The Emperor Has Returned - Chapter 131. Things That Couldn’t Die (2)

The dragon quietly looked down at Juan, then soon disappeared. After a while, a woman with long golden hair and a curvy figure appeared from beyond the shadow. The colorful dress that revealed her curves seemed to be in a style that was at least from a hundred years ago.

“What a dramatic appearance,” Juan said.

“Pardon me, is it improper to show myself thus? Is the same not true for thy frivolous appearance, unbecoming of thine age?”

Juan was surprised upon hearing the dragon’s calm response. Although the dragon was acting a little cranky, she seemed completely calm, considering that she was talking to the person who had wiped out her entire race. The fact that the dragon had changed her appearance to that of an elf to have a conversation with Juan was also quite polite of her.

But Juan didn’t care about receiving the consideration of the dragon—his attention was focused elsewhere.

“Where’s Gerard?” Juan asked.

The dragon made an amused expression upon hearing Juan’s question, while Nienna seemed perplexed.

Seeing that, Juan couldn’t understand the reason behind such a change in Nienna’s expression. To be exact, it was the current situation that Juan couldn’t understand. Juan clearly remembered being stabbed by Gerard several times. But he was still alive, and most of his wounds had even recovered. On the other hand, Nienna was laughing and having a pleasant conversation with the dragon that she had been so eager to kill before.

The situation was so strange that Juan thought he might already be dead and that he was in the afterlife. The only reason he knew that this was not the afterlife was that he had already died once.

“He is not hither,” the dragon answered.

“Stop messing with me, dragon,” Juan warned in a low voice.

At that moment, Nienna stepped in.

“She’s not lying, dad.”

Juan sighed when he saw Nienna give a helping hand to the dragon. He nodded; he knew that Nienna would have already tried to look for Gerard as soon as she opened her eyes. If Gerard had been here, the atmosphere would have probably been even more intense than it was now. Juan had a feeling that the situation regarding Gerard had already been explained, seeing that the dragon and Nienna were able to talk in such a friendly manner.

“It seems like you can’t tell me where he is,” Juan said.

“I do not speak of things unknown to me, and I know naught but that he is not present hither.”

“What’s your name?”

“Huh… Is the noble emperor asking for the name of such a humble being as myself? What an honor,” the dragon said with a smile.

“You’ll be the last dragon in this world, so I might as well remember your name.”

Both Nienna and the dragon knew that Juan’s words represented a threat. The dragon felt her lips twitching.

“Dost thou even have the power to kill me?”

“You can try me if you want.”

The dragon glanced at Juan. He had lost most of his mana and his injuries were severe. In fact, his current state was extremely bad, to the extent that ordinary people would have already been dead. But his eyes, which were rife with murderous intent, pressured the dragon and made her feel numb.

The dragon gave up on provoking Juan anymore.

“…I am called Entalucia.”

“Entalucia. How are you still alive? I thought Gerard exterminated your kind.”

“Thou knowest it well. Thou shouldst know the answer to thine own question.”

Even Juan felt that he had asked a silly question upon hearing Entalucia’s answer.

‘Of course, Gerard was the one who saved her life.’

Juan had ordered the complete eradication of the dragons ever since the beginning of the war against the dragons. There had been only one group of dragons excluded from this command: the Hatchlings that could be tamed. This was because even one dragon staying alive could cause enormous damage to the empire.

But the fact that this adult dragon was still alive meant that Gerard had violated Juan’s order long before the tragedy of Arbalde.

“So that’s the reason you’re serving Gerard?” Juan asked.

“Serving? ‘Tis but association,” Entalucia grumbled, as if her pride had been hurt. “He already owed a life to me, his savior; to him, sparing this life of mine amidst the war was the means of repaying his debt. To me, he was but a robber, ravaging mine abode whilst saying that I should be thankful that he let me live, but alas! Times were such that I had little thought to spare for such things as favor and spite. And neither am I one to brood over misdeeds of the past. Thus…it wouldst be better said that he and I are comrades who share a goal. Alas that now even such kinship be frayed.”

Entalucia shrugged.

“What made your partnership turn so complicated? What’s your purpose? Assassinating the emperor?”

“A bell by any other name chimes just as sweetly.” Entalucia burst out laughing, her clear voice echoing throughout the valley.

“Such a deed as slaying the emperor rang most pleasant to mine ears, but nay! That was not my thought. It was Gerard who thus connived, and not with my knowledge; and it was only when the matter had come to an end that we truly joined forces. Seeing the Hatchlings of the Order of Lindwurm slaughtered before mine eyes, I had sworn vengeance; yet Gerard pledged that he would save one of my kin, be it at the cost of life or limb, and thus he did.”

‘Horhell’s dragon.’

Juan recalled Horhell saying that he was only allowed to keep his dragon on one condition—he had to betray the Order of Lindwurm, give up his position, and work for Hela. By following these conditions, he had managed to save the dragon’s life, albeit placing numerous restraints on it.

“Gerard was involved in that?” Juan asked.

“I know no better than thee how he did so. Thence, Gerard and I have lived together on this island, observing the East. I, watching the dragon, and he Hela.”

“Hela? Why?”

“I did not bother asking. But dost it not stand to reason that he did so, since she is his companion?”

While it was true that Gerard and Hela were supposed to get engaged, their relationship hadn’t been official. This was the only reason why Hela was allowed to keep her life even after the incident where Gerard had assassinated the emperor.

Hela later married another man and even had a child with him. Juan figured that Gerard had been watching it all from afar.

‘That’s probably why he was able to save Hela when she almost died after being thrown off the fortress wall.’

“Then you have no intention of attacking me?” Juan asked.

“Pray thee, why should I? Indeed, I can easily dispatch the weak and powerless emperor before me. To thine powerful self that I well remember, thou art naught but a grain of sand in the desert,” Entalucia replied with a smile. “Yet, I also know that such sand canst verily burn my feet. I saw my own kin desire what they ought not to have, and I saw them thus perish. Mine ill fate with the emperor, let it end hither; for I have never forgotten, nor shall I ever forget the blood shed by my kin.”

Entalucia saying that she would not forget the blood shed by her kind could be interpreted in two different ways—it meant that she would not forget her grudge, but it could also mean that she would not forget the lesson that she had learned. Regardless, it meant that she had no intention of being hostile toward Juan. And that was enough for Juan to put his guard down.

Juan reached his hand out to Entalucia first. The dragon was neither a monster, nor a god; Juan felt that compromising with her was enough. Entalucia looked at Juan, then took his hand.

This cleared up the previous history of the emperor and the dragon. Now, all that existed between the two was a new relationship that was completely separate from their past.

“Then let me change the question. Why did you bring me here? Isn’t that too much work to simply kill me?” Juan asked.

“I was only asked for a favor,” Entalucia answered.

“From Gerard? Where is he right now?”

“Shouldst thou not better ask that very person? He is thither.”

Entalucia gestured behind Juan’s back. Behind him stood a stranger who was wrapped in bandages and soaked in seawater, holding a large fish in his hand.

***

The stranger brought out a huge pot and put it in front of Juan. The pot appeared to be a part of the collection of items that belonged to the dragon, but it was now filled with a black liquid that was boiling. Juan frowned upon seeing such a large fish being cooked in the soup. Juan had seen all kinds of terrible things in his life, but he felt utterly disgusted by this soup.

The stranger then cut off some of the fish in the bowl and handed it over to Juan.

“You want me to eat this?” Juan asked.

“He would not be trying to show thee how fair it is, I presume,” Entalucia said as she giggled behind Juan.

“Aren’t you going to eat any?” Juan asked Entalucia.

“Boiled flesh doth not entice me. Thou canst eat however much pleases thee,” Entalucia answered.

Juan looked at the soup in the bowl. He hadn’t needed to consume any food until now, so he didn’t care too much about the taste. However, he had no choice but to eat something now so that he could maintain his strength and form, since his mana was almost completely drained.

Juan closed his eyes and took a sip of the soup with difficulty. Then, he immediately put down the bowl.

“Did you boil the seawater as it was?” he asked, after a long period of silence.

The stranger nodded, causing Juan to show a dumbfounded expression.

“Dying due to excessive salt is a slow and painful death. Why didn’t you just stab me to death already? Do you really want to see me die slowly and painfully?”

At that moment, Entalucia slapped Juan in the back of the head.

“I find His Majesty’s remarks rather boorish. Should the host prepare a meal, the guest ought to show uttermost gratitude, whether the food be poison or venom,” Entalucia said.

“I guess you do not deny the fact that I could die from eating this.”

“Thus I no longer indulge in such fine cuisine.”

Nienna also took a sip of the soup, only to quietly put it away with a sour look on her face. She had gone through many hardships in her life on the battlefield, but this soup made by the stranger was hard for even her to handle.

It was unknown whether the stranger was offended by the others’ reaction to his food, but he showed no hostility at all. He was not even holding Elkiehl in his hand.

In fact, Juan was the only person showing hostility—against the soup in the bowl.

Juan turned his head and looked at the pot hanging over the bonfire and sighed. He felt complicated at the thought that Elkiehl, the weapon that had almost killed him twice, was being used to cook fish.

The stranger approached the bonfire as if he had noticed Juan gazing at Elkiehl. He took the fish skewered by the sword and handed it over to Juan.

“No, I wasn’t really looking at the fish. But…”

Juan looked at the grilled fish with suspicious eyes; he couldn’t believe that the stranger had actually been using Elkiehl to cook it. He had never once expected that the weapon used to assassinate the emperor would be used as a spit for grilling fish.

Although the fish was a little burnt on the outside, it still looked quite delicious, with the oil flowing down the flesh. Juan carefully took a bite of the grilled fish.

“…Not bad.”

The stranger hadn’t reacted when everyone hadn’t liked his soup, but he clearly seemed to be pleased upon seeing Juan enjoy the fish.

Meanwhile, Juan felt a strange sense of regret—he felt that he should have given Gerard a little more advice on cooking instead of just swordsmanship or magic.

“To point out the small things, it’s better to get rid of the scales before you grill fish. Also remove the internal organs too,” Juan said.

Such advice was usually common sense, so Juan felt quite awkward telling all this to the stranger, but his interlocutor eagerly nodded. Juan pondered as he chewed on the fish scales and intestines in his mouth.

He assumed that the stranger had been living here for a while. The fact that his cooking skills were so terrible despite him living on an island probably meant that he also didn’t have to consume any food to stay alive, just like Juan.

In other words, the stranger had attempted to cook, something that he had never tried in his life, just for Juan, who was no longer able to maintain his form without mana. Juan did not know how to interpret the stranger’s act of kindness.

‘I guess anyone would be confused if the person who stabbed them several times in the back was the one cooking for them and treating their injuries.’

Juan finished eating the entire fish. While it wasn’t very good, it was certainly better than the soup. The stranger offered Juan another fish, but Juan turned it down; he thought that one fish was enough for him to maintain his form.

“Gerard.”

The stranger stopped moving upon hearing Juan’s voice. Juan looked directly at him.

“Unwrap the bandages.”

The stranger looked at Juan, frozen in place, but Juan didn’t avoid his eyes. Juan could feel the stranger trembling under the bandages. As the stranger didn’t move even after a while, Juan slowly reached his hand out toward the stranger’s face, and he didn’t avoid Juan’s hand.

Juan slowly loosened the bandage wrapped around the stranger’s face. He stopped for a moment, but he then continued to unwrap the bandage—only to be left speechless as the stranger’s face was exposed.

“…Who are you?”

The stranger was a boy who looked a little younger than Juan himself, around fifteen years old. His face and hair were strikingly similar to Gerard’s. He only had a single eye, but this eye was also similar to Gerard’s, to the extent where Juan had mistaken him for Gerard for a second.

However, the boy’s left eye socket was so hollow and dark that it was probably more appropriate to call it a simple hole. The wound that had destroyed the eye crossed the boy’s face diagonally, making him look almost as if he was wearing an eye patch.

But the boy’s appearance didn’t matter to Juan. He looked closely into the depths of the boy’s soul through his eye.

‘This boy isn’t Gerard.’

Only then did Juan recall that Entalucia kept using odd expressions to refer to the stranger. He hadn’t known her intentions, but she had succeeded in throwing him off.

The boy bowed his head in front of Juan.

“Greetings to Your Majesty.”

There was only one possibility that Juan could think of. He muttered dejectedly,

“You are Hela and Gerard’s son.”