Chapter 5 — A Predicament Born from Kindness

Three days later, Zenjirou found himself looking down on a slight youth kneeling before him. As he did, he was devoting all his focus to his expression, making sure that his internal unease didn’t show on his face.

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Sir Zenjirou. I am the third son of Margrave Gaziel, Xavier. I am honored to be given the chance to meet you personally.”

The youth—Xavier—spoke clearly yet somewhat awkwardly. For his part, Zenjirou remained seated as he looked down at him and replied.

“I am the husband of Her Majesty Queen Aura I, Zenjirou. Raise your head.”

“Sir!”

Xavier’s gaze almost seemed to gleam as he looked into Zenjirou’s eyes. Zenjirou felt an urge to rear back but managed to suppress it.

How can I put this? He’s pretty much a straightforward youth, the likes of which I haven’t seen in some time.

The first impression the boy gave was exceedingly positive. Zenjirou, however, couldn’t relax enough to let that show.

Xavier Gaziel was the promised heir to the Gaziel March. He was also the person to initially undertake the solving of the salt road problem. Zenjirou knew enough to infer the reason Aura had sent him and the bearded hunter at his side to Valentia with her teleportation magic. Thus, his heart was currently racing like he had finished an all-out sprint.

If his assumptions were correct, the youth had been sent to him to deliver an awfully bothersome message.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as if he could ignore it.

“So, Her Majesty sent you both to this region?”

On the surface, Zenjirou was being short with him, but internally he was hesitant to ask the question. Regardless, Xavier pulled a letter from his pocket with brisk movements. It went without saying that the wax seal on it had the crest of the Capuan royal family pressed into it.

“Please read this,” Xavier said before offering the letter respectfully with both hands.

At a meaningful look from Zenjirou, Ines stepped forward and took it, opening it in front of Zenjirou after carrying out the formality of checking for deception.

“Very well,” Zenjirou said.

Ordinarily, the sheet of drake parchment would have been handed to him, and Zenjirou would have read it over. Unfortunately, his linguistic abilities weren’t yet at the level where he could read and comprehend it unaided. While it was somewhat embarrassing, Ines held it out in front of him and read through it aloud, her right index finger following the words as she did, like a mother reading a picture book to her child.

“I recommend that the person before you, Xavier Gaziel, be given responsibility for the current swarm raptor subjugation. I place him under command of the current full proxy of the Duchess of Valentia, Zenjirou Capua, to fulfill this role.”

Beneath it was Aura’s signature in her familiar handwriting.

I knew it.

Despair and displeasure assailed him as Zenjirou’s premonition was confirmed. Regardless, he knew that showing such dismay now would end badly and so feigned calm as he answered.

“I see. I understand the situation. However, I have already deployed the duchy’s forces to protect the surrounding settlements. The important men will be gathered tomorrow, so I shall have you discuss the specifics then, no?”

“Yes, sir!” Xavier answered energetically and clearly, oblivious to Zenjirou’s concerns.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Damn, damn, damn, damn it all! What do I do?”

When he returned to his room, Zenjirou kicked out even Ines, his most trusted maid, and found himself alone as he broke into a cold sweat.

The issue he was worried about was, of course, Xavier Gaziel’s arrival via teleportation. The arrival in and of itself was a blessing. Xavier had already encountered the swarm raptors several times on the salt road, so he would be able to confirm whether it was the same group. In addition, the “bearded man” who had arrived with him was primarily a hunter—someone Zenjirou had lacked until now. The man’s knowledge of drakes and his observations would doubtless be a great boon to the subjugation process. Zenjirou could see why Aura had used her precious reserves to cast teleportation twice in the same day. However, her consideration put Zenjirou in a rather thorny situation, politically speaking.

“I already sent out subjugation squads. I even put Rafaello in charge. Now Aura’s interfering from afar. This is gonna be bad.”

The squads had not yet been organized when Zenjirou had sent the dwarf wyvern to the capital. As a result, it was to be expected that she would have no knowledge of his actions on that front, but it still put him in a tricky position.

“I suppose she said that she was recommending him, so maybe I can ignore it? Nah, no way. It’d be a disaster for the prince consort to ignore a direct recommendation from the queen,” he muttered.

But what of taking her suggestion and placing Xavier in charge? That would be even worse. Zenjirou’s current title was “the full proxy of the Duchess of Valentia.” The moment she had appointed him to the role, Aura had temporarily surrendered the rights the position afforded her, hence the “full” in the title. Therefore, it was effectively the queen interfering with the personal domain of the current duke (or full proxy thereof) of Valentia, Zenjirou. It was a contravention of the accepted rights to independence that the feudal lords of the country held.

“Argh, didn’t she notice? I mean, I guess not. She probably took the wyvern as seeking instruction rather than an exchange of information.”

The capital was too far from Valentia, even with the wyverns and teleportation, and an information exchange took three days. Relying on instructions from someone three or four days away would be a great detriment to the local situation. Therefore, the dwarf wyvern Zenjirou had sent was not meant for anything more than informing her of the situation, but Aura seemed to have taken it as him awaiting instruction.

Coincidentally, General Pujol’s concern about the lack of detailed information in the missive causing inconsistencies had come to pass, but here in Valentia instead.

Who was at fault? Was it Zenjirou, who hadn’t explicitly stated that the letter was merely meant to provide information rather than ask for guidance? Or was it Aura for deciding that her husband was waiting for guidance on everything as he usually did?

Perhaps it was Zenjirou’s fault, but for forgetting his usual attitude of acting as incapable as possible due to the shock of the loss of life, which had spurred him to immediately take action?

“Yeah,” he decided eventually, “it mostly falls on me.”

He had the tendency to place responsibility on himself, so that was the eventual conclusion he came to with a slump of his shoulders. With things as they stood, he was greatly thankful for the presence of Xavier and the young man’s bearded subordinate in the subjugation of the raptors.

He could also understand Aura’s aim. The initial situation had been given to Xavier in order to cement his position as the next margrave by the current margrave. Aura had probably been impressed enough with Xavier to aid him in that. Xavier had, in effect, been sent here as a kindness to both Zenjirou and to Xavier himself. The decision had been made with the best of intentions for everyone involved. However, those good intentions had now placed Zenjirou in a difficult position.

“Well, there’s no choice. It’s going to end up pretty hectic, but I’ll just have to try to balance things out,” he decided, coming to the conclusion that there was no way he would manage to cancel out all the political consequences.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Early the next morning, the heads of the troops dealing with the swarm raptor subjugation were arrayed around a large table in the duke’s reception room. Zenjirou was seated at what would, on Earth, be called the head of the table as he looked at the assembly’s faces and spoke bluntly.

“First, the report. Rafaello.”

The first name to pass his lips was the man currently in charge of the subjugation—Rafaello Márquez. So called on, Rafaello stood from his seat and delivered his report.

“Yes, sir. Since yesterday evening, six units have been seeing to the defense of the settlements in the area. Five are from the Valentian Duchy’s army, while the last is made up of loaned manpower from Princess Freya’s guard. Fortunately, there were no further attacks last night.”

Zenjirou breathed a sigh of relief at that. This was the fourth day after the initial assault, and the raptors had already attacked a second time two days prior. They had been ready for it, though, and had managed to intercept the creatures, succeeding in taking several of them down and keeping human casualties to zero.

However, it didn’t change the fact that the village had been attacked and casualties, particularly in the form of livestock—meat drakes in particular—had increased dramatically. If the current trend continued, the villages around the town that supplied Valentia with both meat and grain would be finished.

Zenjirou’s expression tensed as he spoke. “Good work. Yet, as long as the raptors remain, the situation will not change for the better, even if we did have the fortune to avoid an attack last night. The main question is how we eliminate this swarm while protecting the villages from the threat they represent.”

The statement was practically unnecessary at this point, but the men at the table all nodded gravely. Taking their reactions into account, he decided to introduce the two men standing behind him.

“To that end, we require detailed information on these beasts. Fortunately, Her Majesty has sent capable reinforcements due to her concern about my lack of knowledge of this area. I introduce Lord Xavier Gaziel.”

At those words, the slight youth took a step forward, his cheeks flushed with nerves as he spoke loudly. “M-My thanks for your introduction. I am Xavier Gaziel! I was involved with the subjugation of swarm raptors on the salt road. Despite my youth, I will be immensely happy if my experience is of any use to you!”

Xavier was a high-ranking noble and was set to inherit the Gaziel March. Therefore, the only person who ranked higher than him socially was Zenjirou, the prince consort. However, the boy was still young and had only rarely left the march before now, so it would be pointless to tell him to not be nervous.

From that perspective, however, the bearded hunter at his side had it worse.

“The man next to him is Antonio, a skilled hunter of the Gaziel March. There is no one in the region more knowledgeable about drake ecology than he. Therefore, he has been invited here as a special adviser.”

“M-M-My name is Antonio! I-I hope to be of use!”

It was perhaps worthy of mention that the hunter managed to finish introducing himself even as he looked like he was about to faint. The man was middle-aged and had been called to stand among over ten nobles—including royalty. It would normally be considered more of a curse than an honor.

“Lord Xavier encountered swarm raptors on several occasions on the salt road, while it goes without saying that Antonio is a specialist. I would like to start by hearing from them.”

There was no disagreement with Zenjirou’s suggestion. A while later, he discovered another of Rafaello Márquez’s strong points.

“I see,” Rafaello replied to Xavier. “So, we are certain the swarm raptors are those that escaped from the salt road?”

“Yes, Lord Rafaello,” came the prompt reply, Xavier growing more confident, his nerves having vanished. “We circled their den from the east. If they escaped afterwards, it would have been to the west. Valentia is to the west of the salt road, so it makes sense.”

“I see. Antonio. Would you say it is possible that the raptors crossed the two or three mountains between here and there?”

“Y-Yes. I do think so. No other creature can boast the same speed through dense foliage. However, as we said earlier, if they are indeed the same raptors, it implies they suffered a string of defeats in territory disputes throughout those woods. I am not sure we could state with any certainty that they would remain a full swarm with that many losses in such a short time frame...”

For his part, the bearded hunter remained nervous, but he could at least provide his opinion without issue now. Rafaello Márquez was an exceptional listener. Regardless of their visitors’ initial reservations, Rafaello’s calm tone and expression remained constant throughout the discussion, which helped both Xavier and the bearded hunter to pull themselves together.

Thanks to that, the group was able to compare information on the swarm raptors that had attacked the salt road and those currently attacking Valentia.

“With everything taken into account, we can most likely assume that the swarm raptors currently attacking the area are the same as those from the salt road,” Rafaello concluded.

“Your reasoning?” Zenjirou asked bluntly.

“Well, the primary reason is that the initial attack site showed bloodstains from the raptors. During that first raid, the troops didn’t make it in time to stop them, so there was a question of who actually wounded them, but if they are the same group that escaped from the salt road, the explanation is clear.”

Swarm raptors had the same red blood as humans, but it was highly viscous and therefore easily distinguishable in bright light. However, Rafaello’s explanation actually increased Zenjirou’s doubts.

“Hm? So the raptors took wounds on the salt road and crossed the mountains all this way while they were still bleeding? Would they not have either bled out or healed along the way?”

A rebuttal came from the bearded hunter. “I-It is most likely because they still had the arrows or spears embedded in them. They heal exceedingly quickly, so the wounds will close before long even with that. However, because the arrowheads remain, they will tear the skin each time the creatures move vigorously, causing them to bleed a little bit at a time.”

“I see,” Zenjirou answered, convinced by the simple explanation. But he still had another query. “However, working off that assumption, it bothers me that we have had no reports of the huge raptor in either of the two attacks carried out so far. No one was present the first time around, but our men fought them during the second attack. Is it possible that their leader already died?”

Xavier fielded that question. “Ah, no. It never once appeared close enough to engage. The creature only ever remained in the foliage and gave orders to attack or retreat while it lurked cautiously.”

“There were soldiers who said they heard a deafening roar from the trees,” Rafaello added. “They also stated that the raptors immediately began to retreat following that roar.”

“Hmm...” Zenjirou frowned instinctively at the plausible explanation. If these assumptions and the information were all correct, the huge raptor was not only big, strong, and intelligent, it was also cautious. There was no type of creature that would be harder to deal with.

“If we could at least keep them in one place, things would be easier,” one of the commanding officers griped.

Zenjirou could sympathize. In truth, while the swarm raptors were beyond the abilities of unarmed civilians or the few guards of a merchant, they were not unmanageable for a well-trained unit. The issue was that the creatures fled so readily.

“Would a pitfall trap work?” someone asked.

“Swarm raptors are capable of jumping up to their own height with no running start. Unless they were deep enough, it would not work,” the hunter replied.

“Perhaps something like birdlime?”

“They have extremely strong legs, so they would normally just power through it. They have a good sense of smell as well, so they may well not even get caught by it.”

“Damn, how can they move around so well? They only just arrived from the salt road. Surely they need to get the lay of the land first. Wild animals have it too good.”

As he listened to the kvetching commander, the bearded hunter gave a rueful smile and answered faithfully. “It’s due to the scent. They mark places periodically with urine and by rubbing themselves on tree trunks to leave their scent behind to act as guideposts.”

“The scent?” Zenjirou asked, joining the conversation once more from where he had been listening as the word stirred a memory. “What would the raptors do if we could remove that scent?”

The hunter, despite his bewilderment at the sudden question from the prince consort, answered honestly. “I-I am not entirely certain. I imagine they would mill around at a loss for a while. But that is impossible, Sir Zenjirou. They have a rather strong scent. They also have a superlative sense of smell, so we would be unable to get rid of their scent without a great deal of effort.” Understanding Zenjirou’s aim, the hunter was rather apologetic as he spoke, but even so, the look on Zenjirou’s face didn’t change.

“You have some precedent for that judgment, though, no? How did that happen?”

“Through a landslide. It was during the height of the rainy season, and the trees themselves were swept away. Without their signs, the swarm raptors ended up somewhere completely different.”

That made it obvious to Zenjirou that it would be by no means simple—a man-made landslide would be quite difficult to cause.

“Hmm...” Regardless, he still hadn’t given up on the idea. He surveyed everyone at the table and spoke again. “If we could do so, could we beat them?”

Rafaello was the first to respond. “If Antonio is correct and we can intentionally remove those scents before an attack, we should be able to corral the raptors to a degree.”

“Indeed,” Xavier added, putting his thoughts into words as they occurred to him. “If we were to lead a detached company and accomplish such a task, removing the scent they use to retreat, we may be able to keep them in place.”

The pair’s statements seemed to draw the commanders into the conversation.

“I see. The main problem is how to stop their escape, so if we could just slow them down a little...”

“But it will be too late if they take refuge in the trees. We can’t use dash drakes then. We might be able to guide the raptors somewhat, but pursuit will be difficult.”

“The problem is the leader. If we can take him down, it will be a blow to the rest. They won’t be able to stay organized when there are over a hundred of them,” one commander declared with a confident expression.

They had been unable to get an accurate count of the beasts during the first attack, but they had managed to engage during the second, and the soldiers had provided rough estimates of the numbers involved. Considering swarm raptor packs normally had only around ten or so members, gathering a hundred of them together was practically a disaster.

“Over a hundred? Are you certain?” Xavier asked in shock.

“Y-Yes, we are. Is there a problem?”

It was here that Xavier realized he had failed to share a vital piece of information. The information regarding the situation on the salt road had reached the Valentians via Zenjirou and Rafaello, both of whom were aware that a large group of swarm raptors had attacked the salt road but neither of whom had the finer details. It was hardly surprising, as when they had been sent here, no one would have imagined that the problem would ever spread so far.

Xavier knew that it was his role to make them aware of the circumstances and took the utmost care so there were no inconsistencies as he shared his knowledge. “Each attack on the salt road was carried out by approximately fifty swarm raptors. Each time they attacked, we whittled their numbers down, but the next attack would always be carried out by just as many. General Pujol was of the opinion that they had split their forces and had a reserve to replenish their lost fighters.”

That opinion had been proven to be fact. While their hunt through the mountains with the reinforcements hadn’t encountered the main force, the traces (feces, claw marks, and similar) had been far more than a group of around fifty would leave. The bearded hunter had estimated their numbers at “at least two hundred, possibly even more than five hundred.” Yet despite that, there were more than a hundred of them now attacking Valentia.

“What does that mean? Did they attack with a larger force because they were fighting over a larger area?”

If the swarm raptors were taking into account the scope of the battlefield to make decisions about how much of their forces to use, that would be a nightmare. Considering how the huge raptor had acted thus far, it was a terrifyingly plausible suggestion.

However, the hunter was the most knowledgeable about the mountains and had a completely different opinion after some thought. “No. I believe it may mean they are close to their limits.”

“Close to their limits?”

“What do you mean?”

Everyone present grew excited at the almost optimistic statement. The high-ranking nobles and company commanders were all far above the hunter, but despite his faltering, he managed to voice his thoughts.

“W-Well, it may be that the hundred raptors attacking are the last of them. It was bothering me the whole time. They fled from us humans, but after crossing the mountains like this, they attacked another human settlement. It is somewhat odd that they would flee our kind only to attack another ‘nest’ of humanity.”

The commanders all exchanged glances. He was right, the raptors had fled the human soldiers across the mountains. Immediately attacking another settlement on the opposite side was somewhat strange. Xavier and the other men’s gazes all converged on Antonio. The hunter’s face remained nervous as he continued his explanation.

“The forest has rules of its own. Powerful drakes each have their own territory, and weaker specimens must live in the gaps between those regions. Swarm raptors live in packs, though, so they absolutely require larger ranges. When you then take into account the hundred or more raptors that made up the giant raptor’s force, their fleeing into the forest would inevitably cause territorial disputes. Those disputes result in the winner taking the territory and the loser fleeing to find somewhere else. I wonder if perhaps these raptors lost several times and therefore came all this way.”

“So you mean there are drakes in those trees that can repeatedly take on two to three hundred of those swarm raptors?” Zenjirou asked, his gaze moving in that direction from where he sat. Of course, this was the duke’s conference room, and all he could see were long-standing stone walls. However, he could easily imagine some great lizardly beast tearing its way through those walls.

It seemed that even Rafaello and the others, despite having been raised here, had the same feeling to an extent, and a bleak silence reigned for a time. Still, they didn’t have to worry about whatever monstrous creatures might be living in those trees right now. They had to focus on the much more pressing matter.

The first to pull himself together was Rafaello, and he decided to get the conversation back on track by addressing the hunter.

“In other words, Antonio, you are saying that the swarm raptors attacking Valentia are their survivors?”

The bearded man gathered himself as well, at that, and nodded confidently. “Yes. The repeated losses in territorial disputes will have thinned their numbers each time, I believe. At the very least, they will have certainly fought since entering the trees, and their presence here is almost certainly due to repeated losses. That would inevitably lead to a reduction in numbers.”

The convenience of it made it rather difficult to accept at face value, but it was at least plausible. It was difficult to imagine the drakes in the forest allowing hundreds of swarm raptors to pass unscathed. Besides, they had fled across several mountains all covered in forest. Smaller specimens with less stamina or strength would potentially have been abandoned.

As those opinions were being voiced, Xavier remembered he still had more information he hadn’t yet shared. “Now that I consider it, the groups of fifty swarm raptors that attacked us on the salt road had no females among them. That was proof of them allotting forces for offense, but what about here? Were there any females among the hundred?”

One of the commanders raised a hand at the young man’s question. “There were. We took down several raptors in the second attack, and one of them was definitely female.”

It was strong evidence in favor of the hunter’s theory.

“Then it would seem we have our conclusion,” Rafaello said with a nod.

“That explains their unusual aggression too. It was less aggression and more just them starving.”

If their traversal of the forest was a series of losses, then they would have been fighting constantly and also been unable to gather much food. That would explain why the thus-far cautious beast commanding them would take the risk of attacking a human settlement. It was a simple matter of preferring the risk rather than starving in silence.

The idea that the formidable foe laying waste to their agricultural villages was simply a group starving from repeated losses was a little saddening, but it was without a doubt a welcome fact. If they could kill the hundred raptors threatening them, the problem would be solved.

“Right. We have finished that discussion,” Zenjirou announced. “Now, gentleman, we must decide how to defeat this last group.”

With his statement as a starting point, the men began to flesh out a basic strategy.