Chapter 446 : Return (2)
While Serdea was spacing out, letting out a dazed sound at the sudden news, just as the Eastern Empire captain had reported, Alon was receiving a proposal from Contanias.
Strictly speaking, rather than a proposal—
“Please, allow me to serve you!”
—it was an outright plea.
“…Why is he acting like that?”
“I have no idea either~”
Evan whispered in confusion.
He had heard about what had happened between Contanias and Alon, so the current situation seemed strange to him.
But even Alon himself didn’t know why Contanias was acting like this.
Hadn’t their last meeting ended badly?
‘…Though it was more like he unilaterally ended up hating me.’
Behind his expressionless face, Alon felt something odd.
The same Contanias who had gritted his teeth, vowing to wipe out his entire clan, was now groveling—something he had never imagined.
Moreover, the reactions of the retainers who came with Contanias were even stranger.
“Lord Alon, I don’t think even they expected this.”
“…It seems so.”
Behind Contanias, who had bowed his head, the entire line of retainers was in shock.
Knights and retainers alike stood there with their mouths hanging open.
One knight even repeatedly opened and closed his eyes.
As if frozen with expressions that said, ‘Why is that lunatic acting like this all of a sudden?’
Because of that, Alon, still unable to shake his confusion, wondered what to ask—
“…What is the real reason you suddenly came like this?”
—and threw a direct question.
Since the other party was a prince, it would be proper to show some courtesy, but given that their mutual favorability was already at rock bottom, it seemed pointless.
And yet—
“I came to serve the great dragon!”
Contanias bowed even deeper as he shouted.
Alon slightly raised his gaze.
The retainers still looked at their lord as if he were insane.
One of them even pointed a finger at his own head and spun it, as if about to insult him outright.
Judging by the atmosphere, it didn’t seem like a trap.
After pondering for a moment, Alon decided to address the core issue.
“…I don’t understand why you’re calling me that.”
Naturally, Alon was not a dragon.
There were many rumors mixed with truth and falsehood about him, but at least there had never been a rumor that ‘Alon is a dragon,’ so this was baffling.
Contanias slightly lifted his gaze and began to hesitate.
As if wondering whether he should say it or not.
Just as Alon felt something was off, Contanias nodded with a strangely enlightened expression, as if he had realized something.
“…the guardian dragon told me.”
He stepped closer and whispered quietly.
Alon’s confusion deepened further.
‘Guardian dragon…?’
The Empire’s guardian dragon.
The Crying Dragon.
Alon knew of the golden dragon, but he had never met the Empire’s guardian dragon.
“…the guardian dragon?”
he asked again.
And Contanias—
“Yes, I heard it from Lady Arculainisis, who is both the Empire’s guardian dragon and its daughter.”
—added very politely.
At the unexpected name—
“…???”
“???”
Alon’s mind filled with question marks.
Ar?
Ar?
Why are you coming up here?
The same question surfaced hundreds of times.
***
After hearing the reason from Contanias.
Instead of crossing the tightly sealed Eastern Empire border, Alon decided to head toward the Northern Empire border over the course of three days.
Going through the northern border was a bit of a detour, but returning to the Allied Kingdom Alliance was the priority.
As Contanias escorted Alon back to the Northern Empire with utmost care under the strange gazes of his retainers—
‘No matter how I think about it, something’s off.’
Contanias felt uneasy.
He looked at the people preparing the camp behind him.
Among them, the one who stood out the most was Alon, reading something and talking at one side of the campsite.
What he found strange was his identity.
‘He’s a dragon?’
The guardian dragon had certainly told him so.
That Alon was her father.
Yet, despite her acknowledgment, Alon didn’t give off anything special upon meeting him again.
‘I can’t feel even a trace of a dragon’s aura.’
Others might simply feel pressure when standing before a dragon, but Contanias had faced dragons several times before and knew their unique presence.
The overwhelming sense that all the mana in one’s body—no, in the surrounding area—existed solely for that being.
On top of that, the vast mana unique to dragons should be felt.
Oppression and arrogance.
But none of that could be felt from Alon.
‘Could it be…?’
Contanias found himself entertaining such thoughts.
Perhaps—just perhaps—the guardian dragon was mistaken.
This suspicion also arose because of Alon’s reactions.
Though he maintained his usual expressionless face, at times his eyes widened slightly in apparent surprise.
It made it seem as though Alon didn’t truly know about the guardian dragon’s existence.
And above all, the guardian dragon’s words themselves didn’t align with reality.
From what Contanias had investigated, Alon Palatio had originally been nothing more than the third son of a count’s family, not someone brought from elsewhere or anything special.
Yet despite knowing all that, the guardian dragon’s words were absolute.
In the end, in order to be forgiven, Contanias had gathered information about Alon and rushed all the way to the Eastern Empire border.
But—
“…”
If the guardian dragon had simply been mistaken—
“…Huh.”
Contanias’s face filled with irritation and hatred.
Because the situation from earlier suddenly came to mind.
His own humiliating appearance, bowing to Alon without even caring about his dignity.
As he narrowed his eyes and glanced secretly at Alon—
tap—
“?”
Contanias witnessed something strange.
Objects near Alon’s campsite suddenly began to float.
As he felt puzzled by the bizarre sight—
KWAJIK! KWA-DRRRK!!!
“!?”
The once peaceful space shattered, and everything around it began to be pulled in.
Rocks, dirt, nearby trees, even weeds—as if gravity had reversed, everything was being sucked in, leaving nothing behind.
As Contanias and his retainers, who had been preparing camp, stared blankly at the sky—soon, all their mouths fell open.
Above Alon’s head—a massive meteor had formed, large enough to easily wipe out everyone there the moment it fell.
“What is that—”
As Contanias barely managed to utter those words, the enormous spherical meteor slowly descended—and then vanished.
It didn’t take long for Contanias’s face to turn obedient again.
Meanwhile, the one who caused the phenomenon—Alon—
“Oh, Blackie can finally use its ability now?”
“Indeed. It seems that from stage two onward, abilities can’t be used immediately and require some learning.”
“Still, just being able to use it is amazing. Though it’s much smaller than what we saw back then. Mm~ but it’s still fascinating. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if Blackie could imitate a law.”
“It seems that unlike simply using a law, Blackie has to use mana.”
“Mm~ so while that side can use laws without conditions due to restrictions, this side has to use mana as fuel.”
“That’s about right. Though we don’t know how it is for other divine-bloods.”
[Meow-]
—was stroking Blackie as if proud.
Two days after Contanias’s face returned to normal.
As planned, after crossing through the northern border, Alon gave him a light nod.
“Thank you for your kindness.”
“Oh, it was nothing!”
Contanias bowed deeply, flustered by Alon’s response.
Seeing his exaggerated attitude—so different from when they had met at the Seeker’s Tower—Alon was bewildered.
“That’s honestly kind of pathetic.”
“I agree.”
Hearing Penia and Evan whisper behind him, Contanias’s smile cracked slightly, and only then did Alon drop his suspicion.
‘Seems like he really is Contanias.’
In any case, after a brief farewell, they parted ways.
More precisely, it was closer to Alon finally managing to shake him off after repeatedly refusing his insistence on escorting them all the way to the Allied Kingdom Alliance.
‘I was thinking of meeting Ar before leaving.’
Alon recalled Contanias’s words.
That Ar had become the Empire’s guardian dragon.
“…”
He didn’t know how or why Ar had become the guardian dragon.
But if he stopped by the Northern Empire capital, it would delay his return to the Allied Kingdom Alliance by well over half a year, so he decided to return first and come back later.
“By the way, Lord Alon.”
While thinking that, Penia spoke.
“What is it?”
“That… Ar. How did she become the guardian dragon?”
“How?”
“Yes, well… how should I put it… she was a very soft-hearted child, wasn’t she? In many ways.”
As Penia voiced the same question, Alon recalled Ar’s appearance.
…For some reason, all he could remember was her always crying.
“…That’s true.”
Alon unconsciously nodded.
***
About a week after moving toward the Allied Kingdom Alliance through the Northern Empire—
“Lord Alon. When we passed through the last village, we heard some troubling news from an information guild scout hiding there.”
“Troubling news? What is it?”
“…Do you remember? The group called ‘Star Cluster.’”
“I remember.”
“It seems their faction has grown far beyond expectations.”
Evan brought the news.
And at that same time—the Eastern Empire’s princess, Serdea—
“…Wait, is that really true?”
“We confirmed it multiple times just in case, which is why the report was delayed… but it seems that person is—”
With a blank expression—
“…the father of the guardian dragon.”
“The father of the guardian dragon…?”
—heard yet another shocking piece of news.