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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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Yuma’s group disembarked from the magic train in Barnock, the capital of the Astes Empire.
As soon as Yuma reached the central square of the station, he encountered a brown-haired man approaching him.
The man bowed.
“I am Viscount Bennett. Lord Yuma, I’ve come to greet you on Princess Brigitte’s orders.”
Yuma nodded slowly.
“Pleased to meet you.”
“I apologize, but you need to go to the imperial palace right away. It seems the First Prince is gathering nobles to criticize you. He appears to be planning some kind of instigation. Not in your favor.”
At Bennett’s words, Cloney’s eyes sharpened.
“Mmm… nyaa.”
Hestia was still dozing while standing, drooling slightly.
“Let’s go”
Yuma said nonchalantly.
“I’ve prepared a carriage.”
Yuma’s group took the carriage to the imperial capital.
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Prince Schwarze was very displeased.
He clearly had more noble supporters than First Princess Brigitte.
But recently, his position in the House of Nobles had been shifting.
And it was quite clear who was responsible for this.
Yuma.
That being who suddenly fell from the sky was not only narrowing his position but was trying to crush it completely.
Why was the rule that the prince’s side naturally took precedence in an emergency when the throne was vacant turning its back only on him?
‘I must impose some restrictions somehow.’
On his status.
On his authority.
I must prevent him from gaining any more honor.
That’s why he had arranged this meeting.
Even if that guy achieved tremendous merits on the southern front, he had to lower his position so that he would no longer be a threat.
So he gathered all the nobles he could in the imperial conference room of the capital.
First Prince Schwarze gazed at the nobles surrounding the round table.
The number of nobles gathered in the conference room was 18 in total.
Their titles ranged from viscount to marquis.
The fact that 18 nobles could be gathered on such short notice in the imperial capital itself proved that Schwarze’s authority was still alive and breathing.
Schwarze inwardly sighed with relief.
“Is everyone here?”
The blonde prince opened his mouth, looking at the nobles.
Schwarze put on a deliberately solemn expression.
What he was about to say was quite important.
“This gathering is to address a crime. The situation where a mere commoner named Yuma, who isn’t even a noble, is swaggering around the empire like this… As a prince of this Astes Empire, it greatly displeases me.”
Schwarze continued after setting the mood.
“That person has incapacitated half of the Imperial Ten Seats, the core of the empire’s military power. That’s why the southern border defense is currently understaffed. Should we leave this unidentified man, Yuma, as he is now? I think we shouldn’t.”
Several nobles nodded vigorously, agreeing with the prince’s words.
Of course, most of those nobles were originally part of the so-called ‘Schwarze faction’.
“Even if that person achieves great accomplishments on the front lines, my point is that he shouldn’t be treated as a hero. I think we need to impose clear legal restrictions. We should even place magical restrictions on him, as we don’t know when he might run wild.”
Right after First Prince Schwarze finished speaking.
Creaaak!!
The door to the conference room opened roughly.
“Who dares to…!!”
Ardolt, a strong supporter of the ‘Schwarze faction’, stood up from his chair, stomping the ground.
But soon he sat back down with a pale face.
“…Her Highness Princess Brigitte.”
Brigitte walked briskly towards the blonde prince without even glancing at Ardolt.
“You were having quite an interesting conversation, brother.”
Brigitte looked at Schwarze with her blue eyes.
Schwarze’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Brigitte…”
Brigitte looked down at Prince Schwarze, who was sitting with his legs crossed.
“I’m sure I told you clearly before. My proxy, my sword, broke your sword only to protect himself and me. It was your sword that attacked first.”
The corner of Schwarze’s mouth twisted.
“So, are you saying that halving the Imperial Ten Seats, the core of the empire’s military power, was just an unavoidable incident? Responsibility. I’m saying he should take at least minimal responsibility. Loyalty to the country. He should swear that loyalty. He should swear on his mana. So that he can’t betray the imperial family.”
A mana oath.
A vow made by staking one’s mana.
However, Yuma didn’t even have ‘mana’ to stake for a mana oath…!
Of course, no one in this place knew that.
“Well,” Even Brigitte, who slightly furrowed her delicate brow, didn’t know.
“If you can handle him, brother, I suppose it doesn’t matter. But I can’t recommend saying such things in front of him.”
Schwarze twisted his mouth.
“He’s still just one of my subjects…”
As Schwarze was about to expound on the greatness of the imperial bloodline, someone cut him off.
“If I may dare to add to Her Highness Princess Brigitte’s words. Your Highness Prince Schwarze, it would be best not to upset the warrior Yuma.”
Schwarze quickly turned his head to see who dared to interrupt the words of imperial blood.
The red-haired man standing there was someone even First Prince Schwarze knew well.
“Red Tower Master, Eldrie.”
The 7th Circle Archmage Eldrie maintained the appearance of a young man despite being over forty years old.
He was someone who lived like a brother with the lord in Sephiton Viscounty, above the transit city of Arkan.
A fire-attribute genius magician called eccentric in many ways.
The reason he was called eccentric was simple.
Despite specializing in fire-attribute magic, he had an obsessive interest in magitech engineering.
It was quite unusual for a fire-attribute magician, whose characteristic was having the most powerful destructive power, to also be interested in magitech engineering, the most delicate branch of magic studies.
However, since he had already achieved many significant research results, no one dared to call him eccentric to his face.
They only praised him as a genius of the century.
The security sensor systems throughout the imperial buildings were all products of magitech engineering from the hands of the Red Tower Master Eldrie standing before them.
Schwarze somewhat calmed his anger-laden emotions.
It was to avoid making a mistake with one of the most talented individuals in the empire.
“Is there something you’ve seen with those eyes of yours? Tower Master Eldrie.”
Schwarze instinctively knew.
He sensed that the suddenly appeared Brigitte and Archmage Eldrie were about to bring up the matter of defeating the Black Dragon.
Schwarze knew about it too.
After all, he had been the client who received the report from Yumir, the disciple of the Mercenary King.
However, he was still in a state of half belief and half doubt.
A human.
How could a mere mortal human defeat a dragon?
Such a transcendent being.
Eldrie let out a gentle laugh.
“I didn’t see it directly with my own two eyes.”
Eldrie pulled out something.
It was a magical device that modern people would immediately recognize as a ‘drone’.
“I haven’t officially named it yet, but… let’s call it a Magic Scout. It’s a magitech device that can capture images of the ground while cruising through the air. It consumes an enormous amount of magic stones.”
“Ooooh!!”
“Ooooh!! Such a great invention…! If used for warfare, it would be possible to scout enemy camps by infiltrating their territory! As expected of Tower Master Eldrie!”
“Yes, everyone. I’ll let you handle it after I’m done with my business.”
Ignoring the two nobles who were also his enthusiastic fans, Eldrie placed the Magic Scout in front of His Highness the First Prince.
Then, standing beside it, Eldrie pressed a series of buttons.
A rectangular window appeared above the Magi Scout.
“I didn’t dare to operate this Magic Scout in the capital. So I only operated this object near Sephiton where I reside. But then something strange appeared in the sky.”
A scene was playing within the rectangular window.
No one was surprised by the black and white footage itself.
Magical video devices were already well-known among the nobles.
The screen was black and white, and there was no sound, but everyone remained silent.
Shock was evident in the eyes of all eighteen nobles gathered there.
Even though it was in black and white, even though no sound could be heard, there was no one who didn’t recognize the being that appeared in that black screen.
“…A dragon!!”
Black and white footage.
And a quality full of noise that couldn’t be called good by any means.
Nevertheless, no one dared to underestimate that dragon.
Even in such poor-quality footage, its overwhelming presence could be felt.
Fierce yet sublime eyes.
A dragon’s maw that looked hideous yet beautiful.
The awe-inspiring presence of a black dragon that seemed to approach 100 meters in length, enough to make one’s whole body tingle.
Jet-black scales that seemed incomparably harder than the silver armor of knights.
“T-truly, it deserves to be called the most perfect being in the world…”
At the words of Count Venosethian, owner of the
Even observing from afar, its overwhelming presence could be felt.
Only two people were not surprised by the dragon’s majesty.
Eldrie, the owner of the Magi Scout, and First Princess Brigitte, to whom Eldrie had shown the footage in advance.
The screen zoomed in as much as possible.
Unlike the people far away, one human was standing firmly on both feet, facing the Black Dragon.
“He’s not collapsing… Surely the dragon’s aura along with its overwhelming presence must be crushing his body.”
These were the words of Viscount Kamart, who had achieved the level of upper-class Sword Expert.
At his words, Michael, the Sword Master and direct guard of Princess Brigitte standing beside her, swallowed hard.
It was just as Viscount Kamart said.
An indescribable fear and pressure should be crushing his body.
Yet that man, that Yuma, was overcoming it.
Standing on both feet.
The screen zoomed out again. And then—
“Th-that’s!”
“Dragon Breath!!”
Something condensing in the Black Dragon’s mouth.
A ferociously blazing heat that could be felt even through the black and white footage.
The noise distorting the screen seemed to attest to its ferocity.
The screen momentarily turned white.
“Eeeek!”
And when it returned, everyone saw the image of the ferocious Dragon Breath plunging towards the ground.
And also the figure of the man standing on two feet, swinging his sword.
The jaws of those who were both nobles and swordsmen dropped.
All the nobles’ gazes turned to Michael, the most accomplished swordsman present.
“…I-I can’t say for certain, but it seems he deflected the breath while—adding his own slash, and counterattacked along with the breath that the Black Dragon had fired. That’s the only way I can explain it. Not only withstanding the Dragon Breath, but to grasp it and push it back at the enemy with such supreme sword energy…!!”
The next scene was even more terrifying.
The Black Dragon, directly hit by that sword energy, vanished without a trace.
Not even bones or skin remained.
The footage ended there.
The Red Tower Master, Eldrie, scanned the nobles and the First Prince.
“This man slew a dragon alone. Can you handle such a person? Can you afford to upset someone like this, Your Highness First Prince?”
As the eighteen nobles, enveloped in tremors, sat in their chairs continuing to shudder—
Thud—
Footsteps echoed on the ground.
The nobles’ gazes shifted towards the source of the footsteps.
A man with ash-gray hair was slowly ascending from outside the opened door.
Royan, the head butler of the First Princess’s palace and Brigitte’s attendant who was present at this meeting, opened his mouth.
An introduction was necessary for that man.
“The one who defeated the former Ten Seats member, the Sword God Chronos, and the drug lord Bellek, saving the city of Arkan from evil, and—”
Thud—
The man took another step.
“The one who vanquished the Black Dragon, saving Rubelt County.”
Thud—
The man set both feet in the conference room.
Languid blue eyes gazed directly at the nobles and the two royal members.
“This is Lord Yuma.”
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