DBWC 02

Chapter 02

“Denbine Empire, the homeland of the Hero, sent six knight orders from the Pontiac family. They were trying to warn Elkinas.”
“So?”
“What are you asking, Sorcerer?”
Zephyr furrowed his brows and twisted his lips.
“Of course, they were all killed by Elkinas. Personally, I think it was a really stupid choice.”
“…….”

I silently prayed. I hoped that Zephyr, whose personality was hardly pleasant, would follow up with, ‘I’m joking.’ Please, let him say that…

But true to his nature, Zephyr continued,
“Other Grim Reapers from different dimensions also couldn’t persuade Elkinas. Those who tried by force all lost their lives. Even Hania and Jamil returned, and Gedore was severely injured. Sorcerer, Elkinas almost became the continent’s new public enemy.”
“…This… this can’t be real.”

“It’s not over yet. Elkinas created a hatchery in the Pontiac head family’s office, put eggs inside, and said he wouldn’t leave the castle until the eggs hatched. He voluntarily confined himself there. About eighty years passed like that. There are rumors that the eggs have hatched, but it hasn’t been confirmed.”

I clutched my mind, trying to stop myself from being stunned, and asked Zephyr again.
“So, Elkinas…”
“Ah, of course he’s very healthy. Occasionally, the Denbine Empire tries some bizarre methods to control him, but each time, Elkinas personally deals with it. I think he shows himself publicly about twice a year.”
“…….”

I still couldn’t believe it. Frowning, shaking my head.

Zephyr watched me for a moment, then snapped his fingers. A hologram appeared in midair.

A palm-sized Elkinas stood on a black wasteland.
He stared somewhere, pale and blank. Suddenly, his face twisted completely, and he ran toward Kunterne. He raised his sword like a madman and split Kunterne’s abdomen.

He pulled out Kunterne’s heart and buried his head into it. Even though it was just a scene recreated by magic, the brutality reached me.

I covered my mouth with both hands as I watched. Even from the back, I could tell he was devouring the heart. Elkinas occasionally shuddered, but didn’t stop.

And after swallowing the last piece, he raised his sword again toward Kunterne.

Rain began to fall in the scene. Black blood from Kunterne seeped into the ground.

……This was probably a fragment of Zephyr’s memory.

As I watched Elkinas’s back, I felt tears welling up.
“So taking the dragon’s heart… meant eating it?”
“…It wasn’t really necessary, but he did. He was filled with vengeance, so I understand.”

My mind was dazed. Even after seeing it firsthand, I couldn’t believe it.

I had hoped you would be happy.
I thought you would be happy.
You must have been sad, but I hoped you wouldn’t grieve too much over my death.

“Why hatch the eggs… why do that, even after facing everyone like that…”
“I suspect it’s because of Kunterne’s specialty. He probably thought Kunterne’s offspring would have the same ability.”
“…Special ability?”
“Kunterne can cross time and space freely, Sorcerer.”

He could manipulate and distort time and space, attack us moving back and forth in time, and often change situations by a few seconds forward or backward.

The only thing that could stop him was Elkinas’s innate nullification ability and his sword, the Holy Sword Gelphina.
“…But what is he trying to do with that ability?”
“He probably wants to go back to the past and change something.”
“I know! I get that, but what exactly does he want to change?”
“For example… your death.”
“Don’t say such nonsense! That can’t be!”
“…Isn’t it?”

Zephyr frowned and tilted his head.
“No, right! I was prepared to die, and once it was done, it would have ended. He would have understood that! I swore to him the night before the expedition! I would give my life anytime!”

I grabbed my head and slammed it onto the desk.

Then, a thought suddenly struck me, and I looked up again. Jamil.

My close friend, a proud thief, and Elkinas’s lover!
“…Then what about Jamil?”
“Jamil? …The Queen of Thieves? She died ruling the back alleys. But why her?”
“Why?! Didn’t she and Elkinas like each other? Didn’t they get married? He always promised to treat his partner well, didn’t he?”
“…The Hero didn’t marry Jamil.”

Zephyr tilted his head once more.

What?!
“They broke up! Well, I understand. I’d dump him too if he did something as crazy as that! A so-called hero bringing home a dragon kid…! …Wait a second.”

Amidst my chaotic rambling, I noticed a change in the atmosphere. Zephyr. He was staring at me with an openly scolding expression.

Did I do something wrong?
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No… Elkinas suddenly looks a bit pitiful. Keep talking, Sorcerer.”

“Why… wasn’t she with Elkinas?”
“I said, no. They’re not related at all. How do you not know what I know?”

“They seemed so close! They would sneak off every night to train together.”
“…It really was just training.”
“Elkinas entrusted his back to Jamil.”
“Why didn’t you ask him to let you do that too? You’d trust the Hero, right?”
“Eeek!”

Zephyr seemed to be treating me more and more like a fool. I frowned, clenched my fists, and strongly argued.
“…And they started whispering to each other alone, all the time. Jamil looked happy, and Elkinas blushed!”
“…That part, I can’t explain, Sorcerer.”

It was a face I had never seen before.
Zephyr furrowed his brows, his eyes dimmed as he looked at me. Fair, rational White Dragon expression nowhere in sight.

Regret, desperation.
…And sorrow.

“That’s something he has to tell you himself.”

Zephyr finished speaking with a sigh.

The first time I saw him, Elkinas was the shortest boy in our village.

My mother was an herbalist, and I followed her to gather herbs and sell them at the market.
And every time, I saw Elkinas getting beaten.

The nasty villagers often picked on him. He was an orphan and lived with a grandmother who couldn’t hear.

The jerks.

So I treated him with herbs, took him into the forest, and introduced him to spirits only I could see.

In other words, he was my childhood friend. We always held hands, and with him, I never felt lonely.

…Then one day, Elkinas suddenly disappeared.

Rumor had it that he was revealed to be a descendant of the Pontiac Dukes.
A noble bloodline. The grandmother he lived with wasn’t his real grandmother but his nurse.

I met Elkinas again twelve years later.

The year after my mother passed, when I turned twenty-two.
I had become the village’s only pharmacist and fully realized my talent as a sorcerer who could command spirits.

As I was gathering mugwort at the foot of the back hill, a long shadow fell over me.
It was Elkinas.

“Sorry I’m late, Arenne.”
“Huh?”
“Elkinas? …Is it really you?”

I dropped my hoe and jumped up. His slightly long black hair fluttered in the spring breeze, and his gray eyes shone gently.

It was like seeing a cluster of stars in the night sky. His height, his broad shoulders! He had grown so wonderfully.

From my precious childhood friend, he became my precious and proud childhood friend.

He told me he had worked hard to gain recognition from the Pontiac family.
But they tried to control him rather than acknowledge him, so he couldn’t reach them. That’s why he came here.

When I asked if he had returned for good, he slowly shook his head.
“But I have to leave again. The Denbine Empire ordered me to bring back the dragon.”
“…The dragon? Kunterne, the Great Dragon?”

I had already heard the rumors of the mad dragon rampaging at the edge of the world, devouring nations on its path.
Sometimes, the wind spirits told me the blackened skies were Kunterne announcing its presence.

When I opened my eyes wide and asked, Elkinas grimaced and nodded.
“Alone?”
“…That’s why I came to say goodbye, Arenne.”

Elkinas pressed his lips together, then spoke slowly again. I could sense a faint tremble at the end of his words.
“But I’ll come back. I will survive…”

Impossible.
How could I stay calm after hearing that? Such a person doesn’t qualify as a childhood friend. I cut him off and shouted.

“I’ll come too! I can be useful!”
“What?”
“I’m a sorcerer! Remember? I showed you the spirits!”

Startled, Elkinas widened his eyes as I revealed my spirit companions. Spirits I had contracted easily.
All of them were high-level and had impressive physical forms.

My mother had said before passing that I had immense talent.
This should be enough to be useful.

But Elkinas still looked confused. Hmph. I thought he would acknowledge me, but was it not enough?
Elkinas stammered,
“But… Arenne. I can’t let you be in danger. Wait here, I will definitely return…”
“What kind of nonsense is that? This world is dangerous, how can it be safe here? And you’re facing that mad dragon, so why send only you?”