The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War
Chapter 475: 16-year-old Inglis and the Search for a Dragon God (2)

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“It can’t be helped. When two people love each other, that is bound to happen.”

Arles remained relatively composed. It might have been partly due to the worry over Rochefort’s condition putting her in no mood to think about such things, but her calm demeanor seemed to go beyond just that.

“Professor Arles… do you also…?”

Just as Rafinha was about to ask something, the door opened from the inside.

“S-, sorry ‘bout that! Kept you waiting, everyone! Come on in…”

“I’m so sorry… especially after you all came all this way…”

Lahti and Pullum peeked out with embarrassed expressions. Once inside, Rafinha immediately got to the point.

“Lahti! Listen, you know the dragon meat we handed out when we came here before? Is there any left!?”

“We need them to cure Instructor Rochefort’s illness… If you have any left, we’d really like to have some.”

When Rafinha and Inglis asked, Lahti’s expression darkened, and he shook his head.

“…! Sorry, there’s none left. We just ran out a little while ago…”

“Eeeeeh!? W-we were too late…!?”

“Then we’ll have to think of another way.”

Inglis’ expression grew serious. That said, no immediate solution came to mind.

“Wait—I got it!” Lahti clapped his hands together. “If you need dragon meat, how about I transform into a dragon and you cut off my tail?”

Lahti had consumed large amounts of meat from the Dragon God Vufailbane, and by doing so, had absorbed Dragon Roar into his body, granting him the ability to transform into a dragon himself.

Though Lahti was a Runeless—one who had not been blessed with a Rune to wield Artifacts—he seemed to have exceptionally good compatibility with Dragon Roar as a sort of compensation.

“Ehh!? I-, is that really okay, Lahti!?”

“That’s not the issue, Pullum. Inglis and the others have done more for me than I could ever repay. I’ll do whatever I can to help…!”

But Inglis quietly shook her head.

“Thank you, Lahti. But unless it’s from a dragon as powerful as Vufailbane, I doubt the meat would be effective enough to heal Instructor Rochefort.”

Though she appreciated Lahti’s spirit, they couldn’t expect results from it.

“I see… Sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“But then what should we do, Glis? How can we save Professor Rochefort…!?”

Rafinha tugged on Inglis’ arm.

“There are two possibilities, I think.”

“Two?”

“Yeah. Since Vufailbane isn’t actually dead, but was taken back to the Highland by Lord Abel after being turned into a Mecha Dragon… one option is to chase it down and cut off its tail again.”

Inglis raised one finger as she explained.

The Dragon God Vufailbane, which had been slumbering deep beneath the city of Lekrea, was turned into the core body of a Mecha Dragon God by Abel, an Archlord of the Church Founder’s Union.

It was similar to the mechanical dragons used in Illuminus, but since its base was a Dragon God, its power was on a completely different level, far beyond any ordinary weapon. Its combat strength was unimaginable. Looking back, Abel’s body itself had originally been a high-grade magical construct called High Mana Coat created by Vilkin, a scientist from Illuminus.

He must have been able to preserve his consciousness and transfer it to new bodies. That’s why, even though he had clearly been destroyed by the Black Mask of the Ironblood Chain Brigade, he hadn’t actually died.

“Since it’s Abel, he must’ve returned to the Church’s Union, right? But we don’t even know where in the Highland that dragon is.”

“If we ask Special Envoy Theodore or Mais, we might be able to get some idea of where the Church union is. If necessary, we could even have Envoy Theodore contact Lord Jill and ask him about it too.”

“W-, we might be able to figure out the location, but… if we just barge in, things won’t end with just a tail being cut…”

“Indeed. At worst, it could trigger a war involving the Church’s Union, the Duke’s Party, and even Charalia and Venefique…”

“But hey, maybe it won’t cause a war. And Instructor Rochefort’s life is on the line. Plus, I really do want to fight that Mecha Dragon God… so I’d say it’s a pretty solid plan?”

The consciousness within the Mecha Dragon God was no longer Vufailbane’s, but Abel’s. That’s why it refused to fight Inglis and instead returned to the Highland. She hadn’t forgotten how that battle had slipped through her fingers. She never would. Not ever.

“How is that a solid plan!? That’s a last resort!”

“No, no, no, I mean, at the very least we know the Mecha Dragon God exists, so aiming for that is technically the most reliable plan—”

“C-, could you please just tell us the other option first? We can decide what to do after that…”

“Yeah, you’re right, Meltina. Okay, Glis… what’s the other plan?”

“We search for another dragon god that might be sealed away somewhere besides Vufailbane.”

“There are other dragons like that one?”

“There’s no reason there wouldn’t be.”

Back in the age of her previous life, during the time of King Inglis, the only dragon she had personally seen and fought was Vufailbane, but there were other dragon legends, too.

Vufailbane had mastered the powers of blizzards and ice, but there were others, like Cruelblaze, the dragon god of blazing crimson flame, and Owlgloria, the golden dragon god who commanded trees and the earth. She had heard names of dragons of equal stature.

“Lord Abel knows the specific location of Vufailbane, so there might be information in the Highland about the locations of other Dragon Gods. At least on the Church Union’s side. As for the Duke’s Party… hard to say. But it’s worth asking, right?”

“So that means we’d ask Mais and Special Envoy Theodore again, and maybe even Lord Jill if needed… something like that?”

“Yeah, probably. Either way, whichever we choose to do, our first step is still the same.”

In response to Rafinha’s question, Inglis gave a firm nod.

"Then let's head back right away and go ask them!"

The first to stand up from their seat was Arles.

"And just in case, let’s ask about where the Mecha Dragon God version of Vufailbane went, too?"

"Let’s not ask that! You’d just run off on your own if you knew where it was, Glis!”

"I won’t do that, okay? I’m your Squire, Rani, I'll stay where you are.”

"Yes, yes. Well then, Lahti, Pullum, we’re heading back now, alright?"

"Yeah. I wish you could’ve stayed longer, but I guess it can’t be helped."

"Rafinha, everyone, please come visit again sometime!"

"Yeah! Until then, you two make sure to get along—well, not that I needed to say that…"

Rafinha blushes as she recalls something.

"R-right…"

"It’s not really our place to say…"

"M-might be presumptuous of us…"

Once again, everyone goes a little red in the face, glancing up and down awkwardly.

"Let’s go already, Professor Arles!" Inglis quickly grabs Arles’ hand.

"Ah—r-right!"

Any more of this and it really wouldn't be good for Rafinha's upbringing.

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