Toward the Dragon Subjugation

I spent the entire night apologizing to Fee. It was the only way to successfully commute my sentence: Execution by Poisoning via Object X.

As for the Object X itself—categorized as Hazardous Material—I managed to make it disappear by shoving it into Ram’s mouth. A Proper Disposal, if you will.

The Empire’s First, First, watched the process with a hint of regret in his eyes, but I chose to ignore him. He was probably thinking something along the lines of how his stomach would grow stronger if he trained it. Better not, I thought, though it was hard to say aloud. I’ll just have him do his best as Fee’s taste-tester alongside Ram.

Ram, who had initially been falling ill from the food, had reached a point where he could eat it with apparent relish and only collapse afterward. Perhaps it really was possible to train one’s stomach after all.

Though, I had a nagging suspicion that Fee’s Cooking Skill was actually leveling up faster than our resistance.

The next day, we were once again ushered into the Audience Chamber.

I would have been perfectly content if the Emperor had just handed us an individual request form. Heck, I would’ve settled for a message delivered by a lowly errand boy. Contrary to my wishes, however, the Emperor insisted on making a grand declaration before a literal army of soldiers.

“For years, we have tasted bitter defeat at the hands of the Black Dragon King. But now, we have secured the aid of these legends! From the Ninth, four of their finest! And from our neighboring Kingdom: Master Sorcerer Yuri, Poison Cook Fee, Dragon Slayer Fritz, Great Saint Emilina, Little Beast King Elu, and finally… Emergency Food—the sheep! With their combined strength, we shall surely achieve the Dragon Subjugation of the Black Dragon King!”

“Ooooooooooh!!”

A roar of cheers erupted from the soldiers.

It was a common enough tactic—over-evaluating your allies to bolster the morale of the troops. However, I had my doubts about him arbitrarily assigning us such absurdly overblown titles. Some games might include title-collecting as a completionist element, but that wasn't the case in this world. There was no mechanical bonus for having one.

If anything, the sheer embarrassment of it was a net negative.

“P-Poison…?”

Beside me, Fee looked shell-shocked. It was only natural, considering her hard work was being labeled as literal toxin. Technically, actual poison would be easier to deal with since you can at least build up a resistance to it, I thought.

Then there was the Emperor’s expression. As he uttered those titles, he looked at us with a face that practically screamed, This is the greatest gift I could give you, isn't it? I felt a sudden, intense surge of irritation.

“Now then, as their representative, Lord Yuri, would you care to say a few words?”

Why is he dumping this on me?

The eyes of the entire room locked onto me. I took a deep breath. To be honest, I had nothing to say; this had been thrust upon me so suddenly. I had only accepted the request because the Emperor asked; I had no personal stake or emotional attachment to this dragon.

I opened my mouth to offer some cliché platitude about doing our best, but at that exact moment, the doors to the Audience Chamber slammed open.

“Your Imperial Majesty! Urgent news!”

I stood there with my mouth hanging open, the timing completely ruined, as I turned to look at the messenger.

“What is it?” the Emperor demanded.

“It’s the Black Dragon King! It’s attacking!”

The celebratory atmosphere vanished instantly, replaced by a heavy, stifling dread. This was my cue.

“It’s alright,” I said, my voice cutting through the panic. “We’ve handled Dragon Subjugation requests many times before. Leave this to us and focus on protecting the Imperial Capital.”

“Then, as Emperor, I command you,” the sovereign declared. “Go, and drive away the Black Dragon King!”

“Understood.”

And so, the long, tedious events of the Audience Chamber finally came to an end. We set out to face our target.

“Is this Black Dragon King actually strong?”

I was sitting in the carriage pulled by Ram, questioning Luna and First.

“…I have never fought it directly,” First admitted.

“Luna has only seen it from a distance, too,” she added.

It seemed information was scarce. It felt wrong for a creature like that to just suddenly appear out of nowhere. Then again, problems seemed to crop up wherever we went. I was starting to suspect there might be a Mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Still, any opponent that required a lineup this distinguished to be sent out was a serious threat. I had to assume it was stronger than the Undead former Demon Lord—and perhaps even stronger than First.

Maybe it was so overpowered that they decided to cut it from the Original Game, I mused as we approached the dragon’s lair.

Suddenly, Ram called out from the front.

“I see a delicious-looking snake, meh! Can I eat it, meh?”

“Go ahead, but don’t come crying to me if you get an upset stomach.”

“It’s fine, meh! My stomach is my one true point of pride, meh!”

“Alright. As long as you can eat it while we’re moving.”

“Yay, meh!”

Ram executed a massive leap and snapped something black out of the air.

“…It’s not as tasty as I thought it would be, meh.”

“That’s because you didn't cook it. You should ask Fee to prepare it for you later.”

“I’ll do that, meh!”

With the sheep munching on his snack, we continued our trek into the unknown.