While flying low, I head towards Haranae.

Ball Rabbit rides on my head, while Adofu and two Red Ants ride on my back.
I never thought I’d receive help from Red Ants before, but things have changed.
I immediately lowered my head.

It’s nighttime. The surroundings are pitch black.
I need to get to Haranae before noon tomorrow.

Not getting spotted before arriving in Harane is the reason why I’m flying low.

【”…… Can’t you enter Haranae while being human?”】

Adofu told me that yesterday.
I had my doubts, but I agreed.

If I enter as a dragon, there’ll instantly be a commotion.
And, if that happens, we can’t get near the execution site, and the plan to let Adofu crush the Hero’s supports will never happen.
A lot of MP will be used up, but it can’t be helped.

Adofu even said “If all goes well, there won’t be a battle”.
A plan that risks lives is wasteful, so if there’s a safer one, we’ll pick that one.

With my current status, even with automatic recovery, I can stay human up to an hour at most.
Once close enough to Haranae, I’ll drop in and and use〖Human Transformation Art〗, then infiltrate inside riding a Red Ant.
I chose the two fastest available in the nest. The only problems are the margins of error.

It’s a letdown that I can’t challenge the Hero with full MP since I’ll be using up a lot of it with〖Human Transformation Art〗.
The low MP was already dangerous enough during the battle of the enemy Red Ants, but that was because my MP that time was low to begin with, and the max amount was also low.
Since MP doesn’t recover during a level up, the gap between the current MP amount and the max MP amount widens.

But, now it’s different.
This time, it’s clear that it can be settled without wasting over 1000 MP.
My MP won’t come that close anymore.

I wonder if the deadline’s changed.
The sun is rising. The deadline is when the sun is directly above us.

“…… That’s…”

Adofu mutters.
I look to Adofu’s line of sight and see a man crying with his horse.
He’s wearing thick clothes with a turban on his head. Have I seen him somewhere before?

Is that the Haranae soldier I encountered once?
I believe his name was…… what was it again?
Looking through the turban with a fine-shaped head, I remembered.
Oh, it’s Hagen.

I remember I saw his horse run away and he ended up riding a camel…… apparently, it looks like they managed to reunite.
He’s not showing signs that he’s noticed us.
Not that I care much.
If he gets involved, chances are it’ll get more troublesome.

“Why is he here……”

Adofu’s eyes widen and jawdrops.
I wonder if he’s acquainted with Hagen.
Well, they’re both warriors in the same country. Maybe they’re acquainted.

“Ah, head towards him! Please!”

Adofu excitedly said while pointing at Hagen.
He’s even losing his cool.
Could they possibly have a deep relationship?

“Irushia once said, Hagen failed to subdue the wicked dragon and died! I thought that Irushia was the one who killed him before! But, probably from a miscalculated error, Irushia missed it!”

O-… ‘kay?
What exactly do you mean?

“If Hagen is alive, Irushia’s lie will be revealed. It goes straight to the truth which cannot be deceived by any of his lies! His words, everything he says will no longer make sense! If so, then no matter how much the church will defend him, nothing will change!”

S-Seriously?
That bald old man, who knew he’s such an important element in this plan.
Finding him by chance is nice, if there was something missing from our plan, I probably missed it.
If you had told me sooner, I would’ve conducted a thorough search for him.
…… No, if Adofu thought he was dead, he wouldn’t have been able to tell me anyways.

I thought that if the former-escaped convict Adofu were to speak up, we wouldn’t entirely get through with the people.
Getting a new witness is huge. I can see the light now.

“I do not know why he missed Hagen, and mistakenly left him alone. But to us, this is a big chance.”

…… True, I am bothered by it.
If Hagen’s existence was enough to change our dire situation now, why’d they even let him run loose like this?
If everything Adofu said about that Hero is true, then I can’t imagine a guy who willingly kills other people to keep their mouth shut.

It could be a trap, but there’s just not enough information for me to make a proper judgment.
However, there are times when unusual things happen that you just can’t predict.
It’s a bit reassuring that Adofu knows more about the situation than me, so it won’t hurt to have a few extra doubts.
I’ll still remain vigilant, regardless.

And so, I changed direction, and head towards Hagen.

When I was close enough, I noticed that the horse was gravely injured and lying on the sand.
Its hind-leg was very badly misshaped and it’s still bleeding. It was probably done in by a monster.
Hagen, while putting his hand near the injury, sheds tears for his horse.

“Maria~a! Hang in there, Maria~a!”

I thought he meant someone else, but it’s probably that horse’s name.
Didn’t that horse already abandon and left him before?
Though, Hagen… doesn’t seem to mind.
He is surprisingly manly.
Maria also looks with envy at his master.

“〖Rest〗! 〖Rest〗! Aah, damn it!”

Light glows from Hagen’s palm and heals the horse’s injuries.
But, the wound isn’t closing.

Anyways, let’s get in touch with him.
After getting close enough to Hagen, I yelled “Gru~oo!” at him.

“Gya~a~aaah!”

Hagen stood up and looked back screaming.
Then after that, he abandoned his horse and ran away.
The horse stared at Hagen stunned.

…… You two make a great pair.