REFDL 13

“If you discover a Kremlis hatchling during the investigation, kill it immediately.”

The knights’ eyes widened. Nitan called out to Kaelus.

“Captain!”

“I won’t tolerate insubordination. Don’t you understand the situation? That creature is growing stronger by devouring weak monsters on the outskirts.”

Normally, Kremlis are born deep within the Sea of Trees and die there. They possess fierce pride and a savage nature. They consider preying on the weak a disgrace.

Thus, unless injured or old, they never ventured beyond the depths, and even then, only slightly. The adult from last time was an anomaly.

“Don’t you see? It’s not hunting when it beats ordinary wolves to death with stones.”

Kaelus’s expression turned serious.

“It learned the thrill of slaughtering the weak.”

No. It was just out of fear.

“The proof is that it didn’t eat a single bite, only bit them.”

He only broke their necks to spare them pain.

“And as a dragon, it faces no constraints. If it matures and turns its gaze outward instead of inward, what catastrophe do you think will unfold?”

People would just faint from shock.

But no one knew the truth, and Nitan lost his words to counter.

Kaelus declared sternly.

“We share responsibility for letting it escape. So kill it here if possible. If not this time, hunt it down after completing the mission.”

His dull eyes rolled back and forth in confusion.

Only then did they roughly understand what had happened. In other times, they would have gleefully teased the vice captain, but not now. There was a time and place for mockery.

“Disperse. Return before nightfall.”

Kaelus, who gave the order, turned his back first.

* * *

The world was swallowed by the Sea of Trees a thousand years ago. The displaced humans carved out new homes at the very edge of the forest, as if the forest had graciously left that patch there.

The great empire of Denos in the south was no exception.

The first few hundred years were peaceful.

It didn’t feel like they were besieged by the Sea of Trees.

The forest’s encroachment slowed and became less frequent. If they could just weather the occasional wave of monsters that surged like a flood, people could enjoy a daily life not vastly different from before.

Then, one day.

Like a tumor.

A portion of the forest suddenly protruded.

It grew downward in an instant, as if taking root.

It was quick. It felt like a replay of the initial erosion. The Sea of Trees, descending in a long, pointed V-shape, instantly tore the empire vertically.

All of Denos’ attempts to stop it failed. Ultimately, the empire split into left and right halves. Even so, the emperor tried desperately to maintain a single empire.

But with communication and exchange difficult, commanding the distant noble houses was no easy task.

The nobles left in the west, watching each other warily, slowly began to form new factions.

Then, finally, the decisive event occurred that cemented the division.

The Great Cataclysm Wave.

Simultaneously, in both halves of the divided land, a monstrous wave of unimaginable scale erupted.

The West, already suffering from shortages and lacking a central leader, urgently requested aid from the Emperor in the homeland.

But the Emperor, lacking a viable way to send troops and terrified by the unprecedented scale of the wave, abandoned the West and focused solely on defending Denos.

The abandoned West was swept away by the tide of monsters.

Day after day, the defensive lines were pushed back. Even when desperately holding them off, only despair was visible.

Then, an anomaly occurred.

The emergence of Firmus, proclaimed the first emperor, and the Kremlis dragon protecting him.

Glory of the West, Firmus.

Eternal Julan.

Rustle.

“……”

Time passed thus, and now.

An era when the Western Empire, Firmus, and the Eastern Empire, Denos, regarded each other as mortal enemies.

Though Tortan, a close friend of Kaelus, ascended to the imperial throne, the noble Council of Elders refused to recognize his legitimacy.

For he was an illegitimate son born to a maid.

The eldest son had died long ago.

The second prince perished in civil war.

Tortan was the sole survivor of the Firmus bloodline.

Yet the Council stubbornly refused to acknowledge his imperial legitimacy. While they were more eager than anyone to marry their daughters off to him!

‘Like old snakes.’

It was disgusting and revolting.

Snip!

Kaelus, cutting away the bushes with nervous precision, ventured deeper into the thicket.

Even when treated like a stud horse, Tortan simply laughed.

‘I must laugh. Because that’s what must be done.’

It had been only five years since the civil war ended completely.

He was an unpopular emperor, and the nation was in turmoil, both internally and externally.

The stirrings of Denos.

The Monster Wave occurring every five years.

The chaos and damage from the civil war… had been mostly contained. But the scars of that time still lingered in the minds and hearts of the people.

That the Second Prince was the spark that ignited the civil war didn’t matter. They had suffered and needed someone to blame.

And blame, it clings more easily to the living than the dead.

‘Damn it.’

Tortan’s obsession with the Kremlis was understandable.

Frankly, a single Kremlis dragon would solve nearly all the problems currently giving him headaches.

The rebirth of the founding legend.

The Council of Elders would no longer be able to challenge his legitimacy. In fact, some figures were ready to switch sides and actively support Tortan if it came to that. They were just eccentric old farts obsessed with past glories.

Kaelus couldn’t wrap his head around it. It was just a dragon, after all. A monster.

‘What’s so godlike about that?’

He must have lost his mind in his old age.

And the common folk.

The masses were far more intuitive than the nobles. They were weak to what they could see. Above all, they loved dragons.

It was said the Dragon Knights were barely managing to pull up the imperial favor that Tortan had plunged into the abyss.

But regardless of understanding Tortan, Kaelus remained pessimistic about the idea of taming a Kremlis.

Dragons have no loyalty.

Expecting loyalty from a monster is ridiculous.

Swoosh!

“……”

Kaelus had once been like that too. He had trusted a dragon.

The man still regretted it. He would regret it for the rest of his life.

Caw!!

He froze when he heard a crow’s cry, which sounded like a scream. Golden scales glinted through the thick foliage.

He suppressed his presence and pressed himself against a massive tree. Only his eyes peered out.

‘……It didn’t notice.’

A dragon with keen senses, a Kremlis, no less.

But the Kremlis ahead was distracted elsewhere. This was his chance.

Kaelus gripped his sword hilt even tighter. His eyes, dark as storm clouds, shone as he observed the Kremlis.

These creatures were the highest-ranking monsters, born of the Emperor’s blood. Even as a hatchling, complacency was forbidden. If battle erupted, he was disadvantaged on the ground. And even then, it would be fortunate if it kept attacking. Being a clever creature, it was more likely to simply fly away and escape.

‘Seize the best opportunity and cut its throat.’

Kaelus steeled himself and watched the situation.

Caw!

Grrrr!

Caw!

Grrr!

“……”

The Kremlis was arguing with a crow…

‘No.’

That was just his interpretation. That couldn’t be right.

‘The aftermath of my wandering thoughts is this… ’

Kaelus reflected, closing his eyes once before opening them again. He looked back at the scene.

As expected.

The creature began flying, chasing the crow. Fortunately, the crow circled the area. It didn’t go far.

……But is that why it’s doing this now? Because it can’t catch a single crow? A Kremlis?

‘Probably just toying with it, not really trying to catch it.’

But it seemed far too desperate for that.

“……”

Kaelus decided not to dwell on it.

He quickly scanned the surrounding terrain. He replayed the scene in his mind over and over: stepping, leaping off footholds, jumping up to where the two perched. Each time, the severed head of the Kremlis fell.

‘Alright.’

Just as he was about to jump toward the most successful route.

The situation changed.

Crack!

A tree the Kremlis had struck snapped and fell.

Caw!

The crow let out a cry different from before. The Kremlis reacted.

Kyaaak?!

The flustered creature ran back toward the falling tree. Its wings bent in opposite directions. It wrapped its tail around another tree, using that momentum to propel itself backward.

‘What…!’

The Kremlis, launched at near-arrow speed, slammed into the tree just as it neared the ground.

Crack.

Thud.

Caw! Caw!

A small cloud of dust rose.

Crack…

The Kremlis poked its head out from between the bushes.

It had clearly fallen straight down. But the creature buried in leaves lay belly-up. Its front and back legs, curled modestly, were holding something.

Kremlis trembled slightly and slowly pulled its foot away. That was…

Chirp!

Baby crows.

“……”

‘Is it going to eat them?’

No, it wasn’t.

But that was the limit of the answer Kaelus’s dragon-hating brain could come up with.

…Even without the hatred, he probably wouldn’t have known.