Chapter 171

Once upon a time, there was a city called ‘Nildea, the Keystone City.’

This city was located at the western edge of the Kingdom of Eldard territory, right in the middle of the Mekia continent. Although it was blocked by a forest to the north, there was the Holy Land of Nimun to the west and the Principality of Selsia to the south, so trade goods from the three countries were brought in actively, and the city flourished as a key city for trade.

The city of Nildea was also the first city that the Yuri Empire conquered in this other world and made its land.

Looking back on it now, it was also a very memorable place.

―――However, Nildea is a city that no longer exists today.

As soon as all of the inhabitants had moved to Yuritania, Nildea’s role as a city was completely over and it was to be discarded.

After Yuri released the slime, the many houses and other structures in the city were all dissolved and absorbed, and nothing was left of Nildea.

The only thing that remains today is the wall that surrounds the city of Nildea, which was once called ‘the most solid wall on the continent.’

In the place where only such a wall remains, 300 dragons are currently being raised.

These were the Loftsdrakes that Yuri had taken with her transference magic during the war with the Kingdom of Hydra.

They are very small for dragons, and their level is only 15, so they are very weak. This is why this dragon has great value in that it can be used by anyone.

“Rubetta, how are you doing?”

Yuri called out to one of the women on the dragon farm.

The girl, who looked much younger than when I first met her―――about 17 years old to Yuri’s senses responded with a smile.

“Welcome aboard. All is well so far.”

“Yeah. That’s good to hear.”

At the moment, the dragon breeding farm is often visited by people from the Rostine Trading Company, of which Rubetta is the president.

This is because Yuri has entrusted the Rostine Chamber of Commerce with the research and study of the feasibility of using this Loftsdrake dragon for air transport.

“Do you think this dragon is going to harm anyone?”

“Yes. It seems that they were tamed enough in the Kingdom of Hydra, and at least as of now, such a situation has never occurred.

If a person accidentally steps on their foot, they will scream in protest, but they will never attack a person, so the skill level of the person who was in charge of using these dragons in the Hydra Kingdom is pretty high.”

“Hmmm…”

The fact that Rubetta described them as such suggests that they are useful resources.

When the soldiers of the Kingdom of Rapier rode into the Kingdom of Hydra, all the people in the Royal Castle, including the soldiers, were captured without being killed.

Of those captives, all the women were handed over to the Yuri Empire and are currently being trained by <Kuroyuri> girls in a prison facility underneath the city of Yuritania.

If any of these women were in charge of using dragons, it would be safe to assume that the human resources were already in the hands of the Yuri Empire.

Once they are fully trained, they will gladly cooperate with the Yuri Empire.

“Can you tell me what you know about this dragon?”

“Yes, Your Majesty Yuri.”

Yuri was explained by Rubetta and the executives of the Rostine Trading Company about the various information that was currently known about Loftsdrake.

They are not going to fly very high, and they can’t fly very fast. On the contrary, this means that even if the dragon were to fall off during flight, a rider with a level of about 40 would not be in any danger of being killed.

On the other hand, the dragon has a certain amount of endurance and can fly continuously for up to two hours. If you fly them alone for a long time, they seem to get stressed out and become grumpy for a while, but if you fly them together with three to six other dragons, they don’t get stressed out and their mood improves.

Their temperament is very gentle, and even if they get grumpy, they will only eat their food and scream more often. They don’t harm people, and they don’t even mind being carried around.

They are omnivorous and will eat anything, whether it’s grain or demon meat. In addition, the 300 animals here are so accustomed to being fed by people that they don’t try to hunt birds or animals on their own even if they see them in flight.

“I see. That sounds pretty useful.”

“Yes. I think it was very clever of you to think of using this dragon for transportation purposes.”

Rubetta nodded in agreement with Yuri’s impressions after the explanation.

If it was a dragon to be used for military purposes, her beast would be sufficient. In a sense, it was natural that Yuri was expecting Loftsdrake to be used not for military purposes, but transportation purposes from the start.

“Is there any progress in the research of how to load the cargo?”

“Yes. As I mentioned earlier, the Loftsdrake has a mild personality and doesn’t seem to be averse to carrying a heavy iron saddle or hanging a load from a string tied to its leg.

So I’m thinking that we should either special order a saddle with boxes on either side to load the cargo, or hang a box completely packed with cargo from the dragon.”

“’Hmm. I can do the latter right away. I’ll give it a try.”

“Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

Yuri used her【Summon Beast】to summon five Lizardmen.

The lizardmen are level 46 monsters with high defense and life force. If they were to fall from a dragon in flight, they would only take minor damage.

Also, although lizardmen are demons, their physique is not that different from that of a human.

They are about the size of a sturdy adult male, and their weight is probably only a little more than 100 kilograms at most.

As long as they can transport the cargo with the lizardmen on their backs and hanging it from their feet by a cord. Perhaps there would be no problem if they carried an actual human.

“You summoned me, Master.”

“Yes. I’m sorry I’m not here to fight, but for some business.”

“We are only here to serve our master’s wishes. You may use us in any way you see fit.”

In response to Yuri’s words, the five lizardmen bowed their heads deeply.

The lizardmen can understand language. It’s also good to be able to communicate with them through conversation and explain in detail what you want them to do.

“So, Rubetta. I would like to make a test transport flight to the city of Ulysses, so could you please select six dragons for the test and prepare the luggage to hang them up and transport them?”

“Yes, I will. ――― It looks like there are only five beasts that Your Majesty has summoned.”

“I’ll be riding one of them.”

The lizardman would not know the location of Ulysses, the destination of the test transport, so it would be preferable for Yuri to lead the way.

Of course, with Yuri’s level of 200, falling damage would not be a problem. Even if something goes wrong, there will be something to gain from his perspective as a rider.