Chapter 17: The Dragon’s Calamity
One year after the defeat of the Demon King and the Four Heavenly Kings, it arrived in a world that had been enjoying a brief period of peace.
[Dragon Disaster]. Unlike monsters, this calamity is caused by dragons – the apex predators of the ecosystem known as magical beasts.
While the battle against the Demon King’s army was a war, the dragon’s onslaught is not a war but a natural disaster.
There are various types of dragons, but the one causing this disaster is the largest species called the Greater Dragon. Any town or village in its path suffers catastrophic damage.
Once it occurs, all you can do is wait for it to pass. After it’s over, it doesn’t happen again for a while. That’s the nature of this phenomenon.
However, this time there was a problem: the world’s largest city, Babylon, lay in the dragon’s path.
With its numerous massive structures and historical value, the damage couldn’t be limited to “just evacuating the residents.”
So, the King of Babylon put out an urgent request to the Adventurers’ Guild to defeat the dragon. The reward: one million gold coins. The same as for the Demon King, but the situation was that desperate.
However, the Adventurers’ Guild was short on personnel.
Many skilled adventurers had died in the first Demon King subjugation expedition, and with the decrease in monsters, many of the remaining adventurers had retired due to lack of requests.
Moreover, the opponent was a Greater Dragon. Even in the guild’s prime, it’s doubtful anyone would have accepted. Challenging a disaster-level magical beast was tantamount to suicide.
But the guild representative had one person in mind who might accept.
A man who had already retired from being an adventurer, but who would do anything for the right price.
That man was the merchant Trao.
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“We’re going to defeat the Greater Dragon.”
Trao declared to Rio and Lilith.
A year after defeating the Demon King, Trao Trading Company was thriving. It seemed there was no need to take on adventurer work anymore.
“This time, Babylon is in the Greater Dragon’s path. If left unchecked, who knows how much damage it will cause. This isn’t just about money. Historically valuable things will be lost, never to be recovered. This would be a great loss for all of humanity.”
Trao emphasized how important and noble this request was for mankind.
“…That’s all well and good, boss,”
Rio said with a dispassionate face.
“But what’s that being transported behind you?”
Behind Trao, a huge metal log-like object was being moved by a horse-drawn cart. Dominique was giving instructions for its movement.
“That’s what you and Domichan have been working hard to develop recently, right? What kind of product is it?”
Lilith asked with a smile like a stone statue – her expression when she’s angry.
“Hm? That?”
Trao began explaining happily when asked.
“That’s a product called a magic cannon, which can increase the power of magic by dozens of times. It’s an effective countermeasure against large monsters and magical beasts. The magic mirrors embedded in that tube reflect and amplify the magic, then focus it and release it towards the target. Dominique came up with the idea, but the development costs were quite high. After all, the barrel needs to be made of mithril to withstand the magic. Man, I’m glad the dragon disaster occurred at just the right time. If we tried to sell it normally, the price would be too high for anyone to consider.”
Trao was rejoicing in the dragon disaster, a calamity for humanity.
“…Why did you develop such a dangerous weapon in the first place?”
Rio couldn’t understand the point of creating a magic cannon when the world had finally become peaceful.
“Ah, I thought it was about time for a dragon disaster to occur periodically. It’s not widely known, but dragon disasters happen at certain intervals. Probably something related to dragon ecology, I think.”
“Usually, dragon disasters can be waited out, right? This time it’s a big deal because it’s going to hit Babylon directly, but is there really a need to defeat it?”
Lilith still wasn’t convinced.
“What are you saying? You know that dragons have been appearing less frequently lately, and dragon materials have been skyrocketing in the market, right? From scales to fangs, blood to meat, a Greater Dragon is like a walking treasure chest. What merchant would pass up this opportunity?”
“I think any sane merchant other than you would pass,”
Rio said, but Trao pretended not to hear it over the sound of the cart.
“Anyway, this is a big business opportunity for Trao Trading Company. We get the subjugation reward, great publicity for our new product, and dragon materials. Can you think of a better deal?”
“I think you are ignoring the risk of our life to challenge the Greater Dragon.”
Trao ignored Lilith’s point about the mortal danger of challenging a Greater Dragon, pretending not to hear it over the wind.
“Just to confirm,”
Rio looked at Trao with serious eyes.
“You didn’t lure the Greater Dragon to Babylon, did you?”
“…What do you guys take me for?”
Even Trao looked perplexed at this suspicion.
(He’s totally capable of doing that, though)
Rio and Lilith thought the same thing.
And so, Trao Trading Company set out to defeat the Greater Dragon.
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The Greater Dragon was moving through the air, flying with the wings on its back. Its body was so enormous it could cover an entire village.
To make matters worse, it was flying close to the ground, causing violent winds with each flap of its wings that blew away everything in its path.
Trees were mowed down, the ground was gouged, and human dwellings vanished without a trace.
The Greater Dragon advanced slowly, as if flaunting its existence.
Its eyes seemed devoid of will, appearing to be in a state of emptiness.
Suddenly, a pillar of light pierced one of the dragon’s wings.
Instantly losing its balance, the dragon fell to the ground, but landed firmly on its massive feet, showing no signs of damage from the fall.
The dragon glared in the direction from which the light pillar had come. Unlike before, its eyes now burned with intense anger.
Once again, a pillar of light was unleashed towards the dragon.
With agility belying its enormous body, the dragon raised its foreleg and intercepted the light pillar.
The collision of the light pillar with the dragon’s foreleg produced a thunderous roar, as if lightning had struck.
Even the dragon’s face contorted in pain. Even its foreleg, which had crushed everything in its path, couldn’t fully withstand that light.
However, with this strike, the dragon had pinpointed the source of the attack. Without delay, it gathered flames so intense they leaked from its mouth, and unleashed them all at once.
The dragon’s breath of fire. An attack so powerful it was said to be capable of incinerating an entire city.
It raced towards its target in a straight line, becoming a crimson light.
The fortification built by the Trao Trading Company was engulfed in flames in an instant.
However, it was merely engulfed, avoiding a direct hit. A hundred shields of the Aegis God were lined up in front of the fortification, successfully defending against even the dragon’s breath.
If the Aegis God had seen this, she would have lamented, “Don’t use them in such a crude manner.”
“Whew, that was close,”
Trao said with his usual friendly smile, but Rio and the others felt like they had narrowly escaped death.
“Senpai, my barrier was blown away in an instant, you know?”
Lilith said with a strained expression.
“As expected of a Greater Dragon. It lives up to its reputation as a moving calamity,”
Trao remained calm.
“Well then, Dominique. Let’s go for the third shot. Reload.”
Instructed to Reload, Dominique quickly drank a magic restoration potion, stood behind the magic cannon, and began chanting a spell.
“Isn’t this magic cannon terribly inefficient? It requires one high-grade potion for each shot?”
Rio, as a member of the company, worried about the cannon’s cost.
“Well, if we weren’t dealing with a Greater Dragon, we wouldn’t need this much magical power. Dragons are usually resistant to most magic. Considering that, we’re inflicting more than enough damage,”
Trao seemed to have anticipated this.
However, Dominique looked nauseous from drinking too many potions. As the developer of the magic cannon, she seemed determined to defeat the dragon at all costs.
And so, the third shot was fired.
Perhaps due to the previous damage, this time the dragon couldn’t move its foreleg well, and the light from the magic cannon struck its body directly.
The dragon let out a roar that shook the earth.
Naturally, it was furious. Kicking up the ground with its hind legs, it charged towards the Trao Company’s fortification at terrifying speed. Far faster than if it were flying.
“Maybe Greater Dragons don’t really need wings?”
Trao casually remarked.
“Is this really the time for that?!”
Rio was terrified by the dragon’s overwhelming momentum.
The Greater Dragon approached right in front of the Trao Company’s fortification—
And fell into the ground.
“Well, well, it’s wonderful to have unlimited necessary expenses,” Trao said.
In fact, there was a valley in front of the Trao Trading Company’s fortification. They had hastily strung numerous ropes across the valley and covered them with fabric, disguising it to look like solid ground.
Although it seemed like a simple construction, given that it needed to be large enough for a Greater Dragon to fall into, it had cost quite a budget.
Of course, the contract stipulated that the subjugation expenses would be paid separately from the reward.
“Now, let’s keep firing the magic cannon.”
The dragon that had fallen into the valley couldn’t be shot at due to the angle. They moved the magic cannon as close as possible and fired at the valley’s side.
The wall hit by the magic cannon began to collapse, raining down on the dragon.
The dragon, whose wing was damaged by the first shot, couldn’t fly away to escape. The impact of the fall left it barely able to move.
The Greater Dragon let out an agonizing roar.
It had never imagined it would die buried alive.
The valley was being filled with explosions, burying the dragon deeper and deeper.
Rio and Lilith watched the scene with pitying expressions.
Eventually, the valley was half-filled, and the dragon’s voice could no longer be heard.
“Well, all that’s left is to collect the materials. Shall we get to it?” Trao said.
In the Trao Company’s fortification, only Trao seemed lively.
Dominique was exhausted, while Rio and Lilith, having witnessed the dragon’s end, were thinking from the bottom of their hearts, “I don’t want to die like that.”
——
News of the Greater Dragon’s subjugation became a hot topic worldwide, and the Trao Company’s magic cannon sold like hotcakes. After all, it was a powerful weapon. Its presence or absence could make a significant difference in military strength.
However, it had its drawbacks.
Even Dominique, who had received divine blessings, needed to recover with a potion after each shot. If a normal magician used it, they would collapse and lose consciousness immediately.
In other words, one magician was needed for each shot.
Also, although mithril was light, the cannon was still enormous.
The Trao Company managed to transport it by throwing money at the problem, but there were significant constraints on movement, making it inconvenient to carry around.
In the end, as it was unsuitable for invasion, it came to be used as a defensive weapon against giant monsters and magical beasts.
However, it was said that the mass-produced magic cannons were intentionally designed by the Trao Company to have worse magic consumption and heavier weight.
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