This Villain Is Mine Now

Chapter 68

“I’ll go ahead.”

Lyle quickly exited the cabin.

“Colin!”

Colin, whose name was called loudly, ran over to Lyle.

“Yes, sir, what do you need?”

“How many in the order can shoot a bow?”

“Oh, since we all lived through the war, everyone knows how to shoot a bow.” Colin answered with a wry smile, as if Lyle had asked something obvious.

“Why, are we quitting the order and starting a hunting guild?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury to entertain your jokes. Assemble everyone immediately.”

At Lyle’s command, the knights, who had been packing, were summoned. With the group assembled, Lyle had Elaina explain the sachets Nathan had made. After Elaina finished her explanation, she stepped down from the platform, and Lyle took over.

When Elaina finished her explanation and stepped down, it was Lyle’s turn.

“Unpack your gear. It feels like it would be a waste to end the monster subjugation here.”

The faces of the knights, which had seemed defeated, brightened at Lyle’s words.

“There will definitely be dangerous moments ahead. Are you all willing to continue?”

“We survived over ten years on the battlefield, and now you think we’d run away just because we can’t take down a single monster?!”

One knight thumped his chest with his fist and shouted.

“Even if it means dying, let us carry out the mission properly!”

“I agree!”

“Me too!”

Voices shouted from all around. The only one who remained silent was Leo.

“Sir Bonaparte, you’ve done well until now. There’s no need for you to take on further danger.”

“Hah.”

Leo was visibly upset by Lyle’s words.

“After we’ve been through so much together, are you treating me differently now? Even if Your Grace orders me otherwise, right now I’m the commander of Grant’s knight order. What kind of commander abandons his men and runs away?”

Leo, clearly offended, stood up abruptly. “All members of the Grant knight order, you are hereby ordered to resume the monster subjugation.”

The knights ran up to Leo and hugged him, cheering loudly, though Leo protested, saying they were crushing him. His voice was lost in the din of nearly twenty knights, their joy overwhelming.

***

The more sachets they had, the better. Every person counted in gathering herbs. In the end, Elaina chose to stay in Mabel rather than return to the capital.

For her to return, three people—including Sarah and the coachman—would be required. By staying, that meant three additional personnel available to the knights.

For several days, she gathered familiar herbs. Just as Nathan had said, they were abundant, and making the sachets was not difficult.

Lyle’s plan was simple. If they continued forward through the mist, they would eventually reach the dragon’s lair. Knowing this, their next step was to launch a full-scale attack on the lair.

“Once we reach the lair, form a formation. It has—shall we call it magic? It can suddenly summon gales, so be cautious. Once the target is spotted, release arrows equipped with sachets.”

To test the strategy, they practiced on the remaining monsters. Nathan’s scent was powerful enough that just two sachets were sufficient to subdue creatures the size of a human.

The dragon, unaware of the sachets’ existence, was bound to fall into their trap. Once they set its lair on fire and retreated, the dragon, having lost its home, would be forced to leave Mabel.

The morale of the knight order continued to grow. Thanks to Elaina’s unexpected arrival, they found a way to fight back against the overwhelmingly powerful monster. Even if their enemy was truly a dragon, they believed this plan would work, and the camp was abuzz with optimism.

But Elaina couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling.

“…What’s wrong?”

Noticing her troubled expression, Lyle asked.

“It’s just… there’s something bothering me.”

“What is it?”

“Remember what you said? That the dragon seemed to give you a chance to escape. It knew the scouting party was searching for its lair, didn’t it? So, wouldn’t it also know what’s happening now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I think the dragon knows that the Grant knight order stopped packing up to return to the capital and decided to resume the monster subjugation instead.”

It had shown mercy by giving Lyle a chance to leave, yet now they were preparing a counterattack. It seemed strange to Elaina that the dragon would simply ignore that.

Lyle fell silent, contemplating her words.

“We burned the sachets immediately after use, so it shouldn’t know about them.”

Still, Elaina had a point.

“Maybe it’s just watching to see how far we’ll go.”

Lyle nodded. He then called for Leo and Colin, instructing them to put the camp on alert.

Elaina’s fears proved correct.

The uninvited guest came to the Grant knight order’s camp late that night.

***

After dinner, Elaina returned to the cabin. Since there was no separate lodging for her and Sarah, they shared the same cabin.

Just because they had eaten didn’t mean they could rest. The two continued making sachets with the herbs they had gathered.

“Will these really help?”

Sarah murmured, fiddling with a sachet. Could something as small as this truly subdue a huge dragon?

“I’m not sure either, but we have to try everything we can.”

Just as Elaina answered, the sharp sound of a bell ringing echoed from outside. Startled, Elaina stood up, and Sarah quickly grabbed her arm, shaking her head.

“It’s dangerous. Please stay inside.”

“Wait, Sarah.”

The bell rang sharply in the dead of night, sending chills down her spine. Elaina felt as uneasy as Sarah.

This was what had been bothering her all along. The dragon had trapped Lyle in the mist and, in the blink of an eye, moved him from near its lair to the edge of the knight order’s camp.

That meant the dragon knew where the Grant knight order was based.

Quickly, Elaina gathered the sachets into a basket.

“I’ll just take this over and come right back.”

“No! I’ll go instead.”

“Then let’s both go. We’ll be faster if we go together.”

Sarah shook her head, but she couldn’t change Elaina’s mind. In the end, the two of them opened the door.

Outside, the camp was in a state of emergency. Seeing the knights running back and forth, Elaina realized that something had appeared in the middle of the camp.

Elaina quickly followed the knights in the direction they were heading. And then she saw it—a stranger standing in the lit center of the camp.

His hair was a deep navy blue, like the night sky. It was long, obscuring his eyes, but a strange light seemed to shine from within his tousled hair. Though his appearance was ragged, enough to mistake him for a wandering beggar, no one present believed he was merely a drifter.

“A dragon…”

Someone muttered quietly.

It was like a rabbit standing before a wolf. Despite his gaunt frame, the man’s presence was overwhelming, giving no sense that he could be defeated.

The word “dragon” seemed to reach the man’s ears. He chuckled and brushed his hair back, revealing his eyes. Slowly, he looked around, as if counting the number of humans present.

Eventually, he shook his head, as if annoyed, like he was looking at a swarm of flies he didn’t want to bother with.

No one moved.

“Form ranks!”

Lyle’s voice cut through the air of the camp. At his commanding shout, the knights snapped to attention as if waking from a dream, looking towards Lyle.

It seemed as if Lyle was the only one truly willing to fight the dragon. He drew his sword, glaring at the creature. Only then did the knights recall the formation they had practiced to confront the dragon.

Fear in the face of an overwhelming presence was natural. But seeing Lyle’s stance, the knights found the courage to overcome their fear.

Those who picked up their bows aimed their arrows at the dragon.

“[Do you truly think you can defeat me? How amusing.]”

The man murmured something. It was an unfamiliar language, just as Lyle had said—a dragon’s language, one no human should understand.

And yet, inexplicably, Elaina understood.

She had heard this language before.

Long ago, in a dream she had since forgotten.

A chill ran down Elaina’s spine.