Ch.771What Is This Power…?

The Empire’s first airship, ‘Tears of the Tower Lord,’ had crashed and been destroyed.

And not just a simple crash—it had smashed through someone else’s territory’s walls like a siege weapon.

For those of us who had been desperately waiting for the airship’s return, this was the worst possible news.

“So… um… how on earth are we supposed to move this…?”

Ophelia van Sigmillus muttered with a look of despair as she gazed up at the neatly disassembled and stacked dragon remains.

No one could answer her. We were all thinking the same thing.

With the airship destroyed, there was only one absurdly crude method to transport this mountain of dragon bones back to imperial territory… a method that seemed ridiculous no matter how you looked at it.

“…We’ll have to drag it down, won’t we?”

“That thing…?”

Like some Satan Claus kidnapping all the world’s children to the North Pole in a sack, we’d have to somehow wrap that mountain of bones in cloth and drag it down.

There was no other way.

The only fortunate thing was that once we got down the mountain range, we could load this pile onto wagons.

“Since the airship crashed! It seems we need another means to transport the remains! In the name of the Church, I’ve requisitioned as many cargo wagons as possible!!”

Adamante had apparently arranged for several wagons at the foot of the mountain range.

“That’s good news. Well done.”

“It’s an honor!”

She was a remarkably perceptive and capable Inquisitor. Ceylon’s pride in her was not exaggerated.

—-

From that point on, we began preparing to drag this pile down to the foot of the mountain range.

“Demian and I will cut up these bones to make them easier to move, so the rest of you dismantle the tents and make some sacks to hold the bones.”

“Haschal. Don’t cut the rib sections, leave them as they are. We’ll use them as support for the sacks.”

Asha called out while making a bowl shape with her hands.

Judging by her gesture, she planned to weld the dragon’s spine and ribs together, spread them apart, and gather the other bones inside.

“Got it. And… oh, right. Ophelia. Do you have any magic that could reduce the weight of this pile?”

“Well… I could use levitation magic to lift two or three people, but this would be quite difficult.”

Ophelia expressed her reluctance. Magic wasn’t omnipotent, apparently.

Even if she could reverse gravity enhancement magic to make the remains lighter, her mana would only sustain it for about ten minutes at most.

“Millia, what about your compression ability?”

“Something this large is impossible. I might be able to compress it by about 20%, but… if my power gives out while we’re going down, we’d be in big trouble.”

Millia’s Tale of Heros wasn’t suitable for this task either.

Seeing how she fired arrows, they instantly returned to their original size, so carrying such an object would be like carrying an activated time bomb in a bag.

“Haah…”

I sighed in disappointment as I swung Durandal to cut the dragon remains into pieces.

Indeed, nothing ever goes easily. In the end, we’d have to drag it down by manpower.

—-

Forty minutes later, we finally finished preparing to descend the mountain range.

We had cut the bones into forearm-sized pieces, filled the rib-made container with them, covered the surface with leather cloth, and tied it all up with rope to create a massive bone pouch.

“We have to… move this?”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I looked up at the pile of cargo that had shrunk from palace-sized to mansion-sized.

I remembered seeing a TV broadcast once where about thirty people were dragging a huge passenger plane with ropes.

At least that had wheels. Could this thing actually move…?

“…Let’s try it. I’ll pull from the front, and you all push from behind.”

I firmly grasped the forearm-thick rope protruding from the front of the sack and took a step forward, pulling with all my might.

“Nnngh…!”

I raised my full body strength to the limit with the power of Karma, literally using every ounce of strength I had.

– Drrrrg!

Amazingly, the mansion-sized pile of remains began to move behind me.

It was certainly unbearably heavy, but if we all worked together, we could somehow drag it along!

Humans truly have no limits.

“Good, keep pushing like that!”

I encouraged my companions as I pulled the gradually accelerating sack, looking straight ahead since all I could see behind me was a massive cloth bundle.

“Um… Haschal?”

And so I didn’t realize.

“We haven’t even touched it yet…?”

That the only person moving this enormous pile was actually just me.

“What… did you say?”

Shocking truth. I stopped pulling and turned around with my mouth agape.

Wait, so I was dragging this bone pile—the size and weight of an entire mansion—all by myself?

Breaking it would be simple, but dragging it along was possible?

“…I knew you were strong, but how could you possibly do this alone…”

Ophelia muttered in a stunned tone.

“Even ten trolls or ogres couldn’t do this. Are you really some kind of giant with dwarfism or something?”

“……”

I had no rebuttal. Even I couldn’t believe it.

There’s being strong, and then there’s this—at this point, I could probably wrestle a dragon and have a chance of winning.

—-

Anyway, thanks to my ridiculous strength, we managed the feat of dragging the dragon remains down the mountain range in just a day and a half.

Since the pile could move with just me pulling, when everyone else started pushing too, we could slide down almost like we were on a snow sled.

Except for the occasional uphill sections.

“Whew… it’s finally warm here.”

Nigel smiled, his face enveloped in cozy warmth as he set foot on the flatlands after descending Heaven’s Wall.

…It seems he had lost his temperature sensitivity after spending too much time in the mountain range.

Even though we were still near the mountains where all water was frozen solid, he was talking nonsense with a face basking in warmth.

“Yes, divide the bones and load them like that… Ah, tie those to this wagon please!”

Asha gave various instructions to the gathered workers while modifying the frames and wheel axles of the wagons Adamante had brought.

She was carefully distributing the dragon remains among the wagons according to the load capacity and durability of each modified wagon.

It took about an hour more before we were fully prepared to depart properly.

“Phew… now we can finally return to the Empire…”

“I know. This was truly an ordeal I never want to experience again.”

“…This is my second time, though?”

Meanwhile, Millia and Ophelia were chatting comfortably with relieved expressions, and the other companions, though not saying it aloud, all looked like they could finally get some proper rest.

“Ah, about that. Only you six will be returning to the Empire. Demian and I need to visit Faelrun Castle.”

“Huh?”

“Sister, what did you say?”

“Wait, why am I…?”

My companions all tilted their heads and looked at me in confusion.

I guess I forgot to tell them in advance.

I took a sip of warm tea and gave them a detailed explanation.

“You see, there’s something I need to find in Heaven’s Wall. Since I don’t know when I’ll have time again, I want to look for it while we’re here.”

“What are you trying to find…?”

I didn’t reveal the complete truth about searching for the holy sword, but rather embellished it a bit.

I told them I was looking for our family heirloom that my ancestor Rotholandus’s ghost had told me was lost somewhere in Heaven’s Wall.

[Our family? From what I’m hearing, you’re planning to search for Carlos the Great’s holy sword… since when was that our family heirloom?]

‘Leopold said it himself, didn’t he? The House of Median was related to Carlos by marriage. So… calling it our family heirloom isn’t exactly a lie, is it?’

[You swindler.]

I intended to keep the fact that I was looking for Carlos’s sword as secret as possible.

Why?

Just announcing that I was a saint had already led to talks of making me independent and turning me into a queen. What chaos would ensue if Demian, who was considered my subordinate, started wielding Carlos’s sword?

Setting aside the sword’s capabilities, just considering its symbolism alone, the repercussions were unimaginable.

Think about Knut.

Despite being a commoner without a drop of royal Dane blood, he was recognized as a legitimate heir to the throne and a branch of the royal family simply by demonstrating Dainslief’s power.

Even those who opposed Knut’s ascension objected based on his actions of bringing in the Empire, not questioning his bloodline.

The same would apply to the holy sword.

The moment Demian drew Carlos’s sword and demonstrated its power, imperial citizens would misunderstand him as Carlos’s hidden descendant.

Even if Demian himself denied it.

Moreover, if it became known that Demian could wield Carlos’s sword while Leopold, Carlos’s direct descendant, could not…

…Some might start questioning the Emperor’s qualifications.

Wouldn’t rumors like these spread?

‘The current chaos is because Emperor Leopold ascended to the throne by spilling his brother’s blood, incurring heaven’s wrath!’

‘Look, Carlos the Great’s sword rejects him. It’s proof he’s unqualified for the throne!’

‘No wonder he’s balding—it must be heaven’s wrath!’

Such nonsensical talk.

Considering the chaos that could arise from the sword’s symbolism, it would be wiser to keep its identity secret from everyone.