Chapter 7: Please Marry Me

Seven Dragons Society.

The roots of this organization go beyond the Heroes Age, when Sword Masters were active, back to the Bronze Age.

It was the end of the Silver Age, the peak of gods and magic.

The world was in chaos due to indiscriminate witch hunts and religious wars.

That turmoil caused countless innocent victims, and before long, the gods became objects of resentment rather than objects of faith.

That was when the Seven Dragons appeared.

They were ancient beings who had been slumbering to avoid calamity before awakening.

Wielding the mystery known as Psionics, the Seven Dragons devoured the Incarnations with their overwhelming power, and the persecuted people were so moved by their feat that they became followers of the Seven Dragons.

The Seven Dragons did not reject their followers.

In fact, they even passed down their power, Psionics.

As a result, the followers of the Seven Dragons increased explosively, forming a massive organization—that was the Seven Dragons Society.

It was a religion that revered the Seven Dragons as gods and saviors, and a force that once conquered and ruled the world.

However, that was a story from the Bronze Age.

After the first Sword Master, the Sword Emperor, cut down the Seven Dragons and opened the Heroes Age, the Seven Dragons Society lost its hegemony and fell into ruin.

But who was it that said even if a rich man goes bankrupt, he lasts for three generations?

Though they had fallen, the Seven Dragons Society did not disappear.

Using the vast assets they had accumulated in the past and the power of Psionics as a foundation, they reorganized their collapsed structure and sought a comeback.

Yet, they tasted the bitter cup of failure time and time again.

This was because there were those who tenaciously interfered every time they tried to regain world hegemony.

And at the forefront was the Sword Master called the Guardian Deity of Humanity, Limon Aspelder.

To summarize?

It meant the Seven Dragons Society and Limon were sworn enemies who could not live under the same sky.

Although the times had changed and the Seven Dragons Society no longer had reason to fight him, long-standing grudges did not disappear easily.

There was even a time in the past when assassins from the Seven Dragons Society would visit him as often as daily meals.

“This is good tea.”

“It’s just cheap tea brewed from a tea bag bought at a supermarket.”

“To think you bought tea with such a deep flavor so cheaply, you truly have a great reputation, Sword Lord.”

“…”

Limon wore a sour expression as he looked at Li Qingwei, the girl admiring the tea while holding the cup.

‘I never thought I’d live to hear the princess of the Black Dragon Clan tell me I have a great reputation.’

Of course, he had heard many other things.

A man who deserved divine punishment, a brat who should be eaten by dragons, and so on.

The Seven Dragons Society used to give him new nicknames and evaluations whenever they were bored.

Among them, the fact that a relatively normal title like Sword Lord existed was a miracle, bordering on the mysterious.

And yet, to hear such an evaluation from the princess of the Black Dragon Clan, the one with the deepest grudge against him among the Seven Dragons’ seven clans?

If he told others, they would truly have him committed to a psychiatric hospital.

“However, this is a bit unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I heard the Sword Lord lived frugally, but I didn’t know you lived in such a shabby place.”

From the yellowed wallpaper to the old furniture and an ancient TV that even a junk dealer wouldn’t buy, Limon replied indifferently to Li Qingwei as she looked around the studio apartment, which was overflowing with poverty rather than just being lived-in.

“Frugal? I live here because I’m just a pauper with no money.”

“A pauper…? You, Sword Lord?”

“Yeah.”

As if she had heard an absurd joke, Li Qingwei wore a puzzled expression.

“I understood that the Sword Lord had quite a large fortune.”

“That was all donated away a long time ago.”

“Ah, I see.”

Li Qingwei smiled brightly as if she finally understood.

“Donating your entire fortune… you made a wonderful decision.”

Limon replied wryly.

“It wasn’t a decision I made.”

“…???”

A question mark appeared over Li Qingwei’s head.

She couldn’t understand what it meant to have donated but not made the decision.

Limon chuckled at her.

“I told you, I didn’t ‘give’ a donation, I was ‘subjected’ to one.”

“Is it possible to be subjected to a donation?”

“Strange, isn’t it? It turned out that way because those kids called assemblymen did some hocus-pocus to change the law.”

Limon cackled.

It was amusing to see the princess of the Black Dragon Clan so bewildered by his financial status.

‘Well, it is surprising.’

Originally, Limon’s wealth was quite substantial.

Back in the Heroes Age, when the Sword Master was considered an absolute being, there were always those who felt money was no object to build a friendship with him, and Limon wasn’t the type to refuse money when it was given.

The gold and treasures he received at the time filled dozens of warehouses to the point where he had to build new ones.

But after the Iron Age began, the tax exemption privileges he received from the state vanished, and his wealth melted away like a mirage.

The Special Tax, the Patriot Act, the Superhuman Donation Act…

Various laws were created, and most of his wealth flew away in just a few years due to unexpected tax bombs.

Even the Sword Tower, the holy land of the Sword Masters, went bankrupt because it couldn’t be maintained.

Even after that, he spent money like water on compensation every time he beat someone half to death or damaged property.

There was no way any wealth remained.

‘If I had known this would happen, should I have siphoned some money off in advance?’

Back then, when he saw rich people burying gold here and there, he thought it was some kind of squirrel-like behavior, but thinking back, it was an act of foresight.

Well, most of those rich people died without even leaving behind the location of their hidden gold.

Thanks to that, searching for ownerless gold used to be Limon’s hobby.

But no matter how early regret comes, it is always too late.

Instead of lingering on wealth he had no use for anyway, Limon focused on a more realistic matter.

“Anyway, I’d like to hear an explanation now.”

“An explanation…?”

“The request you made earlier.”

“Ah, you mean that?”

Whether it was because the topic changed suddenly, the bewildered Li Qingwei belatedly understood Limon’s meaning and nodded.

After a short breath, she spoke with a serious face.

“You don’t necessarily have to father a child.”

“…”

“Please become my husband, even if it’s just a formality.

If you do, the Black Dragon Clan will serve you with all our heart.”

“Hey, excuse me?”

“I won’t even ask you to work. If you just keep your position quietly, I will grant anything else you desire. If I am not enough, as many other women as you want…”

“Wait, STOOOP!!!”

After gaping like a goldfish for a long time, Limon raised a hand to stop Li Qingwei’s words.

Then, with a face full of absurdity and disbelief, he spoke.

“Hey, the explanation I asked for wasn’t that.”

“Yes? It wasn’t?”

“No. I want to hear the reason you came to find me, not the marriage conditions.”

Limon crossed his arms.

Then, staring intently at Li Qingwei, he added another word.

“Because I don’t know the reason why the princess of the Black Dragon Clan would go so far as to take me as a live-in son-in-law just to use an old-timer like me.”

“…How did you know?”

“If I didn’t know after hearing that much, I’d be an idiot.”

He didn’t need to father a child, and he just had to stay still as a husband in name only.

On top of that, they’d give him anything and didn’t care if he had other women?

No matter how you looked at it, those weren’t marriage conditions.

They were employment conditions.

In other words, Li Qingwei wasn’t proposing.

She was trying to sell herself to borrow his strength.

“That… there are complicated circumstances.”

“I figured.”

Limon replied indifferently.

Even if Li Qingwei was the princess of the Black Dragon Clan, marrying Limon was not something that could be easily overlooked.

It was an act that wouldn’t be surprising if the other princesses of the Seven Dragons Society, let alone the Black Dragon Clan followers, staged a rebellion.

If she came to make such a request while risking that, it certainly wasn’t an ordinary situation.

“You don’t need to tell me what those complicated circumstances are. I’m not curious anyway.”

In the old days, he might have wanted to know.

To the point where he’d want to catch a few executives and torture them to make them spit it out.

But times had changed.

Now that they had come out into the light and he couldn’t just kill them recklessly, Limon had zero interest in the affairs of the Seven Dragons Society.

“What I’m curious about is why you’re making such a request to *me* of all people.”

“Because even if you marry me, you are someone who would never covet the power or wealth of the Black Dragon Clan.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Coveting the wealth of the Black Dragon Clan?

He’d rather covet dog dung.

Besides, rather than handing over their wealth to Limon, the Black Dragon Clan would use that money to make bombs and commit collective suicide.

Limon and the Black Dragon Clan had that serious of a relationship.

“Still, I’m sure I’m not the only person like that?”

“Yes, but it can’t be anyone else.”

“Why?”

If she just needed a suitable live-in son-in-law, she could find any number of decent men.

She was, after all, the Black Dragon Princess—the girl who inherited the most supreme bloodline.

Despite that, Li Qingwei hesitated before revealing why she specifically sought out Limon.

“Because you are the only one who won’t die even after marrying me, Sword Lord.”

“…Are you saying anyone else would die if they married you?”

“Yes, almost certainly.”

“Why?”

“Because anyone who marries me is highly likely to be targeted by a fearsome enemy.”

“And who is this enemy?”

“That… I cannot tell you right now.”

“Hmm.”

Limon wore a strange expression.

‘It certainly doesn’t seem like a trivial matter.’

Then again, the very act of a princess of the Seven Dragons Society looking for a fake husband was serious.

The princesses were the type who would rather overthrow a country to find the husband they wanted than enter a political marriage.

It went without saying, then, if they chose Limon as a fake husband out of fear of an unspeakable enemy.

“Just asking out of curiosity, what do you think the probability of me dying if I marry you is?”

To Limon, who asked calmly about his own risk, Li Qingwei answered immediately.

“Zero.”

“I asked because I was curious about the answer, not for flattery.”

“It’s not flattery.”

Li Qingwei shook her head.

Then, looking at Limon with eyes that had sunk deep, she spoke.

“There is no way a being capable of killing the Sword Lord exists in this world, other than us, right?”

Limon blinked blankly.

And only after a long time did he burst into a booming laugh.

“Pwahaha! Right, you really know your stuff!”

He cackled for a long time.

Finally calming his laughter, Limon poured tea into his cup and drank as he spoke in a low voice.

“Well, anyway, it’s not a bad offer. It’s not like I have any honor left to lose by becoming a live-in son-in-law. I’d be able to live in luxury, too.”

Him becoming the fake husband of the Black Dragon Clan’s princess.

It was something unimaginable in the old days.

But times had already changed.

He was no longer the absolute being.

No one would care who Limon, who was now nothing more than a low-level civil servant, married.

So there was no reason for Limon to refuse this offer.

“It makes me feel bad that I have to decline.”

“…”

“As expected, do you not like me?”

“In this day and age, saying I dislike a beauty like you would invite divine punishment.”

“Then why are you refusing?”

“I’m a civil servant.”

Limon shrugged his shoulders.

Then, putting down his teacup, he continued lightly.

“I don’t know when I might have to beat down the Seven Dragons Society again for the sake of humanity, but if I’m married to you, we’d be a domestic disaster, wouldn’t we? It’d be embarrassing.”

“…”

He knew it was a foolish thing.

Nowadays, when politicians sponsored by the Seven Dragons Society were all over the world, and warriors of the Seven Dragons Society enjoyed popularity like movie stars.

There was no reason for Limon to fight the Seven Dragons Society.

Even if an emergency occurred, people would now ask the Monarchs for help, not him.

But he couldn’t help it.

No matter how much the times had changed, he was ultimately a man of the old era who had fought against the Seven Dragons Society to protect the world.

“…So you are saying you are still the Guardian Deity of Humanity, Sword Lord.”

“It’s just the stubbornness of an old man who lived too long.”

Limon shrugged.

Then, he spoke to Li Qingwei as if he felt sorry.

“I feel bad for making you come all this way for nothing.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Despite being met with Limon’s cold gaze, which was more indifferent than his words, Li Qingwei did not show disappointment.

She merely wore a bittersweet smile.

“Just being able to see the Sword Lord in person like this is an achievement beyond my expectations.”