“And what am I supposed to hunt with a sword?” asked the prince after a pause.
“A dragon.”
“What?” Liedis was taken aback.
Rosalia had two dragon habitats—the Dragonbone Mountains to the north and Avalon to the west. Generally, dragons didn’t go very far from where they lived.
In extremely rare cases, a stray dragon would come to a land far away from its habitat and cause a lot of damage, but it was so uncommon that it happened once in twenty years at worst.
So how could Lucius say with certainty that a stray dragon would appear here and now? As Liedis frowned, Lucius smiled at him.
“His Grace will bring one to this forest shortly.”
There was only one person Lucius referred to as “His Grace”—Liedis’s grandfather, Duke Mircea Marwick.
“My grandfather? But how...?”
“It appears he has come into possession of an artifact that allows one to control animals at will.”
“And he wants to control a dragon with it? Where in the world did he find such an artifact...?”
“There was a long spell of rain in the north of Great Rosalia two years ago. At the time, a large-scale landslide occurred in His Grace’s domain.”
Liedis could immediately tell this was about the duchy of Limerick. This exclave was the only northern domain owned by Duke Marwick. It was a tourist destination famous for its beautiful Mirror Lake.
“The landslide apparently revealed unexplored ruins,” said Lucius.
“And that’s where that artifact was found?”
Lucius nodded.
“Even if you can control a dragon, this is absurd. Do you have any idea how scary it would be for the women waiting outside the forest if a dragon came flying here...?”
As if that weren’t enough, Liedis’s parents—the king and queen—were currently there too.
“After two years of repeated experimentation, it was concluded that using it wouldn’t be a problem. His Grace wishes you to be hailed as a slayer of dragons. He would like you to bring down a dragon in a controlled environment and become a hero in the public’s eyes.” Lucius spoke passionately. “This saber may not look special at a glance, but it is a custom-made mana blade forged out of dragonbone steel. It should be able to cut a dragon’s hide so long as Your Highness charges it with mana.”
Dragonbone steel was a special alloy containing the bones of dragons. It was a most powerful metal, both hard and supple, and was mainly used in Dragon Slayers and military gear. Its rarity made it extremely expensive.
“As I am certain you are aware, a dragon’s weak spots are its heart and the spot between its eyes.”
“I know,” replied the prince. “Still, while it may be controlled by an artifact, am I really supposed to fight a dragon with just a sword...?”
“My apologies. Had we prepared a Dragon Slayer ahead of time, it could have raised suspicions of a charade.”
A bitter look appeared on Liedis’s face.
Dragons were generally hunted with Dragon Slayers. Liedis did think a sword imbued with a royal’s mana would be able to cut through a dragon’s thick hide, but going against a dragon with just a sword was something one would expect a knight from children’s stories to do. People like that only appeared in fiction. To Liedis’s knowledge, even before Dragon Slayers had been developed, dragons had been hunted with bows and arrows.
To make matters worse, he was to go up against a reptile that was the strongest creature on the continent. Even if he had the help of an artifact, would things really go just as planned?
Dragon Slayers weren’t carried on a daily basis, as they were both heavy and too powerful. Shooting one at a regular animal would ruin the meat. One also needed permission from the state to have such a weapon in one’s possession. And it had to be used with care. It was safe to say that nobody would bring one to a hunting contest hosted by the royal family. A person might even be suspected of treason if they did.
If Liedis couldn’t bring down the dragon as planned, the participants of the hunting contest would come to great harm.
Liedis had his pride as a member of royalty. He didn’t like doing things in ways that posed risks to the people of Rosalia.
This was just one more reason for Liedis to doubt his grandfather.