The Dragon of the Pleasure City - 1
I had resolved an unexpected incident in the Mist Valley and even walked away with a more than decent reward.
I had learned of the Magic Tower's dangerous schemes and gotten my hands on an item with endless potential uses.
The moment Hesha's curse was lifted, I planned to take the Magic Tower Lord's head.
Since things had come to this, I figured I might as well demand the Magic Tower's collapse—or their full cooperation—as the price for curing the curse.
Whether it was Ignite or the Magic Tower, both were opponents I absolutely had to bring down.
"Where are we headed next?"
"Now that we've secured the Moonlight Flower, it's time to check on the city Lin and Rene left for. Honestly, I don't have much faith that those two are handling things well."
They might act friendly most of the time, but their chemistry was terrible anywhere that wasn't a bed.
I just hoped they hadn't caused any disasters before I arrived.
Still, they knew how to look after themselves, so I figured there wouldn't be any major problems.
…Probably.
"The night's gotten deep. We should head back to the Elf Forest first and get some sleep."
"A wise decision. I'll prepare a place for you to rest!"
"Appreciate it."
Bern's body could go three days without sleep and still be fine, but the mind that had once been called Yoon Geonwoo was another story.
I could rely on skills to push past even drowsiness if I wanted, but I had no desire to go that far.
Right now, all I wanted was to throw myself onto a bed—even one made of leaves would do.
I yawned widely as I finally stepped out of that cursed fog, and in that same moment, someone else slipped into the mist as if we had just missed each other.
"Huh…?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Didn't someone just walk into the fog?"
"Did they? I didn't sense any presence at all."
"Must've been my imagination…"
"If you're truly curious, shall we go back the way we came?"
She meant for us to turn around and search through that thick fog.
I was far too lazy for that, so I simply shook my head.
"Nah. Whoever it was didn't use teleportation magic to get in—they walked in on their own two feet. The wolves will handle it just fine."
At the very least, the odds were high that it wasn't someone sent by the Magic Tower.
Those magic-obsessed bastards would never bother walking when they had teleportation available.
If the intruder wasn't from the Magic Tower, it wasn't my problem to get involved.
"I'm tired. Let's just get back already."
"Understood."
More than anything, I remembered catching a whiff of piss from the person who brushed past us.
Even if the Magic Tower had its share of freaks, none of them would wander around reeking of urine.
It was bound to be some nobody.
With that thought, I returned to the elven village with Marianne.
"That person just now…"
The very moment Bern emerged from the fog, a black-winged woman was stepping into the mist as if their paths had been perfectly timed to cross.
At the same time, she too became aware of Bern coming out of the fog.
Could the one who just came out be the person who threw that weapon at me…?
If so, she would have to turn around, leave the fog, and stop him.
Yet for some reason, her feet refused to move.
It felt as though someone had seized her ankles, and she hesitated right where she stood.
…No. It's hard to believe he could have thrown a halberd that massive so far.
The woman turned her steps once more and walked into the fog.
Fate was not yet ready to allow the two of them to meet.
Inside a carriage bound for Yuran, one of the three great cities of revelry.
A sudden stretch of foul weather had cut off the carriage routes, forcing me to depart a full five days later than planned.
The delay had me worried, but according to the letter Rewen sent, Lin and Rene were doing just fine.
That let me breathe a little easier as I gazed out the carriage window.
The fact that they're both still in Yuran means they haven't gotten their hands on the item I told them about yet.
Was it called the Mermaid's Tear?
It's a natural mineral that only forms in the deep sea. They named it that because the gemstones look like tears.
So it wasn't actual mermaid tears after all.
Real mermaid tears are completely useless. Scales, maybe, but not tears.
At any rate, the Mermaid's Tear I wanted was so rare that even borrowing the power of the fishfolk who lived in the deep sea might not be enough to obtain one.
Fortunately, there were two beings who could get their hands on such a precious treasure with ease. One was the Blue Dragon who lived in the southern seas.
The other was the Blue Dragon's child and the ruler of Yuran—Sestia.
The key was to thoroughly butter her up and extract a Mermaid's Tear from her.
I had left that mission to Lin and Rene, but so far there had been no good news.
All I'd heard was that they were doing well.
Honestly, the fact that they weren't overdoing it was already enough to satisfy me.
"That's our destination this time, right?"
"Yeah."
Beyond the window, the silhouette of a massive structure came into view.
It was Yuran's landmark—and the building where Sestia lived.
I couldn't be certain, but the odds were high that a Mermaid's Tear was hidden somewhere inside a vault within that building.
I'd really like to resolve things peacefully this time.
I always ended up getting what I wanted only after some noisy, chaotic mess.
So every now and then, I found myself wishing things would just unfold at a leisurely pace.
Unfortunately, that seems impossible.
Why?
Look toward the entrance and you'll understand immediately.
At Frach's words, I stuck my head out the window.
The area around the city gate, which had looked distant a moment ago, was darkened by a massive crowd.
Had some incident broken out inside the city, causing them to turn away outsiders?
That was what I expected—but it was clearly something else.
The people gathered at the entrance were facing each other and fighting.
"You filthy White Dragon Faction bastards!"
"Who the hell are you calling filthy?! Even a kid on the street knows you Blue Dragon Faction types are the disgusting ones!"
"Since when do we settle things with words? Boys, wipe them out!"
"For our savior, Lady Rene! All forces, charge!!"
The peace I had been hoping for was already in ruins.
Worse, the side calling itself the White Dragon Faction had just mentioned a name I knew very well.
Rene was the daughter of the Radiant Dragon, a dragonkin whose beautiful white hair was her most striking feature.
If they had formed a White Dragon Faction based on that trait of hers…
Then the Blue Dragon Faction was almost certainly an organization headed by Sestia, the ruler of Yuran.
Which meant Rene had somehow made an enemy of Sestia.
"Ugh, my head…"
Just accept it already. There will never be a single day of peace for you.
"Fuck."
Rene had already gone and created a headache for me.
Yuran had been under Sestia's rule for a long time, and the setting was that plenty of people harbored resentment toward her dictatorship.
But because of Sestia's sheer strength, the citizens of Yuran had no choice but to keep their heads down and live quietly.
Then another dragonkin like Sestia—Rene—had appeared, and they must have seized the opportunity to start a revolution with her at the center.
I hadn't even heard the full story yet, and already the entire narrative was playing out in my head.
I'm pretty sure I told them to get along with Sestia…
Did you really think gentle Rene could become friends with an arrogant, warlike dragonkin?
Yeah, that was never going to work.
I suspect discord arose between the two dragonkin and created the current situation.
Maybe I was clinging to a pipe dream from the start.
So what was Lin doing, then?
She might be following Rene and throwing her weight behind the White Dragon Faction's campaign to overthrow Sestia…
"Gyaaah!"
"For Lady Sestia, wipe every last one of them out right here!"
"Woooo! Follow the Blue Dragon Faction's Great General, Lady Lin!"
It was the opposite.
From a distance, Lin—dressed in a blue qipao that marked the Blue Dragon Faction—was cutting down members of the White Dragon Faction.
Cooperation with Rene? Bullshit. She had clearly set herself up as Rene's enemy.
"I leave them with a mission and both of them start a full-scale brawl…"
"Bern."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I think you need to see that."
I followed the direction of Marianne's pointing finger and spotted the placards.
Both the White Dragon Faction and the Blue Dragon Faction had large banners stretched across their camps, and the messages written on them were as follows.
Welcome to Yuran, Bern—Husband of the White Dragon!
We thank you for your precious visit, Great Master Bern of the Blue Dragon Faction!
Both sides had my name written out in plain sight.
Only then did I finally understand the full picture of the current situation.
Earlier, I had sent a letter to Lin and Rene. In that letter, I had written that I would be arriving today.
I hadn't meant for them to come out and greet me, but they had gone out of their way to drag their entire factions along.
And that was how the two forces had collided at the entrance.
"If I'd known it would turn out like this, I never would have sent that letter…"
Regret was already too late.
Because of me, both factions were brawling right at the city gates.
"Guh…! White Dragon Faction, just hold on a little longer! Lady Rene will be here with reinforcements soon!"
"Blue Dragon Faction! Crush them before the reinforcements arrive!"
At the moment, the Blue Dragon Faction—with Lin among them—held the upper hand.
With no one on the other side who could match Lin's skill, they were inevitably being pushed back.
It would be best to mediate before any more casualties appeared.
"I'll go!"
Just as I was about to step in and clean up the massive mess Lin and Rene had created, Marianne suddenly kicked open the carriage door and leapt out.
"H-Hey? You don't have to jump in yourself!"
"It's fine! Watching the fight made my body start itching for action!"
"W-Wait a second! I'm trying to stop the fight—"
"A fight? Then I'm joining in too!"
Marianne charged straight into the middle of the street where the free-for-all was raging.
The sudden interloper immediately began thrashing members of the Blue Dragon Faction.
"Why is there not a single normal person around me?"
Well, that's because you yourself are abnormal.
It was a line I couldn't even argue with.