◆ Chapter 23: Vanquishing the Dragon
“I don’t know how we pulled it off, but we made it down the mountain. Rosso and the others look spent.”
“They do, but we do not have any time to spare, m’lady…”
We succeeded in descending the mountain without encountering the dragon. My legs are killing me after running nonstop. Rosso and Iris seem even worse off than me. They’re really feeling the effects of using up their strength to move the floodgates.
“I can keep going, Boss Lady…”
“Iris can run eternally if she gets Goddess Pats along the way—COUGH! COUGH!”
It’s plain as day that they’re both bluffing. For that matter, Iris has never had the healthiest complexion, so now I’m even more worried she might croak on me.
“Look at them, Lex.”
“…What am I supposed to do with you? All right, let’s take a brief—”
Lex is cut off by a reassuring rumbling noise—the sound of hooves hitting the ground. I search left and right until I see a group of riders racing their horses along the foot of the mountain.
“LADY MIZUHA!”
“…Are those the soldiers who acted as bait?” I ask, opening my eyes as wide as possible to see them.
“Yeah, it looks like it,” Nady answers.
The soldiers gallop up to us, pull on their reins, and come to a halt. A quick count gives me ten total—everyone who split off to become bait is here.
“I’m glad you are all safe. How did you make it here…?”
“The dragon immediately sensed you weren’t with us, Lady Mizuha, as it quickly turned back… I deeply apologize for failing our mission,” the captain says.
“You didn’t fail. Besides, I’m relieved no one was hurt!”
“Your divine protection saved us, Lady Mizuha.”
The soldiers all lay the hand I shook on their chests.
In the end, I wasn’t able to transfer my unique smell to them. To me, it was the best possible result since it also meant the soldiers were unharmed and that my smell isn’t transferable. But there’s another question on my mind. I shift my gaze to the three riderless horses, including Vianta, that came with the soldiers.
“How did you find our horses?” I ask.
“We turned back right away and watched the dragon from a safe distance. Once it finally left the area, we checked where it had been circling and found a cave with your horses at the entrance, so we brought them with us,” the captain explains.
“From there, we assumed you entered the cave and had already progressed deeper inside given how much time had passed. Since the tunnels were crawling with zombies, we determined you forced your way through and that we would stand a better chance of regrouping if we rode down the mountain from the floodgate.”
“W-Wow! Your every guess was right!” When they lay out the details like that, it makes it sound easy to guess, but I doubt I would have thought as far ahead if I was in their shoes.
“Rejoice, men! Lady Mizuha is impressed by us!”
They always have to ruin the moment by making unprofessional comments like that, but it’s not enough to damper my respect for these men.
Lex gives Vianta a gentle hug before mounting her. Eyes on Cladorca, he raises his voice and commands, “Getting our horses back gives us a huge boost. We are going to run straight until we regroup with the main force!”