Ch.312[Chapter 312] Dragon Slayer

Pirates? Pirates? Why pirates?

Pirate reality shock!

Hime remembers what the older boys who came to volunteer during her kindergarten days said.

“Hey, if pirates and ninjas fought, who would win?”

“How could ninjas beat pirates?”

“What are you talking about? Pirates are nothing-“

Hime, who came from an ancient ninja family, was shocked in her young heart.

After that, she couldn’t even hear the arguments about ninjas being stronger or pirates being cooler.

…Right. That thought seemed familiar from somewhere.

It was Hime’s trauma about pirates.

Hime watched the approaching junk ship with chattering teeth and trembling legs.

If Hime had encountered pirates in a normal way, it might have been somewhat better.

But that was a flying pirate ship.

An unknown that Hime had neither heard of nor seen.

Everyone feels fear of the unknown.

And that fear gradually progressed to trigger the trauma that was about to fall asleep.

As you know, isn’t being woken up just before falling asleep the most annoying thing?

The trauma irritably consumed Hime’s thoughts.

The pirate ship was still approaching.

If trauma hadn’t been gripping Hime’s ankles, she would have escaped from that spot faster than the speed of the approaching junk ship.

But Hime’s past had not yet completely let her go.

Rather, the trauma had seemingly been fixed, nestled deep in Hime’s heart, waiting for its time.

For this very moment.

Hime slowly closed her eyes at the manifestation of such overwhelming trauma.

She was trying to deny reality because the fear she faced was too great.

If Hime had been alone, she would have been left with an even greater trauma without overcoming the existing one.

Fortunately, however, Hime was not alone.

“Danger!”

Sir Dominic was by her side

“Ugh, my clothes are all wet.”

And Sir Dominica was there too.

Sir Dominic blocked the approaching pirate ship with his shield.

It seemed physically impossible, but what couldn’t be done in Gachaland?

One junk ship that collided with Sir Dominic’s shield slid down the slope of the shield, and when Sir Dominic slightly pushed his shield, it flew back into the lake.

The pirates on the junk ship fell into the building with wailing sounds, but fortunately or unfortunately, Hime didn’t properly see the scene as her eyes were closed.

However, Hime could clearly hear the tremendous noise of the pirates falling in disarray, and startled by that enormous sound, she suddenly opened her eyes.

“Ah, Lady Hime.”

And Hime could see the gallant back of the man standing in front of her.

“Are you alright?”

The man turned around.

At that moment, Hime felt her heart beating faster than ever before.

This was the same as when she first met Sir Dominic, and the same as the feelings she had for him afterward.

And Hime knew this emotion.

It was… love.

A pirate hat had accidentally landed on Sir Dominic’s head when the pirates fell moments ago, but surely Hime wouldn’t be confused by such a thing?

Anyway, Sir Dominic casually threw away the lake-soaked pirate hat that had landed on his head and approached Hime.

He did so because Hime’s condition seemed clearly abnormal.

“Are you alright?”

“…Ah. Yes. I’m fine.”

“Well then.”

Hime answered like a girl in love, obvious to anyone watching.

Sir Dominic believed her words and thought Hime was fine, but Sir Dominica, as a fellow woman, clearly noticed the change in Hime’s feelings.

That wasn’t just falling in love.

It was definitely falling in love.

“I’m glad you’re alright.”

Sir Dominic said as he helped Hime to her feet.

During that brief contact, Hime pressed herself against Sir Dominic just enough that he wouldn’t notice.

Except for her fox ears and tail swaying gently, it was an instinctive fox-like behavior that no one would have noticed.

…

Since the battlefield had momentarily become a bit sweet… anyway, back to the Eastern Alliance 3rd Corps battlefield.

The 3rd Corps led by Musashi was almost certain of victory as they looked at the dragon that had just fallen into the lake.

The tier 5 personnel, including Musashi, hadn’t even used their proper techniques yet, making victory seem even more certain.

Everyone was filled with anticipation, thinking the war would soon be over.

Until the Clan Leader Qingwen rose to the surface again.

“How dare… how dare…!”

Clan Leader Qingwen, his brain seemingly consumed by anger, kept shouting “how dare” repeatedly.

He still maintained his dragon form, but strangely, there was something white around his mouth.

Though it soon dissolved in the lake water, the white mark remained like a stain between the scales, proving it wasn’t an illusion.

“You worm-like bastards-!”

Clan Leader Qingwen raged with all his might.

Then the nature around him began to rage along with him.

Water spouts rose from the lake, winds cut like blades against skin, thunder and lightning struck so brightly it hurt the eyes, and rain poured down so heavily it was difficult to keep one’s eyes open.

Truly the embodiment of an Eastern dragon!

“I commend you for cornering me this far. But you made a mistake. The mistake of opposing me!”

Clan Leader Qingwen convinced himself with flawed logic and soared into the sky again.

He staggered briefly due to a moment of dizziness, but fortunately, apart from slightly crumbling a cliff, there was no damage.

Therefore, Clan Leader Qingwen focused only on soaring into the sky and moved forward.

It was to use his greatest technique before this power dissipated.

Though he wouldn’t be able to move for a while after using that technique, he calculated that his opponents wouldn’t act rashly either, so Clan Leader Qingwen continued to soar into the sky, rising above the clouds.

“Ha, you worms. Pay for the sin of daring to oppose me-“

Clan Leader Qingwen spewed all kinds of contemptuous and disdainful words toward the small creatures occasionally visible below the clouds.

Until someone’s voice was heard from behind him.

“Um, I’m sorry but.”

“!?”

Clan Leader Qingwen was startled by the sudden voice behind him and turned his head.

He looked around for the source of the sound and soon discovered three small creatures, half-wits with only four eyes between the three of them.

However, rather than trying to figure out who they were, Qingwen was curious about how they had climbed onto his back.

“How did you climb onto my back? It couldn’t have been easy to avoid my energy sense!”

“You carried us up. We didn’t climb.”

Sir Dominic corrected the misinformation for Clan Leader Qingwen.

“Excuse me, Sir Dominic? I don’t think this is the time for such leisurely conversation?”

Seeing Sir Dominic being too relaxed, Hime spoke to him while trembling anxiously.

“Well, what more could happen than dying?”

Sir Dominica seemed to enjoy this thrilling flight, grinning as she looked down at the dark clouds below.

How were they able to get on the back of Clan Leader Qingwen?

How on earth?

…

Just moments ago, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica had come out to the cliff to see Hime off.

Considering what had just happened, and since they were in the middle of returning anyway, they judged it would be better to send her back.

Hime looked glum as if sad to part, but soon smiled brightly again.

“Good luck with the rest of the operation, Sir Dominic. And Sir Dominica.”

“Thank you. Good luck with your remaining operation as well.”

Hime was about to turn around after a brief farewell.

Wait. If Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica had come out to the cliff to see her off, what were the people waiting for resurrection doing?

Surprisingly, they were busy organizing and repairing the building that had been ruined by the junk ship and lake water.

‘We’ll resume the challenge again shortly, so don’t worry and let’s all take a break for now.’

These were the words of an executive from the Qingwen Clan.

They had begun to think of the duel with Sir Dominic as a game, started to enjoy it, and finally reached the point of being considerate toward Sir Dominic.

In a way, it could be called Stockholm Syndrome.

Anyway, thanks to their absurd consideration, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were able to come out to see Hime off.

If you ask if this makes sense, one could answer that this is Gachaland.

Citizens of Gachaland could cause any kind of incident without it being strange.

Just as Hime was about to turn around to return.

“Huh, what?”

“An attack?”

“Suddenly?”

The cliff suddenly began to shake as if it had received a great impact.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica immediately began to guard the surroundings with sword and shield, but Hime lost her balance and staggered in confusion.

If only she hadn’t turned to look at Sir Dominic one more time out of regret, she wouldn’t have staggered.

The staggering Hime moved here and there to regain her balance while swaying, and finally succeeded in stopping right next to Sir Dominic.

But misfortunes never come alone.

Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Hime succeeded in maintaining their balance amid the vibrations, but they couldn’t avoid being hit by the dragon that was soaring up through the bottom of the cliff.

Fortunately, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica minimized the damage with their unique defensive abilities, and Hime with her quick movements, but they had already been carried dozens of meters into the air by the soaring dragon.

Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Hime instinctively grabbed onto the scales on the dragon’s back.

That was why they were now on Clan Leader Qingwen’s back.

“…You expect me to believe that now? That everything was a coincidence?”

“Well, we think it’s hard to believe too, but what can we do about the truth?”

Sir Dominic answered the dragon’s question with a shrug.

And very politely, he asked this question.

“Um, sorry, but we’re in the middle of an operation. Could you help us get down?”

Clan Leader Qingwen looked at Sir Dominic who asked such a question as if he couldn’t believe it.

Sir Dominic, who had expected a refusal, nodded and raised his shield.

“Well, I didn’t expect much.”

And the shield was swung with all its might toward the dragon’s back.