"Very well then. I'll take your word for it, Milord."
She then explained what needed to be done in order for her to synthesize the cure. The dragon heart would indeed be the key ingredient, but there are other ingredients that she would need to prepare first, thus there's no need for us to depart right away in the middle of the night like this. We can wait until the next morning, with her working without sleep to prepare said other ingredients.
Oh, right, she's coming with us, along with the knight. Apparently, they're pretty good combatants as well. And besides, we will need to bring along Leila, the little girl, with us, as the cure will be finished at her village. She tells me that the nearest dragon we can slay is located in the nearby mountain from said village, which is really fortunate for us.
Oh, that's right. Those S-rank guys… they're after the dragon too, aren't they?
I told her about the short meeting we had at the Guild, and her expression turned into a concerned one.
"That's not good. A clan like that… they won't just willingly hand over their spoils to us. A dragon heart is an extremely rare and valuable material after all that can fetch a high price in the market."
"Can't we just buy it off them after they have defeated it?" I suggested. I'm all for heroism, but if there's a safer way, why not take it, especially when a little girl's life is on the line.
"Well, that would be a viable option… if we have the money to do so."
"Wait, shouldn't you have a lot of money as a court mage?"
"His Highness doesn't pay me much unfortunately." She shook her head with a melancholic, yet strangely, slightly bemused expression. "I might be his court mage, but to him, I'm closer to a commoner than a noble. And there's no need to pay a commoner a lot of money for her services, is there?"
"Maybe you should get a different job," I suggested with a smile. "Open an alchemy shop. You'll be rich in no time with your skill."
"Rich?" Suddenly, a frown shadowed her face. "I don't become an alchemist to get rich."
...Uh, did I just touch a nerve there?
Thankfully, she quickly recovered.
"Thus, the only way we can obtain the dragon heart is if we either kill the dragon first, or we take it from those adventurers. Milord," Here, her smirk reappeared once more. "Would you be willing to do the latter, by force if necessary?"
Now I know the fundamental difference between her and Nicole. Even though she shared that loving expression with her when she comforted the little girl, she also had a certain mean, mischievous streak to her. Not quite like Fiora's, since I don't sense that sense of superiority she exuded, but she certainly took delight in putting me in the spot with questions like this.
She's still testing me, isn't she? For the lengths I'm willing to go for the little girl?
...Well, the answer's clear, isn't it?
"I would really prefer if we don't do the latter," I replied firmly. "However, if it comes to that, then I am willing to challenge them to a fight for the dragon heart."
"And if they refuse?" Her smirk now transformed into a half grin.
"They won't. At least, their leader won't. I've met the guy. He's the cocky type. If he refuses a duel invitation from a mere C-rank, and a kid at that, it would reflect badly on his reputation for sure."
This time, it was my turn to grin.
"Ha… ahahahahahahaha!"
She suddenly broke down into a laugh. She placed her left hand on her mouth to cover it, but her laughter still echoed across the room. And it was the kind of laugh a villainous woman would have, which actually sent a bit of a chill behind my neck.
...You know what? Maybe she's a kind person to sick little girls, but she might also secretly be a mad scientist or something. Or rather, a mad alchemist. Though I haven't seen anything out of the place around here. No brains in a jar or rows of poison you would expect from such a character.
"You're really quite smart for your age, Lord Pendleton," She wiped a tear from the corner of her right eye.. "Forgive me for thinking that you're just a naive noble kid who wants to play hero."
Wait, is that how she has been seeing me all this time?
"Although, are you truly certain you can win against an S-rank?"
"Well, I just gotta try, don't I?" I replied with a smile. "And besides, couldn't you use your influence as a court mage to make them give the dragon heart? Like I said, I'd rather do this without violence." I don't need any attention given to my way after all. Not when I'm technically a fugitive like this. It's been barely a year since I killed Vera, give or take. There's a really good chance they're still looking for me, especially since from what I heard from Marina, they're still looking for that necromancer girl even after years had passed.
But then again, if the news spread that I've slayed a dragon, that would make me famous as well, wouldn't it?
Oh well, I got no choice. Fiora will kick me in the nuts if I run away from this, just because I'm afraid of some hypothetical assassin coming after me.
"Hmm, I wonder about that." She pursed her lips, putting her index finger near it. "They would surely demand official compensation from the throne. And if we don't give it to them, they won't be happy. And that's bad news for us. Our country is a small one, just a vassal state of the Empire. We don't have the Imperial Knights that can easily take care of them if they go in an uproar."
Ah, right, I forget. They're a group of strong adventurers that can easily be too much for the average soldiers to handle. And none of the vassal states have that strong of a military. Probably intentional, so that they won't rise up against the Empire.
"Ask the king to pay them then," I pointed out the obvious.
"Ha! He won't spend a penny on this kind of matter. He won't care and I will be the one to suffer the consequences if I use his name without his permission."
Once again, she showed her bitterness towards the ruler she was supposed to serve. I don't think it's wise to keep around a court mage that dislikes you this much.
"Sir Pendleton. If you will hear my plea."
I nearly jumped off my feet. The knight, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke out. His armor clanged lightly as he approached me.
"If you are truly as strong as you speak, then please, grant me the honor of dueling you."
...Wait, what?
"Fear not. We shall use the non-lethal ceremonial fencing rule. First one who landed a definitive hit on the other would be the one victorious. It would not be a duel to the death. I simply wish to test my blade with yours."
"Ah, that's an excellent idea, Lord Berault," the alchemist chimed in with a smile. "Lord Pendleton. I also wish to see your true capability in combat."
"B-but it's already dark outside. I don't think it��s a good idea to—"
"Nonsense. It's the perfect condition to test one's real mettle in combat. After all, you don't always fight in the most optimal situation, do you? And besides, I can give you two some light with the Light Orb I got."
Light Orb. It's basically several Light Gems gathered and melded into an orb-shaped ball that shone quite brightly, to the point that you would hurt your eyes if you stare directly at it.
"Oh fine. I'll do it." I relented. It's unwise to fight together with someone whose capability you don't know about, so in that sense, it's a good thing for me to show what I'm capable of, especially since we're going up against a dragon.
The duel ended up taking place in the backyard of the house. The rules were simple. I was allowed to use both my sword and magic. The knight, on the other hand, can only fight with his sword, so no magic option for him.
To my surprise, he didn't bring a shield with him. He only has a normal-looking steel sword that he held in his right hand.
Then again, I don't think I saw any shields laying around back inside.
The knight agreed to a fifty meter distance between us. Guess he wants to give me an advantage, knowing that I can use ranged attacks while he can't? Bad idea. If I were to fight for real, I'm pretty sure I can kill him in one shot using Boom Rifle.
Flameu would be the one to give the signal, with her activating the light orb.
Let's see here… what spell should I use?
Oh, I know! I can use that!
I drew my wand on my left hand with my sword on the right. I waited for Flameu to give her signal.
And then, light burst forth.
"Sand Gra—what?"
The knight! Instead of running, he jumps straight at me! How can he do it wearing such heavy armor?
Fine! You think I can't handle that? Then what about this instead?
"Cold Blast!"
A storm of ice and snow hit him in mid-air dead on. Or that's what I expected. Instead, he cut through the gale, closing the distance between me and him even more.
Ha! I see! Galahad-style!
He finally reached me, but I was ready to block his blow with my own sword. As always, I used Fortissimo with it, so I wouldn't lose my grip of my sword.
Using my left hand, I aimed my wand at his stomach, and yelled, "Water Blade!"
It doesn't work! The water doesn't pierce his armor! He must have used Fortissimo as well!
Using Graceful Step, which I have mastered by the way (and officially making me an Expert-rank Galahad swordsman, at least according to Fiora), I put a distance between us. In the meantime, I charged up another spell.
This time, it's something that even his Fortissimo shouldn't be able to defend against.
"Boom Rifle!"
I aimed at his leg, knowing that I could just heal his wound afterwards.
The spell fired, and, just like I had expected, he was neither fast enough to parry it nor strong enough to block its piercing strength.
He fell down on one knee, and I heard Flameu shout that the match was over.
I was the clear winner.
"Magnificent, Milord!" Flameu clapped with a grin on her face. "Lord Berault is the strongest knight of this kingdom yet you took him on with such ease. Once again, I have to apologize for ever doubting your abilities."
She then gave him a small vial of liquid. The knight promptly drank it (he was so fast with his helmet's visor than I didn't even get a glimpse on his face) and he seemed to have recovered in an instant, standing back up in no time at all.
"With your ability, we certainly can take on the dragon. Yes, I now fully believe in you, Milord." I blushed a little. Hehe, it always feels good, being praised like this. "Although, I do wonder… What spell was that? I never saw anything like it before."
"Umm, w-well, it's just a custom spell of mine. Nothing special." I scratched the back of my head.
"I see..." Her smile turned into that ominous grin once more. "Fascinating…"
I gulped. You know, I don't like the way she says that. Can't help but feel I'm going to be dissected by her for her research or something...
"Well," She turned to face the knight. 'What do you think, Lord Berault? You agree that he's strong enough to face up against a dragon now, don't you?"
"...I still need more training," was his answer.
Welp, I hope I didn't hurt his feelings or anything.
Afterwards, we went back inside. I was told by the alchemist to rest, and to leave the rest to her. All I needed to do was to prepare my stamina for the fight against the dragon. And so I did, but not before asking about something that had been bothering me for a while.
"Miss Flameu. Why are you all the way out here instead of at the capital with the king? Isn't a court mage supposed to stay, y'know, in the court, at all times?"
Her expression brightened, as if I had asked something really amusing.
"Why, for my research, of course. I need certain ingredients that I can only find in this region. So I purchased this house as my base of operations. The king was generous enough to give me permission to do so, especially after I promised him that all the benefits of my research would be used to fill up his coffers."
"Wait, don't tell me you're promising him to do stuff like turning rocks into gold?" That's like the classic alchemy dream, isn't it?
"Ha, like in the stories, huh? Unfortunately, in the land of reality, not the land of bards and soothsayers, alchemy doesn't work like that."
Really? Well, that's a let down.
"And Leila. You've visited her village before, I guess."
"You're right. I healed her father's bad hip as I did, and ever since then, she had been completely fascinated by me."
"Let me guess. You did it for free as well."
"Of course. What kind of an alchemist do you think I am, taking money from the destitute?" she said with a proud, near haughty smile. "I'm fine doing it to those well-off folks though. They can pay for the services I do for the poor."
Ah, clever.
"Well," I smiled in return. "I guess I'll get some shut-eye like you suggest."
I just hope I don't wake up with my organs missing or anything. I still get that "mad scientist" vibe from her, you know.
Eh, it'll be fine. Thanks to Fiora's training, I am now far more sensitive to movements around me, even when I'm asleep. She would often be the one to wake me up in the morning, or in the middle of the night if it's my turn to keep watch on the bonfire. And she'd throw a pebble to my face in the process. The further our training progressed, the more often I caught it before it could land. And near the end, not a single one landed anymore.
With that confidence, I retreated back to the knight's room, throwing my body on the bed.
Come to think of it, I haven't had dinner yet.
------
Felicia
Greetings, dear readers. I am Cordelia Flameu, the court mage of Fiania. Specializing in alchemy, I can cure all sorts of ailments with my potions. As long as I can get the ingredients I need, of course.
I am also Felicia Myne, the dark mage that specializes in the feared art of necromancy. In fact, it'd be more accurate to refer to me as the latter. The former is merely a mask I wear so that I can perform my necromantic research in peace, away from those narrow-minded fools who think that necromancy is merely an evil and vile magic that has to be extinguished.
And today, I got a wonderful catch.
His name was Charles. Charles Pendleton. And apparently, he's some noble kid from the Holy Empire. I don't really buy that of course. But I shall talk about this matter later. For now, I would like to speak about how interesting of a person he is.
First of all, he looks to be around eleven years old. Twelve, at the very least. No sharp ears, which means he can't be one of the youthful-looking nonhuman races. No, he has to be a human. Or a demon that is really good at disguising himself as a human. The latter makes more sense, as for a human to be this strong at such a young age is terribly unlikely, but on the other hand, the former means he's a true genius that only comes around once in a blue moon. Not only is he really capable in magic, but his swordsmanship is no slouch either.
He really is one fascinating young man.
And to think that not only did he go out of his way to save some little girl he knew nothing about, he even decided it's a good idea to fight a dragon, just to get the ingredient for her cure. I am not sure whether to call him a fool or a brave warrior.
Hmm, come to think of it, the ones that killed the ice witch Vera, wasn't one of them around his age, at least, if the information I got was correct? Could it be? If he is truly amongst the family who killed her, then this is truly my lucky day. I could make him be my ally, and then, there will be nothing those Magocracy imbeciles can do to me. Not only that, I can start my trip to the Demon Continent right away. With a mage of his caliber, and my own skills, I can finally move on to the next stage of my research.
I am already sick of this kingdom to be honest. The faster I can leave, the better. Not to mention that sooner or later, they'll figure out what I did with that old fool. Then I would no longer have the protection of the kingdom. I would be hunted down as a heretic. That would be unpleasant, especially since my zombies are weak to Light spells.
But for now, I have to obtain the dragon's heart. I can't let Leila die. Not when I am still far away from my ultimate goal.
And besides, it would be fascinating to see what that boy can do in a real fight. Show me, Charles Pendleton, or rather, Hugo Greenwood, of the power of the boy who defeated the great Ice Witch!