Chapter 22
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Echoes of the Past
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Eirana, who had turned away without a second thought, suddenly froze in her tracks.
The old man's words were too unsettling to dismiss as mere bluffing.
She turned her head and looked back at him.
The old man was scooping up the scattered gemstones and putting them back into his leather pouch.
"What did you mean by that?"
Eirana narrowed her eyes as she asked, but the old man didn't even glance her way. He calmly folded his mat and replied.
"I think you know better than anyone what I meant, miss."
Once the mat was packed, the old man grunted as he stood up and slung it over his shoulder.
Looking at him, Eirana said,
"Where do you think you're going? I still have business with you."
"Fate decrees that I must no longer involve myself with you, miss."
With that, he donned a shabby wide-brimmed hat he had set aside and smiled.
"Old ties from the past don't sever as easily as one might think. They might even persist into this life of yours."
He spoke lightly, then added as Eirana reached out to grab him,
"Until fate brings us together again, dragonkin miss."
With those words, a fierce gust of wind swept in.
It was like a storm, forcing Eirana to instinctively close her eyes.
When she opened them again, the old man was gone.
"......"
Eirana stood motionless for a while, staring at the spot where he had vanished.
At a glance, he was no ordinary old man. Definitely not human.
Having settled into an inn on the main street, Eirana sat cross-legged with her arms crossed, lost in thought.
In front of her, Silver Fang and Black Fang had taken form and were sitting there.
Silver Fang was in his usual little tiger cub shape, while Black Fang appeared as a small black wyvern.
If Silver Fang's other form was a tiger, then Black Fang's was a wyvern.
Unlike a typical wyvern, Black Fang had a sleek build. Even in his tiny, cute form, his aura was sharp and intimidating.
Silver Fang, meanwhile, was rubbing his face with his front paws and yawning.
"That old man from earlier... he bugs me."
- He wasn't human.
Black Fang responded to Eirana's words.
Silver Fang and Black Fang weren't mere weapons—they were divine swords.
Their power rivaled Eirana's own.
Normally, they would be too much for her to handle.
With Silver Fang, things had somehow worked out casually, but with Black Fang, failing to contract would have been the norm.
True to their status as sword spirits with immense power and will, both sensed that the old man was no ordinary figure.
Silver Fang, who had been playfully rubbing his face with his paws, spoke up.
- There's nothing we can do about it right now. So let's think about it later.
Silver Fang was right.
Worrying about the old man who had vanished before their eyes wasn't the priority.
Eirana sighed and brushed her hair back over her shoulders.
Her silver locks swayed gently.
- So, Master, what are you going to do from now on?
Silver Fang, who had been bouncing on the bed asking the question, suddenly lost his balance and tumbled into Black Fang.
Black Fang unhesitatingly bit Silver Fang by the scruff of the neck.
Silver Fang irritably swatted at Black Fang with his front paw.
The brawl between the little tiger and wyvern looked cute at first glance, but it was actually quite fierce and brutal.
Made from the molars of Elencan and Rakan, the two sword spirits didn't get along well.
They were always getting into scraps like this.
Eirana, who had watched them for decades, separated them with practiced ease and said,
"Well, I do want to head to the capital first."
In any country, the capital was the heart of the nation.
From what Eirana knew, the Adea Kingdom was quite large.
Naturally, she felt a strong urge to see its capital at least once.
It was her first outing in ages—dealing with tiresome monsters out here would hardly be fun.
At Eirana's words, Silver Fang let out a purr.
Black Fang, indifferent, hopped off the bed and reverted to sword form.
Silver Fang followed suit and returned to his sword form as well.
With the two spirits back in sword form, Eirana got off the bed.
She opened the room's window and leaned against the frame, gazing up at the night sky.
A moon larger and bluer than those in the Central Plains hung in the sky.
A world different from the Central Plains.
She had known it intellectually, but experiencing it firsthand today brought fresh emotions.
'Old ties.'
Recalling the old man's words, Eirana smiled wryly.
Ha Yu-hyun, Eirana's previous incarnation as a human, had lived a grueling life.
An orphan with no one to turn to, he had caught the eye of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult Leader, eliminated rivals, and risen to vice-leader—a path that couldn't have been anything but brutal.
Thinking of the old comrades from her past life that she had long set aside, Eirana closed her eyes and exhaled.
'Enough.'
With that thought, she opened her eyes and closed the window.
They were precious ties.
But ties that had already been severed from Eirana.
She was living in the present now.
So she would devote herself to it.
Heading to the capital starting tomorrow would be quite a rush.
Getting to bed early would help with recovery.
With that in mind, Eirana lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.
Having set the capital Arte of the Adea Kingdom as her destination, Eirana continued her journey without further incident.
She occasionally ran into bandits or monsters on mountain paths, but they posed no real threat to her.
After several days of travel, as Eirana approached the capital's entrance, guards blocked her way.
"Halt."
"What is it?"
Eirana furrowed her brow.
"Routine inspection. Remove your hood and present your identification."
The reason Eirana was being treated as suspicious was her hood.
Even in autumn weather, wearing a hood in broad daylight looked shady to anyone.
Sighing lightly at the guards glaring at her, Eirana realized that picking a fight here would only drag her into trouble.
With that thought, she pulled out her mercenary tag—serving as ID—and slightly lifted the hood covering her face.
"Gasp!"
The guard who saw her face let out a shocked gasp.
Eirana pulled her hood back down and asked,
"Anything else?"
"N-no, nothing."
The man stammered, still stunned.
Thanks to her looks, his tone had shifted to polite formality.
Brushing past the guard, Eirana passed the inspection and entered the capital.
It took another three days to reach the central district where the royal palace stood after entering Arte.
Arte was a massive city divided into five districts: east, west, south, north, and central.
The central district housed the upper class, as the name implied.
The kingdom's educational institutions allowed even talented commoners to enroll.
Settled at an inn on the outskirts of the central district, Eirana perched on the windowsill, watching the people on the street.
All the passersby wore fine clothes, clearly affluent at a glance.
Just as nobles had ranks among themselves, so did commoners.
Especially those in the capital who had amassed wealth through commerce—many received near-noble treatment.
Some even donated vast sums to the royals and earned noble titles.
Gazing silently at the people, Eirana lifted her head to look at the distant royal palace.
Even from the central outskirts, the palace was strikingly visible.
She had seen various castles while passing through the Adea Kingdom, but this royal palace dwarfed them all in grandeur and scale.
As Eirana quietly took in the scenery, a knock at her door drew her gaze.
"Come in."
With that, a female server from the inn entered.
"I've brought your snacks, ma'am."
The girl, who looked to be in her early teens, set a plate of pastries—light fare—on the table in the room's center and beamed.
The reason the inn staff treated Eirana so kindly was simple.
She had paid a hefty sum upfront for an extended stay.
"Thanks."
Eirana gave a perfunctory reply to the girl's kindness.
Undeterred by Eirana's apathy, the girl smiled warmly.
Young as she was, working at the inn had exposed her to all sorts of people.
In a place where rowdy guests were common, Eirana was an easy customer from the staff's perspective.
"You're still wearing your hood indoors, ma'am?"
Noticing Eirana's demeanor, the server asked curiously.
Eirana chuckled and replied,
"It's not a face I want to show off."
"Your voice suggests you're quite beautiful, though..."
Muttering softly to herself, the girl then voiced another curiosity.
"Traveling alone as a woman... that's impressive."
Her eyes sparkled.
She had heard the previous night that this guest had come from the distant northern regions to the capital.
As a young girl from the capital, she harbored a romantic fascination with out-of-towners.
"If you're traveling solo, your sword skills must be top-notch. Did you come to the capital after hearing the rumors?"
"......"
Eirana, who had been nonchalant until now, showed interest at the girl's question.
"Rumors?"
"Yes. There's been suspicious activity in the capital lately. Ever since the king fell ill, the atmosphere has grown tense."
The server vented with a worried expression.
"Some nobles have even been attacked at night, so hiring skilled mercenaries has become the trend in high society."
In truth, Eirana had undergone several security checks within the capital.
She had chalked it up to tight security in the capital, but it seemed internal issues were at play.
"Nah. Just traveling."
Eirana shook her head lightly, and the girl nodded, bowed, and left the room.
Eirana grabbed a handful of pastries and popped them into her mouth, deep in thought.
Coming to the capital had been mere personal curiosity, nothing more.
But now it was time to set some goals.
It was her first outing in life—she couldn't just wander aimlessly.
As Eirana pondered, the area quieted with no one around, and Silver Fang and Black Fang appeared.
Black Fang lightly flapped his wings and landed on Eirana's shoulder.
Silver Fang stretched lazily on the bed before gnawing at the blanket.
After amusing himself briefly, Silver Fang looked at Eirana curiously.
- Master, what's got you so deep in thought?
"Trying to figure out what to do going forward."
- Work?
"Gotta. I've lounged around eating for 500 years. I want to try working for once."
In her past life, politics and battles had been her work.
By that measure, it hadn't been an ordinary life.
Rubbing his face with his paws at Eirana's words, Silver Fang asked,
- So what do you want to do?
It was a question born of pure curiosity.
Tilting her head slightly at Silver Fang's innocent query, Eirana replied,
"Private tutor?"