“……Kravalt?”
The Berserk Dragon Kravalt was dead.
Deckard himself had testified that he had ended his life, so there could be no doubt.
Yet Flora had unmistakably spoken the name ‘Kravalt.’
“Kravalt is dead……!”
Deckard shouted as though screaming.
I nodded as well.
What he said was true.
But Flora shook her head as she looked at Deckard.
“No. He isn’t dead.”
“Not…… dead?”
Deckard muttered in a trembling voice.
It was only natural.
Especially considering the hatred he harbored toward Kravalt.
“No, no. That’s impossible. There’s no way that thing could still be alive…….”
Leaving the shaken Deckard behind, I spoke to her.
“Please explain it in terms we can understand.”
“He said his body was taken from him. That he lost control of it and couldn’t move according to his own will.”
“……He said?”
“Yes.”
Flora immediately continued.
“I heard it from Kravalt.”
“What are you……?!”
Deckard stared at her in shock.
Flora turned to look at him.
Her eyes trembled faintly, but her agitation lasted only a moment.
Then she spoke to Deckard.
“He says…… he wants me to tell you that he’s sorry.”
“……What?”
Deckard’s face twisted.
“What are you talking about……? No, why are you the one saying something like that……?!”
“Enough.”
I cut Deckard off.
It was difficult to fully understand what Flora meant, but allowing the situation to become heated would do no good.
“Sir, stay quiet. I’ll ask the questions.”
“……My apologies. I lost my composure.”
Deckard quickly recognized his mistake and lowered his head.
“So…… is it something like this?”
Raul, who had been listening quietly, scratched his head and questioned Flora.
“You’re saying the Kravalt that burned Valed is still alive? No, I mean…… his ‘soul’ is still intact in this world?”
“Yes.”
Flora nodded.
“Tch. Fucking hell.”
Raul grimaced.
Perhaps not as much as Deckard, but he hated Kravalt as well.
After that, neither Deckard nor Raul spoke further.
They had probably decided it would be better not to.
Instead, I asked the questions.
“Then where is Kravalt now?”
“Below.”
Flora pointed downward.
The lowest underground level.
If what was sealed beneath us truly was the soul of the ‘Berserk Dragon,’ this was no small matter.
A dragon’s soul was noble.
And the nobler something was, the more violent the backlash when it fell into corruption.
“……Hoo.”
I let out a small sigh and approached the iron bars.
Flora spoke just then.
“You should be careful. Those bars have black magic on them…….”
“It’s fine.”
No matter how formidable black magic was, it could not surpass the Sacred Flame.
‘Sacred Flame.’
FWOOSH—!
At my will, the Sacred Flame moved and burned the iron bars away without leaving a trace.
Flora could not hide her surprise.
“……Huh?”
“Come out for now.”
Flora stared in bewilderment at where the bars had been, then cautiously stepped outside.
“Ah.”
A sigh escaped Deckard.
Only now could he properly see Flora’s condition.
She was terribly gaunt.
And I did not simply mean that she was short.
Perhaps they had fed her only enough to keep her from starving to death.
Under the light, her arms and legs were nothing but skin and bone.
“I didn’t expect…… it to be resolved this easily.”
“Do you know the way down?”
Flora nodded.
Then this was simple.
“Let me ask you one more thing. You said you can hear Kravalt’s voice. Can you still hear it now?”
“Mm.”
“Then I assume he can hear what I’m saying too. What does he say?”
“He wants to make a deal.”
“…….”
As though she understood what I was thinking, Flora continued.
“He says he’ll be fine even if we leave him here and go. His body committed those sins, so he says it’s something he has to bear.”
“…….”
“But he says you definitely won’t lose anything by hearing him out.”
Going farther underground would mean taking a considerable risk.
But.
‘It bothers me.’
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.
A gamble, or safety.
I did not deliberate for long.
“Let’s go down.”
The greater the risk, the greater the reward.
A gamble?
Fine.
Let’s take one.
***
“Is this the magical device?”
The First Young Master, Schubert Messiah, looked with satisfaction at the object in his hand.
A magical device said to have been created by Utul, the High Priest of an ancient cult.
<Brain Order>.
Just as its name implied, it was a magical device that controlled the target’s thoughts and forced them to obey their master.
“Congratulations, young master.”
The Shadow standing quietly beside him spoke cautiously.
“With this, it should be possible to correct the failure.”
“If you lot had been even slightly more competent, I wouldn’t have needed to ingratiate myself with my mother’s family.”
“……My apologies.”
The Shadow immediately lowered his head.
Schubert stared at him for a moment before looking away.
“Tch.”
With the Shadow accompanying him, Schubert headed straight for the training facility.
The facility he was heading toward was a special one.
Unlike the others, it had been established specifically to correct one particular ‘failure.’
Of course, it could not be said that the place existed solely for that failure.
‘The Berserk Dragon’s soul needs periodic maintenance as well.’
The soul of the Berserk Dragon Kravalt, which he had received from his maternal family after confidently promising them results.
At present, however, neither one was satisfactory.
Neither the failed nymph half-blood nor Kravalt’s soul.
Nothing moved according to Schubert’s wishes.
But that would change now.
‘Now that I have this magical device, I can correct the failure.’
With a thin, vicious smile, Schubert arrived at the entrance to the training facility.
An utterly ordinary clothing store.
He entered and spoke the password.
“Sally.”
Soon, the Shadow disguised as the shopkeeper should appear, exchange the countersign with him, and guide him inside.
But for some reason, the Shadow showed no response.
“What are you doing?”
“That…… can’t be…….”
“What?”
Schubert frowned and looked toward Number Two, who had accompanied him.
Number Two glared at the Shadow and spoke.
“Do you want to be disposed of?”
“N-No……!”
The Shadow disguised as the shopkeeper hurriedly shook his head.
The young man before him was unmistakably the First Young Master.
And the Shadow accompanying him was genuine as well.
Then.
“What in the world was that earlier……?”
“What did you say?”
“N-Nothing……!”
Schubert’s face twisted.
Watching the Shadow flounder made his anger surge.
He strode over and seized the Shadow’s face.
“Mmph……?!”
“Shut up and speak.”
“Th-That is…… just a short while ago…… you came here, young master…….”
“What?”
Schubert immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“Number Two. What is going on?”
“……I will investigate immediately.”
Number Two bowed, his face turning deathly pale.
Something that should never have happened had occurred.
Someone had impersonated the First Young Master, and that impersonation had breached their security.
It was an incident serious enough that not only the Shadows involved, but even Number Two himself, could be disposed of.
Especially considering what lay beneath this training facility.
“Now you investigate? Ha!”
“P-Please forgive…….”
“Shut up.”
CRUNCH—!
Schubert tightened his grip and crushed the Shadow’s face.
Without even bothering to wipe the blood splattered across him, Schubert spoke in a low voice.
“Follow me. I want to see for myself what kind of bastard dared impersonate me.”
“……As you command.”
Number Two lowered his head at Schubert’s words.
It was rare to see the First Young Master this furious.
‘There’ll be a bloodbath.’
The First Young Master would never stop until he found the culprit who had impersonated him.
***
“What do you think, young master?”
Deckard, following closely behind me, quietly asked,
“Do you truly believe that what lies underground is Kravalt’s soul?”
“I have no idea.”
When it came to Kravalt, I genuinely did not know.
But.
“Honestly, you’re curious too, aren’t you?”
“That is…….”
“Let’s establish one thing first. You personally confirmed Kravalt’s death that day. Correct?”
“……Yes.”
“And that was the ‘real Kravalt.’”
“Yes. Had he been a fake, His Highness the Grand Duke would have noticed first.”
That was true.
No matter how formidable Kravalt was, I could not imagine him deceiving Father’s eyes.
Then.
‘……Was there some hidden truth behind Kravalt’s rampage that we don’t know?’
For example, what if Kravalt’s rampage itself had been artificially induced by some external factor?
Then we needed to confirm it.
And the place where Kravalt’s soul was sealed was none other than Ralke’s territory.
If Kravalt had retained enough sanity to propose a deal, as Flora claimed, and if he was favorably disposed toward me.
‘This is an opportunity.’
It could even mean there was a possibility that Ralke had been involved in Kravalt’s rampage.
One way or another, that information could prove useful.
“We’ll have to see for ourselves.”
“You are correct. However…….”
“Is it difficult to accept?”
“…….”
Deckard could not answer immediately.
To him, Kravalt was the enemy who had taken everything from him.
And now, through none other than his own daughter, he had been told that Kravalt might not have been the true cause of that disaster.
“……I don’t know. I thought merely confirming that my daughter was alive would be enough.”
“Of course.”
“If Kravalt truly had no will of his own back then, if he too was nothing more than a Puppet being controlled…….”
There was only one thing I could say to the confused Deckard.
“Don’t overcomplicate it.”
“Young master.”
“For now, is the Flora we rescued really your daughter?”
“…….”
At those words, Deckard’s gaze shifted toward Flora, who was walking ahead of us.
He nodded without hesitation.
“That much is certain.”
“Then focus on that. That’s what matters most to you right now.”
“That is…… true.”
“Leave Kravalt to me. I’ll take care of the minor worries for you.”
“Huh.”
Deckard stared at me with rounded eyes.
“What? Why?”
“No. I was simply thinking that you truly are remarkable, young master.”
“Why are you acting like that’s news?”
I smirked as I spoke, and Deckard laughed as well.
His usual frivolous laugh.
It seemed those words had helped him regain some of his composure.
Raul suddenly butted in.
“What are you two talking about? Let me in on it.”
“It was a private conversation.”
“Then answer just one question.”
I nodded for him to go ahead, and Raul immediately asked,
“……What exactly are you?”
“What?”
“No, you know far too much about the First Young Master. You figured out that a place like this existed in this city too…….”
Raul asked with a serious expression.
“Are you…… a dragon?”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“No, I heard that according to legend, dragons wander the world in human form.”
Raul said that, then turned his head toward Deckard.
“And that knight over there is something like your dragon Guardian.”
“Doesn’t it occur to you how ridiculous that sounds while you’re saying it?”
“No, listen. It goes like this. Kravalt went berserk for some reason, and you, another dragon, personally descended to grant your kin peace. Oh, this actually makes some sense…….”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
His absurd theory made me curse without thinking.
I let out a small sigh and asked him,
“How do you even come up with something like that? Have you been reading some book?”
“It’s popular these days. You don’t know it? It’s called <The Great Dragon Goes Unrivaled with a Beautiful Girl Guardian>. It’s all the rage in the marketplace lately…….”
“…….”
At that novel theory, Deckard quietly covered his face.
“Ah, fuck…… And this idiot is the Vice Commander…….”
“Did you say something?”
“I said nothing.”
Deckard immediately answered with a solemn expression.
Raul tilted his head.
“Hmm. Sounded like you said something…….”
“Anyway, I’m not a dragon. As for my identity, think whatever you want.”
It wouldn’t particularly matter if he discovered it, but watching him agonize over it was amusing, so I decided to leave things as they were.
We continued down the spiral staircase.
After descending for some time.
‘……Hm?’
In an instant, an immense pressure began weighing down on my shoulders, powerful enough to make my heart tighten.
‘It’s hard to breathe.’
It felt as though the air throughout the entire area had suddenly become heavy.
The two behind me seemed to feel the same.
Flora alone appeared completely unaffected.
Was it the power of the spirits surrounding her?
A short while later, Flora spoke.
“We’re here.”
The Berserk Dragon Kravalt.
The dragon that had once plunged the Empire into terror.
At last, Kravalt revealed himself.