Danke Village’s Troubles
The men guided us to their village.
Apparently, it was called Danke. And it turned out to be much more deserted than I expected. It was practically abandoned.
There were broken fences everywhere, and the area around the entrance was burnt black.
“What happened?”
I asked. A villager answered in a discouraged voice.
“A dragon has been attacking us day after day. Just yesterday, two of our goats were taken.”
“It comes directly to the village then.”
“There is no restraint with them recently.”
“Did you say that it was a Sky Dragon? Aren’t they ancient?”“I’m no expert. However, it is not only large, but vicious and intelligent. It leads the wyverns.”
“I see. So it’s the cause of this devastation. That makes things a lot more simple. We’ll hunt it down.”
I said. And so we decided to stay in the village that night.
Capturing a dragon would be hard work, and so we would wait for it to come to us.
We placed a single goat in front of the town hall that we would be staying at. I expected that the Sky Dragon would become hungry and lured in, but that did not happen.
A day, and then two days passed. But it did not appear.
Apparently, the dragon had detected that something was not right. It was very smart indeed.
“Perhaps it really will be faster to go directly to its nest then.”
“However, it can fly. It will escape as soon as things become dangerous.”
“If it is breeding season, then it would stay in order to protect its eggs. But I doubt things will be that convenient.”
Then what should we do? I thought hard, but then one of the villagers offered some information.
“There is an old legend told in this village. In order to appease the dragon, you should send a virgin with a bottle of wine to it as a sacrifice. Apparently, after the beautiful woman got the dragon drunk from the wine, a Hero came and slayed it. That is the story.”
“So dragons are weak to alcohol.”
I then turned to Jeanne.
“Are you suggesting that I’m a beautiful woman?”
“Yes.”
I answered honestly and looked at her with every intention of offering her as a sacrifice. I wanted to give this plan a try.
And so we had a wagon filled with any drink we could find in the village, and then I ordered for it to be sent to the place that the dragon lived.
“But this Sky Dragon is smart. Will it really be fooled?”
“I believe that it didn’t come yesterday because it could detect how much magic I had. So Jeanne will lead the wagon.”
“So you are going to follow the legend?”
“Aye. After a beautiful woman has made it drunk into a stupor, we will attack.”
“How cowardly. How crafty.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
I answered, and then gave Jeanne the order.
While she would take the wine to it, she did not have to fight. She could run after that.
I explained. She did not argue and say, ‘running is for cowards!’ She now knew about strategic retreats. Well, I thought she did.
However, she did promise to run and join us as soon as she could.
“While we could attack it while it's drunk, we could also attack it while it’s chasing after Jeanne. And then we can take it down all at once as soon as we encounter it. I’ll be counting on you two when the time comes.”
I told Jeanne and Toshizou the simple plan, and they replied, ‘certainly’ with their usual expressions.
Jeanne looked like a happy dog, and Toshizou looked like a confident wolf. But they were both reliable. No part of them were afraid about facing a dragon.
While we had a general direction, which involved luring it out while using Jeanne and wine as bait, there were still details to adjust.
According to tradition, only a pure maiden could be sacrificed.
When I asked Jeanne about this, she replied angrily, ‘what insolence!’
“I am the Maid of Orleans. The purest hero in history!”
She was fuming.
“I understand that, but surely the villagers were talking about someone more helpless. An armored maiden with a great holy sword might not be what they were thinking about.”
“Oh! So my appearance is too heroic then.”
She looked a little shocked.
Just then, a young woman from the village spoke to Jeanne.
“Don’t worry, Saint Jeanne. In fact, every year we hold a festival that recreates the legend. And there is a costume that the sacrificed maiden wears.”
“Oh, that is good to hear.”
Jeanne started to take off her clothes, and so I stopped her frantically.
“Do not do something so immodest.”
“It is not immodest. I am pure in both body and soul. I have nothing to hide.”
“I admire your mentality, but you also should be aware of the eyes of others.”
“Very well. I see that you’re very possessive, Demon King.”
She said with an understanding, and pleased expression. She then went into a shed. I decided that correcting her was more trouble than it was worth.
And so we waited for nearly half an hour for her to get dressed. Toshizou started to become irritated.
“Women always take so long to prepare.”
“I won’t argue with that, but she is trying her best to look pretty. You shouldn’t complain about such things.”
“I wouldn’t complain if it were my woman. But my patience is about one third of that when it comes to that young lady.”
“I see. Maybe we could use you as a timer when we boil noodles next time.”
I joked. Just then, the door to the shed opened.
The person who came out looked even more lovelier than I was expecting.
She was all in white, as if wearing a bridal gown. But it was also surprisingly mature, and did not leave much to imagination in regards to the amount of skin that was showing.
That being said, it was still not even a little vulgar, and it only accentuated a sense of purity.
“…It’s wonderful.”
I couldn’t help but mutter. And I doubted the others disagreed. They were silent and wide-eyed.
Jeanne must have been pleased with this reaction, as she lifted the hem of her skirt and twirled.
The skirt seemed to float into the air as if she were in a grassy field and there were fairies in the wind.
The girl who dressed up Jeanne then came to me and hesitantly asked for my opinion. However, I was nothing but impressed.
“I thought she was some princess.”
I said honestly. Jeanne’s mood reached a new peak then. But Toshizou was quick to try and ruin the moment. While he admitted that she was indeed beautiful, he did not think she was very graceful.
“There is an old saying. Even a horse will look good in the right costume.”
Jeanne seemed confused.
I wasn’t sure if I should explain what he was implying, and decided not to.
She was feeling like a princess now. In her past life, she knew nothing of luxury growing up. And so I thought that she might as well enjoy this moment.
And so I lightly touched her golden hair and said,
“You look very beautiful.”
She smiled like a white lily.