Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Once Upon a Time (3)
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She had ridden through the night, so her black hair was caked with a layer of white dust, and her face was filled with unmistakable fatigue.
"The reason I came here is..."
The moment Langrid Guldiv opened her mouth, the commander shot up from his seat.
"I have some things to discuss with the staff. Excuse me."
Without even waiting for a reply, he vanished.
Click.
Langrid Guldiv silently stared in the direction the commander had gone before turning her head back toward me.
"...You can probably guess why I came."
"Because of the Redcoats?"
"As soon as I got the report, I rushed to the scene with my direct subordinates. But it was clean."
Nothing but the corpses of the Redcoats and royal infantry could be found. Someone had already cleared away the assailants' bodies in the meantime.
"From there, I headed straight for Kilirgrad, but on the way, I heard about the incident on the front lines and came here right away to wait for you."
She had arrived at the fortress half a day before us.
"Me?"
If she was going to Kilirgrad, why go out of her way to wait for me?
"Yes. So, what was he like?"
As expected, her business was with the noble.
"We didn't talk about anything beyond what was necessary for the mission, so there's nothing to say. And I don't particularly want to know more..."
"Did he seem like a normal person to you?"
Her question hit the nail on the head. I had already felt an eerie, inhuman vibe from him at times.
"...Did you happen to hear his name?"
"If you can call it that."
"So you did."
Langrid Guldiv's expression hardened.
"Did he say anything else? If so, what?"
I didn't know what it was, but it didn't seem like she was asking for a good reason.
"He asked me to escort him until the mission was over, but I refused."
"Good. You did well. Really well."
Her excessive relief at my words was odd, too.
"Is that all?"
"He also said we'd meet again..."
Her face turned hypersensitive again at something so trivial. Seeing someone who was usually inscrutable act like this was enough to make even me nervous.
"Is there a problem?"
When I asked, she suddenly shot up from her seat and headed somewhere.
"...?"
A moment later, she returned with a bottle of liquor and two glasses from who-knows-where and plopped down in front of me. Without a word, she poured the glasses.
Gulp, gulp.
She drained her glass in one go and refilled it.
Gulp, gulp.
Drink, refill. She downed five glasses in a row like that, then let out a long sigh.
"Do you know about mysteries?"
What was this now? She wasn't some cult priestess.
"I've had in-depth training on magic countermeasures."
"No. Things humans can counter or learn aren't mysteries."
She refilled her glass and pushed mine toward me with a clink. She stared at me, clearly expecting me to drink.
"It's still working hours."
"You're just back from a mission. What working hours?"
"Still."
Given what happened before, I refused again. But she radiated the vibe that she wouldn't start until I drank, so I reluctantly just touched it to my lips.
"...The world is full of things humans can't comprehend."
Only then did she look satisfied and slowly began her story.
"Things ordinary people wouldn't encounter even in death and rebirth, things they wouldn't even recognize if they did."
Those were what they called mysteries.
"You don't mean he's one of those?"
Clink. She clinked her glass against mine instead of answering.
"Sometimes it's a phenomenon, sometimes it's a living being."
As I pulled my glass away, she continued.
"Of the latter, those born among humans with such fates—we call them 'Dragons.'"
I knew about dragons. Fictional creatures made up by the empire on the other side of the continent to bolster the emperor's authority and even deify him. They claimed their emperor was a demigod with dragon blood. Lunatics.
"No. Not like the empire's dragons."
Langrid Guldiv shook her head at my words.
"Born wearing human skin, but something other than human."
The noble came to mind instantly. My throat suddenly felt dry.
Clink.
Right on cue, she pushed my glass toward me.
"That's a 'Dragon.'"
So the noble was a dragon, after all.
"They deny everything around them while alive."
They deny their birth mother, their name, their fate.
"Only then do they awaken as dragons."
Mysteries and dragons didn't really click for me, but I got the gist. What I couldn't figure out was why Langrid Guldiv had come all the way to Schrelgrad to tell me this. It wasn't like she came to reminisce about childhood fairy tales starting with "once upon a time."
"Dragons see humans as insignificant. They might even think of us as livestock. Naturally, they don't share their names."
...But he told me his.
"One of two things."
She paused briefly before speaking again.
"One of his two servants died, so he's looking for a new one. Or..."
Or?
"He judged you to be one of his kind."
Different from the Trakieris, bound by pact.
I couldn't help but laugh at that point. Regardless of whether I believed this outlandish tale, one thing was clear.
"I'm human."
For the record, I prefer to accept what's given to me rather than deny it.
She burst out laughing this time.
"We'll see."
Her laughter cut off abruptly, and details of my past spilled from her mouth.
-At age nine, I abandoned my birth mother and family, denying my mother and name.
-Living while erasing my past is tantamount to denying my fate.
"..."
My face twisted involuntarily. I couldn't grasp her point.
"Dragons don't share nests."
"...?"
"When dragons meet, one ends up devouring the other."
And usually, the younger one gets eaten by the elder.
"Don't underestimate a child form, or you'll get eaten. Appearances aren't everything."
Langrid Guldiv downed her drinks alone. Despite her not offering, I found myself draining my inexplicably full glass in one gulp.
"Fine, whatever. But why tell me all this?"
I wiped the liquor from my lips and asked.
"I can't shake the feeling that the princess was too hasty this time. Negotiations with Kazan will happen somehow, but not in the way Kazan wants. Any lingering resentment will fall on the legions at the front to deal with later."
This time, even I was surprised. Wasn't this resentment toward the princess's decision?
"Human history belongs to humans."
Her following words dripped with undisguised bitterness.
"As you rise higher, you'll encounter more things worthy of being called mysteries. I hope you remain human even then."
With that, she proposed a toast.
"To human history, by humans."
From my perspective, dragon or worm, as long as the outcome was good, it didn't matter. But human history, dragons—all of it was incomprehensible.
"...To that."
I played along, raising my glass—which was somehow full again.
After that, she didn't bring up dragons or the noble, and neither did I. We just drank, passing the bottle back and forth, as if under an unspoken agreement.
-Who knew General Langrid believed in fairy tales.
-Fine, say it's true. Let him try to eat me. We'll see who gets eaten. Without me, you'd have been stuck in that carriage... Huh? What the...?
-Can I take a look at that prosthetic arm?
After that, the unspoken agreement went out the window with the booze, and we just rambled drunkenly. My mind was a blur.
...Huh?
I jolted awake. Still in the commander's office.
I turned my creaking head to survey the room.
"Ugh. Feels like I aged ten years."
Fortunately, I was alone. Langrid Guldiv must have left after I passed out drunk. The table was spotless. She had even cleaned up while I was out. If she was cleaning, she could have cleaned me up too.
Click.
I slipped out of the commander's office quietly. It was quiet outside, so nothing seemed amiss. I headed straight to the barracks and, woozy from the lingering alcohol, drifted in and out of sleep before passing out completely.
"General Langrid left for Kilirgrad with her troops."
When I woke, she was gone. She had departed before dawn.
"It seems the matter was more complicated than expected. They discussed it late into the night. Ah, don't tell me. I don't want to get involved in complicated stuff."
Fortunately, the commander hadn't noticed we'd gotten plastered in his office.
Still, feeling guilty, I was extra cautious.
Ah. Next time I see her, absolutely no drinking together.
As I vowed inwardly, the commander suddenly handed me a letter.
"Oh, she asked me to pass this to you."
General Langrid apparently saw me as her full-time messenger now. He sighed heavily and sauntered off.
Rip.
I broke the seal and checked the contents. My heart raced, wondering if it was more weirdness. Fortunately, it wasn't.
[A joint evaluation team from headquarters, the royals, and nobility will visit the north. Combat assessments, readiness inspections, hearing soldiers' grievances, etc.—part of the annual routine. However...]
[Omitted...]
[The 8th Legion and other frontline units, especially newly rebuilt ones, are primary targets. Your newly formed independent cavalry unit will face multifaceted, intensive evaluations...]
It was so normal and routine that I sighed in relief.
...Like hell.
"Why tell me so late?"
All that dragon nonsense, when she could have told me about the evaluation team first.
But what could I do? She was long gone, and even if she were here, a lieutenant grilling a general was impossible. Strictly speaking, her informing me was a favor. Normally, you get blindsided without warning—unless you were in the know.
"They just can't let us rest."
Why inspections in winter instead of enjoying spring? Couldn't fathom the higher-ups' thinking.
I immediately informed the commander and Major Evgen Sanov of the visit.
"What? Evaluation team?"
The commander looked like he'd been struck by lightning.
"It's earlier than expected, but inevitable."
The major looked resigned, like it was bound to happen.
"Heh heh heh."
They seemed so confident.
"Major Sanov!"
"Sir!"
To us, he shone like the sun.
**
And they came.
No worries. Under Major Evgen Sanov's command, we were in perfect shape. We could handle an inspection team or even an audit squad.
Or so I thought.
"Does the Thracia army have no talent?"
Seeing that smug, condescending face, I knew we were screwed.
"A war hero? A stray dog would laugh."
Of all people, it had to be the one who hated me most in the world.