Chapter 55

In Tsatsaru’s place, Dodol took on the role of luring the dragon, while Balan would wait inside the mine as backup in case something went wrong.

Waiting outside for the dragon was Gerario, with magic stones strung together on a special belt like the ammunition belt soldiers in war movies wear over their shoulders when firing heavy machine guns. Since magic stones were standardized, there were apparently all sorts of useful tools like this that let one use various magic stones during battle.

And Gerario was giving Kururu, for whom this would be her first battle, repeated instructions on the procedure.

“Listen, sis, you’re the reserve in case Balan can’t use magic. Don’t fire until I give the signal, no matter what. First-timers usually tense up, panic, and let it out too fast, but when that happens, count numbers.”

“Y-yeah.”

“And even when your turn comes, don’t use magic at full power. If you shove something huge into a hole that hasn’t been used properly, it’ll split. You tried putting a little into your ‘hole’ earlier, right? Don’t forget that feeli—”

“I know already!”

The reason Kururu was blushing angrily was because Gerario’s explanations always sounded indecent somehow.

It did not seem as though Gerario was doing it on purpose, so maybe the speech of men on the battlefield was universal, tending toward the crude and obscene.

“That’s the spirit. Better than trembling so hard it won’t stand up, at least!”

Even his way of encouraging people reeked of manliness, but his eyes were serious, so apparently he really was not teasing her.

“All right then. We’ve got unlimited expenses, and our bait looks usable enough. Let’s take this thing down in style and make heroes of this island!”

A little ways off, Tsatsaru, leaning on Kengo for support, had his forehead pressed against Dodol’s as the two of them chanted something like a spell. It was probably some beastfolk-specific good luck ritual.

Balan was repeatedly explaining to Dodol’s companions the position of the pitfall opened by wind magic in front of the mine entrance, along with each of their escape routes. Their role, when the dragon came out of the hole, was to run in all directions to divide its attention.

Apparently the dragon might have a huge body, but inside it was about as clever as a frog, and would chase anything that moved thinking it was prey. But if there were too many moving things, it became confused and stopped moving.

As for Kururu, she was glaring at the mine entrance and, while occasionally looking at the wind magic stone in her hand, doing her image training without pause.

While I was looking around at everything, Gerario called out to me.

“So then, Yorinobu-san. We’re splitting the dragon’s corpse evenly, right?”

Apparently monster corpses often had all sorts of useful properties, and dragons in particular sold for high prices.

A young dragon was not as valuable, apparently, but even so, if the corpse was in good condition, it could still fetch tens of thousands of gold coins.

Hearing the price of the prey, I finally understood Tsatsaru’s remark that Gerario’s demand of a hundred gold coins a month as a lifetime pension had been cheap.

“You’re taking two hundred in pension too, and you really expect me to believe a deal this good?”

The way Gerario spoke as though no one dying was a given made him both reassuring and, in the depth of that confidence, almost enough to make me laugh.

“That’s in thanks for teaching Kururu-san about mages. That was not part of the job.”

At that, Gerario turned a dangerous look on me.

“That was thanks for your generosity. What, are you trying to keep putting me in your debt?”

“You should have a great deal of knowledge that we need.”

All I had to do was remember what had happened at Iiria’s mansion. Seeing Dodol and Kururu ready to face death, and Iiria clinging to Kururu, Gerario had offered his help because he could not ignore them. That meant he was definitely a good man at heart.

To secure his cooperation, I had to keep building up favors.

“Heh. I’ve learned more than enough times that there’s no such thing as an easy deal.”

Translated, that probably meant, I’ll teach you things worth the money, and no more.

“Well, just act like you’re aboard a great ship.”

Gerario slapped my shoulder hard and headed for his assigned position.

He gave off no sign of tension at all, yet he did not seem careless either. His stride was steady and powerful.

For a time, I had imagined the worst possible outcome, but even I felt now that somehow this might work out.

“And thinking that is exactly how you raise a flag…”

I muttered that in Japanese and gave a wry smile, and Kururu, apparently having picked up the unfamiliar sound, looked at me curiously.

“I said that feeling like things are going to go too well is what scares me.”

Catching my meaning, Kururu flicked her cat ears briskly and then shrugged.

“Lady Iiria says that sort of thing a lot too.”

Somehow, I could understand that.

“But I believe it’ll work.”

That too, I could understand.

“So relax, and hide behind me.”

It still felt like our genders were reversed, but a cool line was a cool line no matter who said it.

“Yes, I believe in you.”

After all, I was the one who had drawn that magic circle on her back.

“We’re starting!”

Balan’s booming voice rang out across the whole area.

At last, the dragon hunt had begun.