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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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“…Kaisen. Oh, my son.”
Those were the first words of Count Rubelt when he opened his eyes.
After patting Kaisen’s shoulder, Rubelt looked at his youngest daughter, Luine, standing beside him.
“Luine, come here.”
“Y-yes, Father.”
Luine walked briskly, certain that her father had finally returned to normal.
Yuma confirmed with his Search Eye that Count Rubelt’s nature had changed to good.
After fully enjoying the joy of reunion with his children, Count Rubelt looked at the man with ash-gray hair standing far behind them.
“Sir Yuma… thank you.”
Yuma’s brow slightly narrowed.
“You remember. Do you still have memories from when you were dominated by the Black Dragon?”
“Yes… I remember vaguely. I committed an unforgivable sin in my land, this land of Rubelt.”
Rubelt looked at his son Kaisen again.
“I must pass on the title of count to you as soon as tomorrow. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to breathe.”
“Father.”
“I’m sorry to make you take responsibility for… my sins, my incompetence.”
In fact, it couldn’t really be called Count Rubelt’s incompetence.
It was rarer for a designated human host to have the strength to overcome the mental domination ability, a characteristic of Black Dragons.
“No, Father.”
Yuma’s group decided not to interfere further with the family reunion.
As if Kaisen had given orders in advance, the head butler of the count’s family approached Yuma’s group.
“I’ll provide you with rooms to stay in.”
Yuma nodded.
He planned to spend the night after this long and arduous day, and consider the next schedule with a clear mind.
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“…”
The bright sunlight seeping through the tiny gap between the window and curtain woke Yuma from his deep sleep.
Yuma slowly opened his eyes.
And things that disturbed his vision appeared.
It was the same phenomenon he had faced the morning after defeating the Sword God Chronos last time.
It seemed that the rule was for achievement calculations to be made the next day.
It was a parade of countless notification windows.
Absolute Counter─Division of Disaster.
To summarize the explanation, it’s a skill that can take down three enemies simultaneously with one absolute counter.
He’d have to use it in actual combat to know for sure, but just from the description, it seemed very useful in one-versus-many situations.
It would be useless if he couldn’t use parrying, but Yuma was an extraordinary being when it came to ‘parrying’.
He was a warrior who relied solely on parrying.
This time too, his level increased by 20.
His stats also increased by 20 each.
The growth in stats is significant. After all, ‘parrying’ requires a certain level of physical ability to be possible.
Yuma clenched his fist.
As expected, he couldn’t feel that his strength had increased just from this series of actions.
He’d be able to feel it when he experiences actual combat anyway.
Yuma completely abandoned the thought that he might be able to live peacefully.
After all, he was living a life far removed from the word peace.
“Heoheok… Dragon Slayer!”
As soon as Hestia saw Yuma, she pointed her right index finger at him while covering her face.
Right, he had killed a dragon, no less.
If such a person said he wanted to live peacefully, it would sound like an unfunny joke.
Thump
Yuma put his hand on top of Hestia’s head, who was now recognized as part of his group and walking around the Rubelt county without wearing a robe.
“Be quiet.”
Hestia’s orange cat ears on both sides perked up.
“Hiek, yes sir!”
Hestia was intimidated and used formal speech again.
There was no sign of the appearance of her driving forward like a berserker against the enemies who gathered like zombies yesterday or in the special prison when rescuing Kaisen.
Yuma stared at Hestia.
“Your brother. Is he alright? His name was Haruk, right?”
Hestia nodded her head vigorously.
The corners of the cat-tribe swordswoman’s mouth twitched slightly.
It brought great joy to Hestia that Yuma remembered what she had told him and showed concern about it.
“Yes! Haruk, his body is fine! And his mind seems to be okay too!”
I see.
Hestia continued speaking.
“Now this Rubelt county will soon stabilize, right?”
“I suppose so.”
Hestia’s eyes shone as if she had made some decision.
“Hmm, I should settle him down. In the county. If they give me all the money they promised, we should be able to settle down well. Or should I ask them to give us jobs…”
“Those detailed matters would be for Haruk to decide.”
At Yuma’s words, Hestia felt like she had been hit hard on the head.
“Ah, that’s right! I was thinking too much from my perspective!”
“Don’t you have any thoughts of settling down here?”
“Eh… eeh!”
Hestia took a step back and blurted out a strange sound.
“D-Didn’t you make me your subordinate? After giving me such a great sword… huk, huuk.”
And suddenly she started crying!
Yuma inwardly clicked his tongue.
He must have said he was lending the sword when he gave it to her.
Yuma looked at Hestia anew.
She’s clearly talented.
A swordswoman with the growth potential of a Sword Master.
It wouldn’t be bad for her to become a subordinate.
No, she would obviously make an excellent guard.
“Do as you wish. But your future won’t be that smooth.”
It hasn’t even been a month since he came to this world.
Yet he had encountered a dragon.
And he had beaten that dragon to death.
Yuma couldn’t even predict how much more complicated his future would become.
Hestia, who had roughly wiped her tears with her sleeve instead of a handkerchief, smiled brightly.
“Yes! There’s no way the future of the Dragon Slayer could be peaceful! Adventure! Adversity! Hardship!”
Yuma once again put his right hand on top of Hestia’s vermilion hair.
“…Be quiet.”
“Hiek, yes sir!”
The previous “be quiet” was because she was really noisy, but this time it was because of an ominous feeling.
Adventure, adversity, hardship!
Those words sounded like a prophecy being declared.
Yuma came down to the second floor of the count’s castle with Hestia.
Cloney, who had arrived earlier, was already sitting on the second floor.
“Wow! It’s really amazing!”
Luine’s eyes sparkled as she saw the ice flower blooming on Cloney’s palm.
The count’s youngest daughter, Luine, was sitting across from Cloney having a meal.
Yuma approached Luine.
“Where are the count and Kaisen?”
Luine’s face, which had brightened while discussing magic with Cloney, immediately darkened.
“Father’s condition is too poor… He’s having a separate meal with brother Kaisen.”
Cloney’s gaze, filled with sympathy, turned towards Luine.
“Now, this time it’s an ice deer.”
“…Wow! It’s so pretty, big sister!”
Luine’s face brightened again.
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Just as they were almost finished with breakfast, the blonde boy Kaisen approached Yuma.
“Sir Yuma, I have something to discuss with you.”
“What is it?”
“I’m going to contact the Imperial family. There’s a communication tower with a magic tool that can contact the Imperial capital. Since you’re here, I intend to contact Her Highness First Princess Brigitte.”
Kaisen continued.
“If I may be so bold as to ask, I would be grateful if you could attend with me. It seems the only way to lend credibility to my statements is for you to help.”
Well, it’s enough to cause bewilderment to the listener to suddenly hear that a dragon appeared, dominated the count’s mind, shook up the county as it wished, and ate the territory’s residents.
If he, who could be considered to have resolved the incident, added his explanation, it would greatly help in understanding the situation.
“Sure, let’s do that.”
Yuma decided to readily agree.
It wouldn’t be bad for him to see First Princess Brigitte’s face either.
‘She must be doing her own investigation about the oracle.’
Given Brigitte’s personality, there was no chance she would have delegated proxy authority to him and then just sat around doing nothing.
There was a need to share their respective progress.
Yuma and Kaisen headed together to the communication tower next to the count’s castle.
Seated in place, Kaisen picked up a black communication magic tool, commonly called
It was an old-fashioned communication magic tool that looked like a brick.
Kaisen pressed a button to make the Mirbel of the First Princess’s palace ring.
-‟This is the palace of First Princess Brigitte. Please state the identity of the caller and your business.”
It was the voice of Royan, the head butler of the First Princess’s palace.
Kaisen slowly opened his mouth.
“This is Kaisen, the first son and eldest young master of the Rubelt Count family. I’m calling to report and discuss the current state of the county, and to request support.”
After a very brief silence.
A thick elderly voice was heard again from beyond the communicator.
– “Please wait a moment”.
It was literally just a moment.
-‟This is First Princess Brigitte.
A beautiful voice was heard.
It was the princess’s voice that even Yuma hadn’t heard in quite a while.
“Ah, hello, Your Highness First Princess Brigitte.”
“-Is my appointed proxy, Yuma, currently in Rubelt County?”
Kaisen’s body twitched slightly.
“Yes, he’s right beside me now.”
Yuma decided to alleviate some of Kaisen’s embarrassment.
“It’s been a while, Princess Brigitte.”
“-I’m glad he’s with you. I had something I absolutely needed to say. But before that, let’s hear from Young Master Kaisen first.”
Kaisen, perhaps finding it difficult to memorize all the report items, held a paper detailing the county’s situation and read it out.
“Yes, I will report. Your Highness. Based on the circumstances, a Black Dragon that had awakened from a long sleep near our county took up residence in a cave in the territory, and chose my father, Count Rubelt, as the host for its mental dominance. And it began to encompass the county according to its own will.”
The explanation continued.
“It’s estimated that about 100 innocent citizens were eaten by the Black Dragon over 5 months.”
“-…That’s a very painful matter. Prepare the maximum possible compensation measures.”
The two talked about the incident for a long time.
“-The name of that Black Dragon… you wouldn’t know it, would you?”
“It’s Elcam-Acreon.”
The one who responded to Brigitte’s words wasn’t Kaisen, but Yuma.
He had taken the Mirbel from Kaisen.
“-Yuma, how on earth do you know the name?”
“I asked its name before I killed it.”
Brigitte let out a laugh filled with a sense of disbelief.
“-Indeed, hearing directly from the person involved that he killed it, now it feels real. It’s also strange that you bothered to ask its name before killing it.”
Yuma opened his mouth again.
“Do you have anything to say about the task you gave me?”
Task.
Brigitte immediately realized what Yuma meant by the word he used.
About the blue-haired Sword Saint.
“-I have something to say about that matter. Young Master Kaisen, could you step outside for a moment?”
“Yes, understood, Your Highness.”
Kaisen rose without hesitation and left the communication room.
“-The Holy Maiden has delivered an additional oracle. She’s only been cooperating with me since being forced into silence about the oracle once by Brother Schwarze.”
“…That guy is quite a madman.”
In a country that values oracles so highly, to think of manipulating the Holy Maiden who directly receives those oracles as he pleases.
“-Anyway, it seems the identity of the blue-haired Sword Saint has been specified.”
What came next from Brigitte’s mouth was certainly a meaningful progress.
“-The White Night clan.”
The White Night clan.
“-It seems he’s likely a member of that clan.”
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