CH 81

Dragons’ Melancholic Song (Part 15)

“Why has my son gone missing again…?” asked Vyvyan, sighing as she looked at the map and rubbing her head.

Elizabeth indifferently snorted. Elizabeth came dressed in her armour this time. Elizabeth was tense and eager. She had fought nomads in the desert in the past, residents of the snowy plains, those on mountains, barbarians and elves, but never a dragon. She was very eager to fight the wild beast in legends.

“I don’t get your reaction. Your first reaction to my son’s disappearance is annoyance?”

“Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that my son still needs me by his side. I said the dragon couldn’t be trusted,” stated Vyvyan, rubbing her hands together. “But why does my son have to find himself in jeopardy every time he sets foot outside? I thought this would be a simple tour. I never expected another incident to happen. I haven’t seen my son in so long. Having held it in for so long, I’m a little frustrated. All right, now, give me more information. It doesn’t matter if they’re dragons. At the end of the day, they’re still mere wild beasts. We of the Galadriel Tribe have slain more wild beasts than one can count. I don’t care if another horde wants to join them.”

Elizabeth nodded: “In any case, I am partly responsible for this, too. I’m my son’s mother, yet I failed to protect him; therefore, I do have an obligation to bring him back, indeed. In saying that, I’m uninformed on dragons. Ying, do you have any suggestions?”

Ying looked at Elizabeth. Sounding neither humble nor conceited, she replied, “If it is my suggestion you are looking for, it would be for you not to go. Dragons are honestly too overpowering for humans. It is awfully difficult for you to wound a dragon with your blades. Further, your armour is not tough enough to withstand their attacks. If it has been confirmed that this is the work of dragons, Queen Vyvyan and I, alone, can deal with them. You just need to remain in the Imperial Palace to take care of the children. You should not get involved with this.”

Elizabeth’s expression froze stiff. She tightly gripped her sword. She looked sullen. Elizabeth had always been revered as the continent’s strongest god of war. She never thought there’d be somebody who’d consider her a burden. She had never been humiliated to that degree, but Ying’s expression was absolutely stern; Ying was not ridiculing her. Therefore, Elizabeth didn’t have any sound grounds on which to lash out at her. She wasn’t Lucia or Nier; she was an Empress. She understood what it meant to act within the realm of one’s capabilities. Indeed, it was beyond her.

Nevertheless, sometimes, acting within the realm of one’s capabilities is not a reason to feel relieved. This was something Elizabeth couldn’t back down on. Troy was her son. Her only son. She was his mother. It was a matter of course for her to protect her son. Additionally, she had full confidence in her ability to protect her son. The issue was that aforementioned matter and her confidence had been shut down with a reason she couldn’t deny.

Elizabeth truly felt vexed, because she was powerless. She couldn’t use her might. She wanted to take part, but she had no counterargument. It was too frustrating. No, not just frustrating, but also insulting and revolting. However, she was unable to accept the criticism of her. As such, Elizabeth was in anguish and irate.

Vyvyan walked up to Elizabeth and patted the latter on her shoulder. While Vyvyan would never make a compromise when it came to her son, she felt somewhat sorry when she saw Elizabeth suffering. Vyvyan rubbed Elizabeth’s shoulder: “It’s all right, Elizabeth. This isn’t your problem. It’ll be good for you to be with the girls anyhow. After all, what are our granddaughters going to do if you leave?”

“…”

Elizabeth didn’t reply. She, instead, smacked Vyvyan’s hand away and then sat down while irate. Vyvyan looked to Nier. She asked, “Continue on, girls. Fill me in on what you know at present. Where exactly is my son?”

“We can only figure out that he is around this area, right here, inside this forest. Otherwise, he should be on this mountain. With that said, this place is slightly behind in development to be honest. After we blew up the mountains to get the rivers to flow again, the ice and snow that melted has frozen again. The terrain there is now undergoing constant change. I cannot say for certain what the condition of terrain there is at the moment. In addition, I do not know if the map His Majesty has is correct or not.”

Vyvyan looked at Freya, who was evidently looking gloomy, and sighed: “As that is the case, we have no choice but to head there, then. My son has become slightly haughty after that dragon joined him. He even stopped bothering with the necklace I gave him. As a consequence, I have no idea where he is now. Although you have reduced the search radius by a lot, it’s still a bit too wide, isn’t it? Moreover, dragons actually reside in caves. If they hide, it’s going to be excruciatingly difficult to locate them. In saying that, I feel that the biggest issue is still Sylvanas.”

Vyvyan took in a deep breath. Her expression looked somewhat fierce. She carried on, “There is no news of my son. She must take responsibility for this. Dragons can’t be trusted as I thought. She kept claiming she’d protect my son, but he’s now in danger. She’s to blame. Don’t judge Sylvanas by her clumsy, idiotic demeanour. She’s actually a very powerful dragon among dragons. If the dragons threatened my son’s safety, she should be able to defeat the dragons and bring my son back, but as we can see, that isn’t the case at the moment. Either she tacitly agreed to their designs, or she colluded with them. Regardless of which it is, it’s her fault. She’s to blame. She’s also an accomplice among those who tried to hurt my son. I must kill her! I’ll definitely kill her!”

“Is that right?”

Sylvanas wasn’t important to the group of women. Lucia feared her. Nier didn’t care about her. Elizabeth was jealous and frustrated, so she didn’t like her. As such, nobody argued when the suggestion to kill her came up. Freya nodded: “Let us proceed with that, then. We have decided. Queen Vyvyan, you and Ying shall go search for Onii-sama with Nier and Lucia. Empress Elizabeth, you shall remain behind to take care of the children. Though I should not be nosy, I believe you understand the importance of taking care of the children.”

Freya didn’t want to let Elizabeth go. It was as Ying said. The dragon race was too powerful for humans. It was risky for Elizabeth to go. Elizabeth couldn’t allow mishap to befall her. If she met with trouble, the entire North wouldn’t be able to deal with humanity’s fury.

Elizabeth looked up at Freya. Her expression was slightly imposing. She hesitated for a moment; then, she turned to face Ying. She hesitated again before asking, “Is there truly no way for me to slay a dragon? Any magic enhancement will do. Is there any way? What’s the reason you can slay dragons? How come I can’t?”

“I apologise, Your Majesty. The reason I can slay dragons is not due to my sword having a magic enchantment, but merely because I was born as a weapon with the purpose of slaying creatures with magic. I can pierce through any magic defences with my sister. Hence, I do not know how to help you.”

Vyvyan glanced at Elizabeth: “We elves do have a way of killing dragons, except we don’t use magic, but potion and blades; however, it would take far too long to create the potion.”

“Are you talking about the mana dissolvent potion?”

“Yes. It’s not the one that Mera used, though. Mera improved the formula, so her version was able to be quickly produced. I, unfortunately, don’t know how to formulate her version. My son is the only one with Mera’s formula; he took the small book with him. I would need a month to produce it.”

“My son’s corpse might have been sent back by then!”

“Which is precisely why you can’t possibly defeat a dragon. Just wait here. If you come, you’ll only be a burden. This isn’t something that your army can resolve. Leave it to us. We’ll go rescue him!”

Vyvyan patted an agitated Elizabeth. It should’ve been considered consolation, but it appeared to have the opposite effect. Elizabeth, who was frustrated, ended up madder. While Vyvyan was still spacing out, Elizabeth had already yanked Vyvyan into her chest by her hand. In the next instant, a cold blade was up against her neck.

“Forget magic. Vyvyan, I can slit your throat while you’re collecting elements. Even if you don’t help me, I can slay dragons all the same. I shall slit your throat and then personally go.”

“Calm down, Your Majesty!!!”

The scene immediately spiralled out of control. Just as Ying went to draw her sword, Nier snatched up her sword before she could draw it. Elizabeth coldly looked at Nier and asked, “What? Nier, are you going to point your sword at me?”

Nier subconsciously threw her sword aside and got down on her knees to apologise: “I… Sorry, Your Majesty…”

Freya leaned on the wall and looked at Elizabeth feeling frightened. Vyvyan raised her hands. There wasn’t a tinge of concern when she spoke: “I told you. I need a month to be able to help you. Of course, I won’t stop you from marching to your own death, so it doesn’t matter to me what you do.”

“I’m going. I’m going. I’ll kill every dragon I see, and then save my son!”

Elizabeth had lost control. Her concern for her son, as well as her despair, would absolutely lead her to do exterminate the dragons without hesitation. Ying exclaimed, “I will help you! I will help you!!”

Elizabeth looked at Ying. Ying pointed at herself and, in a loud voice, explained, “I am a scabbard, while Xia is a blade. I used to be the one who wielded the blade. This time, I shall entrust that role to you. We shall be your sword. Is that all right? This way…”

“Deal,” stated Elizabeth. She released Vyvyan. She then spun around: “Now that I’ve gotten what I want, we can leave now! Kill every dragon you see, and then save my son!”