The Star Dragon

Lieselotte, the Star Dragon. One of the seven divine dragons protecting the world of Nears.

She was about as young as Lavi… and also about as lacking in communication skills.

The two divine dragons drank their tea and ate their cake in almost exactly the same manner.

After finishing, they both let out sighs and their eyes became half-lidded with sleepiness.

"Lieselotte-sama."

When the military officer standing beside her called out, she opened her eyes wide with a start.

She looked at Lavi sitting in the seat across from her… and quite some time passed.

"You ran away."

At those words, Lavi reacted with a twitch.

"That was a strategic retreat."

"I see."

It didn't seem like she was particularly criticizing Lavi for teleporting away from her dungeon.

Just a simple confirmation of facts. Lavi's calm expression didn't change either.

… And then silence visited them again.

Unable to bear the length of the silence, the military officer spoke up.

"So then, what business brings Laverna-sama here?"

At that question, Lavi swiveled her face toward Sei with a snap.

Sei received that gaze and made eye contact with the military officer.

It seemed they had both realized that if they left it to the divine dragons, the conversation would go nowhere.

"Um, my name is Sei. I'm a disciple of the divine dragon Reiana. The reason we came this time is…"

Starting from being summoned to return the heroes, skipping over the middle parts roughly, and explaining that they had come to this place to receive assistance on this continent.

… That was it in a nutshell. Though if they left it to Lavi, who knows how long it would take.

"Understood. Then you'll also need a letter of introduction to this continent's Demon King-heika."

Right, there was a Demon King.

Just like the Dragon Fang Continent, the Dragon Wing Continent also had a Demon King.

The divine dragon was a symbol, while the Demon King held the actual power. And their relationship was good. Or rather, not bad. The city a bit south of here was the Demon King's stronghold.

The Demon King was a male of the three-eyed race about 4000 years old, who in his youth had challenged Ars many times and been thoroughly beaten, a real battle enthusiast.

Apparently he'd mellowed out completely now, but in this war, he was near the frontlines in the continent's southwest, dealing with the invasion of gods from the Dragon Claw Continent.

They did have a letter of introduction from Ferna, but Lieselotte might have closer ties with him.

"The Ferocious God in the southeast is certainly a threat, but… that god's followers lack intelligence."

The military officer, who had completely become the explainer, was of the same three-eyed race as the Demon King and apparently often worked as a liaison between the Demon King and divine dragon.

"His subordinate Demon Generals are handling that, while the Demon King-heika is dealing with the Demon Gods and Evil Gods."

The Demon Gods and Evil Gods were apparently quite intelligent among the evil gods.

They were employing proper strategies like destroying supply lines, which was why the Demon King was near the frontlines to prevent it.

"The Ferocious God, huh…"

At Sei and the others' current level, they probably couldn't win yet.

It was apparently of an even higher rank than the god sealed in Istria that Ria had defeated.

Leaving that to the dragons or the Great Demon King and heading southwest would be the right choice.

But there was one problem.

One of the light points indicating a hero was heading in that direction.

The other two were heading southwest. If they joined up with the Demon King's army, they could at least avoid unexpected situations.

In terms of their travel route going forward, recovering the eastern hero first and then heading west would be correct.

"I'll prepare a dagger engraved with Lieselotte-sama's crest. And identification documents as well."

The military officer quickly processed the procedures like he was a civil official.

According to what they heard later, he wasn't actually a military officer but an adjutant.

Lieselotte's adjutant, of course.

They already knew that divine dragons basically didn't interact with humans. And even when they did, they lacked communication skills.

In other words, this adjutant was essentially the top of the organization with the divine dragon at its head.

He was also knowledgeable about continental affairs, especially the war situation.

The southeastern region where the Ferocious God was rampaging indiscriminately was already beyond control.

That was the nature of such a god, so it couldn't be helped. Not praying to gods but relying on divine dragons instead. When Sei said the Great Demon King would probably come out, he was quite dramatically surprised.

The southwestern front was completely deadlocked.

However, the evil gods' followers were apparently circling around to the rear to attack the humanoid races' strongholds in order to destroy supply lines.

Unlike the followers who could use defeated humanoids as food, humanoids couldn't do the same. Though apparently there were some tough folks who ate insect-people.

This deadlock wasn't because both armies' forces were evenly matched—the truth was the humanoid side was desperately maintaining the front lines.

The divine dragons had also been slow to move.

When heroes were summoned 1800 years ago, the Golden Dragon Irina and Fire Dragon Ouma had moved fairly quickly.

But several years after the evil gods' seals were broken, dragons still hadn't been deployed to the front lines. Because heroes weren't involved.

If it was a lower to middle-ranked god, an adult dragon could easily overwhelm them. Even an upper-ranked god would be evenly matched with an ancient dragon.

They'd surely struggle against the highest-ranked gods, but they knew those weren't matches for divine dragons.

Still, the dragons were finally starting to move.

For them, heroes were more of a threat than gods.

Sei and the others were allowed to stay in a guest room inside the Temple of Stars.

It was spacious and solidly constructed, though not particularly splendid. Very much befitting a section of a temple.

There was nothing dungeon-like about it at all. If Lavi's dungeon had been like this, it would certainly have been conquered.

And Lavi was apparently having a sleepover in Lieselotte's room in dragon form for the first time in a while.

Sleeping in dragon form versus human form didn't differ much in comfort apparently, but dragon form was still their true essence.

Incidentally, late into the night, Sei met with one of the Demon King's army's logistics department heads to negotiate receiving some necessary weapons.

He wanted a tank, but was told it would be useless without someone who could maintain it, so he gave up on that.

Earth's tanks were the same—tanks were surprisingly fragile things.

Instead, he requested machine guns and rifles.

Sei himself could just use magic, but he was seeking ranged attack methods for Gantz and Bungol.

When Sei finally returned to the guest room after being told they'd have things ready by the next day, he dove onto the bed.

"Good work～"

Mako patted his head. The guest rooms were divided between the girls' team and the guys' team.

"Ahh, I want to just sleep like this."

"At least go take a bath. The bath here is spacious and feels great."

After leaving the elf village, Laila seemed to have become addicted to baths.

Sei somehow got up from the bed and soaked leisurely in the bath.

The next morning, everything was ready.

All thanks to the capable adjutant who had gotten it all done overnight, but now Sei and the others could move freely within the Dragon Wing Continent.

Never mind preparing the weapons, explaining how to use them took more time.

Traditional warriors like Gantz and Bungol didn't seem convinced, but considering their forces, it was good to be prepared.

And only the final step required Lieselotte's power.

The group emerged from the pyramid-shaped dungeon. Alongside Lieselotte and the guards who served her.

"Then, Lieselotte-sama, if you would please."

The adjutant said this and withdrew. Lieselotte stepped forward and waved at Lavi.

"See you then. Though we might never meet again."

At words that could be taken as hostile depending on how you heard them, Lavi nodded lightly.

Divine dragons didn't meet that frequently to begin with.

A situation where they had to meet frequently would be precisely a world crisis. In other words, as long as they were indulging in their slumber, the world was at peace.

Lieselotte extended her hand toward Sei and the others, enveloping the group in magical power.

"Teleport."

And Sei and the others' figures vanished from that spot.

She had teleported them to the location closest to a hero as far as she knew.

"Thank you for your efforts, Lieselotte-sama."

Lieselotte nodded at the adjutant's words.

Her role was finished. Lieselotte's duty was to sleep again.

But even as the adjutant urged her, she didn't move from that spot.

"Lieselotte-sama?"

Ignoring the adjutant's words, she looked up at the sky.

The barrier laid by a divine dragon. Except for Lieselotte who had created it, no one else should be able to break through and teleport in.

But in reality, someone did gently pass through the barrier and teleport right before Lieselotte.

A single person, completely unarmed, looking like someone who might be walking around anywhere—a young man.

The guards noticed the abnormality and tried to deal with it, but the adjutant stopped them.

"Wait! You must not oppose that person!"

Yes, the long-lived three-eyed being knew.

Back when he was still young, the existence that the Dragon Wing Continent's Demon King Gillius had challenged many times but could never defeat even once.

"Great Demon King-heika…"

Ars Garhart had appeared on the spot without any advance notice.

"Looks like I just missed them."

From the residual magical power, Ars sensed Sei and the others' presence.

At the adjutant's words, the guards looked at each other. To them, the Great Demon King meant Ferna. For short-lived demons who didn't live even 1000 years, Ars's name was only a legendary existence.

"You've awakened. But why have you come to this place?"

"Ah, as a result of discussions with the divine dragons."

Ars had teleported around to various places, but even he couldn't teleport into barriers created by aged divine dragons.

Therefore, he had only been able to discuss with Ria and Irina, and Ouma who also made her barriers roughly, and they had divided up their roles.

"The Dark Dragon Reiana will destroy the Ferocious God. Meanwhile, I'll be monitoring a troublesome existence."

A troublesome existence. Neither god nor hero.

Siegfried.

"What I want to tell you is that if Siegfried comes, you must absolutely not let him meet Lieselotte."

"Siegfried… that Lust Fiend?"

"To him, whether it's a divine dragon or whatever, if she's a beautiful woman, nothing else matters."

Receiving Ars's gaze, Lieselotte was trembling.

Dragons don't know fear.

Dragons are absolute powerhouses. Especially divine dragons. But the human standing before her… could probably even destroy her.

"It's okay. I and Ferna will protect you. Even against Siegfried's gang, if I use the Machine God… while killing them might be difficult, repelling them is easy."

Ars spoke with a good-natured smile, but it seemed dealing with that walking nuisance wasn't easy even for him.

"Now then, shall we discuss the details?"

At that smile with neither malice nor intimidating aura whatsoever, the adjutant felt tremendous fear.

"Achoo!"

Inside a carriage traveling down a desolate road, a man who had sneezed magnificently rubbed his nose.

"Ahh, some cute girl somewhere must be talking about me again."

He looked to be in his late twenties. Magnificent golden hair and green eyes. His face was reasonably handsome, but with such a wild quality that opinions among women would be divided.

Siegfried Ratzen.

He had various epithets, but he personally preferred being called the "Golden Warrior."

… Incidentally, what he was usually called was things like "Lust Fiend," "Enemy of Women and Men," and "Rapist."

"What nonsense…"

The female warrior riding in the same carriage responded in a tone filled with disgust.

Marisia. Siegfried's companion, with platinum hair and blue eyes, but actually not human.

A valkyrie who was once the gatekeeper of a dungeon Siegfried conquered.

She was one of the women holding Siegfried's reins, but whenever she protected maidens from Siegfried's fangs, she usually ended up becoming the sacrifice to satisfy his lust herself.

… A pitiful valkyrie.

"Well, someone from the Dragon Bone Continent is probably talking about him."

Another male passenger in the carriage, the warrior Kars clad entirely in black leather armor, said with a wry smile.

An old traveling companion of Siegfried's and practically an ill-fated relationship, but he too had become immortal after killing a god.

He often self-deprecatingly called himself Siegfried's "external conscience circuit."

Siegfried was the leader of this party, but Kars handled most of the actual negotiations.

"I'm sure it's not good rumors. I'm praying you'll be cursed to death sometime soon."

The one muttering such ominous things in a serious tone was a girl who, much to her chagrin, had features similar to Siegfried's.

The only woman in this world Siegfried wouldn't touch. In other words, his own daughter, Altecia.

She was the second woman holding Siegfried's reins, and indeed even Siegfried found himself somewhat weak when it came to his own daughter.

… There was probably guilt regarding her mother as well.

Incidentally, her immortality wasn't from killing a god.

In addition to these three, there was the elf Keselkos currently serving as coachman, making five members of the party named "Golden Warrior Brigade."

The party name had been decided by Siegfried, but the other four disliked being called that.

Kars in particular, given his black armor, black hair, and black eyes, frequently raised the argument of where exactly the "Golden" in Golden Warrior Brigade was supposed to be.

The carriage was traveling leisurely down the road when there was a clunk and its speed slowed, eventually stopping.

"Hm, what's up, Kes?"

When Siegfried asked from inside the carriage, the elf Kes answered briefly.

"A traveler."

When Siegfried poked his head out from the carriage's canopy, there was a girl in her mid-teens carrying a large pack and wearing a sword at her waist, blocking the middle of the road.

"If you have room, could you give me a ride? I can pay a small fee."

Black hair and black eyes. Kars, who had also poked his head out, wondered about the girl traveling alone on this quite dangerous road.

Then Altecia, who also poked her head out, froze.

Among this party, Altecia was the most proficient in Principle magic. Naturally she could use Identify and detection magic.

And the level of the girl she was looking at had exceeded 200.

An impossible number considering her age. But that question would dissipate upon seeing the title she held.

A hero.

Altecia was acquainted with Ars, who was both hero and Great Demon King, as well as Thor, the previous generation's hero. She'd been thanked for holding that idiot's reins and had received pitying looks as well.

Heroes were extraordinary beings, legendary existences like great sages and great witches.

And one was here. They had heard that heroes were summoned in the Neosis Kingdom, but after the royal capital vanished, hardly anything was known about what happened to the heroes afterward.

To meet one so suddenly, so coincidentally.

Perhaps it was the influence of Siegfried's bad luck.

"Hmm."

Siegfried observed the girl's appearance. Slender limbs, and though covered in travel dust, well-formed features.

On Earth, the age would be a problem, but in Nears, the age of adulthood in most countries was about 15, so it was safe.

"Sure. Get in."

"Hey, idiot, this girl's a 'hero.'"

At Altecia's whispered words, Siegfried answered as if it were nothing.

"If she's cute, there's no problem."

At Siegfried's declaration, the group sighed.

This was the meeting between the Hero of "Ruin," Natsuki Mika, and Siegfried's group.