Dragon's Army (Before)

Translated by AmaLynne
Edited by AmaLynne

Looking from Yuritania, the capital of the Yuri Empire, to the east lies Ulysses and the cities of the former Eldard Kingdom, to the south lies Hourai and the cities of the former Vormisia Empire, and to the west lies the city of the Holy Land of Nimun, with which we have a long-time alliance.

The answer to the question of what cities are to the north of Yuritania is actually ‘nothing’―――There is nothing but a dense forest.

It seems that this extremely vast forest has no particular name.

However, if you mention the words ‘Great Forest,’ ‘Demon Forest,’ or ‘Miasma Forest’ to someone living on the continent of Mekia, they will immediately know that you are referring to this forest.

That’s how well known the forest was to the people of all countries.

The outer edges of the Great Forest are no different from an ordinary forest. The deeper you go into the forest, the thicker the ‘miasma’ becomes.

This ‘miasma’ is said to have the property of making people sick, which is why even the forest-loving elves only live in the outer edges of the ‘Great Forest’ and avoid the deeper areas.

On the other hand, the ‘miasma’ also seems to have the effect of energizing demons. The number and quality of demons living in the ‘Great Forest’ are high, and they are said to be extremely ferocious.

However, the demons that have adapted to the miasma environment can only live in the miasma.

In other words, the demons that live in the forest will not be able to see outside the forest, or even to the outside edges where there is no miasma.

Therefore, no matter how many vicious demons are in the Great Forest, they do not pose a threat to the nations surrounding the forest.

It has been almost two years since the founding of the Yuri Empire, and we have never received a single report of demons coming out of the Great Forest.

In the Shirin village, not far from Yuritania, the residents go into the outer edges of the Great Forest to cut down trees and gather mushrooms, wild vegetables, and medicinal herbs. I have not heard of any reports of damage from demons in these villages either.

Because we didn’t recognize it as a threatening place, we didn’t put any surveillance on the Great Forest―――and that’s why we didn’t notice it until later.

It was the morning of the third day of the spring month when the New Year’s spirit still lingered. As usual, Yuri was tidying up her office work on the first floor of the Royal Palace of Yuritania, when she was greatly surprised by a report that came in through the guild chat.

『 ―――Yuri-sama. I can visually confirm that a large army of dragons is flying in the direction of the capital city of Yuritania, is this something you are already aware of? 』 

Just by listening to her voice, Yuri immediately knew that the report was from Angelica, the second-in-command of the <Yellow Rose>.

I’m sorry, but I don’t know of any such ‘dragon hordes’. If they’re aiming straight for Yuritania, it would be better to judge it as hostile behavior for the moment.

(Did they come at a time when the combat troops were out for ‘extermination’?)

When Yuri received the report, she immediately thought of such a thing.

If that’s the case, it means that there are enemies who know all about the Yuri Empire’s ‘extermination’ activities. There’s nothing more annoying than an enemy that gathers information and then launches an attack.

(…It’s good that the three Roses troops are in the immediate vicinity.)

However, the three troops with the name of the roses, the <Red Rose>, the <Yellow Rose>, and the <Blue Rose>, are not participating in this ‘extermination’, and are supposed to be working on the construction of a trade route between Yuritania and the surrounding villages.

It is possible to call them back immediately, so there will be no shortage of interception forces.

(…I guess that means they don’t have that much information.)

The ‘extermination’ activities by dispatching combat troops are something we always do every time the moon changes. On the other hand, the ‘laying of trade routes’ being carried out by the three rose units was something that Yuri had recently ordered.

Since we only had information on the former, it is possible that the enemy attacked us, estimating that there were no combat troops left in Yuritania.

If that is the case, the fact that we have the strength of three combat units left should be unexpected for them.

In fact, it may be that we, the aggressor, have the advantage in the situation.

“Thanks for telling me, Angelica. I’m not aware of the situation.

I’m sorry, but I’m going to need you to temporarily act as a scout and report back to me as much as you can about the direction the dragons came from, how many there are, and the level of the dragons you can see through your <Appraisal>.”

After gathering her thoughts in a short time, Yuri responded to the guild chat.

Anyway, we need to gather information now. The children of the <Yellow Rose>, of which Angelica is a member, use as their cavalry a monster called the Luquia, which can fly at very high speeds, and even if they are targeted by a dragon, they can still get away with it.

So there would be no problem in entrusting Angelica with the role of scout.

In addition, the three units of the <Red Rose>, <Yellow Rose>, and <Blue Rose> that are currently testing the roadway should stop their work, and all of them except for Angelica, who is playing the role of scout, should summon their cavalry and return to the skies above the city of Yuritania.

“If there is a battle with the dragon army, we will destroy all of them before the barrier is destroyed.”

『 I understand, Princess. 』 

『 Yes, I understand! 』 

『 I’ll do as you instructed. 』 

While giving instructions to Primula, Henruda, and Mizar, the troop leaders, in the guild chat, Yuri also prepares by putting on the『 Black Feather Shoes 』that she took out of her <Inventory>.

While wearing these shoes, you can use magic【 Free Flight 】and fly freely in the sky. This equipment is essential if you want to engage in aerial combat against a dragon.

The direction from which the dragon army came is north-northeast from Yuritania. So they probably came over the Great Forest.

“In the sky, huh…?”

Once a demon is trapped in the environment of the Great Forest, they will never be able to get out again. It was understandable that the Great Forest would not function as a barrier against demons that came from the sky, where there was no miasma.

It was our fault for not considering the possibility that it would come from beyond the sky.

『 The number of individuals is around 300. It’s not a wyvern, but a proper dragon… But it doesn’t look like a very powerful one either, so it’s probably a lower-level Lesser Dragon.

According to the appraisal, the levels of dragons vary considerably. The weakest individuals are usually around level 100, and the strongest individuals are over level 130. 』 

“Fumu… It’s not something we can’t deal with.”

A dragon that is less than level 130 is not that much of a threat.

It would take less than 10 minutes to slaughter all 300 dragons, even if any one of them were to be dealt with by a single unit. In addition, the【 Barrier Ward 】that <Red Plum> has deployed should be able to withstand the attacks of a 130 level dragon for half a day.

At the very least, it is safe to assume that the residents of the capital will not be in danger.