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Chapter 2-2 : Appraising The Dragon
Everyone was staring at the body of Zirnitra that was floating in the air.
Queen Kushana was the first to speak out while the others were still frozen.
「…I thought it would only be a part of it… but you took out the whole thing from that small magic bag… I’m surprised.」(Kushana)
「I put it in immediately after I killed it, so I think it’s still warm.」(Mylia)
「I see.」(Kushana)
The Queen nodded several times while observing Zirnitra’s corpse, and then she returned her gaze to Mylia.
「Mylia, let me buy this dragon’s corpse.」(Kushana)
「Eh? Your Majesty, do you want to buy it? I was thinking of selling it to a monster material shop in the city but…」(Mylia)
「Ahahaha! You will make an uproar if you take out this giant corpse in the middle of the city.」(Kushana)
The Queen rarely laughs, so the scene of her laughing made the tense air in the audience room relax a little.
Queen Kushana likes capable people.
She would hire anyone who would most likely benefit the kingdom regardless of their status.
One of the reasons why she established the Royal Girls’ Academy was because she wanted to raise talented women.
Now that the kingdom was lacking talented magicians, the Queen would gladly welcome Mylia to her Royal Girls’ Academy.
However, she wasn’t aware that Mylia was extraordinary and lacked common sense at the same time.
「Ah, you’re right! I didn’t think about it.」(Mylia)
The Queen lowered her eyebrows and smiled at Mylia who gave an honest reply.
「We will definitely get good materials out of this dragon’s body. Moreover, there are a lot of magic stones on its scales… Finance minister, I leave the assessment to you.」(Kushana)
The man who seemed to be the finance minister bowed to the queen once.
He then called several people, and they started taking notes while observing the dragon’s body.
While the finance minister and his subordinates were doing their job, Mylia looked around.
The knights guarding the door looked very curious about Zirnitra’s corpse. They seemed itching to observe it up close.
On the other hand, Amnesia, who was standing among them, didn’t seem to care about Zirnitra at all. She kept looking at Mylia with worried eyes.
「”Mylia”, was it?」(female magician)
The female royal magician, who tried to stop the queen from ordering Mylia to take out Zirnitra’s corpse earlier, turned to Mylia.
「Y, Yes?」(Mylia)
「I’m Dalia de la Germell, a royal magician.」(Dalia)
「I-I’m Mylia de laー」(Mylia)
「ーI’ve heard your name earlier.」(Dalia)
Looked like Dalia had an impatient personality.
She interrupted Mylia while she was speaking.
Mylia was about to say, “I’m sorry”, but she immediately closed her mouth.
「You’re now using gravity magic, aren’t you? Where did you learn it?」(Dalia)
Dalia’s sharp eyes, that were behind her glasses, were on Mylia.
（Uhh, I can’t say that I was taught by an elven master…）
「I learned it myself. Aside from gravity magic, I also learned levitation magic to fly in the sky.」(Mylia)
「You can use levitation magic, huh? I’m impressed.」(Dalia)
「Thank you!」(Mylia)
「…Amnesia.」(Dalia)
Dalia turned to Amnesia.
「Tell me in detail how she defeated Zirnitra.」(Dalia)
「Understood.」(Amnesia)
Amnesia told Dalia how Mylia countered Zirnitra’s shockwave attack with her cat-shaped barrier, and a giant black cat popped out of the barrier and sent a powerful ‘cat punch’ to Zirnitra’s face. After that, Mylia attacked Zirnitra’s neck with explosion magic when it couldn’t move, and then cut its neck with a wind blade after the thick scales around its neck were destroyed by the explosion.
Amnesia looked kinda nervous while explaining.
She doubted that everyone would believe in absurd things like a cat-shaped barrier, a black cat who can send a dragon flying with a punch, and explosive magic that can destroy a dragon’s scales.
「ーーand that’s how she defeated Zirnitra.」(Amnesia)
「……….」(Dalia)
Dalia looked at Amnesia with doubtful eyes.
It was hard to believe, but Dalia didn’t think that Amnesia was lying.
She knew that Amnesia was an excellent and respectable person who had been appointed as an examiner by the queen herself.
「Mylia, I’m going to attack you with my magic. Block it with your cat-shaped barrier.」(Dalia)
「Huh?」(Mylia)
Mylia was confused, but a person with an impatient personality like Dalia wouldn’t wait.
She pulled out the wand from her waist and pointed it at Mylia.
「Your Majesty, may I?」(Dalia)
「Go ahead. I want to see how Mylia fights too.」(Kushana)
「Thank you very much… Mylia, are you ready?」(Dalia)
「Eh? Ehh!?」(Mylia)
「Ah, is it too difficult for you to use your cat barrier while using gravity magic? I will ask the other magicians here to lift Zirnitra’s corpse for you.」(Dalia)
「No, you don’t have to. I was just surprised. But… Are you sure you want to do this?」(Mylia)
「…What do you mean?」(Dalia)
「My cat barrier is a counter spell, so if you attack me, a cat will pop out and strike you back. I’m afraid I will end up hurting you, Dalia-san.」(Mylia)
Suddenly, Amnesia quickly approached Mylia and whispered to her.
「Hey, Mylia, you should call her Lady Germell…!」(Amnesia)
（Woops!）
「I-I’m sorry, I mean, Lady Germell…」(Mylia)
「I don’t mind. You can call me Dalia-san. And you don’t need to worry about me. I’m a royal magician, you know?」(Dalia)
While saying that, Dalia raised her glasses and smiled at Mylia.
She looked so excited.
（I feel like this person is dangerous in various ways!）
At that moment, Mylia had a feeling that she shouldn’t get involved with this person too much.
「Ready yourself! Fireballー!」(Dalia)
A fireball that was large enough to swallow Mylia was fired from Dalia’s wand.
It flew toward Mylia while making a loud sound of burning oxygen.
「She will kill that girl!」
「That girl will become charcoal! 」
「What a poor girl!」
The people in the audience room started shouting.
While hearing their voices, Mylia recalled her training with Titania and immediately imagined a cat barrier while circulating her magical power in her body.
（This person is crazy!ーー Cat-shaped defense magic, activate!）
Mylia extended her right hand forward and deployed a cat-shaped barrier.
The big fireball hit the barrier, making a loud blasting sound and causing a strong wind to blow everywhere.
The fireball pushed the barrier back a little, but then it bounced back toward Dalia and transformed into a red cat.
「ーー！！」(Dalia)
Dalia was a little surprised that her fireball turned into a cat, but she didn’t lose her cool.
She swung her wand to the side, and then the wand transformed into a sword.
「Haaー!」(Dalia)
The red cat delivered a ‘cat punch’ but Dalia managed to dodge it and then quickly cut the cat’s body in half with her sword.
Funyaaaーー……
And then the cat screamed and disappeared into thin air.
（Ehh!? She cut my magical cat with a sword!? Master never told me that you can cut magical power with a sword. How can she do that…?）
Mylia was impressed by Dalia’s sophisticated sword technique.
「….I can’t believe you can easily repel my fireball… Not only that, you even made it turn against me…」(Dalia)
Meanwhile, Dalia was also impressed by Mylia’s cat barrier.
She couldn’t hide her surprise.
「I understand now… Mylia, I’m sorry for attacking you all of a sudden.」(Dalia)
Dalia turned her sword back to a wand and lowered her head to Mylia.
「N-No. Me too. I’m sorry forー」(Mylia)
「ーNext, show me your explosion magic.」(Dalia)
「Wait, what?」(Mylia)
（At first, I thought that the queen was the scariest person here, but it looks like I was wrong!）
「I can’t use explosion magic here. It’s too dangeー」(Mylia)
「Just do it. Quick.」(Dalia)
Dalia took a stance while making a “come on!” gesture with her hand, ready to receive Mylia’s explosion magic.
（Khh, this person! Didn’t her mother ever teach her to listen to what people say!?）
Amnesia couldn’t ignore this.
She stepped forward and tried to stop Dalia.
「Lady Germell, Mylia’s explosion magic can blow a dragon’s thick scales into pieces. It has a ridiculous destructive power. This room is quite large, but I think it’s too dangerous to use it here.」(Amnesia)
「I will definitely block it, so you don’t need to worry about it.」(Dalia)
「Pardon me, I might sound rude but I don’t think you can do it… Mylia, don’t do it.」(Amnesia)
Amnesia looked at Mylia with desperate eyes.
Mylia nodded to Amnesia.
「Don’t worry, Amnesia-san. I won’t… This is not a spell to use on people, so I can’t do it. I’m sorry, Dalia-sanー I mean, Lady Germell…」(Mylia)
「I told you you can call me Dalia-san… Hahh… I understand. I will give up for now.」(Dalia)
Dalia undid the stance and pushed up her glasses with her fingers.
「However, I will ask you the same thing again the next time we meet.」(Dalia)
「A.. Ahaha…」(Mylia)
（I have to avoid her at all costs!）
Amnesia looked at Mylia and nodded, trying to tell her to be careful.
Mylia knew what Amnesia was trying to say. She nodded back at her.
「Are you done with your business?」(Kushana)
「Yes, Your Majesty.」(Dalia)
「Then, I will read the report from the finance minister.」(Kushana)
A finance officer handed a paper to a maid, and then the maid brought it to the queen on the throne.
Without changing her expression, the queen began to read it.
「I will buy the corpse of Zirnitra the elder dragon for 1,800 gold coins. Bring the gold here.」(Kushana)
（Say whaaaatー!?）
Mylia thought that there was something wrong with her ears.
She cast healing magic on her ears and asked the queen to confirm.
「Y-Your Majesty… Did you say a thousand and eight hundred…?」(Mylia)
「Hm? You didn’t hear me? Yes, I said a thousand and eight hundred gold coins.」(Kushana)
「A-A… Th-Thousand…. E-Eight… Hundweds…!?」(Mylia)
（For real…? One gold coin equal ten silver coins, so a thousand and eight hundred gold coins equal… eighteen thousand silver coins…!）
「What’s wrong? Are you dissatisfied with that? Haha! You got some nerve for a freshman. I understand. I will give you 2,000 gold coins. Is that enough?」(Kushana)
「T-t-t-t-two thouzannーー!?」
（That will be 20,000 silver coins! That’s insane!）
Mylia finally began to notice that she had done something ridiculous.