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That it was just a simple dream?
‘Ridiculous.’
It was a far denser life than on Earth.
The first battle at Berington Fortress, where I was dragged after coming of age. The feeling of the sword I blindly thrust piercing the barbarian’s neck, the sensation of blood spattering near my eyes, the gurgling face of my opponent as it blurred in and out of focus—it’s all still vivid.
“Hmm, aren’t you fazed by me at all?”
Barisada approached with long strides.
I almost stumbled back a step without realizing it, but managed to hold my ground.
She cupped my cheeks with both hands and gently tilted my head down. Her eyes glistened like rubies, as if to suck me in.
“Tell me. What dream did you have?”
I felt compelled to tell her everything that had happened to me. But soon realizing something was amiss, I swallowed the words about to spill out.
“What are you doing right now?”
Barisada puckered her lips with a frown, then chuckled. It was quite strange to see such expressions in this dim space without a single light.
“You can endure even this? You’re a proper descendant of that man after so long.”
She didn’t answer my question, only muttering words hard to comprehend.
I gathered she had cast some kind of illusion magic on me, which didn’t work because of my royal bloodline being one of the few remaining.
The “man” she referred to must be the founding king?
“I wonder, what dream did you have? From the looks of it, you clearly passed that man’s trial when you woke up.”
I gleaned much from Barisada’s mutterings.
There’s one thing anyone from the Leonel Kingdom is curious about:
The Trial of [Barisada].
It’s a famous tale—a dangerous trial where one could lose their life if they fail. But its contents have never been made public. Not even the [Library] could provide any information.
‘Was that dream just now the trial?’
The demisword [Barisada], created by fusing Barisada’s body with the founding king’s blood. It seems the founding king’s side was the one administering the trial, not Barisada herself.
“If you wake up, you pass. If not, you fail?”
The life of the king who witnessed Leonel’s downfall together. Was it truly just a dream?
“You won’t tell me? This is the first dream I couldn’t peek into, so I’m terribly curious.”
“Was it you who told me to draw my sword?”
“How curious. I wonder how you heard about that?”
We were just speaking past each other, not having a real conversation at all.
“What happened to the faceless dragon after I drew my sword?”
“Ah! That worm bastard!”
The phrase “faceless dragon” seemed to be the keyword to open up the discussion.
“It’s still there. You wouldn’t know, but it’s been less than a second since you drew your sword.”
*Thwack!*
With her finger snap, the surroundings changed.
I was seen holding [Varisada] with its sheath removed in front of the faceless dragon. The knights with anxious expressions and Frando causing a vortex of magical power were also visible. It felt like I had become a ghost wandering in a frozen world.
“If we go back, that worm will probably run away too…maybe?”
The word added at the end irritated me.
“Maybe? You told me to pull it out without being sure?”
“Well, don’t worry. Even if that guy doesn’t run away, you’ve passed the trial, right? As long as you’re holding me, it’ll work out somehow, won’t it? heheheh.”
Varisada covered her mouth and laughed brazenly.
She was right.
In the history of the Lionel Kingdom, there were only three people who used [Varisada] after the founding king. Thanks to that, its capabilities are somewhat known.
‘One, subjugation of magical beasts.’
Magical beasts are life forms created by the ancient magic tribe for their own convenience. They instinctively fear the magic tribe.
If [Varisada] sealed in the sheath was a cat, the [Varisada] with the sheath removed is a tiger. The charging worm, the faceless dragon, would feel that difference in power and immediately lower their heads and tremble.
Baring fangs is only possible when capable of inflicting some degree of injury.
‘Two, mana amplification.’
Just by holding [Varisada], an enormous additional amount of mana can be used.
Records show a minimum of five stars’ worth, a maximum of seven stars’ worth. How much it will lend…is that decided by the Varisada in front of me?
I wondered if I should show her well.
‘Three, subjugation of magic.’
The ultimate secret technique that releases the limit the physical body imposes, allowing strength beyond its limits.
It is said that the last user of [Varisada] in history, who used this during the war with the Hamel Empire, died on the scene with their blood vessels and heart torn to shreds after the time limit ended.
“Too bad, I’d like to know what dream you were having, but time’s almost up. The dreams of the kids before you were really fun, you know? Facing you like this and talking is the first and last time. If you happen to remember your dream after waking up, could you tell me about it too? Though you probably won’t remember. heheheh.”
Time’s almost up?
That seemed to be why Varisada answered my question with just her own words.
But I won’t remember?
The moment I opened my mouth.
“Well, it’s time to say goodbye.”
──!
With her words, my body was pulled with tremendous force.
“Your Highness!”
I drew [Barisada] and a moment later, Reina grabbed my wrist.
It was wise not to explain the plan beforehand. If she had known this was [Barisada], she certainly wouldn’t have let me draw it.
It hurt as if my wrist was caught in a steel press, but now was not the time to blame that. I released [Barisada]’s energy as much as possible.
The air around the sword rippled roughly.
“Groooooooh? ······ooh?”
The faceless dragon, which had been rushing at me as if to swallow me whole, halted.
“Is that crazy bird······?”
Even Pran’s voice insulting me held a note of doubt.
After taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Lady Reina, I’m fine, so please release my wrist first.”
“Huh? Ah, yes!”
She hurriedly loosened her grip on the wrist she had grabbed. With my freedom of movement regained, I took a slow step forward.
“Groooooh······.”
The faceless dragon also retreated by that much.
One step, two steps.
Slither, slither.
It fled the same distance again.
「What are you doing? Just run up and slice its neck. I thought you killed that worm, but where was it hiding?」
···?
Barisada?
I was sure it had said we wouldn’t be able to converse again.
Although I had that doubt, subduing the faceless dragon came first for now.
Originally, in my plan, anyone who faced [Barisada] was supposed to turn and flee without looking back. There are many places in the western mountains untouched by humans, so I thought it would go there. It would be even better if it went toward the Hamil Empire.
But with the creature showing this reaction, a different thought crept in.
‘Could that thing be tamed?’
I considered what could be done if I tamed the faceless dragon.
One, it’s far superior in performance to an excavator. With the premise that it understands commands well. If so, it could dramatically increase the development speed of the magic stone mines.
Two, I could send it to an undesirable person’s mine and inflict fatal damage. Like the imperial princes or that fat guy. Ah, they’re the same person.
Those were the first two things that came to mind.
Especially the second one felt incredibly alluring. It seemed like there was no harm in trying it out. No, I had to try it unconditionally.
I opened my mouth towards it.
“I won’t kill you, so reduce your size first.”
“Groooo······?”
“Couldn’t you understand? I won’t kill you, so shrink down! As much as possible!”
“Grooooo!”
Its size rapidly decreased.
It seemed to have understood the atmosphere. I realized it from the moment it charged at me despite [Varisada]. It was a being with both ferocity and wisdom.
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It shrank down to about 1m, smaller than the average known size of 3m. A larva? A pupa? In any case, it seemed to still have a long way to go before reaching adulthood.
Still, it wasn’t a visually cute creature.
“Gro, gro.”
It made a strange sound while rubbing the tooth-filled part of its face on the ground.
Could it be acting adorable, begging to be spared?
“This is······?”
“What? What happened?”
“Gasp! Your Highness! Could that be a Varisada!”
The party members who had approached by my side along with the chief. They couldn’t close their mouths as they looked back and forth between me and the faceless dragon acting adorably.
Umm······ Where should I start explaining.
Ah, right.
“Chief, it seems we won’t need to evacuate.”
***
In an open field a short distance from the Black Peak Tribe’s village. Alfonso crawled out of the tent and came towards me.
“Your Highness, are you really not going to sleep?”
“If I sleep, will everyone else rest assured?”
“Uh·· umm······.”
His gaze turned towards the giant wriggling worm in the open field.
The faceless dragon.
It was noisily munching on the ores I had tossed to it.
“Good work.”
I glared at Alfonso as he slipped back into the tent. Then I turned my gaze to the side.
“Reina, please go inside and rest.”
“It’s alright. We’ll guard the prince in three shifts, so don’t worry.”
“I just want to be alone with my thoughts for a bit.”
“That’s not allowed.”
She seemed intent on following him even if he said he was going to the outhouse.
As I looked around, I spotted a watchtower. It seemed the dwarves used it for keeping watch.
“That watchtower looks better suited for surveying the area than standing by my side. Don’t you agree? With Reina’s abilities, she could leap from there to here in one bound if anything happened.”
“Hmm……”
It was indeed a watchtower that overlooked the clearing and beyond. She eventually nodded and moved there.
While an escort knight was desperately needed, at times like these I felt a bit uncomfortable. There were just too many occasions when I had to be alone.
With Alfonso and the male knights in the tents, Reina in the watchtower, and Fran at the chieftain’s house, I could finally speak without worrying about others.
“Ah, damn it. That disgusting worm needs its neck wrung right now. I can’t stand it. Just wait until I borrow some mana. I’ll only lend it a mouse’s tail worth.”
The target was, of course, Barisada, who kept grumbling incessantly. Ever since I subdued the faceless dragon, her constant stream of disgruntled thoughts made my head ache.
[Barisada] had no record of being able to converse with the user.
It seemed that way in reality too.
Listening closely to Barisada’s soliloquy, she didn’t seem to realize I could hear her at all.
‘Plus, she hasn’t lost her memories either.’
– In case you wake up and remember, won’t you tell me about your dream too? Probably not, though. Heh heh.
I still vividly remembered the life of the king who witnessed Rionel Kingdom’s demise.
‘It wasn’t a simple dream.’
There was proof that convinced me of this.
Using my ghost hand, I tapped [Skills] on the status window.
━━━━━━━━━━━×
.
.
.
[Mugeuk Mana Cultivation Technique]
[Rionel Sword Style]
[Rionel Guardian Sword Style]
[Rionel Imperial Sword Style]
[Evan-Style Lionel Defensive Swordsmanship]
[Evan-Style Lionel Imperial Swordsmanship]
…
…
[Thunderbolt]
[Divine Punishment]
[White Thunder]
…
…
—
It was densely packed with all the secret techniques Lionel, the last king of the Lionel Kingdom who had lived as one of the Eight Sword Saints, had mastered during his life.
Among them were secret techniques that did not exist in the present world before I drew [Barisada].
Notably……
‘Phoenix Festival.’
In an instant, I designed, constructed, and manifested the spell formula.
Around the bonfire, little phoenixes as blue, yellow, and red as sparrows bloomed and began a splendid dance.
It was a basic 1st-grade magic for playing in the snow that children loved.
I had shown it to the children the day before the final battle against the Hamil Empire.
Gazing at the bonfire until the phoenixes faded away, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Was that really a dream?”
「……. Just thinking about that wretched worm devouring my cute Hamlet makes me……. 」
“Barisada, won’t you have a conversation with me instead of going on about cute Hamlet?”
「I’m still not over it……. 」
Barisada, who had been constantly grumbling, finally closed her mouth.
After a long silence, her thoughts reached me.
「……. Can you hear my voice?」
I nodded.
“I can hear you well. Very well.”
“You…… What is your true identity?”
“From now on, I intend to find out together with you.”