Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Dragon Demon Prince (4)
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5
The Arietta he met again after just one day looked completely different from the one Azel remembered. She was truly dressed like a princess, in an utterly feminine outfit. With her hair pinned up and adorned with a jeweled silver crown, wearing a dress of pure white accented faintly with blue and silver thread, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
Azel stared at her blankly for a moment before speaking.
“…I’m surprised.”
“Hm? Surprised by what?”
“For a second, I thought you were someone else.”
“I didn’t realize it didn’t suit me that much. I went through two hours of trouble just to put this on.”
Arietta tossed out the joke. But the part about struggling for two hours was the unvarnished truth.
Azel asked.
“Do you always dress like that in the royal palace?”
“Of course not. I dress even more comfortably than what you’ve seen so far. Becoming a plaything for the maids for two hours isn’t something I do every day. Today, His Majesty unexpectedly wanted to have breakfast together and gathered all sorts of people for it, so I had no choice.”
Yesterday’s Arietta had been dressed up with care, but it had been an extension of the look she’d shown during their travels. She’d been in an outfit ready to draw and swing a sword at any moment.
Today’s Arietta was perfectly adorned as a royal woman. The result of the maids’ two hours of skilled work was no exaggeration to call a work of art.
Azel grinned.
“I got lucky, then.”
“You did. It’s not a look you see every day.”
As she said that, Arietta lifted the teacup Enora had filled for her. After savoring the aroma for a moment, she asked.
“By the way, I heard your popularity exploded overnight?”
“That’s right. Invitations piled up like a mountain.”
“The nobles of the capital have nothing better to do than gossip about juicy rumors, so that was inevitable. Must be annoying.”
“Yes. Unlike Enora, you know me well, Your Highness.”
“What did Enora say?”
“She kindly explained the ways of noble society to me like I was a child.”
Azel recounted what had happened earlier, and Arietta laughed.
“I see. Well, if you were someone who could judge things with common sense, it would be sound advice. For someone without backing to find a place to shine, such opportunities are precious. Enora’s advice was correct.”
At those words, Enora’s face turned red. Arietta enjoyed her expression for a moment before giving Azel a wry smile.
“But no matter how I look at it, you don’t seem like someone desperate to climb the ranks.”
“If I were, I would have sworn loyalty to you first, Your Highness.”
“Heh heh. Well, if you want, I could give you a good position even now.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Too bad. Oh, and I hear Seiga made you a recruitment offer?”
“Yes.”
“Seiga has a thirst for talent. He’s been saying since he heard about you from me and my master that he had to meet you at least once. Did he pester you?”
“Not really. He asked once and backed off cleanly.”
“Really? That’s unexpected. Ah, and you’ll probably get the same offer from my master soon. Though he’ll likely want to scout you for the Tarantos Duchy rather than the royal family.”
“Of course, I’ll have to decline that too.”
“You should. Otherwise, I’d be quite upset.”
“But I do plan to visit the Tarantos Duchy.”
“Hm?”
Arietta looked puzzled. She couldn’t guess why Azel wanted to go to the Tarantos Duchy.
Azel said.
“I have something to collect from the Duke because of our bet.”
“Oh, right. You were three wins ahead, so there’s something to claim. What are you planning to take? Not money.”
“I have something in mind. And because of that, I have a favor to ask of you, Your Highness.”
“Of me?”
Arietta tilted her head.
6
Since starting to stay in the royal palace, Azel had spent most of his time in the palace library. The chance to access such a vast collection of books was incredibly valuable, so he wanted to gather as much information as possible.
Even the books Azel was allowed to read numbered over six thousand, making selection a major task. To his senses, it was an overwhelming amount. It was nearly the same scale as the imperial library of the Nadik Empire before he fell asleep.
Printing technology hadn’t advanced much before Azel’s time, and it still hadn’t now. Copying books naturally meant hand-transcribing them. Mages had developed a method where one scribe’s work was duplicated magically to produce multiple copies at once, but books were still scarce in the market. Even nobles who owned dozens were called more than mere book lovers—they were collectors.
In such an era, having six thousand books gathered in one place was astonishing. And including the classified sections Azel couldn’t access, the total exceeded ten thousand.
‘Well, those are mostly royal records, but I’d like to see the forbidden books.’
Forbidden books were typically those blaspheming the royals or committing sacrilege. From Azel’s perspective, the information he sought might be in there.
With the librarians’ help, Azel read books on the history of the era he wanted and on the current continental situation.
As a result, he clearly understood how the seven kingdoms had divided the Nadik Empire’s territory. Regrettably, the Karzark Marquisate belonged to a country other than Lurein Kingdom.
“Well, geographically, it makes sense.”
It was as he’d expected. The Lurein Kingdom wasn’t a hegemonic power much larger than the others, so it couldn’t include the Karzark Marquisate in its position.
Azel set aside current materials and focused on history.
“Pfft. Wow… this is something else.”
In the process, he came across records about himself, which were embarrassing or amusing from the subject’s viewpoint.
Descriptions of heroes typically varied and distorted based on later historians’ biases and the ruling powers’ inclinations. But for Azel, there was almost no negative distortion—mostly glorification.
It was largely because he was the legendary hero who defeated Dragon Demon King Atein, and he hadn’t been embroiled in post-war politics. Officially, Azel had vanished one day, leading to all sorts of speculations and fantasies.
“Inadvertently, I’ve completed my heroic life with a touch of mysticism.”
Azel’s very path had become legend, and its mysterious end sparked romantic imaginations. Reading others’ records, interpretations, and fantasies of him felt surreal, like it wasn’t his own story. Yet the fun part was finding events clearly from his memories.
In any case, the more he read, the more his suspicions turned to certainties.
‘The Dragon Demon Worshippers are truly formidable.’
Their machinations behind history’s shadows had erased records of the Dragon Slaying Ritual and Dragon Demon Armaments. Even Kairen Tarantos, a legendary warrior of a century and a member of the Shadow Guardians fighting them, knew nothing of it.
‘To manipulate history on this scale without ruling...’
Azel couldn’t fathom how. If they dominated openly and wielded power, it would make sense. But hiding in society’s underbelly and scheming to erase widespread knowledge—how?
‘I get the motive, but the method is the issue.’
Their reason was easy to guess. Humans needed the Dragon Slaying Ritual to create Dragon Demon Armaments to grow strong enough to defeat Dragon Demon King Atein. At least, Azel knew no other way to transcendent power without them.
‘Was the Great Darkness a major factor?’
During the Great Darkness, the world was mad, full of gaps for the worshippers to exploit. Then, even the impossible might have been feasible.
‘But what were the Shadow Guardians doing?’
Per Kairen’s explanation, despite their power, the worshippers hid because of the Shadow Guardians, failing to dominate. Yet they succeeded in tampering with history and severing knowledge transmission? Even with Great Darkness chaos, it was hard to swallow.
‘Hm...’
As Azel pondered, a familiar presence stimulated his senses.
“Anyone seeing you would think you’re a scholar, not a warrior.”
It was Kairen, the handsome young Dragon Demon with long black hair.
The royal library wasn’t for just anyone. But no one would stop the Dragon Sword Duke from browsing books.
He approached Azel and examined the books spread out.
“Interested in history? Oh? Even reading about a hero with the same name as you?”
“Hahaha. The Dragon Demon Worshippers piqued my interest.”
Azel made the excuse. With them charging at the sinful name, it was justified.
“I’ve read records of Dragon Emperor War heroes too, but they’re too fanciful to believe. Historians are all full of hot air...”
“Could you give a specific example?”
“Hm. For instance...”
After Azel’s question, Kairen thought a moment and answered.
“It’s probably in the books you’ve seen, but the part where the Dragon Demon Army’s ploy at the Rishia River battle was foiled.”
Essender, the Dragon Demon Army general famous for commanding monsters like a human army, once laid a deadly trap against human forces.
Essender dammed far upstream on the deep Rishia River, making it seem shallow enough to cross. He staged his troops feigning a rout to lure the humans across, then planned to burst the dam and drown three thousand troops.
Kairen chuckled.
“Common sense says it was inescapable. But the records say otherwise.”
“What do the records say?”
“The great hero Azel Karzark stepped up and cleaved the flood with one sword strike, while Archmage Kallos magically dispersed the shattered waters, resulting in almost no losses. Does that even make sense?”
It sounded utterly absurd. Kairen shook his head.
“The Rishia isn’t a small river. See it yourself, and you’ll know it’s impossible.”
At that, Azel swallowed a near-slip and forced a wry smile.
‘…No, that really happened.’
As a record alone, it was ridiculous. But Azel and Kallos had done it. Without such feats, defeating Dragon Demon King Atein one-on-one was impossible.
‘Essender’s face back then… priceless.’
His elaborate trap shattered by absurdity, his unit on the brink of annihilation, even Essender’s ironclad reason crumbled. He couldn’t escape Azel’s sword and died there—a critical loss for the Dragon Demon Army.