Chapter 2.1

“Your Highness, this is Elliot Burns.”

The place where the servant took Eliot was the king’s office. Elliot looked with a bored look around the office, which was slightly different from his own memories.

The office, slightly smaller than the audience room, had a large desk in the middle. The current King, Rupert Saunderkids, sat behind a desk, well-dressed.

Thinking he was probably about to attend the ball, Elliot slowly approached the King. Sir Escalee, who had followed him, tried to stop Elliott, but the King raised his hand with a tired expression and stopped Sir Escalee.

Then he looked at Elliot and asked.

“Burns, that’s the first time I’ve heard of that name.”

It was an unknown last name. It was a surname unknown to Rupert as well as his queen Cilicia and for the close subjects of the king and queen. That is, for the noble subjects.

Elliot grinned at the King’s reaction to not knowing his surname. Elliott would have been more surprised if anyone knew it.

He said without even showing respect to the King.

“If you’re wondering whether I’m an aristocrat or no, the answer is no,  majesty.”

He knew it. The King looked at Eliot with a disapproving look on his face. Elliot’s face was a mess with dried blood. The hair clinging to the blood made his impression even more terrifying.

However, it was not Elliot’s terrifying appearance that made the King displeased, but the fact that his good looks were revealed nonetheless.

Being such a handsome man, he couldn’t help but listen to the story somehow. Because the people around Rupert and Cilicia tell all sorts of stories to get their attention.

Among them was an idiot who made nasty prophecies about the end of the country.

“I heard you brought a message from Daaribhorn.”

The King asked, looking at the crown on the desk. It was brought by an attendant before Elliot arrived. Elliot followed the King’s gaze and looked at the crown.

“Did you check that it is genuine?”

At Elliot’s question, the King let out a small sigh. It was. It took him a while to get someone in that night to confirm it was genuine.

Of course, he didn’t check whether the jewels were real or not. That crown was given to Daaribhorn as a gift from Rupert’s great-grandfather more than a hundred years ago.

It was a gift, in simple terms, a tribute. It was one of many jewels sent with the intention of not disturbing the country. In particular, that crown was specially made for Daaribhorn.

“Okay. I don’t know if you really met Daaribhorn, but at least it will be proof that you have been to Daaribhorn’s lair or met someone who has been.”

‘You’re clever.’ Elliot thought so with a smile. Just because this was a gift from the King of Balcian to Daaribhorn more than a hundred years ago, it does not prove that Elliot received it directly from Daaribhorn.

Of course, he was right that he received it directly from Daaribhorn.

“If necessary, I will wait for you to confirm with Daaribhorn.”

“No, it’s alright.”

At Eliot’s cheeky words, the King sighed and refused. He decided to meet Elliot not because Elliot brought him the crown. Not because that crown was real but not meet Daaribhorn himself.

“Bring him in.”

At the command of the king, soldiers brought a man in. Elliott did not recognize the man’s emaciated face from worry at first. But the moment he spoke, Elliot remembered who he was.

“Your Highness, the story I told you is true.”

As soon as German entered, he clung to his desk and began begging. Rupert asked Elliot without even looking at his face.

“Tell me, Burns. What is Daaribhorn’s message? Is he trying to attack this country?”

Only then did German hear Elliott’s name and involuntarily gave out a small moan, “Hick.” The two never met. But he knew Elliot Burns.

Did Burns know German?

‘It can’t be.’ German thought Burns didn’t know him. He had never met Burns, and he had never heard his name. Not really.

It was all in his dreams that he saw Balsian fall and met Burns. Of course, even in his dreams, German only ran into Burns a few times, but he never talked deeply.

“It’s the opposite. Daaribhorn said he would forgive it this time.”

At the unexpected words, a surprised look appeared on Rupert’s face as well as German’s.

“Is he going to forgive it this time? What are you talking about?”

Elliott shrugged his shoulders at the King’s urging to ask what that meant. And only then did he begin to look at the people in the office one by one.

He saw a few familiar faces. Of course, none of them would know Elliott. Oh, except for German next to him.

Elliot saw German startled to see him. There was only one reason why anyone here could be surprised to see Elliott.

That he too had a dream where he saw them.

A mischievous smile crept across Elliot’s lips. He opened his mouth, very curious about what German had dreamed.

“Speaking of forgiveness…”

He didn’t look embarrassed at all. Seeing what Elliott was saying, the King as well as everyone in the office thought so.

Elliot Burns said that he was not an aristocrat, but he was using difficult words that an aristocrat would use. And his attitude was hard to see as a nobleman or a commoner.

He was too cheeky to be called an aristocrat and too arrogant to be called a commoner. ‘What’s he doing here?’ Sir Escalee thought so.

“Why would a certain noble son whom Your Highness and everyone in this room knows well incur Daaribhorn’s wrath?”

People in the office thought for a moment that Elliott was being sarcastic. It couldn’t be. There was no way a commoner would dare to be sarcastic in the middle of the day in front of His Majesty the King. But Elliot Burns was being sarcastic. He casted his gaze not on King Rupert, but on the duke, Germaroth, standing next to him.

Duke Germaroth’s brow furrowed as he gazed at him. What was that cheeky commoner saying?

But the next moment an ominous thought came to his mind. His only son, Hildezar.

He heard that a strange letter was sent to the Duchess from his son, who had left for a trip with a friend a few weeks ago. There were rumors that there was a dragon’s nest nearby. The Duchess showed it last week saying that he wrote that he would take a lot of dragon treasure when he went back.

‘Shit. What did he say?’ The events of the past week appeared vaguely in Duke Germaroth’s mind. He seemed to be bothered by his wife, so he replied roughly, telling her to let their son take care of himself, since he was already thirty.

“Who is that idiot who incurred Daaribhorn’s wrath?”

The moment the King said that, Duke Gurmaroth remembered how he had been annoyed with his wife that it couldn’t be a real nest. Even if it were a real nest, how would a son who went on a trip with just a few friends get into it?

But, but what if it’s a real dragon’s lair? What if his stupid son had his head spinning for that moment and hired a bunch of mercenaries to enter?

If he had a minimum of intelligence he would have returned to the capital without looking back, but Duke Gurmaroth knew that his son was not clever. He reflexively spoke to the King.

“That’s not what’s important, Your Highness.”

People’s eyes turned to the Duke. He felt that Burns’ expression as he looked at him seemed to be smiling.

That fueled Duke Germaroth’s anxiety.

The good news was that the author has been forgiven by the dragon, even though he didn’t know what he did. Duke Gumaroth’s head spun quickly. It was enough to punish his son’s foolish behavior as soon as he returned.

For now, he didn’t want to get himself into trouble because of his son’s stupidity.

“It means that Daaribhorn has withdrawn his anger. That is, that the prophecy of interest is wrong.”

German’s face turned pale at the words of Duke Gurmarot. At the same time, everyone in the office looked at German. Except for one, Elliot.

“I, but, Izaga… ”

German didn’t know what to say and started talking gibberish. He prophesied Balthian would fall within the next decade. A few months later, an enraged Daaribhorn would attack Balcian, resulting in the deaths of most of the royal family.

That prophecy was denied by Burns, who had just received Daaribhorn’s forgiveness.

“Right.”

Rupert turned his head towards Elliot and opened his mouth. Two things could be learned from that incident. That some fool’s son had dared to offend Daaribhorn, and that the man in front of him solved it.

“You couldn’t possibly defeat the dragon, right?”

At the King’s question, Elliot smiled and said,

“Isn’t that something that your Highness’ ancestors also failed?”

Even the hero Balsian could not defeat the evil dragon Krysa, although he chased it to the edge of the continent. Sir Escalee, who understood Elliott’s point, shouted first.

“So rude!”

For a moment, the atmosphere in the office was so cold that it froze. Elliott was the only one who wasn’t angry there. The King, who had been looking at him with a hard expression, asked with a tired expression.

“Then how did you do it?”

“I saved the child of Daaribhorn.”

Did Daaribhorn have any children? The people in the office looked at the king with a look full of astonishment. There were two dragons on that continent, but neither have children yet. That was fortunate.

However, if Daaribhorn gave birth to a child, there would be three dragons on the continent. That’s because a newborn dragon was born.

Elliot spoke to speed things up rather than to reassure people.

“It’s still an egg, so it will take some time to wake up.”

“Well, then we have to get rid of the egg before it hatches… ”

Surprised, the Duke of Gurmaroth shouted and then stopped. The moment he realized the oddity, he saw Elliot sneering.

“Trying to tough that egg took me four months. Looks like someone still doesn’t understand what’s obvious.”