“You just kill a dragon’s child like that?”
Hio Pavlenko grumbled and muttered to himself all day long.
Legarda simply watched him in silence.
“And why is it so damn big? How long is it going to take to purify all this?”
He had grown used to that mage’s particular brand of irritation by now.
It had already been three days since the dragon had been summoned.
Legarda had not taken a single step from this spot since that day, keeping watch here.
“What the hell were you doing, getting infected with this cursed energy in the first place… You should’ve worn a mask properly!”
Even as he grumbled like that, he placed his hand on the dragon’s head every day without fail and continued the purification.
Legarda did not know the exact circumstances, but he had been told that the matter was more complicated than expected and would take longer than anticipated.
Of course, to Legarda, those words meant nothing at all.
They were nothing more than faint complaints.
The matter had grown complicated.
It would take longer than expected.
No words of that sort could carry meaning before Legarda.
The years had been far too long.
Before a man who had endured in order to keep a promise, even in a situation where no answer could be seen—perhaps where no answer existed at all—any great problem was bound to look shabby in an instant.
Legarda merely watched.
Standing firm with a bright yellow spear in one hand, in silence.
The radiant green dragon, its two eyes closed.
For the magical moment when they would open again, he simply watched without the slightest movement.
And as he did, time passed.
By the time the slanting sun stood directly overhead, then leaned a little farther in the opposite direction, Hio would trudge over to Legarda.
Exhaustion was plain on his face, and he displayed it with his entire body as he flopped down on the grass beside Legarda.
“Ah, I’m exhausted.”
Legarda offered no words to the mage.
Not only was he ignorant of magic, he could not even remember the last time he had spoken words of comfort or encouragement.
Of course, Hio likely had not said it expecting any such thing.
“You should go home and rest too.”
- There is no meaning in it.
“I know that, but… at least pretend to sleep or something. Huh? Things like that help mentally.”
- I do not need it.
“Phew. Do whatever you want. Just know there’s still a long way to go before we wake the dragon.”
- I will keep that in mind.
It had not been his intention to answer so bluntly.
Having spent a long time alone, having lived bound only by his mission and promise, he had simply become that way.
- You.
Even so, Legarda called out to Hio as he rose and began trudging away.
This time, he spoke to him with all his sincerity.
- Thank you.
Because now, he truly felt he might be able to keep his promise.
Hio had said there was still a long way to go, but compared to Legarda’s past days, it truly was not much time at all.
- I offer you my sincere gratitude.
At that, Hio chuckled, waved his hand dismissively, and passed him by toward the house.
“Let’s hear that one more time later, after we wake the dragon.”
- As many times as you wish.
Once Hio disappeared, silence settled over the surroundings again.
Time flowed, the sun set, and when darkness fell, even the elves who had been watching the dragon here and there returned to their homes.
Beneath the softly risen moonlight, Legarda remained alone, guarding the dragon.
Even when everyone else rested, even when all forgot and sank into sleep, Legarda alone stood by the dragon without change.
He guarded it.
This was only natural.
A thousand years ago. It had been the fate and mission decided for him from the moment he was born.
Even though everyone of his clan but him had vanished overnight.
Even though even the history related to it had been erased, so no one remembered that noble sacrifice, and no one remained by his side.
He silently did what he had to do.
Standing there like that, he endlessly retraced memories of the distant past.
- Now we truly are almost there.
The moment the dragon’s green eyes would open again.
The day he would meet those mysterious pupils.
The knight who had endured and guarded for a thousand years thus stood firm and kept watch through this night as well.
He had made a promise, so it was only natural.
It was also the mission decided at the same time as his birth, so it was only natural.
It was natural, and for that very reason, more difficult than anything else.
Legarda Obier.
Known in the present age as the Ruler of the Western Sea.
Or the Guardian of Arileiya.
But those were merely words spoken by those who knew nothing, words that only sounded plausible on the surface.
No one knew his true epithet.
For it had already disappeared and been forgotten far too long ago.
- If I face you again, what should I say first?
Legarda Obier.
As the people of the distant past called him in reverence.
- O dragon.
The Dragon Knight.
* * *
* * *
Among the animals of Chinese legend, there are two wolves that can only survive by moving together.
Lang(狼) is a wolf with short forelegs.
Bei(狽) is a wolf with short hind legs.
Because they cannot even walk properly unless they help each other, the two aid one another and live in symbiosis.
But how could their intentions align every single day?
Even as they stay together, when their wills do not match, they can fall seriously out of step.
When that happens, neither Lang nor Bei can walk or hunt.
Though they have only parted for a moment, they become unable to do anything at all.
When something planned in advance ends in failure, or when things go against expectations.
That was langbei.
* * *
*If you use Purification a hundred times a day without rest and repeat that for a hundred days, you can use it ten thousand times.
…It was fair to call that nonsense.
First of all, using it a hundred times a day was absurd to begin with, wasn’t it?
He wasn’t a dragon, so did he have infinite mana or something?
Even with the help of magic stones, a hundred times was impossible, and mana was not the only thing required to use magic.
Mental strength was also a problem.
Magic had to be used carefully, with focused concentration. If cast carelessly, not only would its effect weaken, but it could even fail entirely.
Hio’s trait, “Can’t Live Without Style!” granted strong resistance to mental attacks; it did not strengthen his mental fortitude itself.
“Let’s just take it slow. Leisurely.”
For the first three days or so, he had pushed himself to use Purification, but he quickly realized that the method was wrong.
This was not something that could be resolved in a short period of time.
It was a problem he had to tackle with a little more leisure, while doing other things alongside it.
Well, it wasn’t as though the world would end if they did not wake the dragon immediately.
“Let’s set learning other 4th Circle spells at the Magic Tower as the first goal.”
And so Hio’s daily routine was decided.
In the morning, he learned and practiced other magic at the Magic Tower.
Wizard Eye, Entangle, and Earth Break were by no means easy spells, so they required fairly in-depth study and practice.
There was a reason 4th Circle mages were called high-ranking mages.
「Necromancy - You have successfully cast ‘Bone Spear.’」
「Necromancy - ‘Bone Spear’ has been registered as a skill.」
「Skill: Bone Spear」
「A spear of bone strengthened by mana.」
「The more soulless bones there are nearby, the more spears can be created.」
「Its power is determined by the amount of death energy infused into it.」
「Necromancy - You have successfully cast ‘Summon Lava.’」
「Necromancy - ‘Summon Lava’ has been registered as a skill.」
「Skill: Summon Lava」
「Summons a fire worm that exists in hell.」
「The lava, which loves hot places, will rampage using its body made of magma until it turns the area into a lava domain.」
「The stronger the fire energy and the thicker the death energy spread in the area, the stronger the summoned individual will be.」
「If you cannot control it, summoning it as far away as possible is recommended.」
If there was any consolation, it was that he had quickly learned the necromancy spells Bone Spear and Summon Lava.
After the morning passed and afternoon arrived, that time came.
Damn Purification.
He passed Legarda, who had been standing there for days like a statue without budging, placed his hand on the dragon’s scales, and raised his staff.
After doing this several times a day, he had become able to cast Purification almost as well as a 3rd Circle spell.
He had grown used to it.
Saying he had grown used to it meant it had now become simple labor.
It meant it had become boring, and that nevertheless, he had to endure it and continue.
In short, it meant his patience was rising.
[Hidden Trait: No Violence! (Patience: 41 / 1000)]
Of course, it was not rising quickly, but still, it was rising.
It could be called a small pleasure amid the tedious, repetitive process.
Several more days passed after that, and then he turned his gaze outside.
Why had the mage’s house been hidden deep on the fourth underground floor, which would not even open?
「You have selected Imenia Magic University(1) - ‘Mage’s House.’」
「Portal activating.」
Was it not because, once activated, one could move to that location at any time, and any mage could potentially abuse it?
At the same time, it was an enormous advantage for Hio, so he made active use of it and moved to Imenia in the blink of an eye.
“…What the hell?”
Of course, Silbert, who had no way of knowing such circumstances, greeted Hio with a look of utter disbelief.
“What?”
“There are rumors spreading among the possessed that you properly clashed with Legarda in the Western Sea… So why are you here?”
Hio passed Silbert, waved his hand dismissively, and plopped down on the sofa.
The series of movements was as natural as if he were in his own living room.
“Let’s put that aside for now. How is the strategy going?”
“The strategy was well prepared by Daphne, and they went in quite a while ago… No, more importantly, Arileiya…”
“Anything unusual?”
“…At first, a situation occurred where they couldn’t log out, but for some reason, after a week passed, they said logging out returned to normal. Other than that, the strategy seems to be progressing step by step. Now, about your story…”
“Good. That’s enough. I’m busy, so I’ll get going.”
“…”
Leaving behind Silbert’s dumbfounded expression, he immediately moved toward his next destination.
The next destination was the imperial palace.
“Hio!”
Unlike dreary Silbert, at the imperial palace, Sylvia greeted Hio brightly.
“What happened? You left for the Adventurers’ Guild, so why am I hearing news that you had a fight with the Ruler of the Western Sea?”
It was a scolding armed with radiance.
“I even went out of my way to organize a separate unit for you, but you ignored it and went to the Abyss Gate alone. And after you went like that, the next news I heard was, ‘The Ruler of the Western Sea and the Guardian Knight clashed’… Do you know how startled I was?”
“…Sorry.”
He did not know why he had to apologize, but the atmosphere was strange, so an apology instinctively popped out, and fortunately, it was the right answer.
A scolding that would originally have continued for twenty minutes ended in about five.
Sylvia had not been like this before either, but perhaps it was because she had become emperor.
She had started nagging more.
In any case, he sat facing Sylvia on the sofa, and soon they began getting to the main point.
This was the purpose of coming to the imperial palace.
How were they responding to the Abyss Gates that had suddenly appeared?
At that, Sylvia answered as she sipped her tea with the elegance that had now become ingrained in her.
“We’re securing as many gates as possible and sending soldiers to control them. There were signs that some nobles were trying to secretly hide the gates that appeared in their territories, but no chance.”
If they were nobles with that much greed, naturally, they were bound to have connections.
And the end of such desires would always point toward the top, and those at the top were the central nobles.
In other words, the nobles of the imperial palace residing in the capital.
Which meant any information would reach Sylvia through them.
After all, every central noble was offering up their soul in loyalty to the emperor.
“You haven’t entered the gates, right?”
“No. For now, we’re focusing on securing the locations of the gates that appeared and controlling them. We have to prepare for confusion and variables caused by the abnormal phenomenon.”
It was a wise decision.
The gates were appearing at random all over the place, and dealing with the resulting chaos came first.
Only then would they be able to minimize the damage.
“Up through this raid, the possessors will handle it. Let’s start getting involved in earnest after that.”
With Sylvia’s abilities, she should be able to quell the chaos and establish order within that time.
And in the meantime, Hio would complete the 4th Circle, purify the dragon, and join the expedition party for the raid.
In terms of timing, it fit perfectly—a fairly decent plan in its own right.
“Then Hio will be participating starting with the next raid, right?”
“Yeah. This raid should already be well underway by now… and I have something else to take care of.”
“Mm. Then if we can just get through this one, I’ll feel a little more at ease.”
Sylvia, who had been smiling as she said that, asked Hio a moment later with a somewhat uneasy expression.
“About… the possessors. Can we really trust them?”
The question she broached so cautiously stemmed from anxiety.
From Sylvia’s position, it was only natural to feel that way.
“They’re people who came over from another world. If… a real crisis comes, will they truly risk their lives to fight for our world?”
When one thought about it, skepticism was inevitable.
“To be honest, I can’t trust them.”
Was it truly right for only the possessors to be deployed to the most crucial site?
Of course, there was no other method available at the moment, but as the emperor, and as one of the inhabitants of this world, it was only natural for her to feel uneasy.
“Just this once… let’s trust them this once. They say everything is proceeding smoothly without any particular problems.”
“…Mm. The imperial army will participate in the next raid.”
“Yeah. I’ll be joining from the next expedition onward too, so don’t worry too much.”
After that conversation, a slightly more ordinary exchange followed.
It was nearly the only time when both Hio and Sylvia could laugh and chat at ease.
And once that sweet time passed, it was time to return to daily life.
Sylvia, as emperor.
Hio, back to the Magic Tower, to Arilleia.
In that way, daily life continued once more.
Daily life, proceeding steadily according to plan, seemed peaceful at a glance, but within it lay a great many burdens.
Regarda’s expectation, born from enduring a thousand years for a single promise.
The hope of the Arilleians, whose long-standing mission was racing toward its end.
Hio’s effort, training steadily for the next plan.
That daily life, seemingly peaceful at a glance, filled to the brim with such things—
「Abyss - Failed to clear the 51st floor.」
In truth, it was something that could be easily destroyed by only a few lines of text.
「Two dimensions will be connected.」
「The ‘Abyss’ will appear.」
What had been promised had ended in failure, hope would soon turn to despair, plans would come to nothing, and expectations would go astray.
「Logout will begin.」
It was a disaster.