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The only ones left in the military training ground were Juan, Hela, and Horhell. Horhell didn’t even flinch upon hearing Hela’s words, as if he already knew of Hela’s plan to give a wanted criminal a military position and the eastern territory when an entire knight order was chasing Juan at the risk of their lives.
“Are you aware of the fact that I’m being chased by the Church?” Juan responded apathetically.
“I have a lot of connections, Juan. It’s hard to find anyone in the key posts of the capital’s army who haven’t been trained by me. I’m sure they can help me protect one wanted criminal; after all, everyone owes me something,” Hela answered.
Juan raised his eyebrow as he realized that Hela was promising him protection from the empire.
“Horhell was also someone from the Order of Lindwurm, but I managed to protect him as well. Although I did have to pay quite the price, I was even able to prevent anyone from taking away the dragon which had been labeled as an evil beast within the empire. We have not only demi-humans but also guys from beyond the border just like you in our army,” Hela further explained.
“Hmm.”
“Of course, I won’t be able to put you in an official position on the surface, since the empire revolves only around humans within the border. But I guarantee you that you will be able to do whatever you want behind the scenes. If that’s not what you want, you have two options: either wear a mask or make a huge scar on your face. Then you might be able to show yourself on the surface. I promise to give you everything, including power and the right to govern as long as you decide to join the fourth division. What do you say?”
‘What do you mean by that?’
Juan couldn’t even snort at Hela’s ridiculous words.
“What are you going to do if I lead the fourth division to commit treason?” Juan derided.
Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original.
Hela’s eyes shone sharply as soon as she heard Juan’s words. Then she smiled brightly as if she had been waiting for just those words.
“Are you dumb enough to fight a battle that you have absolutely no possibility of winning?”
“I have never thought about possibilities. Not even once,” Juan said firmly.
Juan’s war with gods had never been easy. If he had thought about the chance of winning or losing before fighting them, Juan wouldn’t have been able to destroy all the gods in the empire.
“But I bet you’ve never lost either. It seems that you’re not the type to fight while looking back, so I can imagine you fighting like losing even once will get you killed. So if a guy who fights like you commits treason, wouldn’t that be because it’s time for the empire to fall?” Hela said as she giggled.
The moment Juan was about to answer, Hela raised her hand to stop him.
“For your information, I would have no choice but to hand you over to the Order of the Capital if you refuse to cooperate with me. I didn’t tell you this before, but I was promised ten thousand imperial soldiers for capturing you. If there is any way I can prevent shedding the blood of ten thousand people of the eastern territory, I would choose that path without hesitation.”
“Then having me on your side would mean that the blood of ten thousand people of the eastern territory would be shed.”
“No, That’s the way to save not only the people of the eastern territory, but also the 1.2 billion people of the empire.”
Although the reason was unknown, Hela seemed to have high expectations for Juan. Juan was familiar with such expectations, since a lot of people prayed and asked for his help during his time as the emperor. If it was the emperor, he would have gladly accepted Hela’s offer. However, Juan was different.
“I refuse,” Juan said firmly.
“Well, that’s a shame.”
Hela was readily convinced by Juan’s instant refusal, almost as if she had already expected his answer. Even Juan was puzzled by her quick acceptance of his decision.
“So what are you going to do now? Arrest me and put me in a dungeon?”
“The sea prison of Beldeve is impossible to escape. How could I treat a guest who came into my house and ate bread and salt like that? I have no choice but to think of another way.”
This was an inevitable decision for Hela. After all, everything would be useless if Juan refused to cooperate with her plan. She had to keep Juan close to her and convince him as much as she could.
However, Juan thought otherwise.
“I think we might have a suitable alternative,” Juan said.
Hela’s eyebrows furrowed upon hearing Juan’s words.
“Alternative? How interesting of a sinner to suggest an alternative. Go on, tell me about it.”
Juan raised the corner of his lips and smiled.
“Why don’t you put me in the punishment unit?”
***
Juan sat on the wall and enjoyed the sea breeze.
Horhell and his dragon left Beldeve shortly after breakfast; he and his dragon had to go out on regular patrol to check on the front line.
Juan had been waiting for him to come back for the whole day. The sun was setting, but the wind was still blowing fiercely. The sea breeze was harsh everywhere, but the breeze of the east coast was particularly fierce—especially on a high wall. However, Juan barely felt cold, just like how he could barely feel any heat.
Then Juan heard a flapping sound from the sky. As Juan had expected, Horhell seemed to have come back before the sun completely set.
A heavy landing sound could be heard on the wall, and a silhouette jumped off the dragon. Horhell tied the dragon to a large space on the wall and soon noticed Juan.
“You.”
Horhell had his usual stiff expression as if he had a face made of stone.
Juan slowly raised himself up.
“Did you have a pleasant flight?” Juan asked.
“I don’t like having useless and unnecessary conversations,” Horhell answered.
On the other hand, unlike Horhell, Juan liked to have useless conversations. As long as there was no urgent business that had to be dealt with, Juan liked to joke around and pour out his unnecessary emotions. Horhell seemed to be the exact opposite type, but he was currently making a displeased expression, which was a rare sight to see.
“You want to join the punishment unit? What’s your intention?”
Horhell had wanted to ask this question all along, but couldn’t interrupt Juan and Hela’s conversation earlier. To Hela, the punishment unit was a group whose life and death didn’t matter. At the same time, Horhell had no intention of arguing against Juan’s decision to join the punishment unit as long as Hela agreed, but he still felt unpleasant that he couldn’t figure out what Juan was up to.
“What’s wrong with a prisoner wanting to join the punishment unit?” Juan asked as he raised his handcuffed hands.
Horhell glared at Juan without giving the handcuffs on Juan’s hands a single glance.
“I didn’t expect you to behave in the first place. But then I thought that you might be more well-behaved than I expected when you asked for bread and salt; however, I still didn’t think that you would cooperate. But now you’re going to teach instructors and even the punishment unit? There’s no reason for you to stay in Beldeve, is there?”
“What makes you say that Horhell?” Juan sat with his back toward Horhell. “Don’t you have a story to tell about your dragon?”
Horhell’s face became even more stiff than usual, almost as if it might break at the slightest touch.
“What about the dragon?” Horhell asked.
“What’s the name of the dragon?”
“...there is no name. What’s the point of giving a name to a beast? It’s not like there are any dragons other than it.”
Juan laughed out loud, and Horhell seemed to be quite annoyed at the sound of Juan’s laughter.
“I remember the dragons raised by the Order of Lindwurm. The Order of Lindwurm wiped out all of the ancient dragons, but Gerad wanted to domesticate and raise the Hetzlings. However, they had to be very careful; after all, dragons could become dangerous if anything went wrong,” Juan said.
Horhell glared at Juan without answering.
“Among them, I remember one specific dragon quite well—it was the last dragon to be born, because it had no mother to brood it. No other dragon was born after it, so it’s easier for me to remember.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“As far as I know, that dragon’s name is…”
“Stop.”
Horhell’s voice suddenly became rough, and Juan noticed the pain in his eyes.
“That is a cursed name. It shouldn’t be spoken aloud by anyone anymore.”
Juan could feel that the initiative of the conversation was completely in his hands. As Juan had expected, Horhell cherished the dragon more than anything. Juan felt that it was natural for Horhell to have a unique bond with the dragon since it was the last dragon left in the whole world.
Juan turned his gaze toward the dragon. The dragon was biting the decorations and metal pieces that were pierced into its skin with teeth as if it tickled.
“Is that why you just call it ‘the dragon’?”
“Yes. It's the only dragon left in the world anyway, so there is no need to call it by its name.”
Horhell’s words contained a deep-seated pain. Juan could easily guess that the dragon was not simply just a useful animal to Horhell. There were many among the Order of Lindwurm who were overly attached to the dragons that they raised.
“Well, I wouldn’t even call it a dragon,” Juan said.
Horhell remained silent.
“I’ve seen a young dragon, one who is just old enough to be called an adult. It could climb up the walls of Beldeve. I’ve also seen a newborn Hetzling. But that dragon is only twice as big as a newborn Hetzling. It is too small and weak.”
Juan figured that Horhell must have starved the dragon to curb its growth. Not only that, but he must have also cut out the dragon’s growth plate and abused it.
“I can see that you cut off the tips of its wings so that it can’t fly too high, you cut its nails and toenails so that it wouldn’t pose a big threat to humans, and pulled out all its teeth except for a few fangs needed for chewing meat. That’s not all.” Juan pointed out the thing that made him more upset than anything else. “The dragons I’ve met were the most intelligent and clever of all beasts, even if they chose the wrong side to stand on. But I haven’t seen your dragon say a single word. Did you cut out his tongue? Or… have you turned it into an idiot?”
Horhell didn’t answer, but his silence was enough to answer Juan’s question. The dragons not only had powerful bodies and breath, but they were also skilled at magic. In order to turn the world’s bravest and wisest animal into this ordinary livestock, Horhell had to have left only the minimal functionalities of the dragon and excluded the rest of its abilities.
“...that was the only way to save him,” Horhell said in a trembling voice. “It was only after I did all of this that Duke Hela Henna accepted me. None of the other lords would accept me, but she was the only one who actively protected me by praising the work that I had done. I was deprived of my knighthood and I fell to the position of an ordinary soldier, but she helped me keep the dragon alive.”
Juan remained silent for a while upon hearing Horhell’s words, then opened his mouth.
“Then what about Gerard Gain?”
“What?”
“I can see how much you care about your dragon. But you’re hiding too many things. The Order of Lindwurm was wiped out by internal conflict in Durgal. You’re the only one who can be said to be a ‘survivor’ of the Order of Lindwurm. But your story is completely missing any information about what happened to the Order of Lindwurm. What happened to them? What happened to Gerard Gain who was supposed to be leading the Order of Lindwurm?”
Juan hoped Horhell would tell him the story of the past without resisting, but there were no traces of Gerard Gain or the reason why Gerard Gain had done what he did in his story.
Horhell showed a perplexed expression for the first time when Juan brought up Gerard Gain’s name.
“...Captain Gerard Gain never returned.”
“What?”
“Nobody has seen Captain Gerard Gain ever since the emperor’s assassination. That’s one thing I am sure of,” Horhell said.
Then Horhell changed the subject as if he had no intention of talking about Gerard Gain any further.
“...I’ve spoken too much. I won’t ask you how you know so much about me, the dragon, and the Order of Lindwurm. It doesn’t matter to me what your identity is. What moves me now is neither the honor of the knight order nor the authority of the emperor. I am Horhell, the centurion of the fourth division. I hope you can acknowledge that. And…,” Horhell glared at Juan and continued. “...I have no idea what you’re up to, but you’d better quit now if what you’re trying to do could be harmful to Her Grace. Duke Henna is not an easy opponent.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Centurion Horhell.”
After looking at Juan for a long time, Horhell turned his back and headed toward the dragon.
Juan silently looked at Horhell’s back as he got further away. The man who was once the Elite Knight of the Order of Lindwurm had fallen to the position of an ordinary centurion with a weak dragon that could have been something so much greater.
Horhell said that what he had done was to protect the dragon, but in Juan’s eyes, there was little difference between Horhell and the dragon. The two seemed to be in the same shoes.
They were both distorted and repressed prisoners of the empire.