Chapter 107
All that was given to a dragon just to fleece a ducal house was a mere buggy?
If anyone heard that, they might ask whether this wasn't a deal where only Akion came out ahead, but…
- Hmmmm....
“Gasp! What is that!”
“Isn't that Professor Akion's buggy?!!!”
Asterion could be absolutely certain that it wasn't.
Though he was merely a lowly human, seeing nobles go wild over his white buggy made Asterion's shoulders swell with superiority.
Immediately after House Astarix was crushed, rumors about buggies spread throughout the capital,
and every official buggy owner at present, including Flare, was a dragon.
“I-I am honored to meet the great one…!”
“You may raise your head.”
Thus, the formula ‘buggy owner = dragon’ came to be established.
If one acquired a buggy now, wouldn't that mean standing on the same level as a dragon?!
“Great Asterion, what a magnificent vehicle. Is this the buggy I've heard of?”
“It is.”
Any sentient being engaged in competition was bound to thirst for authority.
Watching those inferior creatures twist themselves into knots trying to stand on equal footing with him… honestly, he couldn't help feeling pleased.
“Then, when will the new buggy—”
“Don't be greedy. It's ours.”
“I-Is that so….”
The Tower Master simply happened to be extremely fond of humans,
but the average dragon tended to be indifferent toward humans.
“Not yet.”
“H-Hahaha! I am most grateful!!”
Of course, humans riding in carriages were an exception.
Because they were cute.
And the way they scrambled about in greed, desperate to receive even a speck of their authority, was cute too.
Finally…
- Zzt!
Even among average dragons, there were some who concealed their identities and mingled among humans.
They might have had various reasons, whether it was amusement or scheming…
but they did share one common reason.
“Heh heh. Your eyes are burning….”
Because they wanted to ride a carriage.
It had wheels, after all.
If they had no chance to ride one, they would even settle for a cart,
and yet they were imitating humans just to ride a wooden-plank carriage once!!
- Zzt-zzt!
Asterion, who had revealed his identity in the human world, had proudly arrived driving a new wheeled vehicle!
And not just any vehicle, but a steel carriage that was clunky yet sleekly designed!
Jealous gazes flew at him from every direction.
Even an old dragon like Asterion had every right to bask in his superiority.
“Did you want to ride it that badly? Very well. I shall grant you the honor of sitting in the passenger seat of my buggy. Let us go for a drive.”
“Yeeeeeees?!!! H-How humbling—!!!”
“Damn it, why not me…!”
It wasn't only Asterion who acted this way; the other two dragons, Karena and Xeros, were the same.
- Crack…!
- Tremble, tremble…!!
The sparks of jealousy and greed they had kindled slowly began to grow.
* * *
And Akion…
“Ungna.”
had no thoughts.
Because he had no thoughts.
“Ungna ungna.”
“What's wrong with him?”
“He's in a state of total thoughtlessness. If you ask him for anything right now, he'll probably agree to it.”
The assassin who had barged in after Third Prince Alonso had been utterly destroyed.
And the Tower Master of Lidashid—the assassin's destroyer, Teacher Sid—still hadn't returned even after several days.
On top of that, he had nothing to do at the moment, and all the dopamine released in his body had disappeared.
It was a sort of sage time.
“Really? Akion, should we hold the wedding tomorrow— Ack! You little Goldie!”
“Don't try to steal Unnie from me again in front of Goldie!!”
He even stared blankly at Goldie and Aishirel's usual WWE match…
but as a sentient being, Akion was at least curious about what had happened since that day.
Teacher Sid still hadn't returned,
and Princess Flare had stopped attending classes two days ago, sending word that she ‘couldn't come due to an urgent matter.’
“Ungna-tta….”
Something had clearly happened involving the imperial family, but he didn't want to tremble with anxiety over it, either,
so he had simply melted into a thoughtless sage mode.
“Are you worried about the Tower Master and Her Highness Princess Flare?”
“Ungna!”
“Please speak in human language, Saint Akion. And you still have to work.”
“Nyeah.”
Perhaps sensing what he was thinking, the Saint asked him,
and Akion got up from his seat, figuring that instead of continuing to lounge around, he might as well go torment the two graduate students.
“It's classified, but… nothing that will harm you, Saint Akion.”
“Do you know what happened, Saint?”
“I'm one of the three powers in the Holy See, after all. Naturally, I hear things.”
“Then nothing bad will happen to the Tower Master or Her Highness Princess Flare, right? Ah, Sis. Don't shake it while you're wringing it out.”
Against the backdrop of Hermione and Astera's squawking screams, Akion also asked after the two women's well-being.
And the Saint's expression was far from ordinary.
“So something really is going on.”
“I can't tell you right now.”
That was because what she had heard was quite serious.
*
Meanwhile, at the Imperial Palace.
- Tap, tap.
Unlike usual, the imperial council chamber wasn't packed.
Only those who needed to be there had kept their seats…
“Your Majesty.”
Of the two powers from the Holy See who had come because of the news about black magic—the Pope and the Holy Son—the Holy Son spoke first.
“This is not an issue that can be brushed aside.”
“I know that well.”
The attempted assassination of Akion Enersis through a black mage hired by Third Prince Alonso Fandragon Astarix.
Investigator: the Tower Master of Lidashid.
Defendant: Third Prince Alonso, with all his mana circles destroyed and rendered a eunuch.
“……”
The defendant had been bound in the very center of the council chamber so everyone could observe him.
Of course, he was asleep by the Tower Master's mercy.
Even if he were awake, he would only scream from the pain caused by his ruined mana circuits.
“Tower Master.”
“You may speak.”
The Emperor knew very well that it was an enormous blessing that Alonso was still alive…
But he was still his child.
The instinct flowing through his blood cried out for him to protect his child.
“May I ask what punishment you intend to give Alonso?”
“I shall keep him alive until he dies of old age.”
And until the very moment he died of old age, he would make Alonso writhe in agony.
The Emperor knew how dearly the Tower Master cherished Akion, so… he couldn't bring himself to oppose that decision, steeped in hatred.
“Still, he is descended from my sister, so I must show him some mercy.”
And the fact that the Third Prince was her grandnephew earned him one more reduction in punishment.
It was the greatest mercy possible, simply because one of the enraged dragons was their distant relative.
- Tap, tap.
There were four people sitting on the Tower Master's side at present.
Judging by the dragon horns and tails all of them possessed, they were undoubtedly dragons, just as the Tower Master had said.
“Tower Master.”
“I shall give up my seat, Elder.”
It was a white-haired dragon who appeared to be the oldest among them.
Seeing the Tower Master yield his seat to the silent dragon… the Emperor tried to guess his identity.
“Emperor. I am called Asterion.”
“I pay my respects to the White-Night Dragon.”
The Emperor immediately bowed his head upon hearing the name.
Asterion was one of the dragons who had watched over the first hundred years of the Khalid Empire's millennium alongside the Tower Master.
On a certain night when the Demon King's remnants were rising again, his light magic had briefly turned the world into morning, earning him the honorific White-Night Dragon.
“Ho ho. There was still a child who remembered my epithet.”
“You are the founder of House Asterion. I heard of you from my own father as well.”
“Hahahaha! I merely lent them my name.”
Why had someone like him returned to the mortal world?
Only after wiping away a little more of his laughter did Asterion look around with a solemn gaze.
“Emperor, Pope, Holy Son. Who do you believe Akion is?”
“You mean us?”
He had suddenly asked the three of them about Akion's identity.
Who was Akion?
“A descendant of the genius archmage Elena Enersis.”
“A wise and outstanding saint, having inherited the Lord's sign and worthy of being selected as a candidate for sainthood…?”
“A genius who inherited the Lord's knowledge.”
Their answers varied, but they all had one thing in common: the word genius appeared in every one of them.
Asterion nodded at their thoughts.
He, too, had shared knowledge with Akion and marveled at his intelligence and vast stores of knowledge.
“I shall use illusion magic for a moment.”
But he wanted to draw their attention to something else.
- Swish.
“What do you think this is?”
A large sphere with mysterious hues appeared above the imperial council chamber.
“It looks like some kind of material.”
It was something even the Holy Son, who had seen countless things, failed to recognize.
Asterion himself hadn't known what it was, so how could they possibly have known?
“This is what Akion proposed calling antimatter.”
“Anti…matter? Something opposed to matter?”
“Yes. And this is roughly 1,000 kg of that antimatter gathered together.”
“What is this that we're discussing Akion's very existence because of it…?”
While everyone wondered,
only the Tower Master, the other two dragons, and Flare, who had watched the simulation from close by, trembled violently.
“This explodes the moment it comes into contact with matter.”
“Ha ha. Is that because it's antimatter? Surely its destructive power—”
Those who hadn't noticed the implications thought it was merely ‘fascinating.’
And then,
- Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep──.
“……….”
The moment the sphere above the capital exploded,
they saw the capital and the surrounding territories ‘vaporize’ completely.
At the same time, the very foundations of the earth were shattered,
the continent was torn apart by it,
and even the continents beyond the sea were caught up in it, until everything went extinct.
“Good Lord in Heaven.”
If Akion himself had mentioned it before them, they might have dismissed it with a, ‘Oh, that's exaggerated.’
“Is this even possible?”
“In theory.”
“Heh. Hehehe.”
But when a dragon who had lived for several thousand years broke into a cold sweat and said it was ‘possible,’ how could they simply let it pass?
Before long, they found themselves turning Asterion's question over in their minds.
“What on earth is Saint Akion?”
Who was he, really?
“Could you perhaps be the Lord's… executor?”
Asterion nodded with a solemn expression.
“That is what I believe.”
“……”
“Though he received the sign late, he has constructed theories capable of manifesting violence rivaling that of a god. And yet, like the Lord, he bestows infinite mercy, using the skills he possesses to embrace everyone, young and old, men and women alike.”
If humanity did not cross the line, he would grant it infinite mercy and progress,
but if it did…
“Ah, aah. Good Lord in Heaven. Amen….”
- Tremble, tremble…!
He was a being who would unleash overwhelming divine punishment, heralded by trumpets, enough to make even the Pope and Holy Son, who had seen plenty of terrible things, tremble as they made the sign of the cross.
“Indeed… the spiral spear, the Holy Light Sword, and even the holy-light scanning device. Young Lord Akion has shown exceptional talent when it comes to weaponization as well.”
The Emperor couldn't simply dismiss it, either.
What if Akion had truly descended as the Lord's representative to help humanity flourish?
“Emperor. Your child tried to kill such a person.”
And his child had tried to kill someone who sacrificed himself for humanity,
using the greatest enemy of humanity: black magic.
“Therefore, as one who watches over the peace of the world in accordance with the Lord's will… I believe Third Prince Alonso must receive a fitting punishment.”
This was the end of the road.
No matter that the struggle for the throne was still underway,
he could no longer shield Alonso, who had crossed every conceivable line.
The Emperor lowered his head toward the dragons with a long sigh.
“The Third Prince shall be confined until the day he dies. I will speak with the Second Empress separately.”
“What of compensation for Akion?”
“I shall provide it immediately. Please wait.”
From now on, the Third Prince would spend more time asleep than awake.
Compared to waking hours filled with pain… sleeping forever would be better.
- Squeeze.
The downcast Emperor Theodor suddenly turned his gaze when he felt someone grasp his hand tightly.
“Father….”
It was Flare.
Flare, who had been caught up in the assassination attempt while she was with Akion.
She was his child as well, and the Emperor wondered if he had been too consumed by the Third Prince's predicament… so he shook off his sorrow and squeezed Flare's hand tightly.
“I am sorry.”
“Hehe, yes. Since you've said that, it's all right.”
They were now a close father and daughter.
Because they understood each other's intentions so well… Flare was able to forgive the Emperor more easily than she had expected.
“So, about the gift for Young Lord Akion… would it be all right if I chose it?”
“You? Hmm.”
And she could take the opportunity to test the waters a little.
The Emperor glanced back and forth between the dragons and Flare…
- Thumbs up!
“Hmm. Do as you wish.”
“Thank you.”
When Asterion gave a thumbs-up, the Emperor reluctantly granted permission.
Flare wasn't going to empty the imperial palace storerooms, after all.
*
The next day.
“Young Lord Akion!”
- Thump!
Akion was left dumbfounded by the large heart-shaped object placed in his hands.
“As an apology from our imperial family for that dull, stupid, selfish eunuch ba— ahem, for Third Prince Alonso, this is a gift from the imperial family!”
Of course, it wasn't an ordinary model.
- Shaaaaa…!!
Even though he could barely sense mana, he could tell that the mana contained in this model was extraordinary.
“I had to argue with Father quite a bit to get it out. Hmph.”
“What is this?”
It was said to boast the greatest storage capacity among the countless mana-storage devices in the world—a mana tank containing the mana of an ancient dragon from when it was alive.
“A Dragonheart.”
“Eeeeeek.”
It was one of the few Dragonhearts in the imperial treasury!
The imperial treasury had only a few Dragonhearts!
A Dragonheart it was!
“Dragonheart.”
“Heeeeeek.”