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The boar and the bird, their bodies growing considerably sed to reach the acade forlory remained They had shrunk to a size that would fit atop the pal into contact with Rudel They got the feeling their dignity would di the day

Once night ca sure not to be seen, they made their way to Rudel's roo Sakuya

"Don't let the book on your head fall! That's proof of bad posture Keep walking like that"

"H-how strict! If you're this harsh onto cry!"

A book balanced on her head, Sakuya shook as she walked Looking at that, Rudel similarly placed a book on his head to show by exaoon, foroddess!"

"It's Sakuya now! But you have a point I was mistaken, Rudel! Now let's hurry on to what comes next!"

"That's the spirit

The two beasts felt al the their parts

'… How tedious'

'Really? Looks fun to me'

◇

When Rudel and Sakuya entered a break, s air as they entered the room At their forh Rudel thought their entrance was related to getting a dragon, so he hurriedly placed them on his desk to hear them out

They were so to Rudel's serious expression, they gave the details of what had happened The fact that they couldn't find a dragon willing to be his on had taken in their coument's sake, they were once the same entity, so out of pity, they ht, they had lied No, to behad etting everything together, the black fog has been seized by an undead dragon And the situation is a dangerous one where it will go on a raot the idea'

Sensing the dubious air surrounding the two, Sakuya directed a dubious glance at the boar and bird on the desk At her doubtful eyes, the two of them averted their eyes evasively

"Aren't you two a bit suspicious? More ioddess, you know?"

'Can't The one who absorbed your powers is the black fog'

'To go even further, the black fog is also on the verge of losing her powers It's best you think that you won't be getting them back'

Pissed at the bird's words, Sakuya hoisted both of the theh intensity to kill

"What did you just say? What is it you just said, you beasts!?"

'Eek!'

'F-forgive me!'

"Sakuya, put them down already But that really is a possible The country's capable of subjugating an undead dragon, but when the target's a dragon, it'll be perilous even for a knight brigade I should report the details to the king by letter, and make sure their preparations are perfect…"

In his head, Rudel considered ould happen to the Kingdoon ran rampant It was clear the casualties would be enormous But this time, they had the information beforehand If they used it to its fullest, he knew the subjugation would be an easy task

But on the words fro to the black fog, she wanted to use that dragon corpse andit in this case, so I'on of his own On those words, Rudel erred Norroundwork, and challenged it with the right measures, its defeat was certain, but Rudel's desires twisted him

"… You said there was about a year of defer ic or return us to your sword We're already disappearing…'

Close to their limits, the two shrunk even further and entered Rudel's blade as if , and I'ained a source of et in touch with Basyle It was in order to ask about the blacks to the boar, his tusk was aon one of their own, he said it would definitely be useful As the undead dragon took in the black fog, it would surely have an effect…

Believing the boar's words, Rudel immediately put them to action He would ask them for whatever remained of the tusk, and have it made into armor If it was a sht he'd leave the armor to another merchant as he hurriedly went into preparations

He decided not to report the undead dragon to the country But he did write that an investigation was necessary, and sent in a separate report to the country through his house And by that, Rudel would be doing the initial investigation hiht He had obtained pers, and he could have Liliood of an opportunity to pass up

"Looking at the ti the calendar, he confirside the date of the selection test Rudel wasn't quite on board the selection test, but it was an order from the country, and he had no choice but to join in A few months That was the time afforded to Rudel Sakuya watched his serious expression orry

"Why do you have to push yourself? Just get the gray dragon! If you try to do the impossible and fall short…"

Izumi will be sad Before she could say that, Rudel looked at her and tried persuading her

"It's justanyone else in And you see, it's been decided they'll send two dragoons It'll be fine even if worse comes to worst No matter what happens, the country will deal with the probleroundwork He had reported the undead dragonthat fact, the country had decided to send hiht, they were dispatching guards just in case

But they didn't put on It was taken with doubt It was for that reason their allowance of Rudel's arbitrary actions and the country's own countermeasures were so lax Even if he reported the truth from the start, they wouldn't have believed him all the same

In the worst case, his own death would surely make the country on from before he could rehts who died unrecognized by the dragons

"Sakuya, I have a request Can you keep this a secret from the others?"

"Eh?"

Rudel tried to persuade, but as he requested her silence, his eyes wouldn't accept any dissent Unable to resist those eyes, Sakuya quietly nodded It was at that moment she understood That Rudel was resolved for death

◇

As Rudel started to action to obtain an action, his movements were swift In the third term of his fourth year, he heard back from Basyle, identified the smithy, and once he learned they manufactured armor as well, he instantly put in a request For Lili to head to the dragon dwellings around the beginning of his fifth year's second tererous fro for him to panic over at this point

But Sakuya who knew the truth was a different story Even as she acco, she couldn't understand why he'd risk his life to try obtaining a dragon If he oon, he'd still have a dragon in his hands

And Sakuya didn't like hiding things fro her

But when she encountered Izuether To the current Sakuya, that was painful