The Duke of Taron and the Black Dragon's Arm
The Hero Arandal opened his eyes.
Morning.
He was in the bedchamber of the Second Princess, Lucrezia.
Lucrezia, said to be the second most beautiful woman in the world after her sister, was lying beside him.
'It feels like a dream.'
Arandal climbed out of bed and gazed down at the sleeping Lucrezia.
The red stain on the bedsheets beneath her naked form served as proof that last night was no mere fantasy.
He had finally done it. He had possessed the Second Princess.
Having taken her virginity, his position was now secure. No matter what kind of trouble the Hero might cause, the Emperor would never be able to annul the marriage to the Second Princess now.
'This is what they mean when they say you're happy. I'm happy.'
Arandal stood by the window, a glass of wine in one hand, looking out.
The tallest building in the Imperial Capital.
A place where only those with the blood of the Imperial family could reside.
A place where the magnificent panorama of the capital could be seen at a glance.
He was there.
'A sweet reward for all the suffering I've endured.'
Lately, Arandal had been steadily preparing to move onto the next stage.
The next stage was politics.
Building upon his achievement of slaying the Demon King, he intended to stand at the very pinnacle of power.
'I need to prepare for my later years properly. In a comfortable place. I can't just spend my whole life adventuring until I die.'
Ten years of hunting the Demon King.
He had done enough.
He wanted to leave the adventuring to his juniors and ascend to even greater heights.
'I hate that I, the one who slew the Demon King, have to walk on eggshells around anyone. The world should revere and hold me up. Even the Emperor.'
A position where everyone bows to you.
The Emperor!
If he were to reign as Emperor in the future, he would need significant help from those around him, but...
Arandal had recently been disappointed in the Saintess, Elihart.
How long had it been since the Demon King was defeated, and she was already off on a pilgrimage? And to top it off, she was doing it in honor of Nightstream, carrying his mementos?
'Foolish. That woman is truly an idiot.'
Instead of staying in the capital to help him, she just moped around, crying, "Nightstream, Nightstream, Nightstream...!"
His grip tightened on the wine glass.
'Why him...! Still!'
The figure of Nightstream, still vivid in Arandal's memory.
His real name was Kim Haeru.
He was, in name and reality, the world's greatest thief.
He had never seen a thief more skilled than him.
In particular, his overwhelming disguise skills—something only he could pull off—were truly unrivaled.
'If he were still alive... I probably would have felt constant jealousy toward him.'
He remembered when they first met.
A mischievous young thief who went around scamming people.
He claimed he was only committing crimes against nobles because he was angry that Lurkers had no freedom, but a crime was a crime.
They had been lucky enough to catch him and were going to hand him over to the local lord, but... they discovered he possessed exceptional talent.
One thing led to another, and he eventually joined the Hero's party, and Nightstream performed even better than everyone had expected.
The women in their party liked him a lot.
The mage Cornelia, the Saintess Elihart, and so on.
Unlike his own shy self, he spoke to women without hesitation, was good at cooking, and had incredible dexterity, being able to fix or build anything.
He had told them himself that he had done every job imaginable just to survive after coming to this world.
Because of that, there was nothing he couldn't do, and those traits naturally appealed to the women as masculine.
A man who would fix a broken item in a snap if you brought it to him.
A man who would play the lute and sing if someone was bored.
A man who could cut wood and make anything.
He was even good at cooking...
Arandal thought back then that he had lost to Nightstream in terms of masculine charm.
It made him sad that Cornelia and Elihart seemed closer to Nightstream than to him.
He was the leader of the party, so why did they only go to that guy for advice...!
'That's why I turned him into a gigolo.'
Arandal smiled as he took a sip of wine.
Nightstream's specialty was disguise.
When carrying out missions, it was inevitable that he would have to sleep with strange women.
At first, Nightstream made various excuses to avoid and dodge those situations, but one day, Arandal ordered him:
'Just sleep with them. We need to ensure the mission is perfect.'
He forced him to have relations with various women, creating a sense of disgust toward him among the women in the party.
'The more I perform, the better the perception of us Earthlings will be, right? His Majesty the Emperor will surely recognize my merits and take care of us Earthlings so we can live comfortably?'
'Of course. I'll step up and make sure to help you.'
Because he trusted and followed his words blindly, Nightstream had relations with countless women, regardless of their race. If Nightstream had been a virgin back then, he might have developed a romantic relationship with either Cornelia or Elihart.
But seeing Nightstream easily having relations with any woman had perhaps made their hearts drift away from him.
At least, that was how it looked to Arandal.
Every time Nightstream returned from a disguise mission, the expressions of the two women toward him were somehow bitter and awkward.
'I pride myself on having things I was better at than him.'
Arandal hadn't lost to Nightstream in everything regarding masculinity.
There was one thing he won at.
That was combat ability.
As a Hero, he had mastered various combat techniques, but Nightstream had nothing that could be called a main strength.
He only supported the Hero on the battlefield with various miscellaneous skills.
He didn't possess the outstanding power to step forward and save the party or turn the tide of battle.
'Everything he had were just skills useful for thievery.'
He had never seen him use a technique with powerful destructive force, like cutting down an enemy in one blow as he did.
Thanks to that, Arandal found comfort and felt a sense of superiority.
"That's all in the past now, too."
Arandal, standing by the window, shrugged his shoulders.
"He has left this world now. Unfortunately."
He chuckled and swallowed the rest of the wine in his hand.
Delicious.
It tasted even better drinking it while looking at the panorama of the massive city from high up.
This is what life should be like.
I can't even stand the thought of camping in a field anymore, even if I were to die.
'But...'
A woman suddenly came to mind.
A woman who hadn't shown her face in months.
A woman he had once confessed to, only to be ruthlessly rejected.
Where on earth was the First Princess, Esmeralda, and what was she doing?
"......I haven't heard a word. Is she jealous and sulking because I'm marrying the Second Princess?"
— I, I can't believe it...! —
The Black Dragon's remnant of consciousness could not close its mouth after watching Haeru train in the Taron family's secret arts.
He had watched the Taron bloodline train for generations, but this was the first time he had seen someone realize and achieve things so quickly.
The learning speed was so incredibly fast that he wondered if the blood of the Taron family flowed through that guy's body.
'He's a guy with amazing fundamentals. If he realizes one thing, he understands ten. He's even sharp-witted.'
His mental fortitude was also incredible.
Usually, after training for 10 minutes, one had to go outside the book and rest for 40 minutes.
But that guy was running without even a moment to wipe his sweat.
Crash!
Boom!
Crunch!
Even when imaginary monsters rushed at him, he didn't flinch.
He skillfully suppressed them and moved forward.
Moreover, he was even under the restriction of not using his left hand, legs, or weapons, only being allowed to thrust with his right hand.
The act of gathering four fingers into a point and only thrusting.
Training the Gwan-su (spear hand).
'Has he done this before? He's not an ordinary guy.'
While he was thinking that, the guy mastered yet another technique.
Within an hour of entering the secret arts, he had passed up to the 5th stage of right-arm reinforcement.
The remnant of consciousness was frustrated but had no choice but to speak.
-The right-finger training is enough. Let's move on to the next.
The remnant changed the location.
High cliffs instantly rose up around Haeru.
-This is the Chapter of the Windy Valley. You must climb to the top of the 1,000-meter-high cliff using only your right arm. The fierce winds swirling around the cliff will block you, and the only thing you can rely on are the fingers of your right hand gripping the rock face.
Whoosh!
A fierce wind blew, threatening him so he wouldn't even be able to start.
The wind was so strong that climbing was not easy.
Since he had to bounce his body upward and climb using only his right hand, climbing was nearly impossible.
'Falling won't kill you, but it will deal a blow to your spirit. You'll pass out and sleep for three days.'
The remnant smiled leisurely.
-You will never pass this chapter!
...He had boasted, but it was a miscalculation.
The guy was, quite literally, a madman.
He climbed up with his right arm, screaming in agony, and before he knew it, he was standing tall at the top of the 1,000-meter cliff.
"Haa! Haa! I succeeded, right? Give me the next course quickly before the sun rises. Hurry...!"
The remnant of consciousness could not hide its shock.
Secret art passed down through the Taron family.
Focuses on reinforcing the right arm to the extreme.
To acquire that technique, I abused my right arm without mercy.
The secret art was focused on reinforcing the right arm to the extreme.
Skin as hard as to be impenetrable by any weapon.
Tremendous power capable of tearing anything apart.
Magic nullification.
Superhuman strength emission.
Right-arm transformation.
Once I mastered it, I could become a monster.
'My other face. A technique absolutely necessary for the Empire Destroyer, "Ru".'
The training didn't end in a single night.
The next day, and the day after that, every night I took Kara to the underground training hall, gritted my teeth, and learned the secret arts.
And so, the third day arrived.
The Black Dragon's remnant of consciousness warned me before the training began.
-This chapter is extremely dangerous, to the point where it made Duke Ilias a vegetable. Will you proceed?
There was no need to hesitate.
"I will."
Kara, whom I had placed as a safety device.
I wanted to trust her, but after the Hero's party, I had become unable to trust anyone.
Therefore, I suddenly praised the Goddess of Luck, who might be watching from the heavens, and decided to trust my luck.
If my luck was good, Kara would help me, and if my luck was bad, she would leave me alone whether I lived or died.
That was all.
"Start."
