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Arriving at the dragons' dwelling, the first thing Rudel's party did was secure a place to spend the night With thick forests, deep seas and tall mountains, it was a holy land that humans couldn't inhabit, or at least that was the official stance But as there were actual dragons living there, it was sier zone, you could call them lucky to be able to secure a caons

But a proble!? More importantly, how did you sneak in!?"

As Sakuya popped out of the luggage laden on her own red dragon, Cattleya held her head She couldn't' forgive that it had hidden the fact from its contractor, but it was even less pererous variant, let itself be approached so carelessly

"Hah, it looks like soh, Cattleya tried to personally escort her back to Arses Territory But the red dragon refused Lilion also said it didn't want to return, if possible They didn't want to send Sakuya hoon, so listen to what I have to say!"

To Cattleya's screaon offered an obstinate refusal

'No way, fool! I-I decided not to get involved with that one again! My pride is in tatters If you're my contractor, then you can at least notice that much!'

"Like I care! Just take her back!"

It seelance at the Wind Dragon But the Wind Dragon averted its eyes to signal its refusal

"… We'll be quite troubled if neither of you wants to do it"

'I refuse'

In the end, they could only per like this? In the worst case, you'll be punished, and you won't be able to beco secured a place to sleep, Rudel and the others warily h the forest They needed to pay respect to the dragon whose territory they set up ca in the lake was the ruler of this area It was higher ranking than both Cattleya and Lilierous one to ons had warned them

On the move, Rudel felt irritated at Sakuya as he asked for her reasons When she was aion just like hiht sacrifice her future The air she gave off didn'tany particularly calculated actions, so Rudel wanted to confirm her reasons

"I-I was just a bit interested, and it's not like I'm irrelevant to this ht!"

As she put a hand on the sheath of Rudel's sword, the boar and bird who had been sleeping within corroborated her story It was the most they could do to ht She needed to meet her quickly'

The tho knew Sakuya's plan made sure Rudel alone didn't catch on as they frantically unraveled a reason off the top of their heads There was a defect in the body the black fog produced, and they explained it required so

"Is that true? Why didn't you tell me sooner? You've certainly been in poor shape lately, but…"

Even if he understood, Rudel couldn't quite accept it, and as he was , they reached the lake In the thick forest, only the area of the lake received aave a beautiful glimmer

'Rudel, on ranked higher than we, and this one is very hard to please'

As the wind dragon explained, the two in Rudel's sword let out their voices

'Isn't that the dragon from before?'

'That it is When it's supposed to be hard to please, that one was a reasonable dragon willing to hear us out, but…'

It was a water dragon they had previously end…

◇

The first semester was over, and once the academy went on vacation, Fritz was invited to the palace by Aileen Having beco himself in preparation for the individuals' tournament, but as it was Aileen's request, he left for the palace

Raised in the countryside of Arses Land, Fritz had beco been able to raise a name for hi hi fish in a small pond, even after he went outside, he still failed to understand his own position

That cause was Aileen

When it came to Aileen, she publically interacted with him as a princess, but when they were alone, they would drop the honorifics Aileen herself took a liking to it, but those around weren't quite so pleased

Having becoht from a commoner, and always so upfront with her, Fritz was Aileen's ideal in itself That's why she couldn't pernized Fritz' power The reason Fritz' twisted recognition of hirew to such a level was surely Aileen's fault

Let into a detached installray dragons were raised There, Aileen waited with a nureeted Fritz with a slad you were able to make it"

"Aileen-sama, what business have you called me for today?"

Fritz started the conversation still on his feet, but no one would call it disrespectful This was because Aileen perhts wanted to knock him off his feet No, they could cut hireatly pained to invite you to such a place But when I think of Courtois' future, there is soan speaking of the country with an enigmatic face, Fritz' heart skipped a beat The country was in a critical condition, and he was happy to be relied on To Fritz whose desire to be a hero far exceeded the average ive me the details?"

"Yes Have you heard the ruhts?"

Fritz nodded with a reluctant look on his face Because Rudel and Aleist were existences Fritz couldn't forgive He couldn't forgive that those who had been selected for knight positions you could equate to the heroes of yore It was simply a child's jealousy, and Fritz understood that

"The black knight is an upstart of a noble, so the palace will be able to take the appropriate ht is Rudel of the notorious Arses House The palace has devised some adequate means, and that is what the Royal Guard is to be That woulda powerful level of authority to Rudel"

Simple as he was, Fritz easily believed Aileen's words To Fritz, the Arses House was evil Soreater authority

"Rudel is of an archduke lineage, so if he was so minded, he would be able to take me or my sister as a wife If that happens, then Courtois is over… Fritz-sama, won't you co I can do, I'll help out, but…"

Hearing Fritz' words, Aileen gave a bewitching son that will be used to select the royal guard captain… do you think you could tie a contract with that dragon?"

Aileen's plan was steadilyforward, but unlike her sister Fina, she was soft on the finish She had ignored the fact Rudel had odsend if he croaked out there, was all she thought of it If Fina were in her position, she would definitely have sent in assassins

And as reality would have it, Rudel's guards turned out to be the ones closest to him, his former fiances That had been a result of Fina's schemes

◇

Meanwhile, Rudel was so surprised, his voice wouldn't coe size and beauty had stolen his eyes What's on before hion, and it showed respect to its superior On top of that, it explained the situation The dragon called out looked over Rudel and the others Perhaps it wasn't particularly interested as it started off back towards the lake

While it permitted their stay, it indicated that it had noat the back of that beautiful dragon, Rudel cried out in a loud voice

"Are you the dragon of Marty Wolfgang-sama!?"