The Dragon Season Arrives
The most noble woman in this boundless steppe had been addressed with the polite words of an elf.
“Great Khan, I am here.”
This woman was known not by name but as the Great Khan.
“Speak.”
“Dragons have been seen flying toward the salt lakes.”
Word of the dragons reached the Great Khan regardless of whether one was a thinker or a fighter.
The Great Khan valued such reports enough to maintain tracking institutions and their substitutes.
“Has a full year already passed?”
“Yes, the Dragon Season has come.”
The Dragon Season was an old expression.
It referred to the time when the harsh northern plateau weather had grown slightly milder.
All manner of beasts gathered to the salt flats to feed on the salt, and the dragons arrived to hunt them.
Naturally, it came to be called the Dragon Season.
“Has any tribe fallen victim to the Dragon Curse?”
If tigers bring misfortune, so do dragons.
“I have not received any report of it.”
“Very fortunate.”
Dragons flew high in the sky while humans remained bound to the earth; the two lives rarely intersected.
Hundreds of years had passed since the dragons last descended upon human lands.
People no longer regarded dragons as mortal enemies.
They even came to see them as auspicious omens.
—How could such terrifying omens exist?
The Great Khan’s thoughts differed.
She could never feel at ease with dragons overhead.
They were living fireballs capable of burning the entire grassland.
They had not done so because they had found no reason to.
If they ever did find one, the world itself could crumble tomorrow.
That was what it meant to live alongside dragons.
“However, the direction they flew this time was different from before.”
The substitute’s report was detailed.
Unlike their usual path, they had crossed both the Empire and the Wilderness.
The Great Khan swept a hand across her chin and murmured.
“Favorable or ill-omened…?”
It was still impossible to know.
Even an elf of the Fire clan could not read the thoughts of beings like dragons.
“I must send someone.”
The words came not from the substitute who had just reported, but from the Great Khan’s personal guard.
“May I go?”
The voice was cheerful, which did not match the atmosphere.
The Great Khan said with a hint of irritation.
“You still haven’t returned to Arantor, Muran?”
Arantor Muran.
The head of the Arantor Sword Clan, also known as the Arantor Clan.
“You have an overly playful affection for old friends.”
“What would you have me do? Fight the dragons yourself?”
“I am fine. I have not yet seen a dragon I could not slay.”
“Well, that is what you say. Even the Emperor could not slay one. The Imperial Sword Saint has no results to speak of.”
“Haha. What if I bring one back even now?”
“No.”
The Great Khan’s eyes met the substitute’s.
“I will send a harpy to my daughter. You need not worry.”
“My daughter… Ashtien?”
“Mm.”
The substitute wished to remind the Imperial Sword Saint of the Great Khan’s true name but could not muster the courage.
“…I shall take my leave.”
The substitute departed, leaving only two people in the tent.
The Imperial Sword Saint and the Great Khan of the Steppes.
Two solitary women who stood alone even within the vast expanse.
“Every Sub-Commander under Ashtien is a warrior worth a hundred men. She will send a capable one to the mountains.”
“Even if the Sub-Commanders are skilled, only the Great Khan’s daughter could handle it?”
The Imperial Sword Saint’s remark drew a light laugh from the Great Khan.
Such straightforward praise from a warrior was rare.
No, perhaps it was unique to Ashtien alone.
“Indeed, I wonder if the child would even attempt it.”
Once the Great Khan’s order was given, even if the child herself declared herself capable, traveling to the mountains would not be an unworthy act.
“She likes to wander. She might see this as an opportunity.”
Her daughter had always been mature yet also loved to move actively.
The role of protector over the Wilderness might feel stifling to her.
“Still, she has not stayed behind with the tribe this time.”
The head of Arantor had offered a negative opinion.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I have taken a new groom. She will not want to leave at such a lively time.”
……
The Great Khan fell silent.
“Without even holding a wedding, you speak of a groom.”
“Do you know how desperately my daughter clings to her fiancé? If she returns to the tribe, the two will not be able to stay apart.”
“…Enough.”
The Great Khan pressed her brows together.
“I never imagined my child would be troubled by a man’s affairs. How could a human…”
“It is indeed a surprising matter.”
“I was surprised as well.”
The Imperial Sword Saint offered a proposal to the Great Khan.
“This opportunity, I shall go and meet her myself.”
*
While sparring with Aruk, the subject of her mother came up.
“The one who taught you swordsmanship, Lady Aruk, is my mother?”
The revelation was unexpected.
‘Of course. Who else on the steppe would teach such sword arts?’
“Yes. A renowned swordsman.”
The elves called her the Imperial Sword Saint.
‘Imperial Sword Saint?’
A peculiar title.
As head of the Arantor Clan, there was no doubt her lineage traced to the steppe.
Aruk kindly explained the origin.
“The title Imperial Sword Saint was given to my mother when she crossed into the Empire.”
“An elf entering the Empire. How rare.”
One could not imagine the reverse, but elves rarely crossed the other way.
The Empire had always guarded against them with extreme caution.
‘Hatred half, fear half.’
She had heard that some Emperor suffered nervous collapse after imagining an elf assassin striking at the capital.
“They say she traveled in a robe, hiding her elven nature.”
Her reason for going was to broaden her knowledge of swordsmanship.
“She defeated one renowned warrior after another in the Empire.”
That was when the title Imperial Sword Saint came to her, Aruk said.
Vesta, though human, had been confined to the arena and knew little of such things.
‘A man who searched for strong opponents, yet never entered the arena.’
It felt a little humiliating.
Of course, the arena was closed to outsiders, so facing a gladiator there would have been impossible.
Still, if Aruk’s words were true, the woman was remarkably adventurous.
“I should like to meet her.”
Vesta held Aruk and Bia’s sword skills in the highest regard.
Thus he had developed an interest in the woman who had trained them.
“As a swordsman, she is truly formidable. Yet I would not recommend her.”
The evaluation of the mother was strangely sharp.
“Why do you say that?”
“She is an unpredictable person.”
Beyond simply surprising people, she was the kind who left one bewildered.
‘Different from Aruk.’
Vesta had not seen that side in Aruk, the daughter of the Imperial Sword Saint, which made the remark feel strangely out of place.
Noticing Vesta’s reaction, Aruk laughed lightly.
“Well, it is fortunate for me. I learned sword arts well and did not inherit that eccentric temperament.”
She had been away from home often and spent time with her peers.
“Well, thanks to her I found my love as well.”
Aruk touched her earring and smiled.
She had been with her fiancé since childhood.
“She treated me well. So I decided to repay her. For a lifetime.”
Aruk’s eyes took on a slightly wicked glint.
“What about bringing her over here?”
“I would love to take her back to the tribe. But unmarried men cannot enter the Khan’s tribe.”
“After coming of age, men who enter the tribe ruled by a woman face difficulties.”
“When do you plan to hold the wedding?”
Aruk frowned at the casual remark.
“Ugh. This child always seems to be pulling something out of nowhere.”
Aruk waved her hand as if silencing someone.
“It seems the men around here are encouraging late marriages…”
‘Orolbai!’
There seemed to be men like Orolbai in the area as well.
“Well, that is a matter of time. He is already in my hands.”
Aruk clenched and unclenched her fist, fidgeting.
[Run away…!]
If Orolbai had heard Aruk’s words, would he have told him to flee?
No, given his personality, he might have rejoiced at the addition of another comrade.
Aruk turned to Vesta.
“Do not keep Mr. Vesta waiting too long.”
She was speaking of her relationship with Ashtien.
Vesta, at a loss for an answer, looked away.
“Exactly.”
“Men are always like this, I suppose.”
Aruk regarded Vesta with a somewhat cold gaze.
She had recalled the lukewarm attitude of his fiancé.
“Draw your sword.”
“I am unarmed. I do not know what you are talking about.”
“What did you say?”
*
“I understand.”
Ahor had overheard the details from the man sprawled on the ground.
“So you were lying on the floor like this?”
He lacked the strength to nod.
Whoosh.
A werewolf approached and licked Vesta’s cheek.