A Wild Dragon Appeared

This story starts all the way back in the year 2600 of the Mizgarz calendar in the Trade City of Ydalir. Originally, there was no city or anything there, but one was strongly petitioned for by the merchants and travelers who had to go on long journeys between countries and had no resting point. Since the area where Ydalir now stood was right in the middle of these different countries, each one wanted it for themselves. As a result of all of them glaring each other down, Ydalir was completed as a lawless, neutral land that didn’t belong to anyone.

It was a strange, abnormal occurrence. It was unprecedented for a piece of land whose only feature was that it was surrounded by all major countries to end up as a territory that belonged to no one, even though it seemed like it could belong to anyone. By gaining that land, a country would get a leg up on its peers. In the event of war, it would serve as a forward base as well as a secure point for supply routes. That was why every country was sizing up the others, but none of them could actually take it.

Each country expressed ownership over the land, argued about it, and sometimes even came to blows. Eventually, it all became so complicated that it was impossible to sort out the resulting mess of politics. But the situation couldn’t be allowed to sit. Since the land belonged to no country, the land was also beholden to no country’s laws. It was lawless. There were no knights nor a vigilante corps. So obviously, the place had become most inhospitable for merchants. In fact, it was the perfect hunting ground for bandits and the like.

Merchants had to pass through terrain-wise, though. They couldn’t detour around it. But even if they did, they would definitely be assaulted. This was no joke to a merchant, and there was no greater deal for ruffians, either. But then, a single merchant threw a stone in the pond.

Let’s create a neutral space here, he thought, before using his own personal funds to found a small village and hire mercenaries.

Others thought of it as a waste of money at first, since he did it all himself, but several more merchants agreed and helped expand the village. After a couple years, the population only grew, eventually turning the place into a city. The location was always high in foot traffic, after all. People had to pass through to get to other countries. The flow of people and goods was naturally high, so as long as it was safe, people would flood in.

Before anyone noticed, the area stopped being a buffet for bandits and became a strange city that stood neutral from all the different countries. The countries who’d noticed this tried to put the city under their thumb. It was only natural, but each country got in the way of the others, and none of their efforts bore any fruit. It was also obvious that trying to take the land by force would invite rebellion by all the merchants, so any smart king had no choice but to accept that attempting to take the city was dangerous. On the other hand, foolish kings who still attempted to do so were completely snubbed by merchants everywhere and eventually incurred the wrath of their people after a serious decline in their livelihoods.

That was how the Trade City of Ydalir grew to rival the large capitals of other countries. It was a truly ridiculous story. But history was rife with the kind of stories where your only reaction upon reading it is, “No way!”

Ydalir belonged to no country and had no king nor castle. But all goods and trade were concentrated in Ydalir. People, things, and adventures were concentrated there as well.

If anyone were to carry themselves to this bar they’d find it reminiscent of a cesspool. The place would be filled with thugs in dirty armor getting drunk, and the air would reek of body odor and could only be called unsanitary. While baths did exist in this world, the only ones who would use them regularly were the rich and affluent.

These people were adventurers. While the name might sound cool, they were the black sheep of society. They had no education, no skills, no agency, and nowhere else to go. The only place left for people like that was somewhere that would hire anyone but also not care if any of their employees died. And the job description was ‘adventurer.’

But there was something off about the three adventurers sitting in a corner table. First, there was an armored man who seemed like the picture of a warrior. He didn’t differ much from other adventurers. But his looks and trained body were comparable to a knight’s, and he didn’t give off the impression that he was as filthy and unhygienic as the other adventurers. His armor did seem a little old and worn, but it was properly cared for and all the more beautiful for that.

To his right was a beautiful young elf man, whose race was rarely seen in places like these. Just like all elves, he had the complete set of good looks. His face was very well-proportioned, and it seemed like he’d be constantly hounded by women.

It might have been because he couldn’t bear the weight, but he wasn’t wearing any armor or equipped with a sword or similar weapon. He most likely didn’t need any, though. All elves were specialists in magic. While magic took more time to prepare, spells were generally stronger and more effective than swords. Most importantly, they were free. If a person had heaven-arts at their disposal, they’d probably be able to put up a better defense than any armor, too.

The elf, who would normally be very coveted by governing countries, was instead laughing merrily in a garbage dump of a bar. Who knew what he was thinking?

The last member was even stranger. It was a girl who was a sight to behold. She was so beautiful she just didn’t fit the atmosphere of the bar.

It wasn’t like female adventurers didn’t exist. While they were few and far between, they still weren’t exactly hard to find. But women usually had other job options outside of being an adventurer, even without an education or training. They could always just sell their bodies. That was why most women naturally drifted that way whenever they lost all other prospects. They didn’t want to sell their bodies, of course, but it was a far better option than becoming an adventurer and selling their lives for a pittance. By becoming a prostitute, they were at least guaranteed food, clothing, and housing.

Of course, becoming a prostitute still had some requirements in the looks department. In other words, women who couldn’t even fulfill that became adventurers. It wasn’t nice to say, but female adventurers weren’t good-looking, since good-looking women would pretty much never come to such a dump of a bar.

That was why this one was so strange. She wasn’t just beautiful. She was beautiful enough that, if asked, 99% of people would say they’d never seen a woman more beautiful than her. She had pitch-black wings growing out of her back, telling the world that she was a heaven-winged. And by looking at her wings, it was also easy to understand why she had no place within the heaven-winged’s society.

But Ydalir was a human town, and it was only a little ways away from a human country. There would be any number of nobles willing to employ her on the basis of her looks alone, regardless of what color her wings were. In fact, she might have been all the more sought after, since black wings were so rare. With how good she looked, she’d be able to survive anywhere and get protection from anybody. There was no need to come all the way to a place like this to sell her life for cheap.

But she was here anyway. She drank cheap swill like it was only natural and laughed along with her companions. And she looked for a request to sell her life cheaply once again today.

“What about this one? It wants us to collect a fang from a dragon that settled down in some ruins. We’ll get 50,000 el. It’s the best paying one recently, for sure.”

It was the girl who spoke. Lufas Maphaahl casually chose a paper from among the requests and took it. The request needed them to fight the prideful dragon, the strongest monster among many species of monsters, and rip off a fang to bring back. It wasn’t some wyvern that only looked like a dragon. It was a real dragon.

Dragons were strong. Very much so. After all, they had already been dinosaurs before being mutated, so once they had, dragons got even stronger. It was easy logic to follow. Any normal monster would run in a heartbeat when faced with a dragon, and humanity only rarely tried anything against them.

Even if humans seriously wanted to defeat one, an entire country would need to deploy all its knights and other forces for it. If they idiotically tried to face the dragon head-on, they’d get repelled with massive losses. The dragon would build a mountain of corpses if they did that. Any country attempting the feat would need to formulate a perfect strategy complete with traps to attempt to even the gap in power. And even then, it would be hard to call the fight equal. Humanity would still be at a disadvantage. While the chances of winning weren’t zero, the human side would suffer huge losses, even if they won. In fact, they’d probably lose most of the people deployed against the dragon.

That was why dragons were fundamentally allowed to go untouched. While countries would have no choice but to respond in kind if the dragon attacked, leaving it alone was by far the best choice if the dragon wasn’t attacking. Dragons might burn down villages near them, but that still wouldn’t even compare to the losses that would be incurred while trying to fight one. With that in mind, most countries had no choice but to allow the villages to burn. That was just what dragons were like. They were true monsters.

So the fact that a request wanted only a couple adventurers to fight one was literally like telling them to go die. That was why the request had gone unanswered. No one was willing to commit suicide like that, especially for a measly 50,000 el.

“No way. Sure, 50,000 will have us set for money for a while, but it’s not enough to set us up for life. This isn’t worth it. Yeah, being in some sort of epic tale where we defeat a dragon would be amazing, but our lives are more important. Right, Megrez?” The warrior-like man, Alioth, laughed at the ridiculousness of the request before turning to the elf beside him for agreement.

The elf, Megrez, also nodded. “Honestly, is the poster of this request an idiot? This kind of request should be sent to an entire country rather than adventurers. Well, most countries would just leave any dragon that wasn’t actively attacking alone, though,” Megrez said coldly as he took the paper from Lufas and threw it back onto the table. Then, he picked up a different request form and showed it to the others. “Setting aside Lufas’ joke, how about this one? It wants us to kill a wyvern that’s settled near a village. The reward for completing it is 6,000 el. It’s just a wyvern, not a type of dragon. We should be able to deal with this one cleanly.”

“It wasn’t a joke, though.”

“Just let it go. I’m begging you.”

Wyverns were monster forms of lizards, crocodiles, or something similar. They were imitation dragons that looked the part but didn’t have the corresponding strength, thus their name. Basically, they looked like tough dragons, but that was all a bluff. They still required a certain amount of strength, and there was no doubt that they were tough opponents for adventurers, but to these three, they weren’t that scary. Especially not to Lufas. To her, wyverns were probably nothing more than small-fry that could be dealt with in a single hit.

“Sure, that looks fine.”

“Well... I have no objections, I guess.”

Both Alioth and Lufas agreed to the quest, so their activity for the day was decided. All that was left was to head over to the village and take care of the wyvern real quick. But just when the party was about to set off, Alioth scrunched up his face as if he’d just remembered something.

“Ah, sorry. Let me buy a weapon first before we leave. My sword’s at its limit.”

It was only natural for adventurers to have to supply their own weapons and armor. Knights or soldiers employed at a nation’s castle would have their weapons and armor supplied to them, but adventurers provided for themselves. In order to earn money, they needed weapons. And in order to buy weapons, they needed to earn money. Almost all adventurers tripped over this vicious cycle and had to go out on requests with cheap swords or otherwise dull weapons. This was one of the reasons why so many adventurers died so quickly.

On that point, Alioth could be considered a veteran. He thoroughly understood that a good, reliable weapon would see him live through his requests.

“I don’t mind. I want a new weapon, too. Can I come with you?”

“Don’t you fight bare-handed?”

“I’ve been hooked on using all sorts of weapons recently.”

Unlike Alioth, who was faithful to his sword, Lufas was mastering fighting with both her fists and swords. As for sword skills, Lufas had exceeded Alioth in that respect, too, since she had mastered both the Warrior and Swordmaster classes, while Alioth had decided to continue with Warrior even after reaching level 100. Lufas had recently mastered the Monster Tamer class as well and was now raising levels as an Alchemist. Alioth felt she had no sense of fidelity.

“Well, that’s how it is. Please wait a little, Megrez.”

“No, I’ll go with you two. I was thinking it’s about time for me to get a new mace, anyway.”

Unlike Alioth and Lufas, Megrez was a complete back line magic specialist, so he didn’t really need a weapon. The only weapon he carried was a mace for emergency self-defense, and he had almost no occasion to use it. But that didn’t mean he would never get close to an enemy, so having a weapon was still useful.

When Megrez first became an adventurer, he’d only been level 40. But now, he had gotten all the way up to level 130, so he was feeling how insufficient his weapon was. To him, this was the perfect time to make a switch.

“Oh, then I guess we’re all going.” Alioth smiled as he left the bar.

Lufas and Megrez followed after him, and they moved through the city of Ydalir.

The street traffic was dense and moved fast, and merchants from different countries could be seen swapping information as well as goods. They were even selling travel provisions, which were a lifesaver for adventurers.

“Oh? Hey, Lufas, was there a weapons shop there before?”

It was obvious Alioth was currently aiming to go to a weapons shop. The shop he was aiming for was a place he’d frequented even before meeting Lufas and the others, and it should have been just a little ways ahead of them. However, there was also a different weapons shop that lay along their path. That wasn’t exactly rare, though. Many people came and went in Ydalir, and it was a regular occurrence for a shop to be closed down for some reason or another, only to be acquired by someone else and turned into a different store.

“No, there wasn’t. That store should have dealt in medicinal herbs. Well, the owner probably went back to their country, and someone else bought the space.”

“Oh...? Hey, wanna go take a look?” Alioth, showing some interest, started walking towards the new weapons store.

It was just like him to ask something but take action before hearing an answer. Both Lufas and Megrez already knew what he was like, so they just shrugged and silently followed after him. What awaited them when they entered were weapons of surprisingly good make.

“Ohhh?? Hey, you two, these are amazing. I’m not that well-versed in weapons, but even I can feel the power coming off this sword.”

“You’re exaggerating. It could just be a good-looking piece of shit. Ydalir’s full of stuff like that.”

While Alioth was really excited with a sword in hand, Megrez was there to pour some cold water on his enthusiasm, though he was even more clueless about weapons than Alioth was. But what Megrez said was true. Examples of people buying weapons that looked good but quickly broke in actual use were common. That was why it was important to carefully choose the weapons shops and blacksmiths you frequented and build up trust. Alioth knew that, which was why he’d always stuck to the same shop.

But that was when Lufas stepped in.

“No... I can tell, because I’ve started down the path of an alchemist... This one is good. It’s of a much higher quality than most other weapons you’ll find around here. But this is strange. Why is it so cheap when the product is this good...?”

Lufas picked up several weapons and compared them, only to find that they were all of exceptionally high quality. They were leaps and bounds above what was offered in most weapons shops and cheaper as well.

Even knights employed by a country may not have access to something this good...

“The blacksmith is...Mizar? All these weapons are top-shelf, but I’ve never heard this name before. I can’t believe that someone this skilled is so unknown.”

Weapons and armor were always engraved with the name of their maker. All the weapons here were engraved with the same name, “Mizar,” which couldn’t be seen in any other shop.

Is he a new blacksmith that just came into his own? No, this isn’t the skill of someone new. But I’ve never heard this name. Just where has this person with so much skill been all this time?

“Khaakhaakhaa! This name’ll become famous in the future. You won’t lose out by buying it now!”

A loud and audacious voice called out from the back of the store to Lufas and the others, who were looking at the weapons. Turning around, they saw a small, middle-aged man with an exemplary black beard. He had huge muscles that were like steel, a large nose, and a beard. Those were all the signature characteristics of a dwarf. Of course, these features didn’t stand out nearly as much as an elf’s ears, a heaven-winged’s wings, or a vampire’s fangs, so it was still entirely possible that the man was just a short human.

“A...dwarf?”

“You got it! My name is Mizar. One day, I’ll be known as the man who made the world’s best sword. All the ones you see here are practice pieces that didn’t make the cut as the world’s best, so buy them if you like. I can use as much money as I can get to make weapons, after all.”

The middle-aged dwarf, who’d introduced himself as Mizar, spoke of his grand dreams before trying to sell them weapons. That was when it clicked for Lufas why he was so unknown, even though his products were so good.

Contrary to how they looked, dwarves were very dexterous and had almost otherworldly skills when it came to blacksmithing in particular. But they normally holed up in caves or somewhere similar, so it was rare for a human to see the products of their skills. He must have been just like that, except for the part where he had a dream. So he must have come up against a wall within the narrow world in which dwarves normally lived and left for a human town.

“The world’s best sword? That’s great! I like that! I’m gonna be the world’s best swordsman, so that’s just perfect for me!”

Alioth immediately got in tune with Mizar and the size of his dreams, since he was also a man dreaming to be the world’s best at something. Their dreams were similar, so he must have felt closer.

So Lufas snuck in a jab, which caused Alioth’s face to scrunch up. “As it is now, my skill with a sword is better than yours, though.”

“Sh-Shut up... I’ll surpass you someday,” Alioth said, undaunted, before looking over the swords and picking the one that fit him best.

“Right. I’m gonna pick this one. It feels the best. Hey, old man, I’m buying this.”

“Sure, thanks. That’ll be 700 el.”

After paying for the sword and its scabbard, Alioth hung the new weapon from his waist. He’d been planning to buy a new weapon before the job, but this was a stroke of luck. Dwarven weapons were always of good quality. It would become a reliable partner for Alioth on his adventures.

“Oh, from how you look, all of you are adventurers, right? Did you come because you took my request?”

“Request? Did you put one out? What was it for?” Alioth returned the question and waited for Mizar to answer.

Since Mizar was running a weapons shop, Alioth could pretty much guess what the request would be about. It was most likely something to do with materials for weapons, something like a monster’s fangs or claws or maybe some sort of rare metal. There was no doubt in Alioth’s mind that Mizar had asked for something like that. Alioth thought it would be fine to accept if it was just something on that level. After all, this store dealt in high-quality weapons, and Alioth knew he’d come back to this shop a lot, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to leave a good impression now. Alioth’s thought process was half calculation and half just liking Mizar, but it was quickly blown away by what came out of the dwarf’s mouth next.

“Good of you to ask. You see, there’re some ruins about three days’ travel by carriage from here. A dragon’s settled down there, right? And I’m sure one of its fangs will make for great material.”

“...What?”

“My request was to go punch that dragon’s lights out and get me a fang. How about it? I’ve been waiting for so long. Someone’s ought to have taken it by now, right?”

“......”

After hearing Mizar’s explanation, the three of them all thought back to the request form that Lufas had been thinking of picking up.

Alioth was slack-jawed with shock, and he turned his face up to the heavens.

Oh. I see. I get it now. This old man’s an idiot. He seriously thinks someone will take that awful request. This has gotta be something like, he’s been cooped up in a cave so long he doesn’t know how scary dragons are or something, right?

Alioth heaved a sigh and turned back to Mizar. “Let me ask you one question... Just what do you think dragons are?”

“Hm? Huge lizards, right?”

“Are you stupid?!”

That was when all three of them realized that while this dwarf named Mizar might be skilled, he was both ignorant and foolish. But unlike Alioth and Megrez, who were both dumbfounded and exasperated, the ends of Lufas’ mouth turned upwards amusedly. I’ve found someone interesting. Even if she didn’t put it into words, her expression did all the talking for her.

“Oh ho... So dragons are that strong, huh? I just thought they were like those huge lizards you see around the place...”

“Those are wyverns, old man. They look similar, but they’re completely different.”

“I see. No wonder why no one ever came to ask about it, no matter how long I waited...” The dwarf nodded in understanding while stroking his beard as Alioth gave Mizar a proper explanation of what dragons were.

It seems as if he just didn’t know the difference between a dinosaur and a proper dragon, Alioth surmised. Well, it is true that they look really similar. The smaller dragons are especially easy to mistake, even by veteran adventurers. So basically, he just thought that dragons were strong lizards, that he was posting a simple request to go punch one out and take a fang, and was really confused about why no one would accept it.

In that confusion, Mizar splurged and increased the reward, but still no one would come. He also considered that he’d made a mistake in how he posted the request and went to check, but there was nothing wrong with it.

Hmm, I wonder why? Mizar had thought. This sure is strange. Every day, he wondered why no adventurers would accept his request. But it was only natural. After all, the request was just like saying, “Hey, can you go die for me?” Leaving aside any with a death wish, people would never accept it.

Mizar finally understood that fact, nodding as he said, “So that’s why. If that’s the case, then of course no one would come to ask about the request. So, my ignorance almost sent adventurers to their deaths...”

“No, there’s no one stupid enough to take it, so it’s not even close to ‘almost.’”

“Hmm, but this is still troubling...” Mizar muttered, once again stroking his beard.

“What is?”

“Well, I only caught a glimpse of it when I passed by the ruins, but that dragon’s fang will definitely make for a good sword. That’s what my instincts are telling me.” Mizar answered Megrez’s question with an answer full of lingering attachment and tenacity towards the dragon’s fang.

“Well of course. It’s a dragon’s fang. It’ll totally make for a good sword, but...” Megrez, exasperated, heaved a sigh.

It was true that a dragon’s fang would make great material for a weapon, especially with Mizar’s skills. That point was never in question. But in order to get that fang, someone would have to fight a dragon. It was far too risky. Still, Megrez expected Mizar would finally give up now that it had all been explained to him.

“Okay!!” Mizar exclaimed, seeming to have come to some sort of conclusion, before he went back to the back of the store.

The three adventurers were left wondering what was up for a few minutes as they waited. When Mizar showed himself again, he was wielding a large ax and wearing a steel set of armor that he’d most likely made himself.

“Huh? Hey, old man, what’re you planning to do, looking like that?”

“Sorry, but the shop is closed now. I’ll be out for a few days.” Mizar walked to the exit, his armor clanking all the way, before shooing Alioth and the others out of his store.

Alioth got a bad feeling, seeing his gear and judging from the fact that he said he’d be out for a few days. Hesitantly, he asked, “Hey, wait a second, old man... I can’t believe I’m asking this, but...are you going to go fight the dragon right now?”

“Indeed I am!”

“What do you mean ‘indeed’?! Are you an idiot?! What did I just tell you?!”

“I heard what you said, and that’s why I’m going out myself. No matter how long I wait, there won’t be any adventurers who’ll take my request. That means I have no choice but to go myself.”

“What?!”

After that exclamation, Alioth was convinced that this dwarf was the type to die young chasing his dreams. Everybody who made their living through combat, not just adventurers, knew that those who couldn’t accurately read their opponent’s strength died first. This was something that everybody learned with a bit of experience, and Alioth was no exception.

Alioth seemed like a frank and somewhat unthinking type of guy, but he wouldn’t get into a fight he had no chance of winning. Even he knew that was suicide.

But this dwarf didn’t have any of that experience. Either that or he was ignoring what experience was telling him. The ax and armor he was using were most likely first-rate. They seemed very well-made. But it would still be impossible to fight evenly with a dragon with them. However, Mizar would hear none of it, no matter how hard Alioth tried to stop him. After closing up shop, he clanked off immediately.

Alioth watched Mizar’s receding form as he scratched his head. “That old man’s a genuine idiot. There’s no way he can win against a dragon.”

“But this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. To think we’d be seeing someone we just met today off to their death... It feels like we let him die.”

“There was no helping it, right? No matter what I said, that old man wouldn’t listen. Even if we managed to stop him today, he’s the type to push himself and die somewhere else, anyway.”

There was no way Alioth and Megrez wouldn’t feel anything having parted with Mizar like that. While this was the first time they’d met, both of them liked Mizar’s big-hearted personality, so knowing that they would never see him again was hard on them. But there was no way to stop Mizar, since he was so gung ho about heading to his own death, and neither of them were soft-hearted enough to kill themselves along with Mizar.

There’s nothing we can do... At least, that was the excuse they made to themselves in their hearts.

On the other hand, Lufas never stopped smiling throughout that entire exchange. “That’s right. It’s as Alioth says. He’s a fool with a large amount of talent and enough passion to not only chase his dreams but chase them until death. Even if we managed to stop him here, he’d definitely find someplace somewhere to rush to his death.”

“Yeah, that’s just how he is. ...It’s too bad, though. With his skills, he’d have made some really good weapons if he were still alive.”

“Yeah, that’s true. He has enough talent to be able to reach his dreams as long as he doesn’t die early. ...What an interesting man.” Lufas’ grin deepened, and she started walking.

The other two in her party were taken by surprise, and Lufas followed up on that by dropping a bomb on them with her back still turned. “Sorry, but you two take on today’s request by yourselves. I’ve got something I want to do.”

“S-Something...? Hey, you don’t mean...?!”

“I’ll go take that man’s request.”

Horrified by what Lufas just said, Alioth and Megrez hurriedly ran up beside her. They tried to stop her and dissuade her from that idea, but Lufas never stopped walking. She only got closer and closer to Mizar.

“Hey, come on. That’s not funny! You know yourself how strong dragons are, right?!”

“I know. And I’m confident I can win.”

“Well, you actually might, but it’s a dragon, you know?! What if you’re not strong enough?!”

“Then that just means this is all I ever amounted to. There’s no problem with that.”

“There’s nothing but problems!”

Alioth and Megrez’s words had no effect. Once Lufas decided on something, the straightforward stubbornness with which she pursued it was not dissimilar to Mizar’s.

She caught up to Mizar and called out to him. “Wait a second... Uhhh, your name was Mizar, right? If you’d like, I can take on your request.”

“Hm? That’d be great, but...are you sure?”

“Indeed. But given the contents... You’re going to have to splurge on the reward.” Lufas smiled as she requested a change to her payment. It was only natural. Only 50,000 el for defeating a dragon was far too little.

Mizar understood this, but he still groaned. “Well, that’s only natural. But...damn. I don’t have that kind of money. The 50,000 is all I have.”

50,000 el was too cheap for a dragon slaying, but it was a lot of money for normal life. It would take several years at a normal job to be able to earn 50,000 el. It was enough to buy a house. It was a lot of money, speaking from a commoner’s point of view. And Mizar couldn’t pay any more than that.

But Lufas seemed to have expected that, since she only laughed softly. “I don’t need money. In exchange...I want the weapon you make with the dragon’s fang.”

“O-Ohh! That’s what you’re getting at! But that’s... If I give you the weapon, then why would I have gone through all this trouble to get a fang...?”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll get more than enough fangs.”

Of course, the entire reason Mizar wanted the dragon defeated was to obtain a fang. Giving that fang away would be putting the cart before the horse. Mizar would get nothing out of it. But Lufas seemed to have expected that, and her belligerent smile deepened.

“I won’t be stingy about only giving you one fang. You can have its claws and scales, too, if you’d like. I’m saying I’ll give you an entire dragon’s corpse... A weapon made from a single fang would be cheap in comparison, no?”

“Y-You’re going to kill it? A dragon? A-Aren’t they strong?”

“Yeah, they are. But not as strong as I am.”

Mizar took a good look at Lufas after she said that so confidently.

Overconfident people weren’t exactly rare. There were a lot of newbie adventurers who were ignorant in the ways of the world and dreamed of starring in a heroic tale about defeating a dragon. But over half of those people wouldn’t be able to defeat a low-ranking monster, let alone a dragon, and they paid for that lack of knowledge. The half of those fools who survived such an experience learned how to accept reality, as well as how to accurately measure their own abilities.

But Lufas didn’t fit into that category. She said that with full knowledge of how strong dragons were. In other words, she was just that confident.

“...Interesting! Well, I’d be going with or without you, so I guess it’ll be all right to bet on if you’re bluffing or not.”

“That’d be a boring bet. You know I’m going to win, right?”

Mizar and Lufas both laughed and high fived. Then, with no hesitation, they both started walking.

Of course, both Alioth and Megrez were panicking.

“W-Wait a second! Okay already, I’m going, too! I’m going!”

“Hey, what?! Alioth?! ...Agghh, fine!”

In the end, the two of them were still adventurers. There was no way they didn’t dream of beating a dragon. Most importantly, they knew they would regret it if they left Lufas alone. If Lufas died, they would have basically killed her. If she came back, her equipment would be much better than theirs, and the gap in power between them would get even wider. So they had no choice but to follow along. Their fates were intertwined. If they died, they’d die together.

The two of them caught up to Lufas, glaring at her for her decision, but she didn’t seem to care. She was brazen to the end.

“Awww. You two didn’t need to come, you know,” Lufas spouted, wide-eyed, causing the two of them to smack her in the head. Lufas angrily shouted, “Why?!” But they needed to get back at her that much, at least.

＊　　　　＊

A long time ago, a country stood on this spot. The country wasn’t large, but it had a splendid castle and splendid people. One day, a dragon suddenly attacked, and the country was destroyed. That was what the history books said, at least.

After the dragon had its fill of violence, it chose the castle as its nesting spot. At some point, the poor, destroyed country had devolved into ruins, but the building that had once been the castle still played host to the dragon that destroyed it.

At some point, people started fearfully calling the dragon, “Nogard,” and the ruins it settled in gained the simple name of “Nogard Ruins.” No one had approached the ruins ever since, even hundreds of years later. Well, it was possible that adventurers dreaming of killing a dragon might have gotten close, but they must have all been turned into feed, since the dragon was still living in the ruins like it owned the place.

“Well, it’s time,” Lufas muttered while looking over at the ruins.

The other three made faces that said, “Time for what?” So Lufas explained.

“Look, the castle’s deteriorated a lot. It seems as if the dragon likes this castle quite a bit, but it’s about reached its limits. So if it can’t live here anymore, what do you think the dragon will do?”

Megrez was the first one to arrive at an answer. “It’ll...look for a place to live next?”

Lufas nodded. “That’s right. If we leave it alone, it’ll just attack another country somewhere and wreck it. Or it could even attack Ydalir. ...It’s about time that someone needs to kill it. I’m saying that we don’t have the option of leaving it alone anymore.”

The dragon could attack Ydalir. Hearing those words, Alioth and Megrez braced themselves. To them, Ydalir wasn’t just a base for their adventurer activities. It was also their second home. They couldn’t stand for it to be destroyed. So Lufas was right; it was time. The dragon Nogard had to be defeated here and now.

“Megrez, we need a greeting. Go and wake it up.”

“I thought you’d say that. I’m ready.”

At Lufas’ command, Megrez activated the spell he’d already finished preparing. The pentagram enclosed by two circles shined blue, and mana gathered in front of him before converting into a large amount of water. The spell would unleash a merciless torrent of water. It was a high-tier water spell that would crash through everything before it.

“Tidal Wave!”

There was no water in the ruins, but suddenly, there was a physical phenomenon that ignored the rules of physics and nature, causing a tsunami to appear.

Normally, manifesting water in a place like this would just make it spread everywhere, but the Tidal Wave spell was directional. The tsunami formed a typical wave shape and surged forward, as if the water itself had a will. The wave itself was actually around 20 m tall and engulfed the ruins.

Tidal waves shouldn’t be underestimated just because they’re water. The effect of the huge mass of water was exactly like a natural disaster. The deteriorated castle was easily smashed, crushed, and otherwise destroyed. Eventually, the water passed through, and the castle that had been just barely holding on to its form was completely turned into a pile of rubble.

“Hot damn! You’re pretty good, elf!”

Mizar raised a cheer after seeing Megrez’s spell, but Megrez himself stayed calm.

“Lufas already said this, but this is just a greeting. It’s coming—get ready!”

The Tidal Wave spell had the highest destructive power among all the spells he could use at the moment, but Megrez still expected that it wouldn’t do too much to a dragon. And in fact, the dragon that burst out of the mountain of rubble didn’t seem to have any actual wounds on it.

“GOAAAAAAAGGHHH!!” The dragon Nogard howled, causing the very air to shake.

Its body, covered with green scales, was over 10 m long. And its mouth, which was filled to the brim with fangs, was drooling. Its glowing, golden eyes had vertically slit pupils which were currently locked onto Lufas and the others, and it was clearly enraged.

It seemed to have taken the destruction of its favorite home personally. Carried away by those feelings of anger, Nogard swung its claws down at them.

Lufas came forward and intercepted the blow head-on. Her legs sunk into the ground from the force of the blow, but she herself took no damage. Somehow, a single person just managed to stop a dragon’s full-force blow.

“GAAHH?!”

“Nice attack there!”

Lufas’ eyes were open wide as she spun on the spot. Then, she threw Nogard. Alioth, who was in Nogard’s path, used his sword to deflect the dragon away.

“That was dangerous. If you’re going to throw it, you should have warned me first,” Alioth complained, dripping composure. But he sounded more impressed than angry.

Lufas surely placed a lot of trust in Alioth, and she had probably fully believed that he’d be able to follow up on her throw. The party’s bond was strong and didn’t waver even when Nogard got up and opened its mouth.

As if to put that to the test, Nogard breathed fire at Lufas while her back was turned. But before it could hit, a wall of water rose up in the way, completely shutting out the fire.

“There’s no time to be talking! You guys are way too relaxed!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Megrez most likely had the spell prepared for a while, expecting to have to block the dragon’s fire. And Lufas believed that Megrez wouldn’t fail to do so. If she didn’t, there was no way she would have let her guard down like that in a fight.

“What tepid fire, though. Allow me to show you what real fire is like.”

Lufas put her hands together, clashed the powers of both heaven and mana into each other, and created a tear in the fabric of space.

“I, your master, command you. Burn my foe to death with your rainbow fire—Aries!” Lufas shouted, and a sheep with rainbow-colored wool appeared out of the crack. Its size was far away from what a normal sheep should have been, though, as it rivaled Nogard.

The summoned sheep collected rainbow-colored fire in its mouth and shot it, clearing away the fire that was being released from Nogard’s mouth even now in a show of brilliant, multicolored radiance. The rainbow-colored fire even melted dragon scales, which were supposed to be resistant to fire. Having fulfilled its duty to show the dragon ‘real fire,’ the sheep retreated back into the crack in space and disappeared. But the crack itself didn’t disappear.

Lufas quickly moved on to her next action. “Next, I order you. Use your unrivaled power to crush my enemies—Come, Taurus!” From the same crack came another monster.

Its upper half was a cow’s, and its bottom half was a human’s, meaning it was a monster called a minotaur. The monster had a huge ax in hand, and it swung that ax into Nogard’s neck, even while it was still covered in flames. Having been hit by the ax, Nogard’s tough scales gave in, and a vast amount of blood shot out of the wound as broken pieces of scale scattered around.

With its role over, the minotaur went back through the crack, which finally disappeared.

But dragons were said to be strong for a reason. Nogard stood up, even though it was bleeding like a stuck pig, and glared at Lufas with seething hatred.

In response, Lufas gave Megrez a signal and drew the sword at her waist. Alioth swung the sword he’d just bought that day as easily as breathing, and Megrez swiftly completed a magic circle.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!”

“Maelstrom!”

Nogard unleashed another breath attack, but the water from Megrez’s spell canceled it out. But it didn’t stop there; the raging swirl of water completely stopped Nogard from moving, and Megrez shouted, “Now, Lufas, Alioth!”

“You sure kept me waiting!”

“Thanks for the assist!”

“I can do this, too!”

Lufas, Alioth, and even Mizar, who hadn’t been called, replied to Megrez’s shout and jumped into the air. Lufas and Alioth spun in the air, using centrifugal force to aid them in cutting into Nogard’s neck. Their attacks deepened the wound in Nogard’s neck left by the minotaur...but Lufas’ weapon wasn’t fit for the job.

Unlike Alioth’s, which managed to cut halfway through the neck, Lufas’ sword got stuck inside the dragon’s flesh and snapped. But she still managed to dig in pretty deep, and Alioth was once again reminded how ridiculously strong she was. On top of that, Lufas actually hit scales and busted through them, while Alioth’s sword entered the same way the minotaur’s ax did. Her sword breaking was only a matter of course.

Lastly, Mizar’s ax came falling in, and the dwarf’s might finally severed Nogard’s head. Just like that, the three successful dragon slayers touched down—or not. Mizar was the only one who failed to do so and fell to the ground.

At any rate, they’d completed the request. The dragon that once destroyed a country was dead, and they’d obtained a whole dragon corpse, something that any blacksmith would be watering at the mouth for.

At some point, someone started laughing, which drew the rest of them in, and they all cheered and high fived.

＊　　　　＊

“—That’s a great weapon there.”

“Heheh. You jealous?”

The three of them had achieved something amazing and completely unlike most adventurers by killing a dragon. But for some reason, they were all sitting in the same bar a while later, just like always. Of course, they’d gotten job offers from other countries. There were so many messengers bearing offers of knighthood it was actually stifling. They even promised fame and status. But the three of them spent today as normal, still adventurers. Although Lufas was looking happily at the new whip sword she’d obtained.

Mizar had come through on his promise. The whip sword that Mizar had crafted was an excellent piece that could extend to mow down lots of small-fry all at once, and it didn’t sacrifice attack power to do so. Lufas was completely taken with her new weapon, and she hadn’t tired of polishing the sword even a few days after receiving it.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make one for all of you!” Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to them from the entrance of the bar.

They all turned around and saw Mizar. For some reason, the dwarf was fully armed. He plodded towards the group and sat down with Lufas and the others without waiting for permission.

“Mizar? Why’re you here? Actually, what happened to your store?”

“I closed it.”

“What?!”

“I figured something out. Rather than opening up a store, going along with you guys would net me a mountain of good materials. And you’d be the best test subjects to try out the feel of my weapons, too. As if I could keep up a store with such a juicy opportunity right in front of me!”

While Mizar spoke as if it were a done deal when none of the others had agreed to this, it was actually a tempting proposal. Lufas and the others didn’t know of a more skilled blacksmith than Mizar, and with him in the party, they’d have no problems with their equipment. Alioth and Megrez sighed exasperatedly, but Lufas laughed amusedly.

“So that’s how it is. I’ll be counting on you guys from now on!” Mizar gave a sunny grin and held out his hand. It seemed that to him, entering the party was already a done deal.

Lufas was the first to shake Mizar’s hand, followed by Alioth and Megrez, who both smiled wryly.

Adventurers chased dreams. They chased them and died. But, if one managed to make it to the end, if they managed to get to the goal with comrades who shared the same dream... They might be elevated to the status of hero.

The world would later call these people heroes, or at least the Great Conqueror... But they didn’t know that at the time. They were simply some lowly adventurers dreaming big in a dirty bar and laughing together.