Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Guardian Shadow (2)
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“Don’t look at me like that. They were my adopted children.”
“Adopted children?”
“I took in kids who became orphans due to various incidents and made them my adopted kids. There was someone else who actually played the role of their parents, though….”
Even so, he had brilliant memories with those children.
During the Dragon Emperor War, Azel had witnessed many tragedies. Among them, the ones he felt a connection with, he adopted as his own and sent to the Karzark Marquisate.
After slaying Atein and ending the Dragon Emperor War, for the two years he slowly withered away due to the curse, Azel mostly stayed on his own territory. During that time, he treated his adopted children like true family and created many memories.
Riding horses together, galloping across fields, discovering secret places others wouldn’t dare visit, teaching them martial arts… There had been times like that.
Enora, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.
“Sir Azel must have definitely been a noble.”
“Is that so?”
“Otherwise, you couldn’t have done the things you just described. And it seems like it was a fairly prosperous house too. You really don’t remember?”
“Yeah. I want to remember too.”
“I hope you do.”
“If I was a lord, would Miss Enora have to treat me well?”
“Hmm. As long as I don’t call you ‘uncle,’ right?”
“You know it well.”
Azel let out a chuckle at Enora’s words as she cutely looked up at him.
3
By the time they finished shopping, visited the treatment center to bring back a healing sorceress, and returned to the inn, the sun had set.
Enora said excitedly.
“Wow, it’d be great if I could always go shopping with someone like Sir Azel.”
“You need a strong farmhand, huh?”
Azel grumbled.
After wandering around buying necessary travel supplies and food, the amount was no joke. During the trip, they’d have to load it onto the group’s horses or carry it themselves, but Azel had hauled it all alone. He performed feats like carrying loads bigger than himself on his back and in both hands, turning into a spectacle for the onlookers.
Zail was astonished at the baggage Azel brought back.
“To carry all this alone… Should we have gone with you?”
“I didn’t expect to buy this much.”
He couldn’t relay Enora’s harsh assessment, so he brushed it off like that.
Enora went with the healing sorceress to check on Arietta, while Azel headed to the garden behind the inn. As it catered to nobles, the building was luxurious, and the garden was quite spacious.
“Hmm.”
There, Kairen sat at an outdoor table, sipping from a glass. He had removed his armor, hidden his horns, ears, and Dragon Demon Stone, disguising himself as human.
“Impressive,” Azel said.
“Anywhere with this many eyes on you, it’s a hassle to show your true self.”
Unlike Arietta, who was practically a propaganda tool for the royal family, Kairen often operated without revealing himself. For such occasions, he had commissioned expensive magic tools specifically for disguise.
Kairen asked.
“Did you bring the healing sorceress?”
“Yes. Miss Enora threw a fit about having a woman, so it took some time.”
“Young as she is, she gets things done sharply. Care for a drink?”
“I won’t refuse, but… may I ask something first?”
“From your tone, it sounds like talk that’ll ruin the taste of the liquor… What if I say no?”
“Then I’ll drop it.”
“Backing off so easily? Must not be a big deal.”
“No. I’d just give up on the duke’s drink and chase after you. You’re great at hiding, but if I pursue directly and catch you…”
“…….”
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
Kairen glared at Azel, who smiled back at him. The pressure was immense, even making the air vibrate slightly.
But Azel calmly withstood it. Kairen spoke.
“…You handle killing intent with expert ease. It’s so illusory, it’s irritating.”
“I’ve had to deal with this kind of pressure so often. If it crushed me, I’d be dead by now.”
“You’re truly insolent. Normally, people would cower in fear of death.”
“I wouldn’t act like this with someone I could just politely deal with. Honestly…”
Without permission, Azel sat across from Kairen and continued.
“Wouldn’t you be suspicious? If unseen figures lurked around, met with the duke without anyone, not even our group, knowing, and vanished?”
“…….”
“And we’ve been under surveillance and pursuit by those Dragon Demon Worshippers until now. I think that’s reason enough for me to bring up the mood-killing topic.”
“Whew…”
Kairen irritably downed the remaining liquor in his glass. Then he glared at Azel.
That was when it happened.
「Dragon Demon power…」
Azel flinched. From between the garden trees came whispers like those of children.
‘This close?’
The voices came from just 20 meters away. Had he not noticed them approaching that far?
「A human, yet… a vessel for Dragon Demon power…」
It was clearly one voice, but it sounded like multiple whispering in unison—a bizarre effect. To a normal person, it would make perfect ghost story material.
Azel stared sharply at the source.
“Wraiths?”
The opponents were not human. That much was certain.
They wore outfits similar to Dragon Shadows. Pure white robes with deep hoods that shrouded their faces in thick darkness.
Not only that. No feet showed beneath the robes, nor hands from the sleeves.
‘Strange. The robes seem substantial?’
Azel furrowed his brow and awakened his mana. Slowly, stealthily, so the opponent wouldn’t notice…
‘But somehow… it feels familiar. What is this?’
The mysterious wraith that revealed itself emanated a presence that stirred Azel’s memories. It was clearly something he’d never seen before, yet it evoked a strange sense of déjà vu.
Then Kairen spoke.
“Stand down. They’re not enemies.”
“…Do you think I can believe that?”
Azel’s senses now detected more presences. Like true ghosts, they appeared one by one, all in identical attire to the first. They varied in size—some small like children, others over two meters tall.
They glided across the ground while whispering.
「Not a Prophecy Guardian…」
「Yet he possesses Dragon Demon power…」
「Strange…」
「Very strange…」
「No such human in so long…」
Their faces were invisible, but Azel knew they spoke of him. He felt their gazes piercing him intently…
Kairen said.
“That’s far enough. Come closer, and… this friend might attack.”
「We don’t die easily…」
“But you do die. Don’t you have tasks? Better not lose your strength needlessly.”
「He’s not strong enough to harm us…」
「But… he has Dragon Demon power.」
「He’s hiding it…」
「Maybe we can’t read him…」
「There were such humans… long ago…」
「Really…?」
「Very long ago…」
They chattered as if out of their minds. Yet they circled about ten meters from Azel without approaching further.
Kairen said.
“Amazing. I’ve never seen them show this much interest in one person.”
“What are these things?”
Azel asked calmly, though internally he had his mana primed for attack at any moment.
Kairen replied.
“Guardian Shadows.”
“…That name tells me nothing.”
“It’s hard to say more. Just knowing of their existence… makes me wonder what to do with you.”
Then, the one who had been silent since first appearing spoke.
「You can tell him…」
“What?”
Kairen was startled. The wraith’s words were that unexpected.
「He’s not connected to us… perhaps the prophesied one…」
“Prophesied? What’s that?”
Kairen frowned and asked, but the wraith fell silent. Not just that one—all the wraiths stopped their chatter, plunging the area into an eerie quiet.
“Hmm…”
Kairen glared at them discontentedly, but it was pointless. They were beings common sense didn’t apply to.
In the end, Kairen gave up and explained to Azel.
“They’re a restraint on the Dragon Demon Worshippers, preventing them from acting openly.”
“The Dragon Demon Worshippers can’t reveal themselves because of these things?”
“Didn’t you find it odd during this incident?”
Kairen answered the question with another question. Azel asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The attackers this time were extremely powerful. Each member had rare, overwhelming strength and could easily tame magic beasts as expendable soldiers. Why would such forces operate so meticulously hidden from sight?”
“Well? Isn’t it because they’re a secret society of elite few?”
Honestly, Azel hadn’t fully grasped this era yet, so he couldn’t grasp the point of Kairen’s question. A small group of powerful individuals could disrupt the world. What was strange about them being cautious?
Kairen looked incredulous.
“Are you surprisingly dumb, or is the memory loss real?”
“The latter.”
“Figures. Think about it. If those bastards caused havoc in a rural area with few people, could it be stopped?”
“Hmm… Probably with massive casualties. And only after significant progress would those strong enough to stop them learn of it and pursue.”
Azel was starting to understand what Kairen wanted to say.
Their forces were excessively powerful for that explanation alone.
Niberis or Durang could be called one-man armies on their own, and even the initial Dragon Shadow attackers could easily wipe out a rural village without proper troops.
‘Plus, they deployed dragons.’
They could do such things solo. Yet they tamed nearby magic beasts like hunting dogs for expendables and even commanded dragons.
“Now that you mention it… they’re overly cautious. But isn’t that worrying about repercussions later?”