Dragon Maken War

Chapter 48 - Guardian Shadows (1)

1

Niberis was inside the darkness, lost in her feeling of humiliation.

-I never expected this to turn out like this.

A voice flew in from a distance location.

-We suffered a great loss... Now that it has turned out like this, we have to give up on the Dragon Demon Princess.

-We have no choice, since the Dragon Sword Duke has appeared. Now that the 'Guardian Shadows' are on the move, we can't provoke them any longer.

-We needed to quickly kidnap the Dragon Demon Princess before this happens... At the very least, we are fortunate, since we didn't lose Niberis.

-Sir Duran. I express my respects to you for your wise decision.

“It was nothing.”

Duran, who was in the same room as Niberis, responded with humility.

He was originally on a different mission inside the Rulain Kingdom. However, when he received the information about the Dragon Sword Duke leaving his territory to head towards the Dragon Demon Princess, he moved quickly. If he had delayed his travels even by a little bit, he would have been late.

-Niberis.

“Yes.”

-Do not be devastated by this. This was within the parameter of our predictions. It isn't as if we didn't gain anything from this.

“What did you just say?”

Niberis eyebrows rose. The higher ups sent her out even though they had anticipated that she might fail?

-Our foundation within the Rulain Kingdom is especially frail. This is why we don't have much information regarding what goes on inside the kingdom. This is why he didn't know about the magic placed on the Dragon Demon Princess.

-In the first place, you were sent on a gambit with a low probability. The fact that you came back without injury proves that you are outstanding.

Niberis pride was strong, and she had wanted to prove her skill by kidnapping the Dragon Demon Princess. She hadn't considered that this task would be hard. However, she was one of the younger members of the organizations. Unlike her, the hidden elders knew how scary the world could be.

The plan had been to kidnap a member of the royal family in secret. They had to prevent their hidden, secret organization from being exposed to the world at all costs. Even with perfect preparations, this mission wasn't considered to be a given. They had gone forward with minimal information, so the the outcome shouldn’t have surprised them.

-First, pull back from the Rulain Kingdom with Duran.

“But…….”

-Since we've been exposed to the Dragon Sword Duke, the Rulain Kingdom's Guardian Shadows will be on the move. You still don't know how scary they could be.

This mission didn't simply end without consequences when they had failed to kidnap the Dragon Demon Princess. Now, the enemy knew the information the organization had been desperately trying to keep a secret. It was the fact that they had powerful pieces like Niberis and Duran within their organization. This information was now known to the enemies.

-We'll give you an opportunity to make up for this business at a later date. Pull back for now.

“Mmmm…….”

Niberis was dissatisfied, but the elders' attitude was too resolute. She couldn't be stubborn. She bit her lips.

‘Who cares about the Dragon Sword Duke...’

Currently, she regretted immediately running away in surprise when then the Dragon Sword Duke appeared. If she had joined powers with Duran, she thought that they could have easily suppress him...

-We'll leave everything to you, Sir Duran.

“Understood.”

After hearing Duran's answer, the elders' voices became more distant. When the silence settled into the darkness, Duran spoke to Niberis.

“Miss. I understand your feeling.”

“…What do you understand?”

“You can't accept the reason why we have to work to this extent to ensure our safety.”

“…….”

“However, you have to understand there is a reason why we are so afraid. The Guardian Shadows are a legitimately scary existence. If we didn't didn't have any reasons to fear them, we would have already conquered the world.”

In truth, they had almost succeeded once before. They actively imposed their influence on the entire continent as they revised the continent’s history. Their goal had been to wipe out all the knowledge that could be passed on.

“We have to finish our preparation for the day our king returns... Then the world will be afraid of us.”

Duran thought about the past as he stroked his face. Inside the darkness, his hand touched his wrinkled face and he felt the permanent scars that couldn't be erased. It had been etched onto him like brands.

2

After meeting up with Kairen, they spent a single night inside the forest. Then, the party moved at a slow pace. The party decided they didn't need to be worried about the enemies attacking them.

They arrived at a country village after crossing the mountain. They purchased a sickly horse and a run-down carriage there. It was very questionable to call it a carriage, but they were able to reach the busiest city in the vicinity because of it.

“I guess I have to say goodbye to this carriage.”

Azell spoke as he walked alongside the carriage. The party had acquired the carriage for Enora. If they had to travel matching Enora's foot speed, it would have taken them two to four additional days to get here.

While they were coming here, Kairen's attitude took Azell by surprise.

‘He is a Duke yet he is very easy going.’

He had traveled with them until this point, but the Duke didn't show any signs of discontent. Everyone was uncomfortable around him as they kept their eyes on Kairen. However, he didn't show any signs of discontent at the shabby carriage or the slow travel speed.

Arrieta laughed when Azell brought up this point.

“My teacher still goes into the mountain occasionally to live like an uncivilized person when he feels like it. He wouldn't show any displeasure at such a minor setback.”

“Even though he is a Duke?”

“He said he liked. He could turn his surrounding inside out since he was able to use his strength in earnest. That is why I had to learn how to live out in the wild from time to time. We lived in a very impoverished state when we were in the mountains.”

“I understand now.”

He was the one responsible for giving such lessons to Arrieta. It shouldn't have surprised Azell that the Duke acted in an informal manner. It was incongruous with his station.

The party checked into an inn that geared towards serving nobles.

Azell asked Arrieta a question.

“Don't we have to visit the lord here?”

“There is no lord in this territory.”

“What?”

“Count Renning is working from the palace, so one of his relative is working here as a proxy. If we go to him, we'll be treated well. However, it would be annoying and our schedule would be further delayed..”

Azell looked towards Kairen, but it seemed he was of the same mind as Arrieta. The teacher and the student didn't want a raucous reception even though they were both of very high stations. They were very similar in the fact that they hated those kinds of events.

Enora spoke to Azell.

“Sir Azell. Could you accompany me on my errand?”

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“I have to buy various items, and I'm going to see if we can hire a healer.”

“Ah ah. You want me as a mule.”

“Wouldn't it better if you thought of it as guarding me?”

“In the end, I'll probably have to carry everything. You want to take only me?”

“Yes.”

“Why? What about Sir Boar and Sir Giles?”

“Mmmm. That is…….”

Enora laughed as if she was put in an awkward situation.

“They both do not know about how the world works. Also, problem might arise if the identity of the princess and the duke was spread....”

“…….”

It really was a cold assessment. However, Azell could only agree with her.

Boar and Giles gave off signs of being a noble's sheltered son. This had been very obvious with Boar, but Azell thought Giles was also a bit ignorant of the world. Nothing good could come out of them accidentally letting something slip to a civilian.

‘Mmmm?’

He exited the inn with Enora and suddenly felt someone's gaze on him. He subtly turned his head, but he didn't see anyone.

‘These bastards are very talented in hiding themselves. Maybe they are Dragon Demon King worshipers?’

Even if he couldn't see anyone, Azell wasn't fooled. He was sure someone was watching him. It wasn't just one person. There were several of them. At a glance, he couldn't locate them. It meant they were very adept at hiding themselves.

‘Hmm. Even if they are Dragon Demon King worshippers, they aren't a problem since the Dragon Sword Duke is with Arrieta.’

Azell and Enora were the ones in trouble. If they ran into a problem, he had to make sure Enora would be unhurt.

Azell walked as these thoughts ran through his head when Enora asked him a question.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Mmm? I'm not really thinking about anything. Why?”

“You are looking at the people with amazement in your eyes.”

“Did I really do that?”

Azell was confused. Did his eyes unconsciously give something away?

It was understandable. Two hundred years had passed since his era. He couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of the city. It looked similar from before, but there were also a lot of unfamiliar sights.

He had been very busy recently, but Azell had been thrown into this world less than 1 month ago. He tried to accept and adapt to his situation, but at times, he couldn't help but become overwhelmed by what he felt.

Enora spoke.

“Oh yea, Sir Azell. There is something I want to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Thank you..”

“…….”

“You protected the princess and I. Moreover... Thank you for taking care of me at night.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Azell feigned ignorance, which caused Enora to puff up her cheeks.

“I know all about it.”

“What exactly do you know about?”

“The content of my dreams were blatantly changed. Did you think I wouldn't notice? It's all Sir Azell's doing.”

After being ambushed by Niberis, Enora had been gripped by nightmares. No matter how brave she was, Enora was still a young girl. She couldn't stay composed after experiencing such an event.

However, she was tormented by her nightmares for only a moment. From a certain point in time, her nightmares disappeared, and it was replaced with peaceful memories of her past. She saw the plains of her homeland she loved, and she remembered the fun times she had playing there.

No matter how she saw it, she couldn't help but notice that someone had manipulated her dreams. She didn't know about Spirit Order or magic, but there was something Enora was sure of.

Azell spoke.

“I'm not a magician, so how could I manipulate someone else's dream?”

“You can do it.”

“Eh-ee. I can't”

“I already know you can do it. I felt it. It was Sir Azell.”

“Mmm? You felt it?”

“Every person has a different feel to them. I felt your signature, Sir Azell.”

“…….”

Azell was a bit surprised as he looked at Enora.

She was right. Azell had manipulated her dreams. Since he was intervening with a normal person's mind, he hadn't been cautious. He hadn't been careful to change the content of the dream within its natural flow. Instead he had forcefully guided her dreams towards comforting memories. He also didn't erase the scent of his energy within the subconsciousness of her sleeping mind.

Still, it was surprising for a normal person like Enora to feel his energy.

Enora spoke.

“Anyways, I just want to say thank you. Sir Azell is really good at taking care of other people. Do you perhaps have a lot of siblings?”

“No. I don't have any siblings... Although, I do have kids.”

“So that's how it is... Eh-ehk?”

Enora was naturally nodding her head, when she became surprised. He had children? Azell was a married man?

“My god. You are married?”

“Does it look like I'm married?”

“I never thought about it. You are old enough that it wouldn't be strange if you were wed, but...”

It was the same in Azell's era. One went through one's coming-of-age ceremony at fifteen, and most married before one reached twenty years old. If Azell was a noble, it would be rare to find an unmarried man of his age.

Azell spoke.

“I'm not married.”

“Then how do you have children?”

Enora's gaze was turning curious as she looked at Azell. Azell grinned.