Published: January 12, 2026
“The son of the Marquis Fertio family, you say? There has been no report from the marquis,” His Majesty said in a low voice to my words.
A dangerous light flickered in His Majesty’s eyes. He must be considering the possibility of rebellion by the marquis family.
The atmosphere shifted slightly, but it didn’t concern me.
“I’m not aware of any report from the marquis family, but the frontier village entrusted to that boy was a small, nameless village. When Van, the boy, went there as the lord, the villagers—only about a hundred—had nothing to protect themselves with but wooden fences they had built with their own hands.”
I began like that and watched everyone’s reaction. Most were intrigued, wondering how such a situation could lead to dragon slaying.
“Remarkably, when the boy arrived, the village was under attack by a bandit group. With a few subordinates and adventurers hired as guards, he annihilated them and protected the village.”
“Hoho. He fought a field battle at such a young age and won. That’s quite an achievement,” His Majesty leaned forward and said. A good response. I suppressed a smile and continued.
“First, as lord, the boy acted to strengthen the village’s defenses. He surrounded the village with earthen walls made from soil and rocks. He also dug a moat and repaired dilapidated houses.”
As I spoke, voices of admiration rose. Naturally so—if an eight-year-old child did all this, people would debate whether he was a prodigy or if it was a fabricated story.
I raised my voice to quiet the growing commotion.
“Furthermore, he led just a hundred people to slay forty armored lizards.”
When I said this, the uproar reached its peak. Voices challenged the truth of my words from all directions.
“Im-impossible. Even the Capital City Knight Order wouldn’t manage that so easily…”
“Was it one at a time?”
“No, it’s unlikely that armored lizards appear so regularly. Perhaps the total number slain over several years is forty?”
As I listened to the back-and-forth, waiting for the room to quiet down, the Prime Minister clapped his hands together loudly to forcibly restore calm.
“...Tell me about the village’s combat strength and the frequency of armored lizard attacks.”
I tightened my expression and lowered my chin to answer.
“The village’s forces consisted of roughly a hundred villagers, the marquis family’s knight order deputy commander and two knights, and one elderly butler who was also a magician. The rest were five adventurers. Against them, the armored lizards attacked in groups of forty at once.”
Revealing these details brought more expressions of astonishment.
“Effectively, only three knights and one magician, plus five adventurers... This hardly sounds like a fair fight. How skilled were these adventurers?”
“They are first-class, but not outstanding,” I replied. His Majesty and the Prime Minister exchanged glances and groaned.
Then the Prime Minister looked at me and spoke.
“...This story is hard to believe suddenly. Do you have any proof?”
“We have materials from the slain dragons and armored lizards. All show minimal wounds and barely any magical damage. I also participated in the dragon slaying, but only to hold them off once or twice. Ultimately, it was Van Nei Fertio, the lord, and his subordinates who achieved all the battle results without a single casualty.”
When I declared this clearly, the Prime Minister’s face grew stern, likely suspecting some embellishment.
Understandably so. If the roles were reversed, it wouldn’t be easy to believe.
“Some may doubt this report. However…”
The moment I said that, His Majesty raised one hand and spoke.
“I do not doubt you. There is no advantage in telling lies here. If a dragon was slain, plenty of materials would flood the market, and the source would inevitably be known. As for the merit of dragon slaying, if someone else claimed another’s victory as their own, that would be one thing. But what benefit would there be in reporting that someone else did it?”