Book 2: Chapter 215: The lone flame in the ice (3)

<The lone flame in the ice (3)>

The Chief, who should be answering Cale’s question, was currently not in a state to answer.

He was looking at Witira and Gashan with a dazed look on his face.

However, there was someone who was more shocked than him.

It was the middle-aged hunter.

“H, how-”

He was so shocked it looked as if he had received an electric jolt.

“…Did he say us?”

He recalled what Gashan had just said.

‘Hoho. I definitely agree. I thought that the Beast people here were just a bit different from us but they must have experienced something during the cataclysmic period.’

That could only mean one thing.

“…Are you both Beast people as well……?”

The answer came from an indifferent voice.

Cale answered with a nonchalant look on his face.

“This lady over here is a Humpback Whale, Miss Witira, and this sir over here is a Tiger and a shaman, Gashan. Ah!”

Cale realized something at that moment.

“Gashan, do your incantations work?”

“!”

Gashan’s eyes opened wide.

He quickly tried an incantation.

He then frowned.

“It does not, young master-nim.”

He shook his head.

“The power of nature seems to be blocked.”

Eruhaben interjected into the conversation.

“It is not just aura and mana, the overall flow of nature is being controlled. It looks like those Dragon bastards of this world have messed with it.”

The Chief and his people all flinched in shock and looked at Eruhaben.

The old man hesitated before asking.

“Is this sir a Beast person as well……?”

He sounded a bit cautious.

Eruhaben answered extremely confidently and haughtily.

“No. I’m a Dragon.”

Plop.

The hunter who had jumped up earlier felt his knees go weak as he plopped back down on the chair.

However, the ancient Dragon did not care. In fact, he looked as if he was happy with this development and asked the Chief a question.

“Hey Chief. Why are the Dragons gods here?”

The first question Cale had asked…

‘How did the Dragons end up as gods?’

Eruhaben wanted to know about the same thing.

He had heard something from Cale before.

‘Dragons cannot become gods.’

“T, that-”

The Chief could not speak properly.

He could not think straight after learning about the Beast people by Cale’s side and finding out that Eruhaben was a Dragon.

“Senior.”

Someone handed him a cup of warm tea.

“Please take a sip and calm down.”

Cale had a gentle smile on his face.

The Chief extended a hand before realizing that his hand was shaking and grabbed the teacup with both hands.

He seemed to calm a bit after drinking the warm tea as he let out a deep breath and started talking.

“During the cataclysmic period, the world was turning into a mess as magic stopped working. At that time, the Gonia Free city… Umm, the current Holy Empire stepped in.”

Gonia Free city.

That was the original name of the Holy Empire.

“Gonia free city was originally created by a human who claimed to carry the blood of Dragons.”

‘It is a city built by a Dragon half-blood?’

Cale’s eyes clouded over.

Dragon half-bloods could not live very long. Humans were unable to handle the Dragon blood in their bodies. But there was a city built by such a half-blood?

Cale suddenly thought about the Dragon half-blood who turned into a Bone Dragon.

The Chief continued to speak as Cale thought to himself.

“Of course, only human marriages were recognized after the first city lord so the Dragon’s blood became weaker, but they were known to have the protection of Dragons.”

And once the cataclysmic period started…

“that city lord appeared to inform the entire continent. He said that he asked the Dragons to stop the chaos.”

The Chief frowned.

“It is said that society was full of unspeakable chaos at that time.”

That was obvious.

The world would get chaotic even if only teleportation and video communication went down. If all magic stopped working, it would be similar to electricity going out on Earth.

“While that was going on, some Dragons helped support the areas that were chaotic because magic suddenly stopped. They also took the vanguard to execute the Beast people when they became violent. Their magic and attributes then rescued the areas that were suffering from weird climate changes.”

Cale quietly listened.

“That led to people starting to worship and praise the Dragons. Maybe that was to be expected. The gods they originally believed and prayed to did not listen to them but the Dragons fulfilled their wishes. They did so without receiving anything in exchange.”

How would the Dragons have looked to the humans during the cataclysmic period?

“Mm. The view of the temples were quite bad at that time. You had to pay to even go to the temples to pray.”

The Dragons handled things that their gods simply avoided.

“Anyway, the city lord of Gonia changed the name to the Holy City at that time and started expanding. And finally… He proclaimed that he would treat the Dragons like gods.”

That was the moment the Gonia free city became the Holy City.

“It was then…”

The Chief stopped talking for a moment.

Cale felt as if he knew why the Chief stopped.

‘That is probably around when the Haru Empire became the Haru Kingdom.’

The Chief would probably also talk about how the Holy City became the Holy Empire.

“It was then that the last Emperor of the Haru Empire said that he could not accept worshiping the Dragons as gods.”

“That must have led to war.”

The Chief nodded his head.

“I’m not sure if you know about this, but the first Emperor of the Haru Empire-”

“Was a Dragon Hunter, right?”

The Chief flinched.

He looked at Cale wondering how he knew about this, but simply sighed and continued to speak after seeing Cale remain silent.

“Yes sir. He was the first Dragon Hunter. That might be why the world was saying that the Haru Empire might have done this, despite it being quite stupid to do so, because they were worried they would lose their place as a strong nation or because they thought that the authority of the first Emperor would fall. They were challenging the authority of the Dragons without being able to use magic or aura.”

The Chief stopped here for a moment before he continued.

“To share the results, everything ended with the death of the last Emperor of the Haru Empire. To be honest with you, it can’t even be called a war.

Pfft.” He let out a scoff-like chuckle.

“The Dragons did not intervene saying that the war was a human issue, but some of the humans with Dragon blood stepped in. They resolved things quite quickly.”

“…Are you talking about the Dragon half-bloods?”

“Yes sir. That is correct.”

Cale peeked at Eruhaben after seeing the Chief answer without any issues. The ancient Dragon shook his head.

“Dragon half-bloods are strong. However-”

Cale knew what Eruhaben did not say.

‘They are strong as they live short lives compared to Dragons before they die.’

That was probably what the ancient Dragon wanted to say.

Cale thought that he should look into Dragon half-bloods and slightly nodded his head before looking at the Chief and speaking.

“The Archduke’s House of Snow must have participated in that war and perished.”

“Yes sir. The Haru Empire became a kingdom and had to retreat to the north. The central region that the Haru Empire once controlled became the Holy City’s territory, helping them grow into the Holy Empire.”

‘Mm.’

Cale contemplated for a moment before asking.

“Were there no oppositions from other nations in that process?”

“There were none originally. They must have felt fear after seeing the Empire being destroyed-”

The Chief weakly smiled.

“The other nations were relieved as the Holy Empire did not cause any conflicts after taking over the central region.”

He started to frown.

“The Holy Empire claimed that as long as people accepted worshiping Dragons as gods, there would be no need for any wars. In fact, they said to reach out if the other nations needed help for any reason. They claimed they would help everybody. This was the truth.”

The Chief brushed his face with both hands.

“They helped the people suffering from weird climate changes, they subjugated the endlessly violent Beast people, and whenever things happened that were difficult for the humans to handle, they asked their god, the Dragons, to help them.”

And as a result…

“It increased the number of people serving Dragons as gods, turning the Dragons into gods.”

That was the answer to how the Dragons became gods.

“Mm.’

Cale crossed his arms and leaned on the couch.

‘In conclusion, he’s saying that people worship Dragons like gods, or maybe even more than how much they worship the gods.’

The Hunters of the Purple Bloods… They should have known that Dragons could not become gods but they still made this world worship the Dragons.

Cale had learned from fighting the Blood Cult in the Central Plains that worship was a necessary condition to turn an existence into a god.

‘…Are the Purple Bloods more interested in becoming gods themselves instead of creating the omnipotent god?’

It was possible.

‘Anyway, I can’t make any rash decisions just yet.’

The intentions of their enemies should become visible as they face them, so it was good to leave the potentials wide.

“In the end-”

The Chief maintained a scowl as he mumbled bitterly.

“Only the Haru Kingdom faced unfavorable results.”

“But Senior. There is something I am curious about.”

Cale slightly smiled as he made eye contact with the Chief.

“Was there a different reason the last Emperor of the Haru Empire was against the Dragons becoming gods?”

The Chief had said something earlier.

‘That might be why the world was saying that the Haru Empire might have done this, despite it being quite stupid to do so, because they were worried they would lose their place as a strong nation or because they thought that the authority of the first Emperor would fall.’

His tone had been odd.

It was as if the world claimed that to be the case but the truth was different?

“…….”

The Chief could not answer.

However, someone else answered instead.

“The last Emperor believed that Dragons were responsible for all these disasters. He was certain that the Dragons made disasters befall this world because they wanted to become gods.”

The Hunters. The person who was believed to be a Wolf answered.

“Koukan!”

The Chief shouted, almost as if scolding him, and the Hunter shook his head toward the Chief.

“It doesn’t seem like they are our enemies anyway. Wouldn’t it be okay to tell them?”

“Okay then.”

Cale asked him a question.

“How did you know about these things?”

“…….”

The hunter named Koukan looked at Gashan and Witira behind Cale and answered.

“That is what the Archduke said to his warriors before his death. He said that the Dragons schemed against this land. He said that the Dragons had to be stopped.”

‘Oh.’

Cale gasped internally.

‘The dead Archduke and the last Emperor knew the truth?’

The Haru Kingdom.

Then the Holy Empire.

Digging into these two places should allow him to figure out what the Purple Bloods wanted.

‘We could fight against the Dragons right away, but-’

Shouldn’t they at least learn about their enemies first?

If they fought power against power, Cale’s side might be strong but they could still end up in disadvantageous situations.

For Cale ,who preferred overwhelming advantages in battle, he had no desire to risk such dangers.

He looked toward Koukan and asked.

“Then are you a descendant of that warrior?”

“…….”

Koukan used silence to show his agreement.

Cale looked at the old man this time.

This person seemed to know too much and seemed quite smart with his thinking for the Chief of an old village.

“Then what about you, senior?”

“Huuuuuu.”

The old man sighed before answering.

“…I am the descendant of the butler who served the Archduke’s House of Snow. Only my family survived and have carried on the Chief position of this Winx Village.”

The corners of Cale’s lips went up a bit more.

‘I can see the picture.’

He asked.

“Senior, you have been hiding the identity of our family to look after the village. You must have been working with the Wolves in the Erghe Mountain Range to protect this place.”

The Chief silently nodded his head.

Cale finally understood why the Chief spoke respectfully about the Empire and the Emperor but talked lowly about the Dragons.

The Chief was silent for a bit as if to organize his thoughts before he started speaking again.

“As for that Choi Jung Gun person you just mentioned, I do not know anyone with that name.”

“…You don’t know?”

“Yes sir.”

The answer was quite firm.

However, this was where they had last heard from Choi Jung Gun.

That was why Cale realized that his question had been wrong.

“Has there been an outsider who came here?”

It was likely that Choi Jung Gun did not reveal his name.

“…Mm.”

The Chief contemplated for a bit.

“This is a dangerous area so there are outsiders who show up, but…”

The Chief had been quite thorough about the outsiders who came here in order to protect the Beast people.

“I would need to know about his appearance in order to know who you are talking about.”

‘Mm.’

Cale gulped.

‘Would Choi Jung Gun have been moving around in his own appearance?

If he hid his name, wouldn’t he have changed his appearance as well?’

Choi Jung Gun was also the original Dragon Slayer.

Someone like that would have been extremely cautious in a world ruled by Dragons.

“We do have a record of the outsiders who have entered. Should I show that to you? There are simple records of their names and appearances.”

Cale nodded his head at the Chief’s comment.

This guy truly was different from your typical village Chiefs.

“Yes sir. Thank you very much.”

He might be able to get some clues about Choi Jung Gun after looking at that entrance record.

“And when will the subjugation squad show up?”

The Chief and the hunter looked at each other after Cale asked that question once again.

Cale had an ominous feeling after seeing them exchange glances.

‘No way.’

The moment he thought of the worst possible situation, the Chief awkwardly smiled as he answered.

“I believe they will be here tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

At the latest, it will be in three days.

The subjugation squad of the Holy Empire will be here by then.

“Cale, isn’t that too soon? The Holy Empire might learn about us too quickly if the subjugation squad finds us.”

He heard the ancient Dragon’s concerned voice. The others looked at Cale with worried looks on their faces as well.

As for Cale, he laughed.

“That’s great. I have a lot of things I am curious about regarding the Holy Empire.”

He cleanly assessed the situation.

“We can capture them and ask.”

Regardless of how many subjugation squads showed up, wasn’t it fine as long as they captured them?

There was no way for the Purple Bloods to hear from people captured here.

“Ah, that’s true.”

The ancient Dragon agreed.

“I forgot that there was such an easy method.”

The ancient Dragon, Cale, Witira, and Gashan all laughed with relaxed looks on their faces.

The Chief and the villagers blankly watched them.

Cale didn’t care and looked at Koukan as he asked.

“Where do the Beast people reside?”

And then…

“Gashan. How are the Beast people here different from all of you?”

Cale asked the Tiger shaman a question before addressing Ron, who was standing by the door.

“Please tell Lock to come here.”

Wolves should be best at dealing with Wolves.

Cale looked toward the window.

He could see the field of snow outside.

He could also see his own red hair faintly reflected on the window.

He thought about one of the items in his possession.

Although it had lost its original appearance and was a red crown now…

‘…The item of the first Emperor is in my hands.’

After taking care of the subjugation squad…

‘I should barge into the Haru Palace. I mean… visit the Haru Palace.’

—

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