novelraw Chapter 91 : Chapter 91
Chapter 91 : Chapter 91
Chapter 91
"Keuung……."
My chest felt tight, as if a brick had been placed on it, and I was gasping for breath.
I groggily opened my eyes to see a lizard the size of a child's head greeting me.
-Human?
Human!
Ah, not a lizard, a dragon.
"Get off……."
-It's time to wake up!
The other humans are all up already!
'Those guys probably weren't dragged into a series of reports and meetings…….'
I considered throwing the noisy lizard, but instead, I just got up.
"Wait, where's Reina?"
-That female said I should be quiet because you needed to sleep more!
Ah, so that's why he's on my chest.
Trying to wake me up quietly?
"And it didn't occur to you that if I needed more sleep, you shouldn't bother me?"
At my question, the dragon's eyes sparkled as it said.
-So I stayed here quietly!
Seeing it flick its tail, openly asking for praise, I chuckled and stroked its head.
Getting angry at a dragon whose family education was messed up from the start would only be my loss in the end.
"Now, wait a moment while I get ready to go out."
The moment I got out of bed, a jolt like lightning struck my head.
"Wait, do I really need to take you out with me?"
This heavy thing that I have to carry around because it hasn't recovered yet?
-……?!
No, even if you look at me with the eyes of a betrayed tragic heroine…….
-H-how could you say such a thing…….
At its teary eyes that looked like they would burst into tears at any moment, I sighed and promised to take him.
It would be troublesome if he cried and a breath weapon came out.
'I feel like I've been had…….'
On the way out of the room, the creature, which had managed to climb onto my head, excitedly moved its tail.
-Let's go!
Food!
Food!
Food!
Hmm.
I, who was munching on a piece of toast from my room, had no intention of going to the dining hall.
* * *
I visited the communication room to make the calls I couldn't make the day before, but the communication officer, whose dark circles reached the tip of his chin, shook his head, saying it was impossible.
"This is the first time I've received so many calls since I was commissioned.
We're getting calls from every noble family in the north……."
Just as you can't make a call while another call is coming in, the communication sphere seemed to be similar.
The communication officer, who hadn't slept for even two hours in the past week, asked with a determined face.
"If we ignore all calls from now on, we might be able to make a call this evening."
His voice was pitiful, as if he was begging me to do so, but if I refused the calls without any reason, the petty nobles would all join in to curse Moner's rudeness.
I subtly avoided the desperate gaze of the overworked employee and said.
"There might be an important call, so we can't do that.
Instead, if a call comes from the places I tell you, relay my message."
"…Yes.
I understand."
After organizing the message to be relayed, on the way out of the communication room.
Calua, who was sitting on my head, shouted as if he was having fun.
-A human is crying!
A human has been made to cry!
Hmm.
Before the only communication officer in the fortress dies from overwork, I should bring in more communication officers.
* * *
After leaving the communication room, I headed to the Count's office.
Just as I arrived, the secretary-general, who was coming out of the office, greeted me.
"Ah!
You're awake?
The Count was just looking for you, so I was about to send someone."
"Good, I had something to say too.
Can I go in now?"
"Yes, he is waiting inside."
After expressing my thanks with a small nod to the secretary-general who opened the door with a pleased smile, I entered the office to see the Count wrestling with documents in the same posture as yesterday.
"You're here early."
As if he had heard my conversation with the secretary-general, the Count continued without even raising his head.
"I'm busy, so I'll be brief.
We're reorganizing the army in preparation for the war.
Considering the support troops we'll be receiving, we're severely short of commanders.
It's to the point where we need to borrow even a chick's hand."
The Count, who raised his head as if he was about to say something important, swallowed his words the moment his eyes met mine.
"……."
Wondering if he had more to say, I looked at the Count.
After blinking his eyes a few times and looking at the top of my head, he opened his mouth again.
"But if I were to assign you to the regular army, it would only give me more of a headache."
Hmm.
I was at a loss for words at the Count's sharp point.
I had planned to move as I pleased no matter what he asked me to do.
As expected, he wasn't a master for nothing.
"But if I were to entrust you with the troops of other noble families, I think there would be casualties at the hands of our own allies before we even fight the enemy."
I was about to retort at the Count's words, but I just closed my mouth.
Even I thought that the best way to enforce military discipline was to have them meet with King Yeomra.
No, come to think of it, didn't that old man say he was busy and would be brief?
Why was the introduction so long?
"So, I've decided to let you keep the scouting party as it is.
It would be better to call it a special mission unit instead of a scouting party."
"Ah… thank you."
I didn't know how to respond to the pride and expectation in the Count's face, so I just answered vaguely.
He chuckled and said.
"Go ahead and run wild as much as you want.
There are still many who doubt you, so you must show them clearly this time.
Who it is that inherits the name of Moner."
I bowed my head slightly to express my gratitude.
As he said, there must have been many vassals and commanders who opposed it, and it must not have been an easy task to persuade them to entrust troops to a scoundrel whose skills had not even been confirmed.
'I was thinking of turning the meeting room upside down if it came to that, but this is good.'
Of course, I had no intention of being satisfied with just one unit.
As I nodded my head, thinking about the future, the Count, who had turned his gaze back to his documents, said.
"That's all I have to say.
Do you have anything to say?"
Only then did I remember why I had come to the office, and I quickly answered.
"Ah, there's something I need to tell you."
* * *
The reason I had come to see the Count was simple.
He needed to know what I was about to do.
"...Say that again."
"I'm thinking of getting rid of the Magic Tower."
The Count, whose eyes trembled for a moment, looked at the faint outline of the Magic Tower outside the window and asked again.
"...The Magic Tower that's doing just fine?
Why?"
There were endless reasons.
The fact that they were taking advantage of Moner, the fact that they hadn't provided a single mage even with a battle looming, the fact that they were occupying prime land while being of little help to the domain, and to be frank, there wasn't a single thing I liked about them.
Instead of explaining this at length, I told the Count firmly.
"Because they are beings who are of no help to us.
If they wish to remain on this land, they will have to pay a proper price."
"A mage is helpful just by existing……."
"Even if the fortress falls, their magic will never be directed at the enemy."
I could be sure.
Magic in this world was closer to an academic discipline, and mages, who spent most of their time at their desks, were afraid to go into battle.
Unless it was a battle mage, which was one in a hundred, the mages in the Magic Tower would never go into battle.
"Please listen to me……."
I had intended to just give him a light notification and leave, but at the sight of the Count staring at me, I had no choice but to begin a tedious explanation.
* * *
After Ian left the office, telling him not to worry, the Count, who was mechanically scanning the documents on his desk, let out a small sigh.
"Hah……."
Even when he had entrusted a large unit and position to him against the opposition of the other commanders, he had been confident that this was the right path…….
The Count, who wiped his face with both hands, asked the secretary-general weakly.
"Why the hell is that bastard wearing a Drake like a hat?
In your opinion, was he expressing his discontent or was he trying to pick a fight?"
"There's no way.
He said the Drake was injured and couldn't move on its own."
"Then he could have held it in his arms or carried it in his hands……."
No matter how he thought about it, it was clear that the brat had brought the Drake to get on his nerves.
"Why on earth would he mess with the Magic Tower that's doing just fine……."
"You gave him permission, my lord Count."
His heart sank at the betrayal of the secretary-general he had trusted.
"What do you mean, permission, to a brat who came to give me a notification!"
When on earth had he given permission?
The brat who had inherited the unlucky bloodline had just said he would do as he pleased since it was his anyway and left.
"When the Duke disappeared, I thought something like this would never happen again, but to be had by his son……."
After glaring at the secretary-general who was laughing nonchalantly as if it wasn't his problem, he turned his gaze to the documents and said.
"Tsk, whether I like it or not, he's the one who will become the lord of the domain, so I have to let him have his way.
Since we've decided to shake them down, have them check all the assets and land they've hidden in the domain."
The Count had also been eyeing the Magic Tower.
It was just that there was no reason to touch it yet.
"Not just the mages who work at the Magic Tower, but everyone who has ever set foot in the Magic Tower, including their staff, families, and relatives."
"If we make a move in earnest, the central Magic Tower will protest strongly."
At the secretary-general's concern, the Count answered as if it was no big deal.
"Didn't the lord of the domain say that those who are just testing the waters are not needed in Moner?"
* * *
"He was a more reasonable human than I thought."
-……?
"I thought he would be furious and tell me not to touch it."
Calua briefly recalled the Count who had shouted at him not to touch the Magic Tower that was doing just fine.
‘…Do I have to shout much louder than that to convey my opinion to a demon?’
It seemed that the reason he, the great dragon, hadn't been able to eat yet was because of that.
Calua, who had been thinking for a moment, took a deep breath and shouted with all his might.
-Human!
I'm hungry!
"Alright, alright.
Let's go eat now."
-……!
The dragon, who had belatedly understood the demon's way of conversation, his eyes sparkled.
‘To think that the demon was hard of hearing!’
No wonder he only heard what he wanted to hear!
Calua, who had discovered a hidden secret of the world, took another deep breath and shouted.
-Meat!
Let's eat delicious meat!
The moist dragon was confident it would work this time too, but the world was not so easy.
Tap!
Along with a stinging pain on the bridge of his nose, the demon said in a cold voice.
"You can't be a picky eater.
And if you shout one more time, I'm leaving you with Reina."
Calua, who stretched out his two short arms to clutch the bridge of his nose, thought to himself.
Even a great dragon makes mistakes sometimes.
And it seemed the demon wasn't hard of hearing, he just had a bad personality.
* * *
Leading the noisy dragon, I entered the dining hall located in a corner of the fortress, and I heard a buzzing sound.
“…It was like that, I tell you!”
“Has this friend been drinking since morning……”
“No, ask the other guys!
At that moment when all I could see were Orcs, my legs suddenly gave out, and then I heard a shout from far away!”
At the somewhat familiar story, I turned my head to see a soldier I had seen a few times during missions.
‘He said he would boast to his friends when he got back.’
The brat who had been planting flags whenever he got the chance was in the middle of realizing his dream.
-Human!
Meat, meat!
Let's go quickly!
I was about to say hello, but at the urgent voice coming from above my head, I chuckled and asked the soldier in charge of serving food.
"Here, do you have any moss besides meat?"
"Yes… huh?"
Judging by his reaction, it seemed they didn't have any moss.
If they did, it would have been a good teaching material to educate the noisy lizard.