Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Dragon Blood Society (1)
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[A signal is being sent on a specific frequency band.]
A signal. One that only a dragon could detect.
They were forcibly drawing attention to themselves.
Letting me know they were here.
But the moment our eyes met, they vanished from the spectator seats like mist evaporating.
As if their sole purpose was to catch my interest.
What's their game?
I knew. Zero had picked it up the moment I entered the Colosseum.
But I couldn't figure out their intent.
Using the Heavenly Demon Overlord Art was a sort of 'warning.' I was curious how these mana-less bastards would react.
Yet they waited patiently until the duel ended.
Then, they did the opposite—deliberately pulling my attention.
It's not the Epic of Detection that brought them here.
If they'd come searching for Eugene, the Epic of Detection, they would've been far more cautious and covert.
They wouldn't have signaled me to announce their presence.
If I hadn't known, maybe I wouldn't have been on guard. But now that I did, it was only natural.
In other words...
They're interested in me.
They came solely to see me.
Why?
......They'll come find me soon.
One thing was clear.
They'd return before long.
They wanted a face-to-face somewhere secluded, not in a crowd.
Or perhaps... they were telling me to prepare myself.
Either way, they were powerhouses on a level incomparable to the Balmun.
The instant our eyes locked, every nerve in my body stood on end.
It felt like staring down a massive dinosaur right in front of me. A wall I hadn't felt since my regression—not even once.
The exact same sensation I'd felt facing Malfiel back then.
No stretching out and sleeping easy tonight.
I'd won the duel, but these uninvited guests had crashed the party.
Still, I wasn't scared.
If they meant to instill fear or threaten me, they wouldn't have waited until after the duel to reveal themselves.
They must want something from me—that's why they acted this way.
Preparing soldiers or making a show of force would only make them look down on me.
Sending a signal only a dragon could detect might mean they mistook me for a 'dragon.'
Besides, they weren't the type you could fend off with preparations anyway.
Better this way.
If I couldn't block them, I'd leave the door wide open.
To uncover their intentions and turn the tables.
What I needed now was composure.
Sorting my thoughts, I curled up the corner of my mouth.
Then I raised my sword high toward the sky.
"Waaaaaaaaah!"
"Long live Crown Prince Reinhardt!"
"Long live!!"
*
Raunel and Reinhardt stood before Emperor Deus.
The loser, Raunel, kept his lips firmly shut. Losers don't speak. It was a sign of accepting the result.
The winner, Reinhardt, was silent too.
But he had poise.
Deus spoke.
"Reinhardt, and Raunel. That was truly splendid combat."
"Splendid" didn't even begin to cover it.
Now everyone would know the Empire's might, the imperial family's strength.
Two Sword Masters had emerged from the imperial family at once.
A great blessing, cause for joy.
Deus opened the box embroidered with a dragon on the desk.
A crimson-tinged spherical orb. The Dragon Jade. A treasure forged at the Empire's founding, a symbol of the emperor.
"This Dragon Jade holds the imperial family's authority. Its bearer wields power equal to the emperor's and receives all necessary authority delegated."
In his lifetime, Deus had never handed the Dragon Jade to anyone.
There was only one reason he revealed it now.
"Reinhardt. Use this power solely to thoroughly investigate and uproot every threat to the Empire."
Deus's gaze turned to Reinhardt.
He'd hidden his power and defeated Raunel. Deus had been completely wrong about him all this time.
So he trusted him. He had to. If this power was misused, a bloodbath would follow.
The Dragon Jade even granted summary execution rights against any challenge to imperial authority. That's why Deus had never entrusted it to another.
But now, for the first time, he handed it to Reinhardt.
"I'll do my utmost."
As he took the Dragon Jade, his fingertips trembled faintly.
He hadn't expected the emperor to relinquish even this.
He knew its meaning well, knew Deus had never entrusted it to anyone, so he understood what handing it to him now signified.
"Your Majesty."
But one thing needed clarifying.
As he took the Dragon Jade, his fingertips trembled faintly.
At my call, Deus responded.
"You have something to say?"
"Grant me absolute authority over the investigation team."
"Absolute authority meaning?"
"Appointment rights and all interventions regarding the team."
I had to secure the authority to freely control the investigation team as its leader.
Especially since external pressure in forming it could cripple the team entirely.
That's exactly what the 1st Empress and the nobles wanted.
"There will be no external pressure. I'myself will not intervene in the investigation. Do as you will, Investigation Captain."
*
Crown Prince Reinhardt's victory and appointment as Investigation Captain triggered massive upheaval in the capital and across the Empire.
Especially as those who'd witnessed the match in the Colosseum spread the word like wildfire.
"What? Crown Prince Reinhardt is a Sword Master?"
"He beat Prince Raunel? How?"
"This can't be real."
Those who heard through others couldn't believe it easily. Everyone had been certain Raunel would win even fighting toe-to-toe.
But reality was Reinhardt's victory.
Decided before fifteen thousand witnesses.
Unbelievable, but true.
And if true, it meant all prior judgments of Reinhardt were wrong.
"So what about those rumors on Crown Prince Reinhardt?"
"How could a madman be a Sword Master?"
"All slander?"
"Then His Majesty's judgment was right."
Rumors about the mad Crown Prince Reinhardt were countless.
The common thread: an "incompetent devil." No real ability, just abusing his high station like a demon.
But this duel proved at least the "incompetence" false.
That alone had people reevaluating him.
Many now praised his investiture as crown prince and Deus's foresight.
But the nobles were the most displeased.
"This is absurd. A Sword Master crown prince?"
"If he gets full investigative power, what becomes of the Empire...?"
"We hunker down for now. Until the Grand Duke returns."
"Shouldn't we pick a side now?"
The nobles who'd slandered the crown prince were pale.
Especially those aligned with the 1st Empress—defections were mounting.
It was settled before everyone's eyes. No reversing it.
All that remained was lying low.
He held the sword; how he swung it was up to him.
But few nobles knew the full details. The 1st Empress, who did, was furious beyond measure.
"Handing over the Dragon Jade! Unless he's lost his mind...!"
The Dragon Jade symbolized the imperial family.
She knew its authority well.
It granted power equal to the emperor's.
If Reinhardt set his mind to it, he could depose her outright. There'd be backlash, but if he stripped her bare in the investigation, she was done.
Worse, her noble supporters were deserting one by one.
Noble defections weakened her power.
And her weakening meant Raunel's position narrowed too.
"Raunel. Join as vice-captain of the investigation."
The 1st Empress played her final card.
Push Raunel as vice-captain.
No matter how strong Reinhardt, he'd have to yield to her insistence.
But Raunel shook his head.
"I can't do that, Mother."
"Is this the time for nonchalance? If we sit idle, who knows what that madman will do!"
"I lost. You must accept defeat too, Mother."
"So we admit it and wait to die?"
"......Enough. I lost, but I won't debase myself."
Raunel left in disgust.
He'd lost a fair fight. A fight he'd thought was overwhelmingly in his favor—he had to know when to concede.
Raunel holed up in the training grounds, swinging his sword endlessly.
The 1st Empress grew ever more anxious.
What do I do about this?
She'd tormented Reinhardt the most all this time.
No way he'd let her be.
Even linking nobles to the Special Prison—she saw it as aimed at her.
The 1st Empress bit her nails with uneasy eyes.
*
"Drag them all out, not a speck of dust left behind."
The next day, Palace Mage Generic faced a sudden investigation.
Led by the Imperial Dragon Knight Order, it proceeded swiftly.
Mansions and hidden warehouses flung open, secret documents and treasures exposed.
"Generic. Beyond buying and selling Empire-banned slaves, evidence shows you directly operated a slave market. Anything to say?"
"......"
Generic had used his palace mage position to run a slave market. Auctions of banned slaves had amassed him vast wealth.
Barriers had concealed the auction house perfectly—until now.
Colluding nobles were unearthed too.
In the end, Generic stripped his robes and stepped down.
But that wasn't all.
Multiple barrier breaches? Traced to selling premium mana stones and substituting cheap ones.
I looked at Generic bound to the execution platform and said,
"Empire's parasite, aren't you."
"Wh-where's the justice! I returned all assets to the treasury and resigned! There's no law executing for slave trading!"
"Selling barrier mana stones and replacing with junk is a crime deserving death a hundred times. Slaves are nothing compared."
I ordered the executioner.
"Execute him."
"Aaaagh...!"
Generic's head rolled from the platform.
Military law summary execution. Igniting what had been hushed up.
Empire law existed, but nobles lived above it.
No noble without slaves, all scraping public funds blindly.
Unrestrained because their power was too great.
Mess up, and Carlos Grand Duke and nobles might rebel.
Pure intimidation. No need to shatter peace.
Cancer lurking behind peace.
Maladies even Emperor Deus and Raunel hesitated to touch.
I poked the hornet's nest from the start.
Left alone, they'd become monsters.
Most of these corrupt nobles were Carlos Grand Duke's lackeys.
My true task as Investigation Captain wasn't chasing the monster raid's backstory.
Balmun was dead; propping him up changed nothing.
What I'must do is cut out Carlos's lackeys, the Empire's cancers.
Or the same past repeats.
"Izart. I appoint you vice-captain."
"My utmost loyalty, Your Highness."
Izart—Isabella's brother—clenched his fist, cheering inwardly.
The "rotten rope" everyone mocked was golden after all.
How could he not be moved? His choice, his all-in bet, had paid off.
To the trembling Izart, I said,
"Dig thoroughly where those barrier mana stones flowed. Any involved nobles go on trial—all of them."
"As you command, Your Highness!"
The palace was raided due to weakened barriers.
Generic had siphoned premium mana stones meant for them.
So the nobles who took those stones weren't innocent.
Of course, I could guess where they'd gone.
Generic dared such audacity thanks to Carlos Grand Duke. Involved nobles were likely his too.
Time to nip it in the bud.
A week later, silence blanketed the capital.
Central nobles held their breath, lying deathly still.
But the persistent gazes forced my hand.
"......Enough lurking. Come out, dragons."
End of Dragon Blood Society (1)