62 – Opening an Era
Askel went to work feeling uneasy after having a strange dream.
‘Who was that white dragon that appeared last?’
Upon opening the door to his office, Askel was faced with an unusual scene.
“You can’t come this way! Master Askel!”
Ria, gone pale, was blocking something.
He had never seen Ria so flustered before.
She even seemed to be scared.
Askel stopped where he was.
Ria, who will be the future swordmaster and grand sorcerer, being scared of an adversary? Has a hero finally come to assassinate us?
If the assassin is of that caliber, attempting to escape would be futile.
Instead, teaming up with Ria would increase the chances of survival.
‘I was once praised by my father Arthur for having talent. Is it time to show off the swordsmanship skills I had been hiding.’
Askel reached out to the decorative sword sheath, a common accessory carried by high-ranking officials of the empire.
The Visionary Swordsmanship of Devru, Devru Style 3.
The First Style……
“Woof!”
The sound of a dog barking could be heard.
A puppy, with a body size between that of a small breed and a medium breed, was yapping away in the office.
It resembled a Pomeranian.
Lia spoke, her hand quivering,
“Ah, Lord Ascal mustn’t be hurt at all.”
“What’s up, Lia?”
“Woof!”
“Yip.”
Ascal approached the white puppy.
“Hand.”
The puppy placed its front paw on Ascal’s palm.
“Good.”
“Giggle.”
“Is it a lost dog? How did it get here?”
Despite its lax appearance, it’s still one of the imperial’s important facilities. Unless empowered like the dwarf who breached last time, it would not be easy to break through the security.
Ascal glanced at Lia.
Lia, whose face remained pale, kept her hands together, assuming a defensive posture.
Come to think of it, even almost-perfect Lia had her weakness.
She was scared of dogs.
She had developed cynophobia after being chased and bitten by a dog when she was young. Once the rebels found out, they painted dogs on their flags and ornaments.
“If you’re scared of dogs, why don’t you step outside for a moment? I’ll call you back in after I let it out.”
“No, sir. In case Lord Ascal gets bitten, you might get sick. I’ll let it out. Yip!”
The white puppy bolted between Lia’s legs.
Lia promptly dropped down in her spot.
Whimper.
The white puppy darted towards the bottles on an office shelf.
Jump!
But it was too short to reach.
“Do you want to play with that? Should I get it for you?”
For a game of catch, maybe?
The moment Ascal touched the bottle.
-It’s not allowed.
A familiar voice reached Ascal.
It was Unryong.
But this time, the direction it came from was slightly different.
Swish swish.
It was a snake.
And it was faintly colored.
-I am.
“…Why are you in that form?”
-Do you know how much energy it takes to reveal my true form? It’s more tiring than calling down a bolt of lightning.
“Then why?”
-That’s the White Dragon. The guardian deity of the Kelli Kingdom. And that orb you brought with you is the Dragon Orb, the source of the White Dragon’s power.
When a large amount of incomprehensible information floods into a person’s mind in an instant, the brain becomes paralyzed. Ascal was looking at the white puppy jumping around and wagging its tail while holding the orb.
Is that supposed to be the White Dragon? Not a Pomeranian?
-The White Dragon was a being who could compete with me and Jawoong…
Lia picked up the deep in thought snake (Unryong) with her bare hands.
“Where could this snake have come from? I’ll handle it.”
Despite being terrified of dogs, she had no hesitations about handling a snake, a reaction that seemed pretty counterintuitive.
-Save me.
“….”
Unryong pleaded clearly.
“Wait. Hold on. This snake is actually my pet. Recently, I’ve found myself drawn to keeping snakes as a hobby.”
“I see.”
Lia obediently put the snake down.
Into the bucket.
-Get me out of there.
As soon as Ascal reached into the bucket, the snake climbed up onto his shoulder.
“Grrr!”
At that moment, the white puppy (White Dragon) attacked.
Targeting the snake (Unryong) on Ascal’s shoulder.
Unryong deftly avoided the attack.
But the White Dragon stubbornly pursued him.
Their fight was fiercely ongoing.
Dragon vs Snake, no, dog vs Snake.
“Hiss hiss!”
“Woof woof!”
Ascal made a judgment.
“What a mess.”
The showdown between the two dragons ended only after they were completely exhausted and collapsed.
The dog lay sprawled out, panting heavily, and the snake was so shriveled up that it couldn’t move.
– As expected of my beastmaster, White Dragon.
But while he could hear the voice of the Black Dragon, why couldn’t he hear the voice of the White Dragon?
Ascal stared at the white dog in perplexity.
– Because there is no contract.
Just then, the white dog suddenly stood up and extended one leg towards Ascal.
– It seems to be asking for something. Then you can start a conversation.
“Can I give it?”
– Up to you.
Ascal pulled out a cookie and gave it to the dog.
The white dog took the cookie that Ascal had given him, moved to a corner as though someone might snatch it away, and began to nibble it.
When the dog had finished eating the cookie, another voice sounded in Ascal’s head, it was a groggy little girl’s voice as if she had just woken up.
– Give me more.
Ascal took out another cookie.
The dog went back to the corner and gobbled it up.
– Delicious! So delicious!
Ascal spoke to Lia.
“Will you step outside for a moment? It seems safe now.”
“But.”
“As an order.”
“…understood.”
Lia obediently moved outside, but she glanced through the crack of the door back towards Ascal.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“It’s okay.”
“I’ll be nearby. Call on me if it gets dangerous.”
“Understood.”
The image of the dog eating a cookie looked more like a monster devouring human flesh – not quite believable.
Ascal completely closed the door. Lia pulled a face.
Ascal pulled out a water bottle and let it trickle into his palm.
The dog, apparently thirsty, lapped up the water from his palm. It tickled.
– You’ve received the tribute well.
“You claim to be the White Dragon, is that right?”
– Yep. I’m the patron deity of the Kingdom of Kell and the owner of the oldest perennial snowfall…
– But you’re so weakened you can’t even pretend to be human. Slobbering dog.
– Uh…you’re no different. Cloud Dragon.
– I’m better off than you. Look at this great breath of mine.
The snake exhaled.
A small breath rushed from its mouth.
A humidifier, perhaps?
– Jealous?
– Yup, jealous…
“What did you come here to do, White Dragon?”
The dog turned its gaze this way.
– Give back the bead you took. It’s mine.
Ascal held the bead, contemplating for a moment.
Logic required that he returns it to its original owner. However, the spectacle he was currently witnessing seemed to defy reasoning… a miniature scaled-down version of a mythical situation.
– I told you before, if I give that back, I won’t be able to protect you.
– If you give it back, I’ll make you a King. All humans desire to be Kings, don’t they?
– As I said before, if you give it to me, you’ll be an Emperor. You surely understand that an Emperor is higher than a King.
“Enough.”
Ascal raised the bead high.
The snake and the dog followed the bead with their gaze.
This situation… he’d seen it before in a book from his previous life.
In Greek and Roman mythology, Paris came into possession of a golden apple by chance. Not long after, three goddesses descended, each promising wealth and glory, and asked for the apple.
From Noble mtl dot com
And what happened to Paris, who dedicated the apple to the most beautiful goddess? He is struck by a poisonous arrow and after suffering miserably, he dies.
Watching this, Ascal thought.
If he were Paris, the golden apple…
“This bead is now yours, Bernstein.”
“No, I said I don’t want it, just take it.”
He failed to pawn it off.
Ascal, who needed time to ponder, returned home and lay in bed, feeling exhausted, he put it on the nightstand next to him.
Ceros pounced to greet his master.
After taking the medicine, he looked larger than before. He also seemed to understand human language…
“Sigh, do you want the bead?”
He said it as a joke.
Ceros stuck out his tongue and swallowed the bead.
Then Ceros’s color started to change. His scales became transparent like glass, transforming into a beautiful color. Newly transformed Ceros hopped onto Ascal’s shoulder.
And he rubbed against Ascal’s face.
“It tickles, Yonseok-ah.”
– It doesn’t matter.
The dragon, upon hearing that the frog had swallowed the bead, responded surprisingly calmly.
– Instead, use the frog’s excrement as fertilizer for the divine tree. Instead of a hundred years, it might be considerably shorter.
Following the dragon’s words, when they used Ceros’s feces as fertilizer for the tree, the size doubled the next day.
The branches stretched out, creating cool shade. It even seemed to cool the breeze like a fan.
– The divine tree acknowledges you as its master, no, as its parent.
“That’s a lot of pressure”.
– Take good care of it. When the divine tree grows fully…
The dragon’s words were not audible.
It was as if they were filtered.
-Well. Is this celestial leakage? I can’t ignore it due to lack of power.
The next day.
A young girl with white hair entered the office.
She had a mysterious aura.
“Give me more to eat.”
The voice belonged to Baekryong.
Feeling an irrational sense of guilt, Ascal pulled out a generous number of cookies. The girl grumbled as she chewed on the cookies.
“You’ve used my orb, as a source of nourishment?”
“…It turned out that way.”
“It’s okay. I’m slowly regaining my strength due to the sacred tree. Maybe in about a hundred years, I’ll recover. However, I’ll need to stay in this vicinity.”
These dragons had a different concept of time. Was a hundred years a child’s name?
“But don’t you wonder? Why are these strange events only happening to you? Why does everything turn out differently than intended?”
Ascal turned to Baekryong.
“Why would that be?”
Baekryong attempted to explain.
“Primarily, it’s because of the people around you…”
“Stop.”
Ascal interrupted.
“I do not wish to know. If you are hiding something, you must have a reason to do so. I do not want to find out forcefully. If you wish to tell me, you will do so.”
His sharp instinct had been honed over many years of public service.
‘Are you listening to know what’s going to happen?’
There are times when ignorance is a blessing.
“I see.”
Baekryong said as if he envied Ascal.
“If only someone like you existed around me.”
Something seemed misunderstood.
There was someone outside the door, eavesdropping on Ascal’s conversation.
Initially, he had planned to come in boldly, but had missed the timing. It seemed like they were having serious confidential conversation.
‘Minister… Someday you must tell….’
Sushia muttered to herself. She eventually decided to leave.
“I do not wish to know. If you are hiding something, you must have a reason to do so. I do not want to find out forcefully. If you wish to tell me, you will do so.”
And there was one more person.
‘…Master Ascal.’
Yulia kept her head down and squatted in front of the office door for quite a long time.