CH 15

After coming back from our stroll around the capital, we relax and eat sweets we bought on the commercial street.

“Ririi?”

“Hn?”

I call Ririi, and she comes running with small steps. She has cream on her cheeks from the cake she was eating.

“Daddy’s going to have to go out tomorrow.”

Crystal dragons only live on the edge of imperial domain, near the Guena volcano. Normally it would take a couple of days to get there, but even going by modified magic vehicle takes three hours. Add the time it will take me to hunt it, and it’s safe to assume it will take a whole day.

I wipe the cream off Ririi’s face, and she gets teary eyed.

“And Ririh’s staying…?”

“…Yes, but not by yourself. Miss Sieglinde is coming to visit too.”

“Uu…”

…Oh? I figured she’d be more excited. They ended up talking a lot yesterday.

“Can’t Ririh go too…?”

Tears well up in her eyes as she looks up at me. I almost say yes reflexively, but she really can’t come with me this time.

“…Sorry. We’ll go out together another time.”

I pat her head, but it’s not doing much to improve her mood.

That night, even though she has her own room, Ririi comes to my room with a pillow in hand.

“…Sleep with daddy.”

She jumps in the bed, and falls asleep while holding onto my arm.

◆

“Well then, I’m off. Look after Ririi, Sieglinde.”

“Leave everything to me. She’ll be calling me mommy before the day ends.”

“…Just don’t do anything weird.”

Sieglinde’s face is full of confidence, but I’m already getting worried.

“…Take care daddy.”

“Thank you Ririi. Don’t cause trouble for Miss Sieglinde.”

I gently stroke Ririi’s head as she hugs my legs.

…Ririi gets anxious when I’m away, but we can’t have that when school will be starting soon. She needs to get used to not being with me.

And so, I leave her with Sieglinde and head out early in the morning to hunt a crystal dragon.

I’m going with a modified two-wheeled magic vehicle provided to me by Miss Esmeralda. The difference between this and other magic vehicles is that this one doesn’t have a speed limit. It goes faster the more magic energy you pump into it.

With me driving it, it’ll be faster than a sonic dragon, the being said to be the fastest flier in the world.

I borrow it from her store, and go full throttle after passing the capital’s gate.

The scenery flies by very quickly, as this steel horse specialized in converting magic energy into wheel rotation roars and speeds through a grassy field.

“I haven’t felt this in a while.”

I used to ride this sort of thing around a lot when I was a student, to pay my debt to Sieglinde.

And now I’m doing it to make Ririi’s robe. People can sure change in ten years. Back then, I would’ve never thought I would have a daughter ten years later.

I lay out magic energy around me so as not to have an accident, and rush to the Guena volcano where crystal dragons live.

“…What am I gonna do…”

On the way there, I think about how I’m going to hunt it.

First, sort out the information I gathered yesterday. Let’s try to picture it like one of those easy to understand reference books in the ministry of magic.

Name: Crystal dragon

Species: Dragon

Size: About ten meters

Characteristics: Dragons covered in crystals that live on the Guena volcano. They mainly eat minerals, and compress energy in their crystal longhorns.

The crystals covering their bodies absorb magic energy, so magic attacks are useless. Their crystals have a toughness level of nine.

They are worshiped as messengers of god by the people in the village of Guena, and they are graded by the empire with its highest difficulty rank of SSS.

There is only one record of someone hunting one, eighty years ago. Apparently that person used an adamantite spear.

…That’s about all the information I got from the ministry of magic’s library.

It’s been hunted once before, so at least I know it’s not impossible.

Adamantite is one of three metals in this world with a toughness level of ten, but its raw materials, how to refine it, and everything else really, is shrouded in mystery.

It’s not something you can get with money alone, so it’s out of my reach. That means taking it down with physical attacks is not going to work.

That leaves only magic, but as I said before, magic attacks don’t work on it. That’s because the minerals they produce have properties that suck in magic energy.

Their nickname sorcerer killer isn’t just for show either. A lot of sorcerers trying to get rich quickly have been slaughtered by them.

“…And yet…”

Even knowing all that… I really can’t imagine them rendering my attacks useless.

Magic attacks don’t work? Other people’s, you mean.

They can absorb magic energy, but not infinite amounts. That makes it simple. I just have to pump more magic energy into them than they can handle.

The fact that not a single sorcerer has beaten a crystal dragon just means there hasn’t been one that can do that, and I’ll just have to be the first one to do it.

I’ll add an entry to the reference book in the ministry of magic saying someone defeated it with magic, get the materials, and have the best robe possible made for Ririi. It’s perfect.

Also… Miss Esmeralda told me crystal dragon horns are the best materials to make a staff. At this point, the dragon I’m hunting is nothing more than a flying robe and staff for Ririi in my eyes.

I guess they’re worshiped in Guena, but I don’t care. I’m not a virtuous person anyway.

And so, I’m heading there with a positive attitude in my mind, thinking about taking down a crystal dragon without much issue, and going back.

But that attitude won’t last long.