In some ways, Count Flaud’s suicide was predictable. Whatever the result was, he wasn’t like the other nobles who could attempt to slide out of the whole fiasco by proclaiming his ignorance; after all, there was clear evidence that he had joined hands with the Bellids. He already would have been under suspicion since he was the one most heavily involved in framing the Steelwalls as Bellid collaborators, but the concrete evidence that had come up from this war had sealed his fate. Not just as a noble, but in this world where the Karuwimans had a deep influence, the fact that he was a Bellid collaborator wasn’t acceptable anywhere. People wouldn’t allow his very existence.
Resistance would have also been difficult. A large portion of his army was killed, and those who survived questioned their loyalty to the Count when his connection to the Bellids was revealed. Furthermore, the royals and other nobles were turning a blind eye to him. As his family’s arch-nemesis, the Steelwalls, and their army marched to capture him, any fool would have been able to predict that his only future was death. The only thing he could decide now was how he was going to meet his end.
Count Steelwall stared at the old man lying on top of a desk. Blood seeped out of the old man’s lips, trailed across the desk, and dripped to the floor. Drip, drip. There was an opened luxurious wine bottle on the desk and a crushed wine glass on the floor. It seemed that the old man had died by drinking wine mixed with poison. This old man was the master of the Flaud family and Count Steelwall’s father-in-law, Livil Flaud. Count Steelwall felt a slight tinge in his chest seeing the death of a person who he considered his forever mortal enemy. Although Count Flaud was the one who had plotted this terrible scheme in this war, he was the one who stood victorious in the end. Considering that Count Flaud was his father-in-law, Count Steelwall expressed a bit of sympathy and made a slight salute toward the man.
However, that was the end of his sentiments. Count Steelwall turned to order one of his men to take away the corpse when he noticed Zich standing next to him.
“Do you have anything you want to say?”
“Like what?”
“I mean, isn’t he also your grandfather?”
Zich smirked. “Like how you don’t consider this guy to be your father-in-law, I also don’t think of him as my grandparent. I’m sure that guy didn’t really think of me as his grandson either.”
There was no way a person who used his daughter as bait would have affection for his daughter’s son.
“Even if I had something to say, there’s no point in saying it now. I have no interest in talking to a lump of meat that can’t talk or listen,” Zich said. Then, he turned around and left the room.
Count Steelwall stared at Zich’s fading back for a long time. Then, he commanded, “Take care of the corpse.”
* * *
The Steelwall army returned to their estate. As they marched back in the order of their ranks with their spears raised high, the estate’s residents sprinkled flower petals over them and cheered. The news of their victory filled the estate’s residents with joy and celebration, especially after they suffered from so much terrible news recently. They had been terrified when they heard that those cockroach-like Bellid guys infiltrated their estate, and there were even rumors that their master was their follower; on top of that, the Flaud army had declared war on them. Naturally, all the residents lived every day in worry and fear.
Now, the situation was the opposite. The master of their estate was free from his suspicions of being a Bellid collaborator, and it was actually the master of their attacker, Count Flaud, who had been one. These factors alone would have made them cheer, but there was one thing that overwhelmed their hearts. It was the dragon slayers. A dragon slayer was a title that only existed in legends and was spoken only among children playing with sticks. Yet, such unbelievable beings had appeared on their side.
Of course, most of the people labeled as dragon slayers had no connections with the Steelwalls and had participated in the war solely because of Zich. Furthermore, as the one who held equal footing with the dragon, Zich had already abandoned all connections with his family and didn’t have a good relationship with the rest of the Steelwalls by any means. People weren’t aware of this fact. They only cared that among those who fought alongside their soldiers were legendary figures.
After the ceremonial marching ended, the clean-up after the war began. This was a matter for the higher-ups to deal with, and ordinary soldiers returned to their cozy homes to relieve their fatigue. Some even went to bars to meet up with their friends, and when they did, they found themselves surrounded by the eager, pleading eyes of people who wanted to hear every detail of the sights they had witnessed.
“Then, it appeared!” The soldier looked around at the dozens of heads near him. His friends, complete strangers, the bar owner, and the staff were listening intently. The soldier lowered his voice and spat out the name.
“The dragon.” Small gasps and exclamations erupted from here and there. The being they had all wanted to hear about finally appeared.
“What did it look like?”
“Was it really as large as a mountain?”
“I heard that it spewed a road of fire, is that true?”
“I also heard they used magic!”
All sorts of questions popped out from every direction. The soldier raised his hand, and like obedient dogs, everyone simultaneously closed their mouths.
“Its size was as big as a mountain, and its appearance was the same as described in the legends. It had a large body like a lizard, but bat-like wings. Sharp teeth with hard horns. It spewed fire from its mouth and used five different types of magic at once.”
People exclaimed and gasped again.
“To be completely honest, I thought I was going to die! No matter how great these people were, I thought they wouldn’t be able to deal with a being like that. Even in storybooks, only the main character manages to capture the dragon, and everyone else can’t even attempt to fight it. You know what I mean?” The soldier’s mouth was dry because he had talked so much. He gulped down the drink that was put in front of him.
“Kuh!” he exclaimed and placed the empty glass back on the table. One person asked the bar owner to immediately get the soldier another glass, and another bottle filled to the brim with alcohol was instantly placed on top of the table. The soldier received free alcohol in return for his stories. This made the soldier very glad and made him feel responsible to give his audience a good story.
“Then, people just like the legends really appeared. Yes, they are the dragon slayers that you all have been hearing so much about.”
As soon as the soldier mentioned the title, people began to clap. Some cheered or whistled. The soldier continued, “Everyone fighting the dragon was outstanding even among the Steelwalls. A strong knight, an outstanding mage, a mystical elf, a contractor of the mythical beast of the earth, and so on.”
Even the positions and titles of these people seemed like members of a book club. People’s attention only increased.
“Of course, he shone the most brilliantly of them all.”
“Who?”
“It must be Young Master Zich! Sir Count’s son.” People cheered once again, and the cheers were louder this time.
“The dragon was insanely strong. If you guys have the opportunity, try going to the battlefield. There are still traces that the dragon left. Naturally, other people also had a difficult time dealing with the dragon’s attacks, but before anyone knew it, Young Master Zich appeared!”
The soldier thumped his fist on the table. “I couldn’t see the battle well because I was far away, but I could clearly see the trajectory of the swords he swung. It was only later I heard that he had been using a holy and demonic sword at the same time.”
A holy and demonic sword—names that would only appear in storybooks popped out again.
“White and black light deflected all the dragon’s attacks and cut them off! Wow, you all really need to see a sight like that in person! Like that, Sir Zich clashed head-to-head with the dragon and the others began to attack in support of him. After that….!”
The soldier’s voice continued to ring throughout the bar. Scenes like this were being replicated all over the city; like the soldier, some recounted the tale in bars, some gently told the story with children on their laps, and others excitedly told their parents what happened over a meal. Thus, the great feats of the dragon slayer quickly spread.
* * *
While the dragon slayers’ fame, especially Zich's, was fiercely spreading across the lands like wildfire, the central figure of the news, Zich, was inside the Clowon ruins. He stared at Lyla inside the glass container. She had her eyes closed and appeared to be in a sweet dream without a worry for the world. However, that wasn’t what was happening. Unlike normal sleep, Lyla couldn’t wake up on her own will.
Zich glanced down at his index finger where the Key That Distorts Destiny was. Thanks to the World Tree’s mana that Lyla sent him, Zich was able to continuously use all of his power. However, the World Tree’s mana wasn’t the only thing she sent him. She gave Zich various pieces of information as the Brushel System’s core to help him, and one thing that especially pleased him.
‘He sure is escaping hard.’ Zich stared intently at the information the core was providing him. The way information was inputted into the device was through Windur, Estellade, and Tornium. Zich had returned Estellade to Hans, Windur was with Lyla, and for the last sword, Tornium, it had fallen when one of Zich’s arms was severed from the dragon’s fierce attack. Tornium had dropped near Glen of all people. Glen hurriedly retrieved the sword and managed to survive the battle in the end and escape. Yet, Zich didn’t feel too regretful about this, and he let Glen escape even while knowing what he was doing.
At that time, Zich wasn’t sure what state Lyla was in, but he recalled a warning she gave him before and let Glen escape. Now, he was reaping the benefits of that decision.
‘Although there’s little meaning to his existence now…’ As Zich planned, Glen had completely fallen. He simply had to deal with him like a farmer taking his yearly harvest, but there was one way Glen could still benefit him.
‘Please make contact with the mastermind,’ Zich thought.
If Glen and the mastermind moved together, he would be able to see through the mastermind’s plan.
‘This is the one useful thing that an utterly useless guy can do for me. If everything goes according to plan, I will at least spare him a compliment.’
Of course, this still didn’t mean that Glen would be able to escape his fateful future of death.