Comment and Coupon Thanks to All! Episode 137
45. The Disappearance of the Magical Beast and Yingyi #1
“Hey, Kimri! Move those stones too!”
“I’m busy hammering away; get the guy over there to do it!”
In the Royal Capital Jerusalem, the palace of King Solomon was in chaos as they scrambled to repair the damaged and burnt areas. Sweat streamed down the foreheads of the laborers working under the blazing sun.
The palace maids were bustling about, carrying buckets and cups to quench their thirst.
“I found the hidden Brotherhood!”
Someone shouted loudly from within the palace. Soon after, armored soldiers and knights clanked noisily as they rushed off somewhere.
Watching this commotion, Kimri, the construction foreman from Phirnese Company, shifted his gaze from the refreshing cup of water handed to him by the maids and muttered to himself, “What is this world coming to? Those heretical buggers even started a rebellion.”
The ‘Black Brotherhood Uprising,’ which had lasted for a month, finally came to an end thanks to a joint operation by hunters and knights. So far, about a hundred members of the Brotherhood had been subdued and captured.
The soldiers and knights busily marched on, thinking there might be more Brotherhood members hiding in the palace rooms and the nearby homes and buildings of Royal Capital Jerusalem.
“Still, it’s a relief that it ended with this little damage. There aren’t many hurt, and both the King and Princess are unharmed.”
“Thanks to that, we even got to taste the palace well water.”
“Look there! It’s the Princess on the third-floor balcony!”
The laborers stretched out their arms and pointed with their fingers. Their gaze landed on a girl dressed in a white gown. Her innocent and pure appearance, with round, sparkling eyes, made the laborers and many men’s hearts flutter.
“She must be around the same age as my granddaughter. She practically looks like my daughter or granddaughter!”
“Now that there’s a rightful heir, the palace and kingdom will only see peaceful days ahead.”
Loyalty and affection toward the palace and royal family were the pride and duty of the citizens of the kingdom.
With new interest and expectations about the new princess who would lead them, they revitalized their drooping shoulders and got back to work.
“Let’s get to it!”
“Yeah, we need to fix up the Princess’s house!”
The people, invigorated, resumed their tasks. Looking down at them from above, Princess Leaf’s eyes were somewhere between hollow and cloudy.
“I can’t see them.”
Leaf’s eyes were searching for a fluffy white creature—her friend, the white beast, and Yingyi, who had disappeared from the world for over a month now.
While she had learned a lot and dressed nicely in the palace, the absence of someone to brag about it with made her feel increasingly lonely.
“Every day they leave me behind; what are they doing?”
Feeling slightly annoyed by the sun beating down, Leaf made her way back inside the palace from the balcony. The maids, patiently waiting at her side, finally spoke up.
“The Baronet from over there is ready and waiting.”
“Change into your attire for the meeting.”
The maids’ words were now a jumble in Leaf’s ears—thanks to a month of living in the palace and learning human language, it seemed she was making progress.
Having quickly picked up the languages of the many-legged scorpions and spiders, it wouldn’t take her long to master human speech.
“Guess they want me to change clothes since I’m meeting more weird humans.”
For the past month, Leaf learned odd ways of walking, how to sit and stand, eat quietly, talk, and write—each new thing was an exciting adventure for the curious raccoon that she was, but as a princess, it merely felt stifling.
“Well, it is kinda nice that there are so many jewels.”
Leaf’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at the luxurious palace interiors.
In the time she spent living alone in the woods, gathering shiny stones to decorate her wooden home was sufficient for her happiness.
But after those two noisy months in the forest, having felt the warmth of another beast, she no longer found joy in solitary silliness.
“Hurry over there and do your duty.”
“Yes, your highness, we must see to it!”
The maids again tried to get her attention, but Leaf was unsatisfied with everything. Suddenly, frustrated, she knocked over a vase displayed on a table in the hallway with her hand.
“What!?”
The maids gasped and rushed to touch Leaf’s hand.
Leaf thought breaking someone else’s belongings was a big mistake, but no one scolded her or hit her.
In the hall where King Solomon’s throne stood, numerous nobles and prominent figures were kneeling in line, praising the prosperity of the palace.
“Your Majesty, how deeply you must have worried about the recent mischief of the heretics. We, the Delmont Baronet family, will not hesitate to support the rebuilding of the palace.”
“Glad to hear it, Delmont. I look forward to your assistance.”
King Solomon, seated on his throne, waved his hand dismissively, sending Baronet Delmont away.
As Delmont stood up and stepped back, a lavishly dressed man waiting in line hit the floor in an exaggerated bow before Solomon.
“Your Majesty, we at Burque Merchant Association shall generously provide any necessary supplies and materials.”
“Very good. The royal family never forgets gratitude. Your efforts will be returned one day.”
As Solomon gestured his hand again, the representative of Burque rose, and the next man bowed before the king.
“Your Majesty, I am Liecht, the leader of the Golden Mercenary Group. You must be under great stress with all the recent incidents. Especially about the Saint’s escape…”
The man in golden armor darkened Solomon’s expression, and everyone present held their breath, mourning for the foolish man.
‘What an arrogant kid, looks like he’s trying to get ahead but crashed right into a wall.’
‘Getting a bit too full of himself lately, spewing nonsense.’
‘One less competitor; with this, Gideon Baronet’s position is now mine.’
Nobles exchanged knowing smiles behind their elegantly fanned-out umbrellas.
Following last month’s so-called ‘Tragedy of Mendel,’ the authority of the former power holder, Gideon, had dropped to the floor. The one who scoops up first will be the next ruler of authority.
Gideon Baronet had kept his power for about 20 years; hence, his successor would also exercise absolute power for about 20 years.
Twenty years, and by then, that old tiger of a king Solomon will have passed on, and his successor, the little princess, will rise to power.
The image of a naive little girl leading the charge in their minds was a delightful dream shared by all the nobles.
‘So, just how long does that mustached kid plan to babble on?’
The nobles snapped out of their happy thoughts and cast wary glances at the man in golden armor.
Liecht, the golden armor leader of the Golden Mercenary Group, completely oblivious to Solomon’s gloom, continued rambling enthusiastically.
“So, our mercenary group pledges to put all our efforts into finding the missing Saint. Of course, we seek no rewards. For a bunch of mercenaries like us, having a chance to contribute to the kingdom is enough.”
“Ha.”
Solomon let out a laugh, clearly taken aback. He smacked the royal scepter he held against the floor and continued, “Do you think your mercenaries can find the Saint when the best knights and hunters of the palace have failed?”
“Yes, indeed. In fact, we’ve already located her! All that’s left is to deploy our manpower.”
“What? You’ve found out where she is?”
King Solomon leapt from his seat. He approached Liecht, the leader of the Golden Mercenary Group, and grabbed his shoulder, shouting, “Where is she!?”
“The weary ones return to where they belong—their home. The Saint too has returned home. My capable subordinates discovered her traces in the Great Desert and the Ancient Tomb. And there’s also…”
Liecht rummaged in a pouch at his waist.
Clunk. Rattle.
At that moment, the knights watching nearby instinctively placed their hands on their sword hilts, anticipating trouble.
“It’s alright.”
King Solomon waved his hand, and the knights sheathed their half-drawn swords. Seeing this, Liecht grinned and pulled something out of his pouch, presenting it to Solomon.
—What is that?
Sitting to the right of the throne and listening to the whole thing dully, Leaf squealed loudly.
—A white thorn, a white thorn…!
To the west of the continent, endless sands and wilderness stretched infinitely from a certain point onward.
In the past, this land was said to be filled with lush forests and dense shrubs, but now it was barren, only becoming so after the Fire Dragon Azidahaka and other magical beasts laid claim to it.
“It’s slander! I didn’t turn the forest into a desert. The forest folk living here brought about their own destruction using the treasures I granted them!”
The red-scaled Saint, Fire Dragon Azidahaka, pouted her lips, as if making excuses for the western land turning into a desert.
With shackles on her arms and legs and a blindfold over her eyes, I grimaced at the sight of the bound dragon.
—You know, then hurry up and come on. Are we even making it there today?
“It’ll be hard to breathe in these magical binding chains. Only because it’s me that I can even manage to move at all.”
—Yes, ma’am. Let’s hurry to your nest. At this rate, I’ll end up like a dehydrated squid.
“Don’t call me a saint! It’s merely a title humans slapped on me. It’s like a charm trying to restrain and suppress me. I have a splendid name—Azidahaka.”
—Sure, whatever you say.
Azidahaka said sulkily, swaying her long red tail. I grabbed her collar and continued walking across the endless desert.
‘Ugh, I’m so hot I could d*e. If I had known, I wouldn’t have sent Chino. Flying all this way would have been so much better! I don’t understand why griffins can’t enter the dragon’s territory.’
The blistering sun felt like it was scorching my fur.
If only I could cuddle with Yingyi, but I had sent her far away in search of an oasis. The Cloudring and Wildling seemed to have an instinct to find moist and cool spots.
—So, once we reach your nest, there’s a surefire way to remove those binding chains, right?
“I can’t guarantee we’ll make it to my nest. It’s a rather complicated journey. We might even have pursuers along the way.”
Azidahaka expressed her concern calmly.
After having spent about two weeks with this lady dragon whom I’d taken from the palace, I realized that she was quite timid and scared, more than I’d expected.
I don’t know whether it’s due to the binding chains, but she seemed very repressed.
‘If I were tied in a cage and forced to work for over a decade, I might end up feeling the same way. I definitely could have turned out like that.’
I compared Azidahaka’s situation with my own.
If I had continued to remain in the human world bound by the name ‘Alpha,’ I might have eventually transformed into a trapped beast shackled in a cage.
‘The name Alpha really was a harmful curse. Though that black deer Ilgast had warned me about it before…’
On the day the curse-lifting doll burned, the moment the charm that bound me broke, a clear mind brought forth the sense of crisis that I had been avoiding all along.
In the end, I decided to forge my own path away from Batus and Nialli, who were trying to use me for schemes.
“Heh.”
Suddenly, Azidahaka trailing behind me burst into laughter.
—What now?
“I can vividly picture Nialli and Adam’s startled expressions. I swooped in and rescued myself before Nialli could even get to me, foiling his plans, and then disappearing before Adam made his nets. By now, both must be fuming and shouting.”
I said nothing in response to Azidahaka’s comment. I could only gaze ahead at the endless horizon of the desert, estimating the distance and the roads ahead.
‘Somewhere out here in this vast desert lies the treasure of the Fire Dragon. If I can just get my hands on that…’
Whoosh, the wind blew, scattering the desert sand and dust. At that moment, I spotted something blue flying towards me from afar.
—Kyuiiing.
—Have you found the oasis?
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