Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: The Tower Lord's Question
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“Heave-ho!!”
Bam!
As he loaded the final crate onto the cart, Ralph wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Huff, huff… My back. There’s just so damn many. Good lord, and this is only three-tenths….”
Not just Ralph— the other Latent Dragon Squad members nodded in weary agreement, staring at the carts with dazed eyes.
The martial clan’s open yard was packed with carts brimming to the top, lined up in neat rows.
There were fifty carts in total, loaded with massive scales and hides, jars of blood, and crates of bones.
All of it was byproduct from the Earth Dragon’s corpse.
After the battle with the Great Curtain ended, Golden Heaven, Muddy Stream, and the Lichtenauer Martial Clan had dismantled the Earth Dragon’s body and divided it evenly.
Only the Lichtenauer Martial Clan had the skill to process the Earth Dragon’s corpse, so they claimed half— but that was still generous.
In other words, they had handed over half of these precious Earth Dragon byproducts to Golden Heaven and Muddy Stream, whom they had once dismissed as barbaric monster hunters.
Many in the clan had clicked their tongues at this, but Paon had willingly yielded the byproducts to them.
You don’t corner a rat.
Among the leaders of the factions, only Paon remained unscathed, while the Sea King and Golden Eye had both fallen in battle.
If the Lichtenauer Martial Clan monopolized everything, it could provoke Golden Heaven and Muddy Stream into causing far bigger headaches.
They might redirect all their pent-up rage outward, turning their blades on the Lichtenauer Martial Clan in a desperate act… and that would truly spell trouble.
Besides, the Earth Dragon’s corpse was essentially the price paid with those men’s lives.
Paon believed it proper to honor warriors who had surpassed their limits, regardless of faction.
In any case, three-tenths of the byproducts brought back to the clan had been loaded onto those carts as payment for the Magic Tower’s participation.
To think it amounted to only one-and-a-half-tenths of the entire corpse, yet still filled fifty carts— it gave a sense of the Earth Dragon’s colossal size.
“To think he took down something like that… I can’t help but wonder where our Patriarch’s limits end.”
“Right? It’s not for nothing they call him Agena’s strongest… Still, the more I think about it, the more it stings.”
Ryu An smacked his lips regretfully.
“Where the hell did the Earth Dragon’s Dragon Heart go?”
“No kidding. If we’d snagged that, we could’ve bought thousands— no, tens of thousands— of top-shelf bottles and still had change.”
Helena swallowed hard, and Ryu An furrowed his brow.
“Helena, I’ve told you before, how does a priestess like you…?”
“Ryu An, you sound like such an old fogey!!”
As the Latent Dragon Squad members bantered noisily among themselves, just as they always did, it was true that no Dragon Heart had been found in the Earth Dragon Karaktus’s corpse.
It was a bizarre and lamentable event— and yet, also fortunate.
Dragon Heart.
For dragons, who lived endless ages wielding near-divine power, it was the ultimate elixir formed from accumulated Agena mana.
Legends claimed it granted inexhaustible mana and eternal youth, making it incomparable to any other elixir.
Even absolutes beyond the need for such aids could advance one or two whole stages with it— a treasure of legend.
Its value dwarfed all other dragon byproducts combined.
How tragic that the most precious treasure had vanished.
All factions had searched desperately, eyes ablaze, but the Earth Dragon’s chest cavity mocked them with nothing but an empty hollow.
Yet it was also a stroke of great fortune.
There was only one Dragon Heart.
Had it been found, the three factions would have turned their blades on each other once more.
“Whoever swiped it, if I catch ‘em… I’ll make ‘em pay!!”
“And what exactly would you do if you caught them?”
Ian asked slyly as Helena flailed her fists in frustration. Without a moment’s hesitation, she replied firmly.
“Rip their gut open and yank it out! It can’t be fully digested yet— we’d salvage whatever’s left!!”
“…Helena, you sure you’re a priestess…?”
“What kind of priestess is that bloodthirsty….”
As the nearby squad members shook their heads at her extreme words…
…Ian subtly clutched his stomach, feeling a sudden ache.
‘…Yeah, better keep this under wraps.’
Two months ago.
Not long after waking from the priests’ intensive care while teetering on death’s door, Ian had noticed the anomaly in his body.
“…What’s this?”
Beside the chains of Solar Meridian Blockage sat a small, unfamiliar energy.
It was tiny in size… but its nature was ferociously wild and nobly proud.
Refusing to yield even to the savage, beastly aura of Solar Meridian Blockage.
Ian easily recognized it as matching the power and essence the Earth Dragon had exuded.
That wasn’t the only change.
Once recovered, as he circulated Blood Demon True Qi and resumed normal training…
Suddenly, he saw things in his squadmates he hadn’t noticed before— felt things he hadn’t sensed.
Ryu An’s incomplete lower body stance, the imbalance in Helena’s shoulder muscles when drawing her bow, Sylvia’s insufficient waist flexibility for throwing hidden weapons, the breaks in Dane’s mana circuits during spellcasting…
All of it visualized clearly before Ian’s eyes.
It wasn’t constant.
Only when he raised his Blood Demon True Qi and entered combat— his eyes would redden, revealing opponents’ weaknesses visually without fail.
The potent energy firmly rooted in his mana core, and this unique ability.
Ian knew instinctively.
For reasons unknown, a portion of Earth Dragon Karaktus’s power and mana had flowed into him.
‘This power… way more useful than I thought. Need to train it to get comfortable with it.’
Since then, Ian had practiced using the Dragon Demon Eye during solo sessions.
On the way to Megalovria this time, he planned deeper training into the Earth Dragon’s Dragon Demon Eye.
During the Great Curtain battle, it had pierced even the tiny flaws in Paon’s supreme enlightenment— a cheat-like ability.
Ian hadn’t reached that mastery yet, but he believed familiarity would open endless possibilities.
…Or so he’d thought, but Ian reconsidered slightly.
‘At least, don’t practice when Helena’s nearby.’
It just felt necessary.
“By the way, Captain, why’s the Tower Lord summoning you? Got any guesses?”
Ralph’s question snapped Ian from his reverie. The squad members, who’d been chattering about the Dragon Heart, all turned to him at once.
“Yeah, right! Last time, Lord Midas gave you that armor all to yourself! Why does the Tower Lord keep favoring just you?!”
“Exactly! Before the Great Curtain expedition, you went to the tower alone and talked with him forever!!”
Wooo!
The squad clamored for the truth, but Ian— having quietly removed his hand from his stomach— pressed a finger to his lips.
“It’s a secret.”
The Latent Dragon Squad arrived at Megalovria with their massive caravan of carts and slowly made their way toward the towering spire that seemed to scrape the heavens.
“We sincerely welcome you to the Magic Tower. May I ask the purpose of your visit…?!”
As they reached the entrance, a young mage greeting visitors in routine fashion went wide-eyed.
“W-Wait! Hold on!!”
He shoved past other guests and rushed to the squad.
“Aren’t you the guests from the Lichtenauer Martial Clan?! Come, come! Not here— please, step right in!”
“Uh, yes? But we can just wait our turn like everyone else…”
The flustered squad members tried to refuse the mage’s guidance.
It was worlds apart from their reception at the birch forest request or before the Great Curtain expedition, leaving them stunned.
One could say the squad’s prestige had risen that much… but.
“Haha, nonsense. Come now, don’t be shy… *slurp!!*”
“…Mage? You’ve got drool on your chin…”
“It’s your imagination. Just imagination.”
The mage gazed ecstatically at the Earth Dragon byproducts piled on the carts.
A closer look revealed other Magic Tower mages nearby with eyes half-rolled back.
Mages were seekers of truth, brimming with endless thirst for knowledge.
How insatiable their curiosity for dragons, known only from tomes?
Especially byproducts from an Earth Dragon, a mythical beast revived after centuries— to them, every jar, crate, even single scale was priceless treasure.
‘Well, they actually are treasures!’
Still, this treatment was… a bit frightening.
The squad glanced pleadingly at Ian for rescue, but.
“You’ve all worked hard getting here. Rest up and handle the cart handover with the mages. I’ll go see the Tower Lord right away.”
Ian ignored their looks.
“W-What? Wait! You can greet him after we finish the work!”
Ralph tried to grab Ian, who was heading inside, but.
…Whoosh!
Ian smoothly evaded and stepped onto the tower’s teleportation platform.
“Come now, everyone. As Captain Ian says. He has an appointment, so let him go— and please, hand over the goods already. I can’t hold back my saliva anymore… er, curiosity any longer.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Heh heh heh heh!!”
“Damn it, we’re screwed… Their eyes are all crazy!”
“Aaaah!!”
As the squad screamed under the mages’ grasp, twisted by desire…
“Come in. I’ve been waiting.”
Alerted to Ian’s arrival, Chief Sorcerer Rocerto stood before the platform, smiling warmly in welcome.
“Chief Sorcerer, it’s been a while.”
“Indeed. No time for proper greetings at the Great Curtain… Practically our first since the birch forest. Let’s talk on the way, not here.”
Vwoooong!
…Aaaah…
Ignoring the faint screams from below, Ian rode the platform up the lofty tower with Rocerto, pondering.
‘Midas… what’s he thinking?’
Before the Great Curtain expedition.
Ian had come to Megalovria seeking Midas’s aid.
He’d half-expected refusal.
Midas had provided the Silver Moon Armor and said to call once if needed— but that was personal favor.
Given the stakes, refusal wouldn’t surprise.
Plus, Midas hadn’t left the tower since Lucas— from his past life— fell, for some reason.
So Ian figured elder support alone would be blessing enough, no loss in asking.
—We shall do so.
Midas shattered expectations, accepting participation readily.
Even stunning Ian, the requester.
No time for details then.
Midas had said just one thing.
—No need for thanks. Seeing you reminds me of that man to whom I owed a debt.
Not a monetary debt, surely.
Midas, Tower Lord, was among Agena’s richest.
‘Guess I’ll find out talking to him.’
Anyway, after the Earth Dragon subjugation, Midas had specifically requested Ian deliver the byproducts.
He had something to say— and Ian would find an opening to speak freely.
Thud…
Arriving at the Gate of Truth following Rocerto, the chief sorcerer knocked as always and stepped back.
“I’ve already notified him, so go right in. I’ll wait here— come out whenever you’re done with the Tower Lord.”
Shhh…
With that, the Gate of Truth slid open smoothly, revealing Midas to greet Ian.
His timeless appearance and the subtle aura of profound mystery remained unchanged.
But one thing had clearly changed since their first meeting at the birch forest.
‘…Felt it before the expedition too, but his eyes are different.’
No trace of the former emptiness lingered in Midas’s gaze.
Seeing those starlit eyes, sparkling as in their past battles, Midas smiled faintly and asked.
“Hohoho!! Young Lord Ian, something on my face? Staring so intently makes a man self-conscious.”
Midas chuckled heartily and naturally set out tea and snacks, inviting Ian to sit.
“Honey milk cookies again today?”
“Folks don’t know, but no snack matches this one’s subtle flavor.”
As before, Midas steadfastly offered honey milk cookies.
“……”
“……”
*Sip.*
In the silence broken only by tea-sipping…
Clink!
“You must have questions. About my agreeing to join, or lying about the Silver Moon Armor.”
Midas set down his cup first and spoke slowly.
“Yes. Lord Midas, you…”
“Ah, forgive me, but I have one question first. Answer it, then I’ll explain.”
Lightly halting Ian, Midas asked calmly, voice unwavering.
“What is your relation… to the Hegemon, Lucas Alexei?”
The exact question Paon Lichtenauer had once posed to Ian.