Volume 9 - CH 1

Chapter 1: Meeting in the Sky 

“Look, Souma!” Naden called. “There’s only smoke coming from over there!” 

“Hey, you’re right.” 

When I looked ahead to see what Naden in her ryuu form was talking about, there was indeed smoke on the wasteland spreading out near the foot of a mountain. 

It was likely dust kicked up by a battle. When countless people and monsters ran around, tearing up the ground, the sand danced into the air. Did that mean Wedan Castle was on that mountain? 

According to the report from Kagetora, countless monsters... basically, a whole lot of them... were descending on Wedan. To explain, there were various monsters of large and small species attacking, so a precise count was impossible in the current situation. 

In terms of the area they covered, as seen from the air, it was apparently around the same as an army of 60,000 soldiers. The 30,000 or so troops from the Union of Eastern Nations that Duke Chima had lured in using his six highly capable children as bait were holding them off for now. 

Though the monsters had an overwhelming numerical advantage, the forces of the union were fighting in formation, focusing on defending, so while they couldn’t go on the offensive, they were still doing a good job of defending. The monsters only attacked with brute force, so that made defending easy. 

As for the reinforcements we were bringing from the Kingdom of Friedonia, they numbered 50,000. If we could perform a pincer attack together with the forces of the union, Kagetora anticipated we could quickly exterminate the horde of monsters. 

The important thing was the timing of that pincer attack. In order to obtain a quick victory, we needed to coordinate with forces on the union’s side. 

That was why, in order to have a meeting about it, I was riding on Naden’s back, with a group of wyvern cavalry led by Hal and Ruby defending us as we headed to Wedan, the capital of the Duchy of Chima. 

The word was that we had no fear of Wedan falling for the time being, so we didn’t need to perform an attack from the sky with the Dratroopers like we had in Lasta, so we could land at Wedan Castle as-is. 

The arrangements to allow that (which included temporarily disabling the anti-air repeating bolt throwers) had been handled by the Black Cats, arriving ahead of us. 

“CQ, CQ,” I said, speaking into the communication tube coming out of the gondola that Naden was carrying. “You there, Kaede?” 

“Yes, yes, I’m here. What does ‘seek you’ mean?” Kaede answered immediately. 

Naden was carrying a gondola under her belly, and inside were Aisha, Juna, Tomoe, her guardian Inugami, Kaede, and the pair from Turgis who had forced their way into coming with us, Kuu and Leporina. 

“Oh... don’t worry about that,” I said. “So, anyway, Kaede, there’s a dust cloud ahead. Is it okay to assume that’s the battlefield in the Duchy of Chima?” 

“Let’s see... It is, you know. I’ve just confirmed on the map. It looks like the Duchy of Chima’s castle is located halfway up the mountain you see ahead of us.” 

“I see... Got it. Thanks.” 

As I closed the communication tube, I was able to see a city spread out halfway up the small mountain to the west. The castle resembled Castor’s in Red Dragon City. It made effective use of the terrain, and even if a large force surrounded them, it was a stronghold that would not fall easily. 

“Souma!” Naden suddenly shouted inside my head. “Watch out! Something’s coming at us fast!” 

“Something, at this high altitude?” 

With no time to feel relieved, the man on the white tiger charged forward, his weapon pointed our way, and shouted loudly. “I ask you! For what purpose do you come to this land?!” 

It was a forceful voice, and more youthful than I’d expected. From the look of him, I had expected a battle hardened warrior, but it was the face of a young man in his mid-twenties that peered out from beneath the helm. 

“My name is Fuuga Haan! King of Malmkhitan!” he declared. 

Even in front of a ryuu, a dragon, and about a hundred wyvern cavalry, the man who gave his name as Fuuga asked me that without a hint of fear. I could tell he was truly bold, and had incredible grit. Little wonder Aisha was wary. 

“We of Malmkhitan have come to Wedan to answer Duke Chima’s call for aid,” Fuuga bellowed. “Seeing as you have brought wyverns, a dragon, and another mount I am not familiar with, you cannot possibly be part of the Union of Eastern Nations. Again, I ask you! On what business have you come to this battlefield?!” 

I turned to the communication tube and asked, “Kaede. Tell me about Malmkhitan.” 

“It’s a medium-sized country in the Union of Eastern Nations. A nomadic state from the steppe, I hear.” 

“Then that man is the king of a nation, right?” 

“He calls himself a king, so I guess he must be...” 

In that case, he and I were of equal status.