Knight of the Divine Dragon

Dying had become a daily occurrence, and Sei spent days resurrecting as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Perhaps due to the Gift of Dark Dragon's Kin, various other Gifts had been increasing as well.

Skill levels continued to rise across the board, and level had modestly increased too. Around the time Sei could finally have a proper fistfight with Gantz.

Unusually serious, Ria was facing Sei across the chabudai.

Well, Ria often got serious about trivial things, so a serious expression itself wasn't rare.

But Carla also looked somewhat gloomy, so it seemed like there was a real problem this time.

"The heroes have teleported."

When Sei waited silently for her to continue, Ria gave a more detailed explanation.

"The country that summoned them… umm…"

"The Kingdom of Neosis."

"Right, that kingdom was destroyed by a dragon under Rana's command."

Dragons destroying entire countries. And not even a divine dragon, but a subordinate dragon at that.

"From that Kingdom of Neosis, the heroes teleported to various parts of the world."

That must have been a measure taken by the kingdom for the sake of humanity.

Heroes to fight against the evil gods. From a human perspective, it made sense to ensure their survival.

But from Sei's perspective, the "various parts of the world" part was the problem.

If they had stayed in the Kingdom of Neosis, he could have met with them all at once and immediately send back the heroes who wanted to return.

But if they'd been scattered across the world, Sei would have to travel the entire world as well.

"Serge tracked the teleportation destinations, but he couldn't follow all of them."

There were 34 points marked on a blank world map.

The numbers not matching up could mean some had teleported into a labyrinth, or disappeared in an accident. It was also possible they had Gifts that made magical tracking impossible, or Gifts that interfered with detection.

And there was one teleportation point right near this village.

"I'd like to deal with this one point ahead of schedule."

Having said that, Ria touched Sei's forehead.

"In the name of Divine Dragon Reiana, I hereby appoint you as a knight."

A faint light entered Sei. He didn't feel particularly stronger.

When Sei checked the status screen, "Knight of the Divine Dragon" had been added to the titles. What kind of chuuni naming sense is this?

"With this, you're now a knight. From now on, you should introduce yourself as Sei Christor."

Since Sei was a knight, it probably meant having a status equivalent to nobility. It felt like a harem route had just opened up.

"Also, we need to guarantee your status. Let's take care of that first."

Ria took Sei's hand and said "I'll be right back" before teleporting.

The two were standing in front of a white royal castle.

Unlike usual, Ria was clad in jet-black armor, even wearing a black cloak with a red lining.

Sei was also wearing similar protective gear. Though he didn't have the cloak.

"Huh? How?"

"I made it with infinite magic. The size should be right."

This armor looked like it was made of leather, but it was both soft and hard.

A strange description, but it didn't impede movement while still blocking attacks.

Ria proceeded toward the royal castle, and Sei followed.

Naturally, they were stopped by the guards.

"Halt! Who goes there!"

To the guard faithfully carrying out his duty, Ria showed a short sword she'd taken from her pocket.

"I am the Founder Ryukereiana. I'm coming through."

Ria's intimidation stopped the guard in his tracks.

Ria then walked into the castle. Sei followed, saying "Excuse me" as he went.

"Where is this place?"

"The capital of the Holy Ogress Empire, Manesh. This is a country I… no, we created."

Ria strode through the castle as if she owned the place.

They were stopped a few times along the way, but she used intimidation to freeze each person in place.

Eventually, she seemed to spot someone she knew.

"Oh, if it isn't Robin… You've gone bald. Where's the Emperor?"

The elderly man who was addressed had his mouth agape, but he quickly recovered.

"Founder-sama. What brings you here today?"

"I was thinking of having you make some identification documents for my disciple. Being a noble would be more convenient for various things."

"Ah, I shall inform His Majesty. He is currently attending to official business."

Ria slowly followed after the old retainer who had scurried off. Incidentally, according to Identify, this old man was apparently the empire's prime minister.

Sei's eyes were captivated by the lavish interior of the castle, but with Ria walking slowly, he didn't get lost.

Eventually, at the room they arrived at, the earlier old retainer was waiting.

Ria patted the thinning hair of the old man who bowed deeply. At that moment, his supposedly dead hair follicles came back to life.

Magic is amazing.

"Hey there, distant descendant. It's been a while."

Without even knocking, Ria opened the door and said that as she entered the room.

It was a practical room decorated with tasteful furnishings. Behind the large desk at the back sat an elderly man with sharp eyes.

According to Sei's Identify, this person was the Emperor. He had numerous skills typical of a literary bureaucrat.

"It has been a long time, Founder-sama."

Ria sat down on a sofa and had Sei sit beside her.

The Emperor stood up and sat facing Ria. The prime minister stood behind him.

"I'll get straight to the point. I want you to become this one's backer."

To Ria's blunt request, the Emperor responded quickly.

"Understood. We have one duke title available, would that suffice?"

"That should be enough. Oh, by the way, I'm going to have her travel on a mission, so make it so she doesn't have to bear the obligations of nobility. No territory needed either."

"Yes. Then, right away."

The Emperor received a staff from the prime minister and touched it to Sei's shoulder.

"I hereby confer upon you the title of Duke of Parla."

Light was absorbed into Sei. At the same time, his status was updated.

The status field had changed from commoner to Duke of the Holy Ogress Empire. His name was now Sei Christor Parla.

"Will this suffice?"

"Yes, thank you. By the way, is there anything troubling you lately?"

"Well… The buffer states between us and Garhart have seen somewhat deteriorating public order. Having too much work to do is the same as ever."

"Have you been delegating work to the Crown Prince?"

"Well, he handles things reasonably well, but…"

"You should probably gather more bureaucrats. It's not as if every Emperor needs to be as capable as you."

Sei was being shown around the court by a knight summoned by the prime minister.

Since it looked like Ria and the Emperor's discussion would drag on into political matters, he'd been told to go kill some time.

"And over here, Your Excellency, is the knights' training ground."

Being called "Your Excellency" made Sei feel like having suddenly become important. Better not let it go to one's head.

"There's quite the enthusiasm here."

"Ha, thank you."

The knights training there were all high level. The average was probably around 50.

But for some reason, Sei, who was only level 30, had higher stats and skills, and felt like being able to actually win in a real fight.

"Umm, would it be alright if I joined in?"

When he asked, the knight was surprised but ran off toward the person in charge.

The one who came was a knight who was clearly head and shoulders above the rest in strength. His level was actually 90. Sei thought this one couldn't be beaten.

"Your Excellency… do you have any combat experience?"

Without even introducing himself, the knight asked directly. Well, he already knew the name from Identify anyway.

Being looked down upon was unavoidable. Sei's current appearance was that of a teenage girl, after all.

"Actually, I don't. That's precisely why I'd like to join in."

Taking a humble approach seemed effective. Called by the knight commander, a still-young knight came over.

"Spar with His Excellency. Be careful not to cause any injuries. Your Excellency, will you be using a sword?"

"A wooden katana, if possible."

Fortunately, there were wooden katanas available. In fact, some of the knights used katanas too. Though the opponent in front of him had a blunted sword and shield combination.

"Then, let's begin."

To the opponent who raised his sword in salute, Sei also raised his katana in response.

Slow and light.

Sei circled around the opponent's attack to dodge, then struck both arms and the torso.

The opponent was level 30, the same as Sei, but it wasn't even a contest.

Looking with Identify, the gap in stats and skill levels was vast. How was he only level 30 with these capabilities?

The commander then called progressively higher-level knights, but none could match Sei.

Even against a level 50 knight, after exchanging a few blows, Sei would win. Wasn't Gantz much stronger than these knights?

A voice called out to the bewildered knight commander.

"Commander, that young lady is a Knight of the Divine Dragon and kin of the Dark Dragon. On top of that, her master is the Sword God. Ordinary knights won't stand a chance."

Emerging from the back of the training grounds was a knight whose armor was slightly different in shape.

Sei was shocked at being called "young lady," but the content of what the man said was even more shocking.

Sei had been appraised. It was noticed immediately.

When he appraised back, the opponent indeed had Identify as a skill.

And considering his stats and level, he seemed slightly stronger than Sei.

"I'll do it."

The knight took a wooden katana in hand and faced Sei.

His handling of the katana was better than Sei's. That was clear from just one exchange.

His physical abilities were also superior. And he attacked not just with the katana, but mixed in kicks and body checks as well.

It was certainly practical combat, and Sei realized something.

The attack methods Ria normally used were also based on situations that could occur in actual combat.

His opponent was slightly superior in swordsmanship skill and physical ability, but in pure combat, Sei was better.

He closed in. Dodging the opponent's body check, Sei threw him.

He lightly tapped the wooden katana against the neck of his opponent who was now face-down on the ground.

The commander groaned thoughtfully, about to step forward to face Sei himself, but a voice stopped him.

"Sei, we're leaving."

It was Ria, accompanied by the prime minister. The knights bowed to the prime minister, but Sei didn't know what to do.

"Level 90, huh? Not bad. You still have room to grow, so keep at it."

With a light tap on the commander's shoulder, Ria touched Sei's shoulder.

"Until next time."

The next moment, the two had teleported.

They were standing on a road that stretched north and south.

"By the way, Shishou, something was bothering me during those practice matches."

"Hm?"

"People who were clearly higher level than me had much lower stats. Why is that?"

"Ah, that's because base stats differ by race. For example, if a level 10 dragon fights a level 10 human, the dragon will definitely win."

"Am I… not human anymore?"

"No, you're definitely human. But by drinking my blood, your base stats have greatly increased."

"Are humans… perhaps weak?"

"They are weak, but… humans are always the ones who come up with magical innovations and weapon improvements. In the end, humans probably win."

Sei wasn't entirely convinced, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that.

"If you head north, you'll reach the dwarf village. Now, there should be one hero somewhere around here…"

"Can't we use the Map?"

"Good idea. Give it a try."

Sei used Map. A somewhat distorted circle with a radius of about 20 kilometers appeared in his mind as a map.

Are there any living humans? The Map answered Sei's question.

With Identify, blue lights moved around on the map. These must be humans.

Is there a hero? When he thought about it and appraised, there was exactly one response.

"To the south. They're stationary on the road."

"Resting maybe?"

Sei combined Map and Identify to check their condition.

"Starving."

"That's a problem."

The two broke into a run, but Sei was quickly left behind by Ria. Even so, over one hill, that person had collapsed.

They wore light armor and held a spear. Fortunately, there were no signs of being attacked by beasts. It really did appear to be simple starvation.

(Well, hopefully they're someone we can reason with…)

With both hope and anxiety, Sei ran toward the hero.