Chapter 290: Dragons (7)
“Is this all true?”
Glancing through the thick documents, a young man made a frown and the middle-aged man standing nearby kept his rigid expression while bowing his head.
“Some parts are my assumptions.”
Those were words that could be understood differently depending on the way one took it.
‘It’s mostly true huh, or rather, believed to be true…’
The youth touched his lower lips with the end of his finger. It was a small habit that appeared when he was deep in contemplation and soon,
“I got it. I’ll think about it.”
“Sorry?”
In response to the young man’s words, the middle-aged man made a slightly startled expression and deep in his eyes was bewilderment.
“You will think about it? We must send an official investigation squad immediately.”
The man’s voice enlarged slightly.
“If you don’t have room to consider due to stabilising the country, please leave it to me. I will definitely find where the missing citizens are, Prince Reitas.”
Reitas – the youth was none other than Reitas Persion who had grabbed onto the command over the Persion Kingdom after chasing Manus Persion away.
“Baron Vance Vonte.”
Putting the slab of documents into the drawer, Reitas looked at the middle-aged man, Vance Vonte. His face was calm but his eyes and voice were sunk deep and in front of that, Vance trembled unknowingly.
“Is it you who gives orders, or me?”
The question was short, and so was the reply.
“It’s Sir Prince.”
Vance quickly lowered his head, to which Reitas replied with a casual wave of his right hand.
“Be careful.”
“Yes. I will take it into account.”
Raising his head back up, Vance left the office. Reitas only moved his eyes slightly to stare at the back of the leaving noble.
‘Baron Vance Vonte, the noble that had supported Manus till the very end…’
Of course, he was currently one of the nobles following him and Reitas did not discriminate or isolate them intentionally. However, because Reitas himself had escaped from exile and had gained authority with a measure that might be thought of as a rebellion, it was natural to gather the cautionary hostility from the original nobles.
‘The ones that had betrayed once might betray again.’
He must never repeat the same mistake that Manus had committed. Reitas carefully re-opened the drawer where he had placed the documents in. From his eyes fell a cold aura.
“Is this your doing?”
A low voice. It was incomprehensible as Reitas was definitely the only one inside the office. But it was then, that a space near the corner of the office blurred before someone with black robes hanging down from his head showed himself. With his slender fingers he pulled the end of the robe down and naturally the face hidden beneath was revealed.
Light-brownish hair with a faint hint of green, grey skin slightly darker than the hair, a beautiful appearance and sharp ears… the existence wearing the black robe was a dark elf.
“And if it was?”
A casual question, and Reitas made a cold smile in response.
“Is that the thing you mentioned would receive as the cost of letting me escape Teloi Island?”
“Indeed.”
The dark elf gave a casual nod.
“I see.”
Reitas was the same. If that was the case, there was nothing he could add and once again, he pushed the drawer to a close. Silently gazing at that, the dark elf warned in a stiff voice.
“Vance Vonte was it? Observe it well so that he doesn’t do anything strange. If he tries to interrupt with our work, we will have no choice but to erase him.”
Although they did give a lot of help, it was still an attitude too rude in the face of a prince of a nation, but even then, Reitas just gave a nod without any notable response. Seeing that, the dark elf soon disappeared back into the dark corner.
Without even giving a glance, Reitas diligently checked the several documents stacked around. He seemed to be totally focused on his work no matter how one saw it.
After who knows how long,
The end of the pen that had been moving softly came to a sudden stop.
“Rude bastard.”
Reitas clenched his teeth with a stiff expression.
Grit!
The pen in his hands easily snapped in two.
“I’ll show you clearly what kind of person this Reitas is.”
He was a person with surprising ambition that had even planned to kill his own younger brother. Although he had received the help of the dark elves to get ahold of the authority, he was not planning on sharing his possessions even a single bit.
“Huu.”
Heaving out a deep breath, Reitas calmed himself. Bringing the broken pen to one side, he took out another pen, and the ink on the tip of his pen danced above the paper.
[Vance Vonte]
The words were so small that it was hard to read the words.
For some time, the pen danced without a stop.
***
‘Tears?’
Roan Lancephil was turned stiff like a statue and his eyeballs quivered left and right. He didn’t understand what he had meant at the start but soon, there was a name filling his head.
‘Kalian!’
Roan stared directly at the young man before him. He could tell that the youth that had appeared with Pierce was abnormal from his outward appearance.
The man’s hair, eyebrows and irises were all red in colour. His appearance was more beautiful than most women and the build appeared thin yet gave off a tough feel. The smile hanging on his lips were humourous but the red eyes were deep and calm.
Overall, he let out a strange aura.
‘Ah…’
Roan felt cold sweat running down his spine. An existence red throughout who also knew of Kalian’s Tears.
‘A dragon.’
It was certain. He was certain. His heart raced and gulped unconsciously. Even counting his previous life, it was the first time he was meeting a dragon.
‘No, even if I had met one before, I wouldn’t have noticed it.’
He had been a mere spearman in his previous life after all.
Silence filled the place and it was then,
“Hmm I see. It would be quite uncomfortable to chat in a place like this.”
With a grin, the red-haired youth glanced around and suddenly, he reached his hand out to Roan.
“Let’s change place.”
A still humoured tone. It was a clear maltreatment but there was no-one who found that odd.
“Your Majesty. This is…”
“It’s alright. I know.”
When Pierce was about to talk about the identity of the youth, Roan shook his head with a faint smile. Turning his gaze over slightly, he faced Aily.
“Aily. Wait for me at the headquarters of the Western Army.”
Those were sudden words but Aily nodded her head without being confused. She felt that this was not the time to beg or pester him with anything.
Roan turned towards Pierce.
“Pierce.”
Pierce immediately read Roan’s wish.
“Do not worry. I shall guard her from the sides.”
He paced over and stood behind Aily. Making a faint smile, Roan turned again towards the elven warriors and the soldiers of the Western Army.
“You guys follow the plan and return to the headquarters as well.”
Unlike usual, it was a stern, rigid command and due to that, the elves and soldiers did not dare ask anything back and lowered their heads. Beryn was the same – she who was originally fast at reading the mood knew that the situation was not normal.
Making a faint smile, Roan turned his head back and grabbed onto the hand of the red-haired youth. At the same time,
Paaaaaaat!
A white pillar of light surrounded the two and rose high up.
“Ohh!”
The soldiers of the Western Army opened their eyes wide while muttering. They were in awe of the incredible situation but on the other hand, the expressions of the elves including Aily were closer to astonishment.
‘Teleport?!’
It was something impossible for even the elders of the elves.
‘An existence that could use this level of magic carefreely is…’
Suddenly, an existence that had been long forgotten appeared in her brain. Her hair stood on end,
Paat!
The pillar of light disappeared from the earth and naturally, the youth and Roan had disappeared along with it. It was the most perfect teleportation magic which she had never seen before.
Biting her lower lips, Aily thought,
‘How did a great being appear in the world?’
It was something completely impossible from her knowledge.
‘Those great beings should be in the depths of the Grain Mountain Range though?’
During her childhood, the stories she had heard from the three dragons that taught her was vividly etched into her brain. The dragons weren’t in a situation where they could move freely, and because of that, it had not occurred to her previously that that youth was a dragon.
‘Don’t tell me, did something happen?’
An unpleasant feeling pricked her back, and her heart became extremely restless.
***
“Hmm.”
Roan immediately felt severe dizziness, which was the aftereffect of teleportation magic.
“If you’re going to throw up, do it outside.”
The red-haired youth waved his hand like a joke but with a bitter smile, Roan shook his head.
“I am fine.”
Massaging his chest, Roan heaved out a deep breath.
‘Teleportation…’
It was a startling experience and the scenery before him had been completely different.
“Calm huh. Definitely different from Pierce.”
With a smile, the red-haired youth sat himself down on a chair that had been placed to a side. His red eyeballs rested on Roan.
“Do you know who I am?”
A casual question, to which Roan gave a slow nod.
“It is an honour to meet the great being.”
As soon as he finished, the red-haired youth made a frown.
“Great being… both the monarch and the official are saying the same thing.”
He soon waved his right hand.
“Don’t say such embarrassing things and just call me Kalian.”
Casual words. The identity of the red-haired youth was indeed, none other than the red dragon, Kalian.
“Do you know the reason for me visiting you?”
Towards Kalian’s question, Roan forced the calmest expression he could make and nodded his head.
“Because of my big secret I would assume.”
Kalian gave a nod in reply.
“Right. A dead person was brought back to life and on top of that had travelled back in time.”
It was precisely accurate. Kalian clearly saw through everything and with a smile, he reached out his right hand.
“Shall we hear about your story first?”
“My story is it?”
Roan asked back lightly and Kalian gave a nod in response.
“Right. How you lived before dying – let’s hear about that a bit.”
Roan made a bitter smile.
“It would be a bit long and boring.”
“It’s alright. The time felt by dragons and humans are different.”
Waving his hand, Kalian gestured to start quickly.
“Then…”
After heaving out a short breath, Roan started talking about everything that had happened in his previous life. The story from leaving the mountainside village to becoming the lowest spearman and spending dozens of years in the battlefields were relayed calmly. Within those, the story of Pierce who had become the duke and overall commander of the Rinse Kingdom was included.
“And on that year when I was turning 38, I had lost my life to the steel blade of an enemy soldier.”
A horrible, and painful memory. With his right hand, Roan patted his chest – the place where that blade had pierced through.
“That was the death and the end of the 38 year-old lowest spearman, Roan.”
His chest ached. The pain from back then – the pain of death was vivid in his brain.
“And when I reopened my eyes, I was 18, and had returned to that day when I was assigned to the Rose Troop after leaving the barracks. It was the start of the second life I am living right now.”
For a second, he stared silently at Kalian.
“As for the reason why I died and had returned to the past, I am not sure.”
It was something he had always been curious of throughout his second life. Thinking back on the memories of the sorcerers, Roan added more words.
“I heard there was a sorcery that allowed control over time and space, but that was said to require Astrum, the metal of the gods. It is also known that Astrum is only available from the lair of the Gold Dragon Lord, Sir Europas.”
Thanks to the mental sorcery of the sorcerers, his memories were clear and like he was reading off a book, he pulled out all the memories in his head.
“At the start, I thought that perhaps the gem on the Rinse Kingdom’s Baton of the Grand Commander was Astrum. According to the books I had read at the kingdom’s library, the gem on the baton was a gift from Sir Europas but…”
When his words reached there,
“The name of that gem is Tempestas.”
Kalian chimed in with a smile and Roan gave a nod.
“Right, that’s what it said in the book as well.”
Indeed, because of the news of Elton’s rebellion, he wasn’t able to finish reading the book but when he checked it later, it said that the name of the gem was Tempestas. In the end, Roan had to get rid of the theory he had come up with and the reason for his time travel had once again fallen back to mystery.
“Unexpected. Very unexpected.”
Kalian rolled his lips to a circle and on his face surfaced a slight surprise.
“You knew a lot more than I had thought.”
Raising his thumb up, Kalian made a bright smile and in response, Roan faced back with a curious face. Crossing his index fingers, Kalian made a strange expression.
“Although the Astrum is called the metal of the gods, it is nothing more than stone once you actually mine it out. It needs to go through several polishings for it to show off its beauty and ability.”
His voice was small, but powerful.
“Of course, because it is called the metal of the gods, normal humans and elves will never be able to process it. Even from the skilled dwarves, only three or four are able to do it.”
His eyes sparkled and reflected light.
“But our lord, Europas made a strange object with that metal. Well, it wasn’t like he was aiming for it but… in any case, after personally processing Astrum, he had overflowed it with the might of gods and peculiarity of dragons to make a gem the size of a fist. And that gem was called…”
Kalian’s face was filled with mischievousness.
“Tempestas.”
“Ah…”
Roan let out a low mutter. The object made by processing the metal of the gods, Astrum was none other than that gem embedded on the Baton of the Grand Commander, Tempestas. With slight excitement evident on his face, Roan asked.
“Then the reason for me travelling back in time was indeed because of Tempestas?”
Instead of a reply, Kalian gave a nod, and unable to stop himself, Roan followed suit with more questions.
“But how is that possible? How could it possibly send a dead person over to the past?”
“That’s simple.”
With a grin, Kalian shrugged his shoulders.
“Nothing’s free in this world. To buy something, one has to pay the necessary amount.”
It was an obvious fact.
“Life is the same. To revive a dead person, one has to pay a matching price.”
“A price matching a life…?”
Roan murmured unconsciously and Kalian gave a nod.
“A price matching a life…”
The smile hanging on his lips became deeper.
“Is none other than life.”
In that instant, Roan’s two eyes widened.
“Y, you mean…?”
Roan was unable to continue but Kalian was still extremely calm and nonchalant.
“The reason for you travelling back in time without dying – that is because the owner of the Tempestas had sacrificed his own life to revive you.”
“Ah…”
Roan let out a long breath. It was completely unexpected, and he fiercely shook the head overflowing with complicated thoughts.
“Who was it? Who, who sacrificed his own life to revive…”
After saying that much, Roan closed his mouth. There was one spark of thought that had shown itself from within the hazy thoughts.
‘The owner of Tempestas, Grand Commander’s Baton in the previous life…’
His face reddened, and eyes turned hot.
“Don’t tell me…?”
The end of his sentence trembled greater than his eyes did. Kalian made a smile and gave a nod.
“Right. You’re right Roan. The person that had sacrificed his own life to save you… is Pierce.”
“Ah…”
Roan let out a long mutter. His gaze turned blurry and his head was painted white.
“But why, why for someone like me…”
The same question fell repeatedly and Kalian replied with the same smile.
“I have no way of knowing what kind of life you had lived through but I think I’ll be able to answer that question just then. It is directly linked to the Tempestas after all.”
“…?”
Trying his hardest to collect his breath, Roan stared back at Kalian and while enjoying that heated gaze, Kalian lightly waved his right hand. In that instant, the space before them blurred before a long stick showed itself.
“Grand Commander’s Baton?”
Roan gave a frown. The Grand Commander’s Baton had appeared from the thin air, breaking through space. The Tempestas on the end of the baton glowed from the light.
“Right. This is that Grand Commander’s Baton.”
Snatching it from the air with his right hand, Kalian stared directly at Tempestas.
“This Tempestas has the incredible power of being able to go through time and space on its own will. Therefore…”
In that instant, Tempestas showed off its bright brilliance.
“Inside this Tempestas, all the related memories are embedded inside without regard to the flow of time. The things that Tempestas had seen, heard etc….”
Sphat!
The light coming out from Tempestas disappeared and Kalian stared directly at Roan.
“I looked into the memories of Tempestas.”
His lips curled up.
“Inside, the reason for Pierce reviving you even with the cost of his life was there.”
Gulp.
Roan gulped as Kalian’s gaze turned fiery.
“Roan.”
Standing still, Roan met Kalian’s gaze directly. Seeing that expression full of determination, the smile hanging on Kalian’s lips deepened.
“You, becoming a monarch…”
His soft voice flowed by the wind.
“This is the second time.”
PR Note: Holy crab.
<Dragons (7)> End.
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