EP.10
The misunderstanding was quickly resolved.
The Solitary Hero, who had been unable to meet anyone’s gaze due to his flushed face for a while, managed to regain his wits only after apologizing several more times.
Back in the cave.
Listening to the circumstances regarding Jörmungandr and the Princess, the hero nodded.
“Trelinia Kingdom… May I take you back there?”
It wasn’t very far.
If he walked non-stop for three days and nights, he might arrive.
It would take a bit longer if he took the Princess with him, but for Asgard, who was used to camping, that wasn’t an issue.
Besides, there were no Demon Beasts nearby that he couldn’t handle.
Except for Jörmungandr, of course.
Coincidentally, his destination was also the Trelinia Kingdom, so he had no problem escorting Eliserde.
“Um…”
Eliserde hesitated at his offer.
Why was that?
Normally, she would have just gone back…
She looked up and stared at Jörmungandr.
Those blue eyes fixed on her, watching her quietly.
As she gazed into those eyes, which seemed to affirm her choice, Eliserde shook her head.
“It’s okay. There’s no need to go to the kingdom right now. Instead, could you send my regards?”
“Understood.”
The hero nodded eagerly.
Whatever choice Eliserde made was solely hers to make.
Though he didn’t fully understand her desire to stay, he thought she would manage.
‘There’s really no occasion for harm to come to her.’
Of course not.
With Jörmungandr right next to her, how could the Princess face any danger?
His meager imagination simply couldn’t conceive of such a scenario.
At that moment, the memory of his own disgrace flashed through his mind, and he felt his face redden again, but he suppressed it with superhuman patience and steadied himself.
He recalled the reason he had come to the outskirts of the Trelinia Kingdom.
‘The flow of battle is concerning.’
Hence, he was in a hurry to leave.
“I’ll be on my way then.”
With that, the hero departed.
Once again, only the Princess and Jörmungandr remained in the cave.
As they ventured deeper into the cave, they were greeted by the sight of the cavern, which had been thoroughly wrecked and reduced to tatters.
[Ah.]
“Ah.”
I should have asked the hero to fix all of this before he left.
As she expanded her senses, she realized the hero had already fled like the wind.
In the end, Jörmungandr and Eliserde had to toil diligently to repair the collapsed cave.
* * *
Time passed, and soon it had been a month since the Princess had arrived in the cave.
During that time, the cave had transformed completely from before.
Flowers bloomed beautifully by the previously desolate lake, trees bearing various fruits flourished, and a bed where the Princess could lie down had been made.
“Haaa…!”
The Princess threw herself onto the soft bed and rolled around.
The gentle texture of the blankets enveloped her. How did a bed end up in this cave? She had climbed onto Jörmungandr’s back to fetch one.
It was fascinating to see how the scenery changed swiftly with just his gentle movements, while she felt no disturbance from it, reflecting his delicate consideration.
In any case.
The cave with the newly acquired bed felt divine and impervious.
Additionally, with the luminous stones Jörmungandr had brought placed beside the bedroom, even this formerly rough place now appeared somewhat presentable.
And above all, the biggest gain was that I had managed to become somewhat friendly with Jörmungandr over the past month.
I wasn’t quite sure what he thought of me, but it was evident when he subtly approached me at night, curling around me, and when he spoke to me without hesitation.
Whenever I asked questions about him out of curiosity, he would respond diligently, albeit with a hint of annoyance.
Moreover, simply calling his name made him appear instantly, no matter where he was.
I found myself thinking that Jörmungandr was rather cute.
Of course, he was a powerful being, capable of terrifying anyone just by meeting their gaze, a strength I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
Putting that aside, I would say we communicated surprisingly well.
I had assumed that it would be difficult to understand him because of his beastly form, but to my astonishment, Jörmungandr showed great consideration for the weak.
He moved his massive body to flatten the rugged cave and illuminated the dark corners with glowing stones.
“Come to think of it, he’s quite human-like.”
Of course, that would never be the case.
I gently stroked the scales of Jörmungandr, who was sleeping beside me.
It felt like touching a precious jewel.
As I continued to stroke him, I suddenly felt a heaviness in my chest and grasped my heart.
“Again… my heart…”
Several years ago, I had called a cleric without my father’s knowledge to check on my condition.
I was cursed.
And not just any curse—a vicious, life-draining one.
* * *
The King of Kalibargo, Kal Rediams, raised an eyebrow upon hearing a report.
“Hmph, the King of Trelinia sacrificed his daughter to a dragon? As an offering?”
The Trelinia Kingdom was located right next to his own. Even if the royal family had tried to keep it under wraps, it was not something Kalibargo could overlook.
Being geographically close and having numerous knights accompany the princess made it near impossible to hide.
Especially since the Kalibargo Kingdom had been keeping a close watch on Trelinia.
This news posed significant complications for Kalibargo.
“Then she can’t be used as a pawn.”
A few years ago, there had been a collaborative incident between his kingdom and the Demon Realm.
This incident involved cursing the Princess of Trelinia. The dark magic, popular only in the Demon Realm, was infused with malice and hatred.
Thus, their spells were inherently gruesome and horrifying.
The dark magic cast upon the royal family of Trelinia was effectively a curse.
It drained the life of the cursed slowly, and if it exceeded a certain threshold, it would unleash a horrific calamity.
What would happen if a monster appeared right in the middle of the capital?
Even if they somehow managed to slay the beast, the Trelinia Kingdom would undoubtedly fall into chaos.
The stronger the curse that consumed noble blood, the more formidable the monster it would spawn.
Yes.
What more was there to say?
Kal Rediams intended to swallow the Trelinia Kingdom whole.
“If I consume that kingdom… I could become an Emperor.”
The audacious greed to dare establish an empire.
In stark contrast to the long-established roots of the Trelinia Kingdom, Kalibargo was a relatively new kingdom.
To be precise, it was not even truly a kingdom.
It had merely started as a small village that expanded by invading foreign lands, eventually growing into a kingdom.
That place was none other than the Kalibargo Kingdom.
Naturally, such behavior would attract the scrutiny of other neighboring kingdoms, but he trampled them all down.
His kingdom possessed overwhelming military might.
All the discontented kingdoms were swallowed up completely.
Thus, after numerous conquests, invasions, and pillaging, this would be the final one.
His kingdom was drenched in blood.
To cleanse himself of this, Kal Rediams believed he needed to become the noblest empire on the continent.
That was why he allied with the Demon Race.
He had cast a horrifying spell to transform humans into monsters upon none other than the royal family, using their dark magic, and was preparing meticulously for it.
What would happen if the princess discovered the curse?
He didn’t care.
He had already sacrificed hundreds of his own nationals for that curse.
There was no one daring enough to oppose him.
It was a curse drenched in the blood of men.
Even if they realized it was a curse, they would not know its true effects.
Even if they wished to intervene, it would be impossible.
For there was no way to dispel that curse, at least not in the human realm.
In fact, he hoped the king would struggle even more to lift the curse. The more energy the curse absorbed that corresponded to its user’s power, the more it would savagely drain the user’s lifespan.
He considered it a perfect plan.
“I thought that the weak king wouldn’t dare abandon his child…”
But perhaps that was a miscalculation.
To offer her up, of all things, as a sacrifice to a dragon.
“Hmph…”
It seemed ridiculous to him.
The same nobleman who had vowed not to perform such an act for the sake of his own nationals did this.
The moment he saw that utterly pointless look in their eyes, he pondered invading his kingdom.
Therefore, he had cast a curse on the Princess of Trelinia and weakened their national defense by threatening other kingdoms to prevent troops from advancing to the front line.
“But sacrificing a child…?”
To a dragon that might not even exist!
It was laughable.
At the same time, he felt a tinge of worry.
This could derail his entire plan.
The day would soon come when the princess would die, and the curse would give birth to a horrifying monster.
However, the entirely distorted curse would become irrelevant once it left the kingdom.
Even if the dragon were to eat her, the curse would activate, but it wouldn’t matter much unless it was deep within the kingdom.
[She is still alive.]
A human with black skin suddenly appeared from behind.
Yet Kal Rediams nodded as if he were familiar with it.
He was indeed the demon who had colluded with the kingdom.
With black skin, mixed red and white pupils, a mouthful of sharp teeth like a shark’s, and goat horns on his head.
Kal Rediams pondered over what he had said.
‘What should I do…’
It seemed the dragon hadn’t killed the princess just yet.
If that’s the case, he had to somehow bring her back.
“Dispatch the troops.”
To tear apart that arrogant dragon.
With the purpose of rescuing the princess.
[Yes.]
The demon raised the corners of his mouth, hiding it from everyone.
You may also like Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy
