dragon seed

　These creatures belong to the upper echelons of the creatures that exist on this continent.

　There are ranks for the dragon species as well, followed by lower class dragons, higher class dragons, ancient dragons, attribute kings, and divine dragons.

　The lower class dragons, such as wyverns and lesser dragons, do not have intelligence and are driven by instinct.

　The advanced dragons have intelligence but cannot communicate with each other. On top of that, there are also dragons that use magic. This advanced dragon was defeated by Zeke in the past and is displayed in his house.

　The old dragons are intelligent and can communicate with each other. And all the old dragons can use magic. It is said that the old dragons are the ones fighting alongside the heroes like in fairy tales.

　The Attribute King will be the dragon species that stands at the top of each dragon species. As the name implies, they are the top of their attribute, and are said to have lived for hundreds of years. Unlike the old dragons, this one is hardly even in the books.

　The most famous one is the water dragon in the Kingdom of Ciria. This water dragon is said to be the Water Dragon King, the pinnacle of the water elemental dragons. It's a speculation because no one has ever seen it before.

　It is said that the Attribute King can communicate, of course, and also can humanize or not. This is also not known for certain since there is no proof. It is said that the sub-human race of dragons was born from this Attribute King and the human race.

　And the divine dragons are almost entirely imaginary creatures. Everything is shrouded in mystery.

　I vaguely remembered the description of a demon book I saw a long time ago.

　According to the Pope, the Pope said that the old dragon is so powerful that a single old dragon can easily destroy a city. Instead, the old dragons rarely come out of their own dwellings, and since there aren't that many of them themselves, they weren't considered to be much of a problem, but if they appeared like this, it would develop into a major problem.

　All that's left in the capital right now are the Knights led by the Pope, the Pope and Caro, and me, Alexia, Aeris and Ferris.

　The residents in the capital headed to the Cardinal's territory, which was about five kilometers away from the capital. It seems that the territory is ruled by Christina-sama's father, not that perverted cardinal.

　After we all gathered and listened to the Pope's speech, we were about to be evacuated immediately. The reason is that we can't involve guests from various countries.

　I asked what the Pope and Caro were going to do, and they said they would stay in the palace. The Pope will be the commander and Caro will be the defender. Apparently, they always did so during the wars with the demon race and the war with the Empire.

　And the sight of the Pope and Christina-sama embracing each other powerfully as they parted was very impressive. So, me too.

Caro.

"...Ray. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that the visit had to go so poorly.

　Caro says this and looks a little sad. Caro had nothing to do with it at all. I take both of Caro's hands like that. Caro looks up in surprise, but he doesn't care about that.

"You know, King Nanor. He said he's going to announce his engagement to Alexia and the others soon.

"Ray?

I definitely don't want Caro's name to be missing when Alexia and Ferris' names are there then.

....

　Caro looks at me in silence. I turn directly to the Pope.

Under the Pope. I'm in this fight.

　I say, and Caro looks at me in surprise.

'Duh, no!　This is an ancient dragon, one of the strongest of all dragon species!　I can't believe you're fighting against that!

But Caro is going to be there, right?

'That's a given!　It's the country I was born in.

'Then you don't mind if I fight for your fiancé and the country where he was born, do you?

　When I say this, Caro looks at me with a mouthful and a stunned look on her face. I know I'm being reckless. But I can't just stand back and watch as she fights.

　As I say this to Caro, I hear laughter from the side. I look at it and see the Pope laughing hysterically.

'Hahahahaha!'　That's very nice of you to say!　It's nice of you as a father to say that for Caroline. But as the ruler of a country, it's not so easy to say it's a good idea.

　The moment the Pope says that, swords of light appear around me. About ten in all. All of those swords of light rain down on me.

　Caro shouts out in surprise, but I wear magic power in both hands and pop all the swords of light. I've been done to this degree many times by my master.

''Is this good, Pope Daishita?''

As expected of you, you are studying under Sylphid-dono. I don't have any choice, he won't listen to me if I tell him any more, so can you defend yourself as well as Ray-kun?

　The Pope was kind of reluctant to allow me to participate. However, he was surprised when Alexia, Aeris, and Ferris also said they would participate afterwards.

　The Pope, who couldn't let Alexia and the others participate, tried to stop them, but since they were all being taught by their masters, they finally pushed through.

　He even made a reminder that he would take the blame. The Pope was looking up to the heavens, but he gave up. I had to feel sorry for the Pope on this one.

　Then everyone finished evacuating and it was nighttime. The knights are running around in a hurry. We were ordered by the Pope to join in under the guise of guarding Caro.

''Ray. You mustn't just take it easy. You can run away without us or the knights if it's necessary.

　I was looking around and Caro would say something like that. There's no way I'm going to run away without Caro. I silently place my hand on top of Caro's head and crumple it.

　Caro has a troubled, happy look on her face. Alexia and the others look at us with a smile on their faces. I'll do that later.

　As I was thinking about that, the bell rings. This is.........

'Caro.'

Yeah. I think he's here.

　I've never seen a dragon before. I wonder what it looks like. Inappropriately, I'm starting to look forward to it a bit.