Chapter 87: That which was written in the history book

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Translator: Soafp

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Time goes back several days.

Christina saw the wyvern statue I had made and said with her eyes sparkling,

“Ask-sama, please make scarecrows!!”

“Huh? What's this all of a sudden?”

“As many as possible!! And make them so high quality that they can be mistaken for real people!!”

What brought this on so suddenly?

For now, I should calm Christina down with some mental magic.

“Mind Down.”

“…Huh? W-why was I getting so excited…?”

“So, Princess Christina. What's this about suddenly telling me to make scarecrows?”

“Ah, right.”

Having regained her composure, Christina looked at the wyvern statue I had made and continued.

“The thing we must be most wary of is the wyverns' rock-dropping attack. If we can avoid that, they will either flee or be forced to land and attack directly with claws and fangs.”

“True.”

“So I would like you to make scarecrows to act as decoys to avoid the first rock attack. I will then enchant them and turn them into puppets that can move as I wish. That should greatly increase the survival rate of the knights who carry out the diversion.”

… I see.

But the wyverns' eyes aren't that poor, so I don't think it'll go that smoothly.

Half-baked scarecrows will be exposed as fakes.

You're asking me to make scarecrows that could be mistaken for real humans… well, it's not impossible.

“I'm not really feeling it.”

“Not feeling it!?”

“I don't have a hobby of making figures. I'm doing this to earn pocket money.”

“Then we will pay whatever price you name.”

“Yaaay!! I'll do my best!!”

I pulled up trees and carved them into scarecrows.

To make them more realistic, I sculpted the faces of the knights and mages I had seen around the camp exactly as they were.

Each had different faces and body types, and I even carved weapons and armor from the rocks dropped by the wyverns.

What was it again… something from a history book in my previous life… ancient China's… the Terracotta Army? It was like that.

“Making a hundred a day is my limit…”

“Ask-sama, I'm the one who asked you, but making a hundred a day is already terrifying.”

“Ask has always been good with his hands, so this much is only natural.”

“Gina-sama, shouldn't you be more surprised!?”

Christina really exaggerates.

Anyone could do this much sculpture once they get used to it.

“By the way, Ask-sama, this scarecrow is…”

“It's a life-sized swimsuit version figure of Lidiel-sama. I wanted to try making one.”

“…Won't she get angry?”

“Lidiel-sama is the kind of person who'll forgive you if you apologize properly.”

“If you're planning to apologize from the start, you shouldn't make it at all!?”

Several days later, we mobilized all the knights and mages in the camp and lined up the scarecrows across the plain overnight.

Some people were reluctant to carry a scarecrow that looked exactly like themselves, but…

I don't sweat the small stuff.

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And that's how we made the scarecrows as decoys to avoid the wyverns' rock-dropping attack…

Apparently the operation was a huge success.

The wyverns dropped their rocks without realizing they were scarecrows.

What we didn't expect was that they would notice the trick so quickly afterward.

Fortunately, the mages and knights waiting in the forest near the plain held them back, which greatly reduced the danger for Christina while she went to subjugate the sea dragons.

But what really surprised me was—

“This black wyvern was unbelievably fast.”

Right after Christina wiped out the sea dragons offshore with a grand spell, a jet-black wyvern rushed at us at incredible speed that didn't match its huge body.

Good thing it was just barely within my reaction time.

I punched it in the nose on instinct and knocked it out, but if I had noticed any later, Christina would've been chomped.

“Th-thank you, Ask-sama. If you hadn't been there, I might have been killed.”

“No, please thank my mother.”

I only accompanied Christina because Gina told me to go with her just in case.

“…But you're the one who saved me, Ask-sama. Thank you again.”

“You're welcome.”

“M-more importantly!! Let's get out of here quickly before the other wyverns arrive!!”

“True.”

Having lost the sea dragons, the wyverns would have no choice but to take off and land on the plain.

After that, if the mages target that timing, wiping them out wouldn't be difficult.

Just as we were about to leave the port—

The black wyvern that should've been unconscious suddenly got back up.

“W-what, it's still alive!?”

“…I hit it pretty seriously though. Should I punch it again?”

I started swinging my fist to hit the black wyvern—

“Kyuu!!”

“…Kutama?”

“Kyuu kyuu!!”

Kutama jumped in between me and the black wyvern.

After stopping me, Kutama turned its back to me and faced the wyvern.

“Kyuu!! Kyuu kyuu!!”

“Grrrr…”

“Kyuu kyuu, kyuu!!”

“…Grrr.”

Are they talking?

I can't understand the content, but it doesn't feel like it's going to turn into a fight.

After waiting for their conversation to finish, the wyvern suddenly turned its gaze toward me.

We made perfect eye contact.

It somehow felt like I'd lose if I looked away, so we stared at each other for a few minutes—

“…Grrr.”

The wyvern lowered its head to me.

Does that mean I win because I didn't look away?

Yay, I won.

“M-maybe this wyvern has submitted to you, Ask-sama?”

“Submitted?”

“Um, it means it has sworn loyalty to you.”

“Huh?”

Hmm.

Wyverns are definitely cool, but they're not fluffy—wait?

“Kutama, come here.”

“Kyuu?”

“If I put Kutama on top of the wyvern's head—ohhh!!”

Cool and cute existing at the same time. Not bad. Actually, it's great.

“I'll ask Mother later if I can keep it.”

“Keep it!? A wyvern!?”

After that, the battle ended quickly.

Apparently the black wyvern was the leader, and all the other wyverns became docile.

After working hard to persuade Gina, she allowed it on the condition that I take proper care of it.