Chapter 65
Northern Castle.
Nine walls and thirteen castles, the last frontier of humanity.
The northern castles on the front line were puzzled today by a communication coming directly from Halbern.
Beep!
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“The Knights of Saren are out of town…”
“It’s been in an emergency for days, isn’t something bad happening?”
The 47th Division of the Northern Province Garrison was worried that they were about to be blown up.
They considered picking up the comm instead.
“Arthur, it’s Halbern. Don’t get involved unless you want your life ruined.”
For this reason, he held off.
The soldiers, all too familiar with Halbern’s notoriety, finally turned away from the comms through clouded eyes.
“We need the Knights of Saren back soon.”
“But where the are the Knights of Saren?”
“Well?”
The soldier who was at least familiar with the Knights of Saren spoke up.
“I heard they’re going to see a dragon.”
“…?”
***
Jaren Berg Mubisk.
A military duke, the second son of House Mubisk, he could not inherit the dukedom, but he was content with the marquisate, his vast lands, and his many assets.
He could have lived a life of partying and glamor in the bustling capital if he wanted, but Jaren chose knighthood.
One reason.
‘I want to see the dragon.’
Jaren’s dream was simpel.
Dragons, mythical creatures said to have existed in the distant past, in an age when the ancient gods had fallen from grace and even immortality was a joke.
Jaren wanted to go on a pilgrimage.
“How majestic must the mountain where the dragons live be, and how holy must the legendary creatures that have actually come to live there be?”
What kind of beauty would be the most powerful creature on earth, one that had lost its divinity and was no longer as ancient as it once was, but still reigned as the pinnacle of the living world?
The desire to see the dragon was pure, and Jaren’s will burned.
The only problem was that it made him look like a madman in the eyes of others.
“Are you suicidal?”
“If you’re going to die, die a good death, you alone!”
Dragon territory was off-limits to humans.
A danger zone where even the black adventurers who were dismissed as insane shook their heads.
“No, why, I just want to see the dragon-!”
He wants to see them, even if it means oxidizing the uncleanness they breathe!
But it was too dangerous to travel that far alone. He wondered if his long-held dreams would be dashed.
But then along came a man who listened to his absurd wishes, even if only for fun.
The Archduke of Halbern, Valar.
“Dragons? Yes.”
That was why Jaren had joined the Knights of Saren.
Jaren didn’t like the Knights of Saren, but he was content.
One day, he would go see them and their dragons.
He will.
He is definitely doing it!
“No, you said we were going to see the dragons!”
“You saw it.”
Archduke Halbern said, as if it mattered. Jaren punched me in the chest.
“You didn’t say we were going to catch a dragon!”
He did.
Jaren had seen a dragon.
He had witnessed the flying, brass-shooting creatures of legend.
But no!
“I didn’t want this-!”
The Knights of Saren burst into congratulations from beside the anguished Jaren.
“Congratulations on becoming a Dragon Slayer.”
“Congratulations, Jaren, you’re a hero of history!”
“Not at all!”
Jaren clutched his head.
“Wow, a Dragon Slayer!”
“Great!”
“Here’s to the birth of the great Dragon Slayer!”
Poor dragon.
“I just wanted to see! Receive!”
He wanted to welcome the dragon!
He didn’t want to slay a dragon!
But by the time he realized, he had already grabbed the dragon.
“Hu, hu, hu. Make him a grave.”
Jaren picked up a shovel as he stood beside the behemoth, which was twice the size of the citadel.
It was quite a grotesque sight, and for some reason, it drew the attention of the Saren knights.
“What are you doing?”
“Making a grave.”
“Why build a grave, I’m going to use it.”
“…”
The dragon had nowhere to throw away a single bone.
Jaren looked back in hindsight, and the dragon’s mass was shredded and disintegrating.
‘Poor dragon!’
As he watched the dragon’s carcass disintegrate, Jaren decided that he would never want to see a dragon again.
“I need to create a <Dragon Protection Association>. We must protect dragons from these barbarians!”
“Yes, those barbarians are you.”
“That’s not me!”
“Yeah, that’s you.”
The Templars mocked Jaren in unison.
“No!”
It was never his intention to capture the dragon. The dragon lunged at him first, he fought to keep from dying, and the next thing he knew, he had it.
Jaren was in disbelief.
What happened to the dragon?
“Why did dragons lose their intelligence?”
“What do you mean, they decided not to talk to humans anymore, they’re not unintelligent.”
“Then why won’t they talk to humans?”
“Maybe it wants to be hunted.”
“…”
Jaren was hurt.
“Savages.”
How did he fall among these barbarians? Jaren’s distress or not, the Saren knights were excited.
“Are we having dragon meat for dinner tonight?!”
“Isn’t it poisonous and humans can’t eat it?”
“Oh, I thought we were going to have dragon steak.”
“Barbarian!”
Jaren turned away from the dismembered dragon in disgust as it was dismembered and turned into trophies.
The only one who paid no attention to the dragon carcass was Archduke Halbern.
His dark violet eyes gazed up at the dirty, strange sky of the Abyss.
“By the way, Your Excellency, why did you suddenly enter the Abyss to see the dragon?”
It was his very wish, and Saren knew better than anyone how absurdly difficult it would be to fulfill in reality.
He’d joined the Knights of Saren on the promise of seeing a dragon, but he’d never actually seen one in his life.
The Abyss, the realm of monsters, was a dangerous zone with a survival rate of 0.7 per cent, which was why the Northern Castle garrison was only defending it despite being plagued by countless monster waves.
‘But he’s here, in the Abyss.’
To see the dragon.
The Archduke of Halbern’s face was impassive as he stared at the sky after his historic feat. As always.
“Well.”
“?”
“A souvenir?”
Jaren had given up trying to talk to the barbarian leader.
“Who knows what’s in there.”
“Just enjoy.”
He forgot. Even in the Knights of Saren, a collection of eccentrics who joined for different reasons, the most dangerous, selfish, and untrustworthy member of the order is its leader, Archduke Halbern.
‘Common sense dictates that no human being can go from talking about his daughter to suddenly wanting to go see a dragon.’
Jaren had given up trying to understand.
To understand this man would mean giving up something precious to him.
A sash.
“Huh?”
Jaren, his humanity intact, was surprised by the light that entered his personal comm.
“It’s Mehen. What’s going on?”
The signal was interrupted by the mana waves of the Abyss, but a steady build-up of signals like this could only mean something urgent.
“We need to hurry back to the Northern Castle.”
The dismantling of the dragons in the hands of the seasoned monster experts was coming to a close.
“We’ll have to carry all this back with us, won’t we?”
“But you can’t really eat dragon meat?”
Jaren shook his head as he searched through the still babbling Saren knights for a single person.
“Your Excellency?”
He was here just now.
“My lord, has anyone seen him?”
Jaren’s words caused the knights to stop what they were doing and look around.
“Huh? He was just over there?”
“I saw him, too.”
And the eyes slowly gathered.
“…”
“…”
Suddenly, a strange silence descended.
***
Mehen cursed under his breath as he stared at the still unreachable comm.
‘You son of a bitch.’
If it weren’t for the old sentiment, he would punch him right now and retire.
From the moment the Tea Party was decided until now, the rush of communications to the northern castles had continued until the day itself, and not a single one had been connected.
At this point, he had to assume it was deliberate.
“Whoa, whoa, calm down, Mehen.”
Lena, not Dylan today, stopped Mehen.
“Ha.”
“You can always get revenge.”
Lena threw her hands up in the air, and Mehen let out a deep sigh that once again drew from the duel.
“It’s our turn to go see the young lady with a smile.”
Smile and nabal.
Mehen smiled back, suppressing the urge to punch someone in the face right now.
‘Yes, because there’s a child waiting in there.’
“The guests of Halbern are now entering.”
Poor Jaren 💔