Chapter 71
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“We must form an extermination force.”
The opinion arose from the middle of the nobles’ section. Hendrick and Carl almost simultaneously looked at the speaker.
“It has been over three years since His Majesty the Emperor became bedridden. During this time, Dragon King Elena was assassinated, and now even Brita, belonging to Sir Antonio Carter who was a symbol of hope to the commoners, has been attacked.”
“Crisis has returned to the Empire. All these incidents must be the work of an evil black dragon seeking to destroy our sacred Empire, built under the blessing of the silver dragon Yggdrasil.”
“The Dragon King Elena’s assassination must also have been the black dragon’s doing. Who else could penetrate the Imperial defenses and infiltrate the Dragon King’s nest?”
“Many citizens in the capital are trembling in fear at the stories of the black dragon that attacked Brita.”
“We must form an extermination force to defeat the black dragon and stabilize public sentiment.”
The discussion flowed smoothly without interruption. It was exactly as expected. Carl scratched his temple, feeling bored by the predictable development that lacked any surprises.
“This must be true, that must be certain. These are all merely assumptions, my esteemed nobles.”
Carl’s voice smoothly quieted the noisy commotion. Those who had been loudly expressing their anger at the black dragon’s evil deeds and calling for its elimination suddenly fell silent.
“Because one of Idelin’s scales was found at the scene of Dragon King Elena’s murder, I, though innocent, was nearly killed after being falsely accused. Are you planning to create another victim using the same method?”
“Though I hesitate to speak, Your Highness, the matter of Idelin’s scale being found on the Dragon King’s corpse remains an unresolved issue.”
“Dragon scales can be obtained easily enough if one is determined to find them. Especially from a dragon like my Idelin, who travels frequently.”
Carl looked beyond the nobles’ section. He couldn’t identify exactly who had persisted with the question about Idelin’s scales. However, who spoke didn’t matter much. Most of the nobles sitting far away would probably think the same way.
“If you still suspect me because of that, it seems you’re simply dismissing the authority of the Temple, which has protected dragons since the Empire’s founding. Is that what you’re suggesting?”
“Of course not. That’s certainly not what we meant, but…”
The one who had spoken from the nobles’ section retreated, fumbling with words at Carl’s sharp sarcasm.
“I understand very well the concerns of our Empire’s most respected nobles, but this black dragon you propose to hunt down is a being that no one has even seen. How do you plan to exterminate a dragon whose very existence is uncertain?”
“Moreover, even if we assume the Dragon King’s assassination was indeed the black dragon’s doing, we’re left with an unsolvable problem, just as when Idelin was accused.”
Hendrick, who had been quietly observing the commotion, spoke following Carl’s words.
“The Imperial Palace’s barrier. As everyone knows, the Dragon King’s nest is in the palace underground, surrounded by strict magical barriers. It’s common sense that a dragon breaking through that to assassinate the Dragon King would be impossible.”
The nobles’ section fell silent at Hendrick’s practical observation.
“In other words, the Dragon King’s assassin is more likely to be a human than a dragon.”
“Impossible, Your Highness. How could a mere human assassinate a dragon?”
“For someone with experience hunting dragons, it wouldn’t be impossible.”
“If you’re referring to dragon hunters, they died out long ago.”
“Their lineage may have ended, but that doesn’t mean their lives have.”
Hendrick twisted his lips in a cold sneer.
“If I may speak.”
Someone spoke respectfully at that moment.
“The Dragon King’s nest is protected by strict barriers that can stop dragons, and a complex maze that only those who know the way can pass through. Even if the culprit were human, how they navigated the maze remains equally questionable.”
It was Marquis Daniel. With Crown Prince Hendrick in the seat of honor, Prince Carl sat on the right and the Marquis on the left.
“The black dragon definitely exists. If you doubt the existence of a black dragon that even the Temple hasn’t acknowledged and that has never shown itself, perhaps we should prove it through a witness who knows of the black dragon?”
A witness? Carl struggled to suppress his furrowing brow. In a lower seat separated from the nobles’ section where registered nobles with speaking rights sat, Sian sat quietly watching the situation as if she were invisible.
When Carl unconsciously looked at Sian in his field of vision, she met his gaze after apparently sensing it while looking at the Marquis who had just spoken.
“We’ve already sent word to the Temple regarding the black dragon’s existence, so we’ll have an answer soon.”
“But isn’t the response taking too long? I have already summoned a witness, so let us hear their testimony here and now.”
The Marquis was unusually adamant, appearing to have thoroughly prepared. Hendrick’s eyebrow twitched slightly at the Marquis’s confident words.
Meanwhile, Sian was watching it all while inwardly steeling herself. Yes. They wouldn’t end with just raising the existence of a black dragon.
She already had a sense of who the Marquis’s witness would be. She clearly anticipated that the witness prepared by the Marquis, or more precisely by Revenant behind him, would be an arrow aimed at her vital point. Yet her mind remained as calm as gentle waves.
“I request to present Count Winston Chandler of Vicrea Margraviate as a witness who has seen the black dragon.”
It was Carl, rather than Sian, who sharply furrowed his brow at the Marquis’s continued words. A wave of murmuring swept through the nobles’ section.
To those who had been waiting helplessly for word from the Temple, the appearance of a witness who knew about the black dragon’s existence was simply welcome news.
“…Count Chandler?”
Hendrick, who still didn’t know the truth, muttered quietly as if puzzled. Carl silently bit his lip.
“Bring in the witness.”
At Hendrick’s command, the nearby attendant shouted “Bring in the witness!” loud enough to echo through the assembly hall. Through the same door Carl had passed earlier, a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his fifties emerged.
Carl knew at first glance that this was Sian’s father. The Count Chandler he was seeing for the first time had the same platinum blonde hair as Sian.
Sian unconsciously smiled silently when she saw Count Chandler walking from afar. She could barely remember when she had last seen him. Ten years—no, exactly seventeen years ago.
Her father, who brushed back his short platinum blonde hair, had only grown a bit more wrinkled and aged than her memory of him. His straight back and firm shoulders remained exactly as she remembered, enough to bring back old memories at first sight.
…Father who had only been big and frightening.
He who should have been a strong shield had been more faithful to his position as Margrave and to the Empire than to being the father of his only daughter.
Not a single warm memory remained. Even seeing him again after seventeen years, she felt neither joy nor affection. Only a cold feeling, as if looking at a stranger.
“Winston Chandler, Lord of Vicrea, pays his respects to the noble assembly of the great Empire. May the dragon’s glory reach the heavens.”
Having ascended to the platform, Count Winston dropped to one knee toward the Crown Prince and Prince after recognizing them. Hendrick looked puzzled.
“Count Winston Chandler, guardian of the Empire’s western border—a witness to the black dragon when you weren’t even in the capital…?”
“My last sighting of the black dragon was a very long time ago. Having heard rumors of a being I had tried to forget, I have come forward to testify about it.”
Carl frowned.
