Chapter 551
Interception Preparations
“Felix-sama, to be honest, if we went all out, it would be possible for just us to defeat the wyverns. Taking that into account, please decide what to do.”
The forces had already been gathered, and Felix-sama, being royalty, had come as the figurehead. So I couldn’t very well say, “We’ll just go defeat the wyverns ourselves.”
That’s why I left all decisions to Felix-sama.
However, if Felix-sama were to tell us to defeat the wyverns on our own, I was prepared to do exactly that.
“I see…”
Felix-sama folded his arms and closed his eyes, falling silent.
He was probably organizing his thoughts.
“I will form an elite unit including you, Takumi-dono, and have you go subjugate the wyverns. The rest will remain on standby, keeping watch of the surroundings in case anything unexpected occurs.”
It seemed he hadn’t decided to send only me.
“For the personnel who will bring down the wyverns, the aerial unit, we will send several flying drakes carrying dragon knights and those skilled in attack magic. Guildmaster, I would like to entrust command of that unit to Takumi-dono.”
“Understood.”
“For those who will deal with the wyverns once they fall, I will choose several knights. Guildmaster, please select the adventurers.”
“I will make the selections immediately.”
Preparations advanced rapidly.
“Takumi-dono, come over here for a moment.”
“Ah, yes. Actually, Felix-sama, could you stop adding -dono when you call me?”
“Then… should I call you Takumi-sama?”
“Why would you do that!? Please just call me Takumi!”
“You’re resisting it awfully strongly.”
“Because I really don’t like it.”
Being called -sama by a prince would be way too uncomfortable.
Felix-sama had clearly said it as a joke, he was watching my reaction and laughing with amusement.
“I’m putting you in charge of the aerial unit, Takumi. I’ll introduce you to the dragon knights.”
“Ah, right. Yes, please.”
Since I had been assigned as the leader of the aerial unit, it made sense to meet them beforehand.
“”“Gyaaaau~”””
“Whoa!”
As Felix-sama led me to where the dragon knights, the accompanying knights, and the flying drakes had gathered, I was suddenly surrounded by the flying drakes and thoroughly licked all over.
“I had heard about it before, but Takumi, you really are loved by flying drakes, aren’t you?”
Watching my situation, Felix-sama gave a wry smile.
“Allen will join too~”
“Elena will join in~”
Seeing me surrounded by flying drakes, the children dove right in as well.
The whole scene became total chaos.
(Oh my, oh my. You’re all getting along so well~ But I’m a little jealous~)
Feat, who had returned to her original size, let out a low growling “Grrr…” as if to threaten them. The flying drakes immediately backed away from us and quickly lined up in formation.
(Oh my, you’re surprisingly well-behaved children. But please don’t tire out my Niisama any further, he has important work ahead of him. Understood?)
“”“Gyaau!”””
(Hehe, good answer.)
That was the moment Feat took control of the flying drakes.
Even though she normally had a gentle personality, she was still an S-rank monster after all.
(Brother, the flying drakes are fine now, so please go greet the knights.)
“Yeah, thanks.”
I was surprised to see a side of Feat I rarely witnessed. But I was deeply relieved that her intimidation hadn’t been directed at me. They say that when gentle people get angry they’re the scariest, so I firmly resolved never to make Feat angry.
“Sorry about the commotion.”
“N-No, it’s fine. We will follow your instructions completely.”
I wasn’t sure whether it was because Felix-sama had told them to follow my command or because Feat’s intimidation had reached them as well, but the knights looked slightly frightened.
“Uh… I’m really sorry about that.”
Intimidation aside, if an S-rank monster suddenly appeared nearby, of course they’d be scared.
“… By the way, who ended up leading the ground unit?”
It seemed the ground team had been decided as well, so I wondered who would be commanding them. Just then, Rudolph-san approached while raising his hand slightly.
“The one leading the knights is that blond guy over there. As for the adventurers, that’d be me.”
Apparently the ground forces were split between knights and adventurers, with Rudolph-san becoming the leader of the adventurers.
“I see. Please take care of things.”
“By the way, the overall commander is you, Takumi.”
“Huh!?”
“Not just us adventurers, the knights agreed too.”
“W-When did that happen!?”
I couldn’t imagine knights willingly handing over the commanding position to an adventurer.
“They fully agreed the moment the Celestial Tiger lined up the flying drakes.”
“……”
Then doesn’t that mean Feat is the real commander?
I wanted to argue that, but since Feat’s master is me… it would just circle back to the same conclusion.
Well, I guess I’ll accept it.
“Allen and Elena, you’re staying behind.”
““Eeeeh~””
“This time, leave it to the adults. I’ll negotiate so we can get some wyvern meat.”
Allen and Elena looked dissatisfied, but this time they’d have to behave.
“Allen, Elena, I have a request for you.”
““A request?””
But if they didn’t accept it, they might follow us anyway. As I was wondering what to do, Felix-sama spoke to the children.
“Yes, a request. I’d like you to guard me.”
““Guard?””
“I do have proper guards, but if the two of you, who don’t look like guards at all, are with me, I’ll be even safer. So could you help me?”
It seemed Felix-sama had prepared a reason the children would accept.
““Hmm~?””
“If I get injured, the noisy nobles will become even noisier. So I’m counting on you.”
““That would be annoying~””
“Got it~”
“Okay~”
Apparently being asked to serve as guards made them feel good, so the children agreed to stay behind as Felix-sama’s protectors.
“Joule, watch over Allen and Elena.”
(Got it~)
I assigned Joule to keep an eye on the children.
(What about Radian~?)
“Radian, you stay with Allen and Elena too.”
(Okaaay~)
Radian would stay behind as well.
He could fly, but his combat ability was still somewhat uncertain.
“Mile, stay with Felix-sama. He already has guards, but just in case.”
(Understood! Leave it to me!)
I placed Mile on Felix-sama’s shoulder and asked her to guard him.
She’d be the final line of defense if something happened.
(I’m going with you, Niichan!)
Vector declared on his own that he’d be going along to defeat the wyverns.
“That’s fine, but no boom attacks.”
(Eeeh~ really no boom?)
“If you flatten them, the meat gets flattened too. Also, I’ve heard that if you damage the organs, the meat won’t taste good.”
(Ah, yeah, then boom is no good!)
If the meat was ruined, there’d be no point, so Vector withdrew the boom strategy.
“Preparations are complete.”
Before long, it seemed the subjugation force was ready.
(Bolt, how are things over there?)
(No changes in the wyverns’ movements. They are definitely approaching the royal capital.)
(I see. Understood. We’re heading your way now, so please continue monitoring them.)
(Understood.)
(Also, could you find a place that looks good for fighting?)
(Roger that.)
Before departing, I confirmed with Bolt that nothing had changed with the wyverns. Then we saw off the ground unit first.
The ground unit would travel part of the way on horseback. After that, a recovery team would bring the horses back. The reason they wouldn’t ride them all the way was to prevent the horses from panicking and scattering if they became frightened by the wyverns.
“Vector, go with Rudolph-san and the others. Bolt is searching for a place that looks good for fighting, so guide them there.”
(Okay, got it~)