Kochugunshikan Boukensha ni Naru

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

The newly arrived dragon was quite a bit smaller than the one-eyed dragon. It was flapping its wings and hovering in place as it roared at the one-eyed dragon.

The one-eyed dragon retreated about 50 meters away from it and hovered in place as well.

Before long, the smaller dragon unleashed a more aggressive-sounding roar.

Were they actually communicating with each other?

The one-eyed dragon also roared aggressively in retort after hearing the smaller one’s roar. It actually seems that the two were having a heated argument.

Both of them were now roaring so loud, it would probably make people’s eardrums burst. It really seems that they were communicating, but that didn’t manage to resolve anything and they instead became more and more hostile. Rather, it was looking more and more like them picking a fight with each other.

(Are they really communicating?)

『There is no doubt that they are performing some sort of communication method.』

The two dragon’s heads raised up at the same time, and they unleashed Fire Grenades against each other. It looks like the fight’s starting!

The two grenades met each other in the middle of the space between the two dragons and exploded simultaneously. The two dragons weren’t fazed by the explosion and rapidly closed the distance. Just before they collided, the smaller dragon broke away first.

They were completely ignoring me now, huh. I was a bit annoyed because I actually came here with the resolve to risk my life.

And then, an intense mid-air battle began. They took distance after the first charge, and then rapidly closed in on each other once more. They spewed Fire Grenades at each other during the charge, broke away before colliding, and then repeated the process. They seem to be following some kind of rule during their battle, and the fight really resembled a formal duel, or perhaps a joust.

(What’s happening?)

『It’s probably a territorial conflict. The smaller dragon claims a large area of the forest as part of its territory. And now, it is fighting the wild dragon that suddenly intruded into its territory.』

(I see… But man, that’s one intense fight.)

Powerful explosions occurred whenever the two dragons passed each other by. No matter how tough a dragon is, if they get caught in one of those explosions at such speeds, I can’t imagine they’d remain uninjured. Both of them were truly risking their lives in every exchange. Neither seemed to be able to fire off Flame Grenades in succession nor quickly change trajectories.

However, they seemed to be employing various different strategies like constantly varying their flying speed and subtly changing the timing of releasing their Flame Grenades.

After their grenade spells crashed into each other for the twelfth time, the movement pattern of the smaller dragon clearly changed. It seemingly predicted its opponents’ flight path, matched its timing while avoiding the enemy’s grenade breath, and hammered an attack at a distance and angle the enemy dragon would find hard to dodge when they passed each other by. The power of its attack was reduced a bit, but it also ensured the smaller dragon didn’t take damage during the exchange. That’s some really skillful dogfighting.

However, it didn’t manage to land a deciding hit, and the one-eyed dragon was still in the air. What a tough body. So it can take such an explosion and still continue to fly huh. However, it seems that it indeed took some damage since its flying speed was evidently slower than before.

They reversed course again and charged toward the other party once more. The smaller dragon managed to land another clean hit using the same strategy. After taking another spell, the one-eyed dragon’s flying speed dropped even further.

It looks like the battle has been decided. The next hit would probably be the last.

However, after the charge, the one-eyed dragon didn’t spew a grenade of its own, but instead withstood the smaller dragon’s attack and spread its wings in order to block the smaller dragon’s flight path. It was an extremely risky move.

It probably realized it would eventually lose if the situation continued and decided to use such a desperate method. The smaller dragon eventually collided with the one-eyed dragon, and the two got entangled and fell to the ground.

It looks like the one-eyed dragon didn’t get weakened as much as I expected. It bit the smaller dragon’s neck and swung its head from side to side to worsen the damage. It looks like the larger one-eyed dragon held the advantage when it comes to fighting on the ground.

But why didn’t it use this method earlier? Maybe it’s because it deviates from the duel style they used in the beginning.

The larger one-eyed dragon held the smaller dragon’s neck firmly and pinned it down. It would probably find it hard to reverse the situation now.

After three more minutes, the smaller dragon’s struggling evidently began to weaken. It must be finding it really hard to breathe.

(Let’s help out the smaller dragon. The one-eyed dragon should be disposed of. Try not to make it suffer as much as possible though.)

In any case, the one-eyed dragon that has become hostile to humans can’t be left to its own devices and has to be disposed of.

However, I did feel that butting in on the two’s battle was quite a despicable act.

But I was saved by the smaller dragon earlier, and I would feel bad if I left it to die like this.

『Understood.』

A drone canceled stealth mode and fired an attack at the head of the one-eyed dragon. The round pierced deep into its skull, and the one-eyed dragon slowly collapsed dead.

The small dragon seems to have kept its consciousness, albeit in a hazy state. It would be bad if it thrashed around here. I’ll try to threaten it a little.

(All units, cancel stealth mode and approach the dragon.)

I ordered all the drones present in the area to gather up as I walked toward the dragon. The twelve drones dispatched by a worried Iris gathered near my position.

When I was only 15 meters away from the dragon, it finally noticed me. It didn’t seem to hold any obvious hostility and just stared at me.

Multiple engine sounds gradually grew louder as the drones approached. The dragon seemed to be looking around to search for the source of the noise.

When all the drones reached us and canceled stealth mode simultaneously, they blotted out the light of the sun and plunged the area below them in shadows. The dragon raised its head and stared at the drones hovering above, and then lowered its gaze again to continue staring at me.

Afterward, it suddenly laid itself belly-up on the ground. Its gaze was still focused on me though.

(What do you think this means, Iris?)

『It’s an action often taken by a lot of creatures to signify their willingness to submit to those stronger than them. It is an action that implies surrender by exposing their bellies, which is often the weakest part of their bodies, to the other party.』

(So it’s just like I thought huh. So, what should I do next?)

『There are many examples of creatures accepting the surrender of their peers by stepping on the other’s belly.』

Okay. I’ll do that then. It might be a bit dangerous, but since I had all the drones positioned above us, Iris would probably finish the dragon off the moment it performs any questionable behavior.

I approached the dragon and jumped up to its belly. The dragon kept still as it continued to watch me. And then, it slowly lowered its head on the ground and closed its eyes.

(Hey! It didn’t just die on me, right!?)

『No. Its heart is still functioning normally. It probably just lost consciousness.』

(I see. Can we do something for it?)

『It’s most serious injury is probably the one on its neck. The bleeding seems to be severe. Why don’t you try treating it with healing magic, Captain?』

Yosh, let’s try it. I wonder if healing magic will really be effective on a dragon? No. If it’s those light spirits, I’m sure they’ll be able to do it.

Since I found their engine noise to be distracting, I had the drones go on standby in the sky and jumped down from the dragon’s belly in order to approach its neck. Due to the bite attack earlier, red blood kept flowing out of the gaps in the dragon’s scales.

Surprisingly, there seem to be no damaged scales. They must really be pretty tough.

I created an image in my head that would allow me to cure the damaged tissues under its scales. First, let’s prioritize stopping the bleeding. I used the image of the cute light spirits repairing broken blood vessels and cells.

I activated the Heal spell while griping three Orc magic stones in my hand. I couldn’t see the wound clearly through the scales so adjusting the spell proved tricky.

My palm which held the Orc magic stones shone several times, and I continued to cast the Heal spell while replenishing my magic power with the stones. When I finally finished closing the bite wound, I had already consumed as many as six Orc magic stones.

“Fuu. Well, I finally managed to stop the bleeding. How is it?”

『Its condition looks stable. Captain, can you touch the dragon’s blood for me?』

That’s a simple request. I touched the dark-red dragon blood that flowed to the ground. It felt viscous and sticky. So this blood is actually something valuable?

『I see. It’s just as I expected. Captain, don’t you think this dragon resembles something we’re very familiar with?』

Something familiar? I can only see it as a huge dinosaur with bat wings though. Wait… Oh, so that’s what she means.

More than sixty years ago, the empire discovered a planet on which dinosaurs actually managed to survive and not go extinct. If I remember correctly, it was named Satic. This dragon does share some resemblance with the carnivorous dinosaurs found on that planet.

Of course, the carnivorous dinosaurs there didn’t sport any bat-like wings. Those dinosaurs had dark-brown hides while this dragons’ was a blood-like crimson. The size was different as well. Those creatures weren’t as large as this dragon and stood only at a height of five meters or so. I think they were called satiron.

“You’re saying this dragon resembles the satirons?”

『Yes. They may not look the same in outward appearance, but they resemble one another on a genetic level.』

It was recently confirmed that the satirons possessed high intelligence. When it was announced that communication was possible twenty years ago, it became a really hot topic.

I remember when I was five years old, I was really excited when I watched the program about the talking dinosaurs on the holo-bit. Of course, the dinosaurs didn’t actually speak human words. They were instead interpreted and translated by a translation system. That was a really fascinating experience.

Even at present, the debate on whether or not the satirons possessed true intelligence is still ongoing. I see…