DMHS 64

“It’s a relief. When I saw your expression while you came down the stairs looking the same as usual, I thought you must have recovered. Earlier I should have stepped in to stop Frederick, but I lost my head and got swept along. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I was careless. From now on I won’t eat or drink anything a mage offers.”

Kian added a hint of playfulness on purpose. Daisy’s eyes softened.

“I should keep that in mind too.”

A knight behind her called Daisy. While she was gone, Kian moved to the table with the map. His eyes lingered on the map.

‘What difference is there between the places where the incident happened and the places where it didn’t happen?’

The villages in the southwest of the kingdom were covered in red. Meanwhile, in the northwest, some areas had turned red but others were marked in blue.

Kian asked the priest for permission.

“May I mark something on the map for a moment?”

The priest handed him a black pen from the table.

“It’s a pen made with magic. If you mark with another color it’s easier to see, and it’s also easy to erase all at once.”

Kian traced along the border of the red dots with the black pen. With only a slight margin of error, a gentle downward curve appeared.

The priest tilted his head and gave his opinion.

“It’s true that the incident is concentrated in the southwest region even in the west, but is there really a need to distinguish it?”

The answer came from behind Kian.

“Of course there is. Wide-area magic spreads in a circle from the caster’s position.”

The voice belonged to Lucien.

At the word ‘magic,’ the nearby mages reacted.

“This phenomenon can’t be magic. Wide-area magic that engraves writing on the same object? I have never even heard of it.”

Standing beside Kian, Lucien did not answer. He began to draw a circle starting from the end of the curve Kian had drawn. If the line drawn earlier had represented the kingdom’s border, then what Lucien was drawing now encompassed a broad region westward beyond the kingdom’s rule.

Lucien planted the pen at a spot that corresponded to the circle’s center.

“The opponent is here. Strictly speaking, we should call him a sorcerer. He is someone who wields black magic.”

At the word ‘black magic,’ all the mages fell silent. The knights looked puzzled, not understanding what was happening.

The priest standing before Lucien scratched his eyebrow and spoke.

“So, Lord Lucien, you are saying this is not a curse or prophecy but simply magic?”

One mage could not hold back and answered.

“Not just magic! It’s black, black magic!”

“I correct myself. Is it not magic, but indeed black magic?”

“Yes.”

Even with Lucien’s answer, the priest still looked unconvinced.

“I am only a servant of the goddess and know nothing of magic. But even I have heard that black magic is limited to things like raising corpses or rotting objects. Is it possible to do something so powerful with black magic?”

The answer came from Kian.

“If the sorcerer made a contract with a high-ranking demon, it’s not impossible.”

Sighs spilled out here and there. The priest did not even try to hide his tense face.

“…So demons are involved.”

“Demons enjoy human negative emotions. They must have been aiming for this time when the kingdom’s situation is unstable.”

After a short silence, discontent erupted.

“But isn’t the place where the sorcerer is the land of the Delia tribe? And since he’s using black magic, the enemy is surely a Delia.”

“They’re bastards who deserve to be torn apart! They’ve been a thorn in our side for so long. We spared them out of pity, and instead of gratitude they bring us harm!”

“How much did we suffer during the Blood Harvest Festival? Not just Chronos but the entire western region connected to it was heavily hit. All the damage we suffered must be compensated!”

The mood grew more heated. Especially since the Chronos knight order that had been massacred belonged to the western knight division, the knights of this region held deep grudges against the Delia.

The knights’ faces all reddened as their chests heaved.

“It is time to drive out the vermin that parasitize our kingdom. Let’s use this chance to expel the Delia in the western region!”

“If they resist, then cut their throats, children and adults alike.”

“There’s a saying. ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’”

“Exterminate the Delia tribe! A glorious war!”

Kian, watching the conversation, felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He could not say he did not understand their feelings. The pain of losing loved ones could not be soothed by anything.

Revenge could not be a complete answer, but for the wronged individual it might become some kind of answer.

The problem was the vicious cycle that would follow.

Revenge brings revenge.

Killing provokes more killing, and grudges give rise to new grudges.

The end of a bad cycle is only destruction. With the origin unclear and the blame hard to judge, innocent weak ones ended up suffering.

As Kian’s expression darkened, Lucien spoke with a crooked tone.

“What’s all this sudden talk of war?”

“Didn’t the noble Dragon say it was the Delia who caused this incident?”

“I said a black magician there caused the incident. I never said it was the Delia. Do you think there are no black magicians in the kingdom? Maybe he was researching black magic and crossed over to the west.”

“But think about the likelihood. What are the chances that a dark mage from the kingdom went west and caused trouble, compared to the chances that a Delia bastard caused trouble in his own homeland? Isn’t the latter overwhelmingly higher?”

“So you want to start a war over something that hasn’t even been confirmed? What a grand justification. Go ahead and tell the Delia the same thing. Say to their faces that some unknown sorcerer from their side seems to have done something strange to our scripture, so they all have to die.”

“But, but this incident isn’t the only one! They committed the tragedy of the Blood Harvest Festival!”

Lucien’s face twisted.

“As for that matter, there were already enough discussions and negotiations between His Majesty the King and the leader of the Delia tribe. Are you saying now that what His Majesty decided was wrong?”

“Th-that…”

The knight’s face turned pale.

Anyone who insulted the king was punished harshly regardless of the severity of the matter. And if a knight who served the king as his lord spoke such disrespectful words, military law punished them even more severely. Dismissal or demotion was the least of it. They could even be imprisoned without end.

Even so, unwilling to back down, the knight shouted desperately.

“But it’s unfair! Are we just supposed to take it?”

“Who said you just have to take it? You have to identify the enemy clearly. You need to know who the good bastards are and who the bad bastards are to crush them with peace of mind. Whether you kill them, or torture them until they beg that dying would be better.”

Lucien stretched his mouth into a long smile. Behind him, a phantom of black wings appeared. Everyone seemed to see it. Even the knight who had struggled and shouted about unfairness lost his words.

Whispers came from the back.

‘What happens if a Dragon himself decides to crush them?’

‘Wouldn’t you get burned alive by the breath?’

‘I heard their horns release poison. Or maybe he’d just squash you flat with his backside.’

‘Whatever it is, dying quickly would be better. They say Dragons have filthy tempers. Their grudges last terribly long, not even comparable to human grudges. With their long lives, they torment you easily for a hundred years.’

…It was not wrong.

As the knights fell silent and backed down, this time the priests stepped forward.

“Now that we’ve heard demons have been summoned, we cannot just watch. The problem is it takes time to formally contact the Delia and send forces. In that time the enemy will erase the traces and flee.”

The wizards also spoke up.

“I agree that we must send people to the suspected location as quickly as possible.”

“But is there anyone in the kingdom the Delia would welcome so readily?”

“Ah…?”

“Ah…!”

Everyone’s eyes gradually focused on one spot. Where they gathered, the golden-haired Dragon stood.

Lucien pointed to himself with a dumbfounded face.

“Me?”

It was the undeniable answer.

What happened after moved quickly.

First, they decided to keep secret the speculation that the incident might be related to black magic. There was no proof for now.

Instead, Lucien sent a letter about that suspicion to the king. He wrote that he and his mate would personally visit the Delia lands to find clues, so the king should secure permission from the tribe leader for their visit.

The Delia, who served both Celestia, goddess of creation, and Yahdreir, god of destruction, respected the champions and heroes appointed as apostles of the goddess. There was no reason for them to refuse an official visit from Lucien, descendant of the hero Hellenos.

The expectation was correct. In less than half a day, a letter from the Delia chief himself arrived at the inn. The letter said the Delia as a whole would gladly welcome the Dragon and his matr.

“The coming-of-age ceremony schedule will be delayed.”

Lucien spoke with disappointment after reading the letter. Kian, on the other hand, was simply glad at how things turned out.

‘If it goes like this, I won’t have to separate from him. It’s a relief we can investigate the case together.’

As he let out a sigh of relief, Kian noticed something strange in his own thoughts.

‘Relief… Even though the situation has turned into this mess, did I still want to follow him?’

On the day before the wedding, Kian had made a decision. He said he would use the only way by which a Dragon could be separated from his mate.

That method was death.