A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

“…Your Majesty, what exactly is going on here?”

A moment later, Marius, who had followed Lucian, asked with a stunned expression as he looked at the wyvern.

A wyvern is a monster that, once it enters a rage, goes mad until it dies.

And yet, despite two of its kind having died, it was showing such a docile attitude.

“I’m not completely sure myself either, but I suppose it’s thanks to the dragon heart. It reacts especially strongly to my magic.”

“The dragon heart has that kind of power…?”

“More importantly, if that’s the case, we’ll have to keep it alive. Isn’t there some way to treat its injuries?”

Lucian spoke while lightly tapping the wyvern’s snout, which was breathing with difficulty.

After all, he had managed to subdue a wyvern; letting it die now from the worsening of its wounds would be an unforgivable waste.

Marius put on an apologetic expression at the question.

“I’m sorry. I can help with everything else, but the field of healing is not my specialty.”

“Not even with magic?”

“It’s not entirely impossible, but healing through magic is terribly inefficient. Even in ancient times, when magic was at its peak, the field of healing was almost entirely left to alchemists.”

In other words, if magic was already of little use even for healing humans, using it on a wyvern would not accomplish much.

Lucian thought for a moment and recalled something Marius had mentioned earlier.

“Then what about potions? Would giving it a potion that works on humans be effective?”

“The effect of potions is limited to accelerating regeneration, so it should produce a healing effect without major side effects. However…”

“However?”

“Given its size, it would need a considerable amount. Also, since its injuries are burns that hinder regeneration, the effect will be somewhat weaker than with other types of wounds.”

That is to say, to truly heal it, one or two bottles would not even come close to being enough.

Even so, Lucian made an immediate decision, despite Marius’s warning.

“Send a messenger to the camp right now and have them bring all the potions we have stored.”

“Are you sure? If by chance we were to clash with the marquis’s troops…”

“It won’t happen.”

Lucian smiled broadly to reassure Marius.

“The moment that man sees this wyvern flying in perfect condition, he won’t even have the courage to face me.”

***

“I-I’ve brought the potions, Your Majesty!”

“Give them to me.”

Lucian extended a hand backward without even looking at the soldier.

The soldier, his hands trembling, passed him the bottles while doing his utmost not to look at the wyvern.

Every time those eyes moved, he felt as if his legs were about to give out.

Paying no attention whatsoever to the soldier’s effort, Lucian opened the bottles as soon as he received them.

“Open your mouth.”

— Shiiiik.

With the sound of air being exhaled, the wyvern opened its jaws, and the potions were poured directly inside.

For an ordinary person, it would have been an amount requiring several gulps, but for the wyvern it was barely something that could be called a sip.

Lucian took several more bottles from the soldier and continued pouring them in without stopping.

— Glup.

“Only three gulps? How many potions are left?”

“S-six bottles!”

The soldier answered with a pale face.

Seeing that the potions were running out faster than expected, Lucian sighed as he looked at the wyvern.

“Are you still not better? With that body, three gulps would be equivalent to at least a whole bottle for a human.”

— Grrr…

As if it had understood the reproach in his voice, the wyvern averted its gaze and whimpered softly, almost as if it were trying to appear obedient.

Lucian clicked his tongue.

“Stop making those noises. It’s disgusting.”

— Grrk.

At those words, the wyvern straightened its body immediately, as if it had never done anything.

When the wyvern moved aside, Lucian set the empty bottles down and examined the visible wounds.

The shed scales and torn skin were still there, but the mangled flesh seemed to have regenerated almost completely.

It couldn’t be said that it was fully recovered, but at least the pain must have been greatly reduced.

“Stand up.”

Creaaak.

As soon as it received the order, the wyvern rose to its feet.

Just as he had expected, aside from somewhat awkward movement, there did not seem to be any serious problem.

In particular, the wings, fully extended, were in better condition than expected.

Only the tips of the membranes were somewhat blackened.

If it wanted to, it seemed capable of taking flight at that very moment.

“Can you fly?”

— Grrk.

Lucian asked with a curious look.

Instead of words, he received a strange sound, but he understood that it was an affirmative response.

“Good. Then fly.”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lucian lightly leapt onto the wyvern’s head.

Felicia and Marius were startled and tried to stop him, but the wyvern was faster and struck the ground with force.

Boom!

The ground shook with a roar, and the enormous wyvern rose into the sky.

“Oh!”

An exclamation of amazement escaped Lucian’s lips as he beheld the vast landscape spreading out beneath his feet.

He had climbed to the top of walls many times to observe entire cities, but the sensation of flying on the back of a wyvern was beyond comparison.

“M-my god… His Majesty is riding a wyvern…!”

“It’s like seeing a dragon rider from the legends.”

While Lucian enjoyed the sky, below, soldiers and knights watched the wyvern with completely absorbed expressions.

Although a wyvern could not be compared to a dragon, the mere sight of someone riding a draconic creature was something inconceivable in this era.

Though inferior in rank to a dragon, the image of Lucian at that moment was enough to evoke ancient legends.

For her part, Felicia watched Lucian with concern and asked Marius.

“Lord Marius, is there really no problem? What if the wyvern suddenly tries to throw His Majesty off…?”

“It won’t happen.”

Marius replied firmly, without hesitation.

“A wyvern is not a cunning creature. If it must be described, it is more like a ferocious beast that acts on instinct. If it has accepted carrying its lord on its back, it will most likely obey without ulterior motives.”

“If that’s the case, I feel more at ease.”

“You can be. In fact, what worries me most is not this, but the impact that will come afterward.”

“Impact? Do you mean that riding a wyvern will be a problem?”

Felicia tilted her head, not understanding.

If they had managed to subdue a wyvern, shouldn’t it be a cause for celebration due to the increase in power?

Marius smiled bitterly at her question and explained.

“Have you ever heard the term dominion of the skies?”

“This is the first time.”

“It refers to the supremacy that allows one to control the skies, exclude the enemy, and launch unilateral attacks from above. It is a concept that disappeared long ago, because humans have almost no means to fly and attack at the same time.”

But now that Lucian had obtained a wyvern, that concept could be reborn.

They had come to control the sky and to be able to attack from above without opposition.

The problem was that the value of that dominion was far greater than one might imagine.

“In ancient times, numerous kingdoms fought fiercely over dominion of the skies on the battlefield. At times, battles were decided solely in the air, without the troops on the ground even getting a chance to brandish their weapons.”

“I don’t understand. If they couldn’t prevail in the sky, they should at least have done so on the ground.”

“From the moment dominion of the skies was lost, initiative on the ground practically ceased to matter. Even if one had the advantage on land, once the sky fell into the enemy’s hands, what followed was a unilateral massacre.”

After hearing Marius’s explanation, Felicia was left speechless.

Was dominion of the skies really that terrifying?

Unlike now, in ancient times there must have been more ways to attack aerial targets from the ground.

And yet, they had been massacred without being able to offer resistance.

“Of course, now and then are not the same. His Majesty has obtained only one wyvern, so it cannot be compared to the armies of old. However, the same applies to the enemy.”

In the present day, the methods for attacking a flying enemy are very limited.

For a creature on the level of a wyvern, they basically come down to magic or ballistae.

A wyvern could only be hunted by exploiting its instincts and luring it into a trap.

But if its rider detects the ambush and handles it skillfully,

Then from the ground there would be no way to respond, and all that would remain would be to suffer unilateral attacks.

And if the one riding it is someone on the level of Lucian, Felicia, or Marius, the danger would be even greater.

“Obtaining such tremendous power is certainly a cause for joy. But, as a precaution, I must say this: no matter how strong it is, it should not be displayed lightly to the world.”

Because power so overwhelming that it does not even allow resistance inevitably becomes the enemy of all.

***

Even after seeing with his own eyes how three wyverns crashed into the ground, Marquis Bernhardt did not give up.

Although the plan he had originally devised had been completely shattered, in exchange he had obtained another card to play.

‘I’ll take this opportunity to investigate the origin of that court mage.’

He didn’t need to hear an honest answer.

No, in fact, the more clumsy and forced the excuse was, the better.

He intended to spread it throughout the world regardless of what Lucian answered.

The lightning identical to the one the allied army had witnessed at Krephelt.

And now it turned out that, by pure coincidence, he had found and hired a mage capable of using exactly the same magic? Too much of a coincidence.

‘Once the rumor starts circulating, that man won’t have a single day of peace. All of his future diplomatic dealings will be hindered.’

He might not have managed to win even once in the west, but if the battlefield moved to the political arena, the story would be different.

For years, imperial politics had been the stage where Marquis Bernhardt moved with complete ease.

If he stirred public opinion, Lucian would have no way to respond.

However, all those thoughts vanished cleanly the instant the hunt ended and Lucian returned.

“A-a wyvern…?”

— Krrrhh.

As if responding to the marquis’s words, the wyvern forcefully exhaled through its nose.

It bared its sharp fangs without the slightest attempt at concealment, as if it were about to pounce and tear them apart at any moment.

While everyone froze in place, Lucian stepped forward and murmured.

“If I’ve frightened you, my apologies. It’s one I just tamed. I haven’t taught it manners yet, so it’s rather wild.”

“Tame? Are you saying you tamed a wyvern?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Lucian smiled at the marquis, who did not hide his bewilderment, and then grabbed the bridge of the wyvern’s snout and shook it roughly.

The marquis’s people recoiled in horror at the sight, but the wyvern offered not the slightest resistance.

On the contrary, though it seemed to be suffering, it continued to obey every movement of Lucian’s hand.

— Grrrhh.

“Look at this. Don’t you think it’s quite adorable?”

“B-but what… what in the world…?”

Marquis Bernhardt was so stunned that he could not even form words.

Two wyverns had been reduced to mere charred masses, and the only one that had survived had ended up turned into that young man’s pet.

Anger, frustration, and resentment mixed inside him, on the verge of exploding at what seemed like a divine blessing granted to Lucian.

But the words that followed managed to contain, at least for the moment, that fury.

“I suppose this is the first time you’ve seen a domesticated wyvern. If you like, I can send it over so you can touch it a bit. What do you think?”

— Grrrrrrrr.