Chapter 136
Chapter 136
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Tulip Mausoleum (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Theo told Cassandra to keep this whole matter a secret for now.
He had no idea what kind of reaction people might have if they found out about the 'prophecy' concerning him.
Worst case, it could even expose his ability to read thoughts.
That said, he worried she might refuse.
"Sure. Sounds good."
To his surprise, Cassandra nodded with disarming simplicity.
"No one believes my dreams anyway. Mom told me not to go around talking about them carelessly."
A faint shadow crossed her face at the mention of 'Mom,' but it vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by a grin as she stuck out her pinky.
"So, we're friends now, right?"
"Friends?"
"Yeah. Mom said people who share secrets are real friends."
Theo chuckled and hooked his pinky around hers.
"Then we're friends from now on."
"Hee hee hee. I finally have a friend for the first time."
Was this her way of pushing past the sadness?
Theo gently stroked Cassandra's hair, full of quiet admiration.
* * *
Audre Remer, head of the Tulip Flower Arrangement Guild, scowled fiercely.
"What? Another guest?"
"Yes..."
"The Ascendant Dragon alone is enough to drive me insane, and now who the hell else?!"
Audre had lived her entire life far removed from war.
Flower arrangement.
She was an artisan who had devoted herself solely to flowers, elevating them to the realm of art—a fact she took great pride in.
So even though the guild was a vassal under the Ragnar banner, she hadn't paid much mind to news of the war breaking out.
What trouble could possibly arise in a place surrounded only by flowers?
But lately, two groups of visitors had started chipping away at her peace of mind.
Especially when the Ascendant Dragon—who hadn't shown his face outside the North in ages—paid a visit. She had been terrified.
And now, another guest on top of that?
"The problem is..."
"What, there's more?"
Assistant Glan averted his eyes from Audre's boiling glare and barely managed to continue.
"They're coming to rendezvous after completing their mission, so there might be Troyvan's henchmen around—be careful, it said...!"
"You trying to turn this place into a battlefield?!"
Boom!
Audre could hold back no longer. She slammed the desk and shot to her feet.
She could tolerate guests from the main house staying over.
But getting swept up in battle? No way.
The 'new guests' Glan mentioned were Theo's group.
"No can do."
Audre gritted her teeth.
"What are you planning to do...?"
"What do you mean? We're confronting them! Or do you want to disturb the peaceful sleep of those resting beneath our gardens?"
"B-But!"
"No buts! Follow me!"
"Guildmaster! Guildmaaaster!"
Glan had no choice but to chase after Audre as she stormed out of the office.
* * *
"Looks like your guildmaster is pretty pissed."
"You're aware of that, right?"
The Ascendant Dragon greeted the fuming Audre with a friendly smile.
Steam rose gently from a cup of flower-petal tea before him.
"This tea is excellent. Mind if I ask what kind of petals these are?"
"Ugh, seriously! Cut the chit-chat and focus!"
Boom!
Audre slammed the desk where the Ascendant Dragon's teacup sat, laying into him.
Poor Glan in the middle rolled his eyes nervously, gauging the mood.
'Wh-What the hell is the guildmaster th-th-thinking...!'
His opponent was the Ascendant Dragon.
Possibly the strongest of the Nine Dragons, a living legend of the North.
Yet here she was, not just unfazed but outright challenging him. Heart-stopping stuff.
Even if the Ascendant Dragon was known to be good-natured, he was still a Ragnar.
He could erupt in fury and draw steel any second. That was the 'common sense' of Northerners.
Glan shot Audre a silent plea to cool it.
But the hot-tempered guildmaster just shot back with a 'What?' glare.
The Ascendant Dragon responded first, though.
"You there."
"M-Me?"
"Heh heh. Who else is standing around?"
"N-No, sir! Sp-Speak, please!"
"Not even the military here, and you're standing at attention."
"S-Sor-Sor-Sorry, sir!"
"No need to apologize."
"I'm sorry!"
"Heh heh heh heh heh."
The Ascendant Dragon's laughter filled the room.
Glan was dying under Audre's death glares screaming 'What the fuck is this idiot doing?'
'Don't overdo it! My mouth's drier than a desert because of you! Protecting you is my job!'
"Anyway, care to tell me what this flower is?"
"M-Marigold, sir."
"Oh? Really? I'll have to track some down back in Winterer."
"Ah, quit daydreaming and focus!"
"Heh heh. Still as impatient as ever."
"You're the one being way too relaxed, Ascendant Dragon!"
'The guildmaster... knows the Ascendant Dragon?'
"Anyway! You know what kind of place this is, right?"
Audre crossed her arms, deciding enough was enough, and steered back to the point.
A faint smile played on the Ascendant Dragon's lips.
"How could I not? This is the mausoleum where our house's spirits reside."
If the Tulip Flower Arrangement Guild were just some ordinary flower guild, it never would have become a Ragnar vassal.
It would have been a run-of-the-mill outfit.
But its value to the Ragnars was different.
Mausoleum.
A tomb.
One where ancestors who had closed their eyes centuries ago—now barely remembered—to Ragnar glory slumbered.
A shrine.
A small temple housing their spirit tablets, where prayers for their peace and blessings were offered.
"Yes. Tulips aren't just any flower. Long ago, they were our forebears, blessed by the flower goddess. Even in death, their heads that longed for Winterer became blooms, their bodies sturdy black stems to support them, and their praying hands and feet leaves and roots that remain here."
A legend.
One famous even as a fairy tale in Winterer.
-Ages ago. The tale of swordsmen and dragons who gave their all to protect Winterer from black shadows descending from beyond the wall, from the distant North Pole.
"I am the flower keeper and grave warden, handed down the mission to protect and tend this sacred place. I cannot stand by if war engulfs it."
Audre's eyes blazed fiercely.
As if she might breathe fire any second.
"So leave. Now."
The Ascendant Dragon silently drained his teacup.
Gulp!
Only Glan's tense swallow broke the silence.
"I can't do that."
"You bastard...!"
"I feel the same as you. A place this valuable must be cherished and protected. No reason to make a ruckus and disturb the dead's rest. Plenty of other spots for mission rendezvous."
"You know that and—!"
"But this mission 'must' conclude here."
Clink!
The Ascendant Dragon gently set down his cup.
His eyes deepened, matching the tea's profound flavor.
"There's something I need to confirm."
Audre's eyebrow twitched.
"...Political reasons again, huh?"
"That's all I can say for now."
"Ugh, damn it!"
Audre couldn't hold back. She kicked the desk hard.
Snorting, she stormed out. Glan bowed hastily to the Ascendant Dragon and scurried after her.
"Eaten all those years and still can't tame her temper. She's got a ways to go before she grows up."
The Ascendant Dragon chuckled, lifting his cup again.
It had cooled, but still warm.
* * *
Theo's group arrived at the Tulip Flower Arrangement Guild and were utterly stunned.
Someone utterly unexpected was there to greet them.
"What?! Selphard, you knew about this?"
"As if. The handover agent's name wasn't even properly listed."
As Selphard and Arin fumbled, Theo's eyes went wide.
"Well?"
"Heh heh! Young Master Theo, it's been a while. You've bulked up nicely. Lady Rey too."
It was Wellington.
Taller and with a deeper voice, as if he'd hit a growth spurt these past months.
"Why are you here?"
Wellington grinned at Rey's question.
"Guess you didn't hear. Master and I ended up here during our travels. Heard you and Lady Rey were coming, so we stuck around."
"We've been hearing about you nonstop. Traveling with the Ascendant Dragon as his sword attendant."
"Yeah... something like that."
"They say you're the North's hottest rising star right now. Top of the 'Three Lords and Eight Prodigies,' even."
"...That damn nickname reached your ears too, Young Master Theo?"
Wellington slapped a hand over his face without thinking.
Truth was, his name was the biggest in the North lately.
Maybe even bigger than Theo's.
The Three Lords and Eight Prodigies was a moniker for the eleven top young experts in skill and fame among the new generation.
Swordsman Wellington was one of the 'Eight Prodigies.'
He'd been showing up across battlefronts with the Ascendant Dragon, dominating.
Countless Troyvan units had fallen to him.
Even the feats Theo had read about in papers numbered over ten.
"Taro Baron's city hero."
"...Enough."
"Key player in the Neta Workshop Siege."
"...Please."
"A true knight's example, protecting children, elders, and women."
"...Young Master Theo, were you always this cheeky?"
Wellington's exploits were framed heroically.
Thanks to Ragnar propaganda painting him as the 'boy hero defying Troyvan oppression.'
His stand in the Neta Workshop Siege—holding off Troyvan assaults to protect refugees to the last—had rocked the Empire.
Now, crowds mobbed him everywhere he went.
He was embarrassed by the nonstop hype, deep down.
"Ascendant Dragon's sword heir, the new latent dragon incarnate."
"...That kid behind you must be the one rescued on this mission."
Fearing utter mortification if this continued, Wellington swiftly changed the subject.
Theo smiled lightly at his old friend's unchanged nature, reaching back to pat Cassandra's head where she hid.
"Yes. Cassandra. She's shy around strangers, but a very good girl."
"Figures. Pleased to meet you, Cassandra. I'm Wellington."
"......"
Cassandra just clutched Theo's hem tight, saying nothing.
Wellington smiled wryly and sent a mental message.
「She seems really attached to you, Young Master Theo. Think you can hand her over?」
Theo scratched his cheek.
Their orders specified handing Cassandra over to the waiting agent at the Tulip Guild, then heading straight to Tolle Castle.
But after growing so close to her, and with her warming to no one else—not Rey or the others—not Rey or the others—he'd been worried.
'The key is we didn't let the Demon Empress fall to Troyvan... but I can't keep dragging her around forever.'
He might persuade the higher-ups somehow, but warzones weren't for kids anyway.
If the agents were Wellington and the Ascendant Dragon, though, that eased his mind.
He could trust them with her.
「Orders are orders, though. She's just lost her family days ago. Please take good care of her.」
「Got it.」
「Should I hand her directly to the Ascendant Dragon?」
「Ah, so you didn't get the details. It's not just Master and me here. Hand her to that person. They've been waiting patiently just for her.」
「……?」
'Person'?
Someone higher than the Ascendant Dragon and Wellington?
As Theo opened his mouth to ask—
"You're Theo? The biggest rival that Torkel punk kept yapping about."
A chill ran down his spine.
Theo instinctively reached for the Drake blade on his back and snapped his head up.
On the building's roof.
A woman perched cat-like at the edge, gazing down.
Wreathed in sharp aura, backlit by the sun.
A massive scythe slung on her back stood out.
'Why is the Black Reaper here?'
Black Reaper, Reje Ragnar.
Closest to the throne.
Torkel's successor among the new top five candidates.
And then—
Bzzz!
Suddenly, Theo's earring, ring, and Moonblade Sword trembled violently.
At the same time, Reje's great scythe on her back did the same.
'Primordial Dragon relic?'