Chapter 385
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 385
Chapter Title: It's a Hunch. Definitely.
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The moment he heard Aynsha's words.
Yuna Kyung, who had been nibbling on snacks atop the table, blinked without realizing it.
[Half the population of the Russia Khanate..., will die?]
"That's right."
[Why?!]
Yuna Kyung demanded sharply.
The claim that the Russia Khanate's population—numbering in the hundreds of millions—would be cut in half was enough to horrify anyone.
Aynsha's answer was straightforward.
"I don't know the reason. I couldn't see the exact process either. But if things continue like this, it's definitely going to happen."
[Does that even make sense?]
"Whether it makes sense or not, the future is the future."
At that blunt response, Yuna Kyung was left speechless.
If anyone else had said it, it would have sounded utterly absurd.
But she was the White Dragon Princess.
The name of the White Dragon Princess—who had reigned as the world's greatest prophet from the Heroes' Age right up to the present—carried enough weight to make even such absurdity ring true.
That was why Rimon turned to Syr.
"...Old hag, what do you think?"
"Just wait a moment."
As if she'd known she would be called upon, she nodded readily and slipped her hand into her cleavage.
She pulled out a thick stack of cards, shuffled them, and laid them out one by one.
A shadow cloaked in darkness [Devil].
A wheel pierced by a sword [Fate].
Skulls blanketing the earth [Death].
Syr narrowed her eyes at the three cards, tapped them lightly with her finger, and spoke.
"Something's interfering with the prophecy."
"So you don't know?"
"Not quite. It's just hard to pin down precisely, but at least two things are certain."
"What?"
"One is that a massive disaster will strike the Russia Khanate. At least on the scale of the London incident... or maybe even worse."
"...And the other is that only I can stop it?"
"Sword Masters who can slice through fate aren't exactly a dime a dozen, you know."
Rimon clicked his tongue as he eyed the [Fate] card Syr held out.
The White Dragon Princess Aynsha.
And Syr herself, the world's top prophet until the Earth White Dragon Sage appeared.
With two prophets of that caliber speaking in unison, it was virtually certain that something was about to go down in the Russia Khanate.
And the only one who could sever a fate confirmed by prophecy was him—the one who had mastered the sword intent of the Dragon Slayer Sword.
"Wrong."
Everyone, Li Chingwei included, looked puzzled at Aynsha's follow-up.
"What's wrong, Aynsha?"
"Rimon alone won't cut it. He could stop the disaster tied to Yekateriche, but there'd still be massive casualties in the end."
"Is that a prophecy too? But if it's the Sword Duke, surely you could alter—"
"Not a prophecy. Just a hunch."
"...A hunch?"
"Yes."
Li Chingwei's expression grew peculiar.
She had once theorized that Rimon's repeated success in saving the world stemmed from intuition born of a dragon psyonic's prophetic insight.
Besides, Aynsha was the princess with the sharpest instincts in the entire Seven Dragon Society.
Even she found herself momentarily at a loss for how to interpret that hunch.
Rimon, meanwhile, asked without overthinking it.
"If I can't handle it solo, what then?"
"Simple. I come along."
"...And that'll prevent the damage?"
"Yes. Definitely. My hunch is screaming it."
"Hmm."
Rimon stroked his chin as he regarded Aynsha's characteristically impassive face.
Having plenty of experience acting on his own gut feelings, he had no intention of dismissing hers.
A princess of the Seven Dragon Society would only help, never hinder.
There was just one issue.
"Timing's bad for you to step away right now, isn't it?"
They were in the thick of preparations for LE & IN's push into the Zhonghua Federation and the Holy Alliance—swamped with work.
If Aynsha, leader of the White Dragon Clan, took off now, the Holy Alliance's food supplies would inevitably lag.
His observation was spot-on.
But Aynsha replied in her usual flat tone, unconcerned.
"I need to meet Yekateriche anyway. Call it killing two birds with one stone."
"This isn't some errand you can multitask. Depending on what happens, it could drag on indefinitely."
"It's fine. There's a workaround."
"Workaround?"
Aynsha turned her head.
Gazing at Li Chingwei with her blank expression, she continued.
"Li Chingwei handles my duties."
After a blink of surprise at the abrupt suggestion,
Li Chingwei asked with a look of disbelief.
"Aynsha, are you seriously asking me to oversee the Holy Alliance's food distribution?"
"Yes. It's an LE & IN Leviathan subsidiary anyway. You can just take over for me."
"...Leaving aside what that even implies, I'd be stuck with double the workload."
Li Chingwei looked distinctly unenthused.
She was already shouldering the heaviest workload of any princess.
Piling Aynsha's on top? She'd collapse from overwork any day now, and no one would bat an eye.
Aynsha's face, however, remained unchanged.
She merely countered flatly.
"You can handle it, Li Chingwei. Can't you?"
"..."
Not knowing when she'd burn out implied the converse: push through the burnout, and she could manage.
So with her health restored, why not?
Her usual impassive face.
But eyes sunk in an unusually transparent calm.
Staring straight at her.
Li Chingwei met that gaze for a beat before nodding.
"You're right. With the White Dragon elders' help, it wouldn't be impossible."
If Youin and the other Black Dragons—already dying on the vine assisting her—heard that, they'd groan involuntarily.
But Li Chingwei didn't take it back.
She merely tilted her head slightly.
"Still, Aynsha... does it have to be you accompanying the Sword Duke?"
"Clarify your question."
"For minor support, we'd be better off sending a contingent of troops. For anything complex, Syr tagging along would carry more weight."
The Sword Duke wouldn't lack for raw power anyway.
So if it was about aiding him in other ways, plenty of others could fill the role.
Why risk the food supply delays by sending her specifically?
To Li Chingwei's genuinely curious query, Aynsha answered with her blank face.
"You're right, Li Chingwei."
"See? Then surely someone els—"
"But no one else will do. It has to be me."
"..."
Logically, Li Chingwei had the better argument.
But her prophetic instincts insisted she had to go.
No reason. No evidence.
Yet she spoke with unshakeable conviction.
Li Chingwei fell silent once more, watching Aynsha.
"My take? Yeah, tagging along with the idiot princess seems like the play here."
Li Chingwei, who had parted her lips ever so slightly, turned toward Rimon instead.
"May I ask why?"
"Like the idiot princess said—this feels like the Silver Dragon Clan is tangled up in it deep."
"So you'd join the equity talks with Aynsha to suss out how Yekateriche ties into this disaster."
"Exactly. Figuring out what the Silver Dragons are scheming might clue us in on the disaster itself."
"Any basis for that thinking?"
"Well, if you want a basis..."
As if mulling over his words,
scratching his cheek with a finger,
yet without backing down from his choice, Rimon laid out the real crux.
"Just a hunch."
"..."
Should she envy prophets and Sword Masters who could declare that so boldly—or resent them?
"Sorry for pushing you so soon after you recovered."
"Don't worry about it. It's not a bad deal for me either."
After the meeting wrapped,
Li Chingwei returned to the top-floor penthouse with Rimon, smiling brightly as if she'd never sighed at all.
She'd been saddled with surprise extra work, but in exchange, she stood to gain something too.
Without that upside, she never would've agreed to oversee the Holy Alliance's food supplies unconditionally.
That was why
she continued softly.
"If anything, I'm worried about you, Sword Duke."
"What's there to worry about?"
"To dig into the Silver Dragons' schemes, you'll need to get just as close to Yekateriche."
"Worried I'll get too chummy with the Silver Dragon Princess?"
"That's part of it."
Li Chingwei gave a wry smile.
She was the one who'd begged him to accept the other princesses, so him bonding with Yekateriche should have been reassuring.
Yet she couldn't be purely thrilled—not just because of Rose.
Even Rimon would find befriending Yekateriche a pipe dream, let alone casual conversation.
"As you know, Silver Dragon Princesses have always been exceptional, but Yekateriche takes the cake for eccentricity."
"Her personality?"
"Ability first."
Unable to refute Rimon's point outright,
Li Chingwei murmured low.
"Ask anyone in the Seven Dragon Society who the top genius is, and we'd all name her."
Li Chingwei's own rep as master strategist stemmed solely from Yekateriche finding intrigue tedious.
Had she invested even a few years in plots and schemes? She'd have outstripped even Li Chingwei as a schemer.
And it wasn't just scheming.
Craved combat? She'd eclipse Hasneti.
Focused on relief? She'd save more lives than Rose.
Studied medicine and alchemy? She'd surpass Maia as healer and alchemist.
That was Yekateriche.
The only princess in the Seven Dragon Society who could stand toe-to-toe with the Gold Dragon Princess—pure talent alone might even top Charlotte.
"...If she were right in the head."
The catch? Beyond that staggering genius, she was the craziest princess in the Society.
Even Maia, who couldn't handle her own poisoned blood, seemed normal by comparison.
"Be careful, Sword Duke. Yekateriche can do anything—which means no telling what she'll pull."
Perhaps sensing her earnest concern,
Rimon met Li Chingwei's steady gaze and, for once, nodded with a grave expression.
"Got it. I'll watch my step."
"And one more thing..."
"Yeah?"
"...No, never mind. Don't want to trouble you with maybes."
Rimon eyed her curiously at the uncharacteristic dodge, but she kept the thought locked away.
She merely recalled it.
The moment he'd decided on Russia.
A fleeting glimpse.
Something she'd already glimpsed when Aynsha visited her sickbed days ago—subtle enough that she'd barely caught it then.
Recalling the girl with a quiet smile on her ever-impassive face, Li Chingwei's expression turned complicated.
Clearly an opulent letter.
She stared at it intently for a long while, as if committing every inscribed letter to memory.
Then she reached out and held it to the candle flame flickering nearby.
Whoosh!
As if crafted to ignite effortlessly,
the flames caught quickly.
She watched impassively—even as the fire licked her snow-white fingers—until the paper and ink had burned away completely.
Only once the letter had vanished without a trace of ash did she withdraw her hand.
And smiled.
Faint, barely there.
Transparent, as if it might shatter at any moment.
A smile all the more ephemeral, all the purer for it.
"Princess, the New Dragon Corps has completed departure preparations."
But the next instant,
her smile vanished.
All that remained was a doll-like beauty, utterly devoid of emotion.
"Understood. On my way."
With that curt reply, the white-haired girl rose fluidly and left the room without hesitation.
Leaving behind the spot where a letter—once sealed with the silver dragon's emblem—had arrived even before Li Chingwei called her meeting...