The Dragon Slayer Who Regressed After 1,000 Years - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Dragon Slayer Returns After 1000 Years — Episode 7
“Excuse me?”
“What do you mean…?”
“That makes no sense. Cooperating with a dragon…?”
Valter felt a quiet relief at the knights’ disbelief.
‘Thank heavens there’s no proof. If Father simply denies it, at least the family’s honor won’t be—’
But contrary to Valter’s hopes, Bollington spoke up with unexpected words.
“It’s true. What Prince Cain says is fact.”
His eyes had grown somehow distant and clouded.
While the knights stirred in confusion.
Only Cain, toward the darkness that had followed him from beneath the bed, allowed himself a faint smile.
‘Well done, Bernatus.’
The confession was extracted.
Now the Ragnar Family was finished.

* * *
Dragons hold many meanings for mankind.
A calamity to be avoided at all costs.
An enemy to be slain.
Objects of terror, beings of legend, symbols of power, and more besides.
Though varied in definition, there is one consensus all voices agree upon: dragons are never allies.
Perhaps that is why.
The revelation that the Ragnar Family were dragon worshippers sent shockwaves through the entire realm.
“Madness.”
The First Prince, Adriel, who inherited the throne the moment his father passed.
He furrowed his brow upon the royal seat.
“So they maintained periodic contact with the dragon, sent tribute, and purchased slaves as sacrificial offerings?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty. Count Bollington is making full confession, and the evidence corroborates his account entirely.”
“How did a family so good at hiding themselves suddenly become reckless?”
“It appears they abandoned all hope when cornered to the edge of a cliff, Sire.”
“Hmm. Then I should bestow rewards upon the Knight Order for their achievement in this matter.”
At that moment, an attendant spoke cautiously.
“In truth, Your Majesty… there is another who played a decisive role. Prince Cain.”
“Who did you say?”
“He is the son of Princess Serena, Sire.”
“Ah, ah…! That sister’s boy?”
The attendant reported the sequence of events.
The duel, the assassin, and the confrontation at the Count’s manor.
Once Adriel heard the full account, admiration spilled from his lips.
“This Cain must be quite the formidable fighter. Was he trained in the Knight Order?”
“No, Sire. He achieved 1-Star entirely through self-study, from what I understand.”
“What…? A 1-Star defeated a 4-Star assassin and matched a 5-Star? That’s impossible.”
“Captain Dmitri himself attested to this, so it appears reliable, Sire.”
……
Adriel’s expression betrayed complete bewilderment.
“In any case, strip the Ragnar family of their titles and expose every last detail of their crimes. After that, execute the Count and display his corpse in the Town Square. And strengthen security around my sister’s palace.”
“I shall obey your command, Sire.”
“Ah, and one more thing.”
Adriel’s lips quirked upward with genuine interest.
“See that a reward is bestowed upon Cain for his decisive role in this matter.”

* * *
At that same moment, Cain sat cross-legged in his chamber.
With each breath he drew, his ribs throbbed with dull pain.
Though the palace mages had set the bones, they could not banish the ache entirely.
‘A 1-Star cannot withstand a 5-Star.’
The moment Valter’s blade had aimed for his heart remained vivid in memory.
Even seeing the future, his body had been too slow to evade it completely.
‘I expand my vessel. Right now.’
Cain ignored the pain and focused on his breath.
Drawing external Mana inward, converting it into Aura.
For an ordinary knight, the process takes a minimum of two years.
But Cain had a path paved over a thousand years.
Where to channel the Mana, where to compress it, where to break through.
A path he could walk with his eyes closed.
‘Most of all.’
The ribs that had shattered.
A body that had brushed the threshold of death was drawing in Mana like a sponge.
Crisis itself became nourishment.
Hummmmm—
The Aura at one side of his heart began to swell.
The energy that had risen to its limit knocked against the barrier.
Once.
Twice.
Crack!
With the sensation of an invisible wall shattering, the Aura deepened a full stage.
“Breathe….”
Cain opened his eyes.
‘2-Star.’
Still a long way to go.
Valter was 5-Star, Dmitri was 7-Star.
And the dragon lay beyond that.
‘At this pace, it won’t be enough.’
Meditation and training alone would take ten years.
He needed a shortcut.
‘A Dragon Heart.’
Cain’s eyes gleamed cold.
Fortunately, the timing aligned perfectly.
‘Around this time—the Knight Order launches the Subjugation.’

* * *
Dmitri was heading toward Cain’s chamber.
To deliver a reward bestowed by the King.
Yet his expression was complicated.
‘I still can’t make sense of it.’
How could he have withstood a 5-Star knight like Valter?
‘Valter was certainly trying with all his might to kill the prince. You can see it from the sword marks carved into the surroundings alone. And yet….’
When Dmitri arrived, Cain was alive.
What’s more, he’d subdued the assassin and even forced him to talk.
‘Making an assassin speak is no easy task, even for me….’
Those kinds of people choose death over betraying their employer’s secrets.
Yet he’d coerced this one into revealing the location of the Ragnar Family.
Knock-knock.
“Come in. Dmitri.”
At the sound from within, Dmitri felt inwardly startled.
Just a knock, and he already knew who it was?
Opening the door, he saw Cain sitting cross-legged in meditation.
“You’ve come?”
“Did you know I would?”
“Yes. I recognized your footsteps.”
Confusion flickered across Dmitri’s face.
He was beginning to lose track of whether this was bravado or something else entirely.
“Your body—are you well? I heard your ribs were fractured….”
“Yes. The Palace healers here are quite skilled. The bones have mended beautifully.”
“Yet you’re meditating? With a body that should be resting….”
“All the same, it’s proven fruitful.”
“Fruitful?”
“2-Star. I just advanced.”
“…What?”
Dmitri found himself doubting his own ears.
Raising one’s Aura requires vigorous training and rigorous discipline.
For most knights, it takes at least two years.
Yet with broken ribs, in mere days of meditation?
‘The word “genius” doesn’t even begin to cover it.’
Dmitri swallowed his bewilderment and produced what he’d brought.
“This is a gift bestowed by His Majesty to commend your role in exposing the Ragnar Family’s collusion with the dragon.”
It was a sword far more finely crafted and ornately decorated than those carried by ordinary knights.
“A magnificent blade. I’m grateful to receive it.”
“But Prince Cain—how did you know the Ragnar Family was following the dragon?”
Dmitri voiced the question that had nagged at him, and Cain answered without concern.
“The assassin confessed it. I suppose he’d already told you.”
“Ah….”
Dmitri swallowed hard.
The assassin had already taken his own life.
“If I’d known, I’d have interrogated him more thoroughly. A shame, that.”
“Has the investigation concluded?”
“Yes. When we searched the estate, a Crystal Orb was discovered in a hidden library. It’s believed they used it to hold secret talks with the Red Dragon Camiloas. The Ragnar Family is finished, effectively.”
“What of the younger members?”
Valter and Servan have been stripped of their titles and expelled from the Knight Order.”
“Is Valter to be executed?”
“By law, yes—but there’s a complication.”
Dmitri’s expression grew troubled.
“We have a dragon Subjugation being prepared, and Valter was the one conducting reconnaissance. He’s the only one who knows the terrain and routes through the suspected Lair. To send out a new scout would cost us months, and in that time the dragon might attack another village.”
‘A Subjugation, then.’
Cain recalled it now.
The dragon hunt that would take place during this period.
‘That man could be useful.’
Cain spoke to Dmitri.
“Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll ask His Majesty to pardon Valter’s execution.”
“…Pardon? But he tried to kill you, Prince.”
“In exchange, I’ll set conditions. He completes the reconnaissance mission for the Subjugation. If he succeeds, his life is spared, but he’s stripped to commoner rank. What do you say?”
Dmitri fell silent for a moment.
He would spare the man who’d tried to kill him, and use him for the Subjugation besides.
‘Just how many layers does this man have?’
“If that is your wish, Prince, it can be done.”
“Then see to it. And there’s one more favor I need.”
“Speak.”
“Include me in this dragon Subjugation.”
“Pardon?”
“I want to gain experience facing dragons. I’ll observe from a distance if I must.”
His tone was serious, but Dmitri’s response was firm.
“That’s impossible. You don’t understand how fearsome dragons are.”
Cain smiled faintly.
‘I’ve hunted those beasts hundreds of times in my past life. How could they frighten me?’
“I understand. I’ve studied dragons well enough. The Palace Library has excellent texts on them.”
“That changes nothing. It’s too dangerous—we don’t even bring Sword Experts on these hunts, let alone someone who’s only just reached 2-Star.”
“I’ll stay back and observe from a safe distance.”
“Prince Cain.”
“Dmitri.”
Cain’s smile faded.
“My friend and I nearly became Sacrificial Offerings to those creatures. I need to see with my own eyes what they are.”
……
Dmitri met Cain’s gaze.
There lay a rage too old, too deep, for a man of twenty—a wrath that had settled long in the past.
“…Sigh. Who can argue with such stubbornness?”
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing. But I must insist—when combat begins, you remain in the rear. You must promise me this.”
“Of course.”
A promise he had no intention of keeping.

* * *
A space devoid of light.
Low voices passed across a table between them.
They were all heads of the continent’s most prominent families.
“I hear the Count of Ragnar’s head was hung in the Town Square.”
“I’ve heard. A wretched affair, truly.”
“Ha, wretched indeed. It was never a family worth speaking of in the first place.”
“I was displeased from the start by a man of such mediocre ability daring to fawn his way into our circle.”
“It’s only because Camiloas showed mercy that he wasn’t treated like the underling he was.”
They felt no sympathy for Ragnar’s death.
Compared to their own stature, he had been nothing more than a pebble.
But one man thought differently.
“Bollington dead… How lamentable.”
“Hmm… It is indeed sorrowful to lose a colleague.”
“Ah… quite right. Let us pray for the repose of his soul.”
At Alton’s words, everyone hurried to change their tune.
Some began to flatter him.
“Lord Drake has such a kind heart. To mourn the death of a man like a mere pebble.”
“What nonsense. Mourn? It’s simply regrettable that a useful tool has disappeared. With him gone, haven’t we lost our means of controlling the Knight Order?”
“Ah… yes, quite so.”
Alton continued in a cold voice, as though he’d never spoken differently.
“Ragnar has exposed our faction to the light. And Camiloas himself cannot conceal his displeasure at the news.”
“To incur his wrath…”
“Fool that Ragnar was!”
“What are we to do now, Lord Drake?”
Alton spoke from the darkness.
“First, I shall consult with my master and return.”

* * *
A space sealed in secrecy.
When Alton tapped the Crystal Orb, it glowed in response.
A voice flowed forth.
―What is the matter?
“Your Greatness, a problem has arisen.”
―Speak.
Alton reported how the Ragnar Family had exposed to the world the faction devoted to the dragon.
Then the great presence spoke.
―The dragon’s honor has been tarnished. Find out who was responsible, and take appropriate measures.
Alton prostrated himself before the Crystal Orb.
“As you command, my lord. Time Dragon.”

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