon Energy, were weakened and collapsed.
However, those with curse power had some resistance to weakness, so some did not fall.
But that was all accounted for.
I used Spatial Jump to leap into the blind spot of those who didn’t fall.
It’s understandable that Rudoriado-san couldn’t track my movements. After all, I teleported.
Spatial Jump.
I wonder why I, who am not of the Mimicho Race, can use it. I don’t know either.
Out of curiosity, I played around a few times by having Priscilla-chan jump with me using Spatial Jump.
At first, I suffered from extreme dizziness and nausea, but as I got used to it, it stopped.
And then one day, for some reason, I could use it too.
The moment I thought I could jump, I was using Spatial Jump.
Both Old Man Sleigsta and Mistral were surprised by this. And why it worked for me remained a mystery.
Learning Spatial Jump boosted my confidence in my ability to escape.
Even when surrounded by patrol soldiers, I had the confidence to escape thanks to it.
However, it’s not all good.
The one-hit kill, forced-weakness technique against opponents consumes a large amount of Dragon Energy. After all, it needs enough power to instantly weaken an opponent to the point of collapse.
And for some reason, Spatial Jump also consumes a large amount of Dragon Energy.
While the Mimicho Race, like Priscilla-chan, jumps using Spirit Power, I use Dragon Energy. I wonder why.
Regardless, I can’t overuse these two techniques at the moment.
My Dragon Power is still small, and if I try to use more than I can, I will weaken myself.
The battle just now, while seemingly easy, was actually on the verge of my limits.
Therefore, I couldn’t tell Rudoriado-san the details of my technique.
Even if it were something I could explain, I probably wouldn’t have.
Secret techniques are powerful precisely because they are secret.
Rudoriado-san didn’t press me further when I evasively smiled.
“Well, I’m just glad you’re unharmed.”
“No, no, I don’t want to hear that from someone who had no intention of intervening.”
“Hahaha, if you were in danger, I would have certainly stepped in to help.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Otherwise, I might have been hit from behind with a blunt weapon by a terrifying woman.”
With that, Rudoriado-san turned his gaze back towards the path in the wheat field where he had been.
“Ah.”
A little further beyond where Rudoriado-san had been stood Mistral, holding a jet-black one-handed club.
Not just Mistral, but Ruiseine with a naginata, and even Priscilla-chan.
“Oh my, when did you get there?”
I didn’t notice at all.
Mistral showed a complex expression at my smile. Ruiseine looked surprised. Priscilla-chan, why are your eyes sparkling so much as you look at me?
“Honestly, don’t make me worry so much.”
Mistral said as he returned his one-handed club and approached.
“Oh, I’m surprised. Elnea-kun, you truly are an amazing child.”
Ruiseine, holding Priscilla-chan’s hand with her free one, approached us.
“Hahaha, perhaps you were watching?”
“Yes, we saw the whole thing.”
“Including that heartless man abandoning Elnea.”
Mistral glared at Rudoriado-san.
“My, my. What a terrifying young lady.”
Rudoriado-san didn’t seem intimidated by Mistral’s glare and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well then, now that the guardians have appeared, I suppose I should get back to work.”
“Eh!? We’re not guardians!”
Did I look young? No way, not like Inea…
“Haha, just kidding, just kidding.”
Grrr, was I being teased?
As I scowled, Mistral came over and petted my head.
“Honestly, I still think that chicken thing is a bit much. Why not change it to something more imposing?”
“No, that was good this time. It allowed me to make them let their guard down. If only I could be like Mistral, with high power and rapid fire, and an immense range.”
“Only practice remains.”
“Um. Older Brother is amazing.”
“Oh, my, my.”
Priscilla-chan rushed towards me, and Ruiseine watched them with a gentle expression.
Meanwhile, Rudoriado-san kicked one of the fallen Itsukuryūjin zoku nearby, forcibly waking him up.
That’s rough.
Rudoriado-san grabbed the man, who was groaning and regaining consciousness, by the chest and loomed over him.
“Now, tell me, what was your objective?”
His previous casual demeanor was gone, replaced by a sharp aura as he demanded a confession.
I guess he really is an amazing person. Thinking back, he didn’t show any disturbance when over twenty villains calling themselves Dragonkin appeared, nor did he seem phased by my fighting.
Doesn’t that mean I and these Itsukuryūjin zoku were all within Rudoriado-san’s scope of tolerance?
Mistral also seemed to be cautiously watching Rudoriado-san.
“W-what are you talking about?”
The man, his eyes still unfocused, pretended ignorance.
“No, well… I don’t really mind. But if you continue to deny it, we can resort to torture, you know.”
With that, Rudoriado-san drew a dagger from his pocket and stood it on the man’s palm.
“If you feign ignorance again, I’ll stab you with it. If you pretend not to know again, I’ll twist it. If you lie, I’ll take off one finger at a time.”
I thought he wouldn’t actually resort to torture here.
Ruiseine, as a miko, reacted quickly to the word “torture,” but she backed down with just a glare from Rudoriado-san.
Rudoriado-san’s presence was that imposing.
“W-wait!”
Perhaps the miko Ruiseine’s movement and Rudoriado-san’s aura made him realize he was serious.
The man’s attitude changed dramatically, and he hastily tried to pull his hand away.
However, Rudoriado-san had already secured the man’s arm, preventing him from moving.
“Hmm, so you’ve decided to tell me honestly. Now then, who are you and what were you planning?”
Rudoriado-san forced a smile, but his eyes were not smiling. Yes, he’s extremely scary.
I glanced at Mistral and Ruiseine; their reactions were contrasting.
Mistral was idly gazing at the fallen Itsukuryūjin zoku nearby, as if uninterested, while Ruiseine held her breath, watching the exchange between Rudoriado-san and the man.
Mistral, pretending not to care, was concentrating with his ears tuned towards Rudoriado-san. He’s probably being vigilant in case any of the fallen people get up.
Ruiseine would surely step in to stop Rudoriado-san if he were about to actually torture the man.
And Priscilla-chan, clinging to me, was playing with Nimia.
Speaking of which, I had completely forgotten about Nimia. This child had been quietly on my shoulder the whole time, without falling off even during my intense movements.
Perhaps she’s truly of dragon lineage.
“W-we were hired. To call ourselves Dragonkin and cause chaos.”
“Oh? And by whom?”
The man, with a strained smile, drew closer to Rudoriado-san.
“H-heheh. Do you think you can survive hearing who our client is?”
“Just hurry up and tell me.”
At Rudoriado-san’s words, which conveyed a complete lack of concern, the man hesitated for a moment and then said:
“Hah! Our client is Hero Listea!”
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