Nido Tensei Chapter 101

Episode 101: Let’s Measure our Strength

“By the way, what exactly is the Dragon Princess Ceremony?”

After various events, Lune ended up becoming my disciple. But since we have our own home, Lune’s apprenticeship with me is only temporary.

The next day, on our way to Dragon’s Peak to test Lune’s abilities, Liliera voiced a question she had been wondering about.

“Huh? Oh, yes. The Dragon Princess Ceremony is like a festival that has been passed down in this country.”

“A festival?”

“Yes, we talked about the Dragon Princess and the Dragon Emperor yesterday, right? The Dragon Princess Ceremony is a festival based on those two.”

I see, they are the main characters of a tragic love story passed down in this country. So it’s not strange for them to be chosen as the theme of a festival.

“But what does that have to do with your training? From what you said yesterday, it seemed like you had to become strong to participate in the Dragon Princess Ceremony.”

Ah, I thought the same thing. From Lune’s words yesterday, the Dragon Princess Ceremony sounded like a more intense ritual.

“Um, you see, the Dragon Princess Ceremony is a festival based on the love story of the two. But it is also a martial arts tournament to determine the strongest woman.”

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense!”

“No, no, no, why does a tragic love story turn into a martial arts tournament?”

Minna’s criticism is valid. Honestly, I have no idea why it turned out like this.

“Well, this festival is a celebration of the two who were separated in battle, and it is believed that they will be reunited in a peaceful era someday.”

Yeah, that makes sense.

“Then why does it turn into a martial arts tournament?”

“Well, you see, the Dragon Princess is the last dragon knight who fought alongside dragons in this country. So the woman who plays the role of the Dragon Princess in the festival, which is the highlight of the Dragon Emperor’s performance, was decided by the town mayor hundreds of years ago to be the strongest woman. Since then, the role of the Dragon Princess is determined not by beauty or acting skills, but by strength, and a martial arts tournament was established as the method to determine that.”

“That town mayor is too much of a nuisance!”

“It seems they used it as a way to liven up the festival in the town. In fact, the festival used to be enjoyed only within the town, but it started attracting participants from outside who sought the title of the strongest.”

Well, the method may be questionable, but it seems like they were effective as business owners, right?

“And as a descendant of the dragon knights connected to the Dragon Princess, I want to win the Dragon Princess Ceremony and make my strength known to the world. I want to proudly declare that the dragon knights have not perished and their blood still runs in me!”

I see, it means that if the descendants don’t win, they can’t face their ancestors who were strong.

While we were talking like that, we arrived at Dragon’s Peak, which we use as our training ground.

“Before we start training, let’s first measure Lune’s abilities.”

“M-My abilities?”

“Yes, in order to train efficiently, we need to confirm your true abilities, Lune.”

“I- I understand, but… if that’s the case, couldn’t we have done it near the town? This is the territory of dragons!”

Saying that, Lune anxiously looked around. She seemed worried about when the dragons would attack. But there’s no need to worry that much.

“It’s okay. This area is still the entrance to Dragon’s Peak, so only lower-level dragons will attack.”

The dragons seemed to have noticed the intruders, as the magical detection revealed the approaching presence of monsters.

“N-No, that’s not what I meant! I mean, even if they are lower-level dragons, they’re still dragons!?”

“Oh, here they come.”

“Huh!?”

While we were talking, the Green Dragons approached us. They came, but…

“Huh?”

For some reason, the Green Dragons stopped approaching us and started wandering around from a distance.

“What’s going on?”

Is this some kind of strategy?

“…Wait, are they afraid of Rex?”

Liliera started saying such things, wondering about the Green Dragons’ behavior. Afraid? Of me? They shouldn’t have the intelligence to sense the opponent’s strength like that.

“Because Rex defeated the Golden Dragon the other day. The Golden Dragon is the strongest among dragons, right? So why would the subordinates attack someone who defeated their boss?”

Ah, I see. The Golden Dragon the other day seemed to be leading this group. But that dragon was just a child.

“Hmm, in that case, I’ll hide myself for a moment.”

Saying that, I hid behind an object and activated a concealment spell.

“Invisible Field!”

And when the dragons lost sight of me, I returned to everyone’s side as if nothing had happened.

“Huh? Where did Master Rex go?”

Lune, feeling uneasy, looked around anxiously, searching for my figure.

“I’m right here.”

“Huh!? Where?!”

Lune couldn’t see that I was right next to her and continued to look around.

“To make it easier for the dragons to attack, I’m using magic to conceal my presence. Ah, they’re coming.”

“Using magic to conceal… I’ve never heard of such magic… Ahh!?”

With my disappearance, the Green Dragons started moving. They’re quite gullible creatures.

“Ahh!”

As the Green Dragons attacked, Lune panicked and tried to run away.

“Lune, you won’t be able to gauge your abilities if you don’t fight properly.”

“No, no, no! I can’t fight against Wyverns properly!”

While saying that, Lune avoided the attacks of the Green Dragons. Well, judging from her movements, it doesn’t seem like she can’t fight at all.

“Rex, why don’t you cast a defensive spell on her? If she knows she won’t take any damage, it will be easier for her to fight mentally.”

Liliera gave a nice advice while fighting the Blue Dragon. It’s like training with armor and a wooden sword.

“And cast it on us too.”

Huh? I don’t think Liliera and the others need it anymore.

“Please, big brother!”

“Please, Rex!”

“Please, Rex-san!”

“Counting on you.”

Everyone seems to want a defensive spell. They’re quite anxious.

“Alright, Area High Protection!”

The defensive spell I cast enveloped everyone, giving them a magical shield.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Lune was puzzled by the defensive spell cast on her.

“It’s a defensive spell. With this, you can fight against the attacks of the Black Dragons without taking any damage.”

“Huh? Defense? Black Dra… Ahh!?”

Lune, who had been distracted by looking at me, tripped over a small stone and fell.

“Ouch…”

“Lune, the Green Dragons are coming!”

“Huh…!? Ahh!?”

As the fallen Lune was surrounded by the Green Dragons, they attacked her with their sharp claws.

“Ahh!! …Wait, why doesn’t it hurt?”

However, the Green Dragons’ claws couldn’t penetrate the defensive spell on Lune, and the attacking dragons were confused.

“Huh, um… Why?”

“Now’s your chance! Attack the Green Dragons while the defensive spell is still effective!”

“Huh? Okay! Take this!”

Lune, with a spear in hand, attacked the Green Dragons without hesitation.

Bash!

However, Lune’s spear was deflected by the scales of the Green Dragons without piercing through.

“This… this!”

No matter how many times she attacked, Lune couldn’t penetrate the scales of the Green Dragons.

“That’s strange. Judging from her form, I thought it would be effective against the Green Dragons.”

Could it be… is that the cause? I drew my sword from its sheath and threw it towards Lune.

“Lune, use this!”

“Huh? Ahh! A sword suddenly appeared! Why!?”

Ah, because I was using the concealment spell, it must have appeared suddenly in Lune’s eyes.

“Now, try fighting with that!”

“Um, I don’t really understand, but okay!”

Lune switched to the sword and confidently approached the Green Dragons. With no worries about taking damage due to the defensive spell, she seemed to have gained confidence in her movements. That’s a good trend.,”I’m not used to the range of the sword, but at this distance! Hyaaa!”

Lune-san attacked again, but the Green Dragon didn’t show any signs of evasion. Perhaps because despite all the attacks they had made, they couldn’t even scratch themselves, they thought that the opponent wasn’t worth much caution.

That was literally a careless mistake. Lune-san’s sword effortlessly entered the Green Dragon’s front leg without any resistance and smoothly cut it off. The Green Dragon, having lost one leg, fell to the ground without understanding the situation.

“Eh? What? What just happened?”

Yeah, just as I thought.

“The reason Lune-san couldn’t defeat the Green Dragon was because of the weapon.”

“The weapon? What do you mean…?”

I took the spear that Lune-san had thrown away and checked the condition of its blade, then peeled off scales from the nearby Green Dragon. Using those scales, I sharpened the blade of Lune-san’s spear.

“Lune-san, please try fighting the dragon again with this spear!”

I threw the improvised sharpened spear to Lune-san.

“Eh? Ah, yes! I understand!”

Lune-san, who received the spear, took a familiar stance and headed towards the Green Dragon. It’s easier to fight with a weapon you’re used to, after all.

“Hyaaa!!”

With a burst of determination, Lune-san’s swung spear easily tore through the Green Dragon’s scales and cleanly sliced through its body.

“Wh-What!? Is this my spear!?”

Lune-san widened her eyes in surprise, wondering if the spear she held was really her weapon.

“The reason is the weapon, you see. The spear was mostly crushed and in a state more like a blunt weapon until just now.”

Of course, if you enhance the slashing ability with strengthening magic or something, you can still fight with this spear. The spear itself seems quite sturdy, so it should be fine against ordinary monsters.

“This is just my speculation, but I think your master intentionally gave you the spear in a damaged state.”

“Eh, really!? Why would they do that?”

Lune-san was surprised, unable to believe what I said. Well, you wouldn’t think that your own master would intentionally give you a damaged weapon, right?

“This is just my guess, but I think your master wanted their disciple to be able to survive in any situation. For example, even when the weapon can’t be used properly…”

During my training in my previous life, my master suddenly gave me a piece of iron rod and told me to survive on a deserted island for a month using only that.

“S-So, does that mean they wanted you to become stronger so you can fight even without a usable weapon?”

“Or maybe they wanted you to be able to take care of this spear perfectly on your own.”

“I thought my father did that because I was too inexperienced to wield this spear…”

“Seriously, didn’t you take care of the spear yourself?”

“Or ask a blacksmith to take care of it?”

Yeah, Gyro and the others have a point. I can’t imagine a warrior who can’t take care of their own weapon, and if worse comes to worst, you can always ask a blacksmith for help.

“Um, I took care of practice spears myself and used them for monster hunting. But no matter how much I took care of this spear, it never became sharp. I asked several blacksmiths to take care of it, but for some reason, it never became sharp no matter who I asked. So I thought there must be a special way to use this spear to defeat a dragon.”

I see, she was too serious and couldn’t think of any other reasons. But don’t worry, I’m relieved. The cause this time was simply a problem with the weapon’s maintenance. Even though the secret technique was lost, I never believed that the descendant of a dragon knight couldn’t defeat a Green Dragon. With a proper weapon, even a rookie should be able to defeat a Black Dragon without any problems!

“Um, by the way, how did you make this spear usable? And in such a short time?”

“Ah, I’m curious about that too.”

Meguri-san and the others join the conversation while hunting dragons. It seems like everyone has become more relaxed.

“Ah, I used the scales of the Green Dragon as a substitute for a whetstone.”

“Eh, really!? Using dragon scales as a whetstone!?”

“Yes, dragon scales can be used not only as materials for equipment but also as tools like whetstones. Skilled craftsmen can modify the scales they pick up into improvised tools.”

Well, since it’s improvised, the quality of the maintenance is questionable, so I still think it’s better to ask a proper place for maintenance later.

“Wow, that’s amazing! To make such a sharp edge with picked up scales! Truly worthy of the Dragon Emperor!”

“No, I’m not the Dragon Emperor. And rather than someone like me who is a jack of all trades, a proper blacksmith who is an expert will definitely be able to improve the sharpness even more.”

“Well, I don’t think that’s possible.”

Huh? Liliera-san and the others unexpectedly retorted.

“More importantly, please teach me the method of maintenance using those dragon scales! I want to know a way to maintain without needing a whetstone!”

Meguri-san seems very interested in a method of maintenance that doesn’t require money.

“Big brother can really do anything! You’re amazing!”

No, no, I can’t do everything, Gyro-kun.

And then, it happened. The dragons around us suddenly started flying in the air and distancing themselves. At the same time, the atmosphere of Dragon’s Peak became oppressive.

“Eh? What is this!?”

Liliera-san and the others also felt the atmosphere and became more cautious.

“This… the dragon flock is approaching.”

When I used detection magic to check the reactions of the dragons in the vicinity, I found that the dragons were slowly surrounding us and approaching. However, they were strangely slow. It was an unnaturally slow pace, as if humans were walking.

“Something seems off. Everyone, be careful!”

“Y-Yes!”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you so cautious, big brother…”

“Indeed, it seems that we must not let our guard down.”

“U-Um, what’s happening? Shouldn’t we run away?!”

Indeed, running away is one of the options when there are uncertain factors. But we are here at Dragon’s Peak for training.

“Lune-san, if you want to become a top-class dragon knight, running away from dragons is not an option.”

“Huh!?”

Lune-san was taken aback by my words. That’s right, those who want to become dragon knights must defeat and subdue dragons. Therefore, if a powerful dragon is approaching, it is the pride of a dragon knight to confront it head-on. Well, I’m not a dragon knight, so it’s perfectly fine for me to run away.

I released the concealment magic and retrieved my own weapon that I had lent to Lune-san, preparing myself.

“The decision is up to you, Lune-san. What will you do?”

Lune-san hesitated for a moment at my words, but soon showed a determined gaze.

“Please. Train me to be able to fight dragons!”

Lune-san declared with resolve.

“Alright, then let’s start intensive training from now on. It will be training in a real combat format, so do your best to keep up.”

“Yes, I understand!”

With Lune-san’s determination solidified, we prepared ourselves to confront the approaching dragons.

“I will use healing magic to treat everyone’s wounds and restore their magical and physical strength. I will also enhance your physical abilities with strengthening magic.”

It’s training, but this time the enemy’s movements are strange. So we should face them in the best possible condition.

“They’re coming soon!”

Wings shining silver appeared from the land in the distance.

“The color of those wings…!?”

And then, a dragon covered in silver scales from head to toe appeared.

“Silver Dragon!”

“Eh!? The Silver Dragon, the second strongest dragon after the Golden Dragon, right!?”

Yes, as Lune-san said, the one that appeared before us was the Silver Dragon, the No. 2 in the dragon world.

“Uwah… I thought I was going to die the other time, but this one is tough…”

Liliera-san and the others broke into a cold sweat, but still didn’t let their guard down. Yeah, it seems like everyone has gained courage from the battle with the Golden Dragon.

“Wh-What should we do…? It’s the Silver Dragon, you know… We’ve entered the territory of the Silver Dragon, which has the highest pride among dragons… W-We’re going to die…”

Lune-san, you’re being too dramatic. There’s no need to be so cautious against a Silver Dragon, I think.

“Lune-san, if you want to become a top-class dragon knight, there’s no choice but to face the dragon head-on.”

“Huh!?”

Lune-san was taken aback by my words. That’s right, those who want to become dragon knights must defeat and subdue dragons. Therefore, if a powerful dragon is approaching, it is the pride of a dragon knight to confront it head-on. Well, I’m not a dragon knight, so it’s perfectly fine for me to run away.,”I-I agree, but something seems off.”

Yeah, that Silver Dragon was strangely filled with killing intent. It’s understandable that a Silver Dragon, known for its high pride even among dragons, wouldn’t forgive someone who entered its territory.

However, the killing intent emitted by the Silver Dragon in front of us didn’t seem like mere anger from having its territory invaded. And the slowness of its movements… I’m also concerned about the other enemy approaching us right now.

“Everyone, be careful! The real target isn’t this Silver Dragon! Another one is coming!”

Just as if responding to my concerns, another presence, trailing behind the Silver Dragon, revealed itself.

” ” “Gasp!” ” ”

Shuffling, struggling.

“…Huh?”

What appeared there was the Golden Dragon, desperately trying to escape but being forcibly dragged by many of its fellow dragons.

” ” “What’s that?” ” ” “