Chapter 101: Underling Training, Again
It was almost sunset when the carriage came to a halt.
The sun had turned orange and the earth was glowing red, just like in the old world.
Although Ran had been riding for a long time,he didn’t feel too tired. The lack of shaking may have been a major factor, but Ran thinks the combat training he’s been doing at the palace has given him more strength than he realised.
“Kirishima, I missed you. Kirishima!”
When Ran got out of the dragon car, Aya hugged him.
She puts her arm around his back and squeezes hard, as if to say she won’t let go.
They were probably only apart for half a day, but her reaction was an exaggeration. It’s like a young child facing his father after a business trip.
Anyway, it’s nice for Ran to be able to spoil her so much.
“Mikoshiba is a bold woman to suddenly embrace you……”
“Yah-oo-, Kiririn.”
In the meantime, Kanami and Saki, who were in a separate group, came to Ran’s side a slightly later than Aya, who ran up to him.
The group of otakus who had been hanging out by the dragon car looked at them with sad faces.
“Did you notice anything unusual during the journey?”
“No, nothing out of the ordinary. We did encounter a few disturbances on the way…”
Kanami’s serious face breaks slightly and she blushes meaningfully.
For a moment Ran had a bad feeling, but then he saw the half-smile on her face and he could guess what it was.
“Did you see it over at your dragon car?”
“I was sitting on the other side of the room, so I didn’t see it first hand. From what I hear, it was quite a sight.”
“I’m not going to lie, I was a little taken aback when all the boys except Kiryuin crossed their legs at the same time.”
Kanami added, scratching her cheeks in embarrassment.
It’s a reflexive image. From a girl’s point of view, it’s probably a silly sight.
“I ask this only out of interest in the sense of public morality. As for Ran, how did it go? Did you still get excited when you saw it?”
[I’m really interested in it in an erotic sense.] Kanami asks with a face that says.
It seems that the position of the public morals committee could not take the initiative to see, but as a high school girl of the age, Ran guessed she was interested.
“Sorry, but I didn’t see it first hand either……”
“Is that so? But you know, don’t you, Ran? You know that the beastmen were having an orgy outside.”
“Because Hibiki stuck to the window and watched. I don’t really know what was going on, only what Hibiki told me.”
Kanami looked a little disappointed, and shook her body nervously.
Saki gave such a warm look to Kanami. While these exchanges were taking place, Aya was hugging Ran the whole time.
◇◇◇
The twenty-one Saints were gathered together and briefed on the future plans.
There is a rather large town a little further on. The plan is to spend the night here today and enter the town tomorrow.
As it is near the town, there are few vicious demons or other dangerous creatures. Because of the presence of the earth dragon, most of the demons would be wary and would not attack. It was said that if the saints took turns watching, no problem would occur.
“As soon as we reach the town tomorrow, we will return back to the palace. From there onwards, it is for you, the saints, to decide and make your own way.”
“I’ve made a map of the area and my skills are always up to date, so I think we’ll be fine!”
Yuri Fujiyoshi, who has the skills of Intelligence Gathering:Ultimate Technology, bites into a piece of fruit and raises her hand cheerfully.
Yuri opened her mouth while devouring the fruit. The area around her mouth was full of fruit juice and it became sticky.
Emi is blushing with embarrassment and starts to wipe Yuri’s mouth with a cloth. They are like sisters.
Sayaka then pats her back as continues to eat the fruit. Now, it looks like they were three sisters.
While Ran was smiling at the friendly mood of the group of female otaku, a serious-looking Kanami quickly raised her hand.
“I understand that the knights are returning to the palace. What about the coachman, then? We can’t control the chariot ourselves. Will they accompany us on our adventures from here?”
“The same goes for them, they will be returning to the palace with us. It was not part of the plan to send you here in the first place. From the next town onwards, the saints will have to make their own way.”
Kanami sniffs unhappily, as if her premonition had come true.
In response, the knight of the Kingsguard shrugged his shoulders.
“Not just the coachman. The dragon car-earth dragon, was specially rented by the royal palace. Originally, all means of transport were to be created by alchemical absolute creation. That plan went awry, so I’m just sending you on your way. Don’t be so childish as to expect us to look after you until the end.”
“It’s for your own reasons. You said that you would do your utmost to help us defeat the Demon Lord!”
“How can we go on from here without a dragon car? You want us to go on foot? We’ve got loads to carry, we can’t do that!”
Kanami remained silent. The bloodthirsty saints, however, became emotional and raised their voices.
The murmurs grew louder and louder, and an aura of displeasure washed over the knights of the Kingsguard.
Ran thought of the situation at the time of the transfer. The reaction of the guard knights and coachmen who were blamed was the same as that time.
“If you don’t like it, will you return to the palace with us? You will be punished accordingly as a pathetic hero who disobeyed the Queen’s orders and ran away from his mission to kill the Demon King.”
Crossing his arms, the knight of the Kingsguard glares at the saints as if to shun them.
An iron-fisted knight of the Kingsguard. He is used to being sworn at and abused.
There is nothing to be done. They had trained hard and had come this far. Unable to argue, the Saints became increasingly quiet.
Then there was an uncomfortable silence. The air seemed to grow heavier and more humid as it settled over them.
“…… Something about the air is so tense.”
Misuzu, who was sitting next to Ran, whispered secretly in his ear.
They had set off with great enthusiasm, but now they were all despondent.
It is also a source of low motivation and morale, and this atmosphere should be dispelled somehow.
“I guess we’ll have to say goodbye to this lizard……”
Misuzu looks up at the earth dragon sadly. After only half a day together, Ran wondered if her affections had been transferred.
Ran remembered that she spent most of her time in her dream world.
“Well, technically they’re not lizards, they’re dragons.”
“It doesn’t matter. Tyrannosaurus is just a big lizard.”
“I think they’re very different. ……”
Ran doesn’t have any solid knowledge about dinosaurs in the original world, so he can’t refute Misuzu back.
“As Fujiyoshi-san said earlier, the dragon pulling the cart and the lizard are two completely different creatures.”
“Didn’t Yuri talk about a higher species?” Ran thought she was explaining that it sometimes uses the earth dragon to collect lizards that are high black lizards alvarizards or something like that.
However, it’s not as if lizards grow up to become land dragons.
“Do you think there are lizards in this world?”
“Yes, they do. They live in the forests around here.”
“Uwaa…”
Misuzu opens her mouth wide and shows a look of amazement.
She looks like she wants to say something. Is it possible that she is uncomfortable with reptilian creatures?
Curious, Ran looked at Misuzu, but she was unconcernedly observing the ground dragon.
She seemed rather curious about it. If she’s not a fan of it in the first place, she wouldn’t be saying goodbye to it.
“Is this a male lizard or a female lizardnyaa?”
“…… It doesn’t matter.”
If it is a female, she can be taken away by Ran’s Underling Training but this is not a fundamental solution.
There is no point in being accused of robbing the palace’s property and being punished.
“No, wait…”
The conversation with Misuzu had made Ran feel more relaxed, and he began to think more clearly.
Leaving the group in a sombre mood, Ran walks towards the dragon carriage.
He strokes the dragon, pretending to be sorry to leave. The first one is unresponsive. The second one does the same. The third, however, is different.
“…Gururu…”
“…good…”
A peach-coloured shadow floats in her burning eyes.
The eyes are narrowed and feminine, with an air of seduction.
The earth dragon, breathing hard, flapping its limbs. One of the knights of the Kingsguard (a different man from the knight who had been making the speech) came running up to her, disbelieving the excited look of the earth dragon.
The knight hides behind the dragon carriage and watches the situation. As if searching for Ran, which had disappeared from sight, the dragon roared low and slammed into the ground.
The dragon then rampages while twisting itself painfully. While crying with a sad voice, she is appealing to the guard knight. Perhaps the knight was concerned about the dragon, so the knight tampered with the iron-shaped parts and unlocked it.
“I thought I made you urinate earlier. - Uh-oh?”
The dragon, now without shackles, snorted and raced into the forest.
The cart tilts, losing its support, and the sound of metal echoes in the air.
“What is it? What’s all the fuss?”
“I’m sorry, sir. It suddenly went crazy and disappeared into the woods!”
A knight of the Kingsguard, his face pale and shivering as if he had a chill.
The knight of the Kingsguard, who had been giving an intimidating speech, had turned red and was half-crazed and trembling.
“What are you doing? What are you going to do if it doesn’t come back?”
“She’ll be back for sure. I finished my job properly.”
In an aloof tone, Ran emerges from the shadows of the dragon carriage as he says this.
Ran’s cool demeanour struck a nerve, and the enraged knight of the Kingsguard came at him with a devilish anger.
“Do you know what you’ve done by letting the palace’s dragon escape? You are a failure!”
“You may be a knight, but you cross the line!”
“Insulting Kirishima in front of everyone is unacceptable……”
Aya Mikoshiba is in full-on delinquent mode and is ready to kill and Hibiki Onigawara, who has become partially demonized, stands up slowly.
The fire in the back of her eyes was boiling, which was unusual for the always expressionless Hibiki.
The knight of the Kingsguard takes one look at them and clenches his teeth together.
It’s a touch and go situation. But if either one of them raises their hand, they will not be able to return to the original relationship.
Ran wants to avoid any unnecessary conflict.
“Please calm down. I didn’t get rid of the dragon without thinking. Please don’t get too emotional.”
Ran appeases the knights of the Kingsguard by telling them to calm down.
The knight of the Kingsguard was not only angry, but also disgusted, as if to say that he doesn’t want to have nothing to do with him.
Both Aya and Hibiki look at Ran with a puzzled look on their faces.
“What, did I say something strange?”
“You are not in a position to admonish the situation. This is all happening because you acted on your own initiative.”
The more timid-looking knight of the Kingsguard blames Ran with as much courage as he can muster.
He seemed relieved to find that he was not the cause of the rampage of the earth dragon.
“Don’t worry. She’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.”
“That’s not what I meant……”
True to Ran’s word, the ground dragon soon returned.
A familiar roar eases the tension in the air. The guard knight, who was looking at Ran with a frightened face, gave up his shoulder and picked up the dragon’s shackles.
Then he turned his body towards the sound of footsteps - and stepped back as if he had been startled.
“What the hell is that…?”
The cloud of dust was clearly not the work of a single dragon.
An increase in presence. Sensing the unexpected, the knight of the Kingsguard reaches for his spear with a clatter.
It’s not just the earth dragons that have returned. A monster like a lizard was following behind the earth dragon that had just escaped.
They are generally slender and poorly built, but their physical size makes them as much of a threat as the earth dragons.
“Is that the Black Lizard Alvarizard……?”
“It looks like it. From their size, I’d guess that all three are female……”
It must have been unexpected. The knights of the guards seemed confused and were looking at the Black Lizard Alvarizard led by the Earth Dragon.
The earth dragon, accompanied by a huge lizard, rushes past the knights of the Kingsguard and up to Ran.
She sniffed at Ran and pulled his face close to her, as if she wanted Ran to praise her. When Ran stroked her neck, she let out a happy squeal.
“All three are female, aren’t they?”
“Gururu…”
“Does she understand Ran’s words?”
The dragon nodded vigorously. It’s a straightforward look. It is very reliable.
“What in the world are you planning to do with the royal dragon? You don’t mean to scare us with a demon, do you?”
The Knight of the Kingsguard asks this question with a look of fear rather than outrage.
Even Ran doesn’t have such a barbaric idea. What do the knights think he is?
“And if I may say so myself, it’s not a good idea to resort to violence Ran.”
“Mm…I was a little bit angry earlier, but I just don’t understand the knights’ point of view.”
Even Aya and Hibiki, who stood up for Ran, looked at him as if they had just witnessed something unexpected.
“Am I that unreliable?”
“No, that’s not why I collected the lizards. I heard it from Fujiyoshi-san in the dragon car.Normally, a dragon carriage of this size would be driven by a monster called the Alvarizard.”
While saying this, Ran walks to the side of the Black Lizard Alvarizard.
Yuri had informed Ran that when gathering and disciplining the black lizard Alvarizard, they sometimes use the ground dragon.
However, just collecting them is not enough. It takes a lot of taming skills to get hold of a wild black lizard alvarizard.
Ran doesn’t have the skills to tame animals, but he can easily make a female creature obey him. This is the specialty of Ran Kirishima, who is a master of underling training.
“The first thing I did was to train a female dragon to join my side and ask her for a favour. I asked for three healthy and strong female Alvarizard to be brought to me as soon as possible.”
All eyes focused on the earth dragon, while the dragon was looking at Ran with a fascinated look on her face.
The tongue-licking gesture seems to have a sexual undertone to it.
Ran doesn’t have a taste for cross-loving with non-human creatures, so he has no intention of doing anything with this dragon.
As soon as he connects to the dragon-wheel, Ran is ready to deactivate his skills.
“I’m really glad that we have one female ground dragon. It’s because of her that we’re going to be able to safely secure our means of transportation from here!”
Ran activates his training skills and makes the three lizards into his underlings one by one.
The lizards, who had been kneeling to the chief dragon, began to turn their reverence from the dragon to Ran.
Perhaps confused by the fact that the will of obedience that had been shifted to Ran, the dragon let out a lonely groan.
“It is said that the females are stronger and larger than the males. If we can’t borrow the royal palace’s dragon from here on out then we’ll need a replacement.”
Once Ran has trained the lizards, the saints won’t need a coachman.
If they could just manage the cargo, it would be much less inconvenient to move around.
“I will return the Earth Dragon to you. I apologise for borrowing it without explanation.”
“Ha…Ha…a…”
The feeble-looking knight of the Kingsguard looks bewildered and, having returned safely, reattaches the earth dragon to the back of the cart.
After making sure she was immobilised by the iron fittings, Ran deactivated his training skills.
The connection between their hearts and minds has been severed, creating a lonely feeling.
The dragon, who just a moment ago had been giving Ran a lecherous look, tightened her expression and looked at Ran as if he were her parent’s enemy.
Ran felt the hositlity coming from the dragon and Ran distanced himself.
“Hm, Now what’s with the ‘sorry’! It’s outrageous that you’re using the palace’s dragon as your personal property…”
The leader of the Kingsguard started shouting. Then he was stared at by the three Black Lizard Alvarizard brought by the earth dragon, and snarled with a scared face.
The Black Lizard Alvarizard has a huge body that is more than sufficient compared to a dragon that can pull a ten-seater carrier comfortably. The intimidation from them will be immense.
The knight of the Kingsguard, who backed away with a grimace on his face, must have been thinking about it.
The Saints, who had been crushed by the heavy atmosphere and were completely dejected, gradually regained their energy.
“That’s my Kirishima-kun! I can’t believe you can arrange another means of transport so easily!”
Yuri stands up and claps her hands in admiration.
To change the atmosphere, she raised her voice and loudly proclaimed Ran’s achievements.
“It’s thanks to you,Fujiyoshi-san. I couldn’t have come up with this plan if I hadn’t heard about them.”
“Heh heh, praise me, praise more~”
Her cute voice warms up the cold atmosphere.
Ran could hear the murmur of his friends and knights talking to each other. It’s usually loud, but now it’s like a strong tailwind.
“Now if we can just get the back of the carriage, we’ll be all set for the journey from here.”
Kanami walks up to Ran with her hand on her chin and a thoughtful look on her face.
The main problem now is the back of the carriage. The saints have been provided with enough daily necessities for the trip, but they have no means to carry them.
It would be nice if they would lend them just the carriage, but that would be too optimistic.
“If it’s just about the carriage,we’ve got it covered.”
“Are you sure, Kanami?”
“Yeah, Megane and Mikoshiba were talking about that during our trip. It seems that the material of the carriage is wood reinforced with magical power, if we adjust the assembly method again, we can substitute the material created by Mikoshiba’s infinite magical power skill.”
Kanami proudly concluded it with her arms folded to push up her big breasts.
Ran looked at Aya, and she tilted her head with a puzzled look on her face and as if to say she remembered, she slapped her palm with her fist.
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. We talked about that, didn’t we? I forgot all about it.”
“During the journey, Mikorin looked like she wasn’t focused and unhappy……I wonder who she was thinking about.”
Aya, who was oblivious to the fact, Megane grumbles to himself in a sarcastic tone.
A meaningful gaze turned towards Ran. The look through his glasses was filled with blatant hostility.
Despite them being classmates who have the same goal of defeating the Demon King and returning to the world. Many of the boys, including Megane, still do not take kindly to Ran’s presence.
It seems that Kiryuin Subaru, who treats female students other than Reika as if they were dirt, and the outspoken Takeo Arakaki, are reluctant to go along with Ran since he has accepted to help them and has shown his acceptance.
It is a dangerous equilibrium that has been maintained thanks to the Queen’s blackmail and Walkins’s ingenuity. Ran has not been forgiven for his misdeeds, nor has he been accepted wholeheartedly. He has to keep that in mind.
“If we can have each of the materials analysed by the Information Desire, we might be able to make something similar.”
“This is an application of earth magic, so there is no guarantee that it will be exactly the same. It is only a similar product.If we can get it to work, we’ll be very happy.”
Eiichi Megane adds more while nudging of his glasses
“And I was talking to Mikorin about the possibility of repairing the wall if it gets scratched. It’s not like we were talking about making something from scratch.”
Kanami looks at Megane’s words with a quizzical look on her face.
After glancing at Kanami’s face, Megane continued.
“It’s impossible to analyse the materials, but it’s also impossible to analyse how to assemble them, so Mikorin and I would have to do our best just to make the parts!”
“So it’s impossible to build from scratch.”
“That’s the thing. Unless we had accurate drawings, it would be impossible for us to construct it”
With a half-hearted look of resignation on his face, Megane shrugged his shoulders. It was a perfect example of a sarcastic guy, and the gesture fit his appearance perfectly.
Ran thought he had found a middle ground, but there were still some problems.
“If it’s just a drawing, I can do it.”
Yuri waved her hands in the air as she shook her twin-tails.
“I’m sure this dragon car will be easy to find with the Intelligence gathering: Ultimate Technology. I found some paper and pens in my luggage, so why don’t I do a quick drawing? I’m pretty good at copying things.”
Yuri put her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and smiled. At this comment, her classmates were all excited.
“Maybe we can do it.”
“Even if we had the plans and the parts, we’d still be amateurs.”
“You said you were good at making plastic models, right? Can’t you at least build one?”
“Wasn’t there someone with creative skills?”
The classmates have started to talk freely to each other. Their voices became louder probably because they’re spirits were uplifted.
The tense atmosphere changes to the atmosphere of excitement. Three guard knights who brought the earth dragon. Among them, the bloodiest knight was shaking his head.
He, who had been glared at by the lizard, dyed his face bright red and slammed his feet as if he couldn’t stand it.
An explosion of anger. The saints sensed the air turning back to sour. Immediately, the murmur ceased.
“You’ve been rambling on and on and on.How dare you do such a foolish thing to the palace’s dragon? Shame on you, shame on you!”
“Enough! In a situation where the Absolute Creation has disappeared, this is the only way. In any case, we were ordered to leave the means of transport from here to the discretion of the Saints. You knew that, didn’t you?”
Another knight of the Kingsguard, one with a low boiling point of rage and the other a feeble knight of the Kingsguard, says admonishingly.
The explosion of anger seems to have subsided somehow, but the angry knight is not convinced. He is still in a rage and makes a bitter face.
“This dragon carriage was perfected for use in the Royal Palace by a group of the best engineers. Not to mention the leakage of technology. When a problem occurs with a fake, it is inevitable that the trust in the genuine original will be lost.We must avoid the appearance of similar products made by amateurs for fun.”
“You’ve got a point there, …… Hmm, but”
The third knight of the Kingsguard played with his beard with his fingers and gave the Saints a meaningful look.
A silent question. [Can you assure me that you will not make anything that is unsuccessful to the detriment of the Royal Court?] and [Are you prepared to do so?], that was the silent question.
“I promise - I promise - I will make it work!”
“We just had the solution for the problem. We can’t just walk away!”
“Let me do it, please!”
With an uplifting air, the saints rise to their feet.
Some roll their shoulders in the air, their faces full of motivation.
Some raise their fists in the air as if to inspire themselves.
Some looked at each other and nodded as if sharing the same will as their friends.
It looked like a wholesome school student, eager to win the inter-class school event.
Did the knight feel the spirit of the saints, who were full of confidence and spirit? The calm and collected knight of the Kingsguard played with his beard with his fingers and let out a deep snort as if he had no choice.
“It would be unwise for a knight to interfere in a matter which has been decided between the saints.”
“…… But!”
The red-faced knight of the Kingsguard is still not convinced. The calm knight of the Kingsguard restrained him with one hand and continued.
“Of course, we can’t leave the whole process to the amateur Saints. The only thing we can do is to help them make it. It would be a shame for our engineers if they were to have an accident with their imitation of the palace carriage.”
The saints cheered at the clumsy concern that was expressed with kindness.
They hug and high-five each other and shout for joy.
The red-faced knight of the Kingsguard looked on with a pained expression on his face. The cooler of the two knights put his hand on the shoulder of his colleague, who still looked unconvinced.
“…… It’s a lot of extra work, but they need this level of pampering.”
“I know that, but I don’t want it to become a habit. They are the kind of people who really believe that adults will always be there to help them when they are in trouble.”
Blowing his nose, the red-faced knight of the Kingsguard heads towards the dragon carriage.
As he watched his back, the calm and collected knight of the Kingsguard narrowed his eyes.
“It is better to give people the pleasure of working together to achieve a goal than to intimidate them with a high-handed attitude and turn them against the country. ……This would be more effective for high school students from different worlds.”
His words were spoken in a whisper and drowned out by the roar of the saints.
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