Chapter 236: Leon's Successor
While discussions about the special autonomous city of Pyongyang were taking place in Seoul, Leon was living a somewhat free life.
North and South Koreans who would work in the development and labor of Pyongyang. How they would become residents of the autonomous city while retaining their South Korean citizenship.
How the city would be developed and what would happen to existing Pyongyang property rights.
Developing a new city and declaring it autonomous is a lot of work. We also needed to leave something for the people who would become the leaders of the city.
There were so many things that needed to be done, so many things that needed to be done, but──
"Hmm."
Leon had surprisingly little to do.
City planning? Yappy could do that.
Stabilizing the neighborhood? The Knights will do that.
Political matters, President Ahn is coordinating with the National Assembly, and Leon is merely the face of the organization.
Since the Chaos Demon Lord and his forces have been eliminated, there has only been a minor gate raid. And even then, it's not something he'd be able to do himself.
In short, there is nothing for Leon to do.
That's why he's been so keen on training Black Dragon lately, because he basically has nothing to do.
[Leon, do you have nothing to do?]
"I don't have much to do these days."
Leon shrugged at the goddess's tone, for indeed he did.
"But isn't that also proof that the king is free, or that the country is at peace?"
[There's no room for my knight to act.]
"Exactly."
Leon doesn't consider himself a great soldier.
Even during his reign as King Lionheart's Lionheart, he was never particularly good at running the country.
He didn't do anything outlandish or epoch-making for his people.
He simply did what he was good at, and did it well.
Killing orcs. Hunting demons. Warlock torture.
Most of Leon's work in and around the kingdom involved punishing his enemies with force.
Even now, Leon's job is to weigh down the Black Dragon where others cannot, and to teach him the things he needs to do as a dragon to benefit the Great Gods.
If it weren't for Leon, the Black Dragon would drive his teachers out by force.
[If you're bored, why don't you go to Beatrice's workshop?]
"To Beatrice?"
Leon tilted his head at Arianna's suggestion.
[Yes, it would not be so easy for a woman to work alone, carrying heavy things------]
"Goddess, Beatrice is the priestess of dreams and death. She can move heavy things, even with her bare hands──"
[Hehe, since when does my knight talk like this to your goddess].
Leon didn't talk any more at the goddess's words. Without another word, he left the suite and walked down the hall.
After leaving the suite, the interior of the hotel becomes desolate. The interior of the Ryugyong Hotel, which has been under construction for 50 years, reveals the lack of budget.
"I was going to leave it to the sages of the forest who are about to be born, but we should at least do some interior work."
[Since the roots of the World Tree have descended, the furniture should also be taken care of]
"That's right. Tree Men and elves despise furniture made of carved wood."
Such things put them at odds with the dwarves and humans, who use firewood and develop forests. There were conflicts between species everywhere, and it was the Lionheart's job to mediate them.
[Why don't you leave that to Yappy.]
"You mean Lord Spinner?"
Leon thought of Yappy's way of working, but worried that he might clash with the elves or the Tree Men.
Isn't Yappy the epitome of a highly advanced civilized society, and wouldn't he have the least interest in conservation or harmony?
[That's the way he works, all you have to do is say the word, tell him to go green and he'll do it.]
"That's true, too."
Yappy is in charge of the Great Hall's finances. Calling the national treasury is a fundamental part of a country's work, but Yappy's role is somewhat limited.
Right now, if Yappy focused on producing cryptocurrency, it could easily swallow up the global economy.
But Leon's vague demands to do things the right way have resulted in healthy wealth growth by human standards.
Thanks to the overwhelming computational power of the AI, it rarely fails.
"Hoohoo------"
[Why are you laughing?]
"Well, I was just imagining what it would be like if Lord Spinner became the Lionheart King."
[[------!]]
Arianna wasn't the only one taken aback by Leon's lighthearted topic.
Petos, Poma, Heto and Demera were stunned and disapproving.
[Leon, my lighthouse, do not speak such words, not even in peasant tongues!]
"I am not a farmer."
"It's not just fun."
Heto interrupted Leon's answer.
[He's my blacksmith, but he's the one who's going to turn my people into cyborgs when he becomes king! He'll make implant modification a constitutional law because it's efficient!]
"Cyborg modification isn't really that dystopian, is it?"
[He's going to make The Matrix!]
"------"
Leon thought about a future where Yappy became the Lionheart King, and then realized he might actually do it.
[Yappy, not that he's a bad-hearted kid, but------]
"Wouldn't you like that, Demera?"
Leon asked, surprised that even his benevolent mother would respond as she did.
[I'm guessing they're going to build apartment developments on the farmland and replace the food with artificial food------]
"Ah------"
It was possible enough in the civilized world of Yappy.
Livestock, agriculture, and fisheries were replaced by sinful factory development, and citizens were fed artificial meat------
"Then Lord Vulcanus is──"
[[No more of him!!!]]
A backlash was heard, worse than before.
[The last thing I want is a Lionheart like him, who goes on a rampage when he gets bored!]
"Sir Vulcanus is not such a knight."
[Leon, can you say that after seeing Petos hold evangelistic meetings in military academies all over the world?]
"------"
Leon was used to hearing Vulcanus patron god, Petos, always torn apart for his lack of faith.
He constantly sends him holy power through a staff he acquired from a priest of the gods from the demon realm.
The gods fear that if Vulcanus becomes the agent of all the gods, all the gods will suffer from a lack of holy power.
Vulcanus, like Leon, has no sense of timely thrift.
"Hmm------"
Leon descended the stairs, searching for the next Lionheart King.
He thought Yappy or Vulcanus had the strength and qualities to be the next Lionheart King, but apparently the gods didn't see it that way.
'Then Beactrice or Karina. That leaves Koo Dae-sung.'
But Koo Dae-sung is inexperienced. It was customary for the Grail Guardians to be succeeded by Holy Knights, but Koo Dae-sung was too young and inexperienced.
The other Holy Knights will rebel, and it'll start with Vulcanus.
Karina's first problem is the dragon's heart. In order to transplant the lion's heart, she must first give the dragon's heart to the next Grand Duke of Dragonia.
Leon can keep both hearts for a while, but that's only because he's Leon.
Unless, of course, she sired an heir who would inherit the dragon's heart------
'Damn it, I don't think I'm going to get that.'
His teeth clench at the thought of a boy marrying his daughter. He didn't want to see that shit while he was alive.
'Then------'
"Your Majesty, what are you doing here? Isn't today the Black Dragon's training day?"
Leon met Beatrice in the doorway of her workshop.
"Ah, Beatrice. Are you going out?"
"Yes, for an experiment."
Leon looked at the large bag Beatrice was carrying, a bit unbalanced in her slender hands, but as a priestess, she shouldn't lack strength.
She was an accomplished magician, after all, and shouldn't struggle with such a heavy load.
"Give it to me. I'll carry it for you."
"You don't have to do that------"
"It's a gentleman's duty to help a lady with her luggage."
"Only if you say so------"
Leon lifted Beatrice's luggage and sensed a familiar energy in it.
"Dragon energy."
"Yes, I processed it from the black dragon that I received for my tuition fee."
Leon and Beatrice had been teaching the Black Dragon together.
He taught him hand-to-hand combat and she taught him how to harness magic.
Dragonia, the God of Gold and Covenants, was not pleased with the idea of humans teaching dragons, but he recognized that there were few who could teach his offspring in this age.
Beatrice was paid by the black dragon with a minor byproduct of dragons.
"Where do you intend to go with it?"
"You know that gate I asked you about before, near Nampo?"
"Hmm, that's a bit far. Stallion."
Leon summoned the Light Beast. The white stallion is a noble beast that only carries the Lionheart King on its back, but it is surprisingly obedient to Beatrice.
"Take my hand."
Leon climbed into Stallion's saddle and offered her his hand.
"Gladly."
* * * * *
Over the central part of the Korean Peninsula, traveling down the west coast, they arrive in Nampo, North Korea's second largest city.
North Korea's second largest city with a population of nearly a million people, but just as Pyongyang fell into the hands of demons, so did Nampo.
The city was deserted and desolate, and it was the Kikiruks who took over the coastal area from Mokpo.
Nampo is technically not part of the proposed Pyongyang Special Self-Governing City, but it's North Korea's version of Naju.
After sailing north with their Dominator-class submarines, defeating the North Korean Navy and taking over the empty city, the Kikiruks naturally claimed it as their own.
Since they are technically South Korean residents, it's difficult for the South to evict them.
In the meantime, a gate appeared on the coast of Nampo City, and Beatrice gave a pause to the Kikiruk raiders who were trying to clear it.
"I've heard that this is for experiments, but what exactly are you planning?"
Leon, who had been helping Beatrice with the gate on the sandy shore of Nampo City, asked.
"You're familiar with the Dragon Fear, right?"
"It's the energy that dragons naturally emit."
"Yes, I've felt it before, when I was about to head through the gate into the Dragonia Empire. It can stop even the strongest of Hunters in their tracks, unless they're protected by a powerful faith."
It's an aura of power that blooms from mere existence. The higher the rank of a being, the more power it has over lesser beings.
It's not just strength alone that can resist it, which is why similarly powerful S-class Hunters and Holy Knights react differently to the sight of the same higher being.
"The dragon's scales and byproducts still retain their aura after they fall off the dragon, and it's quite powerful."
"Is that so?"
As Leon hammered in the stake, he suddenly remembered that there was no one around.
They had come to greet him when he had just landed, but now they had hurried away, as if something was bothering them.
"Have they avoided the aura emanating from the dragon byproducts?"
"Yes, because even they, who are favored by the gods, would want to avoid the dragon's aura. If so------"
What about the monsters?
Leon's eyes lit up at the question.
"Monsters will avoid dragon energy?"
"That's exactly right, which is why I asked them to stop attacking the gate."
Beatrice had deliberately set off the dungeon break to see how the monsters that popped out of it would react to the dragon's energy.
"That's an interesting way to do it. An unexpected idea in this king's reign."
And rightly so. In Leon's reign, dragons were enemies to be defeated.
But now that Dragonia has been accepted into the Pantheon and has chosen to coexist, the dragonborn must also choose to coexist with the Lionheart.
If so, dragon scales would be readily available.
Beatrice had foreseen such a future and had been researching ways to harness the power of dragons.
"Well, the dungeon break shouldn't be long now, so why don't we spend some time here?"
"Since we've come to the sea, would you like to play?"
"I'd rather not, I'm afraid. Showing my bare skin would be embarrassing."
Beatrice's reaction was not surprising, given her aversion to bathing suits.
"This king meant a boat ride."
"Ah------"
Leon's sneering reply made Beatrice's cheeks blush. But she gently changed the subject.
"By the way, Fle mentioned something about stopping you, what was she talking about?"
"Ah~ Nothing much. I was discussing the Lionheart King to succeed this king, and you are a strong candidate."
"------!"
Leon's words were spoken lightly, but Beatrice jumped up and grabbed his hand in anger.
"No."
"------Beatrice?"
Beatrice looks up at him with sad eyes.
Her slender hands are clasped together as if she's going to run away.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TSareyouthere
TSareyouthere Well... it's been a while
Novel Ended
thank you very much to all the Readers who followed me !!
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