“Plona, we’ve arrived.”
“Already?”
Plona expressed her disappointment after such a long time, throwing a small tantrum.
Even though I was holding her, she really had some skill. When I first increased our flight speed, she seemed a bit tense, gripping my arm tightly and stiffening up, but after about three minutes, she must have adapted because she lay back as comfortably as if she were on a bed.
Of course, the air resistance wasn’t an issue except for the top of her head feeling a bit cool, so she probably didn’t feel much discomfort. But isn’t that really a psychological matter? Even if you know you won’t die, doing bungee jumping or paragliding can make anyone naturally fearful. Yet, here she was, lazily lying down on top of me without any supports, showing that this candidate for the strongest knight of the current generation was indeed different with her courage.
“Right. If we head down over there… No, wait. We landed at a good time.”
Originally, I had planned to go straight to the dragonkin’s village. It’s easy to spot from the sky after all.
But coincidentally, I could see a group of dragonkin descending the cliff. Since I had declined to make contact, they must have planned to come down and gather supplies. But illegal entry is not acceptable! Technically, the dragon’s gorge is already included in the empire’s territory, and the dragonkin here are treated like undocumented residents.
If the dragonkin knew, it would have been a highly contentious decision, but hey, if they have complaints, they’d better be stronger than me.
“I’m glad we flew straight here without wasting time.”
The dragonkin’s suspicious movements weren’t new, and even if there were communication passages, there would be some delay in getting information to me, so I hurried. If I had sent someone separately, it would have already been too late.
To be honest, I might have come up with an excuse to escape from paperwork and studying, but maybe it wasn’t such a bad outcome after all.
“I’m going down. Hold on tight.”
“Uh? Okay!”
Like a dive, my head tilted down, and hurriedly, Plona closed her mouth and grabbed my arm.
The destination wasn’t the gorge but rather the lord’s castle.
If I rushed straight into the dragonkin’s village, it could get messy. I figured it would be better to inform the lord of my arrival before he passed out from surprise upon learning of the dragonkin approaching from below.
As I plummeted vertically, just before crashing into the ground, I curved and landed on both feet.
Lowering Plona to the ground to make sure she could stand, our first two-person flight ended successfully.
Just then, landing abruptly in the courtyard of the lord’s castle kicked up a cloud of dust, causing quite a stir around.
Officially, the dragonkin had been holed up for quite some time, but perhaps due to the fact that we’re along the border, the soldiers rushing over seemed relatively disciplined.
“Who the hell are you…?”
Like a hunter chasing a fleeing wild boar, the soldier advancing with fierce eyes and an axe spotted us and opened his mouth to threaten…before suddenly shifting to a much more respectful tone.
I distinctly heard him whisper to his subordinate, “Quickly report to the lord and bring him here.”
He’s got some savvy. Considering it seems we have some time, wouldn’t it have been better to send a notice and come in through the front gate?
*
At the northernmost part of the Bertica Duchy, Count Omero faced a sudden crisis of a lifetime.
“Two unidentified individuals have invaded the lord’s castle, or rather, they are visiting! No, they didn’t breach the castle gate but came from the sky?”
“What are you talking about? Take a breather and report back clearly!”
Count Omero, who was caught up in lordship duties in his office… honestly, he was slacking while pretending to work, frowned lightly at the soldier who requested an urgent report.
Seeing him panting, it was clear he must have run quite a bit, but what in the world does it mean to say there’s an intruder in the lord’s castle? And if they’re unidentified, why is it called a visit and they came from the sky?
That, however, was clearly a very urgent matter, so the count decided to hear the report while moving.
“So, two people suddenly fell from the sky, and they seem rather important?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
It was a vague report that would usually merit a reprimand. How could any soldiers, without permission, capture intruders and summon the lord without a proper verification process?
But Count Omero was a flexible man. So, upon hearing rumors that the Bertica royal family had fallen, he swiftly surrendered to the vampires to avoid purging and rose from a viscount to a count, so he had a keen instinct when it came to his life.
His instinct was screaming now: this was no ordinary situation.
Rushing to the scene, the count realized he was indeed right when he sensed something was off.
“Are you the lord of this place?”
The soldiers who should have captured the unidentified intruders were now kneeling and stiffly bowing their heads.
But the count did not chastise the soldiers. Instead, he stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he recognized the two women standing in the direction of the voice.
“Y-Yes!”
Count Omero’s heart raced. He felt he could faint after just holding his breath for about 20 seconds, but he desperately fought to keep his wits about him.
‘…Why are you here?’
Count Omero had no direct means of confirming the identities of the two visitors, who looked incredibly luxurious at first glance.
However, even in this remote territory distant from the center, rumors did spread. It was easy for the count to guess who they were.
‘Your Majesty the Emperor.’
The flowing silver hair, eyes shining like rubies. A perfect figure that evoked admiration almost bordering on worship from head to toe.
The count had half-doubted the rumors claiming that the most beautiful woman in the world would be the empire’s empress, but in this moment, his doubts were completely erased.
Undoubtedly, there couldn’t be another woman as beautiful in the world.
In fact, it would be fair to say that the rumors were understated; no human language could adequately express such beauty.
Yet, staring at a woman before him who, had he been twenty years younger, would have knelt here and proposed without a second thought, the strongest feeling the count experienced was undeniably fear.
“I humbly salute your great Majesty the Emperor!!!”
Suddenly recalling that he had been slacking off just moments ago in his office made him feel slightly guilty, and the count kneeled at lightning speed, desperately trying to express as much respect and loyalty as he could.
His legs trembled, and the weight of a gaze he felt on the back of his head was chilling and heavy, as if it had substance.
Evin Omero was a warrior. Although he was somewhat lacking even in the time of the Bertica Kingdom, when naming renowned warriors from the country, he would generally make it into discussions at about thirtieth position.
His position as the lord of a border region proved his capability in its own right.
Of course, although it’s termed a border, the dragonkin had long been holed up in their gorge and had stopped showing military force, but if one is going to refer to this place as a border, then it should be enough to endure until reinforcements arrive in an emergency.
Yet even he felt that the empress was on a different level.
Not that Aria had particularly done anything. It was simply that the blood of a warrior flowing through the count could instinctively understand that the entity before him was an overwhelmingly superior being among living creatures.
‘Truly, she is capable of achieving the first ever unification of the continent in history.’
At that moment, the count took immense pride in his foresight, which had made him surrender immediately after the fall of Belia.
He never imagined he would be facing the emperor directly without preparation.
“I apologize for the sudden visit. Please raise your head.”
Contrary to the terrifying aura that seemed capable of killing a person with mere presence, a surprisingly gentle voice came back.
“I’ll get right to the point since time is short. The dragonkin are coming down to the ground. I witnessed them while flying here, so it must be true.”
“Yes! I will move the troops immediately!!”
“No. You arrived without notice, intending for me to lend a hand, so that’s not needed.”
Count Omero, who had been about to prepare with determination at the thought of finally confronting the dragonkin himself, relaxed immediately after hearing the next words.
Dragonkin? The strongest race among humankind as a single unit?
What could that possibly mean? In Count Omero’s mind, the empress taking action equated to a certain victory.
Yet, one concerning thought lingered in his mind: would it truly be appropriate for the lord to remain idle while the emperor personally came to solve the problem?
“That doesn’t mean you should remain idle. I might need your assistance in the aftermath; is that possible?”
As if reading his mind, her statement made the count flinch.
But rather, this was a good thing. Opportunities for border lords to express their loyalty directly to the emperor were rare.
“I will obey your command, Your Majesty.”
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