Wyvern Defeated

We were removing earth and debris from the mountain pass. Only about a third remained, and once we cleared the blind corner, we would be able to see the end.

Then, while we were taking a break at three o'clock, there was a huge black bird in the sky.

It turned its great wings and had an extremely long tail—but it was not a bird.

"It's a wyvern!"

"A wyvern? Is that a dragon?"

"It is! A dragon! A dragon!"

A wyvern was supposed to be a flying dragon, so of course it was a dragon.

Nyamena shouted. The merchants' caravan was in a panic too, but on this narrow valley road, there was nowhere to run.

The wyvern seemed to have chosen us as its target and began descending in a slow spiral.

"Everyone, get flat against the wall!"

If we stayed close to the wall, we could probably avoid attacks from above.

But the enemy apparently knew that much too, because it glided in from the valley side to attack us.

It spread its huge wings and descended with its sharp talons bared.

"Shaaaah!"

Bell was bristling furiously and threatening it, but even she had no way to fight an enemy that could fly.

'O arrows of light, strike down the enemy! I am the one who draws the power granted to me from the abyss! Magic Missile!'

'Mmm—Wrathful Flame! Fireball!'

Melissa and Anemone fired magic, but the arrows of light were dodged, while the fireball hit without doing any damage.

"Waaah!" "Gyaaah!"

Several of the merchant wagons lined up on the highway were torn to shreds by the wyvern's claws.

Its entire body was covered in gleaming black scales, and it repeatedly made short jumping attacks while flapping its enormous batlike wings.

The white claws on its feet looked capable of crushing a compact car. Its face was like a lizard with a horse's head.

It probably knew that the merchants' wagons contained food and other supplies.

Naturally, the merchants themselves were food for the monster too, but they seemed to be escaping successfully.

"Boss, what about your summoned beast?!"

"It can't fight a flying monster! Melissa, can't you tame that thing with magic?"

"There is no way I can tame a flying monster like that!"

Apparently, turning a creature into one of her true summoned beasts required all sorts of magical rituals.

Melissa and I looked at each other.

"That's it! Melissa, can you make a golem using the earth and debris we dumped below the cliff?"

"M-maybe I can somehow..."

"If we use a huge golem as a shield, it might run away in fear—or at least be unable to hurt us even if it attacks."

"All right. I'll try."

"Lilith-sama and the maids, get inside the house! Primula too!"

"Understood!"

"I understand."

I felt bad for the merchants, but protecting the princess had to come first. They had made it this far and were only a little while away from the highway reopening, yet now they were about to become food for a wyvern. There was no other way to describe it than bad luck.

They had truly gone from heaven to hell.

"Princess, this way!"

Once I confirmed that the princess had taken shelter, I took Melissa's Core from my Item Box.

She immediately began preparing to activate the golem.

"Anemone, don't use Explosion. You'll blow away the merchants too."

"O-okay."

Since we were gathering the debris that had fallen below the cliff to make the golem, it took a little time.

But when the wyvern saw the enormous humanoid shape taking form, it dived to the bottom of the valley, spread its wings, and began gliding.

It had probably become wary after seeing that incomprehensible giant creature and temporarily put some distance between us.

Taking advantage of that opening, the merchants abandoned their cargo and gathered around my house, where the princess was hiding.

You have to stay alive to have any chance at all. As long as they survived for now, they still had opportunities.

With the giant golem acting as a shield, even a wyvern would not be able to break through easily.

However, this huge mass of earth would only last about an hour.

After that, we would have to use Anemone's golem or High Protection, but neither would last very long.

"Hey! You lot, protect me! That's what I'm paying you for!"

"You old bastard! It's a wyvern—we can't do a damn thing against it!" "How are we supposed to fight something like that?" "Yeah..."

The beastfolk from the caravan and the merchant were arguing heatedly.

If the opponent had been bandits or highwaymen, we might have managed somehow, but this opponent was a flying dragon.

Even my K○tsu-san was helpless against it. But I couldn't just sit there—what weapon could I use...?

Crossbows would not even scratch it. A pressure-cooker bomb would never hit a flying enemy, and besides, there was no way Explosion, which was needed to detonate it, would hit either.

Was there some good way...? Ah! What if I could stick a bomb to it?

ANFO explosives required Explosion to detonate them, but I had a timer bomb I had made before.

If I could attach it and detonate it, it might do some damage. I took a timer-equipped pipe bomb from my Item Box.

It was packed with homemade black powder and could be detonated by a digital kitchen timer.

Now, how was I supposed to attach it to the wyvern...?

"Boss! It's coming again!"

The wyvern spread its wings and came at us, attacking the golem's head.

It probably thought the golem was alive and was targeting its head.

It hovered with a steady beat of its wings and repeatedly slammed its sharp claws into the golem.

What should I do, what should I do? Duct tape? No, that probably wouldn't stick to it. Glue?

No, that wasn't right—what could make it stick firmly...?

"What about birdlime?"

I hadn't seen birdlime in a long time, but that stuff was powerful.

But did they even sell birdlime? I immediately searched for it on Shangri-La.

Birdlime, birdlime—here it is! They sold birdlime in a flat, round tin.

I had no idea what kind would arrive, so I bought about five. The premium stuff cost 2,000 yen per tin.

"Click!"

When I opened the lid of the tin that came rattling down, the contents were red. I had always imagined birdlime as white, but was it red?

I took chopsticks from my Item Box and smeared it all over the timer bomb. It was sticky, but it looked like it would adhere well.

"All right! That should do it. The timer is set to thirty seconds. This is the finishing move, Ge○ru-kun."

Who the hell was Ge○ru?

I set the timer and handed it to Nyamena.

"Nyamena! Hurry and throw this at that wyvern! Don't touch the red goo! It won't come off!"

The wyvern was still attacking the golem's head.

Nyamena took the bomb with its start button already pressed and frantically threw it at the wyvern.

I knew this thing had enough power to blow away a large tree.

I set another timer and handed it to Myaree.

"Myaree, you too!"

"Nyanyanya!!"

The timer bombs thrown by the beastfolk seemed to stick successfully to the wyvern's torso and wing.

"Evacuate! Run! It's going to explode!"

As everyone began scattering up and down the highway, the golem started to collapse, perhaps because Melissa's concentration had broken.

The wyvern stopped attacking when the golem began to collapse, but then the first timer bomb detonated.

With a tremendous explosion, the wyvern's wing broke and it was slammed into the road.

Then the second bomb exploded. The wyvern, which had been lying on its stomach, was flipped over by the blast.

"We did it!"

"It's still alive!"

Its wings were broken, so it could no longer fly, but it was still full of life. It was incredibly tough and kept flapping its wings.

The timer bombs seemed to lack a little power.

"Kishaaa!"

The monster shrieked and thrashed about threateningly. K○tsu-san could not get close to it like this.

Seeing that, Anemone shouted.

"Kenichi, bring out my Core!"

"Huh?"

I hurriedly took the giant Core from my Item Box and laid it on the ground.

"Mmm!"

When Anemone concentrated her mind, the remains of Melissa's collapsed golem and earth and debris from below the cliff gathered together, and a giant humanoid figure rose to its feet.

"Wooooah!"

The black shadow created by the golem loomed over us as we stared in astonishment.

Then the giant mass of earth's arm began to rotate slowly.

"Rocket Punch!"

At Anemone's cry, the arm that had spun all the way around detached from the golem's body.

Although its movement looked incredibly slow, the golem's launched arm was probably traveling at several hundred kilometers per hour.

The wyvern took the full force of the ultrafast mass of stone and was blown into the bottom of the valley. Even that monster seemed unable to withstand the attack.

We all ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down. The wyvern was still moving at the bottom of the valley, but it was unquestionably dying.

"All right! I'll go down and finish it off. I want that wyvern too."

If lesser dragon was edible, we could probably eat wyvern too. This would keep us supplied with meat for years.

Dragon-class meat was probably rare, so I might even be able to sell it for a high price as butchered meat.

I bought three twenty-meter climbing ropes from Shangri-La—3,000 yen each. According to my laser rangefinder, it was just under forty meters to the bottom of the valley.

There were many kinds of rope for sale, but since they had climbing rope, I decided to let the experts handle it. The saying didn't quite fit here, though... I decided to buy this one.

If I took apart the coils and connected the three ropes, they should be long enough. I actually lowered the rope into the valley, and there was no problem.

Then I bought a climbing harness from Shangri-La for 7,000 yen.

It was a harness with belts around the torso and thighs for attaching a rope.

There was no way I could support myself with only one arm.

However, it felt as though I was missing all sorts of things needed for rock climbing...

There was supposed to be some device for feeding out and stopping the rope.

When I searched the related pages, I found a device called an ascender for 3,200 yen.

After buying it and reading the instructions, I learned that this was indeed used to control the rope.

It locked when weight was applied, but when it was free, the rope slid smoothly through it.

I see. I had often seen videos of people descending cliffs by bouncing down, and this was what they used?

I also bought a carabiner, a ring for connecting the ascender and harness.

"All right, this should work."

"Boss, are you all right?"

"If the strong beastfolk pull me up, I'll be fine, right?"

"That's not what I mean..."

They were probably seeing and doing something like this for the first time. There was no way this world had rock climbing.

"I'll be fine. If I don't finish it quickly, it'll get dark."

The wyvern would probably die even if I left it alone, but if I left it overnight, the meat would spoil and become inedible.

I had to kill it quickly and put it in my Item Box. It was a valuable prize, after all.

"Primula, get the meal ready. The merchants must be tired too, so make enough for everyone. Have the people around us help as well."

"Yes, I understand."

I brought out plenty of tools and ingredients from my Item Box. I had already cut meat from the lesser dragon and stored it in my Item Box, so we could eat it anytime.

"Beastfolk, keep hold of my rope."

In addition to our own beastfolk, there were the beastfolk from the caravan. With this many people, pulling up just me should be easy.

"Leave it to us."

"Nyaa."

Bell came over with a worried look on her face. Perhaps she thought I was about to commit suicide.

I had the beastfolk hold the rope and placed one foot on the edge of the cliff. My first rock-climbing experience was in another world?

How did this happen?!

"Kenichi!"

"Anemone, don't worry."

The princess came out of the house too. She seemed surprised to see me about to descend the cliff.

"What are you doing?"

"The wyvern is still alive, so I am going down to finish it off."

"Wait! The monster is dying, is it not? It will die if you leave it alone."

"If I do that, we won't be able to eat the meat."

"What?! Honestly, you are unbelievable!"

Apparently, the princess could not understand my actions.

Whatever—I grabbed the rope, kicked off against the rocks, and began descending the cliff.

This was my first time doing anything like this, but once you did it for real, you learned quickly. However, I understood one thing as soon as I started descending—my hands hurt.

I couldn't help it. I would just have to get used to it.

When I reached the bottom of the valley, I unclipped the carabiner.

"Boss! Are you all right?!" "Nyaa?!"

When I heard the beastfolk's voices from above, their echoes came back from all around me.

"Yeah, I'm fine!!"

The tenacious wyvern was still moving. However, the impact of its fall had bent its limbs in directions they were never meant to bend, leaving it a literal mess.

I had to finish it off, but fortunately, there seemed to be enough room to bring out heavy machinery.

Still, the ground under my feet looked a little unstable. Y○bo should be fine, but K○tsu-san might be a little risky.

However, finishing it off without K○tsu-san looked impossible.

"Hmm... That's it! I'll level the ground with Y○bo, then bring out K○tsu-san."

I took Y○bo from my Item Box and leveled the area with its blade. It was a rather leisurely process, but the monster was dying and posed no danger.

It would have been no problem if I could simply put it into my Item Box as it was, but living creatures could not be stored.

Once I had finished leveling the area, it was time for the main event.

"K○tsu-san, summon!"

With a rumble of the earth, a yellow vehicle appeared. I immediately climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine.

I drove beneath the wyvern with a rattling noise and raised the arm to a height of nine meters.

"K○tsu Attack! A merciful blow that sends the black soul back to the underworld!"

The steel bucket crushed the monster's head, its eyes bulged out, and blood poured from its mouth.

"Take that! One more!"

The bucket came down once more, but there was no response—it seemed to have stopped breathing completely.

It was enormous! Its body itself was not that large, but with its wings spread and its tail included, it was definitely over ten meters long.

However, if I folded its wings and curled up its tail, it should fit within ten meters.

"Store in the Item Box!"

The wyvern's corpse, its life extinguished and its body folded compactly, vanished from before my eyes.

"Whew... That was too close..."

Now we had a wyvern in addition to the lesser dragon. We would not have to worry about meat for a while.

I stored K○tsu-san and looked downstream. The massive rock Anemone had dropped with the golem fit snugly into the valley and was forming a dam.

I walked over to it. I stomped on the rock several times, but naturally, it did not budge.

It was completely fixed in place, so I didn't think it would cause a landslide.

"This is great. Since I'm here, I'll collect some water."

If I collected water here, I would not have to buy expensive bottled water from Shangri-La.

Fortunately, the water was clear and clean. It would have to be boiled before drinking, but it was perfectly suitable for bathing.

I took plastic containers from my Item Box and filled them one after another with fresh water.

I also bought more plastic containers so I could take plenty of water with me.

I see—if I put the wyvern and lesser dragon here, I could keep the meat chilled, but...

It would be a pain to come down here again tomorrow. Besides, there had been a bird called a Deathbird, so there was a chance it might peck at them.

There would be no problem if I kept them in my Item Box, so I decided to wait until we reached a place with a river or lake.

Once I finished collecting water, I returned to the rope.

"Hey! Pull me up!"

"Nyaa!!"

When I heard Myaree's voice, I was dragged up the cliff with a steady scrape.

A professional rock climber might have been able to climb up on their own, but I could not.

At the end, I had them pull me up by the hand. Even a woman among the beastfolk could easily lift one man.

"Boss—huff, huff!"

As soon as I stood on the ground, Nyamena suddenly threw her arms around me. Her eyes were clearly strange again.

"Wait a second! Has it started again?"

"Nyaoooon!"

"Nyaoon!" "Nyaaaan!" "Myoooon!"

The three female beastfolk from the caravan also threw themselves at me. They all had the same symptoms.

"Eek! Everyone's acting strange, nya!"

"W-we need alcohol. Give them alcohol!"

I bought brandy from Shangri-La again. There were four of them, so four bottles should do.

"Here! This is the alcohol you like!"

I removed the screw caps and held the bottles beneath the noses of the women clinging to me. They all lunged for them.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp!"

Then they each chugged an entire bottle of brandy and collapsed.

"What is wrong with these people, nya? They have no self-control at all, nya. Even I am holding myself back, nya."

"Sorry, Myaree."

"Later, you'll repay me for this in full, nya."

The beastfolk had collapsed, but I could not just leave them there.

"Melissa, sorry. Put up a barrier and let these women sleep inside the tent. If we leave them here, the men will attack them."

"What a handful."

Complaining all the while, Melissa put a barrier around the tent. They were the same sex even if they were a different species, so she must have understood what was happening.

I had received a magic stone that could cancel the barrier. I carried the women into the tent and laid them down.

"Whew... What hard labor."

"Meow."

Bell came over and rubbed herself against me.

Even so, I was hungry. I wanted to try wyvern meat, but Primula's cooking was waiting for us.

However, there were injured people too, so they had to come first.

"Whew—Anemone, do you still have enough magic left?"

"I'm still fine."

"Cast Heal on the injured merchants. You can charge them if they're merchants."

"I understand."

Anemone ran over to the merchants, who were slumped on the ground. I went with her to check on them.

"What happened? Are you that badly injured?"

I spoke to a man who was sitting down with his head bowed.

"No—the wagon was destroyed."

Two wagons had been badly damaged by the wyvern. Hmm, that's right. The empty wagon left behind by the merchant who threw himself off the cliff was in my Item Box.

"Could you use this somehow?"

I took the empty wagon from my Item Box.

"Are you sure?"

"It was originally the empty wagon of a merchant who died. Could the merchants who lost their wagons work together, gather the scattered cargo, and somehow manage?"

"I-I understand. We'll try. Hey!"

The man called out to the other merchants and began negotiating. The horse that had pulled this empty wagon was still around too.

They could just get that horse from him. Apparently, as long as they could transport the cargo, they could still make a profit.

"Heh-heh-heh, young man, you're awfully softhearted."

The one laughing was the old merchant who employed the female beastfolk.

"Well, that wagon wasn't mine to begin with. And once the highway opens, I should be able to get a generous reward from the royal family."

"Indeed. Good heavens, living this long lets you see some remarkable things! Heh-heh-heh, I can't stop laughing!"

"What's so funny?"

"The fact that I won the wager. That's why gambling is so irresistible."

This old man considered business a gamble, so he was completely incompatible with Primula and the Marrow Trading Company.

"The wager isn't over until we reach Sobana, right? I think it's too early to celebrate."

"Indeed. No, you're absolutely right."

"The women you hired as guards won't be of any use today."

"They're hopeless, those women."

The merchants seemed fine, so I returned to where the princess was.

"Is there a wyvern inside your Item Box?"

"Yes. I picked it up from the bottom of the valley."

"Show it to me too, please."

Following the princess's request, I took the wyvern out of my Item Box and showed it to her.

"Wooooah!"

The merchants cried out in astonishment when the wyvern appeared on the road.

It was covered in blood, its limbs were twisted, and its head was crushed. Seeing it, the merchants came running over.

"S-sell it to me!" "Sell it to me too!" "I want the wing membrane!"

"The membrane? What do you use it for?"

"It is light and durable, and can be used to make a cloak that repels magic."

The princess explained the wyvern's value as a commodity.

"Ah, then I can't sell it. I want to use it too. My family will eat the meat, so that's not for sale. The scales are off-limits for now as well."

The merchants drooped and backed away at my words. With the princess standing right there, they did not want to make too much of a spectacle of themselves.

I stored it in my Item Box quickly, since leaving it out would make the meat spoil.

"Whew—first a lesser dragon, and now you killed a wyvern with one blow. Has anything like this ever happened before?"

According to the princess, when a dragon-class monster appeared, the military would normally be deployed.

"The lesser dragon was Melissa's summoned beast."

"Even so! Kenichi, you saved a member of the royal family!"

"It wasn't my power alone—the result came from everyone's cooperation..."

"That doesn't matter! Stand right there!"

The princess pointed to the spot directly in front of her.

"Yes?"

"Never mind that. Hurry!"

I had no idea what was happening, but I knelt before the princess.

Then the princess spread her hands and began chanting. As her words resonated, her body began to shine with a golden light.

"Wooooah!"

I heard the merchants cry out in astonishment.

"What is happening, nya?!"

Myaree, who was standing in front of the tent, was making a commotion too.

"What? What is it?"

Was it magic? Could members of the royal family use magic too?

'Using the royal bloodline passed down from ancient times, I, Lilith Lala Kadan, hereby form a Sacred Contract.'

The princess walked over to me, knelt down, and put her arms around my neck.

'Sacred Engagement.'

The princess pressed her lips against mine.

At that moment, I felt something flow into my body. It felt as though the inside of my body were being scorched by a flamethrower.

"Huff, huff! What in the world did you do?!"

"The Sacred Engagement is complete."

The princess collapsed as though she had used up all her strength, and I caught her body.

My body still felt as though it were burning, but it was not the sickening feeling of an illness. It was more like power was welling up from the deepest part of my body...

"Lady Lilith, is this magic?"

"From this moment on, you are a Holy Knight..."

"What? A knight? I have not sworn loyalty to the royal family, though."

"That is irrelevant. You saved the kingdom from a crisis and saved my life. You have more than enough qualifications..."

Saved the kingdom from a crisis? We were still in the middle of the construction work...

The maids who had witnessed this scene came running over.

"Princess! How are you feeling?!"

"I am fine. It is nothing serious."

"But are you certain this is all right?"

"What do you mean, whether it is all right? It is what I wanted."

"...What will His Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen, and the members of the Royal Roundtable say...?"

"I do not care! What is wrong with granting a royal blessing to someone who saved the country, its people, and my own life? If necessary, I can cast aside my status! Maylen, you needn't abandon me either, if it comes to that!"

"I will remain at Princess Lilith's side forever, so there is no need to worry about that."

Oh, come on. I had a feeling I was about to get dragged into another troublesome situation... Don't involve me without asking.

However, the princess had grown limp, so I had the maids carry her back to the house.

Judging from the princess's condition, she seemed to be extremely exhausted.

According to her, this was a blessing granted by the royal family to someone who had saved the kingdom from a crisis.

"Ms. Maylen, do you know what this is?"

"Um... The royal family's power is kept secret, so..."

"It is all right..."

The exhausted princess gave her permission.

"Among the members of the royal family proper, there are some who can use this power only once in their lifetime."

"So Lady Lilith is one of them?"

"Yes..."

I asked Primula, who had come over looking worried, but she did not seem to know either.

"This is the first I have heard of it."

What exactly was a Holy Knight?

Could I perhaps ride some kind of aura thing made from demon-beast hide and muscle? Was that a "Holy Warrior"?

I would have to wait for the princess to recover and ask her in detail before I could say anything for certain.

Hmm... For now, let's eat—the hunger is killing me.