Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~

Episode 45: Trump Card and Conclusion

I am the one who stands at the pinnacle of monsters.

I was hunting alone, away from my master.
After all, if my master is with me, they would end up catching the prey first.
So, it’s better to take separate actions even if it means giving up on big game, so that I can enjoy my meal freely.

Moreover, the land was now overflowing with monsters that emitted a very appetizing smell.
If I were to compare it, it would be similar to humans adding various spices to their food to change the taste.

This is incredibly irresistible, and I can understand the feeling of humans going out of their way to improve the taste of food.

“Gaaahhh!!”

Furthermore, these guys are very easy to fight.
They shout incomprehensible things and attack, so it’s unclear what they’re thinking, but their way of fighting doesn’t utilize their own strength at all, it’s like fighting I’m fighting as a human.

It is truly foolish to abandon our own way of fighting just to imitate humans.
Well, for me, it’s just a matter of convenience and being able to have an easier time.

◆

As I watched the monsters being defeated one after another, I finally made a decision.

“In that case, we will ignore the adventurers and send the monsters towards the capital!”

Yes, let’s expedite the coup plan.

“What!? It’s still too early, Captain! Wasn’t the plan to start the coup after completing all the necessary preparations?”

My subordinates are giving me their opinions, but the situation has already evolved beyond planning.

“You fool! Our trump card, the demon army, is being rendered powerless! If we don’t act now, our forces will only diminish! And on top of that, the number of demons has been decreasing lately due to those monster repelling potions.”

I don’t know who it is, but the fact that those potions have started to flow into the market has begun to hinder our monster collection.

“However, not to mention monsters of B-rank or lower, when dealing with A-rank monsters, careful control is necessary to dominate over them.
Moreover, we still haven’t achieved complete control over S-rank monsters, and if they go berserk, there is a danger of civilians being harmed.”

Hmph, what’s the problem with a few commoners suffering a little?

“Furthermore, if our enemy has already defeated high-ranking monsters of S and A ranks, wouldn’t it be pointless to attack now?”

“No, rather it should be the opposite.”

“Why?”

“Listen carefully.
S-rank and A-rank monsters are dangerous beings that the entire knight order must face together in order to defeat.
It is certainly commendable that they were able to subdue these monsters in such a short amount of time, but do you think they can keep pulling off such feats indefinitely?”

“That means…”

“Hmm, the enemy must be using something as a trump card to continuously defeat higher-ranked monsters.
It’s likely that the consecutive defeats of S-ranked monsters were meant to be a bluff, indicating that if we had more S-ranked monsters, we would have beat them easily.”

Yeah, it’s just a bluff.
There’s no way you can use such nonsense items freely.

“Perhaps what was used was an Artifact that was kept hidden by a high-ranking noble family, or… it could be a national treasure.”

“National Treasure!?”

My subordinates are in turmoil.
The national treasure, Lavelain, is our country’s secret treasure that no one has ever seen its power unleashed.
It is said to be a holy sword wielded by the first king who defeated a mighty evil dragon that once ruled this land and established our nation.

The appearance of that Artifact is only seen during the coronation ceremony of each successive king.
With the power of that legendary sword, it would be possible to defeat even S-rank monsters.

“But if the national treasure possesses such tremendous power, it should have brought even greater prosperity to our country.
In other words, we should consider that there must be some kind of price to pay in order to use it.
Whether it is in the form of magical energy or a sacrifice of lives.”

So the enemy must be hoping that we will withdraw on our own.
However, using their trump card was a bit premature.

“…Indeed, if it is a national treasure, it cannot be used casually.”

“Yes, therefore, we will send monsters to the capital.
If high-ranking monsters attack the capital all at once, even a skilled user of the Artifact will have their hands full!”

“Haha!!”

My subordinates nod in agreement with my explanation.

“Lower-ranked monsters can be used to hinder adventurers.
After all, they are disposable beings.”

“Understood!”

“Spread the word to the entire army.
We will exterminate the horde of monsters that headed towards the capital! Instruct the guild to have the adventurers take care of the weak monsters!”

“Yes!”

With this, it will be difficult for the enemy’s henchmen disguised as adventurers to pursue us.
Well, the monsters move quickly, so there may be many casualties before we arrive at the scene.

The time for change is now!

◆

“Phew, I wonder if I’ve finished subjugating all the S and A rank monsters in this area.”

I store the defeated monsters in a magic bag and use detection magic to search for the presence of new monsters.

“Huh? This… doesn’t look too good!”

A group of monsters is heading towards the capital! The group of monsters is being followed by what seems to be a knight order, but at this rate, they won’t make it in time.

“No, I don’t want to face the knight order, but I have no choice!”

That’s right, if I leave it alone, many people will die.
As an adventurer, I can’t allow such a thing!

“Let’s go!”

I head towards the royal capital using flight magic.
If I fly at full speed, it won’t take much time to reach the royal capital.
While doing so, I can see the main gate of the royal capital and a horde of monsters approaching it.
The royal capital is surrounded by walls, but with this many monsters, it doesn’t seem like they can handle it.

“There’s a chance the walls may be destroyed – let’s start with the large monsters first! Lightning Rain!!”

From a clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight, a thunderous roar accompanies a downpour of lightning rain, blowing away hordes of monsters.
Lightning Rain is an outdoor-exclusive attack magic that reduces the enemy’s group size over a wide area before engaging in combat.

“Alright, the first wave has been neutralized!”

As I hurried towards the main gate of the royal capital, I spoke to the knight who was standing on top of the wall.

“There are still more monsters coming! Hurry and close the gates, and evacuate the citizens to the center of the capital!”

“What, who are you!?”

The knight is asking about my identity, but I don’t want to answer, so I’m ignoring him.

“If the monsters break through the wall, they will invade the capital city.
I will prioritize defeating the large monsters, so everyone please take care of the small ones from the top of the wall.
The knight order that was participating in the extermination will soon come as reinforcements.”

“Oh, I understand! I don’t know who you are, but thank you for helping!”

Now, I’m not going to let any monsters get close to the capital!

“It’s serious, Captain! An unbelievable number of monsters are heading towards the capital!”

“What did you say!?”

Upon receiving a report from my subordinate, I hurried to the watchtower on top of the walls surrounding the capital city.
And then, I saw it.
The sight of monsters approaching towards us.

Monsters of different sizes and races are coming towards us in large numbers.
I don’t know the exact count, but the fact that we can see their figures from such a distance means there are quite a lot of them.

“This is bad, it’s going to be a disaster! Close the gates immediately! Summon those who have left the capital back! You can use horses! Also, report to the castle! Inform them that a large horde of monsters is heading towards the capital!”

“…Y-Yes!”

The knights begin to act in a hurry.

“But how long can it hold up in this situation? Even though there is a wall, it’s a dilapidated wall that hasn’t been properly repaired.”

This wall was built shortly after the capital was established.
Unlike the walls that protect the castle, it has been left untouched since its construction, so it seems like it could collapse at any moment.
It doesn’t seem like it could withstand an attack from those monsters at all.

“And what’s more, all that are here are inexperienced new recruits.
There are hardly any war veterans or those with combat experience.”

No matter how I think about it, it will only lead to a hopeless outcome.
However, I didn’t have the option to escape.

Because protecting this place is our mission and our pride.
It is because my subordinates feel the same way that they follow my orders.
Even though everyone must want to run away when they see that sight.

Well, it’s probably too late to run away now anyway.

“Young people will find excuses to escape, while the elderly will somehow manage to buy time.”

But it was at that moment.
Suddenly, a dazzling flash ran through the clear blue sky with not a single cloud.
Then, a deafening roar that seemed to shatter my ears drowned out all other sounds.

“What, what happened!?”

Surprised, I quickly looked around in a panic.
At that moment, I witnessed an unbelievable sight.

“Well, you’re saying all the monsters have been wiped out!?”

Yes, the horde of monsters that were supposed to drive us into the depths of despair just a moment ago had completely disappeared!

Something even more surprising happened.
A boy descended from the sky.

“There are still more monsters coming! Hurry and close the gates, and evacuate the citizens to the center of the capital!”

D-Did this boy repel a horde of monsters!?

“What, who are you!?”

However, the boy did not answer my question and silently disappeared into the sky, only informing me that the reinforcements of the knight order would come.
And once again, the thunderous sound from earlier echoed several times, smoke rising in multiple places, and once again, those areas were filled with the corpses of the monsters, just like before.

“It’s as if it’s a legend of the heroic king Wardrum, the founder of the nation…”

In this land swirling with monsters, the founding king and first king of the Kingdom of Swords, His Majesty King Wardrum, appeared out of nowhere and swiftly defeated the monsters, as well as the evil dragon who ruled over the land.
This is how the battle must have unfolded.

I was saluting the boy who disappeared into the sky without his knowledge.

“It’s terrible! The monsters we sent towards the capital have been completely wiped out!”

“Why does it have to turn out like this?!”

Why!? Why is something like this happening!? Could it be that the enemy predicted our movements and had a trump card prepared in advance for the capital city!?

“If it’s come to this, then let’s use that!

“Huh? … Are you seriously going to use that!? That’s reckless! That thing is a creature that can’t even be properly controlled, you know!?”

My subordinate’s face turns blue as he screams.

“I don’t care! In that case, let’s deploy that thing and give those guys true despair!”

Hehehe, my enemies, it is you who are at fault.
You are the ones who hindered my ambitions!

“Awaken our true trump card, the Dragon!”

“Huh? The knight order suddenly changed direction!”

The knight order, for some reason, who had been heading towards the capital suddenly changed their course and started heading towards another direction.

“I think that area over there is the wilderness… I wonder if something happened there?”

I became concerned about the suspicious movements of the knight order, so I decided to follow them.

Fortunately, we have managed to defeat most of the enemy group heading towards the capital, and the sporadic attacks from remaining monsters can be handled by the defense forces of the capital and the adventurers.

“Alright, then I’m going too!”

We arrived at the secret facility hidden in the wilderness and began our mission to awaken the ultimate weapon, the dragon.
In front of us stood the dragon, trapped inside a large cage.

“Captain, please reconsider! The dragon is only put to sleep with a powerful sleeping potion made from high grade magic herbs.
There is no guarantee that we can control it even if it wakes up!”

My subordinates are pleading with me.

“Why be so pessimistic? Isn’t this why we studied the art of controlling monsters?”

“However, dragons are different from ordinary monsters.
Their existence is also distinct from that of S-rank monsters, which are equally powerful.
Therefore, there is a high possibility that they cannot be controlled by what we studied.”

“If we fail, you can just put it to sleep again.
Hurry up and do it!”

“…I understand.”

Finally, my subordinates have accepted the order and begin preparing to awaken the dragon from its slumber.
Hmph, it’s just a giant lizard, after all.
Even if I can’t fully control it, as long as I can give it rough commands, that’s enough.
The important thing is that I won’t be attacked.

“I gave the dragon a potion to wake it up from its slumber.
It will soon awaken.”

“At the moment of the dragon’s awakening, cast the domination spell! Barrier mages, put up barriers with all your might!”

And the dragon, who had been sleeping on the floor of the facility, slowly opened its eyes with a faint growl.

“Activating the Domination Technique!”

The sorcerers cast a spell on the dragon to control the monsters.
In that instant, the sorcerers’ figures vanished.

“What?”

And then, a sound of “beshah” could be heard from a corner of the room.
Everyone present turned their gaze towards the direction of the sound, only to find the spellcasters lying there, covered in blood.
And with a loud “gashan,” when they looked back, they saw that the cage that had imprisoned the dragon had been lifted, with its tail caught on it.

“What!?”

“Q-Quick, the sleeping medicine! Feed it food with sleeping pills!”

The subordinate hurriedly orders the use of medicine.
The dragon, who had just woken up, blinks a few times and then pounces on the food that was brought in front of it.

“Alright! Let’s put you back to sleep again…”

However, instead of falling asleep, the dragon spits out the meat it should have eaten, opens its eyes wide, stands up, and spreads its wings.
Then, it breaks through the ceiling and soars high into the sky.

“Gwoooon!!”

“What?! It vomited the meat with the medicine in it?! … The medicine isn’t working? No way, could it be that the refinement of the medicine failed?!”

“What, what is happening!? Why did it vomit meat with drugs in it!?”

I grab my subordinate by the collar and force them to explain the situation.

“Oh, um, it’s possible that the quality of the magic herb we obtained was poor, and that’s why the purification of the medicine failed…”

“So, what will happen to that dragon?”

“I believe it may be impossible to capture them again, as they were accidentally caught during an experiment with a sleep potion made from magic herbs.”

“In other words…”

My subordinate nods with a pale face in response to my words.

“Now that it has finally awakened after a long time, it will eat until it’s full.”

“And eat what as food?”

“First, it will be us, and then the capital where there are a large number of humans closest to us.”

“Fall back! Everyone, retreat!”

We chose to escape immediately.
However, the moment we made that decision, the ceiling blew off.
The dragon, in search of its prey, swatted us away with its tail.
It was as if it was getting rid of a minor annoyance.

“Oh no!”

“Gururururu”

The dragon is looking at us.
There is no doubt that it sees us as prey.

“Gahhhhh…”

The dragon’s mouth slowly opens, and drool drips down.

“Oh, I am not delicious…”

“Is it futile to say such things to a dragon?”

“In that case, you go ahead and get eaten! I’m going to take this opportunity to escape!”

“No matter what, we can’t escape in a place like this! It’s just a matter of who dies first!”

“Gyaaaahhh!!”

As we were arguing, the dragon roared.

“Heeee!?”

And then the dragon arched its neck slightly backwards and lunged towards us, opening its mouth wide.

Ah, I’m dead.
We couldn’t even start a coup, and now we’re going to die.
What a miserable life it has been.

“Teriyaaaahhh!”

At that moment, a sudden gust of wind appeared and collided with the dragon’s body.
And the dragon’s body soared through the air, blowing away while destroying the walls of its hideout.

“What!?”

“Are you okay!?”

There appeared a young boy there.

It was dangerous.
It was just a little bit away from when an unknown knight was about to be attacked by a dragon.
I don’t have many good memories with the knights, but I can’t just overlook someone who is in danger of losing their life.

Anyway, as expected of the knight order.
To think that they noticed there was a dragon hiding in a place like this.
However, I can’t imagine a dragon willingly hiding in a place like this.
In that case, could it be that someone is trying to control the dragon and brought it here?

Ah, perhaps the members of the knight order realized that the abnormal monster outbreak this time was happening in this building and were searching for it.
I see, the knight order of this era is impressive.
When I think of a knight order, I usually imagine corruption and bribery, but this knight order from the future has changed my perspective! I have a newfound respect for them!

“Anyway, let’s quickly defeat it!”

The opponent is the Green Dragon again, so should I quickly defeat it?

“Ta!”

I leapt high and struck down the dragon’s neck in one blow, sending it crashing to the ground, staggering.

“Yeah, as expected, this sword made with a enchanted blade is impressive.
It has a better cutting edge than a regular iron sword.”

With this sharpness, the buying price might be higher than the Green Dragon I previously hunted! I store the defeated Green Dragon in a magic bag and turn towards the knight.

“Thank you for your hard work! I will return to hunting the nearby monsters, so please continue searching this facility with peace of mind, everyone!”

“Ah, ah”

When I conveyed that to the knight, I hurriedly returned to slaying monsters.

The dragon was defeated by a boy who suddenly appeared.
And it was with a single blow.

“Hey…”

I speak to my subordinate.

“Yes, what can I help you with?”

“Lets surrender.”

“…Yes”

Yeah, it’s impossible to take control of a country with such monsters through a coup d’état.