Off to the Capitol
“Oh, you"re here!”
While Duke Marsfield was in high spirits, the members of Warren"s Jewelry Box didn"t give off the same feeling.
This was the Citadel City Marsfield. On this continent there are only two cities named after the families who rule them with the other being the Royal Capitol named after King Skycastle. This should make clear the rank of this n.o.ble, but for Ellis and the others, he has already become just a kindly, slightly unusual old man.
By the way it seems that Marilyn, who had gotten bored with the Hero, is now regularly squeezing energy, and ril, from the Duke, but since it has nothing to do with the girls, they don"t pry.
“Mister Marsfield, how do you plan on getting to the capitol from here?”
The Duke returned the answer Ellis was expecting from her question.
“Well, aren"t I going to be riding on the back of your dragon?”
………….
Frau purposely went out of her way to make a show of asking Fe-rin for his help.
“Lord Phoenix Dragon, we humbly beseech you.”
And Fe-rin purposely answered haughtily from Frau"s shoulder.
“Hm, however it"s impossible for an ordinary human to endure my flight. With that said, I agree to use my barrier.”
“Oh, thank you! By all means!”
With that done and the Duke warned, the party began making preparations for an immediate departure for the Royal Capitol.
The Royal Capitol is more of a castle city, and it involves thorough checks for anyone leaving the city while only the south gate is open for the general public. Naturally they thoroughly check the visas of anyone entering as well. That"s why even when you"ve arrived at the capitol, it can still take almost half a day to enter the city.
However with Duke Marsfield in tow, the party was allowed to use the gates dedicated for n.o.bles. In addition, the Duke already had some visas issued for Ellis and the girls with the Duke"s name attached.
Also, with the Duke as their companion, it was decided that a demonstration would be held with the disembarkment of the dragons which meant they would all be allowed to fly right to the gates. Duke Marsfield and Sir Chaffee had already held a meeting using the Howling Plush Toys to communicate.
“Duke, do you not need an escort?”
The chief guard pressed his concern with an anxious look on his face, but the Duke answered with a boisterous laugh.
“I need no other guards than these. They"re strong, and beauties to boot.”
As you"d expect, this laughing old man was pretty good at flattery. Feeling just a little better about all of this, the five girls directed the Duke out to the courtyard and prepared for flight.
Su-chan would be flying with Reeve, Katie, and Ah-nyan wrapped around Katie"s neck; Pi-tan would carry Claire; and Ellis would be sitting in the front on Fe-rin followed by Duke Marsfield and Frau. Rchin was still strapped on Ellis"s back, and Frau had purposely worn some half-plate armor for the ride though.
“Somehow, the feeling to the front and back is quite firm.”
The unscrupulous n.o.bleman"s true feelings ended up leaking out.
“Uncle, you keep talking about naughty things like that, and you might find yourself thrown off.”
As Frau issued out her warning, the Phoenix Dragon moved to the air. And with the shock of that movement, Duke Marsfield lost his consciousness.
“Uncle, we"ll be there soon. Were you able to rest up?”
When Duke Marsfield woke up, he saw the Royal Capitol Skycastle in the distance. Just to be on the safe side, Ellis wanted to confirm with the Duke that it was safe to land near the southern gate.
“What the, why are we here already? You all are really mean. Ah, there"s no problem if we get off down there. They"ll just be surprised at most.”
“Well then, let"s get off.”
Under Ellis"s direction, the Phoenix Dragon followed by the Storm Dragon and the Chaos Dragon in the rear slowly descended towards the highway near the Royal Capitol. The general public naturally panicked, but the guards should have heard about this in advance. They still had to fight against their fear though as they displayed their orderly movements and calmed the residents.
A crowd surrounded the dragons while keeping their distance, and two people stepped forward from that crowd. Those men were Sir Chaffee and the tax collector Robert.
Duke Marsfield, with Frau"s help, climbed down off Fe-rin"s back. As Ellis climbed off Fe-rin herself, Katie jumped off of Su-chan, and both girls released their own dragons. The Land Dragon and Frost Dragon lined up with the other flyer dragons with each girl standing next to their respective dragon.
This was Duke Marsfield"s idea, claiming that each girl standing with their dragon before the gates of the capitol would make for the best scene.
“Wahaha! That"s a good feeling!”
“Another flashy entrance Duke Marsfield? And the guardian dragons, it"s good of you to have come. I know we"ve also caused some trouble for Warren"s Jewelry Box.”
Hearing Sir Chaffee"s greeting, the people of the Royal Capitol began to stir. However that superfluous courtesy from the Lord made Rchin snap.
“That diminutive human there. I never accepted your invitation, so your thanks are meaningless.”
The other dragons all voiced their complaints as well.
“What is the meaning of you calling us like this? Perhaps this f.u.c.king idiot wants to be torn limb from limb.”
“It"s rude to make us just wait outside the castle gate. I wonder if people nowadays no longer know about common courtesy.”
“Ah, let"s just go home already Claire.”
“I"m becoming violent! Oh, it"ll be a little trouble for the soldiers there. A little stabbing will be the limit.”
Thus the situation in front of the castle gates began to fall out of control. Right now the dragons were likely to release their breath and go wild. The people were becoming confused and afraid. There was nothing that Duke Marsfield or the other two officials could do. Then suddenly, there was a feeling of intimidation in the air.
“The main performer enters the stage.”
Ellis chuckled to herself. And then, the Brave Party in serious mode appeared.
“Dragons, calm yourselves!”
The Hero Gray spit out the exact line the girls had thought he would.
“He can"t really say anything else but that here,” the girls murmured to themselves, doing their best to stifle their laughter. Then Rchin spoke, emphasizing every pre-planned word.
“Hoh, what"s inside of you humans? You"re giving off quite the air of hostility there.”
Then Fe-rin interjected himself into the conversation to start complaining towards the Hero.
“That aside Hero, you sure did go wild on me not that long ago. Have you come up with a good excuse for that since then?”
Gray shut up for a moment. Meanwhile at his rear, Dams, Peach, and Cliff were giving the crimson dragon a hostile glare.
“If you can"t remember me, then perhaps I should give you a greeting that"ll stick in your heads. Frau, if you"d please.”
“Understood Fe-rin. Hero, this is a greeting straight from the Phoenix Dragon.”
{Super High Heat Breath}
With Frau"s voice came the intense heat of Fe-rin"s breath attack, vaporizing a rock near the gate in a flash. The strange noise and smell of the stone caused the surrounding crowd to become deathly silent.
The Hero prepared for battle.
The other members of the Brave Party didn"t move a muscle.
Sparks flew from the shared glare between the Hero and Phoenix Dragon.
………….
And then Ellis slipped in.
“Hero, we haven"t seen each other in so long!”
At the same time the other three members of Warren"s Jewelry Box slipped in talking to the rest of the Brave Party with a very friendly att.i.tude.
“Well, Gise, you seem to be doing well.”
“Marionetta, are you and the Hero being all lovey-dovey?”
“We haven"t seen Peach, Dams, or Cliff in a long time either nya.”
At the same time Frau and Fe-rin worked back hostilities, offering their own polite greetings.
“There"s no payback needed here. Hero.”
With Fe-rin"s words each of the dragons changed to their miniature size and stuck themselves to their maidens. Then Ellis continued talking with the Braves while holding Rchin in her arms.
“Hero, we"re here today due to the invitation we received from the capitol. We would like to give our thanks in advance for your hospitality.”
Due to the sudden change in att.i.tude, the Hero Gray had to force himself to smile. Marionetta on the other hand had no problems linking her arm with Gray"s and happily waved to the other girls with a warm smile.
The crowd was puzzled by the sudden change in atmosphere from such open hostility to friendship, but they decided to go with the more relieving thought that the Hero and dragons were on good terms. Ellis"s group didn"t say anything more to go against that hope.
“For now we"ll sell a little flattery to the Hero while in the Royal Capitol,” was the basic policy Ellis had decided beforehand. Then, in the event that something happens, they"ll find some way to push all the blame on the Brave Party and run away. The Braves are the ones who have to live in the Royal Capitol, and the girls should be fine as soon as they manage to escape.
“So then Chaffee, Robert, please treat us well.”
The two men who had been stunned until now regained their senses and led the girls to the gate for n.o.bles. Meanwhile the crowd of people had begun cheering as they saw off the Brave Party and Jewelry Box.