Dark Knight Lanfeld

You've been quiet lately, Mr. Lanfeld.

　The dark knight riding the trailing flying dragon (wyvern) says in an easygoing voice.

''Don't let up. It's possible that the information that the Holy Knights have been destroyed is wrong, we'll continue our patrol.

　As he says this, he sends the flying dragon flying over the mountain that is the border of Nargol.
　I look behind me and see a laggard among the following knights.

'After all, is it still difficult to rebuild ......

　I mutter to no one.
　Half of the dark knights died in the last battle with the brave men and women, and those who survived were injured in some way.
　In the first place, even among the demon race, there are few who have the ability to be a dark knight, and even fewer of them can ride a flying dragon.
　Most of the skilled knights had been killed by the brave men. The only people left now are those who are better able to ride the flying dragon.
　Currently, there are less than 20 dark knights who can move properly.
　The task assigned to me as soon as possible is to rebuild the Dark Knights.
　Lately, there had been frequent incursions into the airspace by the Holy Knights of Elyos.
　Thinking about that made his head crack with anger.
　According to their claim, all the skies of the world belong to the gods of Elyos (or so), and even though they are Nargol, it seems that we who fly in their skies are the ones violating their airspace.
　Of course, I'm not going to admit such a claim.
　Even before the heroes arrived, they often approached Nargol's airspace, but never came close to invading it.
　And when our strength diminished, they invaded every day.
　They laid waste to the skies of Nargol as if they were fools.
　We even recommended that they go out of the airspace, but they never listened, and we, with our limited strength, had no choice but to sit back and watch.
　However, their airspace violations ended two days ago.
　Knowing the reason for this, we felt sorry for them, but at the same time, we couldn't help but be afraid of the people who caused it.
　That's why the patrol is over without incident.

'Alright, let's go back to the fort!

　Under the command, the flying dragons turn.
　They fly over the roofs of the Acheron Mountains that separate the human world from Nargol.
　As they fly, they will see a fort in the middle of the peak.
　This fort is the one that protects Nargol from Elyos.
　I landed in the central square of the fort.

'Welcome home, Master Lanfeld.

　Leave the flying dragon to his men coming out of the fort.
　He walks to his mansion set up inside the fort.

''Father!''
Father!

　Two children jump out of the fort.

'Leffald and Raily!　Why are you here?

　The two children run up to each other.
　Leffald is a 120 year old boy and Leali is a 90 year old girl. And they're both their own children.
　Originally, they would be near the Demon King's Castle. They should be in the village of the demon race.

''Yes, my mother told me to help my father.
Yes. Mother said I should help you with your father's plans for a knighthood in the future.

　Lehri and Leffald reply.

'Right. ......'

　It is true that the fort is understaffed. After all, the last battle sent even non-combatants into battle. Now we need some help.
　But they are still children, and I'm not sure if I want to leave them in the fort.

"Father, please. "Father, I beg you to leave me, no, I beg you to leave me in the fort.
You can take care of Raily, too.

　I'm lost for words by the two of them.
　There were plenty of chores at the fort, even if they didn't send them into battle. There might be jobs that even a child could do.
　It might be time for Leffald in particular to be trained as a knight.
　It was just when I was thinking about that.
　The flying dragons in the dragon house suddenly started to make a commotion.

''What!　What's going on!

　He asks his men in the dragon house.

''I don't know!　Suddenly, the flying dragons started making a lot of noise!

　My men are struggling to calm the flying dragon.

''Master Lanfeld!　It's hard!

　One of the knights on top of the Watchtower lets out a panicked voice.

''What's going on!
The dragon!　The dragon is here!

　I look at the sky in the direction the knight is pointing.
　Across the sky, something like a bird is flying.
　It's still far away, but the way it flies isn't a flying dragon, it was definitely a dragon.

''Master Lanfeld, how may I help you!

　When I look, I see that the men of the fort are trying to deal with the dragon with bows and crossbows.

'Don't take up arms!　Don't point it at the dragon!

　His subordinates voiced their doubts at his orders.

''Why, Master Lanfeld!
Just don't do anything!　Gather them all!

　If that dragon is as good as you can imagine, we must not act hostile.
　All those in the fort will be gathered together.
　The dragon reaches the fort at a furious pace.
　The dragon roars as it gets close.

''Whoa!''
Father!
Father!

　A few of my men buckled in fear, while Leffald and Leali clung to their feet.
　The true dragon's roar contains the magic of fear. Those with no resistance would be unable to move in fear.
　When I see the dragon up close, I think it's big again.
　The dragon's body is many times larger than the flying dragon it rides, and when it gets off, it takes over the entire central square.
　It is a black dragon that lives in the Acheron Mountains and was once called a demon dragon. This dragon's temper is so fierce that if you try to approach it carelessly, you will fall prey to its fiery breath.
　But that was yesterday.
　I look at the dragon's back, there was one dark knight sitting there.
　The Dark Knight Dihardt.
　He is the hero of Nargol who destroyed the Holy Knights the other day.
　Dihardt descends to the fort.

''All hands salute!''

　Some of them are still hunched over in fear, but I ignore them and give the command.
　I put my hand on my chest and bow my head.

"Lord Runfeld," he says. Not much of that: ......

　As he says this, Dihardt removes his helmet.
　He has dark hair, pale skin, and a thin face.
　To be honest, he is a kind man, he doesn't look very strong. No matter how you look at it, he was a weak man with no horns.
　But don't let looks deceive you. He looks like a weak man, but he is a monster.
　He defeated that horrible brave man and destroyed the Holy Knights.
　Then I look at the armor that Dihardt is wearing. The armor that Dihardt wears is the armor of the Black Demon God. The armor that all dark knights wear is a lowly imitation of this armor.
　It's a good thing that this man is not afraid to wear the armor that no one could wear until this man appeared due to its excessive magical power.
　A hornless person can do what the demon race could not. I regret that.
　That Dihardt is now second only to His Majesty.
　Humans are inferior creatures. It is repugnant to the demon tribe that they have to serve under a man.
　Of course, there are some in this stronghold who do not share his animosity.

"No, Your Honor, you're a hero!

　Dihardt looks troubled by these words.
　Dihardt doesn't feel good about being treated as a superior person himself.
　However, there is no way he can be rude to a monster that could destroy the Holy Knights.

''My lord, what can I do for you today?''

　To be honest, I don't want you to come, so I'm going to be a little strong on this one.

'I'm sorry to be so busy, Lord Lanfeld, but I spotted Lord Lanfeld from afar while I was practicing riding Glorious, so I wanted to thank you for introducing me to the ...... dragon and for introducing me to him. Also, by the way, I was curious to see what the fort on the border looked like, so I thought I'd take a look.

　Dihardt says with some trepidation and looks at the dragon.
　The name Glorious means glory in Dihardt's world. It's a very appropriate name for Dihardt.
　And the dragon that was named after him was, until just yesterday, feared as a demonic dragon. Yesterday, Dihardt made the dragon his own personal rider.
　I remember yesterday.
　He introduced the demon dragon living in the Acheron Mountains to Dihardt, who wanted a flying dragon for himself.
　That was with a nasty intention.
　Even for a demon race, it is difficult to ride a flying dragon, much less a true dragon, and even more difficult to ride a true dragon.
　Naturally, Dihardt didn't think he could ride it either.
　Then he said sarcastically, "I'm sure your Excellency can ride a dragon as well.
　As a result, Dihardt easily took the dragon for himself.
　Now he felt ashamed of himself for saying such sarcasm.
　And he came to thank himself for saying the sarcasm. I'm so pathetic that I'm about to cry.

'Thank you and other outrageous things: ......'

　Then he looks at Dihardt's face.
　For some reason, Dihardt's eyes are looking down.
　Looking beyond that perspective leads me to Leffald and Leali, who are at my feet.

''Child?''

　Dehart's questionable voice.

Yes, these kids are helping out at the fort: ......

　But the words could not be said until the end.
　Because an intense, oppressive feeling was directed from Dihardt.

'You're putting the child in the fight?'
　His voice was completely different from the frightened voice he had just heard. That voice was very cold. A chill ran down my spine when I heard that voice.

''I'm sorry, my lord. Due to the battle with the brave men, the troops in this fort are in short supply ....... I am sorry!

　I apologize twice.
　But when he says that, Dehart's temper calms down.

''No, I'm sorry, I don't even know what's going on over there and it's unnecessary. ......
　Dihardt says apologetically.
　I'm relieved that Dihardt's temper has calmed down.
　This man is more terrifying than the demon dragon behind him.

''These two are my children, Refald and Raily. Say hello to my lord.''
"Lefferd, my lord!
Leeli, Master Dihardt!

　Leffald and Leali greet each other with a little bite.

'You're a good kid. ......

　Dihardt thanked the child.

'Also, I'm sure everyone will be busy, so you can go back to your posts.

　Dihardt starts walking through the fort.

'Sir, I will show you the fort.
'No thanks. I'm going to take a little tour and then I'll leave. ......

　Saying that, Dihardt walked alone to look at the fort.






◆Dark Knight Kroki.

　We took a quick tour of the fort and left the fort in Glorious.

'Sounds like you were annoyed: ......

　I muttered to myself.

It's not possible. Thanks to Mr. Dihardt, those guys are alive!

　Nat let out an exasperated cry in the inner pocket of his armor.
　The demons in the fort were clearly annoyed with him. Nat was angry about that.
　Nat was right, he should have been summoned to help them. I'm sure he actually defeated the heroes and saved them.
　It honestly doesn't feel good to be called out without permission, but to be treated as evil.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea to be enjoying this world as much as Rage does.
　There were a lot of bad things said about him in the days leading up to the St. Renaria Republic. He seemed to be doing pretty much everything on his own, leaving everything to his power.
　But I don't think I could ever live like that.
　I still worry about what other people think of me. I can't live without a care in the face of hostility from others.
　That's why I thought I did my best to be polite to the demon tribe I mentioned earlier.
　However, they never welcomed me and only annoyed me.
　To be honest, the only people who welcome you in this world are Modes and Nat. But if the person who called you out to me was treated with ill-will, as expected, I would be upset.
　There may be others who would welcome you, but I don't know, so I can't think about it.
　However, there were people who were clearly trying to kill me, if only to be a nuisance to me.
　I honestly don't think I can do this.

'No problem, thanks Nat.'

　I thank him for being angry for me.

'But more importantly, where shall we fly?'

　Nodding Glorious' neck.
　When you're having a bad day, you have to do something else. In a previous world it was swinging a sword, now it's flying a dragon.
　I named it after myself. It's a word that is far from me, but I also think a name is a good idea.
　I've heard it's hard to follow a dragon, but it was surprisingly easy to follow.
　I'm going to be flying over the rooftops of the Acheron Mountains.
　I flew over this mountain once when I was given a ride by a flying dragon from that fort to near people's land. It felt better to fly by myself than to ride on someone else's back.
　The sky in Nargol wasn't very pretty, covered with magical clouds, but it was a good feeling.
　Today, however, I want to fly a little different sky.
　Flying over the high Acheron Mountains to near inhabited lands.
　According to Nat, the Acheron Mountains that we are flying over now are like a boundary line that separates the world of Nargol from the world of humans.
　However, it seems that the boundary between the Acheron Mountains and the rest of the world is not clear.
　Because of this, it was said that there was a dispute with the holy knights of Elyos over the boundary.
　The Acheron Mountains are the largest habitat of goblins in the world, and are said to be home to many goblin kingdoms.
　For this reason, you can see many goblins in the mountains when you fly through them.
　The kingdoms of these goblins, but Nargol's side of the kingdom seems to follow Modes, while the human side of the kingdom does not seem to follow Modes, there was also the possibility of being taken hostile action.
　As expected, it seems that they will not attack the dragon, but it would be better to fly a little higher just in case.
　That was when I was thinking.
　The one thing that was impossible to see on the mountainside was.

'Nat!　Isn't that a person?

　There were human-like creatures on the hillside of the Acheron Mountains.
　And those human-like creatures were being attacked by goblins.

'Glorious!

　I let Glorious down on the spot without a second thought.
　When the goblins see the dragon, they flee at once, screaming and shouting.
　I look at the humans. There were about twenty men and women there. Most of them seemed to be women or children and no adult men.
　The faces of the humans all had a look of fear on them, probably due to the dragon's roar.

''Who are you people!

　From the back of Glorious, I called out to the humans.
　But the humans are too frightened by the sudden appearance of the dragon to answer.
　It's just a little annoying.
　What is it with these people? You know you will be attacked if you enter the goblin's dwelling.
　I couldn't help myself, but maybe it was just an afterthought. Just like what happened at the fort earlier.
　However, since I've helped him, I'll at least listen to the situation.
　I get off Glorious' back and take off my helmet.
　I hear a throbbing voice from the humans.

''Humans......?''
"The Dark Knight is ...... human?

　The humans' faces seemed to soften a little when they saw their own faces.

''My name is Dark Knight Dihardt!　Is there anyone who can tell me what's going on!

　The humans buzz when they hear Dihardt's name.
　After a while, a woman comes out.
　He's still young, maybe early 20 years old. If you look closely, you can see that she is the best dressed of this group.

''Um, ...... I am ...... Princess Regena of the Kingdom of Argoa. Those here are my bloodline .......

　The woman replies falteringly.

'...... princess?　Why is that princess here?

　It didn't make sense. Aren't princesses and royalty supposed to be in the country's castles?
　Why are they in this place?
　If you ask Nat, he doesn't know about the Kingdom of Argoa. Nat only knows about the big human kingdoms, and if that's the case, then the Kingdom of Algore doesn't seem to be that big of a country.

...... We have come to this land in exile.

　Ligeena is intimidated, but she tells him what's going on.
　It seems that the Kingdom of Argoa is located near Nargol.
　It seems that the Argoa Kingdom elects a king from the powerful clans that live there.
　I've been told that the Ligena clan has been monopolizing the throne for the past few decades, but I'm not happy about that. However, other clans, unhappy with the situation, revolted. It is said that the Regena clan was defeated and exiled from the country.

"Exiled or ......

　I don't think it's more of an exile, but an execution.
　The people who started the rebellion feared that the Ligena clan would come to take revenge by regaining power in other lands. So they drove Regena and the others towards Nargol, apparently. Of course, they were anticipating that they would become food for the goblins. It's a pretty cruel method of execution.
　Lizena says with tears in her eyes, it seems that the goblins attacked the clan of about 100 men at first and this is all that is left. Apparently the adult men were the first to sacrifice themselves to protect the women and children from the goblins, including her father, the king, and her brother, who was a prince. That's why only women and children are here.

'Please. We need your help: ......

　Regena pleads with herself. According to Ligeena, the Kingdom of Argoa is not on good terms with its neighbors, and there is no country that would welcome Ligeena, who was royalty in that country. Therefore, Regena and her friends have nowhere to go. Regena and the others were exiles.
　I look at the sky and sigh.
　If it were an easy story, I would help them, but it's not. Even if I led them away from the goblin habitat to where the humans were, an exile would not be able to enter any country. If they couldn't get inside the city walls, they would just fall prey to other demons.
　You may be able to manage it if you take them to a large country where an outer city can be established, but you can't take all of Regina and the others to that point, let alone by yourself.

''Please ....... I'll do anything for you ......!

　Ligeena pleads. It must have been so bad before she came here. Her voice was faint.
　The others would bow to her.
　I knew I was in trouble.
　What should I do ....... It would be easier if I just abandoned him and ran away.
　If we leave them here, the goblins will take care of them.
　If that happens, there should be no consequences.
　Suddenly, I wonder what Rage would do there.
　I look at Ligeena. She's probably one of the most beautiful women in the world.
　Rage would definitely help her. And then he would force someone somewhere to take care of them. Using the privilege of bravery, no one would disobey, and so I would only take the delicious part. In case something goes wrong later on, he won't be responsible for it.
　I look at Ligeena.
　It bothers me a little. I think that Rage wouldn't be troubled, and then I decide.







Dark Knight Kroki.

'Sir! What does this mean!

　Inside the fort, Llanfeld shouts a protest.

'They say the fort is short of members, so I've brought my slaves with me, Lord Lanfeld.

　I say to myself, referring to Regena and her friends.
　Eventually, I took the regenas to a nearby defense post and magically moved them to the fort.
　Of course, this was to make them work in the fort.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you're in the marketplace.

''You have children, too!

　Lanfeld seemed to imply that he would be of no use.

'Gee, the fort seems to be so understaffed that we need the help of children?

　In return, he implicitly mentions the children of Lanfeld.
　There are complaints from the demon tribe in the fort.
　The demon tribe looks down on humans as lowly creatures. They asked me to let those humans work in the fort, they have every right to be dissatisfied.
　But I ignore that voice myself.

'No need to thank me, Lord Lanfeld. 'You can use my slaves as you wish. You can use them for everything from washing dishes to cleaning. But at least give them a place to sleep and some food.

　He says sullenly.
　He seems to be saying this with the fort in mind, but the truth is that he's forced Lanfeld and the others to take care of the girls.
　You can hear the demons muttering to each other not to do what they want.
　They seem to be saying it so that I can't hear them, but I could hear myself in my superhuman form.
　I'm sure there will be problems later.
　I look at Ligeena and the others. They seemed anxious, though they were explaining things in passing.
　There was a possibility that the demons would kill him without his knowledge. However, he didn't know what more he could do.
　I can't take care of them until the end. I want them to think that I'm just better off not being goblin food.

''My lord!

　Llanfeld is still protesting.

I'm sorry, Sir Runfeld. I'm sorry, but I have to return to the Demon King's Castle now, if you want to talk to me, I'll come to you later. In the meantime, I'll leave you and your slaves in charge of them, Sir Runfeld!

　I say a little harder to keep him from saying more in protest.
　It seems that Lanfeld is unable to say anything more about his own attitude.
''Then I will return to the Demon King's Castle.''

　As I say this, I ignore the disgruntled Lanfeld and ride Glorious.
　Glorious roars and soars into the sky.
　The men in the fort scream in fear.
　As soon as Glorious flies, the fort shrinks in size.
　Up in the sky, on Glorious' back, I think.
　After all, I'm just like Rage, acting as I please. And it's irresponsible.
　There will be more hostility from the demons.
　I'm not sure what will happen to Regina and the others after this.
　But if I hadn't helped them, I would have regretted it. What you've done shouldn't bother Rage like this.
　So I won't think about this anymore.
　Instead, let's think about the creation of the goddess that we will do tomorrow. That should be more fun.
　Skip Glorious, but even his own mind felt as dark as Nargol's sky.