Dragon Hunt (part 1)

Ch. III - Dragon Hunt (Rake)

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My name is Rake Ignicius.

The firstborn of the Ignicius family, son of Grand Duke Ignicius himself.

But, I am also known as 'The Paladin Hero'.

I hated that title. I feel like the word 'Paladin' fits more to a knight with a pure heart, rather than me. After all, I was never someone who was pure hearted. And I know that I can never truly deserve that title.

That title was bestowed to me from the king himself on that day.

The coronation of the Eleven Great Heroes of Ardjestyn. It was the most important event in the last five years.

That day, eleven powerful individuals from around the kingdom were called to the capital city, and were bestowed great titles by the king of the Ardjestyn kingdom himself. Each of the eleven has their own unique capabilities and specialties, but their strengths were ranked.

They had us fight one another in a really large arena, all while being watched by so many people in the capital. There were eleven of us, varying in ages and origins.

That time, I was the youngest. I was merely fifteen, and most of the other heroes are adults already. But, I defeated each and every single one of them easily, except for two who are measured to be just as strong as I am.

That day, I was bestowed the title 'Paladin Hero', and I was ranked one of the Eleven Great Heroes.

I am capable… and I am strong.

Then, what about my goals? Is becoming the great paladin hero the greatest goal of my life?

No. I hated that title anyway. This job sucks.

However, if there is a strong man like me lacking something in their lives, that something will definitely be related to other people.

My father.

Possibly the second highest ranking man in the kingdom. Grand Duke Ignicius, the man who holds the highest authority of Ardjestyn Kingdom's military as its highest general.

I became strong, to impress him.

I become the hero, to see if he is satisfied with what I can do.

But when I confronted him, the only thing he mentioned to me was…

'Continue contributing for the kingdom. That is all.'

No praises, congratulations, or anything of the sort. Those very words came from my own father, right after the rankings of the eleven heroes came out.

All I wanted was his praise… All I wanted was for him to see me…

That was the time I became loose in everything I believed. I stopped believing, I stopped caring, and I became colder to everyone for no reason.

That was three years ago. Three years later, nothing has changed.

I have never mentioned it to anyone, and I have been acting just the same as I was three years ago, when I first became one of the heroes.

I just kept the wishes hidden. Deep, within my soul.

It has been three years… nothing too big has happened.

I needed a bigger achievement… Bigger than just becoming the strongest hero. Bigger than simply being strong…

I need…

What do I need?

Even if I do obtain a greater achievement than this… will he even look at me?

The same question kept on rolling on my mind, over and over again. There is nothing else more important than that thought, and so that is the only thing playing inside my brain.

It was also rather captivating to think about, and I drifted away from reality rather easily.

But, the sound of the people around me calling for me quickly pulls me back to reality. It was rather loud and annoying, so it easily turned my attention away.

"Rake!! Hellooooo??"

As he waves his hand in front of my face, my mind returns back to reality. I turned my gaze to him, and noticed that he was already standing inside the carriage.

Did the carriage stop? Are we here?

"Oiii, you're dozing off so bad right now. I was literally calling you ten times."

The red haired guy continued calling for me, and my focus arrived even faster. I turned away from Jack and held half of my face from being ashamed.

"S-Sorry… I just have something in my mind."

"I'm guessing it's nothing important, at least not in this situation. Now come on, we have arrived."

Jack said to me as he turned around and jumped off the carriage. I also stood up, and I hopped down from the carriage to follow everyone.

There are six of us, seven if you count the carriage driver. 

And each of the six of us are part of the Eleven Great Heroes of the Ardjestyn kingdom.

"He's awakened guys, I just hope he is in shape for battle."

As we arrived at where everyone was waiting, Jack talked to them about me. Everybody turned their attention to me and Jack who was arriving, and they began to react.

Now then… let's see everybody's condition. Let's start with Jack.

Rank 10 of the eleven heroes, the Burning Flame Hero, Jack Redfrey. He is the closest person I can ever call a friend, even though I absolutely disliked him. But he has proven to be useful many times, both on the battlefield and in social situations.

Just like me, he is also the youngest one here. He is only a year older than I am, but still also the youngest in the eleven heroes. After all, everyone else was already above twenty.

The man is an absolute attention whore and has the most punchable face in the world. But, somehow everyone likes him very much.

Sometimes I'm certain this guy has some sort of charming magic that only I can deflect. I'm sure of it, I simply don't understand why people are that close to him.

I've known him for a very long time. Not only is he friendly, but he is also quite strong. I even sometimes feel envious of the things that only he can do.

"That's fine, that's fine! Rake only needed to act when it's necessary, right?"

Rank 9 of the eleven heroes, the Metal Shield Hero, Baggets Mersoul. He is the strongest tanker in the kingdom, simply proven by his gigantic muscles and body that nearly reaches two and a quarter meters tall. His entire body is always covered in armor, just so he can look cool. But everyone knows that his skin is already so much stronger than the armor he is wearing.

He is a kind one, but he always gave away a smile that seemed suspicious. Nevertheless, it's not like he has done anything bad in the past, so maybe that's just me disliking his nice attitude.

"Try not to be a dead weight today, Rake. Weights annoy me."

Rank 4 of the eleven heroes, The Legendary Swordking Hero, Arthur Bladeforce. His title literally has three words in it, making him the least important hero in all the eleven, despite ranking fourth. He is known for his absurd knowledge and instincts over sword arts and combat, making him the king of the arena when everyone in it is using swords.

But, that rule doesn't apply when I'm in the same arena. He ranked fourth only because the three other people above him are even more monstrous than he is.

He is also a big fan of mine, sarcastically speaking. Not sure why.

Hearing that toxic comment from Arthur, Jack immediately turned his attention to him.

"That was very bold of you, Arthur. Even though between you and Rake, you know very clearly which one is the weight--"

"Silence, red shit. You have no saying when it comes to skills."

"Huh!? What did you just say?"

Jack tried defending me, and the toxic sword guy turned his blade of words namely his tongue towards Jack instead. And being the explosive volcano he is, Jack obviously got mad.

"G-Guys, guys… the dragon will be too far by the time we get there."

Rank 11, The Saintess Healer, Rose Merlein. Her role is a healer, and she barely has any combat prowess. That also explains her timid behavior that she showed all the time.

As expected, the two ignored her.

"Red shit. That's what you are when you're angrily swinging your fiery blade pointlessly."

"Funny. I have never for once in my life swung my blade pointlessly, unlike you who are 'pointlessly' entitled 'Legendary Swordking Hero', which again, what a dumb title!! Lmao."

"Are you testing my patience…? Because I can show you exactly what that title is based on."

The two kept on going, and everyone else facepalmed. The Saintess is still trying to pry the two apart, but it doesn't seem to be working.

Next to me, Baggets the tanker is enjoying the scene, so he isn't much of a help either. So, I turned to the last guy who is also at the location.

Rank 6 of the eleven, the Combat Mage, Ray Exortia. He is a mage solely focused on offensive magics, with many elements in his arsenal and combat capabilities rivalling the other close range fighters. He is also widely known for his barbaric fighting style to always get close to the opponents, despite him being a mage.

And he is… just as anti-social as me. No, probably worse.

As such, him not caring for any of the scenes happening is only natural.

I let out a sigh from how annoying this situation is. I'd rather fight multiple dragons at once than deal with people, that's how much I disliked this situation.

I began moving forward, arriving right between Jack and Arthur who just stopped arguing right when I arrived.

The two stared at me, waiting for me to say something. But as I expected, my mouth couldn't move.

I'm… too shy to say anything.

"R-Rake…?"

Jack noticed me being silent even though I'm this close to them, but I turned my gaze to Arthur.

The guy stared at my blank face for three seconds before finally turning his face away.

"Tch."

While Jack noticed how I'm wearing a really uncomfortable face, Arthur simply turned around and left after letting out a really pissed sound.

H-He left just like that?

I thanked the gods for making Arthur leave just like that, because now we can continue.

To our mission location. The den of the dragon.

The six of us are heroes of the kingdom, and we were called by the king for a single very important mission. To come to the destination, and eliminate a single dragon from existence.

It was mentioned that the dragon has been killing everything around it for the past week, and that it has not left the area for a very-very long time. Our job is to exterminate it, or perhaps wound it at least badly enough so that it would leave.

But, a dragon is still a dragon. It is the most dangerous type of creature to ever exist, and the size alone is already as big as a cathedral building.

Killing it--No, wounding it… is simply impossible for normal people.

But, we aren't exactly normal people. That's why the mission was given to the six of us.

Six of the eleven strongest individuals of a kingdom against the powerful dragon that has been terrorizing this whole territory for hundreds of years. 

What could possibly happen?