Chapter 178 Prediction 

Part 1

　Kruz asked me as we ran in the direction of the scream.

“Yowaningen, have you ever fought a Chilldra, desu? I haven’t, desu!” (Kruz)

“Aaah, of course I have.” (Cry)

　Kruz glanced at me and stared in wonder.
I shrugged my shoulders with a half-hearted smile.

　I have bad luck.
And because of my bad luck, I have encountered many kinds of Monsters in my life.
　Such opportunities have become fewer since I stopped leaving the Imperial Capital, but I have already encountered most of the rare and powerful legendary beasts.
Strangely enough, the rarer they are, the easier it is for me to encounter them.
To me, they aren’t something rare anymore.
　Of course, to be precise, I have encountered them but never fought them.
My role has always been to activate my Barrier Rings while pretending to be a nihilist while doing nothing.

　Maybe because he heard the scream, a guest on the same floor came out of his room with an expression on his face that made him seem like he didn’t understand what was happening.
Well, it would have sounded like a joke if I was told that a Dragon appeared.
Especially since the people staying at this inn are probably all rich people who can afford an inn like this.

　In the first place, Dragons are rare legendary beasts, but Chilldra are a particularly rare species.
Needless to say, it wasn’t the kind of legendary beasts that would normally appear in a town.
I remember them because they made quite an impact on me.

　Without stopping my feet, I activated my 『Mirage Form (Dancing Light)』 and recreated the Chilldra I had seen before.
　Kruz tightly closed her lips together and was stunned.
How’s that, Relics are quite useful too, right?

　What appeared in front of me was a dark blue Dragon.
It was about the size of a large dog, and about two times smaller than the Onsen Dragon I had seen at the Onsen in Surus.
At a glance, contrary to the appearance of a Dragon, it had large indigo wings and a long tail.

“Chilldra are very small Dragons that form herds.
They are good at flying, emit freezing air, and can breathe an icy cold breath.
Each one isn’t as strong as the average Dragon, but they are opponents you shouldn’t let your guard down against.” (Cry)

’

　Chill Dragons――Or Chilldra, how long has it been since I was last attacked by them…… I shall give Kruz some information about Chilldra as it is her first Chilldra.
　Although they are neither tough nor powerful for a Dragon, it can be said to be a very dangerous Dragon due to its wings’ mobility, powerful ice breath, and their characteristics of acting in groups.
In some cases, they may be more troublesome than ordinary Dragons.

　To me, who was useful for the first time in a long time, Kruz just blinked her eyes and said.

“So?” (Kruz)

“? What do you mean by so?” (Cry)

　When Kruz stopped, she turned red and closed in on me.

“Don’t you have any other information, desu! Yowaningen, do you think I am an idiot, desuka! I already know such basic information, desu!” (Kruz)

　Apparently, I am useless today too.
I don’t have any other information, you know.

“…… Their weakness is fire.
Ah…… And then………… You can make a refrigerator if you put them inside a big box.” (Cry)

“Tell me something 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》-like, for example why they came to a human city, or where they come from or how many of them we have to defend against, desu! Give us some instructions, desu! Even if it’s just now, Yowaningen is still our Leader, desu!” (Kruz)

　Even if you asked me that, I am in trouble…… I don’t know anything.
Even if you asked me why they appeared in a human city, all I can tell you is to go directly ask the Chilldra for an answer――.

　And then, I have a stroke of genius.

’

　The first thing that crossed my mind was Sytry’s gift.

　I have a bad feeling about this.

　Originally, Dragons rarely suddenly attack human settlements.
They are usually found in unexplored areas where there are a lot of Mana Materials, and there are usually signs when they are about to attack.
Dragons are like natural disasters.

　No matter how unlucky I was, there was no way that a Dragon would attack the inn where I was staying with pinpoint accuracy.
It was hard to say for sure because of the Onsen Dragon example, but I don’t think I will be attacked in an inn two times in a row.
As expected, if this had become the norm, I would have died.

　Which means… The hypothesis that this incident was not accidental but artificially created becomes much stronger.
　And if that happens, the person most likely to be the culprit is――.

“Well, that’s of course…… I have an idea about why this is happening.” (Cry)

“You have an idea about this!? Desu!” (Kruz)

　This time, Kruz’s eyes widened in surprise and she raised her voice an octave higher than usual.
　I frowned and made an excuse.

“However, I can’t give you the details yet.
It is still just speculations, so I should probably not tell it.” (Cry)

　The person most likely to be the culprit is, after all, Sytry-chan.

’
　Maybe Liz and Lucia were also cooperating, but there was no way an ordinary person could catch and release legendary beasts such as Chilldra.
At the very least, it was probably the work of a superhuman who sucked up a lot of Mana Material.

　I am starting to feel some chills.
I wanna puke.
　The possibility that the meaning behind the heart symbol was to signal me “I’m sending you Chilldra”, and now, I really felt like going back to the Imperial Capital.

　If you use common sense it should be impossible, but you shouldn’t use common sense.
If I asked Sytry that I would like her to send me Chilldra, Sytry would definitely do it.
　This time I didn’t ask her… But what I wanted to say was that the culprit is Sytry.

　After all, Dragons appeared as soon as I said that Dragon would appear.
If you consider the chocolate gift, Sytry must have been nearby, so it is possible that she heard my conversation with Franz-san.
As you can see from her action at the 『White Sword Gathering』, her meticulous personality made her go into the finest details which tend to make her sometimes 『Overdo』 it.

　This means… I have to hurry.
If the Emperor were to be seriously injured by this, Sytry would be thrown in jail.
I doubt she will get a reduced sentence because she means no harm.
Well, it was a little late for that since there was the poisoning incident, but the fewer the charges, the better.

“Come on, Kruz.
Hurry up.
We have to protect the Emperor!” (Cry)

“!? W-Why are you so suddenly pumped up――You don’t need to tell me, I already know, desu.” (Kruz)

　The Emperor was staying on the top floor of the inn――On the third floor.
　Kruz ran up without having her breath disturbed while I was *haahaa* tiredly following her.
From the deepest part of my heart, I really want a ring that will stop me from getting tired when I run.

　There was no one in front of the stairs.
The knights should have been guarding it, but they must have gone to help.

’
　Kruz shivered.
The air must have been freezing due to the power of the Chilldra.
However, thanks to the 『Perfect Vacation (Comfortable Vacation)』 I am still comfortable, but that was another nasty characteristic of Chilldra.

“Kruz, you are the vanguard.
I will support you from behind.” (Cry)

“!? Yowaningen, you are an idiot, desu!” (Kruz)

“This is the way we do it! Don’t worry, our main is Term!1” (Cry)

　I pushed Kruz’s back while her face was turning bright red, and ran up the stairs.

　The third floor was a battlefield.
The first thing I saw was a broken window.
The large windows, which had been there to let in a lot of sunlight, were broken, and thick pieces of glass were scattered all over the carpet.
　There wasn’t a single Chilldra on the second floor, but they might have invaded by breaking through the windows.
No matter how thick the glass was, there was no way it could keep the dragons out.

 

TL notes:

Thanks for reading!
Of course Sytry would send dragon to the Emperor if you say something like dragon might attack XD
And Cry pushing Kruz to be the vanguard when she is a Magi is so funny!
Tchao à plus!

Footnotes

Main is Term: Here Cry means that Term is the main attacker.