Yuma opened his mouth.
“White Night Clan?”
– The White Night Clan (白夜), a legendary clan that exists between the Barbarian Nation and the Holy Empire, Haillem. Their defining features include sky-blue hair and reddish eyes. It is said that the entire clan has exceptional talent in combat, particularly in swordsmanship.
Princess Brigitte continued speaking.
– The reason the Barbarian Nation, Pineon, hasn’t touched the White Night Clan is because of their powerful strength. I thought they were half-mythical, but according to the oracle passed down by the Holy Maiden, it seems that’s actually true.
– It was directly prophesied that within the White Night Clan, there will be a blue-haired swordmaster. Quite a straightforward oracle, they say.
“I see.”
The White Night Clan. Yuma narrowed his eyes slightly.
He hadn’t heard of such a clan in [Loop Blood].
If a blue-haired swordmaster was confirmed as part of a clan, everything would surely become much easier.
– The problem lies in the method of approaching the White Night Clan. The Barbarian Nation is entirely hostile toward the Astes Empire. They are always challenging the Empire. However, in order to make contact with the White Night Clan and find the blue-haired swordmaster of the oracle, there’s no choice but to infiltrate the Barbarian Nation.
Yuma instinctively felt that the urgency for a message was about to come in.
– Actually, a few days ago, a request for elite troop reinforcements came in from the southern border of the Empire. They are currently facing the Barbarian Nation and have asked for support troops to gain an advantage over them.
Is it time to head to the battlefield?
Yuma already felt a heavy fatigue creeping in.
“Do you want me to go, Princess Brigitte?”
– …Yes, I know it sounds incredibly shameless, but no one else comes to mind as a more suitable candidate.
Yuma’s contemplation didn’t last long.
After all, he had already decided to take matters into his own hands. Finding the blue-haired swordmaster was the goal.
“Alright. I’ll go, but make sure to provoke them properly. Have their commander ready on the front lines.”
After Yuma’s words, laughter erupted from Princess Brigitte von Astes.
– So you intend to just blow off the foot soldiers and go straight for the head, do you? Truly, you fear not even the Conqueror King. Well, you did defeat a dragon after all…
‘I’m just too lazy.’
Whatever the Conqueror King was, if he took down their commander, the enemy’s morale would plummet significantly, and that was all he aimed for.
– We keep provoking them, but it seems the likelihood of war breaking out immediately is low. So how about you return to the capital first and fully receive the title of ‘General of the Battlefield’? If you secure a victory in this war against the Barbarian Nation, I plan to somehow have you recognized as a Duke. What do you think, Duke Yuma?
“Will the royal family and nobility acknowledge that?”
– That’s my job to secure their acknowledgment; you’re doing all the heavy lifting after all. If I can’t manage that, I wouldn’t deserve to be Emperor.
That was quite the commendable statement.
Yuma couldn’t help but smirk.
“Alright, then I’ll head back to the capital for now. I might have one more companion joining us.”
– If you’re the group you brought along, you’re always welcome.
The conversation ended there.
“Kaisen.”
“Yes, Duke Yuma.”
Yuma called Kaisen, who was standing a bit far outside the door. Kaisen must still have some business regarding requests for assistance.
Yuma left Kaisen behind and descended from the communication tower.
As he came down, he organized his thoughts.
Break through the Barbarian Nation.
Find the ‘blue-haired swordsman’ among the White Night clan.
And make Princess Brigitte into Empress Brigitte.
‘Somehow.’
Yuma was determined to accomplish all these tasks.
If he succeeds, he would secure a peaceful daily life.
Of course, the ultimate goal was still to
*
Count Rubelt dragged his frail body.
The magical essence consuming him was not dwindling; instead, it was digging deeper. He could already feel the magic permeating his spine.
The clergyman had already declared there was no way to save him. He had received a prognosis that he would only live for about a week.
There was no longer any way to delay the succession of the title.
“Thank you, Hyman, Commander of the Knights.”
“It’s nothing, Your Excellency.”
Commander Hyman supported Count Rubelt as he struggled to sit down.
To Rubelt’s left were his key vassals. To his right stood his eldest son Kaisen and youngest Luine. The second son, who was studying just below the capital, was said to be hurrying back, but it would be difficult for him to arrive today.
Count Rubelt’s parched lips opened.
“I can feel my body dying slowly. I can no longer delay the succession of the title. Therefore, I intend to hold the succession ceremony now.”
Rubelt, seated in his chair, scanned the family members.
“Step forward, Kaisen Pel Rubelt.”
The eldest son Kaisen stepped forward, kneeling on his left knee. Rubelt raised his body. Pain coursed through him.
Thud!
However, this time, he rejected the helping hand of Commander Hyman.
Heavy footsteps echoed on the ground.
“I, Count Rubelt, hereby abdicate. From this moment on, the count of this land is…”
Rubelt slowly placed his hand on Kaisen’s shoulder.
“You. My son, Kaisen Pel Rubelt.”
Thud!
Weight.
Kaisen felt the weight from his father’s hand.
“Yes, Father.”
Kaisen had become the count.
While the modest succession ceremony took place, Yuma and his group had completely stepped outside the count’s residence.
And when the ceremony concluded, Yuma’s group walked back into the tower.
Yuma spoke to Kaisen, who stood before him.
“Congratulations on becoming the count, Kaisen.”
Kaisen nodded vigorously at Yuma’s words.
“Thank you, Yuma.”
The Count Rubelt’s territory, which had been thrown into chaos by the arrival of the Black Dragon Acreon, was slowly beginning to recover.
“I’m going to head to the capital tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Yuma. I will never forget the grace you showed in saving the Count’s territory.”
Yuma twisted his lips.
“It doesn’t matter if you forget.”
At Yuma’s joke, a deep voice echoed beside them.
“You cannot forget.”
It was Count Rubelt, who had now declared his abdication.
“The Rubelt family… will not forget your grace. Before being the representative for Princess Brigitte, it is the grace received from you, Yuma. The Rubelt family will not forget.”
At Rubelt’s words, Kaisen opened his mouth.
“What my father said is right. So, if the time comes when we need the strength of the Rubelt family, please let us know.”
“I understand.”
*
In front of the crimson-haired Cat-Folk swordsman, Hestia, stood a brown-haired boy, Haruk. The boy who had been traveling with the swordsman. The boy saved by Yuma’s party.
“Sister, you want to follow that person, right?”
Haruk stared at Yuma, who was walking near the Count’s residence with a bored expression alongside Cloney.
And that was the scene that Hestia had been looking at first.
“Follow them, if only I had strength. If only I had the ability. If only I had talent… I want to follow that person. But sister, you actually have that ability.”
Haruk’s eyes darted to Hestia’s green eyes.
“Sister Hestia, you can create beautiful flames with your sword.”
Only those who can step into the shadows of the extraordinary are themselves extraordinary. Haruk had thought that way since he was very young.
So, from the moment Hestia saved him from the bandits and ran away with him, he thought she was someone who would eventually leave him.
It didn’t matter that she was a Cat-Folk, a race of the inhuman.
He believed she was a genius meant to play in a very big world.
Hestia felt sincerity in Haruk’s words.
“Then, are you going to settle down in this Count’s territory?”
“Yeah, I will! Thanks to you, I’ve already become friends with Kaisen, no! With the Count!”
“That’s great.”
Haruk looked at the soldiers and knights cleaning up the debris together.
“I should help out. I’ll stay well here. If you ever come through the Count’s territory, just drop by. Okay, sister?”
Hestia nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, of course!”
Thus, Yuma’s party was officially confirmed to consist of three members.
The next day, Yuma’s party left the Count’s territory with a warm send-off from the Count’s family.
They rode in a carriage and arrived at the transit city of Acreon.
At the Acreon station of the mana train “Halo.”
They immediately bought a direct ticket heading to the capital.
“Sister, this is a sweet red bean paste bread. It’s delicious.”
The black-haired, golden-eyed mage girl, Cloney, bought sweet red bean paste bread and handed it to Hestia’s hands.
She gave.
Hestia, draped in her robe, twitched her nose.
“Yuma… Since this is the entourage of the Crown Princess’s deputy, there’s no one in this Empire who can suppress revealing Hestia’s identity.”
Unless the Emperor, lying in his sickbed, suddenly woke up. But Hestia was unsettled by the attention of others focused on her.
It’s only natural that the ears of the almost-extinct Cat-Folk, a rare non-human race, would draw people’s gaze.
“Whew! What, what is this! This violent smell…!”
Hestia opened her mouth wide and bit into a sweet red bean pastry.
*
The tavern in the transit city of Arkan was packed with people. The second-most prominent commercial city in the Empire, it was no surprise that nights here were always bustling with activity.
Quietly, and now openly, the drug dealers and addicts had disappeared from the city.
Thanks to the thorough reforms by Gelmore, the mayor of Arkan, the city had taken a step towards being a true commercial hub.
“Did you hear the rumor? A huge dragon appeared right below Rubelt in Arkan!”
“They said it was a Black Dragon.”
Everyone’s conversations were strikingly similar.
The black dragon, the Black Dragon that appeared in the Rubelt territory.
“And then a flash brighter than the sun burst, and that Black Dragon was obliterated in the sky, right?”
“Wasn’t it a flash of red sword energy? Anyway, it seems that the one who did it was a human. Someone said a Dragon Slayer has appeared in the Empire.”
And then there were tales about the Dragon Slayer who killed the dragon.
“Isn’t that a lie? That such a dragon suddenly appeared, and that someone was able to take down such a dragon?”
Someone questioned the credibility of the story.
However, that doubt was quickly overshadowed.
“I saw the dragon myself.”
“I saw it too.”
“There was definitely a gigantic dragon soaring through the sky. After the red light spread across the entire sky, that dragon vanished.”
It wasn’t just one or two who had seen the dragon.
And then, a man drinking alone opened his mouth.
“I come from Count Rubelt’s territory.”
All eyes in the tavern, about fifty of them, turned towards him.
“The Dragon Slayer is indeed real. I saw him—albeit from a distance. He was a massive black dragon.”
The man swallowed hard.
“The one who attacked first was that black dragon. It unleashed a terrifying dragon breath… The Slayer casually blocked it and retaliated with an even more powerful attack. A sound like thunder covered the Empire, didn’t it?”
With that, tales about the Dragon Slayer began to spread rapidly from the transit city of Arkan.
Clunk—clunk—
And the person in question was currently on a magic train. Alongside a black-haired, golden-eyed girl who was dozing off, and a Cat-Folk girl fast asleep with her robe pulled down over her face.
It was a magic train heading towards the capital.
