Episode 119: Those Who Search for the Dragon Emperor

Liliera

“Dragon Princess, right?”

“No, that’s not it.”

As I was walking through town, someone suddenly stood in front of me and said that, so I immediately denied it.

“……”

It seems that person didn’t expect to be denied so quickly, as they had a clearly confused expression. Well, it doesn’t matter to me, since I’m not the Dragon Princess.

I silently pass by them and head towards the inn.

“Wait, wait a moment, Dragon Princess!”

“I told you, I’m not the Dragon Princess.”

I dismiss them without even turning back.

“We have come from the capital to protect the Dragon Emperor from the anti-Dragon Emperor faction of nobles. Please grant us an audience with the Dragon Emperor!”

What is this person saying? Anti-Dragon Emperor faction? Protecting the Dragon Emperor? Honestly, it just sounds like trouble.

“Then why don’t you just tell the Dragon Emperor directly?”

“We don’t know where the Dragon Emperor is. That’s why we’re asking the Dragon Princess to arrange an audience for us.”

What should I do? Since I defeated a dragon in the middle of town, I seem to have been marked as the Dragon Princess, and they might come barging in even if I run away and find an inn. Seriously, I feel like complaining to Rex-san for letting me do a solo dragon extermination in such a conspicuous place. But complaining won’t solve the problem. Oh well, I have no choice but to buy some time for now. And let’s discuss with everyone. Having made up my mind, I stop and turn around to the man who had been following me.

“I cannot answer that on my own. I need to consult with my companions, so please come back another day.”

“Oh, thank you very much!”

Well, I didn’t say I would meet them.

“Well then.”

I successfully managed to make them wait, so I start running to avoid getting involved in any more trouble.

“Ah, please wait, Dragon Princess!”

I said I’m not the Dragon Princess!

“So, it seems that the nobles from the capital want to meet the Dragon Emperor.”

After returning to the inn, I gather everyone and explain the situation.

“The anti-Dragon Emperor faction of nobles, huh? The nobles in this country seem to have various circumstances.”

Mina sighs with a frustrated expression. Seriously, I want them to cut us some slack.

“But it would be troublesome if we get involved.”

“As Meguri-san said, it’s honestly dangerous to get involved in the troubles of the nobles. In the worst case, we might have to consider leaving this country.”

Norbu-kun is right. Until now, it was just a misunderstanding among the townspeople, but it’s troublesome now that even the nobles are involved.

“But… ”

Meguri speaks up.

“Those people think Rex is the Dragon Emperor. But there’s no one who can protect Rex.”

“Heh… that’s true.”

“There’s no one who can protect my brother.”

“Yes, it would be safer for Rex-san to protect us instead.”

Well, that’s true. It’s pointless for Rex-san to protect us, and furthermore, it’s a big misunderstanding that Rex-san is the Dragon Emperor.

“But they believe that the Dragon Emperor is here.”

“Hmm…”

This is really troublesome. Even if we say that we are not the Dragon Emperor, they believe that he exists, so they must think we’re lying.

In the first place, the non-existent Dragon Emperor, the troublesome noble’s mess, the Dragon Princess Ceremony, and the request to participate in the Dragon Emperor’s ritual. Hmm, maybe it would be better to just give up on everything and leave this country. If I explain the situation, the guild master probably won’t force us to participate in the ritual.

Just as I was about to suggest giving up on participating in the ritual, Lune, who had been silent until now, raised her hand.

“Um, in that case, how about setting it up so that the Dragon Emperor is hiding from us as well?”

“What do you mean?”

“Yes, the people who came from the capital say that they intend to protect the Dragon Emperor from the nobles who are against him.”

“I see.”

“That means, the Dragon Emperor must also be aware of the existence of those who would harm him, right?”

Ah, I see. That’s what she means.

“The Dragon Emperor is hiding his presence from the opposing faction, so we can insist that we don’t know where the Dragon Emperor is.”

“Yes, exactly. And let’s set it up that the Dragon Emperor, or rather, Master Rex and the others, are participating in the tournament as decoys to protect the real Dragon Emperor from the enemies.”

That way, we can have a reason why we can’t introduce them to the non-existent Dragon Emperor.

“Alright, let’s go with that.”

We just have to buy time until the ritual is over.

Nobles in the capital

“It seems that the Dragon Emperor faction has made contact with a girl who is thought to be the Dragon Princess.”

In the umpteenth report, it was finally reported that the Dragon Emperor faction had reached the town of Tatsutron.

“What happened?”

“According to the reports from the surveillance team, the Dragon Emperor hasn’t revealed his true identity to the Dragon Princess and her companions. So even if they wanted to protect him, they wouldn’t know who the Dragon Emperor is.”

That’s quite a bold move.

“That means they don’t have any trustworthy subordinates.”

Many nobles in this country benefit from the fact that there is no Dragon Emperor. And those who cannot fully enjoy those benefits are also lower-ranking nobles who don’t have much power.

In other words, it means that the Dragon Emperor is somewhat unreliable when it comes to trusting allies.

“But in the end, we still don’t know the true identity of the Dragon Emperor, right?”

“No, it seems that those close to the Dragon Princess are all supposed to be the Dragon Emperor’s decoys. The decrease in potential Dragon Emperor candidates will be useful for future investigations.”

“Well, we’ll just have to investigate diligently, huh?”

“But the Dragon Emperor faction is in the same situation.”

The comrades sigh, returning to square one.

“However, is that really true?”

“What do you mean?”

One of our comrades raises an eyebrow suspiciously.

“The story that the Dragon Princess doesn’t know the true identity of the Dragon Emperor.”

“Are you saying that she lied to the Dragon Emperor faction?”

“Didn’t you say that earlier? That there are no trustworthy subordinates. It’s possible that the Dragon Princess claimed not to know the true identity of the Dragon Emperor because she didn’t trust the Dragon Emperor faction.”

I see, so she judged that the Dragon Emperor faction, who are not very powerful, might actually become a hindrance.

“But even if we ask her, she won’t tell us, right?”

“Yeah, that’s why we need the Dragon Emperor himself to appear.”

“The Dragon Emperor himself?”

What does that mean?

“That’s right. We’ll take the Dragon Princess hostage to lure out the Dragon Emperor. Then the Dragon Emperor will have no choice but to show himself.”

“I see. That’s certainly something the Dragon Emperor can’t ignore.”

It’s unfair, but it’s common in the world of nobles. In fact, as nobles, it’s their own fault if they fall for such tactics.

“Alright, let’s go with that plan!”

“There’s a report from the subordinates.”

A few days later, a report came back from the subordinates who had received the order to capture the Dragon Princess.

“Oh, how did it go?”

“……Well, they were completely wiped out.”

“……What?”

“They were completely wiped out. They sent all the subordinates who had been eliminated in the preliminaries to attack the Dragon Princess, but it seems they were defeated.”

“S-So, does that mean the enemy had troops stationed to protect the Dragon Princess?”

If that’s the case, then the Dragon Emperor must be able to anticipate our moves!?

“No, it seems that the Dragon Princess alone beat them all.”

“What?”

Wait, they sent dozens of people, right? Those people are skilled at working behind the scenes for us, right? And yet, they were all defeated by one person?

“……Are they really human?”

“I think they are, but…”

But in reality, it seems that all the subordinates were completely wiped out.

“Damn, what do we do? We can’t find out the true identity of the Dragon Emperor like this!”

“Don’t give up! There’s still a way! That’s right! Let’s target the Dragon Princess’s associates! Even if the Dragon Princess is a monster, not all of her associates are necessarily monsters! If we can capture even one of them, we should be able to lure out the Dragon Emperor!”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right. It’s unlikely that all of them are monsters.”

I don’t know why, but everyone is getting really motivated, but I have a really bad feeling about this.

“They were all defeated…”

“They were all monsters!”

How skilled are the Dragon Emperor’s subordinates? Could it be that we were the ones being lured out instead!?

“And also, the subordinates have lost confidence and submitted their resignations.”

And so, the plan to lure out the Dragon Emperor using the Dragon Princess and her associates ended in failure…