CH 315

Now that they had been incorporated into the Empire, Johannesburg Castle couldn’t call itself the Royal Castle, but the unique splendor and majesty of the castle where the monarchs of the country once resided didn’t disappear. In fact, Johannesburg Castle was one of the largest castles on the continent known for its grandeur and beauty.

However, at this moment, even the famed beauty of the Johannesburg Castle had faded. 

“It’s the Dragon!”

It was because of the Dragon that had appeared so high in the sky that they had to look up at it from even the highest spire.

In front of the mysterious and beautiful dragon that didn’t look like it of this world, the architectural structures made by humans seemed shabby and perhaps even worthless. 

“Hooo, I’ve heard rumors, but she truly is remarkable.”

Philip, the master of the Johannesburg Castle and the ruler of the Johannes Territory that connected the northernmost tip of the continent to the rest of it, could not come to his senses as he took in the overwhelming majesty of the Dragon.

As if made by melting gold and silver together, its body was as dazzling as it was blinding. Its graceful and lively flight that didn’t match its gigantic size was the very definition of marvelous.

“It’s coming down, sir!”

But the dragon was completely different up close than when it was far away in the distance. When viewed from a distance, he had simply admired the beauty that could never be found in the world, but when he saw it up close, they saw that the dragon was nothing like art. 

Krrrrr.

His body trembled as the sound of the dragon’s breathing burrowed into his ear. When the dragon’s eyes glanced over him momentarily, Philip cringed as if he faced something he shouldn’t have. His pride as a monarch of a country was meaningless here. By the time he came to his senses, he had already lowered his head unknowingly. 

Philip raised his head in sudden surprise. He looked around, then froze.

The thousands of nobles and the welcoming crowd who had flocked to the square to see the living legend of the Empire were all bowing their heads even though no one had ordered them to. 

“The welcoming is too extravagant.”

Philip, who had been looking around with a complicated face, turned his head at the sound of the voice burrowing into his ear.

“Ah…”

It was a strange thing. Except for the foreigner’s characteristic black hair and black eyes, the man didn’t look very special. No, he was rather dwarfed when compared to the strong knights’ physique and his skin was pale as if it had been painted with powder that was more suitable to a handsome young man that ladies would like than a legendary knight. 

Nevertheless, once Philip recognized the existence of the man, Philip couldn’t take his eyes off him. Even the dragon’s existence, which had completely overwhelmed them until now, was almost invisible.

The man had that much of a strange presence that could draw in the people’s attention. 

“Hm. Are you The Grand Duke Johannes?”

Philip had been staring at the man blankly when he came back to his senses at the sound of a dry cough and quickly greeted him.

“I pay my respects to the Indomitable Grand Duke who has risen in status for the sake of the Empire’s peace. I am Philip von Josef Johannes of Johannes, sir.”

The welcome speech he had prepared in advance had long disappeared, and the only thing he could say to Kim Seon-Hyeok was a greeting that wouldn’t humiliate himself. 

“I am Seon-Hyeok Rheinperle Kim Drachen. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Fortunately for Philip, the other party didn’t regard his greeting as a disrespect and accepted it frankly.

“It’s modest, but I have a seat for you, Grand Duke.”

“I’m grateful, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to. My job is to watch the nomads until they completely leave the borders of the Empire, and Johannesburg Castle isn’t a good location to keep an eye on them.”

At the polite, euphemistic refusal, Philip couldn’t continue to ask him to attend the banquet. No matter what anyone said, if the nomads caused trouble, he would be the one to suffer the most.

“So, if there’s any commotion while the nomads and I are staying nearby, please do not worry as it won’t be a big deal.”

“How could I worry when someone like you is nearby, Indomitable Grand Duke? I understand, I’ll tell all the others as well.”

Philip found out what the Indomitable Grand Duke meant by ‘commotion’ several hours after he left.

Aoooooooooooh.

When he heard a wolf howling late at night, he frowned.

“Is there a wolf in the nearby vicinity?”

The sound was strangely loud and ferocious, but Philip didn’t pay much attention to it. But even he couldn’t ignore the horrible screams that followed after it. 

Kyaaaaaaaa

He jumped to his feet at the hair-raising roar. Before he could even figure out what the sound was, he saw a flash of light coming through the window.

“Ah…”

The moment he saw the auspicious golden light that brightened up the surroundings as if it was broad daylight, Philip realized what that commotion the Indomitable Grand Duke had been talking about. 

The light quickly faded, but the wolf’s cries and the roar of something unknown continued through the night.

In the end, Philip spent the night with his eyes wide open.

“While I would like to stay for a few days, I have a mission so I must keep going and follow them to the West. I pray that peace may dwell in the territory of Johannes.”

At the Indomitable Grand Duke’s farewell, Philip asked him with a pale face.

“What on earth happened last night?”

The Indomitable Grand Duke responded as if it wasn’t important.

“It wasn’t a big deal, really. There was a dog that wouldn’t listen, so I just trained it a bit.”

It was an answer where the meaning was difficult to comprehend, but before he could ask again, the Indomitable Grand Duke disappeared with his Dragon. 

Philip could only stare at the back of the Dragon disappearing into the sky with a bewildered face.

***

After leaving Philip von Josef Johannes, Kim Seon-Hyeokw was able to quickly catch up to the nomads.

“She’s still…?”

“Seems like she’s awake, but she’s still dazed.”

At Darun’s reply, he looked back at the cart following them from afar. Ko Eun-Bi laid inside the cart with scabs still on her.

“Well, once she’s fine, I’m sure she’ll run around like a crazy b*tch asking for a fight again. Don’t worry about it.”

“She’s your chief, should you be saying that?”

Darun shrugged his shoulders and responded indifferently.

“The war chief isn’t like your emperor or king; the war chief is like a guide. We will not throw away the clan’s second warrior over something like this.”

“And yet, you seemed to be disliked?”

“Eh, one way or another, they’ll be hating me, so I might as well speak as I like. And since when did we honor and revere the war chief?”

Darun was usually composed as if he had reached nirvana, but now, it seemed he had a lot of difficulties because he couldn’t hide his fatigue.

“Seems like you’re going through tough times.”

“You’re the one suffering every night.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok smiled bitterly at Darun’s answer.

Surprisingly, Ko Eun-Bi didn’t surrender to the terrible violence. As soon as her body recovered, she would try again, and suffer another disastrous defeat.

That was only the beginning. 

Ko Eun-Bi’s challenge continued. 

“Ah, now I just want to say that I lost and end it.

She had persistently charged at him, that now, Kim Seon-Hyeok was the first one to get tired of it.

“Then why don’t you lose to her once? Every time I see you guys, you’ve made her a bloody mess.”

“I mean, I want to, but that doesn’t mean I really will.”

An iron will was definitely something to live up to, but there were some people that it worked on and some that it didn’t. Kim Seon-Hyeok was clearly the latter. Only Ko Eun-Bi didn’t seem to know that.

Anyway, although the minor(?) commotion continued every night, the nomad’s migration was generally smooth. There wasn’t any clash between the Empire’s nobles and the nomads like they had worried, and there weren’t any accidents that could hold them back. 

The only things he had to worry about were visiting the lords and Grand Dukes who were on the path of the nomads’ migration and reassuring them, and to take care of the mad dog that was attacking him every night. 

Just as it had reached the point where even that didn’t feel special any longer, the Great Migration of the nomads was finally over.

Of course, the nomads would continue to have to search for a new home for a while after this, but Kim Seon-Hyeok’s journey ended here. After all, his mission had been to watch the nomads leave the Empire’s borders without incident.

“That over there is the end.”

Although quite some time had passed since the war with the Demon King had finished, the scars left behind by the Demon King and the Fragments of Chaos still remained the same.

“Well, we won’t get confused about the borders, so that’s good.”

Even though it was midday, the land looked dark as if it was overcast with dark clouds. Even as a joke, it didn’t look like a livable place, but Darun and the nomads didn’t complain. 

They just silently prepared to cross the border and leave the Empire.

“Though I don’t know if there will be a day when I see you again, one day I shall see you again.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok put on an exaggerated expression and jumped up at Darun’s farewell.

“If it’s meeting on the battlefield like last time, then I reject it. If that’s the case, I’d rather not see you again.”

Darun chuckled at his words, then he turned to look at the cart following behind him. 

“I’m sure that by now, the war chief must also have realized something.”

Contrary to Darun’s words, Ko Eun-Bi didn’t seem to have learned much. If she had realized something, she wouldn’t have charged at him like she had a death wish.

“Anyway, eat well and live well.”[1]

With that short farewell, Darun drove his horse across the border. 

“Let’s not see each other again.”

“Thanks to you, I wasn’t bored on the way here. Eat well and live well, you f*cker.”[2]

Kim Seon-Hyeok merely smiled and waved his hand at the rough farewell of the rough men.

Clatter.

While he was saying his farewells with the man, a wagon carrying Ko Eun-Bi arrived in front of him.

“Get rid of your temper. Besides me, there are other people in the world who are stronger than you.”

“Ptui.”

Ko Eun-Bi replaced her farewell with a gob of spit mixed with blood.

“Tsk, what a bad temper.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t get angry. From the start, they weren’t friendly enough to say farewells to each other, and forget about a war chief’s dignity or whatever, she had been beaten to a pulp by him that she was in the wagon even as they crossed the border; it was rather pitiful. 

“You take care of her for me. With that kind of temper, she won’t live very long.”

“Do not worry. Eun-Bi isn’t as weak as you think.”

After saying ‘you’re the one who’s too strong,’ Voltecino followed after the wagon. The nomads’ migration across the border continued for a long time after that. 

As time passed, the nomads crossing the border weren’t visible any longer.

“They’re not even looking back.”

The clean farewell was very much like the northern men.

“Wonder if they’ll stop by Clark’s on the way.”

Feeling empty, he spoke out loud before he too turned around. Then, he froze.

Sssssss.

Goosebumps rose. He stared towards the west as he felt the hairs all over his body standing, and a sharp sensation as if his skin was being shredded. 

[Companion!]

Without a moment’s delay, he mounted his Dragon.

Aoooooooh.

Immediately after that, he heard the cry of a wolf from beyond the black land, towards the nomads. It wasn’t the strong roar he had heard multiple times before; it was more like a scream. 

1. Literally means to be healthy and live a good life. But generally, it has a nuanced meaning of go screw yourself. 

2. The ‘you f*cker’ wasn’t a part of the original sentence, but to convey that it’s sarcasm, that it’s actually meaning go screw yourself, I’ve added it in.