Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 102

"...Uoo..."

Instead of the expected "Wow!" or "Oh!" or even "Amazing!"—or maybe even a "Kyaa!"—what actually came out was a groan like that.

It had been almost a month since Fiora had mentioned inviting me as thanks for the treatment, but it had finally come to fruition.

It's not a place you'd normally be allowed to visit, but apparently, permission was granted relatively quickly, albeit with time restrictions. However, the real issue seemed to be her departure from the association.

Although she doesn't hold an official position, being one of the top mages of the Mesalia Kingdom's Mage Association, it seems she was quite detained from leaving the capital despite staying within the country.

I had heard about it through Seriana, and I had told her that if necessary, I could ask Liesel to intervene, but that wasn't needed. In fact, considering the guide with a badge on his robe, could it be that the association felt somewhat guilty about her departure?

Well, that's none of my concern.

Right now, it's about the cornerstone of the Royal Capital's barrier, "Ragyura's Claw."

Deep underground in a heavily guarded facility right in front of the Knights' Headquarters within the castle grounds. It's buried in the floor with several cables connected to it.

It's roughly the size of a CPU embedded in a computer motherboard.

But... a claw?

It's about the same size as me.

"It's big, isn't it? It's 1.3 meters long and weighs 82 kilograms. It's one of the front claws."

"It's bigger than me..."

I'm just a little over 120 centimeters tall and weigh just over 20 kilograms. I've grown a bit recently since I've been eating well, but I'm still small.

But still... I imagined something like a dinosaur, but is this really a monster like this?

Seriana and Elena, as well as the nobles from the eastern regions who dislike the west, I think I understand a little why now. It must be annoying to stick your nose into lands won by defeating such monsters.

"I wonder how they defeated it..."

Adult dragons have scales that block magic. To defeat them, physical attacks without magic are essential. However, since the scales themselves are very hard, only the unprotected belly area can be damaged properly. To deal damage, you have to get close and attack from within.

...Seriously?

"They said they attacked the scales endlessly, then when it cracked, they drove iron spears into it, and for months they continued to weaken it by striking it with lightning using the legendary sword 'Raijin-Ken Mesalia,' which is now considered a national treasure."

Even more seriously?

"Considering the number of sacrifices, it seems insane, but if they hadn't defeated it, Ruzel at the time wouldn't have survived, and if you think about the fact that the current Great Forest Alliance exists because they defeated it, it was the right choice."

"Oh..."

Noble history books mentioned significant sacrifices, but they didn't detail how it was defeated. They wrote about almost everything else, but they probably couldn't write this, as it's not something to be imitated.

"There are similar things in some territories east of the capital. They're probably not dragon types, but they're likely to have the land's lord as the material for the barrier."

"I see..."

Come to think of it, there were places in Zelkis Manor that were off-limits. That territory is the current frontier, so I think that must be it.

"However, it's not possible everywhere, so many territories reuse materials from demon king species defeated elsewhere. But the effect tends to diminish, and although it's rare, monsters are said to nest near the capital. With our strength, and especially with that young lady's, wouldn't she be aiming for that?"

"Hmm..."

"Demon king species become stronger the longer they live, and Ziguldt was eager, wasn't he?"

Certainly, with Ziguldt, Fiora, Luban, Alex, Elena, and even me, we're strong.

Yeah.

But wait...

Are we going to fight?

"What's wrong?"

Fiora noticed my dismay and looked at me for signs.

"Oh, it's nothing."

I'm just scared.

Is that so...?

I thought that pioneering involved mainly cutting down trees, leveling the ground, and defeating monsters, but is this also part of it?

"Are you ready?"

As Fiora was giving explanations, the guide, who had been completely silent, arrived.

"Oh? Already?"

"Yes, it's time for the changing of the guards."

"I see. Let's go, Sera."

"Yeah."

Seriously...