Chapter 33
While I was wondering how to handle this, I heard a knock from outside.
At Deputy Captain Gideon's call of "Come in!" a slender female knight with pale green hair, in her mid-twenties, entered.
Wow, what a beautiful young woman. I like her!
"Sorry to interrupt, Deputy Captain, but R is asking for you."
"What?! I'll be right there!"
Deputy Captain Gideon hurried toward the door, then seemed to remember something and looked back at me. "I don't have anything for you to do. Just do as you please," he said, then quickly left the room.
The pale-green-haired knight and I were left alone in the room.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Fia Rudo, from the First Knight Order."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Patty Conahan, of the Fourth Monster Knight Order. I'm the deputy captain's assistant."
"Assistant to the deputy captain! So you're one of the people who assign work within the order. Um, it doesn't seem like there's anything urgent, so just tell me what you need and I'll do it!"
"Hehe. Since you were specifically requested by Cyril, the First Knight Order Commander, I wondered what kind of seasoned warrior would be coming. I never expected such a young knight. ...I'm sorry for Deputy Captain Gideon's attitude. He feels the Monster Knight Order is constantly treated unfairly, so he especially dislikes the First Knight Order, the foremost of the knight orders."
Um, isn't that just taking it out on us?
"The deputy captain can be a little childish, but he's serious at heart and not that foolish. He'll come to his senses before long and ask you to do some work. Could you wait a little until then?"
O-oh. So his subordinates still look up to him, even when he's like that. Then he probably isn't a bad knight after all.
"Understood. I'll wait. By the way, who is R? Seeing how Deputy Captain Gideon rushed off, is R his lover?"
"Hahaha! The deputy captain, with a lover?! No, no! R is the monster he's bound to him."
"Oh, a monster!"
Patty suggested we sit down and pointed to the sofa in the corner of the room. I did as she said, and she brought me a hot drink. Then, saying, "I think it's around here..." she rummaged through the cabinet beside the sofa. She found a silver tin, took out a few cookies, and arranged them on a plate for me.
"He may not look it, but the deputy captain likes sweets."
Huh, that's surprising. I thought he liked meat, meat, and more meat.
"Since this is your first time with the Monster Knight Order, Fia, let me explain a little. Simply put, the Monster Knight Order draws its strength from subjugating monsters and making them serve us. Subjugating a monster is the hardest part, but they need ongoing care afterward, too. Depending on the individual, monsters can be clingy or make peculiar demands, so they're a lot of work. How obedient they are to the person they're contracted to depends on how much care they receive."
...Wait, really? I've made a contract with the Black Dragon Zabiria, but I haven't seen Zabiria since. Is that a problem?
"They won't attack me just because I've left them alone, right?"
Worried, I couldn't help asking.
"No, they won't attack their contractor. But they might sulk and ram into them, or, if they have a tail, lash out with it. If it's a powerful monster, you might get hurt that way."
A Black Dragon body slam! A Black Dragon tail attack!
I'm dead. This is absolutely the kind of thing that gets me killed.
"Is something wrong?"
Patty seemed concerned when I suddenly fell silent and spoke to me.
"Well, I made a contract with a monster, but I've left it alone ever since. I was worried it might be angry..."
"What?! You have a familiar?! Let me see your arm!"
Before I could answer, she pushed up the sleeve of my uniform.
When Patty saw the mark, barely a millimeter wide, on my left wrist, her face fell with disappointment.
"That's right. It's impressive enough for a knight outside the Monster Knight Order to form a contract at all."
She murmured as though she'd convinced herself.
"The deputy captain is in that state, so we don't have any urgent work for a while. If your familiar is in a nearby forest or copse, why don't you go retrieve it?"
"Really? I can? I'm going! I'll go right now!!"
I hopped up from the sofa and bowed to Patty.
"Then, I'm off!"
"Wait, you're going right now? More importantly, monsters appear in forests and woods, so you shouldn't go alone. I think the best option would be to join a hunt with the Sixth Knight Order, since they cover the area around the capital."
"It's fine! I'll only go as far as the edge of the forest."
"...Ah. If the mark is that thin, then the monster must be near the entrance."
Patty seemed satisfied with that, so I hurried out of the room.
Suddenly, I couldn't stop thinking about the Black Dragon Zabiria.
Zabiria was badly injured when I first met the dragon, wasn't it?
Zabiria defeated an A-rank monster, so it can't be weak, but maybe there's an even stronger bully around.
What if Zabiria is injured again?
I rode to the nearest forest.
Zabiria had said that because we'd formed a familiar contract, the dragon could hear me from anywhere if I called.
But a dragon suddenly appearing would cause a huge commotion, so I avoided the castle and the town and chose a forest instead.
"Zabiria! Zabiria!!!"
I shouted loudly as I dismounted.
My voice echoed through the quiet forest.
―――――――――In an instant, the sky split apart.
A line appeared in the cloudless blue sky, as though it had been slashed by a sword. The line split open into an oval space, revealing an entirely different scene of black clouds, torrential rain, and lightning. From within it, a black dragon descended, its wings spread majestically.
It was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.
Though it was about ten meters long, each of its scales gleamed like a work of art crafted by a master artisan. I learned for the first time that black wasn't simply one shade, but came in many different hues.
Dragons were said to be the first living creatures, their forms the most perfect of all. And that was certainly true.
How beautiful the dragon looked as it descended, its magnificent body framed by its great outstretched wings!
...But.
Huh? Wasn't Zabiria much smaller? The dragon's scales hadn't glittered like this, and its build hadn't been nearly so sturdy.
...Um, which Black Dragon are you?