63 – Diplomacy (1)
“Master, I apologize, but revealing our identity…”
“Quite literally, it means that we should reveal our identity after resolving the immediate tasks at hand, rather than hiding. That is the plan.”
At the voice of the absolute authority of darkness, Kalan, like the other four, had doubts.
And rightly so, their master had never wanted to reveal their appearance before.
That’s why they were curious about what changes their master might be going through, but without resolving their curiosity, they all bowed their heads in unison and answered.
“Understood.”
At least for them, the master’s words were akin to the will of heaven, and rather than questioning the tasks she had set, they wanted to follow her unconditionally.
“…Then may I ask what the tasks are before revealing our identity?”
Thus, Lorelle asked about the tasks to be done in the future.
“For now, we plan to first handle internal matters, those who hold animosity towards me.”
The absolute authority of darkness began to tell the five of Kalan what they needed to do.
And after a little time had passed since the five of Kalan left the underground hideout upon hearing the words of the absolute authority of darkness…
“…In the end, the reason he did not accept me is not only because of my infamous reputation, but also because of those who are hostile towards me.”
The absolute authority of darkness recalled the plan she had discussed dozens of times until yesterday.
“First and foremost, it’s not the external cleanup, but the internal.”
“Drawing out and reforming or dealing with those who are hostile towards me within.”
“And once the internal matters are completely resolved, then I can reveal my identity and step out into the external world.”
“All I have to do is handle those who are hostile towards me from the outside, completely.”
With clenched fists, Rynn muttered.
“…”
In fact, the absolute ruler of darkness, just as they had done before, had no qualms about manipulating the Kalan Kingdom within the darkness, dealing with those in a hostile relationship with them.
No, rather, that was a more comfortable way for the absolute ruler of darkness.
However, even so, there was only one reason why she chose to step forward and become a target.
“…”
The absolute ruler of darkness looked at the ‘Identity Change Right’ clenched in her hand.
A memory that naturally replayed upon seeing it.
‘Ah, come to think of it, you didn’t like that identity,’
Snap!
As she recalled it, Lynn unconsciously gnashed her teeth.
Feeling so pathetic and foolish for causing him emotional wounds out of pettiness. Tears seemed imminent.
So.
‘I will prove it.’
That was the determination of the absolute ruler of darkness.
‘Through actions.’
To cast off her identity in the world.
‘Surely, I will prove it.’
To proudly show off the name he gave her.
‘And after proving it like that—’
Clang!
…Lin stared intently at the name change ticket.
“They will definitely make a decision.”
Soon, she tightly grasped it and, after a short while, the full-fledged activities of the ruler of darkness began within the Kalan Kingdom.
####
“…Um.”
After hearing the story of the guardian, Adria spoke.
“So, if I summarize the story, you’re saying that the great figure was the hero of the Lord of Larthania ten years ago?”
“That’s right.”
“So, the Lord of Larthania, who disappeared ten years ago and was thought to never return, reappeared like that…”
Adria glanced at the room filled with photos.
“…loved it.”
“Yeah…”
Blushing, Adria shyly nodded at the magnificent figure in front of her and looked at her with a curious expression.
Although she had seen her when they first met the Lord, and when she met others afterwards, this was the first time she had witnessed such a wide range of emotions and positive changes in expression from her.
And so.
“Now we’ve decided what to do.”
“Huh?”
“You have to go meet him in person. The Lord of Larthania.”
Adria said, but…
“Oh, no!”
In response to the words of the red-scaled Salong, Adria spoke with a face full of doubt.
“…Why?”
“Well… Master might not like me.”
“…Isn’t that something you won’t know until you meet?”
“But, it’s still scary… I, I’m actually satisfied as it is now…”
Clutching the photo in her hand tightly, Salong spoke with a somewhat melancholic expression.
“But you can’t stay like this forever, can you?”
“Um, even if I stay like this forever… I, I might be okay surprisingly…?”
“?”
“I can still see Master like this… looking at the pictures, he’s always smiling… I can see him from afar too… hehehe…”
Adria, looking at Salong who laughed awkwardly while looking at the pictures she had stuck, spoke unknowingly with a strange expression.
“Don’t you want to go back no matter what…?”
“But, I’ve done a lot wrong…? If by any chance Master talks in front of me that he hates me…”
Just thinking about it, tears seemed to well up, and Adriana hastily spoke to her as tears began to form in her eyes.
“Th-then, instead of going right now, how about subtly testing Lord’s thoughts?”
“Test Master…?”
“Yes, since Lord still doesn’t know that I am associated with the great one, how about subtly testing to see how he feels?”
Adria’s words.
In response, Salong with red scales nodded hesitantly, but soon spoke with a gloomy face.
“But, even if I test it right now, it’s not like I can go out…”
“Hmm? Wait, why is that?”
“…I still need to stay here for another year.”
“What? Why?”
“Because that’s the condition for me to eliminate my half-human, half-dragon lineage and become a complete dragon.”
Confused by the words of the red dragon, Adriah recalled what the Lord of Larthania had said.
He had mentioned that there was no dragon known to him, only the term ‘half-human, half-dragon.’
But Adriah had her doubts.
It was only natural, as anyone who saw the red dragon in front of her would consider it more of a dragon than a half-human, half-dragon.
Unlike the half-human, half-dragon creatures that had no horns or only external ones, she had two horns, and despite having a human form, she possessed a dragon’s tail that did not exist in half-human, half-dragons.
That’s why Adriah had a puzzled expression as she tried to ask a question, and the dragon opened its mouth to answer.
“Well, I made a contract with the Dragon Lord.”
“The Dragon Lord?”
“Yes, I’m currently performing a ritual using the ‘Dragon’s Oath.’ It allows me to become a complete dragon instead of a half-human, half-dragon.”
“Then this space…”
“This is the space where the ritual is taking place. You, as a human, may not see anything. But at least for the next year, I cannot leave here. It’s the ‘constraint’ that comes with becoming a dragon… Well, there are other things besides that.”
The red dragon murmured to itself while looking at its own wrist and soon made a sound like “hmm.”
“I… I didn’t expect it to turn out like this. If I had known, I wouldn’t have wanted to become a dragon in the first place.”
Adriah looked at the murmuring dragon with a melancholic expression and asked with a puzzled look.
“If you didn’t think it was necessary to become a dragon, then why on earth…?”
“Because as a half-human, half-dragon, I cannot… use dimensional magic… that’s why… um…”
“Dimension, magic?”
“Maybe humans don’t know, but… I heard that if you become a dragon, you can use dimensional magic. So, that’s why I made a contract…”
“The reason for learning dimensional magic… could it be because…?”
“I heard from the Dragon Lord that the master might be in a different dimension… that’s why.”
“…Are you planning to go to a different dimension to seek forgiveness…?”
“Huh? N-no, that’s not it…”
“No? Then…?”
“If I can open the door to a different dimension, then I can watch over without having to hear unpleasant things from the master.”
From Noble mtl dot com
…”
Adria involuntarily closed her mouth at the dragon’s nonchalant yet subtly cunning and sly words.
After a short while, Adria shook her head, trying to clear her slightly dizzy mind.
“First, I’ve roughly grasped the situation.”
“Yeah…”
“But still, this won’t go on forever, right? It’s a bit unfair if even after a year passes and you become a dragon, you still can’t meet the lord.”
“I’m fine with just watching…”
Salyoung spoke with an unconfident expression.
Observing her, Adria, who had been making a doubtful expression, then opened her mouth with a realization.
“Well, from what I know, besides the great one from ten years ago, there were other heroes in the Larvania territory. Those heroes might even attach themselves to the lord… wouldn’t it be unfair for the great one then?”
Adria spoke to the infinitely contracted dragon, trying to give her a bit of courage.
However.
“They, they think those noble ladies are not worthy of being by the master’s side…”
“…???”
Adria’s expression turned bewildered at the sudden gloomy remark from Yong. “Huh? What did I just hear?” she thought.
“Profit…! Th-the master has been so kind… If they don’t like the gift from the master, it’s as if they’re looking down on it, I’ll kill them all when I meet them-”
Witnessing Sal’s pupils slowly dilate with rage, Adria hastily spoke up once again.
“If, if such a situation arises, it would be unfair, so let’s first build a favorable impression for a year…!”
“A favorable… impression?”
“Yes! Since we can’t leave right now anyway, and it’s burdensome for the great one to reveal their identity right away, let’s slowly build a favorable impression. I have everything planned.”
Soon, Yong began to immerse himself in Adria’s words, and quickly started to focus.