Silver Dragon Chronicles Episode 92
Chapter 3. Jeohwa’s Wrath
“Her Majesty has disappeared!”
A silver-haired middle-aged man shouted with a bewildered face. At that, the silver-haired young man standing before him assumed a bewildered expression.
“Wh-where could Her Majesty have vanished to when she was right before the prince?”
“I do not know either! But it is certain that Her Majesty is not within the Eun Kingdom!”
Five hundred years ago, after the Silver Dragon King’s wrath had been aroused, Silver Dragon King Eun Hwihwa had neglected state affairs and spent her days blankly before the corpse of the Silver Dragon Prince.
When news came that she had suddenly vanished, the Three Great Dukes of the Eun Kingdom began to stir.
“Could it be…… that she has descended to the Middle Realm?”
At the words of Seol Maryeon, the sole female duke among the Three Great Dukes, the two male dukes’ faces turned pale.
“I-it can’t be! If she flies into a rage once more…….”
“It would be catastrophic.”
The middle-aged duke, Mi Seryeon’s face hardened stiffly.
“Contact the Dragon Lords of the Middle Realm at once! Hurry!”
And so, due to the sudden disappearance of the king of the Eun Kingdom, the kingdom entered a state of emergency.
***
“Heeh…….”
Jeohwa opened her eyes wide and looked around.
The place Jeohwa’s group had just entered was a small village right at the foot of a mountain, and Jeohwa was purely admiring the sight of buildings she was seeing for the first time.
Just then, a blonde girl who appeared slightly younger than Jeohwa came running toward her with a tinkling laugh.
“Keireunia is stu~pi~d!”
After shouting that, the blonde girl ran off with a whoosh. Then Keireunia, a blue-haired girl who looked about Jeohwa’s age and seemed a bit of a fool(?), scowled fiercely and ran after the blonde girl.
“Stop right there, Siriel!”
But the moment Keireunia brushed past Jeohwa, she halted in her tracks and turned her head.
Jeohwa also stopped walking, just like Keireunia, and looked at her.
After a brief silence, Keireunia smiled faintly and spoke.
“You…… are truly strong.”
After that, Keireunia began to run again.
Jeohwa watched Keireunia’s retreating figure with an expression of surprise. Even though she had sensed her power, the girl was not afraid at all.
“What an interesting village.”
Jeohwa chuckled and muttered.
“What kind of village is this tiny!”
Seiran grumbled as she looked around the small village without a single inn.
“It’s peaceful and nice to look at.”
“I hate it! There’s nowhere to sleep!”
Reuben said to Seiran, whose cheeks were puffed out in frustration.
“Let’s try to find some lodging. Wait here.”
With that, he went into the village.
“Aah, the carefree fool, Reuben.”
Watching Reuben’s back, Seiran stuck out her tongue. As Jeohwa smiled at that…….
“Excuse me~”
“Hm?”
At the sudden voice coming from beside them, Seiran and Jeohwa turned their heads. There stood the girl called Siriel, who had been teasing Keireunia earlier, looking at the two with a curious expression.
“Are you outsiders?”
“Yeah, so what?”
In response to Siriel’s question, Seiran replied impertinently.
“Where does a brat get off being so rude!”
But in that instant, Siriel glared at Seiran with frightening eyes and shouted.
“I’ll talk however I want!”
But Seiran merely sneered coldly, while Siriel alone kicked up a furious fuss.
“Siriel, aren’t you being too rude to people you just met?”
Right then, Keireunia, who had appeared before they knew it, spoke with a sigh.
“Huh! Wh-when did you get here?”
Keireunia made an exasperated expression at the startled Siriel.
“No matter how much you run, you’re just a flea.”
“Ugh!”
While Siriel made a stung expression, Keireunia began to introduce themselves.
“We are Keireunia and Siriel, who live in this Aguron Village. We’ve lived here since we were young.”
At those polite words, Seiran smiled faintly and greeted them.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Seiran. And this lady is Eun Jeohwa-nim. Mm, there is one foolish servant, but I’ll introduce him later.”
Even though Reuben had been reduced to a servant in an instant, Keireunia smiled gently at Seiran’s words.
“This place doesn’t get many outsiders because there are many monsters nearby. To think you broke through those monsters, you all must be quite skilled?”
“Hmph, we know a thing or two!”
Seiran made a smug expression at Keireunia’s words.
“Hmph! Mere monsters! I’m an apprentice mage too! I can use magic, you know!”
“You’re still just an apprentice.”
“Ugh!”
Siriel shrank back upon seeing Keireunia tackle her with words. Just as Seiran was about to burst into laughter at the sight…….
“You, you’re amazing.”
Jeohwa looked at Keireunia with an intrigued expression.
“Ah, thank you. But aren’t you even more amazing?”
But then, Jeohwa, who had tilted her head for a moment, suddenly grabbed Keireunia’s long blue hair and gently stroked it.
Keireunia was bewildered by the sudden action, and Jeohwa smiled gently.
“Your hair is pretty.”
Looking at the beautiful blue hair that, while azure, was steeped in a faint silver sheen, Jeohwa admired it sincerely.
“If you want it, you can have some.”
Keireunia smiled as she spoke, seemingly pleased by Jeohwa’s admiration. At that, Jeohwa opened her eyes wide.
“Really? Then I won’t hold back…….”
Shortly after, Keireunia cursed her own mouth for having said such a thing.
“Aaaack!”
Because Jeohwa had grabbed a handful of Keireunia’s hair and yanked it right out.
“Uugh…….”
Keireunia teared up slightly as she caressed her own head.
Watching that, Seiran and Siriel fell to the ground, cackling away. Truly, those two had nasty personalities as well.
Jeohwa tilted her head and asked with a worried face.
“Are you okay?”
You’re the culprit! Don’t say such things with that expression when you’re the one at fault.
Keireunia smiled awkwardly at Jeohwa’s question.
“I- I’m fine.”
Although she said that, she had a face that looked like she wanted to take a swing at someone.
“Mm, anyway, it’s pretty.”
Regardless of the resentful gaze Keireunia sent her, Jeohwa looked at the clump of hair in her hand with satisfaction.
“But how are you going to carry that around?”
“Mm, I don’t know.”
When Keireunia asked, Jeohwa shook her head and answered. At that, Keireunia let out a deep sigh and took her hair back from Jeohwa.
“Eh? You’re taking it back?”
Keireunia glanced at Jeohwa, who was making a regretful expression, and began to make something with the hair.
And after quite a long time had passed…….
“Here.”
Keireunia hung something on Jeohwa’s arm. It was a bracelet made from her own hair.
“Wow~”
Though it might have looked shoddy since it was made of hair, just the color alone made the bracelet appear mystical.
Moreover, it was crafted so well that one would never think the material was human hair.
“My hair is tougher than you’d think.”
Though it seemed like a strength that couldn’t be explained by merely calling it tough.
Around the time the gift-receiving Jeohwa broke into a brilliant smile, Reuben returned.
“Hey there. Huh, what brings you ladies here?”
Spotting Keireunia and Siriel by the group’s side, Reuben tilted his head and asked.
“We were just talking.”
Seiran answered Reuben’s question and then glared at Keireunia with a grumble. For some reason, she didn’t like seeing her smiling beside Jeohwa.
Moreover, Jeohwa was subtly following her around as well.
Reuben let out a deep sigh at the murderous Seiran and spoke.
“I found a house we can lodge at. The villagers are really kind. Let’s go!”
Reuben immediately led Seiran and Jeohwa to the house where they would stay for the night.
***
“Your younger sisters are quite lovely.”
A beauty rarely seen in a mountain village spoke to Reuben as she looked at Seiran and Jeohwa.
“Ahahahaha! Th-they are, aren’t they?”
She was quite a beauty who appeared to be in her early thirties, but was actually in her late forties.
And she was none other than…….
“Mother, I’ve finished cleaning the room.”
She was Pilla, the mother of the beautiful girl Keireunia with the striking blue hair.
As Seiran glared with a terrifying gaze, Reuben broke into a cold sweat and muttered inwardly.
‘Wh-what did I do to deserve this?’
Reuben had done nothing wrong. However, if bringing the group to Keireunia’s house was a mistake, then that was the mistake.
“You’ve worked hard, Keireunia. Please guide the guests to their room.”
“Yes.”
When Pilla spoke with a smile, Keireunia answered politely.
“This is the room the three of you will be using.”
“It’s pretty big for a country house.”
When Seiran folded her arms and spoke indifferently, Keireunia smiled bitterly.
“It was my father’s room. My father was a magic swordsman, so he often conducted magic experiments, you see.”
“Then where is he now…….”
“He passed away, three years ago.”
Seiran and Reuben fell silent for a moment.
“Oh dear, I’ve spoken of unnecessary things before our guests. Then please rest comfortably. I’ll call you later when it’s time for dinner.”
Having said that, Keireunia went outside the room. Then Seiran immediately went up to Reuben and kicked his shin.
“Urk!”
Reuben grabbed his shin and began hopping up and down.
“You idiot!”
“Why’d you hit me!”
Reuben shouted angrily at Seiran’s action.
But Seiran only glared at Reuben with terrifying eyes, and instead Reuben was overwhelmed by her momentum and made a timid expression.
But he soon realized he had done nothing wrong and began to shout loudly.
“This is the biggest house in the village, what was I supposed to do!”
“What else! We could’ve just slept on the street!”
“And you wanted to make Eun Jeohwa sleep on the street?”
At Reuben’s words, Seiran flinched for a moment but quickly spoke with confidence.
“Jeohwa-nim is kind, so she’ll understand everything!”
Don’t spout such ridiculous nonsense so boldly. Just what part of Jeohwa is kind?
Reuben looked at Seiran with an expression of utter disbelief. Having watched Jeohwa for the past few days, he simply could not agree with her words.
Of course, the Jeohwa of before had been kind, but the current Jeohwa was absolutely not. It was like watching over a child, so Reuben’s hardships had doubled—no, tripled.
But Seiran, who had not suffered in the slightest, seemed unaware of that fact.
But then, as Seiran puffed out her cheeks, she felt that the room was empty.
Reuben seemed to feel it too, tilting his head as he pondered the cause of this emptiness.
“Where is Jeohwa-nim?”
The moment Seiran spoke with a scowl, Reuben realized that Jeohwa had disappeared.
“Well, the window is open, so I think she went out?”
“Tch!”
Seiran’s face contorted terribly.
***
A girl with silver-tinged blue hair was looking at the moon and singing. At that lovely voice, Jeohwa tilted her head once and then approached her side.
“Ah?”
Keireunia was bewildered by Jeohwa’s sudden appearance.
Jeohwa looked at Keireunia for a moment, made a puzzled expression once more, and then pressed her own face close to Keireunia’s.
“Wh-why are you doing this?”
Keireunia smiled awkwardly at Jeohwa, who was staring intently at her. Watching her, Jeohwa opened her mouth.
“You, you’re not human, are you?”
“……!”
Keireunia’s face hardened stiffly at Jeohwa’s sharp remark.
“What do you mean……”