episode_0156

“D, Drake, you said????”

As Victoria mentioned Drake, Thomas reacted with rapidly widening eyes.

His vast knowledge was on par with an encyclopedia entry, so he also knew much about magical beasts.

“Huh? Do you know about Drake, brother?”

On the other hand, Marie knows nothing about Drake.

Therefore, she felt puzzled by Thomas’s dynamic reaction and asked.

“It’s a top-tier magical beast, Marie, literally. When it comes to top-tier magical beasts, think of them as disasters on the scale of a large city.”

“A large city scale, brother???”

So, Thomas explained the degree of danger Drake possesses in an easy-to-understand way.

There is a significant difference between the level classification of Awakened ones and the level classification of magical beasts.

For instance, a top-tier magical beast cannot be handled by a single top-tier Awakened one; it’s a being that requires several top-tier Awakened ones to team up against.

Marie, unfamiliar with magical beasts, didn’t know this difference, so

she was shocked to hear that a top-tier magical beast could destroy a large city.

‘Drake, I’ve seen it a few times in bestiaries before. It felt like a monster straight out of imagination. And now it’s been spotted?’

Eugene Schneider’s eyes also widened slightly.

In any case, he is here as the representative of the Red Fox Mercenary Group, so he needs to maintain some dignity.

Even so, Drake was clearly an extraordinary magical beast of a shocking scale.

“Hmm… Drake, huh? That’s quite interesting.”

However, only one person, the elf Priscilla, reacted with curiosity rather than surprise.

“If what you said earlier is true, you said you have evidence you can show us directly, can you show it?”

Then, she immediately asked Victoria to show the basis for the Empire Knights’ assumption about Drake, which they had secured.

Isn’t the elf Priscilla someone who likes to travel?

And the key to her travels is nature, and places where she can fully feel the specialness of another world.

An elf’s DNA instinctively craves mystery.

Drake, a top-tier magical beast that existed hundreds of years ago, was enough to stimulate Priscilla’s DNA.

That’s why Priscilla is being so proactive, unlike other times.

“Farnese? Have that hologram magic stone shown to the Red Fox Mercenary Group.”

Then, Victoria instructed her right-hand deputy, Farnese, to disclose the hologram magic stone.

A video magic stone is an alchemical magic stone that transfers the『Memorial View』magic of wizards.

Swoosh…!

Following Victoria’s instructions, Farnese placed the hologram magic stone in the center of the table.

Afterward, the hologram magic stone emitted a blue mana light and began creating a stored memorial hologram.

“The location is Encrema Cliff in the western desert.”

Watching the creation process, Victoria specifically mentioned the area where Drake was expected to appear.

As expected, the special Drake quest that Victoria requested cooperation on from the Red Fox Mercenary Group

was the mysterious Drake-related quest that Antoine had assigned to her before.

Following Antoine’s orders, Victoria had been focusing on confirming the existence of Drake at Encrema Cliff rather than Tyrannos.

After about a month, she achieved some results and even organized a specific special quest team.

“Oh…!”

The hologram video was created above the center of the table, like a small screening room.

Eugene briefly lost his poker face and was slightly impressed by the view that started to appear in the video.

“As you can see. We found Drake’s footprints and tail marks made in the process of climbing the wall in some sections of Encrema Cliff.”

This is because traces presumed to be from Drake were spread across the huge cliff.

Victoria used the hologram magic stone’s option device to zoom in on Drake’s footprints and tail marks and show them to the Red Fox delegation.

“Wow…! Amazing! It’s like that huge cliff is really right in front of me!”

“Is that really real???”

Marie and Thomas’s reactions were somewhat different from Eugene’s.

Eugene had experienced hologram magic stones a lot while in the Duke’s family.

On the other hand, Thomas had only heard about it, and Marie had never even heard of it.

In that situation, the youngest two members of the Red Fox Mercenary Group couldn’t help but be constantly impressed by the amazing video show they encountered.

“What do you think, Ms. Priscilla? When you look at it, do you think those are Drake’s traces?”

Leaving those two behind, Eugene crossed his arms and cautiously asked Priscilla, who was looking at the hologram with a nonchalant expression.

“Well, I haven’t seen Drake in person either. However, my mother and father have seen Drake. I heard from them how Drake moves and leaves traces.”

Priscilla answered Eugene’s question with quite focused eyes.

“Drake uses its tail a lot when climbing cliffs. So, it leaves traces like that. Comparing the size of the footprints and the size of the tail, it also matches Drake’s body shape. In my opinion, that’s Drake more than 99%.”

Drake, which is sometimes confused with dragons because it resembles them, does not have wings, unlike dragons.

Therefore, it does not possess definite flight ability.

However, as a top-tier magical beast, its mana utilization ability is considerable, so it can move through the air smoothly over a certain distance.

Thus, it climbs cliffs very often for mana gliding, and the traces in the hologram video seem to match that, in Priscilla’s view.

Priscilla heard about these characteristics from her parents and even encountered specific drawing records.

“And if my prediction is correct, if it left that many traces, some of Drake’s scales would have fallen around, right? No matter how hard their scales are.”

Priscilla, showing off her knowledge to Eugene, mentioned Drake’s scales.

In other words, she is pointing out that if Victoria’s side actually filmed the hologram video, there is a high possibility that they also secured the scales.

“That’s right, Ms. Priscilla.”

Smile…!

Victoria smiled at Priscilla’s words.

That meant satisfaction.

Even though elves are said to have great knowledge, there is no guarantee that it is unconditionally factual.

There’s a chance that things like Drake’s habits or body are just being made up.

However, Priscilla’s confidence that the Empire Knights would have obtained Drake’s scales

greatly increased the reliability of her knowledge.

“Vincent? Bring out the Drake scale storage box.”

As expected, the Empire Knights possessed Drake’s scales.

“Oh…! This is Drake’s scale!”

The Drake’s scale in the storage box was about the size of an adult man’s palm.

A material that looks like an intermediate stage between metal and jewel,

Thomas couldn’t help but be impressed by its appearance.

“This is definitely an adult. And judging by the dark gray color, it’s a female. For your information, female Drakes are actually stronger.”

Having seen the scales directly, Priscilla showed off her knowledge again.

In the end, Priscilla’s words meant that the magical beast that appeared at Encrema Cliff was indeed Drake, a top-tier magical beast that disappeared hundreds of years ago.

**********

“You were really amazing today, Priscilla. Thanks to you, I was able to stand tall in front of the Empire Knights without being intimidated at all.”

After the first meeting, the Red Fox Mercenary Group began dinner in the guest room where Eugene and Thomas were staying.

While doing so, they reviewed the situation of the first meeting.

Eugene showered Priscilla with lavish praise for literally hard-carrying the meeting.

“It’s nothing. It’s just knowledge that elves naturally have.”

Priscilla replied nonchalantly, looking at the situation in front of her, which was filled with top-tier vegetable dishes.

“I was really surprised too! I thought Ms. Priscilla was just an elf who likes to travel, but to think you’re so knowledgeable about magical beasts!”

“How exactly have you been judging me until now, Marie?”

Marie also gave Priscilla her full attention with endlessly bright eyes.

That’s because Priscilla’s appearance when explaining Drake was professional and cool.

“But with the top-tier magical beast Drake as our opponent, is combat possible with the current level of forces, Priscilla?”

Afterward, Eugene proceeded with the conversation assuming that the Drake quest collaboration was finally confirmed.

“Generally, it’s said that top-tier magical beasts can be dealt with if several expert-level Awakened ones gather, but well… it’s a different story when it comes to Drake. The terms ‘high-tier’ and ‘top-tier’ are actually based on Awakened ones, so it’s difficult to say that magical beasts fit perfectly into those categories.”

Munch, munch, munch,

Priscilla chewed the vegetables diligently and answered Eugene’s question.

“That’s because Drake isn’t just about physical prowess. It can use poison, and if it’s a more mature one, there’s room to utilize scale reinforcement and debuff poison. In other words, there are a lot of variables.”

Grading magical beasts mainly focuses on the physical prowess of the subject.

It’s difficult to definitively judge other abilities. Especially when it comes to high-tier or higher, that becomes more severe.

For Awakened ones, it’s also true that there is a gap in skill between sword users once the depth of mana increases, if they are sword users.

“Hmm… Does that mean the party has to be properly formed, Priscilla?”

“That’s right. It’s difficult to just overwhelm a top-tier magical beast with physical strength. At least unless you’re a Seeker.”

Eugene noticed what Priscilla was trying to say and mentioned it.

To subjugate extraordinary magical beasts, a party must be formed that integrates high-quality Awakened ones from various classes.

“A magician is coming!”

And the Empire Knights’ special quest team, after receiving confirmation from Priscilla about Drake, immediately began taking steps to form a party.

The Red Fox Mercenary Group representatives began spending their individual time after finishing their meals,

and Eugene received a request for an interview from Victoria and visited her office.

What he heard afterward was the story that a cooperating magician would be visiting.

“That’s right. Our Empire Knights have been preparing for any possible situation by creating a full-fledged magical beast dedicated bureau about a month ago. There is a team of magicians who advise that magical beast dedicated team, and the team leader of that place will be visiting in a few days.”

Victoria conveyed the situation in more detail.

The Drake special quest team can be said to be a special organization connected to the Empire Knights’ magical beast dedicated bureau.

Therefore, they are sharing updated information,

and the advisory magician team that heard that information expressed their intention to visit soon.

And the person in charge of the advisory magician team who will be visiting is none other than

“Oh my… What is this! Are the threads of fate that this Elisabeth and her older brother cannot avoid truly connected?”

The future of the current academy,

Eugene Schneider’s uncontrollable bro-con crazy younger sister, Elisabeth Dessel Oubléaire.