The Dragon Slayer Who Regressed After 1,000 Years - Chapter 49

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Dragon Slayer’s Return After One Thousand Years — Episode 49
Dmitri’s eyes widened at the sudden match proposal.
“Vice-Captain Garen! What are you——”
“I’m curious. What skill could warrant a recommendation from the Imperial Knights themselves?”
That single remark silenced Dmitri.
He had grasped Garen’s meaning at once.
‘The Imperial Knights is a position everyone aspires to. Garen especially used to joke that if the Empire ever recommended him, they shouldn’t hold him back.’
For Garen, this would be incomprehensible.
That Cain, so much younger than himself, had received such a recommendation.
Cain seemed to have no intention of dodging the match either.
“What are the rules?”
“Wooden swords. Aura is permitted, but Sword Force is forbidden.”
“Understood.”
Cain spoke tersely as he took a wooden sword from the rack.
Garen picked up a wooden sword as well.
“Dmitri, would you serve as the judge?”
“Yes? Ah, very well.”
Though he had agreed, Dmitri felt uneasy about this match.
Garen was the vice-captain who had fought beside him for years, and Cain was the son of Serena, the princess whom Dmitri served.
The thought of these acquaintances fighting each other sat poorly with him.
‘And yet… I’m curious. Who will win?’
Cain was called a prodigy of the sword, but he was only twenty.
Compared to Garen, who had wielded a blade for fifty years, he lacked experience.
‘Honestly, I couldn’t guarantee the victor.’
He had heard through Valenseus that Cain had hunted the White Dragon alone and become the savior of Harzan Village——
‘But he was probably fortunate. Slaying a dragon alone is no easy feat.’
Perhaps the dragon had been sleeping, or already wounded.
He might have won through some other circumstance.
Above all, fighting a dragon was altogether different from fighting a man.
‘Being a Dragon Slayer doesn’t necessarily make one excellent at combat against people.’
Still, he could make some educated guess.
‘Cain would edge ahead by a narrow margin.’
He would certainly be at a disadvantage in experience, but Cain had the distinction of having slain a dragon.
And judging by the matches he had witnessed, Cain possessed formidable skill in single combat as well.
“Then let us——”
Before the words left Dmitri’s mouth, Cain surged forward.
Watching Cain shatter Garen’s wooden sword and press the blade to his neck, Dmitri had to correct his assessment.
‘No, it’s not a narrow margin. It’s… overwhelming.’
Cain spoke in a flat voice.
“Do you concede?”
“……”
“If you don’t concede, we can go again.”
Without waiting for a reply, Cain retrieved another wooden sword from the rack and tossed it to Garen.
Garen caught it with a dazed expression, blinking in confusion for a moment before collecting himself and resuming his stance.
“Ready?”
“Y-yes, I’m ready.”
“Dmitri?”
“Ah, yes. Then let us begin the match aga——”
This time Garen charged first.
But it lasted only a moment.
Crack!
The wooden sword splintered, and Cain’s blade was already at Garen’s throat.
Dmitri could vividly understand how Garen now felt.
‘I… I couldn’t see his movements at all.’
He was so fast that he seemed to vanish in an instant.
Which meant the difference lay in the instantaneous explosive power.
‘We’re both 7-Star Rank, yet such a gap——’
His comprehension of Aura was impossibly profound.
“Now do you concede?”
In real combat, Garen would already have lost his life twice over.
Without landing a single counterattack.
“I… I concede.”
Only after Garen had spoken did Cain lower the wooden sword he’d been holding.
Not a single defense mounted—it was, quite simply, an overwhelming disparity.
Once Cain had gone, Dmitri placed a hand on Garen’s shoulder as the older man stood motionless.
“Why did you insist on sparring anyway… Garen?”
Garen’s hands were trembling slightly.
Was it frustration, or the shock of such a hollow defeat?
Likely both.
A man who’d devoted fifty years to the blade had lost without laying a hand on a twenty-year-old.
Dmitri said nothing more.
Words of comfort would only wound him further.

* * *
‘The Imperial Knights…’
When Valenseus had extended the recommendation, Cain hadn’t been genuinely surprised.
If anything, he’d thought the time had come.
‘He means to keep me close.’
Not long ago, when he’d met with Alton, he’d briefly released the aura of a dragon through Bernaathus.
Alton couldn’t simply overlook that.
He’d want to keep Cain nearby to uncover the truth of who he was.
The Imperial Knights recommendation was for precisely that reason.
‘I knew the recommendation would come. But this quickly…’
The rumor of a Dragon Slayer seemed to have hastened Alton’s decision.
The stronger the justification, the easier it becomes to make such a recommendation.
‘In exchange, I’ve earned Alton’s suspicion—but that’s fine. As long as I can enter the Empire.’
The Imperial Knights gathered only the strongest knights in the continent.
But the crucial point was that upon joining, one became directly subordinate to the Emperor.
For a knight of the kingdom to enter the Imperial Knights meant their liege would change.
Because of this, Cain had anticipated it.
Soon enough, Adriel would summon him.
And as expected, a chamberlain arrived to fetch him.
“Prince Cain. Your uncle the Emperor requests your presence.”
Knowing this moment would come, Cain nodded and made his way to the Throne Room.
Inside stood not only Adriel but also the Chancellor, the Grand General, the Court Mage, the Minister of Finance, and other high officials arrayed on either side.
Cain’s gaze lingered on one face for a moment.
The Chancellor of the Asel Kingdom—Ronan Valerian.
Behind that gentle smile lay a face Cain knew better than any other face of an enemy.
‘You won’t die peacefully, I assure you.’
With that future promise in mind, Cain turned his attention to his uncle.
“Welcome, Cain.”
“I pay my respects to Your Majesty.”
“I’ve heard the news. You’ve received a recommendation to the Imperial Knights?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
“And what do you intend to do? Will you accept?”
A direct question.
Cain answered without hesitation.
“Yes.”
“Ha! You do understand, don’t you, that becoming an Imperial Knight means living as an Imperial Citizen!”
“Surely you’re not saying you intend to change your liege?”
“How could the blood of the Asel Royal Family ever transfer its allegiance to the Empire!”
The officials protested as one.
Adriel, too, could not hide the bitter expression on his face.
“Hmm… I’m no knight myself, but I know well enough that the Imperial Knights are the dream of all knights. Better to seize a chance of a lifetime than to pass it by, even if it means learning in a broader arena. And yet… it’s a shame to lose our youngest Sword Master.”
“With respect, Your Majesty, I have no intention of becoming an Imperial Citizen.”
“What? What do you mean? The Imperial Knights accept only Imperial Citizens. You can’t join without changing your allegiance, can you?”
“I intend to join without changing my allegiance. Once an Asel citizen, always an Asel citizen. If that cannot be permitted, I have no wish to go.”
The assembly fell silent at his resolute words.
Not because they were moved by sentiment.
But because he had presented them with an impossible condition.
“Now then, Cain.”
Ronan Valerian asked, bewilderment written across his face.
“The Imperial Knights have never accepted citizens from another kingdom in all their history. The admission requirement is that one must be an Imperial Citizen. It’s an unwritten law of the order.”
“Then that unwritten law will be broken today. Otherwise, I have no intention of joining.”
“But you can’t get in without transferring your allegiance——”
“Wherever I go, I remain a person of Asel.”
Cain’s resolve was unyielding.
That attitude eased Adriel’s heart considerably.
Yet.
“I’m grateful you won’t transfer your allegiance, but I doubt the Imperial Knights will grant your request.”
“If they want me, they’ll have to.”
“Hmm…… I understand your position. You may go.”
After Cain left, the remaining ministers dispersed one by one.
Among them, Ronan alone turned his steps toward a shadowed place.
‘Arrogant bastard. What? He won’t join unless he can remain an Asel national? Getting a recommendation from the Imperial Knights has swelled his head to the heavens, it seems.’
He needed to report this to Alton at once.
Once Ronan reached a secluded spot, he looked around before raising the Crystal Orb.
A low voice soon emanated from within the Crystal Orb.
—What is it, Lord Valerian?
“Duke Alton. I have a report for you.”
Ronan relayed everything that had transpired in the Throne Room, detail by detail.
—So…… that Cain fellow has set a condition to not transfer his allegiance?
“Yes, sir. An utterly arrogant fellow. He truly believed the Empire would accommodate his demands. He ought to be grateful for the recommendation to the Imperial Knights alone. And here he shows no gratitude, not understanding his place. Wouldn’t you agree?”
—…….
After a brief silence, Alton’s voice emerged.
—There’s no help for it. We’ll have to grant his request.
“Pardon?”
—I will petition His Majesty on the matter.
With those words, the light in the Crystal Orb went dark.
In the darkness, only Ronan remained, his expression dumbfounded.

* * *
Flap!
An enormous creature that had been gliding through the sky descended slowly toward the earth.
[This is the place.]
The Purple Dragon with its purple scales alighted before the cave, folded its wings, and walked inside.
At the far end of a long cavern lay a white-scaled dragon, unmoving.
[Glasio, you incorrigible fool. Isn’t it time you gave that back to your brother? Here you are, sleeping peacefully when——.]
The Purple Dragon stopped short.
The stench of blood prickling at its nostrils.
And a pool of blood congealing around the white dragon.
[What in the…… Surely not?]
As the Purple Dragon drew closer, it was left speechless.
Not only was there a gash on the head, but the chest had been opened and the heart was gone.
The sight proved a considerable shock; the Purple Dragon, who had been silent for a time, let out a hollow laugh.
[Ha…… So it’s come to this. Your greed for treasure was insatiable, but you should never have laid hands on the Relic entrusted to us by the Lord. Glasio, you fool.]
The dragon, muttering at the corpse, heaved a long sigh.
With eyes that seemed hollow somehow, it spoke.
[Had you still lived, I would have given you a thrashing you’d never forget…… but even that is denied to me now.]
The dragon fell silent for a moment, then its eyes kindled with rage.
[Rest easy, Glasio. The bastard who killed you and took the Relic—I will find him. And I will kill him.]

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————