The Flying Dragon Knight Order.
They were a relatively recent and highly experimental addition to the royal capital's regular army.
After all, they used monsters—wyverns, no less—as mounts.
Wasn't this the first attempt of its kind, with no precedent whatsoever?
However, when the past incident in which the Hero had ridden a wyvern into battle came back into the spotlight, the royal capital began researching ways to use wyverns as mounts in earnest.
As I had mentioned before, wyverns were highly intelligent monsters.
Their intelligence compared favorably even to that of warhorses, and above all, one trait stood out because of their distinctive pack behavior.
The royal capital's scholars focused on that point.
And that trait was—
'Wyverns recognize only those whose strength they acknowledge as their leaders.'
The Hero's past feat of riding a wyvern was one such case.
The Hero, the royal capital's dog in name and deed. No, the royal capital's strongest spear.
Whatever else anyone might say, everyone acknowledged his strength.
The Hero had ultimately proven his strength not only to humans, but even to monsters.
When one thought about it, it was not particularly strange.
The instinct to follow the strong was a universal trait shared by all animals.
Wyverns simply possessed that instinct more strongly.
'What lunatic would ever think of subduing a wyvern by force, though?'
Yeah. That was me.
The Hero had done it, so why couldn't I?
I thought as I looked down at the wyvern hatchlings cradled in my arms.
Anyway, to return to the point.
The royal capital's scholars had made use of this aspect of wyvern ecology.
They succeeded in imprinting the Hero—and, by extension, knights themselves—upon the wyverns as their leaders.
As a result, the Flying Dragon Knight Order, which used wyverns as mounts, was finally born.
Its capabilities surpassed all imagination.
Naturally, until then, battles in every country had been fought solely on the ground.
Cavalry, spearmen, archers, and mage troops.
At most, they fought on horseback.
However, the appearance of the Flying Dragon Knight Order completely changed the landscape of warfare.
The battlefield had expanded into the sky.
And they possessed mobility that warhorses could not even begin to match.
That meant securing air superiority, and air superiority granted an overwhelming advantage in battle.
'We can attack the enemy, but the enemy can't attack us.'
That simple fact alone sent the Flying Dragon Knight Order's standing soaring sky-high.
Thus, every nation rushed to tame flying monsters.
It was a historic event that changed the face of warfare.
And now, back to the present.
What if the North established the Flying Dragon Knight Order first and claimed air superiority?
At least when it came to the battlefield in the sky, the North would possess an absolute advantage.
Their mobility, which warhorses could not hope to match, would be an added bonus.
That mobility could be applied not only to combat, but to distribution as well.
If it was pursued alongside the development of the North Road—
The synergy would double.
If all of this could be realized, the North would no longer be an isolated, barren land. It would instead have the perfect opportunity to establish itself as the center of distribution.
'......North Coin, to the moooon.'
Just imagining it made my chest swell.
And the spark that would start it all was—
Whine, whine. The wyvern hatchlings squirming in my arms.
'Seed money. One, two, three.......'
I swept my covetous gaze over the wyvern hatchlings with a low chuckle.
When you grow up, you're all going to bring me wealth and glory.
More than anything, one of them had yellow-and-white coloring that reminded me of Dogecoin.
Ah, are you watching?
Brother Elon Musk.
We're going to Mars.
I muttered as I pictured that suspiciously rich face of his.
Fucking bastard. You should have helped me out when I bought in, too.
Tears welled in my eyes as I recalled the bitter memories from two lives ago.
—No, fuck! Why is this droppiiiiiiing?!
You said it'd go up! You said it'd go up!
The memory of that day, when I had bawled in my room while staring at the monitor, came vividly flooding back.
For no reason, one corner of my chest felt heavy.
Anyway, that aside.
After we had traveled for quite some time on the Black Mountain Goats—
"Whoa, whoa."
Von brought his Black Mountain Goat to a stop and looked at me.
"Your Grace, we have arrived."
It was a valley some distance from the southern cliff region.
It was where the other wyvern packs he had mentioned had gone, and where the queen was believed to be.
—Hissssss.......
The valley was filled with pale fog, giving it an inexplicably eerie air.
Whatever else could be said, it certainly looked like the perfect place to conceal oneself.
Along with it, faint guttural wyvern cries drifted through the dense fog.
—Grrrrrr.......
At the sound, Von and I exchanged a glance and nodded.
At the same time, I beckoned with a flick of my hand, and Lenin and the knights who had been waiting behind me brought something forward.
—THUD.
It was none other than the black wyvern's head.
Most notably, a long sword scar ran past its right eye. It had belonged to the former overlord of the southern cliff region.
"We're going inside."
"Yes, Your Grace!"
***
With Walter in the lead, the knights—including Von and Lenin—entered the fog-covered valley.
The deeper they went, the thicker the fog became.
However, after they passed a certain point—
—WHOOOOOSH.......
The fog gradually cleared, revealing the valley hidden within.
A deep gorge reminiscent of a crevasse.
It was far deeper and larger than it had appeared from outside.
Along both sides, wyverns perched on the cliffs began revealing themselves one by one with low growls.
They soon spotted the unwelcome intruders who had entered their valley and regarded them warily.
Unlike the wyverns of the southern cliff region, however, they did not attack rashly.
That was because of the black wyvern's head in Walter's hand.
The creatures instinctively understood.
He was the strong one who had defeated their new leader.
And at the end of the lone path, deep within the valley, sat an injured white wyvern.
She was the queen—the vanquished one who had once ruled the southern cliff region.
STEP, STEP.
Walter strode boldly between the wyverns.
He walked through the gorge in a black fur coat, carrying the bloodied head of a wyvern.
His imposing figure was that of a new king.
At every step, the nearby wyverns flapped their wings in warning.
It called to mind Grand Prince Suyang from the film The Face Reader.
Did I have the face of a man destined to become king of the wyverns?
Then it happened.
Grrrrr. One wyvern standing directly beside the queen bared its fangs at Walter.
Unlike the others, it was clearly poised to attack.
It was the queen's guard.
It glared fiercely at Walter, as though it would tear him apart the instant he took one more step.
CLACK.
Von and Lenin placed their hands on their sword hilts at the same time.
"How dare you bare your fangs at His Grace?"
"Lord Walter, give the order and I will cut it down at once."
They were reassuring subordinates indeed.
However, Walter silently raised one hand.
No one was to interfere.
"......."
He had expected this much from the beginning.
No, this was exactly the situation he had wanted.
CRACK.
Walter tilted his neck with an impassive expression and stepped forward.
[Grrrrrr......Graaaaargh!]
At the same time, the creature opened its trap wide and charged at Walter.
Just before its sharp teeth swallowed him whole—
SNATCH—!
Walter thrust out his right hand, clamped it around the creature's neck, and twisted in an instant.
"Shut up."
CRRRUNCH—!
Walter tightened his grip, and the veins along the back of his hand bulged as though they would burst.
Grrk, graaaaargh! The wyvern, caught by the neck, twisted its body and continued snapping at him.
Each time, its sharp claws grazed Walter's arm and left bloody gashes.
—DRIP.
Red blood ran down Walter's forearm.
Even so, Walter did not move so much as a single step from where he stood.
SCRAAAAAPE—!
Amazingly, the attacker was the one being forced back.
Walter slowly opened his mouth.
"Do not use such strong words."
[Grrrrr, graaaaargh!]
"It makes you look weak."
CRASH—!
Walter slammed the wyvern's head into the ground.
The creature struggled for only a moment.
[Grrk, urk......khaak.......]
Before long, its body went limp and collapsed.
Walter had knocked the wyvern unconscious with a single blow.
WHOOSH—!
He flung the creature aside.
"Do not raise your voice. Do not raise your voice like that."
—THUD.
***
At that, the wyverns that had been growling warily at Walter only moments ago fell silent as the grave.
A heavy silence settled over the gorge.
Good, you bastards. Now you know how to listen.
"......."
The other knights standing behind him began whispering among themselves.
What was he saying to the wyverns?
Unable to contain his curiosity, one knight asked Lenin.
"Dame Lenin, does His Grace understand the wyverns' language?"
"Ah. He is merely posturing."
"I see."
At Lenin's answer, I applauded inwardly, impressed.
As expected of my bodyguard knight.
Exactly right.
Understand wyvern speech, my ass.
I just couldn't stand the sight of that bastard baring its fangs and challenging me right off the bat.
It had probably been saying it'd kill me if I came any closer.
So I played along.
It worked, didn't it? Cheers.
STEP, STEP.......
I walked until I stood directly before the queen.
A wyvern with scales so white they were almost piercing.
The sharply slit pupils unique to wyverns watched me.
"......."
However, only her right eye shone.
Her left eye had long since lost its function.
And it was not only her eye.
—FLAKE, FLAKE.......
Her radiant scales had been torn away in places, exposing bare flesh.
The membranes of the enormous wings that had once ruled the sky were ripped and hideously misshapen.
Even so, her gaze remained proud beyond measure.
She was truly worthy of being called a queen.
I tossed down the black wyvern's head that I had carried all this time.
THUMP.
The queen's eye trembled faintly.
The head before her unquestionably belonged to her sworn enemy.
How could she possibly have forgotten the face of the bastard who had taken her young hostage?
I spoke to Lenin.
"Bring them."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Lenin handed over the basket she had been carrying in her arms.
It was the basket containing the queen's hatchlings.
The queen's eye trembled far more violently than before.
[Grrrrr.......]
The queen, who had remained silent until now, voiced a growl for the first time.
It sounded as though the queen were asking whether I, too, intended to take her children hostage.
She let her hostility show in a low growl.
Then it happened.
THUMP.
I set the basket containing the hatchlings down on the ground.
Whine, whine. The wyvern hatchlings immediately crawled toward their mother.
"Lenin, do we have any elixir left?"
I asked Lenin.
The elixir.
It had been one of the supplies we received from the Blue Magic Tower before departing for the southern cliff region.
—Use it if His Grace ever suffers a serious injury.
—Couldn't you give us a few more while you're at it?
—Do you have any idea how much this costs?!
Just as Raphael had said, the elixir could heal nearly any serious injury.
However, it cost a fortune.
"But Your Grace is also......."
Lenin glanced at my forearm as she spoke.
Drip, drip.
Red blood still flowed down my arm.
Even so, I answered firmly.
"I'm fine."
At my words, Lenin had no choice but to take the elixir from inside her coat and hand it over.
SPLASH—!
I approached the queen and poured the elixir over her without the slightest hesitation.
—HISSSSSS.......
The queen's wounds rapidly began to close.
And it was not only the wounds.
Pop, pop. New scales sprouted over her bare flesh, and the tattered membranes of her wings returned to their former state.
Even her left eye, which had lost its light, was restored.
The effect was nothing short of astonishing.
I lowered myself onto one knee and gazed steadily at the queen.
"......."
The queen met my eyes in return.
A long silence passed between us, as though we were holding a wordless conversation.
—WHOOOOOSH.......
How much time had passed?
The moment I slowly held out my hand—
—RUSTLE.......
The queen closed both eyes, lowered her head of her own accord, and pressed her face against my palm.
The chill of her scales spread across my palm.
I grinned as I looked at the queen.
Wyverns served only those they acknowledged.
And force was not the only way to earn their acknowledgment.
This was the method I had chosen.
—RISE.
I stood and looked across the gorge.
Lenin, Von, the other knights, and every wyvern on the cliffs were all looking at me.
FWOOSH—!
The wyverns folded their wings and, just as the queen had done moments before, lowered their heads in unison and closed their eyes.
It was the moment the wyvern pack welcomed a new king.
I slowly opened my mouth.
"From now on......."
I swept my hair back and spoke.
"I will stand in the sky."
Now, the one who ruled the wyverns would rule the sky.
At my words, Von and Lenin nodded and began clapping without so much as changing their expressions.
CLAP, CLAP.
"As expected of Your Grace."
"It is profoundly moving."
"......?"
The remaining knights exchanged confused looks.
What was this? Were they supposed to clap too?
CLAP, CLAP.......
Oh, forget it.
Whatever happens, happens.
Then again, was this really the first time the North had been like this?
The knights soon gave up trying to understand, accepted the situation, and began clapping with chuckles.
Their applause echoed through the deep gorge.