Chapter 104: The Dragon Knight’s Vigil

“Just kill the Dragon’s offspring?”

Hio Pavlenko muttered all day long, grumbling to himself.

Regarda watched Hio in silence.

“And why is it so big? How am I supposed to purify this in any reasonable amount of time?”

He had become accustomed to this kind of irritated grumbling from the Magician.

Three days had already passed since the Dragon was summoned.

Regarda had not moved a single step from this spot since that day, remaining steadfast.

“How did you end up infected with such a cursed energy anyway… At least wear your mask properly!”

Yet, even while complaining, Hio diligently placed his hand on the Dragon’s head each day, working to purify it.

He didn’t know the exact circumstances, but he’d heard that things were more complicated and would take longer than expected.

Of course, these words held no meaning for Regarda.

They were nothing more than a faint complaint.

Things had gotten complicated.

It seemed like it would take longer than expected.

But none of these words meant anything in front of Regarda.

After such a long, unending time.

Before a man who had endured just to keep a promise, even problems that seemed enormous became trivial.

Regarda simply watched over them.

Standing firm, gripping a bright yellow spear in one hand, he silently kept his vigil.

Watching over the Dragon with its dazzling emerald scales and closed eyes.

Unmoving, waiting for that magical moment when its eyes would open again.

As he did so, time passed.

When the slanting sun rose to its peak and then began to set again, Hio would trudge over toward Regarda.

His face showed clear fatigue, and he let his body drop onto the grass beside Regarda with a heavy sigh.

“Ah, I’m exhausted.”

Regarda said nothing to the Magician.

He knew nothing of magic, nor could he remember the last time he’d offered words of comfort or encouragement.

Naturally, Hio hadn’t said anything expecting such words.

“You should go home and get some rest.”

Meaningless.

“I know… but at least pretend to sleep, huh? That kind of thing helps mentally, you know.”

“No need.”

“Sheesh. Do what you want. Just know there’s still a long way to go before you wake the Dragon.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

His curt answer wasn’t intentional.

He’d spent so much time alone, living only for duty and promises, that he had become this way.

“You.”

Even so, Regarda called out to Hio, who was trudging away.

This time, he spoke with all his heart.

“Thank you.”

Now, at last, he truly felt he could keep his promise.

Hio said there was still a long way to go, but compared to his own long past, it truly wasn’t much left.

“I sincerely thank you.”

Hio chuckled, waving a hand as he passed by and headed for the house.

“Let’s save that for after we wake the Dragon, all right?”

“As many times as you like.”

When Hio disappeared, silence returned once again.

As time passed and the sun set, even the elves who had come to see the Dragon returned home.

Under the softly glowing moonlight, Regarda stood alone, guarding the Dragon.

Even while all others took their rest, when everyone else had forgotten and fallen into sleep, only Regarda remained by the Dragon’s side.

Guarding it.

It was only natural.

A thousand years ago, from the moment he was born, it was his destiny and his mission.

Even though every other member of his clan had vanished overnight.

Even though the history surrounding them had been erased, so that none remembered their noble sacrifice and no one remained at his side.

He quietly continued his duty.

Standing there, endlessly revisiting memories of the distant past.

“Now, truly, it’s almost here.”

The moment when the Dragon’s green eyes would open once more.

The day when he would meet those mysterious eyes.

The knight who had guarded for a thousand years endured through another night, protecting that hope.

He had made a promise, so of course it was his duty.

It was a mission determined from birth, so it was only natural.

Natural, but that made it the hardest thing of all.

Regarda Ovierre.

Known in this age as the Ruler of the Western Sea.

Or, Arilleia’s Guardian.

But those were just words spoken by the ignorant, impressive only on the surface.

No one truly knew his real name.

It had already faded and been forgotten, long, long ago.

If I were to meet you again, what should I say first?

Regarda Ovierre.

People of the distant past once called him with awe and reverence:

“O Dragon.”

The Dragon Knight.

***

Among the legendary creatures of China, there are two wolves that can survive only by moving together.

Nang is the wolf with short front legs.

Pae is the wolf with short hind legs.

They must help each other just to walk properly, so they live in symbiosis.

But how could they possibly agree on everything every single day?

Even while working together, if they disagree, things can fall apart dramatically.

When that happens, neither Nang nor Pae can walk or hunt.

Even being separated for a moment renders them helpless.

Plans made in advance fail, or expectations are betrayed.

This was called disaster.

*If you use Purification one hundred times a day, and do that for a hundred days, you can use it ten thousand times.

…Honestly, that’s just nonsense.

First of all, using it one hundred times a day is absurd.

‘I’m not a Dragon, and my mana isn’t infinite, is it?’

Even with the help of magic stones, a hundred times is too much, and mana isn’t the only thing needed for magic.

Mental strength is an issue as well.

You have to focus your mind and use it carefully.

If you cast carelessly, not only is the effect weak, but it might even fail entirely.

Hio’s trait, ‘Can’t Live Without Style!’, gave strong resistance to mental attacks, but didn’t make his willpower any stronger.

“Let’s just take it slow. At an easy pace.”

For the first three days, he overdid it with Purification, but soon realized that was the wrong approach.

This couldn’t be solved in a short time.

He would have to pace himself and work on other things at the same time.

After all, the world wasn’t going to end if he didn’t wake the Dragon right away.

“Let’s make learning other 4th Circle spells at the Mage’s Tower my first priority.”

Thus, Hio’s daily schedule was set.

In the morning, he would learn and practice other spells at the Mage’s Tower.

Wizard Eye, Entangle, Earth Break—none of these were easy spells, requiring deep study and practice.

There was a reason 4th Circle Magicians were called Advanced Magicians.

「Necromancy – ‘Bone Spear’ has been successfully cast.」

「Necromancy – ‘Bone Spear’ is now registered as a skill.」

「Skill: Bone Spear」

「A spear of bone, strengthened with mana.」

「The more soulless bones around you, the more spears you can create.」

「The power is determined by the amount of death energy infused.」

「Necromancy – ‘Summon Lava’ has been successfully cast.」

「Necromancy – ‘Summon Lava’ is now registered as a skill.」

「Skill: Summon Lava」

「Summons a fireworm from hell.」

「The lava-loving worm uses its molten body to rampage until it turns the area into a lava field.」

「The stronger the fire energy, and the thicker the death energy, the more powerful the summoned creature.」

「If you cannot control it, it is recommended to summon it as far away as possible.」

Fortunately, Hio had quickly picked up Necromancy’s Bone Spear and Summon Lava.

Thus, morning passed, and in the afternoon it was time for that task again.

Damn Purification.

Walking past the ever-motionless Regarda, he placed his hand on the Dragon’s scales and raised his staff.

Doing this several times a day, he’d grown as skilled at Purification as with a 3rd Circle spell.

He had become accustomed to it.

Which meant it had turned into a simple chore.

It was tedious now, and yet he still had to endure and keep going.

In other words, his perseverance was growing.

[Hidden Trait: No Violence Allowed! (Perseverance: 41 / 1000)]

Of course, the growth wasn’t rapid, but still, any progress was something.

Within the monotony of repetition, it was a small comfort.

A few more days passed, and he looked outward.

Why was the Magician’s House hidden away in the sealed fourth basement, with its doors never opening?

「Imenia Magic University(1) – ‘Magician’s House’ has been selected.」

「Portal is activating.」

Once activated, it allowed instant travel to that place anytime, and any Magician could potentially abuse this.

So it had been hidden away.

At the same time, for Hio, this was an incredible advantage, and he made full use of it to instantly travel to Imenia.

“…What the heck.”

Sirbert, knowing nothing of this, greeted Hio with a dumbfounded expression.

“What?”

“There’s a rumor among the Bingija that you had a real showdown with Regarda at the West Sea… So why are you here?”

Ignoring Sirbert, Hio waved a hand and plopped down on the sofa as if it were his own house.

“Let’s skip that for now. How’s the raid going?”

Daphne went in well-prepared a while ago… But more importantly, what about the Arilleia raid…?”

“Nothing unusual?”

“…There was an issue at first where logout wasn’t working, but after a week it went back to normal. Other than that, the raid’s progressing steadily. Now, about your story….”

“Good. That’s all I needed. I’m busy, so I’ll be off.”

Leaving the bewildered Sirbert behind, he immediately set off for his next destination.

The next stop: the Huang Palace.

***

“Hio!”

Unlike the gloomy Sirbert, at the palace, Sylvia greeted Hio with a radiant smile.

You left for the Adventurer’s Guild, but somehow the news gets to me that you fought the Ruler of the Western Sea? How did that happen?”

It was nagging, but with a sunny charm.

“I even put together a special unit for you, but you ignored all of it and went through the Abyss Gate alone—do you know how shocked I was when I heard you’d fought the Ruler of the Western Sea and the Guardian Knight?”

“…Sorry.”

He wasn’t sure why he needed to apologize, but the mood was odd, and the apology came out instinctively—which turned out to be the right move.

A scolding that could have lasted twenty minutes wrapped up in five.

Sylvia hadn’t always been like this—maybe becoming the Emperor had changed her.

She nagged more these days.

Anyway, Hio and Sylvia sat across from each other on the sofa, soon getting to the main topic.

That was the reason Hio had come to the palace.

‘How were they handling the sudden appearance of the Abyss Gate?’

Sylvia, now elegant in manner, sipped her tea and answered.

“We’ve secured many gates and sent troops to control them. Some nobles tried to secretly hide gates that appeared on their own lands, but there’s no way they’d get away with that.”

Nobles with such greed always had connections.

And the end of that greed always reached to the top—the central nobility.

In other words, the nobles of the Huang Palace.

Any information went straight to Sylvia through them.

All the central nobles were devoted to the Emperor, after all.

“You haven’t entered the gates yet?”

“No. For now, I’m focusing on securing and controlling the locations of the gates. We have to be prepared for any confusion or unexpected events from the anomalies.”

It was a wise decision.

With the gates appearing randomly everywhere, restoring order was the first priority.

That was the only way to minimize casualties.

“The Bingija will handle this raid. We’ll officially intervene starting with the next one.”

With Sylvia’s capabilities, she’d have things under control by then.

In the meantime, Hio would complete the 4th Circle, purify the Dragon, and join the expedition for the next raid.

It was a solid plan, fitting together perfectly in terms of timing.

“So you’ll be joining from the next raid, Hio?”

“Yeah. This raid’s probably already well underway… I have other business for now.”

“Good. If this one goes well, I’ll be a bit relieved.”

Sylvia, who smiled as she said this, soon looked a little uneasy and asked Hio,

“About… the Bingija. Can we really trust them?”

Her careful question came from a place of unease.

Understandably so, from Sylvia’s perspective.

“They’re people from another world. If a real crisis comes, will they really risk their lives for our world?”

Thinking about it, it was only natural to have doubts.

“Honestly, I can’t trust them.”

The fact that only the Bingija were being sent to such a critical front—was this the right call?

It wasn’t as if there were any alternatives, but it was natural for the Emperor—and for a resident of this world—to feel uneasy.

“Just this once… Let’s trust them. Things are going smoothly so far.”

“Yeah. The Empire’s army will join the next raid.”

“Right. I’ll be joining the expedition next time, so don’t worry too much.”

After that, the conversation turned a bit more casual.

For both Hio and Sylvia, it was almost the only time they could relax and laugh together.

But when that sweet time ended, it was back to their routines.

Sylvia as Emperor.

Hio back to the Mage’s Tower, and to Arilleia.

Thus, daily life continued.

It all looked peaceful on the surface, but beneath it, each bore heavy burdens.

Regarda’s anticipation after enduring a thousand years for a promise.

The hope of the Arilleia People, that their long mission was drawing to an end.

Hio’s quiet effort, preparing himself for the next step.

This everyday life, seemingly peaceful, contained all these things.

「Abyss – The 51st Floor raid has failed.」

In reality, all it took was a few lines of text to shatter it all.

「Two dimensions are connecting.」

「Abyssal Depths’ has appeared.」

What was promised has failed, hope turns to despair, plans collapse, and expectations are betrayed.

「Logout is commencing.」

It was a disaster.