When I was working as a civil servant, I was found out to be a muscle-brained knight by the princess knight and got sent to the front lines - Episode 97

Episode 97

Just a few minutes before Jez’s unexpected debut on national television in another world…

Things were getting noisy near the entrance of the Okutama Dungeon, where Jez had been keeping himself hidden. It had been almost an hour since the seven members of the team had entered the dungeon, leaving behind three others who remained on alert. These three occasionally communicated with someone via the radio inside their vehicles.

Jez enhanced his hearing with magic, hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation. This type of magic, a form of physical enhancement, literally heightens one’s hearing. However, it isn’t so convenient as to allow the user to selectively filter specific sounds. The enhancement amplifies everything—distant voices as well as ambient noise. So, after only catching bits of their conversation, Jez deactivated the spell. Any longer, and his ears might have been overwhelmed.

Nevertheless, he managed to glean some valuable information, the most significant being that they were speaking Japanese. It was pretty much a given with the signs he had seen earlier had already hinted at this. The heavily armed team conversed fully in Japanese. It touched Jez quite a bit.

For some context, the Tashman Kingdom where Jez and his comrades hail from, along with most of the human realm, bears linguistic and ethnic similarities to the Indo-European language family found in the world of Earth. The Tashman Kingdom, being a frontier nation that governs a vast territory, is made up of a diverse array of peoples. If one were to compare it to Earth, the royal family and those around the capital would resemble Southern Europeans, the Norman family and those from the northern frontlines would resemble Scandinavians, and those in the southern frontlines would resemble people from the Middle East.

People like René from the royal family and Lilly give off the impression of being European Caucasians, while Jez and the Norman family are predominantly blonde, resembling Scandinavians. Characters like Jamil and Fatima are more like Iranians, while Lucretia and Edelmar have a more Latin appearance. As a side note, Jamil is particularly stunning in appearance.

That said, the Tashman Kingdom has very few people of Asian descent, at least in the context of Earth. Returning to the current situation, Jez deduced from the conversation of the three remaining team members that they were in Japan. The individuals were referred to as “explorers,” and that they had come to check on a phenomenon called the “Dungeon Quake”. Additionally, Jez was lucky enough to overhear the year—2024. It seemed reasonable to assume that this world was a parallel version of the Japan he once knew, even if some elements were different. Still, it was a time period he was familiar with, and there might be similarities.

While Jez was pondering all of this, two of the team members suddenly rushed out of the dungeon. If he recalled correctly, seven had gone in… What was going on?

Curious, Jez once again briefly activated his hearing enhancement magic, learning that a dragon had appeared inside the dungeon. The remaining team members were scrambling to contact various parties, trying to deal with the situation.

Now, what should he do? The safest option would be to grab René and make a run for it. But what would that accomplish? Would they survive by hiding out in Okutama? That seemed like a foolish plan.

Even if they managed to blend into society, this modern Japan was different. How would two obvious foreigners, without passports or any form of identification, survive here? From the conversations he’d overheard, it sounded like hunting monsters in dungeons could earn them money. But how would they even exchange the monsters they hunted for cash? Surely, becoming an explorer would require some kind of ID.

Without money, they couldn’t afford food, clothing, or even a place to stay. Plus, Jez suspected that their current clothing would look strange in modern Japan. He then had a sudden realization—perhaps the reason so many stories about world-hopping involve being sent to a medieval-like world is because it’s easier to fit into such a society. He now understood that traveling to a modern world with strict systems and records would make survival nearly impossible. Without a local ally, he’d be doomed.

As he was dwelling on these somewhat silly thoughts, Jez suddenly sensed it.

“…It’s here.”

He felt a massive surge of magical energy coming from the dungeon entrance, accompanied by the faint tremor of the earth. At the same time, warning alarms blared throughout the entire Okutama region. “This is basically a war zone,” Jez thought sarcastically as he began to get ready for whatever was coming next.

If there’s no clear solution, then he’ll just have to create one. Jez didn’t know exactly how rare people from other worlds were in this world. But if he made a bold enough move to become recognized by society, it might reduce the chances of being secretly detained or worse. With that in mind, Jez decided to fight—not just to secure a foundation for their life in this world, but also to reap the rewards of the seeds he had likely sown.

He had already confirmed that this world contained magic essence. The concentration of magical energy outside the dungeon was significantly lower than inside, but that wouldn’t pose a problem for Jez’s fighting style. René still hadn’t woken up, but her breathing was stable. It started to worry him so he decided to monitor her for a bit longer.

With everything ready, Jez took a detour through the mountains and proceeded down the road.

・　・　・

As expected, dragons were tough. Even though an Undead Dragon should be weaker than a normal one, it was still formidable. Jez landed several punches infused with magical energy, but they were all blocked by the magical barrier protecting the dragon’s surface.

One stroke of luck for Jez was that this dragon seemed to have lost its ability to fly. Thanks to that, he could fight it on solid ground. Overhead, he noticed a few news helicopters circling. That was an unexpected development, but fortunate in terms of getting recognized by the world.

Because Jez had engaged the dragon in close combat, the five-person team that had been retreating was able to catch their breath. The remaining members tended to their comrades while warily watching both the dragon and the suddenly appearing blonde man. Glancing in their direction for a moment, Jez weighed his options, pondering how best to finish the fight.

Though he had been delivering powerful, magic-charged punches, the dragon’s sheer resilience made it clear that his attacks were lacking a decisive blow. He sighed—there was no other option. He’d have to rely on Conceptual Armament magic to end this quickly. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pen. Wait… was there only one pen left? Had he dropped one? Seriously?

While dodging the dragon’s attacks, Jez fumbled through his pockets but couldn’t find the missing pen. This was bad. At the same time, as he continued dodging, he suddenly realized something: the Undead Dragon’s eyes were already destroyed.

At that moment, Jez came to a stark realization—he had been far more rattled by this sudden isekai experience than he had originally thought. He had been making one stupid mistake after another, something he normally would never do, especially not in front of a dragon.

Conceptual Armament Combination Magic—Fafnir—lacked its “Finishing Touch”. It required the opponent to have eyes. Without them, it was useless.