The Reverse Scale
Baldrova Castle, in the Grand Duchy of Baldrova.
That day, Ruri was delivering her weekly report before Baldrova.
“The latest is that Lord Ferda has arrived safely in the Empire and is currently speaking with them at the Imperial Palace.”
It was a report on Ferda’s movements.
Hearing this, Baldrova exhaled a snort of relief, as if a weight had finally lifted from her shoulders.
“I see. I am glad he arrived safely.”
“……Haven’t I told you this several times already? Ordinary monsters would never dare target that carriage.”
The far eastern region was treated as abandoned land, full of undeveloped stretches. Dense forests thrived there, and with the trees came monsters. Encounters during travel were more than twice as common as in other regions.
Even so, there was virtually no chance of that happening to the carriage Ferda rode in. When it was built, a single dragon scale had been hidden inside. Monsters driven by strong wild instincts would hesitate even to approach the scent and aura of a dragon. Monster attacks were nonexistent. As an added precaution, Arwen—knight of Count Consiler—had been assigned as escort, so even if an ambush occurred, they could travel safely.
And yet…
Baldrova could not rest easy. She simply did not like the idea of him leaving the Grand Duchy at all. Even being out of her immediate sight left the Red Dragon Baldrova anxious; the thought of him going to lands beyond her influence struck like a bolt from the blue.
“Is he eating properly?”
“There aren’t any monsters lingering nearby, are there?”
“He isn’t hurt anywhere, is he?”
Those were the questions Ruri had heard a mere six hours after his departure.
It’s not like she’s looking after a sickly chick.
She fretted over him as if he were some fragile creature that might die at any moment. It was only natural. In the eyes of an immortal who had existed since near the beginning of time, an eighteen-year-old mortal adult was no different from an ant on the ground. Moreover, Ferda’s body was weaker than that of an ordinary person.
Ruri had no choice but to attach one of her spirits to Ferda’s carriage and have it report every three hours. And Ruri thoroughly disliked these reports.
She’s drifting further and further from a sovereign’s dignity.
She had never been a dragon particularly close to regal majesty to begin with. Ruri knew both of Baldrova’s faces. When Baldrova took the form of a Red Dragon, she always spoke in a solemn, serious tone. The image of the lonely, solitary guardian made one feel a taut tension. On the other hand, when she took human form, she set all that tension aside. Her face, expressions, and gestures all became those of a pure young woman so far removed from dignity that she seemed like an entirely different person.
I can accept every one of those sides…
But Ruri at least hoped the boundary between them would not collapse. Yet the more Ferda entered Baldrova’s life, the more she felt even the dignity in her dragon form seeping away. Mixed feelings welled up. Ruri wished for her master’s happiness. At the same time, she also wished that her master would maintain her dignity as a being of high status.
Ferda.
Everything had changed like this after that man arrived. He was a man for whom she felt much gratitude, and just as much resentment.
“I will not report on the return journey.”
At those words, Baldrova stirred.
“Why not?”
“Now that we know Lord Ferda’s path is safe, is there really any need to know about his return?”
“……But the return journey could prove difficult as well, could it not?”
There she goes again, sounding like a grandmother fretting over her grandchild.
“Then why not go out to meet him yourself?”
“Hmm……”
Baldrova hummed and lowered her head. For all her worries, she still found facing humans awkward. Seeing her unable to continue, Ruri drove the point home.
“There is no need to worry so much about Lord Ferda. Eighteen may look like a child to our eyes, but in human society he is a full-fledged adult.”
“I know that.”
“And he is handling the duties Master could not perform quite well in your place.”
“I know that as well……”
“So please do not worry excessively. As long as Master remains well, there will never come a moment when Lord Ferda is truly threatened.”
It was while she was soothing Baldrova with those words that it happened. In the quiet lair, a wind rose and shaped itself into a white form. The high-ranking wind spirit Tormenta floated beside Ruri, having formed only a face.
“It seems word of Lord Ferda has arrived. One moment……”
“Very well.”
Baldrova adjusted her posture and waited for Ruri’s words. As Ruri listened calmly, her eyes suddenly widened.
“What? What do you mean by that……?”
She asked him so loudly in her surprise. Ruri lowered her voice again. But Baldrova had not failed to hear it.
“What is it?”
Ruri did not answer. She only continued listening to the spirit’s whispers.
“Has something happened?”
“Please wait a moment, Master.”
Baldrova’s golden eyes shifted. One could feel it clearly in her words.
“What has befallen him? My fiancé?”
Her patience reached its limit. The dignity of her power began to lose its composure.
Crunch—.
Her claws dug into and shattered the floor.
Rumble—.
As Baldrova’s emotions stirred, the cave shook violently.
“Speak the truth. What has happened to my fiancé?”
The Red Dragon Baldrova. She who was called the Lord of Fire and Strength—her suppressed power was gradually being unleashed. At last Ruri, who had been listening to the spirit, opened her mouth.
“It was nothing you need worry about.”
“Then what is it?”
“It is merely a political matter. They only came to relay the content quickly.”
“Then is my fiancé unharmed?”
“Yes.”
The trembling of the cave ceased. Baldrova, who had risen, let out a sigh and coiled herself again.
“Then why did you wear such a serious expression?”
“I was merely concentrating. Forgive me for causing you concern.”
“Hmm…… I see. No, it is fine.”
Baldrova trusted Ruri and calmed her startled heart.
“Then I shall take my leave. There are still documents piled up within the territory……”
“Yes, go on.”
Ruri left Baldrova’s lair just like that. She walked in silence. She moved slowly out of the cave and into the forest until she found a signpost and stopped.
This should be far enough.
When she judged she had gone far enough that Baldrova could no longer sense her, she opened the mouth she had kept tightly shut.
“Tormenta.”
The high-ranking wind spirit that had shown only its face answered her summons.
“Yes, Master.”
“Among the contents your subordinate relayed……”
Her sunken voice trembled faintly.
“Do you swear that there is not a single falsehood?”
The wind spirit Tormenta flinched for a moment. Beyond that expressionless, businesslike face, a deep agitation that had been hidden could be felt. It was only natural. The news she had heard was not merely political.
“Yes. It is recorded that he was attacked by a magic investigator in the sealed warehouse and sustained injuries. I received that urgent report and am simply delivering it as is.”
The regent of the Far East had been injured inside the Imperial Palace. In ordinary human politics, such a matter might be resolved somehow through give-and-take. But the other party was to become a dragon’s mate.
And Master’s fiancé at that.
Baldrova had been greatly agitated at the mere suspicion that something had happened. If Ruri had said then that he had been injured, it would not have ended as a simple matter of diplomacy and politics.
Master, having lost her reason, would move…
And the other dragons would move as well. That was something that had to be prevented at all costs.
Dragons must not move.
But a Dragon Spawn was different.
“Understood.”
Wings unfurled from Ruri’s back. Her wings, shining silver, were larger than ever and stretched powerfully.
Whoosh—!
With a single flap of her wings, Ruri’s form vanished. The Lord of Wind and Steel, the Silver Dragon. Once she began to fly, she was famous for being impossible to follow with the naked eye, and was also called the Silver Comet. As one who had received that power, Ruri could also move extremely quickly.
A stifling emotion kept surging up in Ruri’s chest. Why had he entered the sealed warehouse? And why had he nearly died inside the Imperial Palace?
Does that mean they looked down on Master that much?
Ruri had disliked the Empire from the beginning. The Third Prince of that bloodline had approached Baldrova from the start intending to use her. As if that were not enough, the nobles had even used it as a pretext to expel him from their houses. It was blasphemy. Blasphemy that could never be forgiven.
Yet Ruri had not moved. Not because she did not care, but because Baldrova did not wish it. She had believed her own unhappiness was only natural, and she had not clung pitifully to the hope she had once held—she had let it go.
And now that she has finally… grasped that hope.
They dare put the person who is to become a dragon’s spouse in danger?
Grind—
After flying at full speed for about five minutes, the Empire came into view in Ruri’s eyes. The place that had taken Ferda a full week to reach was an instant for her. Her silver eyes turned toward the Imperial Palace.
It doesn’t matter what it is.
Someone must take responsibility for this situation.
The silver comet that had been cutting through the sky fell into the Imperial Palace.
“Level 1 Alert! To all knights and mages in the Imperial Palace! Enter wartime posture and assemble at the entrance to the palace garden!”
The landing site was the palace garden. Knights and mages who had been struck by this bolt from the blue while sleeping hurried toward that place. Ferda also walked toward it in time with their movements.
One knight who saw him walking so calmly drew his sword and demanded,
“Who are you!? I’ve never seen you in this palace before!”
He was a young man who seemed to possess a strong sense of justice and duty. And unlike the other knights, he also looked rather clueless.
“I am Regent Ferda Valdrova.”
“Ferda Valdrova? Ah! The one who was to arrive today…… Forgive me for not recognizing you, Regent!”
“It’s fine. Are you currently assembling in front of the palace garden?”
“Yes. Given that it is a Level 1 alert situation, would you please take shelter in your room?”
“That’s a good idea as well, but it would be better if I went with you.”
“Pardon?”
“Guide me toward the palace garden. I’m not familiar with the layout.”
“That won’t do. In a Level 1 situation, the Regent could be in danger.”
From those words, Ferda realized something. This fellow had no idea what was actually happening.
“You are already in danger because of me.”
“Because of the Regent……?”
A face that clearly could not grasp what he meant at all. Ferda sighed at that foolish expression.
“What is your name?”
“Ah, I am Malcolm. I’m from Peach Hill, so I have no surname.”
“Right, Malcolm of Peach Hill. Don’t try to understand with that meager comprehension of yours. All you need to do from now on is guide me to where we need to go.”
“B-but I have a duty to protect the subjects……”
“You’re a hard one to talk to. Would you rather lose your life, or would you rather see this matter end more favorably?”
“I came here prepared to offer up my life.”
“……”
He was even more impossible to reason with than imagined. As a rule, one should not associate with those who cannot take a hint.
“I’ll just go on my own.”
“Ah, you mustn’t go that way! Truly……!”
Leaving the man named Malcolm behind, Ferda moved on. Though he kept saying it was not allowed, he dared not lay a hand on him and could only hover around.
In front of the palace garden—precisely at the entrance leading into the palace—many knights and mages had gathered.
“Third Knight Order! Dense formation!”
“Fifth Knight Order! Dense formation! Form the wing array!”
They moved in accordance with the knight commanders’ orders and blocked the entrance.
“Second Mage Corps! Prepare defenses!”
“Third Mage Corps! Prepare bombardment magic!”
The mages also finished their attack preparations and readied themselves to face the intruder.
“Intruder moving! Heading toward the entrance!”
A mage who had been casting detection magic shouted.
“All units! Battle stations!!”
Tension stretched taut. What lay before them was a wall made of rose vines. A moment later, a rectangular flash of silver light flared. With the flash, the vine wall collapsed in the shape of a rectangular doorway.
The intruder revealed herself. What emerged through it was a silver-haired girl in a maid’s uniform.
Ruri, as expected.
It was just as Ferda had anticipated. If there was an intruder in the Imperial Palace in this situation, he had thought she would be the first to come. But she wore an appearance one did not normally see. Silver wings, and a thick tail protruding from her skirt. A pair of horns extending backward in the shape of lightning. And a dense aura that pricked at instinctive threat.
“A-a dragon!?”
At someone’s cry, morale plummeted. Those who had never seen a dragon—or even a spawn—followed the atmosphere.
“Do not be afraid! The opponent is merely a Dragon Spawn!”
Dragon Spawn. Subordinates of a dragon created after receiving a dragon’s blood and undergoing the Ascension Ceremony. Each of them was on the level of a well-trained knight, and as a baseline they could thrash three or four human knights with ease. The commander shouted that she was only a mere spawn. But it was only words to steady the morale of the palace knights; even that commander could not accept it at face value.
A Dragon Spawn shattering the barrier of the court mages in a single blow and forcing her way inside?
The Imperial Palace was the place humans had made the most secure of all. The magic circles that blocked falling objects from the air consisted of no fewer than three layers, and if one failed to pierce them all, the circles would reform, making aerial infiltration impossible. A defensive barrier that even meteorites could not pierce and would instead be annihilated—that girl had broken through it alone.
And can a Dragon Spawn even produce this much Dragon Fear?
This was the element that even knights who had faced Dragon Spawns before found confusing. Dragon Spawns cannot produce Dragon Fear. Yet that girl was radiating Dragon Fear. As if she were a dragon whose reverse scale had been touched.
Hands and feet trembled violently, and cold sweat poured down. The formation was on the verge of collapse, and among the mages, concentration broke and casting was even canceled.
“Uwaaah……”
Malcolm, who had been hovering nearby, also failed to withstand the Dragon Fear and simply sank to the ground where he stood. At the same time, his eyes witnessed something unbelievable.
How can the Regent remain so calm?
Not only did he not break into a cold sweat—he was the only one still standing firmly on both legs. The sight of him gazing straight at it without wavering was wondrous.
“Your name was Malcolm, wasn’t it?”
Ferda casually addressed Malcolm.
“Pardon? Ah, yes…… th-that’s right.”
“You were correct.”
“Pardon?”
In the direction of his downward gaze was Ruri. Ruri’s eyes were also fixed on him.
“I may be in danger after all.”
She was thoroughly furious with Ferda.