Chapter 14: Tart Drill.

The wild dogs, as Sanders planned, charge the armored dragons at the front.
Covered in tough scales, the dragons barely notice the dogs’ attacks.
Mochika’s ice spears pierce the dogs swarming at their feet.
Shusendu, on the other dragon, uses fire magic, but it’s less effective.
Fire can’t penetrate or knock back enemies, and while it scares them, severe burns take time.
Shusendu hesitates, wary of harming the dragon—fire’s weakness in close combat, risking allies.

“Shusendu! Leave the dogs at the feet and block their flanking!” Sanders orders.

Shusendu redirects the dragon to check dogs trying to circle around.
Dogs come my way too, but I lack the strength to fight them myself, so I direct the Koketris, stronger than dogs and safe unless surrounded.
I keep them close to the hippogriff beside me, one step behind the seniors fighting on foot.

“Pedrorian! Don’t overdo it! Fall back!”

I’m guarding the horses’ left flank, where fewer dogs attack—likely because two Koketris and a hippogriff are here.
The right flank, with only Sanders and Zoldietta’s smaller hippogriff, seems an easier target, putting Zoldietta in danger.
Mochika, atop the front dragon, can’t safely support with her powerful ice spears.
I want to help, but moving my Koketris would leave this side with just one hippogriff.
I’m only coordinating with the hippogriff here; I can’t hold the line alone.
This is my first time facing dogs, let alone a pack this large, and my only knowledge of defense lines comes from past-life games.
I’ve never trained for this, and the seniors’ coded terms are gibberish to me.

“Pull Pedrorian back! Her hippogriff can’t hold!”

Zoldietta’s in trouble, but seniors safely retreat her.
The hippogriff beside me is called to reinforce her side, leaving my flank thinner.

“Aray, keep your Koketris in place. I’ll give orders when needed,” a knight-course senior says, knowing I can’t maneuver the line.

The dogs, sensing weakness, increase their assault here, but Mochika steadily thins their numbers.
A few more, and they might flee.
Koketris unleash rapid pecking attacks, their feathers cushioning dog bites.
The dogs try luring us out, darting in and out, but I hold the Koketris back to prevent them from chasing and breaking formation.
The dogs likely aim to scatter us, targeting slower or weaker prey.
We just need to stay tight and wait them out.

Just as I think we’re managing, the dogs shift tactics.
Instead of provoking the Koketris, they leap at me, riding Kurosuke.

—Targeting me now?

They’ve realized I’m keeping the Koketris in line, refusing to chase bait.
Ignoring the Koketris, they try to drag me down.
One clamps onto my left leg, but a senior with a short sword-like artifact pries it off.
Kurosuke struggles, protecting me but losing the freedom to attack around us.

Damn, is this how they got Zoldietta?

“They’re slipping through to scatter the horses! Stop them!”

A few dogs break past, but non-knight-course seniors can handle lone dogs.
However, the dogs’ breakthrough attempt ties seniors to their posts, leaving me without aid.
Kurosuke fights hard, but…

I have no close-combat weapon.
Desperately, I stomp a dog’s head and kick off another biting my leg.
Spotting a dog leaping with a body slam, I aim my artifact instinctively.
Firing [Air Burst] at this range would hit me too, but I brace in the stirrups, lower my face, and channel magic, ready for the blast.

—Huh?

No explosion.
I felt the artifact activate, but… did I miss?
Looking up, I see a dog, half its upper body gone, dead.

…What happened? No ice spear—Mochika didn’t help…

“Aray! Don’t freeze! Hit ‘em again!” a senior yells.

…My artifact? Hit them?

Confused, I fire at another lunging dog.
Its head explodes before touching the artifact.
What the hell!?
This isn’t [Air Burst]. My carved circle doesn’t have this power.
Another dog attacks, and I focus.
A conical mist forms from the artifact, shredding flesh and bone instantly upon contact.

No mistake—it’s a drill!

—Can you rewrite any magic circle?
—Easy.

…Tarte! The first shot was [Air Burst].
She rewrote the circle mid-battle without me noticing?
This toddler’s beyond broken.
But she saved me.
This drill artifact can kill with any hit—tip, side, anywhere but the tail—outmatching Mochika’s spears in lethality, with a narrow range to avoid friendly fire.
It’s perfect for me right now.

After downing six dogs, they back off, realizing the “small fry” controlling the Koketris has a one-hit-kill counter.
Leaving a few, they circle to the other side.
Are wild dogs this smart?

“Where’s the pack leader?” Sanders shouts.
“Looking!” Shusendu yells back.

“Damn! Two got through!”
“Kyaaa!”

That scream’s Kugenandes…
I hear Hana-chan too, but I can’t move.
I should’ve told Tarte to use herself as a shield—she’s tough enough.

“There! The fat black one!”
“Got it!”

Shusendu spots the leader, and Mochika attacks.
The dogs falter—bullseye.

“They’re slowing! Don’t let them escape! Take out as many as you can!”

The leader’s down, and the dogs flee.
Sanders orders maximum kills—they’re dangerous pests, not pets.
He avoids deep pursuit, keeping us together.

“Everyone okay? Kugenandes, that scream?”
“It wasn’t me…”

Kugenandes admits she screamed seeing Tarte attacked.
Tarte, sitting on the music spirit’s box, was an easy target—unaware she’s absurdly durable.
The dogs that attacked her vanished.
Kugenandes wonders where they went, but I know.
Two fat toads tremble at Tarte’s feet.
She really turned them into toads…

“Tarte… these toads…”
“Must’ve woken from hibernation with all the noise,” she says, playing dumb.

Fine, I’ll keep her cheat powers secret.
Let’s gift these toads to Sakurahime.

“Pedrorian’s hippogriff is limping. We’ll load it on the cart,” Sanders says.

Aside from Zoldietta’s hippogriff, no major injuries.
Her mount, barely standing, limps with bleeding wounds, having fought to protect her.
Zoldietta, somber, comforts it, promising a vet visit.

“Why not heal it now? Waiting might make it permanent,” Tarte asks.

Healing a hippogriff this large with human medicine could backfire.
A vet’s precise prescriptions—type, order, dosage—are safer and more effective.
Amateur drugs are weak and could interfere with proper treatment.

“Who said medicine? Make Dacapo heal it,” Tarte says, pointing at the music spirit I’ve been calling her stool.

…Dacapo?

At Tarte’s urging, I carry the music spirit to the hippogriff.
The box opens, revealing the four-armed female.

“Dacapo, show these ignoramuses what you govern,” Tarte commands.

The spirit plays a short melody three times on her xylophone.
As the final note fades into the sky, Zoldietta’s hippogriff is fully restored, as if never attacked.

“Ehhh!?”
“What!?”
“Kyaa!”

Seniors gasp, and Shusendu collapses with a short scream.

“I’m fine… just dizzy from sudden magic drain…”

Her spirit’s massive healing drained her magic without warning, causing vertigo.
Tarte, are you accounting for her master’s magic limits?

“What’s Dacapo? Isn’t she a music spirit?”
“You lump playing spirits as ‘music spirits,’ but they vary. Dacapo is the ‘return to start’ spirit,” Tarte explains.

She restores original states but can’t undo events.
A dog I killed, restored, would be a woundless corpse.
The hippogriff remembers fighting.
Dacapo, favored by the [Dawn Goddess], wields her regenerative power.

Seniors are speechless at mention of the [Dawn Goddess], one of the twelve creation gods revered by humans, dwarves, and Rolling tribes—the core of this world’s faith.
Shusendu, learning her spirit is a goddess’s favorite with such power, pales and trembles.

“What do I do? I never offered to the [Dawn Goddess]…”
“Even gods can’t change the past. Let’s pack up,” Sanders says.

He’s right—lingering risks another attack.
As seniors load the cart, I feed apples to the still-excited horses to calm them.