Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Cursed Wyvern
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'Aegis...'
The little prince Razsion's sister, and one of the only two princesses in this empire.
She appeared before me, clad in a trainee uniform embroidered with magnificent golden threads symbolizing the imperial family's dignity.
'They said she wasn't at the palace, but here she is.'
I'd heard that the empire's founding emperor was a Sky Knight who owned a black wyvern, so the emperors and imperial family members had to handle wyverns proficiently as well.
That was why the commander of the imperial Sky Knight unit—a position inseparable from the imperial family—had traditionally been the emperor himself, not a noble.
Wyverns were that inextricably linked to the imperial family.
'Even more captivating.'
Aegis possessed a natural, elegant poise that welled up effortlessly.
Her neatly tied golden wavy hair and transparently glowing smooth skin.
She was broadening my appreciation of feminine beauty once again.
"Bebeto, calm down. Sir Kair is a good person."
'They know each other?'
The noble princess was gazing at the abandoned wyvern with eyes full of pity.
Step by step.
"Whoa! It's dangerous!"
Despite my warning, Aegis stepped forward toward the wyvern called Bebeto.
"Have you eaten?"
She spoke to the wyvern in a gentle voice, as if addressing a close friend.
Kurrururu....
The mountain-sized beast blinked at the princess's question and let out a satisfied purring like a full cat.
"I'm sorry.... I should visit more often. Have you finished your training now?"
The affection brimming in Aegis's voice.
It was unexpected that an princess of a great empire would have such sensitivity.
Stroke, stroke.
And then her hand caressing the filthy legs of this creature called Bebeto.
"You're already five years old."
'Five years old? Then he's fully grown.'
Wyverns had an average lifespan of 50 to 60 years.
And wyverns reached adulthood between four and five years old.
"He's a sturdy one, isn't he?"
"Uh? Well, he looks... "
'Sturdy? If that guy's sturdy, then elephants are chicks.'
"No other wyvern has gone without flying in the blue sky even after reaching adulthood. And he has such magnificent, robust wings...."
Aegis looked ready to burst into tears any moment.
Her eyebrows trembled faintly beside her.
As if she might sob at any second.
'Is it okay for a princess to act like this?'
By my common sense, a princess should be more arrogant and obnoxious than any noble—a total meal fit only for trash.
But Aegis was different.
I could confirm once more that the smile, kindness, and refinement I'd seen at our first meeting were genuine.
"Then why is Bebeto locked up here?"
It didn't make sense.
With that visible bulk and presence, he could toy with an ogre like a plaything, yet he was shoved into this dark, stinking warehouse.
"Don't you know about the taboo against hybrid wyverns?"
"Pardon? The taboo on hybrids?"
It was the first I'd heard of it.
"It's one of the taboos handed down to Sky Knights since ancient times: not to own wyverns born from interspecies breeding."
"What's the problem? He looks sturdier and stronger than any other wyvern...."
"The moment you take Bebeto into the sky, every wyvern in enemy territory attacks first."
"Huh?"
'What? So if I ride this guy out, I'll get gang-beaten?'
"For some reason, wyverns turn aggressive at the sight of hybrids. Even apart from wyverns, Sky Knights' primary targets are hybrid wyverns. Normally, wyverns don't mate with other species. But when hybrids are occasionally born, it causes problems. Very rarely, they possess unexpectedly immense power. The intense checks on such wyverns led to hybrids being seen as cursed. That's because all owners of hybrid wyverns have died from persecution by wyverns and Sky Knights."
'Mixed-blood outcast?'
Even in Korea, mixed-race issues were starting to become a problem.
Bebeto seemed to be suffering the same kind of ostracism.
"Especially Bebeto—a hybrid of black and gold, the strongest wyvern breeds. The moment you fly him into the sky, it's obvious he'll become the target of every wyvern and Sky Knight."
Strong as he was, he was abandoned due to this absurd taboo.
"Then how did Your Highness come to be connected with Bebeto?"
A hybrid like Bebeto, taboo enough to be called cursed.
The honor-obsessed imperial family would never have allowed such a meeting.
"When I turned ten and could choose a black wyvern, that's when I first met Bebeto. No black wyvern hatchlings had been born for two years, and that's when he hatched."
Rustle, rustle.
Even as she spoke, Aegis stroked Bebeto's hide.
'Lucky bastard....'
Anyone with eyes could see why I envied this poor creature surrendering to Aegis's touch at that moment.
"Just hang in there a little longer.... Soon, I'll let you breathe the scent of the blue sky too."
'How can her heart be so pure? Raised in the palace, she could have been spoiled rotten, arrogant enough to shovel rice with attitude, sip soup with haughtiness, and stab her fork with conceit.'
Aegis's gentle and kind heart lifted my mood.
"Let's go now. It wouldn't be good if others found out we met Bebeto."
'Living freer than a stray dog smeared with bean paste on the hottest day of summer.'
Bebeto had strangely drawn me in from the first glance.
Without the princess, he was a solitary wyvern with no visitors.
"Hahaha, hahahaha, hahahahaha!"
Shiiiiiik.
'Huh? Which lunatic's infusing mana into their laugh and going nuts!'
The mad laughter echoed just as I followed Aegis outside.
Amid countless wyverns and their noble Sky Knight masters, this man's laugh dripped with arrogance, dismissing them all.
"Who's that?"
I involuntarily grumbled at the laughter as we exited.
"Shh! Be quiet. He's here."
"Pardon? Who's here?"
Aegis covered my mouth with her hand as I tried to rush out.
"The crown prince, who will become this empire's next emperor."
"Whoa!"
'No way, that hotheaded crown prince bastard's here too?'
One guy came to mind as I thought of the crown prince.
Tedran, the lord of the Pasain ducal house, who called himself the crown prince's friend.
'Something tells me this is bad news.'
The current emperor was a wise ruler called a saintly king, but he was the setting sun. The crown prince was the rising sun.
Moreover, this was the Sky Wing Knights, full of nobles.
I could guess my fate here wouldn't be ordinary.
'But why did Aegis call him "he" like that?'
Even as half-siblings, they shared an emperor father.
'She's afraid of him.'
And I could see it.
The faint worry clouding Aegis's clear, innocent sky-blue eyes.
'Something's off in the imperial family....'
From those trying to kill the little prince and Aegis's expression, I sensed dark clouds over the palace.
Boom, rumble.
Kueeeeeek!
'What the hell? A pig getting slaughtered?'
Just as Aegis and I reached the door, an orc's screech rang out.
"Be careful. He's cruel."
Aegis warning me about her brother, Crown Prince Poltbiran.
If "cruel" came from her lips, the rumors about Poltbiran must be true.
"Thank you for your concern."
'Crown prince or whatever, if he steps out of line, I'll ram right into him!'
Aegis didn't know.
That my temperament was just as tough and unyielding as Poltbiran's.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
"Eat up, Bivis. Must be delicious, right?"
'Feeding on monsters?'
The sight that greeted us as we slipped out unnoticed with Princess Aegis.
In the central clearing of the Kyrphone Sky Wing base, over a dozen black wyverns were settled.
Their Sky Knight owners, and an equal number of orcs.
The continent's pests, the orcs, were trembling.
Blue blood poured from wounds stabbed by wyvern claws all over the orcs' bodies.
Yet the orcs had given up all resistance.
Even valiant orcs were like mice before cats against their superior monsters, wyverns.
'That must be the crown prince....'
A dozen young Sky Knights with cruel smirks on their lips.
At their center stood a red-tinged blond handsome youth.
The crown prince, distinctly set apart in an air plate of black with golden accents.
'Overbearing.'
Crown Prince Poltbiran's first impression was one of dominance.
His slightly square jaw framing large eyes, nose, and mouth.
Combined with his sturdy build and red-gold hair, it evoked the image of a blazing fire matching his temperament.
"Ooh! Sorry, Bivis likes his hearts warm."
Sky Knights and trainees gathering one by one.
Before them, the crown prince drew his ornate sword adorned with gold and jewels.
Stab!
'Gasp!'
He mercilessly thrust the drawn sword into the chest of a trembling, fallen orc.
Kueeeeeek!
Slice, slice.
Amid the orc's screams, Poltbiran carved out the heart area with his mana-infused blade.
"Haha, this one's fresh."
He pulled out the orc's still-twitching heart, refusing to die.
He'd fit right in at the local butcher shop, not as the next ruler of the great Vazran Empire.
Rumble.
The wyvern was delighted at the pulsing blue orc heart.
Bigger-headed than the others around, it let out a pleased rumble.
Crunch.
It crushed and swallowed the heart in its beak.
"Hahaha, eat plenty. Tomorrow, we'll hunt ogres."
'Keep it up, and we'll get Nero II.'
No divine shaman, but I could foresee the crown prince's future at a glance.
How could the heir to a great empire pull such thug stunts?
If he wanted hearts for his wyvern, he could order servants—yet he dirtied his own hands with cruelty.
For the first time, orcs—humanity's enemies—seemed pitiful.
'That thing's covered in magic.'
The crown prince's air plate was worlds apart from standard knight plate mail.
'Base of mithril alloy, powered by magic stones, with high-tier spells embedded—worth hundreds of thousands of gold easy.'
A magic armor with scant mithril protecting wyvern heart and torso might even cost less to make.
Applying magic circles to giant armor versus perfecting them on compact ones was night and day.
The intricate mana circuits from a skilled mage's effort weren't quantifiable in gold.
Especially this luxury air plate on the crown prince.
Just the visible circuit patterns suggested 6th-circle spells embedded.
"Eat! Eat your fill!"
Kuoohhh!
One word from Poltbiran.
The wyverns' eyes gleamed with bloodlust.
Kueeeeeek!
Splash!
Wyvern claws and beaks smashed into orc flesh.
Then, fountains of blue blood erupted, and orc bodies sliced like dried squid.
Crunch, crunch.
The wyverns tore into the orcs' flesh—clearly ones they'd captured themselves—enjoying their meal.
'Ugh!'
I nearly retched.
Scenes of wyverns slurping steaming orc entrails like blood sausage, crunching legs and torsos bones and all in iron beaks.
"Urk...."
"Ugh...."
Some trainees, seeing such brutality for the first time, couldn't hold back and vomited.
"Eat plenty! More! Hahahahaha!"
Poltbiran watched the wyverns feast with eyes blazing in manic glee.
'That guy's totally insane, right?'
My honest assessment of Crown Prince Poltbiran.
He was the mad king Nero incarnate.