episode_0172

[Master, a wyvern is approaching the city.]

“… … A wyvern?”

[It’s still far away, but we’ve confirmed that a total of three wyverns are currently flying towards the city.]

Following the Hive Mind’s words, the surrounding situation was identified through the surveillance skeletons that had been planted outside the iron fence. Since the hive mind gave us directions in advance, it was not difficult to find the location.

In the past, while learning black magic from my grandmother, the appearance of a wyvern that appeared in a monster guide that was required to be seen caught my eye. It looked like it was flying in the sky, with two wings larger than its body fluttering.

“Wow, it’s true.”

“Andrew. Did you just say wyvern? A wyvern appeared?”

And, at the same time as confirming that the wyvern had really appeared, Amy grabbed my sleeve as if she heard me muttering and was checking to see if what she heard was correct.

But I didn’t have to answer Amy’s question. Because someone’s shouting was a sufficient answer.

“Wyvern appears! Territory residents, stop all actions immediately and take refuge inside a nearby building!”

A Skeleton Knight mounted on a skeletal horse galloping quickly down a snow-cleared road moved around the city, making loud noises.

They were entities that were allowed to talk as they were patrolling with the territory soldiers, and they were ordering the evacuation of the territory residents, saying it was an emergency situation.

“Wow, Wyvern! Run away!”

The territory residents who heard the Skeleton Knight’s cry appeared to be in panic. Because it was winter, not many people came out, but everyone who was there began to run away.

Some people went into a nearby store as if they wanted to escape as quickly as possible, while others ran towards a temple not far away.

And, Jienna, who was eating a little sweet potato next to her, looked around curiously.

“Hmm, humans are quick to respond to wyvern attacks, right?”

“Rumors of people being captured by wyverns tend to come out every year. There aren’t many cases where people actually suffer harm, but stories spread like someone was caught somewhere nearby. Plus, there are some things I’ve been taught since I was young.”

“Aha, learning through fear. The elves didn’t have to worry about it because those who took on the role of warriors in the community stepped up first.”

Jiena nodded as if she understood and quietly took another bite of the sweet potato. She smiled and nodded.

Having to deal with a wyvern attack was something I had heard since childhood. Mainly based on when you don’t listen.

They tended to say that when wyverns attack a village or city in the winter, the first thing they do is snatch the disobedient children. He also added stories such as staying in a warm house and not being captured by a wyvern.

For that reason, most people were able to quickly respond to a wyvern attack.

Of course, that wasn’t the wrong way to deal with it. This is because the monster called Wyvern itself specializes in flying and has many problems with its activities on the ground. It flies quickly and picks up people in open spaces, but rarely attacks people inside buildings.

“Lord! Lord, please come in too! It’s a wyvern! Wyvern!”

I don’t know if that was why, but some of the residents hiding in the surrounding buildings gestured towards me. The message was to come in wherever they were and avoid danger.

“Andrew, I want you to come in?”

“No, it’s okay.”

But I shook my head at such a call full of goodness. It would be a lie to say that it wasn’t dangerous, but to be honest, the wyvern attack was an opportunity for me.

“You can’t just let the monster that came to see you on its own go away. It’s also a flying type monster.”

Even if it was just an ordinary goblin or an orc, I was planning on catching it and turning it into an undead, but I had no intention of letting the wyvern, which was not an ordinary monster but a flying monster, go away unharmed.

“You’re trying to capture a wyvern and turn it into a skeleton, right?”

“Isn’t that so? If you are the boss, you will find a way to use it somehow. At the very least, wouldn’t it be enough to just use it as a means of transportation?”

“Well, that would be nice too. I haven’t seen you in a while since I went to the capital last time. If you ride a wyvern, the time will be greatly shortened. And wouldn’t it be super cool?”

And, as if they understood my thoughts, Ziena and Amy started talking to each other while eating delicious sweet potatoes. They said I was going to catch a wyvern and turn it into a skeleton.

But unfortunately, the two women’s predictions were both correct and wrong.

“Not made with a skeleton.”

“Eck! Really?”

“No, boss! Why?”

When I told them that I wouldn’t make them out of skeletons, Gienna and Amy looked at me with disbelief. Still, he gave me a look as if telling me not to lie.

“I said I wouldn’t make it with a skeleton, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t make it with an undead.”

“… … What, was it just a pun?”

“It’s a bit hard to call it a pun. A wyvern is useless if you make it with a skeleton.”

“Why? You can fly.”

“It’s a monster that’s all about flying, but if you make it a skeleton, it can’t fly. Wyverns move their wings to fly, but if you make them into skeletons, their wings will be nothing but bones and they won’t be able to fly.”

No matter how hard I tried to flutter the bones, it was nothing but a fuss. If it were possible to fly like that, wouldn’t goblin skeletons be covering the sky by now?

“Oh, I guess so!”

“Andrew! Then what is the Bone Dragon that appeared in the old Hero’s Tale? That thing that only had bones and flew around?”

“That’s what makes dragons special. The size of a normal dragon is enormous, right? There is no way a dragon with a body like that could fly normally. It’s not known in detail, but it is said that dragons can usually fly through magic. So, even if only the bones remain, it is possible to fly as much as you like.”

Hmph – I laughed lightly at Amy’s humming sound and seemed to understand, and got on the carriage again. The two women seemed to be planning to follow me, so they quietly got on the carriage and took the seats on either side of me.

After confirming that the two people were sitting close to me, I immediately started the carriage. The skeletal horse made a clattering sound and ran quickly in the direction where the wyvern was approaching the city.

“Boss. But if you’re not making a skeleton, what kind of undead are you going to make?”

“Zombies. If you want to keep your wings intact and use them, zombies are the answer. You can make it into a Death Knight, but there is no benefit to making a Wyvern into a Death Knight.”

Zombies are inefficient undead because they consume dark magic to maintain their bodies, but in the case of wyverns, turning them into zombies was the answer. Wyverns were initially difficult monsters to use in combat, so all you had to do was be good at flying.

It was more advantageous to fly while using very little black magic than to fly while using a huge amount of black magic.

“Andrew, so you’re saying it’s used as a means of transportation? For flying purposes.”

“Uh, right. If you’re in a situation where you have to move around alone, it’s best to ride a wyvern. It may be okay if you are transporting goods in large quantities, but when it comes to moving quickly, the sky is the limit.”

In this world, parts of the world were not developed like in the previous life. Because of the rugged natural terrain, there was nothing faster than moving through the sky simply for fast movement.

Swampy areas that are muddy even in winter, hilly areas full of jagged hills, rocky areas so rugged that if you move them on wheels, the wheels will break within 30 minutes, large and high mountains where turning around is faster than going up, etc. There were many factors that hindered people from moving.

It wasn’t for nothing that it took a month to get to the capital or several weeks to go to another territory. It took a long time to go around all those areas.

It would be faster if you went in a straight line, but there were places where you had to bend in an unavoidable S-shape, to the point where you thought you wouldn’t want to bend a snake this much.

In such a situation, I couldn’t help but covet the wyvern. Even though I couldn’t transport large quantities of supplies, I could move on my own in a very fast time to take care of urgent work, so it was strange that I wasn’t coveted.

It’s not certain, but if I were to travel by wyvern, a week or so could be enough for me to travel to and from the capital.

“If I catch a wyvern and turn it into a zombie, will you give me a ride too?”

“Boss, me too!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll give you as many rides as you want.”

It seemed like it could be used not only for transportation but also for dating.

“Hehe.”

It was thrilling to even imagine a date enjoyed secretly in a high place where no one could see.

Anyway, I decided to catch the wyvern with the intention of using it very usefully, so I urged the skeleton horse a little more. As I urged him while injecting as much black magic as I could, it felt like my speed had doubled.

“Oh, I guess I should tell the elves not to leave the house either.”

While I was moving diligently, it suddenly occurred to me that I had to be careful in advance to prevent the elves from being attacked by wyverns. We have not yet sold fiber in earnest, nor have we been able to produce enough crops. To be honest, it means that we haven’t hit our stride yet. The money spent on purchasing the elves was still more than the benefits.

Elves who knew how to use spirits wouldn’t have been taken helpless by a wyvern, but they still didn’t want the workers who had to work hard to get hurt. So, through a skeleton placed for protection and surveillance, they were placed in confinement, not confinement, telling them not to leave the house until they were instructed to do so again.

After shaking off my worries about the elves, the carriage arrived near the iron fence. There were already dozens of skeletons and numerous spiritual soldiers occupying the place.

However, unlike the skeletons who knew no fear because they were already dead undead, the spirit soldiers were looking at the sky with a look of quite fear.

And, in the direction of those fear-filled gazes, a wyvern appeared that had already gotten close enough to clearly see its appearance. I could see with my own eyes three wyverns flying in formation like migratory birds.