◆ Chapter 13: A Scholar You Can Depend On
PINO shows us into one of the rooms in the castle that was set aside specifically for him. Obviously, it isn’t as spacious or luxurious as Cia’s quarters, but it’s more than extravagant to a commoner like me.
Lex and I sit on the sofa Pino directs us to. He heaves an audibly annoyed sigh as he plants himself on the sofa opposite us.
“Do you view me as some kind of convenient human encyclopedia?
“I wouldn’t dare! We think of you as a dependable scholar. Right, Lex?”
“Yes! As Lady Mizuha says, there is no one more dependable than you, Master Pino.”
“Sir Lex is believable, but…I smell someone trying to butter me up.” Skepticism gleams in his narrowed eyes. I’m hurt he can’t trust a compliment from me, but I’ll settle for him being willing to hear us out.
“You wanted to consult me, yes? Surely you aren’t here to ask me to help you with the dragon.”
“Wow! How did you know?”
“…I receive reports from your expeditions too.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less of the king’s master scholar!”
He answers my unfiltered praise with a loud sigh. “It sounds near-invincible from what I’ve heard. Arrows didn’t work on it either, right?”
“Yeah. Thick scales cover its tough hide—not a single arrow the Lucors shot punctured it.”
“However,” Lex interrupts, “my sword cut through the area softened by Lady Mizuha’s holy water.”
“That’s Miss Priestess’s holy water for you. The effects are always outstanding.”
“You know, every time you praise the holy water, I can’t help feeling like it’s a dig at me…”
“Aren’t you just being overly sensitive about it? I, at least, mean it as a heartfelt compliment.”
“I do as well, Lady Mizuha!”
Lex I believe, but Pino definitely does not mean it that way. His wicked expression with the slight upward curve of his lips is saying, “See, you get it.” I knew he wasn’t complimenting me.
“I expected as much, but since your holy water worked, it proves that the dragon was born from the Dark Djinn’s power and your Holy Priestess powers are still effective as a countermeasure,” Pino says, returning to the more serious topic at hand.
“Lex is one thing, but I can’t get close enough to touch the dragon.”
“I barely found an opening without getting trampled,” Lex admits in a vexed voice.
Come to think of it, the dragon rampaged more than any Boneless Ham. Maybe I could pull it off if it was weakened, but I doubt I can approach it when it has that much energy. Even if I was capable of it, I’m confident I’ll be too paralyzed with fear to move.
Pino doesn’t show an ounce of concern compared to Lex and me—he actually looks sure of himself. “All you have to do is get close while it’s weak,” he says.
“It’s finding its weakness that’s giving us so much trouble,” I counter.
“You discovered your attacks work with a sprinkle of holy water. It isn’t necessary to fight in close-combat.”
“How are we going to douse it with holy water without getting close?”
“Just alter your arrows to release holy water on impact. Word about the zombie birds has reached me as well, so I already came up with an anti-air countermeasure. All I have to do is tweak it a bit to work on dragons.”
“That’s my Pino! You get the job done fast!”
Pino doesn’t toot his own horn—he merely snorts. The existence of zombie birds is a real nuisance, but who would have thought they would be useful in coming up with a countermeasure against dragons! We’re in luck this time.
Lex is frowning while I’m rejoicing over the small win. “But we still have to worry about whether we can actually hit a flying target.”
“You don’t have to worry on that front. After all, we already have access to master archers.”
“Ah!” Lex and I utter in unison. It’s always like this whenever we speak with Pino. Those “master archers” have to be the Lucors.
“The dragon isn’t your only problem though, is it?”
“Ah, it figures you already heard about the massive zombie horde.”
“I guessed it before I heard it,” Pino says. “In any event, it isn’t wise to take on thousands when you can only purify so many a day.”
We also can’t look after the people we do purify while we’re surrounded by so many zombies. Taking our time to purify smaller numbers is the best plan.
Lex places his hand on his chin, his brow weighed heavily with other concerns. “But it will be next to impossible to fight the dragon while trying to avoid the horde.”
“Yeah, but it also won’t be an easy task to purify the zombies first,” I say. “I bet the dragon will attack us again if we enter too deep into its territory.”
Lex and I have fallen into pensive thought once more after tossing up more potential obstacles. Usually, this is always when Pino will scoff and provide us with a resolution—except, this time he’s eyeing me with a grave expression.
“Hello? Earth to Pino? Don’t you have a plan?”
“I do, but you will try to enact it if I tell you.”
Now I understand why he didn’t immediately tell me his idea. I sit up straight and look him square in the eye. “I will, since that is what I came here for,” I answer seriously.
“You are vital to the continued existence of this world. I have no reason to send you into the heart of danger.”
Valid logic. I also came prepared for him to say something like that. That said, I’m incapable of persuading him through sound debate. I have but one option now that it’s come to this—I slap my hands together and raise them over my bowed head in supplication.
“Please! I’m begging you!”
“You and your begging,” he huffs.
“I’ll bring Cia with me to see you next time.”
“Wh-Why would you bring Her Highness into this?!” he sputters.
“Of course because of certain reasons?” I crack open an eye and spy on Pino. He’s reacting just as I expected: panicking so bad it’s a waste of his perfect poker face.
“What reasons are those, Lady Mizuha?” Lex asks.
“Special ones. You see—”