242
Balhar Khan, the hard worker
‘I actually met someone who had overcome the wall!’
Swallows tried hard to hold back the tears that were about to pour out.
What a longed-for moment this was. She was a living legend among wizards.
There were even wizards who went to the North, where there were only cold winters, to see her. However, there were almost no people who actually met her.
To encounter such a mysterious figure here in Cassadic – one of Swallows’ wishes has come true.
“It is an honor to meet you, the one who has surpassed the wall. I am Swallows, the Lord of the White Tower.”
The Swallows greeted him with even more courtesy than when they had met the Emperor.
However, Alaina, who had crossed the wall and was in the northern winter, did not look towards the Swallows.
“That’s right! Simply mixing attributes is something only idiots do to imitate!”
Alaina was teaching Kanna while smoking her pipe. Kanna opened her eyes sharply and nodded vigorously.
Alaina’s teaching style was somewhat harsh. She would throw problems at him and have him solve them, without even explaining anything.
Just like when you first threw a snowball, it was just a problem that was thrown at you and if you couldn’t solve it, you were penalized.
However, the one who gave him over was someone who had overcome the wall, and the target was Kanna, so the speed at which he increased was beyond imagination.
The effect was certain, but Swallows felt strangely uncomfortable with Kanna’s pale face.
‘He’s a kid who will learn to grow on his own even if you don’t do that.’
Even though she was already devoting herself to magic, Kanna was shocked that she hadn’t been able to help Aaron since the last time. How could she use such a coercive method on Kanna?
“Okay. You really are a genius. I couldn’t do that when I was your age either… It’s a shame about Mana, but there’s someone who is loved by Mana, so he’ll definitely surpass me.”
At that moment, Kanna fell forward. Vivian, who had hurriedly picked up Kanna, glared at Alaina.
“It’s amazing that you can use other people’s mana, but it seems like you need to increase efficiency a little more.”
Alaina ignored the gaze and spit out her pipe.
Vivian took Kanna and hid her behind her. Swallows looked at her for a moment before approaching Alaina.
“······That’s too much.”
Alaina’s snow-white eyes looked straight at Swallows for the first time.
“charge?”
Alaina pursed her tiny lips. Then, a puff of colorful smoke burst out. Swallows opened his mouth for a moment, feeling a strange sense of pressure, and then answered.
“Yes, he is still a child.”
“He was a wizard before he was a child.”
Alaina answered as if asking a question. I could tell what she meant.
The wizard was someone who had once been in despair, someone who knew desperation. Age didn’t matter.
If it had been the Swallows of the past, I would have agreed. However, I couldn’t nod now.
Kanna was definitely talented. No, to say she was talented would be an understatement. It wasn’t for nothing that Swallows was impatient.
With Vivian, who has near-infinite mana, attached to them, it’s hard to imagine how far they’ll grow. They might even be able to bring about the equality that Swallows dreams of.
Moreover, it was now a time when an all-out war with the Empire was imminent. Of course, as Kanna’s power increased, the possibility increased-.
“Before being a wizard, he is a child.”
Even though he pretended to be an adult, he was a child who secretly played with the Aaron statue.
Swallows looked at Alaina with force in his eyes.
“···Are you a wizard?”
Alaina asked, squinting her eyes. Swallows glanced at her robe.
“This is the White Tower’s Tower Master.”
“Ugh-, the white tower is finally falling.”
Despite the content, Alaina giggled. Red smoke, green smoke, and brown smoke came out of her nostrils in succession.
Swallows, who was about to protest, kept his mouth shut. Alaina, who had been giggling for a while, slapped away her pipe. Snow-white ash fell to the floor.
“You can’t get over the wall.”
Swallows laughed bitterly into the pipe pointing at himself.
I already knew that, but I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable hearing such words from someone who had overcome the wall.
“I know I lack talent.”
“No, it’s not a matter of talent. Yes, I was excited to meet a smart guy after a long time. That’s right. This is something adults should do, not children.”
Alaina said with a smile. It was not a suitable remark for her, since she looked younger than Kanna, but her smile contained the experience that could not be hidden.
“Because it’s a world where it’s harder to be a good adult than a good wizard.”
Alaina, muttering bitterly, approached the fallen Kanna.
Vivian glared and clenched her fist. Swallows, who felt dizzy for a moment, hurriedly stopped him.
“Don’t look at me, I’m just checking my condition. Hmm, you overdid it.”
Alaina waved her hand lightly. Then, mana moved around Kanna as if breathing. It was an incredible amount of mana control that was hard to believe even when you saw it.
It felt as if Mana was submitting to her.
Kanna’s frowning face became much more relaxed. Now, she was as peaceful as if she was just taking a nap.
“sorry!”
“Okay. Eastern Seed, this time you come over here and sit down.”
Alaina, who had ignored Vivian’s cool apology, pointed to the chair next to her. Vivian hesitated for a moment and then sat down.
“I… didn’t know you were that old. And I was just trying to squeeze you a little….”
“Okay. Just stay still.”
Alaina opened her eyes slightly and looked at Vivian.
“······But you climbed over a wall? What kind of wall?”
“You can’t sit still.”
Vivian quickly covered her mouth at Alaina’s reprimand.
“I jumped over it.”
Alaina answered as she passed by, giggling. Unlike before, her voice was a little heavy.
“Running? It’s so small?”
“Excuse me, you punk. Hmm-, carving a magic circle into a person’s body is no easy task, but you did a pretty good job. There are still some shortcomings though.”
Alaina nodded vigorously, pinching him slightly.
Swallows shed tears at the compliments of the one who climbed over the wall. The years had been meaningful.
“But who is this?”
“Ah···, that···. Hmm.”
“Huh? The little one is already getting chewed-.”
Alaina poked Vivian in a playful manner. Vivian hurriedly pulled up her clothes.
“Why? It was nice to see you.”
“Don’t say such dirty words with such a cute face!”
Alaina, who giggled at Vivian’s pointed eyes, waved her hand in the air. Then, an old chair appeared in that hand.
Alaina crawled onto the chair and sat down, crossing her short legs.
“The one who has received Mana’s love is the seed-. Hmm···.”
Alaina muttered, her brow furrowed as if she was thinking deeply.
“What is a seed?”
“I don’t know. No one knows who gave it that name.”
Colorful smoke came out of Alaina’s mouth again. Vivian, who was in charge of him, coughed repeatedly.
“It should have collapsed a long time ago, but it survived somehow.”
Vivian averted her eyes at Alaina’s soliloquy.
“That’s funny. You and I both were originally······.”
Alaina, who had been mumbling, yawned loudly. She shook her head as if she was going to collapse at any moment. Alaina muttered a small curse and fell to the side.
Vivian gently held Alaina as she fell into a deep sleep.
“I think it’s a child···.”
Vivian muttered for a moment and then skillfully laid Alaina down next to Kanna.
The movements were so skillful that I couldn’t help but think of her usual clumsy self. She seemed to have raised at least three children.
Vivian, who had put the two to sleep like that, looked back at the Swallows.
“······I hope Aaron is okay?”
Swallows nodded without hesitation to Vivian’s question.
“I guarantee you, worrying about him is the most useless thing in the world.”
I could be sure.
Vivian laughed brightly after hearing the answer.
***
‘oh my god-.’
Balhar Khan stared blankly at the falling wyverns and knights.
The Wyvern Knights, the symbol of the Empire’s power and fear, were losing their power and falling miserably.
Fifty Wyvern Knights were incapacitated with a single howl.
It was a story that could come out of a legend.
If Balhar Khan had heard about it instead of seeing it himself, he would have scoffed.
A force of fifty Wyvern Knights would be enough to push aside even a small kingdom, but how could they be defeated so easily?
Boom! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! A terrible noise began to be heard from all directions. It was the sound of the Wyvern Knights falling.
Balhar Khan pulled himself together. After falling from such a great height, most were sure to die.
But given their strange resilience, I couldn’t be sure.
Even though they were in a state of being cut to pieces, they were the ones who got up slowly, saying that their necks had not been cut. Even if they had fallen from that high a position, there was a possibility that they would have gotten up again.
‘I must definitely deal with this at this opportunity.’
If there were fifty Wyvern Knights, it would be a fairly large force even for the Empire, so it was right to deal with them.
Balhar Khan ran hurriedly in the direction where the sound was heard.
The first wyvern knight I encountered was crushed by the wyvern, leaving no trace. The wyvern was alive, but it didn’t seem like it would last long.
Balhar Khan blindfolded the wyvern and stretched out its neck. The creature knew its fate and did not resist. It clicked its tongue slightly and moved it.
Even though they were wearing thick armor, it would have been impossible for them to fall from that height, as most of them were out of breath.
However, a few of them were slowly rising up. Those damned bastards. Balhar Khan blew their heads off without hesitation.
As he was Balhar Khan, the enemy of the imperial knights, he knew their backgrounds, but he had no hesitation in cutting him down.
They were already as good as dead since they had been eaten by the spirits.
‘No, this is not a cult.’
Balhar Khan muttered, wiping the blood off his sword. This is not so much a cult as a spiritual one.
‘···Erosion.’
The brothers called him Kangshin, and those who didn’t know him called him Eosik, but there was a clear difference between the two.
These were clearly erosion, not energies. Balhar Khan swallowed thick saliva.
Balhar Khan, who had encountered the recovered knight, ran around even more diligently. Since it was a task that involved the sense of touch, he moved so busily that he could not even catch his breath properly.
At the end, there were three guys who had recovered. But since they weren’t fully recovered, it wasn’t that hard to deal with them.
Having dealt with all the knights, Balhar Khan this time gathered some useful wyverns.
There were quite a few wyverns that had suffered minor injuries, either from falling into trees or being tangled with knights.
The wyverns had infinite utility. It wasn’t for nothing that the empire monopolized and controlled them. Since the empire banned them, wyverns weren’t something that could be bought with money.
As a Royal Knight Marshal, Balhar Khan knew the value of wyverns even better. That was why he worked even harder.
Because of their strong body, more wyverns survived than expected. They seemed to have lost their stiffness as they fell, but they were still afraid, as they did not move from their spot.
Balhar Khan approached the wyverns quietly, using the skills he had learned while catching rabbits, and took hold of their reins.
‘It turns out the rabbit is sensitive!’
It was much easier to get the wyvern’s reins than to catch the rabbit. The rabbit was certainly unusually sensitive.
Balhar Khan walked around so diligently that his feet sweated.
Eventually, I was able to take care of all the articles and collect eight wyverns.
Balhar Khan calmed the terrified wyverns and tied their reins, forming a line so that he could take them all back at once.
The sun that had set was rising again. I didn’t realize how much time had passed because I had been running around so diligently.
Only then did Balhar Khan catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his forehead.
As soon as I finished work, all the accumulated fatigue came rushing back to me.
Balhar Khan, who was resting, suddenly felt something strange.
‘······Why are you quiet?’
The forest was too quiet.
After the red disaster howled earlier, there was silence.
Balhar Khan, reminded of him, realized something important.
If the Red Calamity was in the forest, there would have been a sound. Judging from the silence, the Red Calamity was not in the forest.
No, I actually saw it flying far away earlier.
He left riding a red disaster.
Balhar Khan thought he would come back, but-.
‘Did you say you’d be back?’
The bastard’s job was to see the red disaster. In fact, he was seeing the red disaster all along.
Since he eventually got on it, it was clear that he had achieved his goal. Even in the capital, he would return without any regrets once he had achieved his goal.
So now-.
Balhar Khan, who was pulling the reins of the wyverns, stopped in his tracks.
‘Am I… abandoned?’
The warm sweat has cooled down.
***
‘I don’t have to worry about aerial combat anymore.’
I raised the corners of my mouth in satisfaction as I patted the red disaster’s head.
I knew the Red Calamity was strong, but it was a feat that surpassed my expectations to deal with that many Wyvern Knights with just one ‘Gal!’
It was probably possible because the wyvern was a subspecies of the dragon, but it was still definitely something great.
‘If you think about it, not all dragons are like that.’
As expected, imperial achievements were not something that just anyone could accomplish.
This gave us a means to deal with the most troublesome part of the empire: the Wyvern Knights.
Perhaps feeling good about being out of the place where he had been, BbungBbungIl was freely roaming the sky.
I didn’t bother to stop it because it was a BbungBbungIl that performed far beyond my expectations. Plus, it was quite fun to ride it around.
I placed my hand on the part of the guy’s head where the scabbard had fallen off and what looked like a bald spot, and passed an unidentifiable reddish aura over it.
The boy let out a small whimper, but didn’t refuse. He was a mature dragon.
The creature flapped its wings more vigorously and rose higher, as if trying to catch the sun.
It rose to the point where everything below was obscured by clouds and then stopped.
‘It’s tall.’
I muttered as I picked up my clothes. All my armor had fallen off while I was rolling around, so I was now wearing only a tunic.
Still not satisfied, BbungBbungIl looked up.
The rising sun seemed to be getting a little closer.
The BbungBbungIl who was watching him breathed a long stream of fire. Perhaps because he had no stamina, the thickness of the breath was thinner than before, but it felt more powerful.
It was hard to tell whether it was a firework or a sob. The flames shot out so long that it seemed as if they would reach the sun.
After spitting out fire for a long time, BbungBbungIl went down.
The flapping of wings felt somehow refreshing.
‘I should have dealt with the Wyvern Knights…’
Given their height, most would have died, but given their resilience, there could have been a few left.
The ground quickly approached. BbungBbungIl landed in the forest next to his original area.
Despite its large size, its flying skills were so excellent that its landing was softer than that of a bungee.
‘I guess I’ll have to let BbungBbung learn.’
BbungBbungIl turned his head to the side. He clicked his tongue and jumped down.
It was a place where there were decapitated wyverns and exploded corpses of knights.
At that moment, the first one came running from afar.
The first one was dragging a bunch of wyverns behind him. There were eight of them.
‘You took care of the wyvern. So did you take care of the wyvern knight too?’
He was more nimble than I thought, finding work to do on his own without even being told to do it.
‘I thought you were just some stupid, proud guy.’
If you think about it, he was a devil who rose to the rank of Imperial Knight Marshal. If he hadn’t had the wit, he wouldn’t have been able to rise to that high a position.
The first one opened his mouth and looked at me with a burdened expression.
“···I believed you would come back.”
The eldest, whose eyes were moist as if he had been crying, spoke in a voice that sounded as if he was pressing hard.
I ignored him and checked the wyverns he had brought. There were eight wyverns that had minor injuries, but were in good condition.
The first one looked different to him.
“Did you take care of the Wyvern Knights? You did a great job.”
Not only did he deal with the Wyvern Knight, he also took eight Wyverns with him.
This was something I couldn’t just ignore. It was something that deserved praise. I could always give praise that didn’t cost money.
“Ahem. That’s only natural.”
The bastard’s face twitched at the light compliment. The emotion was clearly visible on his haggard face.
‘This guy is not normal either.’
When I saw the first one, I remembered the rabbit meat I had asked him to make for me.
I’ve felt this before, but the rabbit here is especially delicious.
“Rabbit meat?”
The first bastard’s face hardened at my question. I looked at him, but there was no rabbit meat anywhere.
It was clear that I had been playing while I was taming the bungbungil.
“Don’t play with me, catch the rabbit.”
“I didn’t play. Rabbits! Ten… no, more than twenty….”
The bastard’s face crumpled sharply. He couldn’t catch even one rabbit… But he still had the ball, so I didn’t point it out.
“I got it… I got it….”
I ignored the bastard’s whining and picked up the dead wyvern.
‘Is a wyvern a chicken?’
He muttered and plucked out his hair.
Anyway, if you grill it, it’ll all be the same.
At that moment, I met eyes with BbungBbungIl, who was walking around eating the corpse of a knight.
Since I had eaten the wyvern, I had nothing to say, so I nodded. It would have been awkward to leave it alone anyway.
“Look! Rabbit meat. Ten of them!”
After a while, the eldest son came with rabbit meat. It was ten well-prepared rabbits, but-.
“You got dirt on it.”
“The meat you gave me also had dirt······.”
I waved my hand and threw the roasted wyvern leg at it, and the corners of its mouth twitched. After hesitating for a moment, it hid the wyvern leg behind it as if it was about to stretch it out.
‘That’s a weird kid too.’
I bit into the meat, clicking my tongue.
The wyvern meat was tastier than I expected. It was similar to chicken, but a bit tougher. After eating two wyverns, I felt full.
I roughly wiped the oil off my hands and stretched. The sun had reached halfway up the mountain.
Even without being told, BbungBbungIl stuck his tail out. He was a quick-witted dragon.
He climbed up lightly, sat on the crown of his head, which looked like it had been pulled out and was bald, and patted it.
“let’s go.”
It was time to go back.
‘I’ll arrive around sunset.’
The red disaster spread its wings.
Balhar Khan, who was filling his hungry stomach with the wyvern’s legs, suddenly stood up.
However, the red disaster was already far away.
Balhar Khan hurriedly rode the wyvern.
***
Fullfoot has recently started getting headaches again.
There were various reasons for this-.
‘These are already······.’
Pulpouts frowned as he looked at the pile of presents on one side.
These were gifts from nobles and other people, piled high enough to fill one side of the room.
It was only a month. That was the time it took for Aaron to arrive with all those troops and then set out for the capital.
It was such a short period of time that it wasn’t enough for everyone to prepare, but there were a ton of people trying to squeeze in during that time.
This was made worse when Vivian was called the ‘Mother of Dragons’.
Factions were forming. It was human nature, and it couldn’t be helped, but it was not pleasant to be in a situation where we had to march to the imperial capital soon.
He tried to talk to Selena about it, but after Hans returned, Selena was distracted by something else.
The problem wasn’t just factions.
As the hastily assembled troops piled up, different problems arose every day.
From food to all sorts of crimes and fights – this was also a natural progression, but when mixed with factional issues, it was worse than expected.
There was a limit to sending those who caused trouble to the guillotine as the Empire’s lackeys.
Aaron’s absence was a major factor in the rapid emergence of these problems.
The dragon roared every hour on the inner wall, but it was no longer effective as it had become accustomed to it. There were also rumors that its size was smaller than expected.
The biggest problem was that preparations were made very easily, regardless of Fullfoot’s concerns.
‘Why-.’
Pullputs glanced at the window, which was tightly covered with cloth, and let out a groan of dizziness.
There was a whole swarm of armed soldiers surrounding Cassadyck. No, not one, but two, three.
They were almost ready to march on the capital.
Fullfoot didn’t do much. No, it would be safe to say that it was almost non-existent.
Seriously, seriously, Pulpouts just stayed in the room and didn’t leave, and the army was created automatically.
It was not an ordinary army, but a huge army that was a mix of various groups, from the religious order to rebels, noble unions, guilds, and mercenaries.
It was an army so huge that it would have been impossible to form one even if one had tried to do so. There were countless flags raised, each calling for justice.
The biggest problem was that they gathered under his name.
Now it was time for a real rebellion.
Even as the leader himself-.
‘Why-.’
Pulpouts coughed as he washed his face dry.
Most importantly, Aaron, the starting point of all this, was gone.
‘The red disaster-.’
Sure, it would be nice to have more dragons, but it was questionable whether Aaron was important enough to warrant leaving his post for so long.
It’s the end of the expedition, but Aaron still hasn’t arrived.
If things continued like this, he would have to lead them to the capital himself.
Baron Fullfoot of Cassadic was the king of the demons…
‘I am the king of demons? The leader of the rebels? Why?’
Fullfoot’s head was spinning from the accumulated worries and pressure. Instead of unraveling, it became more and more entangled and bigger. The pressure was getting worse.
at that time-.
Something thick appeared on the ridge where the sun was setting,
Pulpouts squinted his eyes at the black thing that looked like a dot in the sun.
‘That’s a dragon.’
I could tell by that form.
Phew-. Phew-.
The castle suddenly became noisy.
After the Vivian Dragon incident, we had prepared a separate plan for a possible attack by the Empire. It seemed like it was now in operation.
‘Aaron. …But why the dragon?’
Pulpouts narrowed his eyes. Although he couldn’t see the distance yet, it was about the same size as the dragon up there.
Then why bother adding one more···.
Ding ding ding ding! Noise erupted from all directions. Some people moved quickly, but most people were at a loss as to what to do.
Even though they had trained, they didn’t do well when faced with a real situation. The only people who seemed to be at the center were leading the way by shouting, so they were able to form a rough formation.
The wizards came up to the top of the castle gate. There were many wizards, including the colorful magic tower.
At that moment, the door opened roughly. It was Vivian, holding Kanna and the Northern Winter in her arms. Kanna and the Northern Winter were dozing off.
‘Even if that’s the case for Kanna, why is the winter in the north…’
Pulpouts frowned. Vivian, who had greeted him regardless, hurriedly climbed up the ladder.
A moment later, a dragon roared from above. Its movements were so clever that Pulpouts almost shed tears.
The preparations were quickly completed. A magic circle appeared around the wizards, and the soldiers took out their crossbows and aimed.
Even though I had made excellent preparations, the dragon was still far away.
Only then did Pulpouts feel something strange.
It’s definitely coming, but there’s still a distance-.
At that moment, Cassidy became quiet. The magic circle the wizards had conjured up faded, and the soldiers who had been aiming their crossbows gaped in amazement.
The sun hadn’t set yet, but it was dark as if night had come.
Because the sky above Cassidy was filled with red shells-.
Those who faced the true dragon lost even the will to fight back.
The top leader, the knights, and the full foot soldiers-.
I just looked up blankly.
‘Red disaster-.’
How can such a huge creature exist?
At that moment, it seemed as if the front part was moving, and something came down.
It had the head of a dragon, and its neck was as thick as a castle.
The man standing at the end was, of course, Aaron.
Aaron looked down arrogantly at the crowd that was blankly looking up at him.
When he saw him, all of Pulpouts’ accumulated worries and concerns disappeared.
The appearance of a worry so great that it overwhelms everything makes everything else trivial.
““Dragon Master Pulphutsu!””
At the loud shouting heard outside-.
Fullfoot covered the window again with cloth.
It wasn’t surprising anymore.
