“One more ale here!”
“When’s the meat we ordered coming out?!”
“Please bring me some oatmeal and rye bread!”
As Hanseong’s group arrived in front of a tavern in the territory, the moment they opened the creaking wooden door, a loud noise that seemed to tear their eardrums echoed out.
The Gryphon’s Claw.
Like the cliché of fantasy taverns having absurdly fancy names, this place had quite a unique name as well.
“Um, if it’s alright, can I guide you somewhere else…?”
Hanseong looked back at Dariann, wondering if it was appropriate to bring a noble into a tavern filled with shabby appearances and rough talk, worried that the notoriously quirky Count Dariann might ruin the atmosphere.
“Yes! This atmosphere feels comfortable! Come on, I’m buying you a drink, so hurry up!”
“Uh?! But I… I’m on duty right now…”
“Who’s going to say anything when I’m the one buying?”
Contrary to Hanseong’s expectations, Dariann, seemingly excited, threw an arm around Hanseong’s shoulder and pulled him toward the interior of the tavern.
“Oh… It really feels like the medieval era.”
“I feel like I’m in The Lord of the Rings.”
“Heh. You must have been feeling pretty suffocated, huh? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you this excited since we got here?”
Following behind Dariann, the others, who had been sulking in the carriage, were now looking around joyfully, their gloomy expressions gone.
Thus, in a corner of the tavern, Hanseong and Dariann’s group settled down.
“Order?”
“Oh, no…! Ma’am! Do you know who this person is…?!”
As soon as they sat down, a woman who had appeared out of nowhere leaned her chin on the table and asked for their order curtly.
“Hey! This is a place to eat meat and drink; it’s not a place for sipping wine elegantly while worrying about etiquette. I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t like it, I’ll kick your heavy butt out, so scram.”
Hanseong was taken aback by the rude tone of the waitress, stumbling over his words as he waved his hands, but she just snorted in response.
The tavern they were in, The Gryphon’s Claw, was run by Sen, one of the co-owners (her husband was the other), who had been operating this tavern for twenty years and had truly become seasoned in the business.
Thus, it was clear that even if the Emperor of the Empire were to visit, she would treat him the same way.
After all, it was unlikely that nobles or emperors would come to a place like this.
“Please… don’t be too angry… um…”
Just as Hanseong, worried that Dariann might overturn the place after hearing the rude reply, hesitated.
“Ha ha ha! That’s true! I like you, sister.”
“Sister? I’m a married woman. Don’t flatter yourself.”
Dariann laughed heartily, easily overturning Hanseong’s expectations.
“I’m sorry. This is my first time here, so could you recommend something from the menu?”
“Keep it reasonable; I’ll serve it according to the price range.”
“Then, how much would this be?”
Clang!
With a loud laugh from Dariann, Sen, now slightly deflated, responded as Dariann pulled a handful of silver coins and gold coins from his pocket and placed them on the table.
“Oh? At first, I thought you were just a fancy noble playing poor, but it seems you’re quite generous, huh?”
“You sure don’t hold back with your words for a commoner, do you?”
“Hey, if you live feeling intimidated by that, you won’t survive in this hellish territory! Anyway, wait. My husband’s cooking skills are incredible.”
“That’s great, but first, bring us some drinks!”
“So you know how to eat? Alright, wait a minute.”
Sen grinned as she gathered up all the coins Dariann had placed on the table and tucked them into her apron pocket before walking away.
“Phew…”
“Come on, don’t be so stiff. Relax.”
“Oh, no! How could I…?”
Despite the situation improving, Hanseong let out a sigh of relief, and Dariann patted his back as he spoke.
“Just leave it alone; who can relax in front of their superior? Especially when they were dragged here while just doing their job.”
“Oh, Miss…!”
“Really? Then drink as you like,” said Rosaria, stepping in to help the clearly troubled Hanseong, causing tears to well up in his eyes.
‘What soldier can be at ease in front of their superior? Poor guy, really.’
Every little action of Dariann made Hanseong react with shock, awe, and trembling, reminding him of his military life.
He remembered muttering about how he’d punch any soldier who showed up unexpectedly, having picked up every stone in the training yard since the day before.
But when he faced the stars on the general’s hat, asking to shake hands, he found himself at a loss for words.
“Here you go.”
Thud!
“Whoa?!”
Just then, Sen arrived with a wooden mug as large as a 500cc beer mug and placed it on the table, causing Felix to jump in shock.
The ale was filled to the brim with bubbling foam, perfectly balanced so that it wouldn’t spill, showcasing Sen’s skill in serving.
“Can I… drink alcohol?”
“Huh? Is this your first drink?”
“Yeah, it’s my first time drinking after turning an adult.”
Looking at the mug placed in front of him, Felix swallowed nervously.
Having just become an adult, Felix had never really experienced a proper drinking session.
Though he had passed university entrance exams, he was brought to this world before the new semester started and missed out on the typical freshman orientation, so this was his first encounter with alcohol.
“Then there’s no need to force yourself to drink. Right?”
Glug, glug… “Whoa! This is it!? Why is it so refreshing? And the taste is so rich… what did you call it?”
Glug, glug! “This is it! I should have had this drink back then; I finally get to drink it now!”
“Alcohol should always be in moderation; you don’t have to drink if you don’t want to.”
“Ah, yeah. That seems to be the case.”
As Freya comforted the stiff Felix in front of the drink, she looked to Dariann and Rosaria for their agreement, only to find the two already guzzling ale, their lips covered in white foam.
As Dariann and Rosaria drank, unable to enjoy the military rations and alcohol they had been looking forward to, Felix’s mug was already over half empty.
“Hey? Who’s that? Isn’t it Hanseong?”
“Huh? Berry? What are you doing here?”
A man, also holding a mug and swaying as he walked, spotted Hanseong sitting at a table near the aisle and approached him.
“Well, you know… But who are these people?”
“Ah, um… what should I say…?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected familiar face and not knowing how to introduce the noble patrons, he stuttered.
“You must be Hanseong’s cousin. You came to this territory for some work, and happened to see Hanseong’s face while here, right?”
“Ah, I see! Nice to meet you. I’m Berry.”
“Yes, I’m Freya.”
Freya skillfully provided a simple and easy explanation to help them smoothly avoid the situation.
“Anyway, what brings you here? You wouldn’t normally visit at this time.”
“No, ha… didn’t you hear? Ah, excuse me…”
“No, it’s fine. Please feel free to talk. After all, my lord and daughter are currently lost in their drinks.”
“Sister! Another drink here!”
“Let’s have another after that one!”
“Hahaha, what a bold husband and daughter you have. Well, just a moment…”
Berry, who was about to share his story while looking at Hanseong’s face, hesitated, thinking he might be interrupting their time, but was stopped by Freya’s words saying it was okay.
He ultimately brought the remaining chair from the side and joined them at the table.
“I should introduce myself. I run a small trading company called Parahan. To be honest, it’s not even big enough to call a company; it’s just a cart and two horses that have been helping me traverse the rough trading roads since long ago. Haha! Just think of me as a mere wandering merchant.”
“Typically, the Evergarden territory is one of the routes to the next destination, so we don’t come here often. Even when we do, we just gather supplies briefly and leave immediately.”
“As you may know, it’s quite difficult to buy or sell anything in this territory, so… haha.”
“That’s true. I came here because I heard Hanseong was living here, but it’s really a harsh territory.”
Does Berry, who introduced himself as a merchant, know that the lord of this territory is listening to his words right in front of him?
Yet Freya responded with a smile, seemingly unfazed, and because of that, only Hanseong’s face was growing more and more sour.
“This time, just like before, I was heading straight to the next destination, the Hanoah territory, bypassing the Evergarden territory. However, on the way to the territory, I found countless carts standing still, unable to move, with people gathered around talking.”
“In most cases like this, the path is delayed due to landslides or the appearance of bandits.”
“Curious about what was happening, I went to hear the story as well… Ha, really. Ah, let me wet my throat a bit.”
Continuing his story, Berry chuckled in disbelief, drinking his ale as if he were parched.
“What happened…?”
“Phew…! You won’t believe it… they said a dragon appeared! A dragon! And it was even a black dragon!”
“…What?”
And the response that came back was enough to render her smiling face utterly stunned.
A dragon.
The ultimate being that must appear in fantasies, the apex of the food chain.
A being that could obliterate a city with a breath of fire and cause earthquakes with its steps—a force of nature.
While it was naturally a fictional existence in modern times, Freya realized through Berry’s shout, boldly proclaiming that a dragon had appeared, that she had yet to shake off her modern mindset.
“Isn’t it ridiculous? I get it. It’s not bandits or landslides, but a dragon appeared! Is that even possible? If anything, I’d believe it more if the lord of the Evergarden territory lowered the taxes.”
Though Freya’s face was hidden beneath her hood, she too seemed to find it absurd, her voice rising in exasperation as Berry continued to shout.
“A black dragon… Tenebris Nox! Does that mean the black flame dragon of doom has appeared?!!”
“Wha?!”
At that moment, Felix, who had been silently listening to their conversation, jumped up from his seat and shouted.
Tenebris Nox.
The most powerful and infamous being that had been hinted at from the beginning to the very end of the narrative.
In the story, it was portrayed as a black dragon that treated humans as less than insects, displaying extreme arrogance.
However, the story had sufficiently explained why such arrogance could exist.
It had easily countered the magic of the Empire’s great sorcerer and pierced through the heart of that very sorcerer with its own magic, crushing the swords of the Empire’s knight commander with its claws and tearing limbs apart—a truly heinous being with overwhelming power.
In the final battle, it was a strong villain that the protagonist Aileen and her companions could barely defeat by pooling their strengths, during which the limbs of her companions were easily severed, and the prince, who secretly loved the protagonist, along with the white dragon Lux Deus from the Empire, sacrificed themselves to defeat the evil and powerful black dragon.
“That black dragon is here, here…?!”
Nox had only been hinted at until the final battle without any significant activity, and now it had appeared here? It was strange; it was too unusual for Tenebris to be here…
And Felix, who knew just how evil and powerful that black dragon was, turned pale with shock.
In the narrative, this black dragon was a being that had been hinted at continuously, and its true activity would only start in the latter half, when it would appear on the battlefield where the Demon King’s army attacked the Empire’s army, creating chaos.
For that dragon to suddenly appear near the Evergarden territory, which was no different from a rural area compared to the capital of the Empire, was enough to astonish Felix.
“Hahaha, the young friend knows quite a lot, huh? But it can’t be true.”
“…What?”
However, when Berry suddenly burst into laughter, taken aback by Felix’s outburst, he slammed the table and said, “The black dragon, Tenebris Nox, last appeared over a thousand years ago! Why would it suddenly show up near this shabby territory? At first glance, it sounds like the nonsense of a merchant who accidentally tipped over his cart.”
“B-but… why didn’t the other carts leave?”
“Well, that’s… I’d say it’s the merchant’s instinct?”
“Merchant’s instinct?”
“Even if it sounds like absurd and ridiculous rumors, strangely enough, there were many people who claimed to have witnessed it. The first merchant who heard that rumor said he saw it at the spot where it first started. He was arguing with another merchant who was scoffing at him.”
“So, even if it’s not a dragon, it seems there’s something interesting going on in that area. That’s why I came here, hoping to ask the mercenaries active in the Evergarden territory for protection.”
“I see… Well, that makes sense… there’s no way it would appear already…”
“Just looking at this tavern, there are already merchants like me with similar thoughts and mercenaries sniffing around after hearing the rumors.”
“Is that so?”
Upon hearing that, Felix finally turned his head to look at the tavern’s interior.
Just as Berry had said, it was as if he had walked into a cosplay event, with many people dressed in various fantasy-style weapons and clothing, each taking their places and drinking.
It was clear that the rumors of the dragon’s appearance were mere nonsense, and there were indeed many people simply looking to take on relatively easy escort missions for a decent payment.
“This tavern is right next to the mercenary guild, so many have gathered like this, and I came here to find mercenaries to entrust with the escort.”
“Ah, I see.”
Listening to Berry, Felix slowly gathered his thoughts and lowered his body to sit down again.
‘That’s true, there’s no way there could really be a dragon, right?’
Absurd and nonsensical rumors.
‘But… what is it? Why do I feel so uneasy and blocked…?’
Still, Felix couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that lingered in the back of his mind.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.