Dragon.
That was the name given to the strongest of all the many species of phantom beasts in existence.
Their forms varied by species, but all possessed formidable physical bodies and vast reserves of mana. There were even tales of a single enraged dragon bringing an entire nation to its knees.
The title of "Dragon Slayer" remained a mark of heroism even in the modern age, and the threat posed by dragons was widely known among the general public.
But dragons, by their very nature, did not come to human settlements without reason.
Powerful monsters instinctively sought out Mana Material and operated along Ley Lines. At the dragon class, they established vast territories near Ley Lines and rarely strayed far from them. That was one of the reasons humans never built cities on top of ley lines.
And yet one had attacked the Imperial Capital.
At least, no dragon had come to the capital since I had made it my base of operations, but speaking from experience—as someone who had been chased around by dragons more times than I cared to admit—it wasn't entirely implausible.
Still, it made no sense for me to be dragged into this.
I was brought to a conference room in the Explorer's Guild. Probably because I was a Treasure Hunter.
The room, large enough to seat over ten, was already occupied by Gaark, Kaina, and several stern-faced men clad in the equipment of the Third Knight Order.
Gaark and Kaina were people I was indebted to, of course, but I also recognized the large man wearing the Third Knight Order's mark—green light armor over a black base. My party members stirred up trouble in the capital often enough, and this was the commander of the Third Knight Order, who always showed up when things got serious.
The Third Knight Order was the knightly order that broadly handled public safety throughout the capital and the surrounding cities, operating under the direct authority of His Majesty the Emperor.
...I'm always so grateful for their help.
Lucia, who happened to be in the Clan Master's office, had come along as my escort and now sat beside me with a sullen expression.
Once I was seated, the commander—a man with an impressive beard—spoke in a deep voice.
"You've already heard about last night's incident?"
"Before that, may I say something?"
"What is it?"
I glanced at Gaark and Kaina.
Gaark wore his usual stern expression today, though Kaina's soothing presence helped offset it somewhat.
I let out a long sigh and crossed my arms. I felt like people had been relying on me more and more lately. I didn't want to say it, but I needed to put my foot down here.
"Why was I, someone with no involvement in the incident, called in? I'm not a dragon expert, and I'm not exactly闲 free. Honestly, it's a problem if I keep getting summoned like this—"
"W-What did you say!?"
"Let me say upfront—I'm surprisingly useless. If something needs doing, you'd be better off going to Ark. I'm saying this for your own benefit. If Ark can't handle it, then sure, bring it to me..."
I wanted peace. I enjoyed watching Ark and the other Hunters in action, but participating alongside them was another matter entirely.
Lucia was staring at me sideways with narrowed eyes. But I wasn't being coy—I was genuinely useless, and besides, if Ark couldn't handle something, coming to me wouldn't help either.
"Don't you have any desire to contribute to this Empire!?"
The commander trembled with the effort it took to say that. Hearing it put that way, the coward at my core made it impossible to deny outright.
"Well, of course I do, but there's still the matter of the right person for the right job. If you want to repel a dragon, the 'Abyssal Flame Annihilator' is your best bet. For anti-dragon strategy, Silver Star Ten Thousand Thunders is far more knowledgeable. Ah, Ark is much more well-versed than me when it comes to dragons. He's a Dragon Master—I'm sure he'll ride one someday."
Though honestly, it was more that I simply didn't know much about dragons.
Ark had a good reputation with the Empire and was good-natured, so he'd manage just fine.
In other words, what I was trying to say was: stop calling me every time something happened. Call someone with actual expertise.
"What I'm saying is, please don't call me until I'm truly needed."
"Klye, cut it out."
"Yes."
Gaark—whose good opinion I, as a younger brother, needed to maintain—shot me a venomous glare and barked in a low voice.
I promptly placed my hands neatly on my lap. I just wanted to go home already.
The commander took a deep breath and spoke slowly.
"...The dragon that attacked the Imperial Palace has already been repelled. At the palace yesterday—just as you said—Silver Star Ten Thousand Thunders was present."
Oh. Then it's handled, right? Problem solved. How lucky that Ark was there.
I composed my face into a serious expression while thinking absolutely nothing useful, and the commander continued.
"The dragon came straight for the Imperial Palace. It was an adult Crimson Dragon. I consulted the texts, and this was a first—the first time this has happened since the capital was relocated to this site."
"Well, everything's a first at some point. My life is full of firsts."
"Klye, stop joking around!"
I wasn't joking, yet Gaark snapped at me anyway. Unreasonable.
Besides, practically every major incident that had occurred in the capital since I arrived had been a first. This city was cursed, wasn't it?
"We reached a consensus that the dragon must have been after something inside the palace."
"I see... that must have been terrible. ...Wait, though? If something inside the palace was the target, wouldn't the dragon have attacked long before now?"
Some dragons were known to hoard gold and silver treasures, and if their hoard was plundered, they would fly into a fury and pursue the thief to the ends of the earth to reclaim it.
Those phantom beasts possessed immense power and intelligence, but they were by no means generous. They regarded humans as nothing more than a snack of negligible value.
In other words, whatever that "something" was had very likely been transported into the palace recently.
My brilliant deduction finally drove the commander to slam his hand on the table.
"Stop playing dumb! Our conclusion is that the object in question is—the dragon egg you presented to Her Highness the Princess!"
"...Huh?"
My eyes went wide at the unexpected words.
Most dragons were oviparous, but they only laid a single egg per clutch. If that was taken, it stood to reason the dragon would rage and come to reclaim it immediately.
But that gift wasn't a dragon egg. As I had explained, it was a hot spring egg—a product literally sold under the name "hot spring dragon egg." Just one of many on the shelf, and made from a chicken egg. I furrowed my brow.
"But... that was just a hot spring egg."
"Yes! That's exactly it! We rushed to examine the gift. It was—ridiculously enough—a perfectly ordinary hot spring egg! We even confirmed the product match with the ones sold in Sulls! Do you understand—what this means?"
His face turning bright red, the commander leaned in, nostrils flaring. I gave it a moment of genuine thought.
"...So Crimson Dragons like hot spring eggs?"
"You—"
The commander's lips quivered as he nearly flew into a rage. That was when Lucia, sitting beside me, spoke in a calm voice without so much as changing expression.
"Someone was trying to frame the leader, weren't they?"
"That's... exactly right. Precisely so. And if your gift had been a genuine dragon egg, you would now be surrounded by knights. Even if the egg hadn't belonged to a Crimson Dragon, the suspicion wouldn't have been cleared. It couldn't have been."
Ah, I see. So that was how they were constructing this narrative... Educational.
The commander continued in a muffled voice.
"But you avoided that. And in doing so, you narrowed down the internal culprit. The number of people who knew that the gift you brought was described as a dragon egg is... limited. That's why I, the commander of the Third Knight Order, personally came here."
A miraculous avoidance. Had my good behavior finally paid off?
I'd never lived the kind of life where I'd actually steal a genuine dragon egg.
"I see. But I don't know who the culprit is."
"There are only a handful of people capable of artificially controlling a dragon. Thousand Transformations—do you know of the 'Fox'?"
I wished they'd stop assuming I was well-versed in common knowledge.
Still, I thought for a moment, then nodded.
"The Fox? Yeah, of course I know. ...Just to confirm, we're not talking about a regular fox, are we?"
"No. Not an animal, nor a magical beast."
As I suspected. If it was neither animal nor magical beast, there was only one answer.
This wasn't something I bragged about, but as one of my many misfortune stories, I had once encountered a fox with thirteen tails.
It was a phantom—an outrageous creature, one whose very presence transformed wherever it walked into a Treasure Hall, due to the absurd amount of Mana Material it had accumulated.
It possessed intelligence, experience, and power. It was an extraordinary being far beyond what we could have handled at the time.
The encounter had been entirely accidental. It was the kind of entity you could go your whole life wanting to meet and never find.
I barely managed to escape with my life, but that fox spirit was probably still wandering somewhere in the world as a phantom Treasure Hall.
The commander spoke as I squinted in remembrance.
"Recently, our nation has faced several crises. Some of them are believed to be the Fox's machinations."
"I see..."
...I see?
That fox possessed godlike power, but it hadn't been hostile toward humanity. If anything, it had seemed entirely disinterested.
Putting aside whether it was possible or not, it didn't seem like something that would meddle in a nation's affairs... but— As I was puzzling over this internally— "Zebuldia has grown too large. It developed by placing great value on Treasure Hunters, but not everyone is pleased about that. This incident is likely an attempt to worsen relations between the Hunters and the Empire. Planting poison in the food was far too crude a method, though."
"...Yes, that's definitely the Fox's handiwork. Framing me like this—the sheer audacity. And after I gave it so much fried tofu!"
"!? ...Leader, that's a different Fox."
"Rue attacking people was also the Fox's doing. Without a doubt. Absolutely unconscionable. I always knew I'd get back at that troublesome fox one day."
Lucia dug her elbow into my side, but it was too late.
Don't worry, that fox spirit hadn't been spotted recently and seemed to be roaming the world, so the chances of encountering it again were slim. Besides, I'd given it so much fried tofu and even groveled—I was sure it had forgiven me.
The commander wore a skeptical expression, but he seemed to convince himself well enough, snorted, and continued.
"Regardless, as the great and storied Zebuldia, we cannot afford to show weakness before their kind. Thousand Transformations—I hate to ask this of you, but the reason I've summoned you today, after all the times I've teased you, is—to make a request. I've already obtained approval from Branch Chief Gaark."
"...Eh?"
Absolutely not. I'd even turned down Lord Gradius's personally appointed commission. What could they possibly want me to do?
And for the record, I had never once teased the commander.
Well, now that the Mourning Specter had its full roster assembled, I supposed things might work out—but this was me, Thousand Transformations, a Level 8 who had bowed and scraped his way through every challenge so far.
I'd deflected every difficult commission, let alone ones that seemed merely tough. They shouldn't expect me to take this lightly.
Maybe I could pass it off to Ark? I was already scheming like the brilliant tactician I wasn't when the Third Knight Order commander placed a large trunk case on the table in front of me.
Oh come on. Did they really think money could buy me? I'd be insulted if they underestimated me like that. I was the kind of man who went into debt just to buy Treasure Weapons.
"As a reward—His Majesty has offered this to you."
With resolute determination to decline the commission, I watched as the commander slowly opened the trunk case.
Inside was a cloth of somewhat muted hue, woven in green, red, and gold.
It wasn't clothing or a cloak. It was fairly thick and decidedly luxurious. I couldn't help but widen my eyes and reach out with trembling hands to touch the fabric. The texture was silky smooth.
C-Could this possibly be—? The kind of Treasure Weapon that appeared frequently in fairy tales, famous for its rarity and how seldom it surfaced— A Flying Carpet?
My cheeks twitched as I looked up. The commander smiled for the first time since I'd arrived.