Chapter 219: To the Demon Realm (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 219: To the Demon Realm (2)
“My Lord. When will the Elders who departed with you return?”
“Their absence is keenly felt!”
“Why do you remain silent when a single word about the Elders’ whereabouts would suffice!”
Before the Lord’s lair, far grander and more magnificent than those of the other dragons.
Dragons of all kinds—Red, Green, Blue, White, and more—had gathered to petition their Lord, who had secluded himself in his lair.
Hearing the dragons’ voices, which echoed day and night as they blocked the entrance, the Lord, Kaisullan, furrowed his brow.
A day or two would have been one thing, but this had been going on for two weeks. The Lord’s patience had reached its limit.
Thud!
When the Lord struck the floor with his tail, the entire lair shook. Startled by the vibration, the dragons fell silent for a moment, and the Lord seized the opportunity to roar in anger.
“How many times must I repeat myself? Did I not tell you they are on an important mission?!”
“What mission could be so important that the Elders must leave their tribes behind? If you would only tell us, we will undertake it in their stead.”
“It is a task you young ones cannot handle! Therefore, question my decision no further and return to your own lairs!”
“But, my Lord…”
“Do you truly wish to feel my wrath?!”
“…No.”
Unable to withstand the Lord’s fury, the dragons reluctantly returned to their respective lairs. The lair, which had been noisy for the past two weeks, finally fell silent. The Lord clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Such a fuss.”
The Lord was annoyed by the young dragons who had come all the way to his lair to cause a commotion over the missing Elders, but at the same time, he understood them to some extent.
In the past, when dragons reigned as masters of the continent, they ruled alone from their own territories.
Even their children, once they matured past the hatchling stage, had to leave their parents’ lair to find their own domain.
There were two ways to acquire a territory.
Either by pioneering a new one or by taking another’s.
It didn’t matter which path they chose. The moment a dragon secured a proper territory and lair, they were treated as a mature, adult dragon.
Thanks to that environment, the dragons of that era were independent and strong.
But that changed some 600 years ago when, by the command of their mother Iries, the dragons relinquished their rule over the continent.
As Iries willed it, the weak mortals became the masters of the continent.
By Iries’s command, dragons could not carelessly harm mortals. Mortals, on the other hand, were different. If they had the strength, they could hunt dragons without any restrictions.
One side was bound by a restriction, while the other was not.
To avoid retaliation for past deeds, the dragons had to avoid the mortals’ gaze, and the places where they could hide were extremely limited.
It became impossible for a single dragon to possess an entire lair of its own.
The dragons were forced to live together.
Communal living has both advantages and disadvantages, and not even the noble dragons could escape it.
Conflict arose from their differences.
Time did not resolve these conflicts. Just as they festered and grew into a festering sore, the Lord issued a command.
He commanded those with similar habits to live together, and those without to live apart.
This lifestyle, similar to the tribal life of mortals, continued for about 500 years, and as a result, the dragons grew weak.
Living and helping one another in the name of efficiency, they had grown accustomed to seeking out other dragons whenever they faced a task they couldn’t handle themselves.
Just look at what happened earlier.
When the strongest and wisest Elders from each tribe disappeared, didn’t the young ones who were supposed to be responsible for their tribes fall into chaos?
The dragons of today no longer possessed the proud solitude of the past.
Lamenting this fact, Kaisullan prayed to Iries. Even for Kaisullan, the Dragon Lord, communicating with Iries required the formality of prayer.
Even then, Iries could simply ignore him, but thankfully, she did not do so this time.
“You seem to have much to say, Kaisullan.”
“The Elders have not returned. Do you know what has happened?”
“You already have your suspicions, don’t you? They are likely correct.”
“…”
Kaisullan fell silent for a moment. In truth, from the moment the other Ancient Dragons failed to return, he had a rough idea of what had become of them. He had only hoped his suspicion wasn’t reality.
“…Why.”
“Pardon?”
“Why did you stop me that day?”
“Didn’t I tell you? Cloud is an unknown entity whose identity is a mystery. Naturally, I didn’t know the extent of his power, which is why I had you withdraw.”
“Do you think I would lose to that human?”
“Hmm, I wonder. I can’t quite say. The boy wields such a peculiar power…”
The implication that it would be a difficult match to call deeply wounded the Lord’s pride. Even if his identity was unknown, he was a mere human who hadn’t lived for even a hundred years. How could he possibly lose to such a being?
However, the Lord could not voice his complaint openly.
He could only express it with a sullen, roundabout remark.
“…I would not have lost, at the very least. And if I had been there, the Elders would not have fallen.”
“Oh? Did you care for them so much, Kaisullan? I don’t recall that being part of your character…”
As she said, Kaisullan had never cared for the Elders… no, for any other dragon.
But that was a story from hundreds of years ago.
As dragon society became a tribal one, forcing them to live in close quarters, he could no longer afford to ignore them.
If he acted as autocratically as he had in the past, he would be isolated from the pack, even as the Lord.
Isolation meant a reduction of his influence.
In that sense, with the complaints from each tribe on the verge of exploding, the Lord had a headache.
“In any case, you will have a chance to see him again someday. Settle your grudge then. I won’t stop you next time.”
Whether she knew of Kaisullan’s feelings or not, Iries ended the conversation unilaterally with those words.
‘Yes, she was always like that.’
A being even more autocratic than Kaisullan the Dragon Lord, who swayed those around her according to her whims.
That was his mother, Iries.
With a sigh, Kaisullan erased the thought of her from his mind.
And he thought of the source of this whole mess.
The Hero, Cloud.
The memory of his infuriating smile made him grind his teeth, and flames shot from his nostrils.
“The price for humiliating me… You will surely pay the price.”
Without fail.
*
“Why are you scratching your ear like that?”
“I don’t know, it suddenly got itchy. Anyway, are you going to stay out here?”
“Of course! I risked my life to transport this thing. Shouldn’t I at least get to see what you’re doing with it?”
As she spoke, Angelica was in her human form, without her usual horns or wings, her skin a normal flesh tone.
“Risked your life? Don’t make me laugh. You didn’t even fight. All you did was haul a corpse around, what’s this talk about risking your life?”
“But that corpse was an Ancient Dragon, wasn’t it? If the Dragon Lord finds out we moved it, he’ll probably try to roast us all to a crisp. So I did risk my life, see?” Angelica said with a shrug.
“You’ve got a smart mouth. Whatever. I’ll show you the finished product later, so get out. Everyone’s distracted staring at you. This is delicate work. If they mess up and waste the materials, are you going to take responsibility?”
“Ehh? How is that my fault? I was just born beautiful, that’s all. If someone trips and falls while looking at a flower, it’s not the flower’s fault, is it? Right, everyone?”
Angelica smiled sweetly at the blacksmiths. The blacksmiths, who had been sneaking glances at her, blushed, cleared their throats, and nodded.
“Th-that’s right. The young lady is correct. What fault could a flower have? It’s all on the careless passerby.”
“A clumsy fool deserves to fall! Don’t you worry, Sir Hero. We’re not such clumsy fools!”
“Indeed! We are the Imperial blacksmiths. As if we’d make a mistake just by being distracted by a flower.”
The blacksmiths pounded their chests, showing their pride.
“Um… does this beautiful flower have an owner?”
One of them was even bold enough to hit on her.
Seeing him blush and fidget, he seemed quite serious…
“Yes, I do. A very wonderful master!”
Angelica linked her arm with mine, putting up a firm wall. At that, the young man glanced at my face, then returned to his spot, looking dejected.
Watching his listless hammering, I decided to remember his face.
Getting distracted by a woman and neglecting his duties.
I’ll have to complain to his supervisor later.
More importantly…
“See? I told you everyone’s distracted because of you. Go back while I’m still asking nicely.”
“Tch. Fine.”
Angelica nodded as if she had no choice.
Should have done that from the start.
I waved my hand to shoo her away, and she pouted as if her feelings were hurt before speaking.
“But shouldn’t you be the one who’s not here, Master?”
“…”
“If that woman, Lorraine, knew you were just hanging around here, she’d be upset.”
Angelica’s words made my head throb.
“I know. I know, okay? But…”
I let out a deep sigh and pressed my fingers against my throbbing forehead.
“Fuck… this is my first time having a kid, too…”
I pride myself on having experienced most things, but I swear, this is my first time being a father.
What if something goes wrong?
Will I even be a good dad?
Where should we raise the child? Here? Or there?
All sorts of anxieties swelled within me.
Honestly, I’m more nervous now than when I first picked up a sword.
“Ah… um… I-I see… Uh… I-It’ll be okay! You know, the Saintess is with her, right? The baby will be born safely. Yes. Um… Yeah!”
Perhaps flustered by my unexpectedly pathetic reaction, Angelica stammered out words of comfort as if she were buffering.
For someone who was always so slick, she was suddenly a mess.
It was a little funny, and I was about to let out a chuckle when it happened.
“Sir Hero! Sir Hero!!!”
A soldier burst through the blacksmith’s door. The moment I saw the soldier’s expression, I knew why he was here.
Before he could open his mouth, I shot up and bolted out of the smithy.
Leaving the smithy, I saw the garden being restored by carpenters. I crossed the garden, saw the long staircase leading up to the main palace, and cleared it in two leaps.
“Wh-Who—”
I rushed past two startled Imperial Knights and into the main palace.
I ran up the stairs on the right side of the grand hall, rounded a half-turn, sprinted down the straight corridor ahead, and climbed another flight of stairs.
After doing that twice, I could hear a faint cry from beyond a corridor bustling with maids and servants.
It made my heart race even faster.
In my haste, I pushed past the maids and servants blocking my way.
“Aah?! Who’s that!?”
“Hey, hey! Sir Hero…!”
“…Ah!”
I paid no mind to the sounds behind me. I soon arrived at the door, which was surrounded by servants and maids, and through the crack, I could hear the cry I’d heard before, much clearer now.
Thump, thump. My heart pounded wildly.
As I stood there staring blankly at the door, the two knights guarding it looked at each other, nodded, and took hold of the doorknob.
“Please, go in, Sir Hero.”
The door opened slowly.
Hearing the cry grow even clearer, I swallowed hard and took a step forward.
One step, then another. With each step, the threshold separating the corridor from the room drew closer.
As I crossed the threshold, a space different from the corridor unfolded before me. And there, amidst the sweltering heat, I saw the woman who was, at this very moment, the most beautiful in the world.
Her vibrant brown hair was soaked with sweat, and despite her exhaustion, she gazed at the child in her arms with a blissful smile that couldn’t be erased.
Lorraine looked up, saw me, and the corners of her mouth lifted.
“What took you so long? You wanna die?”