Episode 17
Rii turned around in surprise. Icates, gathering mana in both hands, was looking at her with a trembling expression.
“A Seal is…… a Seal is a being that must protect its Tamer in any circumstance, Lady Rii.”
Icates spoke with a trembling voice.
‘Did you…… break the Resonance? You?’
Rii stared blankly at Icates’s face.
“Aah, I’d forgotten. Your Seal. To think it blocked my blade—you’ve got guts.”
Zellid approached Icates. He truly was a man who pathologically despised having his actions hindered. As Zellid drew near, Icates felt instinctive fear and created a barrier of mana with her own energy. A barrier like that would shatter from a single strike of Zellid’s sword.
“Get away from Icates! I’m your target!”
Rii stepped in front of Zellid with a sharp voice.
“Who said anything about killing? I was just thinking of cutting off an arm or so.”
He was truly a man who could say such things without batting an eye.
“Drop the bad taste. And…….”
“And?”
“……I want to live a little longer.”
“…….”
As if swallowing her pride to apologize, Rii lowered her head and spoke in a small voice. Zellid looked at her with suspicious eyes, then leaned his ear toward her.
“What? I can’t hear you.”
“I-I mean…… I-I don’t want to die. Not right now!”
If Carnelian were classified as a master of coercion and acting, this man was a true grandmaster of bad taste. Rii stammered with her face flushed red, but Zellid merely snorted.
“Hmph. Who said they’d save you? The world isn’t so kind, Sir Rii.”
“What! You—duel! Huh?”
Rii moved her hand to her waist, then looked at her sword lying coldly far away. The disgrace of a lifetime.
“…….”
“That was a little funny.”
“S-Shut up!”
For some reason, even this serious-looking couple might have exchanged conversations surpassing those of Carnelian and Julitan in the past.
“Say you lost. Then I’ll let you live.”
“What?”
“You’ve never once told me you lost. As if saying such a thing would be discourteous to ‘that man’. So…… say it. ‘I lost.’ Politely.”
Zellid sheathed his sword with the expression of a debt collector barging into someone’s home to collect overdue money.
“We didn’t even fight fair!”
It was unjust. Only now did Rii feel a surge of indignation.
“Tch. Now you’re making excuses? The nickname ‘Blue Falcon’ must be weeping. House Dietrich is finished too.”
“Don’t insult my House! I’ll say it! I will!”
“Hoo. Go ahead, Sir Rii?”
Zellid was a man who tormented one mercilessly once he had them. Perhaps Rii had resolved not to die, imagining the sight of this man laughing at her grave.
“I…… I los…… satisfied?”
It was significant enough to make one think—surely it was the first time her face had ever been this red.
“……What do you mean, satisfied. Karina.”
“D-D-D-Don’t call me by my old name! Why the hell did you give your Seal my name too, and why do you cling to me alone! I want to know why!”
Indeed, Karina had been Rii’s childhood name. She had changed her name to Rii upon receiving her knighthood.
“That’s because you, to me…….”
“What did I?”
“It’s because of what you whispered in my ear five years ago. On top of my bed. You back then were truly…….”
Digging up the past was disadvantageous for Rii.
“Don’t say that! I-Icates. You don’t need to listen to his words! S-So…….”
“I-I’m not really bothered…….”
Rii looked back and forth between Icates and Zellid in extreme confusion. Even Icates standing behind had a flushed face.
“We’re going back. Let’s go, Icates.”
Rii quickly regained her composure and walked toward where Icates was. She was a woman who became surprisingly shameless when things turned against her.
“Can I ask you one thing? Rii?”
Zellid seemed ready to let Rii go now. Though his expression hadn’t changed, he clearly had the feeling that something had ended.
“Why did you suddenly…… change your mind. It’s not like ‘you’.”
“Because I suddenly remembered something precious I’d forgotten for a long time. Because of that…… I became afraid of dying. I want to protect it.”
Rii stopped walking and murmured. If one had seen the look in Rii’s eyes, they would have known she wasn’t lying.
“What is it?”
“You don’t need to know.”
Zellid said no more. He simply walked to where Rii’s sword was and picked up her rapier.
“Were you going to leave it behind? How clumsy.”
Rii skillfully caught the sword Zellid threw and sheathed it.
“Forget about ‘that man’! If you die protecting me, don’t be distressed—be grateful!”
Zellid shouted at Rii, rarely raising his voice, but Rii continued walking without acknowledging him.
‘I may not have killed Rii, but this time I definitely have to head south. That aside…… what the hell is Karina doing?’
Zellid turned his head toward where he could feel Karina’s energy. The sound of water droplets falling from a stopped fountain was clearly audible.
‘Haah. Haah…….’
Carnelian wiped the blood flowing from her forehead and struggled to raise her staggering body. Her expression was strained, as if the weight of the Mistral she held was unbearable.
‘Carnelian…… is losing?’
Julitan trembled his lips in shock at her appearance. He had unconsciously believed that Carnelian would dominate as always.
However…… the visible situation was that Carnelian was one-sidedly at Karina’s mercy. Carnelian was absolutely not holding back against Karina. Unbelievable as it was, Karina was stronger than Carnelian.
“What. You can’t even awaken that sword anymore?”
Karina spoke to Carnelian, who stood swaying, a state that even surprised herself.
“Shut up. How I use my sword is my business.”
“You’ve really become pathetically weak.”
“…….”
Carnelian could only glare at Karina, who was filled with scorn.
‘Awaken that sword? What does she mean by weakened…….’
Julitan had no choice but to listen to Karina’s words with a blank expression. He had thought Carnelian was strong enough, but the Carnelian Karina saw was a ‘weakened figure different from before’.
“To think that you, who had neither fear nor enemies until your master died in Ofenbaha…… have become like this. How does it feel? Seeing your pathetic self unable to even awaken your own sword?”
“……Stop talking about my former master.”
She raised a chilling gaze and glared at Karina, forcing down the blood rising up her throat.
“That sword was made from a part of your master’s body, a Reverse Scale. It was a radiant blade imbued with the energy of a dragon…… but to you now, it’s merely a heavy burden. Die along with that sword. Garang.”
Garang (佳娘). The name Karina spat out was the name her former master had given her.
“What do you know about me!”
Red energy swirled around Carnelian’s body as she swung Mistral down. A mass of red rupturing energy burning like plasma scraped the floor and became sword energy rushing toward Karina, but Karina was no longer there.
‘……!’
In an instant, Karina’s strike appeared at Carnelian’s flank.
‘Kuhk!’
Carnelian tried to raise her sword to defend, but having already exhausted most of her strength, she lost her grip and collapsed. The sharp metallic sound of Mistral falling from Carnelian’s hand and hitting the floor struck Julitan’s ears. She could no longer stand.
“Just as you said, even if I kill you, I might not be forgiven at all by my former master and family…… but I want to kill you anyway.”
Karina grabbed Carnelian’s long hair and muttered. A cold white energy emanated from her bracelet and began to envelop her entire blade hand. But Carnelian remained resolute.
“……Kill me. I have no intention of soothing your heart, but I won’t beg for my life either.”
‘Carnelian…….’
Julitan wanted to save her, but his legs wouldn’t move. His heart was simply filled with unavoidable helplessness.
Then it happened. Julitan felt a cold presence at his neck. He saw a grotesque-looking sword approaching the side of his neck.
“You, you’re that Seal’s Tamer? You’re not a knight.”
When Julitan turned around with a terrified expression, a figure in black clothes was holding a fierce beast against him. It was Zellid the Nightmare.
“Wh-who are you?”
“Zellid!”
Karina looked at Zellid, quickly hiding her killing intent and calling out with a delighted face, but Zellid merely rolled his cold eyes and looked down at Julitan. Julitan could say nothing, as if he had met the Grim Reaper. After seeming to think for a moment, he opened his mouth.
“If you were a knight, your head would have flown off immediately. I don’t know how a pathetic-looking guy like you obtained such a Seal…… but don’t you know that when someone like you, devoid of any power, becomes a Seal’s master, the Seal’s strength weakens too? That’s the face of someone who didn’t know.”
“……It weakens?”
In Julitan’s mind, Carnelian’s words surfaced: ‘A Seal naturally comes to resemble its Tamer.’
“You think a Seal that can’t even properly achieve Resonance can demonstrate its power? To me, that Seal looks like it can’t even use half its strength…… you truly are a pathetic Tamer. At this level, you likely don’t even have the ability to transfer it.”
Julitan’s heart ached as if it would burst. That Carnelian had been driven to the brink of death because of him…… that she had weakened because of him. He wanted to hide. For the first time, he felt like going back to the beginning, abandoning her, and running away.
“Hey, Karina. Stop playing around and let’s go.”
Zellid spoke to Karina with an appearance showing little interest in Julitan’s thoughts. Karina released Carnelian’s hair and cried out to Zellid with an aggrieved expression.
“……B-But Zellid! I’m almost done!”
“Killing an opponent who can’t even properly use her own strength just feels unpleasant. Come here quickly.”
So Zellid recalled how he had tried to kill Rii, who couldn’t use her right arm. It was indeed truly ‘unpleasant’. However, Karina was aggrieved.
“N-No!”
“……Karina. I’m telling you one last time. Come here.”
Zellid spoke lowly in a somewhat angry voice. But Karina had no intention of giving up. She shook her head back and forth, speaking in a tearful voice.
“It doesn’t matter what condition the opponent is in! I want to kill Garang…….”
Zellid cut off Karina’s words.
“Karina, listen well. If you defy me even one more time…… I will kill you. I’m tired right now, so stop being a nuisance and come here quickly!”
‘Why the hell do neither this Karina nor that Karina listen to people at all.’
Karina walked toward Zellid with an extremely angry expression, then looked back at Carnelian. Carnelian was sitting slumped, looking at Karina’s face.
“Next time, I won’t leave you alive! Be prepared!”
“It doesn’t matter if you kill me now, tomorrow, or a hundred years later.”
Despite the blood flowing beneath her ear, Carnelian smirked and muttered, then staggered to her feet. After Zellid’s party disappeared, she saw Julitan approaching and smiled broadly.
“I almost died. Pathetic, isn’t it?”
“S-Sorry. Because of me…….”
Julitan truly had nothing to say. Carnelian had said all sorts of things to him, but never once had she said, ‘Because of you, my strength has decreased, you incompetent fool.’
“A Tamer has nothing to be sorry for, even if they drive their own Seal to death or sell them off. They were born that way from the start. Well, and…… living like this is quite enjoyable once you experience it. A little bit…….”
Her words contained neither hatred nor scorn; they merely passed through Julitan’s ears. Whether those words were sincere or not, Julitan couldn’t shake off his helplessness. It felt as if he had abandoned his younger sibling to die and fled. He couldn’t raise his head to look at her.
“Aah, truly a pathetic master. If you’re so sorry, at least pick up my sword.”
Carnelian acted nonchalantly, but until the sun rose the next day in the new inn room, they didn’t exchange a single word. She merely silently undressed and entered the bathroom. Julitan sat on the bed, listening to the sound of water flowing in the bathroom all night long, unable to close his eyes. He didn’t think he had ever been so pathetic in his entire life.
Dragon Lady
Author / Kim Cheolgon
Publisher / Park Seong-in
Managing Editor / Editorial Department
Published by / Next Level Studio
Address / 4F, 113 Seongsuil-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Main Phone / 070-8801-6987
ISBN 979-11-92729-25-1
This book was published as an e-book by Next Level Studio under contract with the copyright holder.
Unauthorized reproduction of this book’s contents without the publisher’s permission is prohibited by copyright law.