The Ungoverned Dragon Knight
A clan is a party of adventurers who are independent from the adventurer’s guild.
Clans do not receive benefits from the guild, but instead, they are not be bound by the guild’s rules. The guild also can’t take commission from the rewards of the client’s quests either.
From finding quests from clients to securing the rewards, doing everything on your own takes a lot of work. However, if you succeed, the reward will be much higher than if you were working for the guild.
Because of that, it was not rare for a well-known party to leave the guild and form a clan.
The proof of that is from just the streets of Ishka alone, you can easily find almost a hundred different clans.
Although half of that- no, around 70 percent of those clans wait and wait and get no business.
About 20 percent of the remaining clans turned into jack-of-all-trades businesses to make a living, and some have even turned to crime. Only 10 percent of the total clans manage to stay as a clan of adventurers.
Beyond the borders, the large scale adventurer’s guilds in operation have an overwhelming amount of talents, many types of intel, and have many deep connections to all kinds of influential powers. Their long history and built up trust is nothing like the guilds in emerging countries.
There’s no way that adventurers who have been simply fighting and following orders from a guild can imitate running a guild.
It was normal for the adventurers who broke off from the guild because they weren’t happy with how the guild took commission from their rewards to crawl back to them in less than a year with their heads hung in shame.
Now then, my plan of “peacefully starting shit at the guild (Prelude)” was to clear the “preserving” quests that the massive organization known as the guild could not clear, making their clients question their ability and thus stealing them over.
Of course, it doesn’t end there. If that was all of my plan then I wouldn’t have called it the (Prelude) in the first place. If there’s a “Prelude”, then there’s going to be a “Turning point”, and a “Climax”.
The clients that I have snatched from the guild were only a handful. On top of that, the guild is probably thinking that “Losing the clients of the preserving quests isn’t really a big problem.”
From their point of view, it doesn’t hurt them at all. If anything, they would be thankful that I did that.
However, no matter how few people that is, they are people who chose us, the clan- “Blood Spraying Sword” instead of the guild. That is the important part.
Going from “0” to “1” and going from “1” to “2” are both “Increasing by one”, but the meaning is different.
Same as anything else, starting off is the hard part. Once you manage to get through that, the effort needed to keep on going is no big deal.
Besides, I have several ideas in mind on how to go from “1” to “2”. One of them is –
On a dirt road connecting the Thetis forest and the streets of Ishka
The hard ground that formed from the many years of adventurers and hunters walking on it was something that I was able to walk on as well.
Although the situation is a bit different right now.
My eye level is currently many times higher. Every time the heavy vibration shook my body, my vision shook as well.
Since some time ago, the people who passed by were all staring with their eyes and mouth opened wide. Heheh, all of their eyes were on me, all of them.
It was no surprise. The sight of a human on a wyvern’s back is not something you’d normally see.
Everything was going as planned–except for this one thing that I did not account for.
「Ughh…S-stop shaking, this…!」
「M-master…Um, I don’t feel so well…」
There was me who was riding on the saddle, Ciel, who was groaning as she held tight to my waist, and Lunamaria, who has been walking on the ground since the beginning.
Lunamaria speaks with a composed expression on her face,
「Wyverns are creatures that specialize in flying. It’s natural that they aren’t good at walking on the ground, don’t you think so? 」
「I understand that but aesthetically speaking…riding it like this, it looks–Oww?!」
「M-master, are you alri—Oww?!」
When the two of us on the saddle bit our tongues from the shaking, Lunamaria smiled faintly.
「I’m glad that you guys get along so well」
「Ah, should we fly since we still have some distance left? But if we get too close we might be attacked by the rampart’s ballistas and catapults…」
If we got too close without permission, they might mistreat us as an attack by a monster from the forest. If we tried to land in the city forcefully, they might see it as an invasion and we’ll become war criminals if we’re not careful.
That’s why I decided that we’ll walk to Ishka with us on its back from a distance like this, but-
「When we went to Mount Skim and Lake Toya, we basically flew there. To think it feels this uncomfortable to ride it when it’s walking…」
*Pugiii…* The blue wyvern hung its head as if it were apologizing to me when I randomly grumbled.
Ah, oh no. This creature… it’s surprisingly delicate.
「Oh no, don’t worry about it since you’ll get better at this from now on! I mean, You’ve gotten a lot better at flying compared to when you first started too!」
「Pui?」
“Really?” The wyvern tilted its head as if it were asking that. Yes, really really. That’s why be confident, you’re a wyvern that can do it if you try.
Ah… don’t breathe out fire even if you’re overjoyed. If people see that from the rampart we’ll really be treated as intruders.
When Ciel saw me soothing the wyvern like that, she laughed and said,
「I knew it, this wyvern can understand your words, master. Then how come it doesn’t respond to my words? I wonder」
「There’s probably a hierarchy to it. Like I’m the most important and it’s the second and so on」
「Ah, I see. So I’m treated as someone who’s beneath it, right? Like “The newcomer should stay quiet!”, huh?」
When Ciel nodded as if she was convinced, Lunamaria added to my comment.
「Aside from the people the wyvern is accustomed to, other people are only viewed as their food. Other than master’s words, perhaps it isn’t even trying to understand what other people say to it」
「If we assume that…Ciel’s words might sound like a fly flying past its ears」
「I-isn’t that comparison a bit too harsh? Ah, but…I did notice it looking at me with a dangerous look in its eyes from time to time…」
Ciel’s body trembled and she put more strength into hugging my waist. She probably thought that she could be smashed by its tail if she’s unlucky.
A smile naturally formed on my face from the elastic feeling that was pressed against my back.
Ah, this won’t do. It’s not time to think about night time stuff yet. I have to watch myself.
While thinking like that, my train of thoughts tilted to the stuff that I do at night. However, I wasn’t thinking about the erotic stuff, I was thinking about eating souls.
My current level is “8”. I hit it after I defeated the gryphon.
But what came after that was awful. The souls of scyllas and werewolves were rather delicious, and I was also eating Lunamaria’s soul every day, but the next level was still further than ever. If I was an ordinary adventurer, my level would have exceeded 20 when I’m eating souls like there’s no tomorrow.
It only took about a full glass of souls for me to level up at first. Then, it was a bucket. After that, it was a full barrel, continuing to multiply like that every time.
As I thought, Lunamaria alone was not enough to support me on souls every night. Ciel has never done me wrong, so her attending to me through the night doesn’t make her a target for me to feed on. As for Iria, it seems that preparation will still need more time.
Coming in contact with Miroslava in this point of time will create all kinds of danger, so I will have to refrain from that as well.
I wonder if the adventurer’s guild would even send an assassin at me.
I’ve heard rumors about there being a secret service sector within the guild. I wonder if they have female assassins. Because if they send those, I could devour them with no concerns like I did with Miroslava before.
Now that things have gotten to this point, should I change my way of thinking?
No matter how much I want to eat souls, there’s no way that I will prey on innocent people. That will not change.
However, even if the person has no ill intentions towards me, It’d be okay to eat them if they were guilty of a crime, right?
Precisely speaking, I mean scoundrels such as bandits or people who became criminal slaves after they committed a serious crime. I won’t be blamed by my conscience if I ate such people’s souls. My reputation will also go up if I get rid of those villains, so wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?
An ancient wizard once said that villains have no human rights. How would the soul of someone who’s guilty from the bottom of their heart taste? Slurrp
And so, while I was carefully thinking about it-
「Y-you lot there, stop!」
A warning in a slightly frightened voice hit my ears. Before I realized it, I was surrounded by the city gate’s guards at a distance.
It was obvious that I was the one being warned, it’s just that no one was actually pointing their weapons at me probably because of the blue wyvern.
They are more wary about something else other than the demon beast’s strength.
The dragon knights who ride wyverns are Canaria kingdom’s main force. Each of them are warriors who can match thousands as well as being high class nobles. The captain of the knights, the “Thunder”, should be the head of the house of duke who’s leading the royal family.
Wait, or was he the next head of the house?
Regardless, since the dragon knights are such an elite group, they are probably considering the possibility that I was from the dragon knights.
Some of the guards might know my face, but it seems that they aren’t really paying attention to who’s riding on top in front of the intense pressure of the wyvern.
When I was ordered to stop, I pulled on the reins and jumped from the saddle to the ground.
It was quite high from the ground, but I landed safely. Then, I faced the guards.
「I’m Sora, the leader of the clan, “Blood Spraying Sword”. I wish for permission to enter」
「B-before I can permit it, what is this dragon? D-do you belong to the dragon knights?」
「No, I’m not related to them at all. I found this wyvern injured in the Thetis forest the other day. It became attached to me after I saved it. I brought it along with me today in order to register it as my follower monster」
「Isn’t there a danger of it going on a rampage?」
「Do you think a wyvern that is hostile to humans would let a person ride it? If you aren’t recklessly hostile to it then there’s no problem. Yeah, just don’t ever point a spear at it」
I told the guards around in a loud voice. It was funny seeing all the usually strong guards tremble.
Also, a follower monster is as the name suggests, a demon beast that obeys a person. Some captured demon beasts or wild beasts are trained with a carrot and stick method, and some are made to obey with magic.
I heard that the examination is very strict regarding follower monsters…Well, it doesn’t matter to me if they acknowledge it or not.
My objective was already complete the moment I exposed the blue wyvern to the public like this.
If stealing the guild’s clients and making a clan was the “Prelude” of my plan, then making the fact that the leader of that clan is an ungoverned dragon rider known to the public would be the “Turning point”.
The news of the existence of a dragon knight who has no lord will spread in Ishka in a flash, and then throughout the entire Canaria kingdom.
They will also find out that this dragon knight was expelled by the guild, and then he started to work with his own clan.
If that happens, the ignorance of the guild master who missed this gem will become known by the whole world.
―Actually, I was expelled only because I violated a guild rule. And at that time, I was only a piece of shit. However, If Elgart makes that claim, it would only be seen as an excuse to the people who hear that.
The guild masters from other cities will probably ask Elgart to take responsibility for it. He should have taken any means necessary to secure a dragon knight for the guild- This is nothing but a blunder.
The adventurer’s guild is not a charity, so there’s nothing better than battle power to them. If they have a dragon knight, not only can they ignore the terrain restrictions such as dense forests and high mountains, but considering the wyvern’s speed, they could also carry out emergency rescue missions.
The adventurer’s guild of Ishka had let that potential go.
The more active I am as a dragon knight, the more foolish the adventurer’s guild will look for overlooking me.
…Suddenly, I remembered the words of the receptionist Lidelle.
“Regardless of being an adventurer or part of the guild staff, as long as the person belonged to the guild, they have to always bear in mind the fact that they have the duty to work for the city of Ishka”
Her exact sound words. Even though I was already expelled from the guild, as a resident of Ishka, I fulfilled my duty of working for Ishka.
As a result, those girls won’t mind even if my actions do not benefit the guild. Why? Because they too have an obligation to do what’s best for Ishka.
For their own faces and benefits, there’s no way that they could look like they are trying to be a hindrance to me.
There’s no way that they could do such a shameless act.
――Heheh.
The Ungoverned Dragon Knight
A clan is a party of adventurers who are independent from the adventurer’s guild.
Clans do not receive benefits from the guild, but instead, they are not be bound by the guild’s rules. The guild also can’t take commission from the rewards of the client’s quests either.
From finding quests from clients to securing the rewards, doing everything on your own takes a lot of work. However, if you succeed, the reward will be much higher than if you were working for the guild.
Because of that, it was not rare for a well-known party to leave the guild and form a clan.
The proof of that is from just the streets of Ishka alone, you can easily find almost a hundred different clans.
Although half of that- no, around 70 percent of those clans wait and wait and get no business.
About 20 percent of the remaining clans turned into jack-of-all-trades businesses to make a living, and some have even turned to crime. Only 10 percent of the total clans manage to stay as a clan of adventurers.
Beyond the borders, the large scale adventurer’s guilds in operation have an overwhelming amount of talents, many types of intel, and have many deep connections to all kinds of influential powers. Their long history and built up trust is nothing like the guilds in emerging countries.
There’s no way that adventurers who have been simply fighting and following orders from a guild can imitate running a guild.
It was normal for the adventurers who broke off from the guild because they weren’t happy with how the guild took commission from their rewards to crawl back to them in less than a year with their heads hung in shame.
Now then, my plan of “peacefully starting shit at the guild (Prelude)” was to clear the “preserving” quests that the massive organization known as the guild could not clear, making their clients question their ability and thus stealing them over.
Of course, it doesn’t end there. If that was all of my plan then I wouldn’t have called it the (Prelude) in the first place. If there’s a “Prelude”, then there’s going to be a “Turning point”, and a “Climax”.
The clients that I have snatched from the guild were only a handful. On top of that, the guild is probably thinking that “Losing the clients of the preserving quests isn’t really a big problem.”
From their point of view, it doesn’t hurt them at all. If anything, they would be thankful that I did that.
However, no matter how few people that is, they are people who chose us, the clan- “Blood Spraying Sword” instead of the guild. That is the important part.
Going from “0” to “1” and going from “1” to “2” are both “Increasing by one”, but the meaning is different.
Same as anything else, starting off is the hard part. Once you manage to get through that, the effort needed to keep on going is no big deal.
Besides, I have several ideas in mind on how to go from “1” to “2”. One of them is –
On a dirt road connecting the Thetis forest and the streets of Ishka
The hard ground that formed from the many years of adventurers and hunters walking on it was something that I was able to walk on as well.
Although the situation is a bit different right now.
My eye level is currently many times higher. Every time the heavy vibration shook my body, my vision shook as well.
Since some time ago, the people who passed by were all staring with their eyes and mouth opened wide. Heheh, all of their eyes were on me, all of them.
It was no surprise. The sight of a human on a wyvern’s back is not something you’d normally see.
Everything was going as planned–except for this one thing that I did not account for.
「Ughh…S-stop shaking, this…!」
「M-master…Um, I don’t feel so well…」
There was me who was riding on the saddle, Ciel, who was groaning as she held tight to my waist, and Lunamaria, who has been walking on the ground since the beginning.
Lunamaria speaks with a composed expression on her face,
「Wyverns are creatures that specialize in flying. It’s natural that they aren’t good at walking on the ground, don’t you think so? 」
「I understand that but aesthetically speaking…riding it like this, it looks–Oww?!」
「M-master, are you alri—Oww?!」
When the two of us on the saddle bit our tongues from the shaking, Lunamaria smiled faintly.
「I’m glad that you guys get along so well」
「Ah, should we fly since we still have some distance left? But if we get too close we might be attacked by the rampart’s ballistas and catapults…」
If we got too close without permission, they might mistreat us as an attack by a monster from the forest. If we tried to land in the city forcefully, they might see it as an invasion and we’ll become war criminals if we’re not careful.
That’s why I decided that we’ll walk to Ishka with us on its back from a distance like this, but-
「When we went to Mount Skim and Lake Toya, we basically flew there. To think it feels this uncomfortable to ride it when it’s walking…」
*Pugiii…* The blue wyvern hung its head as if it were apologizing to me when I randomly grumbled.
Ah, oh no. This creature… it’s surprisingly delicate.
「Oh no, don’t worry about it since you’ll get better at this from now on! I mean, You’ve gotten a lot better at flying compared to when you first started too!」
「Pui?」
“Really?” The wyvern tilted its head as if it were asking that. Yes, really really. That’s why be confident, you’re a wyvern that can do it if you try.
Ah… don’t breathe out fire even if you’re overjoyed. If people see that from the rampart we’ll really be treated as intruders.
When Ciel saw me soothing the wyvern like that, she laughed and said,
「I knew it, this wyvern can understand your words, master. Then how come it doesn’t respond to my words? I wonder」
「There’s probably a hierarchy to it. Like I’m the most important and it’s the second and so on」
「Ah, I see. So I’m treated as someone who’s beneath it, right? Like “The newcomer should stay quiet!”, huh?」
When Ciel nodded as if she was convinced, Lunamaria added to my comment.
「Aside from the people the wyvern is accustomed to, other people are only viewed as their food. Other than master’s words, perhaps it isn’t even trying to understand what other people say to it」
「If we assume that…Ciel’s words might sound like a fly flying past its ears」
「I-isn’t that comparison a bit too harsh? Ah, but…I did notice it looking at me with a dangerous look in its eyes from time to time…」
Ciel’s body trembled and she put more strength into hugging my waist. She probably thought that she could be smashed by its tail if she’s unlucky.
A smile naturally formed on my face from the elastic feeling that was pressed against my back.
Ah, this won’t do. It’s not time to think about night time stuff yet. I have to watch myself.
While thinking like that, my train of thoughts tilted to the stuff that I do at night. However, I wasn’t thinking about the erotic stuff, I was thinking about eating souls.
My current level is “8”. I hit it after I defeated the gryphon.
But what came after that was awful. The souls of scyllas and werewolves were rather delicious, and I was also eating Lunamaria’s soul every day, but the next level was still further than ever. If I was an ordinary adventurer, my level would have exceeded 20 when I’m eating souls like there’s no tomorrow.
It only took about a full glass of souls for me to level up at first. Then, it was a bucket. After that, it was a full barrel, continuing to multiply like that every time.
As I thought, Lunamaria alone was not enough to support me on souls every night. Ciel has never done me wrong, so her attending to me through the night doesn’t make her a target for me to feed on. As for Iria, it seems that preparation will still need more time.
Coming in contact with Miroslava in this point of time will create all kinds of danger, so I will have to refrain from that as well.
I wonder if the adventurer’s guild would even send an assassin at me.
I’ve heard rumors about there being a secret service sector within the guild. I wonder if they have female assassins. Because if they send those, I could devour them with no concerns like I did with Miroslava before.
Now that things have gotten to this point, should I change my way of thinking?
No matter how much I want to eat souls, there’s no way that I will prey on innocent people. That will not change.
However, even if the person has no ill intentions towards me, It’d be okay to eat them if they were guilty of a crime, right?
Precisely speaking, I mean scoundrels such as bandits or people who became criminal slaves after they committed a serious crime. I won’t be blamed by my conscience if I ate such people’s souls. My reputation will also go up if I get rid of those villains, so wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?
An ancient wizard once said that villains have no human rights. How would the soul of someone who’s guilty from the bottom of their heart taste? Slurrp
And so, while I was carefully thinking about it-
「Y-you lot there, stop!」
A warning in a slightly frightened voice hit my ears. Before I realized it, I was surrounded by the city gate’s guards at a distance.
It was obvious that I was the one being warned, it’s just that no one was actually pointing their weapons at me probably because of the blue wyvern.
They are more wary about something else other than the demon beast’s strength.
The dragon knights who ride wyverns are Canaria kingdom’s main force. Each of them are warriors who can match thousands as well as being high class nobles. The captain of the knights, the “Thunder”, should be the head of the house of duke who’s leading the royal family.
Wait, or was he the next head of the house?
Regardless, since the dragon knights are such an elite group, they are probably considering the possibility that I was from the dragon knights.
Some of the guards might know my face, but it seems that they aren’t really paying attention to who’s riding on top in front of the intense pressure of the wyvern.
When I was ordered to stop, I pulled on the reins and jumped from the saddle to the ground.
It was quite high from the ground, but I landed safely. Then, I faced the guards.
「I’m Sora, the leader of the clan, “Blood Spraying Sword”. I wish for permission to enter」
「B-before I can permit it, what is this dragon? D-do you belong to the dragon knights?」
「No, I’m not related to them at all. I found this wyvern injured in the Thetis forest the other day. It became attached to me after I saved it. I brought it along with me today in order to register it as my follower monster」
「Isn’t there a danger of it going on a rampage?」
「Do you think a wyvern that is hostile to humans would let a person ride it? If you aren’t recklessly hostile to it then there’s no problem. Yeah, just don’t ever point a spear at it」
I told the guards around in a loud voice. It was funny seeing all the usually strong guards tremble.
Also, a follower monster is as the name suggests, a demon beast that obeys a person. Some captured demon beasts or wild beasts are trained with a carrot and stick method, and some are made to obey with magic.
I heard that the examination is very strict regarding follower monsters…Well, it doesn’t matter to me if they acknowledge it or not.
My objective was already complete the moment I exposed the blue wyvern to the public like this.
If stealing the guild’s clients and making a clan was the “Prelude” of my plan, then making the fact that the leader of that clan is an ungoverned dragon rider known to the public would be the “Turning point”.
The news of the existence of a dragon knight who has no lord will spread in Ishka in a flash, and then throughout the entire Canaria kingdom.
They will also find out that this dragon knight was expelled by the guild, and then he started to work with his own clan.
If that happens, the ignorance of the guild master who missed this gem will become known by the whole world.
―Actually, I was expelled only because I violated a guild rule. And at that time, I was only a piece of shit. However, If Elgart makes that claim, it would only be seen as an excuse to the people who hear that.
The guild masters from other cities will probably ask Elgart to take responsibility for it. He should have taken any means necessary to secure a dragon knight for the guild- This is nothing but a blunder.
The adventurer’s guild is not a charity, so there’s nothing better than battle power to them. If they have a dragon knight, not only can they ignore the terrain restrictions such as dense forests and high mountains, but considering the wyvern’s speed, they could also carry out emergency rescue missions.
The adventurer’s guild of Ishka had let that potential go.
The more active I am as a dragon knight, the more foolish the adventurer’s guild will look for overlooking me.
…Suddenly, I remembered the words of the receptionist Lidelle.
“Regardless of being an adventurer or part of the guild staff, as long as the person belonged to the guild, they have to always bear in mind the fact that they have the duty to work for the city of Ishka”
Her exact sound words. Even though I was already expelled from the guild, as a resident of Ishka, I fulfilled my duty of working for Ishka.
As a result, those girls won’t mind even if my actions do not benefit the guild. Why? Because they too have an obligation to do what’s best for Ishka.
For their own faces and benefits, there’s no way that they could look like they are trying to be a hindrance to me.
There’s no way that they could do such a shameless act.
――Heheh.
