Food Reserves on the Dragon's Back

At night, before the alternate dragon knights went to bed, the butcher entered their barracks: "I have come to announce bad news, which may be good news for you, of course. The knight of Sarannar is dead, and he will come from you tomorrow. Choose a new knight from among them."

Everyone looked left and right in silence, exchanging worried or panicked glances. It wasn't until Saka left that the barracks exploded.

"Poor Kelsen, I heard that he was flying well, but the strap of the saddle suddenly broke, and he fell from a height of tens of thousands of feet."

"Then there is still a whole body?"

"It is said that Sarannar turned around to catch him, but the impact of the fall was too strong, and his bones were almost broken. The priests took a look and gave up the treatment."

"It's so pitiful..."

"Salanar is pretty good. If it was Harrog, he probably wouldn't even bother to turn his head."

"No, maybe I will go back and spray him again..."

Hills poked Silas and asked him in a low voice, "Hey, Silas, do you want to be picked?"

Silas's expression was as innocent as a fish on a chopping board: "It's not something I can decide whether I want it or not. Hasen, York, and Mikalan have all been waiting here for several years. Compared with us They are obviously more suitable for rookies who are trembling after hearing the dragon's roar."

"But I heard that the selection of knights is based entirely on the wishes of the dragons. If they haven't been selected for several years, it may mean that all the dragons don't like them. That is to say, we newcomers The chances are greater."

"... Then I won't be selected, because no matter how you look at it, the tender and fresh Master Sears looks better than me, right?" Silas smiled and stretched out his hand to pinch his face.

"To be serious with you, you are not serious." Hills blushed and pushed his hand away and said, "I remember you said that becoming a dragon knight has always been your dream."

"Carl said that too." Silas smiled wryly, "Didn't he escape like a rabbit."

"What about you, what do you think?" Hills looked at him seriously with blue eyes, as if he was determined to get to the bottom of this issue.

"...To be honest, I don't know either." Silas sighed, "Everything here is... not what I thought it would be."

"So, if there is a chance, do you want to go?" Hills asked him in a low voice as he moved closer.

Silas looked around nervously. The dragon knights in the barracks were all chatting in groups or sleeping soundly. No one was paying attention to them. He lowered his voice and warned his friend, "This kind of If you are suspected of defecting, don’t talk nonsense, if you let the butcher know, be careful that he will feed you to the dragon.”

"If even you betray me, I'll let the dragon eat it." Hills disagreed, "Here, the soldiers are just food for the dragon. Do you know how they deal with the bodies of brothers who died in battle? ?”

"Enough Hills, stop talking." Silas patted him on the shoulder, "I know, the reality is never as good as the story says, but do you still remember, the three of us, you and I still With Karl, we swore to become dragon knights on the same day, and we once agreed to fight side by side in the sky together, and now Karl is a deserter, I think at least one of us must fulfill this dream."

"...Well, you are always so...resolute, which is really enviable." Hills smiled helplessly, "Actually, why don't I want to fulfill that agreement, after all, I gave up inheriting the business of my uncle's house, After so much hard training, I have come to this point, not for standing guard and moving things every day. But you should think about what I just said. It is admirable to have a strong will, but often a flexible mind It is necessary for survival.”

"Maybe you're right, you always think further than I do." Silas said a little distracted.

Silas secretly guessed how a dragon would choose a dragon knight for himself. Maybe he would set up some items to test the combat capabilities of the dragon knights, or fake an accident to test the courage and loyalty of the candidates. Or simply ask them to stand in a row and smell one by one to see which one tastes better.

But what he never expected was that when he was having breakfast the next day, the butcher Saka came over and said to him in the usual tone of "you are on duty today": "Congratulations, you have been selected by Salanal, eat Go to his lair to report after breakfast. By the way, from today onwards, your name will be Kelsen."

"..." Silas stood there holding a piece of bread as if struck by lightning, and didn't react for a while.

The butcher Saka left without giving him any further explanations. As soon as the officer left, his colleagues around him cast sympathetic looks at him.

Leon, the veteran sitting next to him, patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Hey, what... At least, Sarannar is a friendly dragon."

"...Why did you choose me?" Silas was still in a daze.

"I'm afraid only Sarannar himself can answer this question." Leon looked at him sympathetically.

"And...why do I have to change my name?" Silas turned his confused eyes to Hills, hoping that this friend who always thinks further than him can answer his doubts, but Hills just looked dull, Didn't notice his question at all.

Hasen, who has been an alternate for five years, said: "Although I don't know why, every dragon knight will change to the same name after being selected by the dragon. For example, Yelan, he is the fourth one I know since I came here. Yelan. I guess, maybe the dragon doesn't have the patience and interest to remember every knight's name."

"For a newcomer like you, this may be a bit cruel, but the choice made by your friend named Karl is undoubtedly very wise. As far as I know, the chosen dragon knight has not lived for three years." Mikalan, who has been on the waiting list for four years, said, "The lucky ones died after fighting several times, and the unlucky ones were trampled to death by a dragon in only three days. Yelan has served Xiansaier for more than two years. Well, we're all counting on him to break the record."

"I've considered this issue before, but I didn't expect it to be so...cruel." Hills seemed to have finally come to his senses, and he looked at Silas with a complicated expression, "Have you ever counted, Andorcia Dragon knights are selected every two years, and every time fifty or sixty newcomers are selected, but there are only eleven dragons that can fight, which means that those extra dragon knights... all died."

Hasen nodded: "You are right, but maybe now that there is peace, the situation will change. The number of dragon knights who have died in the past few months has obviously decreased."

"However, several of them died. After all, we live in the same cave with terrifying creatures like dragons every day. Even eating and sleeping are in danger of being crushed to death at any time."

"That is to say..." Silas guessed a little in disbelief, "The dragon knights sung in the bard's stories, in fact, behind each name are many people who have gone on and on. In the end, even the name was not left behind, right..."

"It's no wonder..." Hills said, "From the perspective of morale, it is more attractive to forge such an undead hero than to list many unsung heroes."

Silas couldn't be more humorous now.

He also couldn't tell what his mood was at the moment, when he was still confused by the huge gap between ideal and reality, fate, the cunning liar, jumped out and couldn't wait to slap him again.

But no matter what, Silas, whose face was swollen and swollen by fate, still had to pack up his pitiful personal belongings, leave the barracks of the candidate dragon knights, and set off for Sarannar with the consciousness of being a food reserve cave.

"Wait a minute." Before he stepped into the lair area where no one was allowed to enter, Sears chased after him.

"Did you come here specially to express your reluctance to part with me?" Silas looked at him with a smile, "Don't be so exaggerated, okay, I just changed my place to live, and I will come down to see you when I have time Yes."

"Come with me." Hills pulled him involuntarily, and Silas struggled pretendingly, but he didn't use much force, "What's so mysterious? I'm in a hurry."

Hills pulled him to an empty corner, looked at him seriously and asked, "Have you considered what I said yesterday?"

Silas shrugged: "Is there anything to consider? My dream has come true. Congratulations."

"Are you stupid? Didn't you listen to what they said, you will die!"

"Tsk tsk, don't curse me." Silas looked at him a little strangely, "By the way, you don't seem like a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death."

"Who is greedy for life and afraid of death? From the moment I stepped into the gate of the reserve camp, I was ready to lose my life at any time, but I don't want you to die, do you understand, idiot?" At this point, Hills suddenly became excited. Get frustrated, "I like you, do you understand?"

"Hey, what a coincidence..." Silas scratched his red hair embarrassingly, "Actually... I really like myself."

"I'm not joking with you!" Hills grabbed Silas by the collar, his eyes were red with anger.

Seeing Hills like this, Silas put away his joking expression, and looked at his former friend a little confused: "Uh...do you really mean that? But, I'm a man..."

"What's the matter with men?" Hills said presciently, "Just like Rollei and Leylas in "The Legend of the Knight of Hundred Flowers", they are comrades-in-arms and lovers at the same time. How many princes and nobles and even priests do you know? Is this kind of lover?"

"Okay..." Silas, who often listened to stories in taverns, couldn't say he knew nothing about these lace scandals, but he never thought that such things would happen to him.

"So what about you, what do you think of me?" Hills looked at him anxiously.