Ch.107Chapter 107 – Turtle Trap

“What did you say?”

Diana looked at me questioningly.

As usual, an unproductive meeting with a tense atmosphere was being held, and it was the moment to summarize opinions at the end.

“I’m saying we should hunt the dragon in the village.”

Diana gave me an indescribable look.

She seemed both dumbfounded and contemptuous.

“You’re well aware that until now, it has just been sitting still in one place, aren’t you?”

“That doesn’t mean we should meaninglessly send troops.”

Diana said while looking at me.

“There are monsters guarding that beast. It seems you’ve forgotten that the information our scouts bring back is obtained at the risk of their lives.”

Since I’d only sat and listened to reports, it hadn’t really sunk in.

But from what Diana was saying, it was clear the scouts had risked their lives for reconnaissance.

There were things to consider about how easily they obtained information despite the risks, but I decided not to dwell on it.

“There will certainly be casualties.”

“I suppose so.”

Diana glared at me slightly for my casual response.

Unlike me who was just expressing an opinion, she was the commander here.

Excessive casualties would be something she, as the fortress commander, would absolutely want to avoid.

“We’re already in a situation where we have to give the dragon the first move, and the Dragon Slayer hasn’t even arrived yet. The proposal to incur more casualties is rejected.”

Diana’s face was resolute.

However, unfortunately, I needed to break through that resolute expression.

Taking a deep breath, I spoke quietly.

“But if not now, it will be difficult to subjugate it.”

Diana raised an eyebrow at my words.

She was about to open her mouth to cut off my statement.

“Let’s hear him out first.”

“Rudger?”

“Isn’t he the one who directly fought the dragon and survived? He wouldn’t make such claims without reason.”

Despite initially looking dumbfounded at my words, Rudger was now defending me.

When I glanced at him, he nodded once despite his slightly dubious expression.

It seemed Diana had decided to yield a little.

“So, why do you suggest we attack?”

“It’s simple. The fact that it hasn’t moved until now.”

What nonsense is he talking about now?

That was the expression Diana gave me.

“Please consider what our opponent has done so far.”

I stood up and quietly expressed my opinion.

Everyone focused their attention on me.

Ignoring the pressure weighing on my mind, different from when speaking from my seat, I spoke slowly.

“It has burned many cities and villages, leaving no survivors. Just from this, you can see that it has a high level of aggression.”

First, I talked about the damage it had caused.

I appealed to its aggression as evidenced by circumstantial evidence.

Since everyone knew these facts before coming to this fortress, there was no need for elaborate explanation.

“Moreover, it would pursue and try to kill humans to the end when it saw them. Doesn’t it seem strange that a creature with high aggression, one that chases humans to the end, would leave alone the humans holed up in the fortress right in front of it?”

A highly aggressive beast suddenly becoming good at anger management?

It could just be a whim, but if not, it was clearly strange.

“Couldn’t it simply be that it’s not attacking because we’re prepared?”

“The initiative is on their side. It’s not a creature that wouldn’t know that. Our strategy was formulated with that in mind.”

From the beginning, our plan was to take a hit, quickly regroup, and then bring it down to the ground.

It was a creature that could fly.

Unless we were incredibly lucky and sealed its ability to fly from the start, the initiative would definitely be on its side.

And it wasn’t a creature that wouldn’t know this.

“But isn’t it strange that it’s just been sitting still until now? Even if it’s a whim, many days have passed, and it’s not flying elsewhere, just staying in place.”

“What are you trying to say?”

I smiled slightly at Diana’s question.

“What does it mean when something can do something, but doesn’t?”

Taking a breath, I spoke quietly.

“It means it can’t.”

Diana looked at me with an unreadable expression.

“What if it’s preparing something?”

Rudger questioned.

Not that it’s just sitting still or can’t move, but simply that it has something to prepare.

That’s also a possibility.

“Whether it can’t move or is preparing something, the conclusion is still that we should attack now.”

Whichever it is, what we need to do doesn’t change.

That’s what I said.

“If it can’t move, it’s the optimal time to attack. If it’s not moving because it’s preparing something, we should attack to find out and disrupt it.”

I argued that either way, the conclusion was the same, providing my reasoning.

It might have seemed like flimsy reasoning.

But in the current situation, this much was enough.

To ignite support for the attack, that is.

“He’s not wrong.”

“Still, for safety’s sake, until the Dragon Slayer arrives…”

“That’s indefinite. And if it is preparing something, we should probe to buy time…”

“If it simply can’t move, it is certainly the right time…”

Voices echoed in the meeting hall.

They seemed to be considering my words in their own way.

Diana, Rudger, and Aria all appeared deep in thought.

‘Time to prepare then.’

I tapped the table once with my finger.

“You know what.”

Everyone turned to look at Beatrice, who was attending today’s meeting.

“What is it, mage?”

“I think if now is the right time, it’s worth a shot.”

Beatrice’s nonchalant voice echoed around.

“Honestly, I’m tired of just sitting here meaninglessly. If we can finish it quickly, I’d like to go home.”

“…I understand, but please moderate your speech. And I think your opinion is too biased.”

Someone else might have dismissed her outright.

Perhaps even expelled her.

But Beatrice was a mage sent as a representative of the Magic Tower.

While there hadn’t been any friction between them so far, she wasn’t someone Diana could simply push around.

Expelling her wasn’t an option either. Valuable forces like mages weren’t easy to come by.

Even though Diana was the commander, all she could do with Beatrice was ask her to be careful with her words and not to support me too much.

That was the limit.

But in the current situation, even those words could be potent enough.

After all, Beatrice had endorsed my opinion, making it impossible for Diana to simply dismiss it.

“But you know. I have ears too. I’ve been hearing that discipline is starting to slacken, and complaints about wanting to go home are beginning to surface. If we continue like this, won’t we collapse first?”

Diana couldn’t answer.

As I had felt a few days ago, people were starting to get tired due to the dragon not attacking.

Even now, small and large problems were beginning to arise internally.

If they dragged this out longer, it was obvious that problems would become more frequent, and the atmosphere might become hostile enough for us to fight amongst ourselves.

Since everyone was already aware of the situation, they either looked at each other blankly or slightly bowed their heads.

Looking around at them, Beatrice sat comfortably and spoke.

“While we’re on the topic, let’s gather those who would participate if we were to attack the dragon.”

She paused briefly and looked around.

By now, several people were looking at her.

“If Tu… K’s words are right, this is a real opportunity to earn merit.”

She almost called me “Tugu” out of habit.

It’s a bit late, but it’s not good to flaunt our familiarity too much.

With that, her statement ended.

I had nothing more to say either, so I sat down.

Diana’s wrinkles deepened, and I noticed the expressions of several people around changing.

Soon, they began to speak up one after another.

“As the adventurer said, I think it’s worth considering.”

“I agree. The soldiers are already starting to get tired…”

The greatest advantage Beatrice mentioned: the opportunity to earn merit.

That seemed to have numbed people’s reason a bit more.

Those who had initially looked at me as if I was strange now rushed to say they would attack, that they would lead the vanguard.

“Everyone, unnecessary comments…”

“Commander, but still…”

Diana tried to calm them down urgently, but it seemed too late.

In normal circumstances, her words might not have had any effect.

Several factors helped fan the flames I had ignited.

This fire wasn’t one that Diana could easily extinguish, even as the overall commander.

Soon, the surroundings began to get noisy.

“Is this enough for success?”

“Probably.”

I quietly answered Beatrice’s whispered question.

With our gazes fixed ahead, it was a conversation where only our voices reached each other.

“You know what’s more important from now on, right?”

“Of course.”

Beatrice was right.

This moment was for what came next.

+

From the day after the meeting where I proposed attacking the dragon, the fortress began to regain its vigor.

This was due to the rapid spread of rumors about the attack proposal.

Most people who had been slacking off for days began to participate, everyone voicing their opinions, and the meetings became lively. In proportion, Diana’s wrinkles deepened.

This was because the number of people supporting my proposal and advocating for an attack kept increasing.

Even though Diana wanted to proceed cautiously, it was difficult for her to simply dismiss the opinions.

Unfortunately for her, neither Rudger nor Aria particularly helped her calm people down.

Eventually, Diana yielded.

It seemed she judged that blocking it might cause more problems, especially given the already stressful situation.

The decision to form an attack squad was made on the second day.

The attack squad was formed on the third day.

The attack squad departed on the fourth day.

With people who were either discontented or eager to earn merit moving with one heart and mind, preparations proceeded incredibly fast.

And then came the night of the sixth day.

“Tsk, maybe I shouldn’t have spoken up.”

That was what I said as I walked along the dark castle walls.

Thanks to the formation of the attack squad, the number of people had decreased, so even those who originally didn’t patrol or keep watch were now assigned to do so.

They were organized in groups of two or three, essentially buddy teams.

Of course, people of higher positions were exceptions, but while I could attend meetings and express opinions, I wasn’t in such a position, so I was included in these duties, resulting in reduced sleep time.

“Damn Beatrice.”

Surprisingly, Beatrice was among those high-ranking individuals, so she was naturally exempt from these chores.

The image of her mocking face lingered in my mind.

With the footsteps of two people walking at a consistent distance behind me as background noise, I moved forward with a lantern.

“It’s quite ridiculous, really.”

“What do you mean?”

Sera asked me.

“I was the one who proposed the attack.”

“I heard about that.”

“But they said they wanted me to stay behind to defend the fortress, probably thinking it was an opportunity to earn merit.”

I muttered incredulously, recalling the meetings that followed.

“…Did you want to go?”

Sera asked cautiously.

Without answering her question, I recalled what happened afterward.

“Old man Rudger and Aria wanted to go, but old lady Diana stopped them. And others stopped me. It was a strange series of meetings.”

“So all the main forces are staying in the fortress?”

“Somehow it turned out that way.”

By the way, Beatrice didn’t attend the meetings.

Initially, there were opinions to include her in the attack squad, but since she didn’t even attend the meetings and no one was in a position to force her, she ended up being excluded from the attack squad.

As Sera said, it was a situation where all the main forces remained in the fortress, while those who hadn’t shown any particular achievements so far were organized into the attack squad.

“And for the attack, most of the knights stayed behind, and they went with the Jeolei Order as the main force, gathering adventurers.”

“Can they defeat the dragon with just that?”

“Well, they must have their plans.”

The knights under Rudger, specifically knights of Kaal’s caliber, showed enthusiasm and mostly participated.

Kaal and his subordinates remained behind on the pretext of assisting Rudger.

Christina, who had been quietly listening to my words from behind, nodded and spoke.

“So those people took the bread dough that you were baking?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

There’s a saying about the bear doing the work and the owner taking the money, but it seems that’s how they express it here.

With the light thought that similar sayings exist everywhere and that this place is indeed inhabited by people, I began to engage in casual conversation with Sera and Christina.

“By the way, your winter preparations must have become useless now.”

“Not really, Chris. They still have their uses.”

“But you’ve stayed here for quite a while, so if you go back and stay for just a few more days, won’t the year change?”

I was a bit surprised by Christina’s words.

Has that much time passed already?

Being busy day by day, I hadn’t realized it.

‘Come to think of it, how long has it been since we just chatted like this?’

I had vaguely thought there would be many days like this during winter.

“Time flies.”

“It sure does.”

Sera answered with a smile.

I’m not sure how she interpreted it.

Whether she understood it as time passing quickly in general, or this specific moment passing quickly.

Just then, I noticed a guard walking alone ahead.

“Oh, hello?”

“Ah.”

I greeted him as I approached.

The soldier saluted me.

“There’s nothing unusual in this area.”

“May I ask where you’ve been patrolling?”

“Sure.”

When patrol guards met, they usually asked each other where they had patrolled and if they had seen anything unusual.

Since these were places we would visit again, it didn’t have much significance.

It was just a simple exchange of information between patrolling guards.

After hearing where the guard had patrolled, Sera rummaged through her belongings a few times.

With various items clinking, she eventually produced a map.

Christina took it and unfolded it, while Sera held up the lantern to check the location.

Glancing at the places Sera was pointing to, I smiled at the guard.

“Patrolling all the way to the training grounds, that’s impressive. I heard everyone avoids it because it’s so vast.”

“It’s nothing. We never know when or where the dragon might come from.”

The guard smiled and spoke.

When he asked where I had been, I answered briefly, and we shook hands with smiles.

“Then, have a good night.”

We parted ways with the guard and moved a few steps away.

It was truly a peaceful night, a peaceful time.

Except for one thing I almost forgot due to the natural conversation.

“I forgot to ask one thing.”

“Yes?”

The guard turned around.

“Why are you alone?”

As soon as I finished speaking, Sera immediately threw something from her belongings onto the ground.

A fog-like substance began to rise and envelop the surroundings.

The guard backed away slightly in confusion, but…

“What…?”

His body began to collapse.

The form he had maintained until now suddenly began to blur like mist.

“What are you… doing…”

“We were told to always be suspicious of anyone walking around without a buddy team, it was made clear to everyone.”

Sera and Christina moved away from me a bit.

Unlike before, they had tense expressions, positioning themselves ready to fight at any moment.

“I didn’t expect a dragon to disguise itself and sneak in.”

And in the form of a human, a creature it supposedly looked down upon.

Due to its aggression and arrogance, I had carelessly assumed it wouldn’t.

The man began to blur like mist and started to disappear.

No, as the magic was dispelled by Sera’s tool, his body began to reconstitute itself.

Soon, the mist began to expand enormously.

“Polymorph.”

The mist dissipates.

First revealed were massive claws.

Then a massive body and wings.

Finally, a massive face.

The black dragon, which had been hiding among humans for some time, revealed its true form once again.