Capítulo 218: [Chapter 218] Tea Time with the Evil Dragon
Cledwyn kept looking for a chance to escape the dragon's notice.
It was shocking to learn that the evil dragon from 600 years ago was still alive. If the dragon's lair was here, it was their duty to confirm its state. But that was a task that needed to be done with sufficient troops and a detailed plan.
It wasn't something that he and his fragile wife, just the two of them, could accomplish by suddenly being thrown into the underground of the ruins and confronting the dragon herself.
The dragon wouldn't like humans. She even called Neris the child of Elandria and Cledwyn the child of Palos. If she thought of them as descendants of the old heroes, she would naturally be hostile.
But he didn't know why she was being so kind and talking about hospitality.
If the dragon had shown even a slight opening, Cledwyn would have run away with Neris. Or he would have fought the dragon.
But the dragon, without ever looking back at the two of them, walked ahead, revealing her flawless presence. And as she walked, she cleared away the monster corpses that were scattered around, without even glancing at them, just with a gesture.
Even the two of them, who had only received basic magic training, could tell the dragon's powerful magical abilities. She was someone who could do what people would call mythical imagination in the blink of an eye.
It was amazing. The records from 600 years ago mention the existence of the evil dragon, as well as powerful mages who could change the terrain alone, monsters, and fairies. But it was difficult to find any evidence that they actually existed. If Cledwyn went outside now and said, "I saw an orc," everyone would laugh.
'Nowadays, there are even schools of thought that claim that the evil dragon never existed, and the three heroes were just epic poems about the achievements of three powerful human families 600 years ago.'
"How did you know this was the dragon's lair?"
Cledwyn whispered to Neris. Neris, who had been wearing a heavy expression since earlier, whispered back.
"I read the battle log in the library here. It was about how they sent out a certain type of monster and how they resisted, because a human army was approaching. Who else would write something like that?"
Unless it's just a simple novel.
But right before their eyes, the stone gargoyle came to life and forgotten monsters attacked. Neris didn't want to waste energy denying the obvious reality.
The dragon, who was walking ahead, interjected.
"Ah, that would be the journal written by our guardian."
"Guardian?"
It was an unfamiliar word. Cledwyn frowned, looking puzzled, and Neris sighed and said,
"A guardian is someone who lives in the dragon's lair and takes care of the dragon they have a master-servant contract with. It's a term that appears occasionally in old folklore."
"He's a very interesting fellow. He's quite talkative. He's asleep now, though."
The dragon interjected again.
It didn't seem like they had walked very far, but the opposite end of the corridor was strangely much closer. The dragon, with a familiar gesture, opened one of the many doors in the corridor. And she led the two of them inside.
It was a large reception room. But unlike the kind of space that nobles would lavishly decorate with jewels and silk and show off to their guests, all the furniture and fixtures were made of silver metal. A moon-like light, bright yet never harsh on the eyes, emanated from the entire room.
The dragon seated the two of them in front of a round table. Then, one side of the reception room rattled, and a steaming teapot and delicate, seashell-shaped cups flew over and landed on the table. The teapot floated up on its own and poured a thick, silver-sparkling liquid into the cups.
"Drink up. It's good for mortals."
It was the first time Neris and Cledwyn had heard the word 'mortal' directly. Cledwyn awkwardly joked.
"Does that mean it's good because mortals become immortal?"
"Does that mean it will kill you if you drink it? No, it doesn't. And does that mean you'll become a god if you drink it? No, it doesn't either. Ah, how long has it been since I had a conversation like this. I'm so happy to know you're alive, so I'll forgive this rudeness this time."
The dragon took a sip from her own cup first.
"From what I see, the child of Elandria has just woken up from a curse and is still weak, and the child of Palos has been caught in a mana storm, so the magic in his body is unstable. This is refined magic herb grown in the Silver Dragon's lair, gathered from the full moon's light and the starlight of the morning star, so it will have a stabilizing and health-enhancing effect on those as weak as you."
Her relaxed attitude was as if she had been watching the two of them go through everything. Cledwyn, dissatisfied, took a sip of the liquid first.
The drink was smoother than he expected, and he felt at ease after drinking it. He waited a while, making sure there was no poison in it, and then signaled to Neris to drink.
When he decided that he had fulfilled the visitor's etiquette, he asked sharply.
"How long have you been living here?"
"How long, child? Since humans first set foot on this land. I was born the eldest when the Dragon God Helgarm created me and my kin. And when my kin left this land to belong to their realm, I was the youngest who couldn't leave this land."
"You mean you've been hiding here all this time? The story of the three heroes defeating you is a lie? Also, there is only one god, Timaios. I've never heard of Helgarm."
"Is that so?"
He had deliberately asked the question rudely, trying to provoke the dragon to get the answer he wanted, but she didn't get angry. It was like a person wouldn't care about an ant's rudeness.
Instead, she said bitterly.
"You've forgotten so quickly. Yes… what is truth to you, who live a life as fleeting as a moment."
"Truth?"
Neris, who had been quiet, spoke up.
"We have our own truth, Great Dragon. It's just different from what you know."
She was trying to probe her, saying that the truth on their side was that she had committed evil deeds and was defeated by the heroes. But the dragon just smiled gently.
"There is only one truth in the world, child of Elandria. It's just how you understand it that's different. So tell me. How much time has passed?"
"Over 600 years have passed since you disappeared from our sight."
"How have you lived?"
"Sometimes hard, sometimes happily."
"Let me rephrase the question. How did the two of you survive?"
"We survived somehow."
"You must have had many difficulties. Is the child of Bisto well?"
"He is well. He rules over humans, thanks to his feat of defeating you."
"Ha ha! That child was always good with words. He incited the humans, like a cunning Nodel. He said to free the humans. But both I and Elandria knew that greed was in his eyes. She lamented it greatly…"
'She'. Neris bit her lip.
"…Is she… referring to the honest Elandria? The hero from 600 years ago. The 'real' honest Elandria."
The Duke's family, known as the direct descendants of the hero Elandria, but all they knew about the violet-eyed abilities was through old documents.
The man in the portrait, who had only the imperial symbol behind him and had violet eyes instead of a gem-eye.
If that man wasn't the real Elandria.
"Perhaps that's the case. I've been asleep for so long, and I've only woken up occasionally, so I didn't know that 600 years had passed outside."
If that man wasn't the real Elandria, then where did the real records go?
Neris's mind was racing. Cledwyn, taking the opportunity, said,
"You called me the child of Palos earlier, but I'm not related to the Duke of Palos."
"Ah, ordinary humans don't have your eye color. I don't know what this Duke of Palos you're talking about is, but your eyes are the clearest evidence of your lineage."
'Eye color'… Cledwyn recalled what the diamond in the imperial light pillar had said.
Could the one the diamond was talking about be the hero Palos, 'the beautiful Palos'?
The dragon mourned sadly.
"I thought, 'magic' was too little. Even though it's such a clear gray, the fact that it's not a gem-eye means that Palos was sealed too. 600 years. It's a short time for me, but it's different for humans. I understand that it was enough time for him and her to be forgotten."
"You said you were asleep."
Neris couldn't help but ask.
"The three heroes weren't forgotten. After fighting you 600 years ago, the brave Bisto became emperor, and the honest Elandria and the beautiful Palos became his subjects. But you're saying that the records about Elandria and Palos are wrong."
"Subjects?"
The dragon laughed loudly.
"Would an eagle become the subject of a sparrow? Would the sea become the subject of a pond? Ah, we were all deceived by the wicked Bisto. So, everyone should nod their heads when they say he's great, but it makes me feel strange to have the name of a friend be insulted even in death."
The wicked Bisto!
Who would call the first emperor and the hero who saved humanity that? Neris had never heard such an expression before, but she felt a strange sense of liberation before she could even think about the reason.
Everything Neris had learned so far. And what the dragon had said… it made her think of a faint possibility.
The hero Elandria that the imperial family had put forward was fake, and there was a real hero. Perhaps Palos was the same. And if Bisto had deceived everyone, that…
That was why Keamil had to kill Neris.
No, there wasn't enough evidence yet. Neris tried to think rationally.
And she opened her lips, which felt numb.
"You're not an evil dragon. Or, you're the one called an evil dragon by us, but you're not actually evil."
"How would I know human good and evil? I may have been evil to you."
"The lynx meant Bisto."
"Yes, Bisto's tribe used the lynx as their symbol. At some point, they got tired of it and started using the sun together."
"The three heroes didn't join forces to kill you. Bisto alone tricked the two heroes and defeated you. And you were sealed. So was the power of Palos's gem-eye. Elandria's power wasn't sealed, so I awakened my gem-eye before I became an adult, but my husband's power to awaken was sealed, so he couldn't."
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