Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: A Fresh Appearance
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“What, this is nothing.”
But to a high-level Spirit Order practitioner, a razor was little more than a decorative item. Azel reflected his face in the water’s surface and ran his hand across his jaw once. The scruffy beard that had grown in fell away cleanly, as if it had never been there to begin with.
Having finished shaving in a way that would make the soldiers envious, Azel dried his body with the prepared towel and put on the neatly arranged clothes. He swept back his freshly grown hair and tied it tightly, resulting in a somewhat presentable appearance.
After a bath and dressing like a proper human being, he looked completely different from before. He was a handsome young man with fiery red hair and blue eyes.
“I need to build muscle faster.”
Azel struck various poses in the water to show off his muscles. But they still lacked definition.
‘Who knew it’d be this tough.’
Before falling asleep, his body had been perfectly honed, like a marble statue. But that was the result of consistent training from a young age over a long period.
So Azel hadn’t been confident about building muscle in a short time, and now that he was trying, it wasn’t easy. Bulking up was quick, but sculpting the muscles into the desired shape took more time than expected, even for him.
“Well, nothing in the world is easy.”
Grumbling to himself, he headed to the medical unit, where Rick was startled.
“No way, you’re Azel?”
“That’s right. What’s with the surprise?”
“You look like a totally different person. If not for the hair color, I wouldn’t have recognized you.”
Azel’s fiery red hair was quite striking. It had been dry and brittle when he first awoke, but now it had a nice sheen and looked good.
Azel suddenly asked,
“It’s a relief everyone arrived safely. What about Sir Zail, by the way?”
“Sir Zail arrived earlier and is resting. He brought back quite a few rescued personnel.”
“That’s good.”
Azel let out a sigh of relief.
Rick suddenly lowered his voice.
“But Azel, what really happened?”
When Azel had challenged the earth dragon to the Dragon Slaying Ritual, Rick had been unconscious. He hadn’t gotten a proper explanation from Arietta afterward either. And the stories he’d heard from the scouting parties since arriving were all hard to believe.
Azel said,
“It’s just like you heard. Those Dragon Shadow guys somehow bewitched a dragon to capture the princess, but another dragon showed up—whether out of grudge or for some other reason—and it turned into a dragon war. That’s about it.”
“Every bit of it sounds like nonsense, but it all actually happened to me...”
“That’s how the world works, right? Now you’ve got something to brag about later.”
Azel patted Rick’s shoulder.
3
“Wow, you’re way younger-looking than I thought.”
Enora said with wide eyes. Azel gave a wry smile at her reaction and asked,
“How old did I look before?”
“Around forty?”
“...”
First Arietta, now Enora—apparently his previous appearance had looked that old. Azel vowed never to grow a beard again.
Azel asked,
“Anyway, is it okay for you to be up and about already, little miss?”
Enora still had her bandages on but was dressed neatly in her maid outfit. Since she’d come to fetch him, she must have already returned to her duties.
‘This young lady has some real sense of duty.’
As he admired that, Enora put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“Hey, I may not look it, but I’m a proud daughter of the Byre Family, serving as a royal maid. You can’t just call me that casually.”
“Ugh, now that you mention it...”
To serve the direct royal bloodline as a maid usually required being from a noble family, unless there were special circumstances. That hadn’t changed in this era.
Seeing Azel grimace, Enora said magnanimously,
“But since you’re my lifesaver, I’ll forgive you. Just no more ‘little miss.’”
“Would it be okay to call you Miss Enora?”
“I’ll allow that much.”
“My apologies, Miss Enora.”
“Good, you get it. Anyway, you look pretty decent now that you’ve shaved and cleaned up—why not do something about that hair too?”
“My hair?”
“Yeah. It’s so shaggy, it’s not doing you any favors. Get it cut.”
“Is that so?”
Azel scratched his head sheepishly. Enora said,
“Make some time later.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll cut it for you specially.”
Azel just blinked, and Enora thumped her chest proudly.
“I handle the princess’s hair, you know. This is a service someone like you wouldn’t get in a lifetime, so feel honored.”
“Wow, what an honor. But calling me ‘old man’ is a bit...”
“How old are you?”
“Hmm. Twenty-six, probably?”
“Then you’re an old man.”
“...”
From a thirteen-year-old girl’s perspective, twenty-six definitely qualified as an old man. Still, it stung a little.
“Anyway, the princess is waiting, so hurry up and follow me.”
‘I haven’t even gotten married yet, and I’m an old man...’
Azel grumbled inwardly as he followed Enora.
When he arrived at Arietta’s quarters, she looked pristine, unlike in the prison. Enora must have nagged her into proper princess attire.
“Sorry for summoning you so late. I thought we’d have a meal together, but the commander invited me.”
“Good thing I wasn’t called there.”
“The commander suggested it, but I talked him out of it—looks like that was the right call.”
Arietta smiled playfully and offered Azel a seat. Then she stared at his face.
As she did so silently, Azel grew awkward and cleared his throat.
“Is there something on my face?”
“No, I’m just surprised you’re younger than I thought.”
“I told you, twenty-six.”
“But before, you didn’t look it at all. Now I can finally believe you.”
Soon Enora brought tea. As Azel lifted the cup to his lips, Arietta said,
“I think you were a noble.”
“Huh?”
“Your tea-drinking etiquette is very natural. You can’t do that without proper training.”
“Is that so?”
Azel tilted his head nonchalantly. But inwardly, he flinched.
As a child, he’d been an orphan with unknown origins, but after becoming a hero of the Dragon Demon War, he’d had to enter noble society. He’d learned etiquette as rigorously as swordsmanship, and it showed even in small actions like drinking tea.
‘This is what’s tricky.’
Hiding his sword skills would be easy—he knew many styles and could disguise his true one without issue.
But hiding his bearing was genuinely hard. Etiquette had been drilled into him so thoroughly that he didn’t even know how to drink tea differently now.
Arietta said with a suspicious look,
“But... it’s a bit odd.”
“In what way?”
“Your tea etiquette reminds me of something very old-fashioned.”
“Huh?”
“It could be some provincial or foreign custom, but... it feels similar to the etiquette of the Nadik Empire that I learned as cultural education when I was young.”
“...”
Azel broke into a cold sweat inwardly. He hadn’t considered that at all. Over 220 years, while the language itself hadn’t changed much, the vocabulary filling it had. Words from his era had evolved slightly, or new ones had appeared.
Azel was quick-witted with good comprehension, and with Spirit Order techniques, he’d bridged those gaps with subtle telepathy against ordinary people.
But changes in etiquette had been a complete blind spot. Noble society differentiated itself from commoners not just in speech but in every mannerism, varying by region and era. Now, with the Nadik Empire fallen and the seven kingdoms risen, his etiquette naturally seemed out of place.
‘Lucky I didn’t pretend to be a noble.’
Nobles were picky about their own speech and bearing but didn’t impose it on commoners—it was what set them apart.
Basic etiquette toward superiors remained similar across time. Since Azel had treated Arietta as a commoner would, there’d been no issue—but impersonating a noble could have been disastrous.
Fortunately, Arietta didn’t probe deeper.
“Hmm. So your memories still haven’t returned.”
“Yes.”
“That’s a pity.”
Arietta smiled faintly. It was obvious Azel had secrets he couldn’t easily share. His actions so far were too outlandish to take his lies at face value.
But Arietta decided to let it lie. After all, he was her benefactor, someone she wanted to trust.
‘Want to trust?’
Arietta was surprised at her own thought. Had she ever felt this way about anyone?
‘He really is a strange man.’
As Dragon Princess, she’d met many people—those who admired her, feared her, envied or hated her.
But Azel was a first. His gaze felt unfamiliar yet comfortable, making her want to share the stories buried in her heart.
Arietta said,
“Is there anything you want? You helped me, so I’d like to reward you.”
“Hmm. Well.”
Azel thought for a moment, then said,
“Could I ask for some travel money, a status badge to move freely in the kingdom, and a single sword?”
“That’s it?”
Arietta looked incredulous.
She was the Dragon Princess offering a reward, and that was all he wanted?
Azel said,
“That’s plenty. I didn’t do it for a reward in the first place.”
“You really have a knack for surprising me.”