Hero without Blood or Tear

Schwartztoyel let me have it for a while by asking me how I could have thought about negotiating with such a being, but he soon became muted as I responded in nonchalant way.

“Gosh, you couldn’t even say anything earlier…..”

“Krrhm!”

He could only clear his throat as if he was embarrassed.

“At any rate, we are now in the same boat.”

“You’re right. A traitor will be dragged down to that abyss.”

The fear will bind us together. As we had no trust in each other, it has forced us to trust each other.

“Then tell me your secret. Demon Dragon.”

“All right. I have nothing to hide at this juncture. Follow me.”

Schwartztoyel led me to the deepest part of the lair.

“Are you really getting the support of the one who squats at the grave? What is your objective?”

“I’ll explain as we move.”

As long as he was disclosing his secrets, I, too, had to reveal mine. I told him that with the support of the one who was squatting at the grave, I earned the professional title of the man without blood or tear, and in return that I had promised to take care of the demon king who was supported by Struggling Death.

“What a coincidence. I mean, maybe, this was meant to be by the transcendental beings’ wills! It’s hard to tell.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because, your biggest foe is Struggling Death.”

“Hm?”

“You will know when you go see the key that I have been guarding.”

We arrived at the end of the lair. We were at the end of the alley.

“This is it.”

Schwartztoyel recited a spell. Then an entrance appeared before us. Peeking inside, I found a stairway, leading deep down into the abyss.

“This place? Hm, this is not a physical world.”

“You certainly are an insightful man. Correct. Below the stairs, there lies a mysterious dimension of shadows. After going down, exactly the 2,445 steps, you will reach the deepest section of the dimension. That is the place of exile.”

When Schwartztoyel performed magic, by wielding his staff, a ghost appeared and attached itself to the end of the staff. The ghost was emitting hazy light.

“In the shadow dimension, only the ghost, spirit can provide light. The ordinary light is useless as it will be sealed off by the dimension’s thick darkness.”

“You’ve hidden the key in a very troublesome location.”

“It will be useless, unless I hid it in a place like this, you know.”

We went down the stairs with caution. This place was truly a scary world. The place was in complete darkness, and there, some ghosts hovered around, like those of deep water fish, as they made weird wailing noises.

I felt more confined, as if we were going down deeper under the sea, as we went down further. It was as if the water pressure was building stronger. It was when I wanted to return, regardless of whether this was the deepest secret or not, we finally reached the bottom.

“This is!”

There was a large boulder in the center of the abyss. And on top of it, there was some transcendental being tied up, with its body torn apart. The chain that tied him was shining with blue light due to magic.

However, as if that was not good enough, there was a huge spear that pierced the center of its body.

“I’m not sure…But that spear seems to be an awesome item.”

“Right. However, doesn’t even that spear appear insignificant compared to that sealed body?”

“That’s true. It looks as if it is about to break off. What the heck is that, anyway?”

In response to my question, Schwartztoyel raised his staff high and surveyed the seal to ensure that nothing was wrong with it. After examining it, all around for a while, he spoke.

“This is a part of the body which was cut up by the great dark army.”

“Whose is it?”

“Kk, it belongs to someone even you know very well.”

“Could it be?”

“Right. It belongs to none other than Struggling Death. This is part of his body and the key, itself, which will open the sealed one’s end. I am continuously guarding it.”

I felt like all the pieces of the puzzle were coming together, finally.

“By any chance, do you know of the protector? Schwartztoyel.”

“Of course. It seems you know him, too, since you’re asking about him.”

“Was it that Struggling Death was what the protectors were guarding?”

“That’s right.”

That’s a little strange? It was believed that the seal would unlock with the protector’s death, but was a separate key needed? When I asked him that, Schwartztoyel explained it.

“What you know is not wrong. Even without this key, the probability of this seal breaking increases with the deaths of the protectors.”

“Then what is the meaning of this key?”

“Simple. Only with this key, Struggling Death could truly recapture its true powers.”

According to Shwartztoyel, if the seal was to break and that he recovers his physical body then that would mark the end of the world.

“This is very dangerous.”

“Right. The daily life that we lead is, in fact, resting precariously at the end of a cliff. If someone was to push it by a little bit, it will come to an abrupt end.”

“But has it not been managed quite well, so far?”

“But that has changed. What would cause me, the demon king, to even form an alliance with you by putting my soul on the line.”

The demon king Odgarsh’s invasion, not too long ago, was the beginning of this change.

“The demon kings who are the 1^st, and 2^nd line to the power are not interested in this type of ancient stories to begin with. Only their own powers were the most important thing to them. However, by inciting the demon king Odgarsh, they circumvented the agreement. Everything began to change.”

“I have something to say to that point, also. I was ambushed, not too long ago.”

“Is that so? You have to tell me about it.”

“Let’s get out of here first.”

It was hard to even breathe in this place. After quietly staring at the huge spear which has pierced through the body, I turned around.

*****

As soon as we returned, Schwartztoyel brought something out.

“First, drink this wine of honey bee. This will heal the psychological damages you’ve suffered from having visited the shadow dimension.”

“Thank you.”

After I calmed down, I told the episode which happened relating to Palke, the ultimate swordswoman. Schwartztoyel quietly listened while stroking his beard.

“I’d like to hear your opinion on this story. Schwartztoyel. There is definitely a behind the scene power that moved Palke.”

She was likely to have been manipulated without her knowing it.

“Most likely. Hm….That power may also know of your identity.”

“However, it’s too hard to understand. The identity of the one who squats at the grave is known by almost no one in the world. How then could someone know that I am being helped by the one who squats at the grave?”

Schwartztoyel told me to think simply.

“This is an easy question, yet you have tendency to complicate things. Like you are receiving the support from the one who squats at the grave, it means that the other party is also receiving the help from the army of the darkness. And the army of the darkness is, most likely to be the ultimate foe of the one who squats at the grave, Struggling Death.”

That opinion was convincing.

“Have you not heard the list of the demon kings who are supported by Struggling Death, from the one who squats at the grave? Likewise, Struggling Death has analyzed your power and had given orders to his cronies.”

Schwartztoyel concluded that Palke, the ultimate swordswoman, had been sent by that crony.

“Is it not the most optimal choice from the enemy’s perspective? If the ultimate swordswoman Palke died, the seal which was sealing his master would weaken. If not that, and that you are to die, his master’s ultimate foe would lose his crony. From their side, either result would be welcomed.”

As Palke had died, that being laughed out loud, happily. It meant that things worked out according to his plan.

Truly, the enemy was very dangerous. The one positive thing in all of this unfortunate situation was that Schwartztoyel and I were sharing the same objective.

“As I said before, we must help each other.”

“That’s right. You kill the demon king who is supported by Struggling Death, and I stop those who are after the body of Struggling Death. It is like sharing the tasks of offense and defense.”

“First, we have to find that dark power and keep it at bay. I plan to start a war which will expand the power with the empire, going forward. However, I’ll have a hard time sustaining myself when they attack with sharp daggers, in this fashion. Is there any counter measure?”

It is too hard just by engaging in politics and wars. I formed alliance with Schwartztoyel, like this, because I did not have the spare energy to additionally face the army of the darkness.

“Hhhhh. You are expecting too much from me.”

“You’re old, but you’re still the great legendary demon dragon.”

“What the heck! You don’t think you are old!”

After displaying his temper for a bit, Schwartztoyel fell into a thought to himself.

“It’s not easy.”

“But, an answer must be found.”

“There is a way.”

“What is that?”

“It has something to do with my essences.”

As I made an expression to say that I had no idea what he was getting at, he laughed loudly.

“I meant to say, we can use the dragons.”

“Ah!”

It was a method that I couldn’t think of, at all.

“We, the dragons, are a minority group of this world, but we definitely live in the empire with everyone else. Even when everyone is indifferent to others, when the time is right, everyone cooperates as necessary.”

“…I don’t want to offend you, but are there other dragons that are working with you, too?”

“You, little bastard!”

I thought that as this particular demon dragon’s reputation hit the sewer long ago, there wouldn’t be anyone, willing to associate with him. However, he said that there were a few to which he could ask for support.

“That’s truly surprising.”

“Hm, no matter what, my character is purer than yours?”

I shook all over at the unexpected character attack.

“I can’t agree.”

“However, if you see who I can move, you would have no choice, but accept it.”

Who was it. I quickly asked him to reveal the identity. Then he began to tell a story that I couldn’t have imagined.

“The emperor Frantz, the 4^th.”

“What!”

I stood up right away on the spot. It made no sense. The emperor Frantz, the 4^th was a dragon?

“No, no way! No way! That useless emperor is a dragon? Isn’t it strange when you think about the wisdom the dragons have!”

“Kraaaah!”

Schwartztoyel tilted his head back as he laughed. Perhaps, he liked the expression on my face.

“Why do you say that he is useless?”

“That’s because he always causes trouble and fails at things…..”

“However, it is true that there was peace during his rule?”

“I mean, when I thought the demon race was oppressed, he would undo everything by doing other things…I mean, wait?”

What? Come to think of it, I’ve heard about cold wars, but under the ruling of Frantz, the 4^th, there has never been a big war. The prosperities of both demon race and humans. The proofs were there in plain sight.

Roselant, which was being ruled by the rose demon queen, was a representative example.

“However, did he not oppress Roselant? The place that represented harmony between humans and the demon race….”

“Was that why Frantz, the 4^th, invaded Roselant?”

“…..No.”

“Had Frantz, the 4^th, not done that, and gotten quite well together with Roelin, do you think the extreme sect of the humans have remained peaceful?”

“…..”

Suddenly, everything began to confuse me. The Frantz, the 4^th, I knew was someone, when I thought he was about to make the emperorship more powerful by crushing a demon king, would instead always ended up failing it in big ways, and got embarrassed.

I had always ridiculed him because he was a busybody without anything to show for. He always got involved with everything that went on in the empire, and interfered at every turn, but he always ended at the same spot.

However, that was maintaining the status quo, in other words, efforts to keep the peace?

“So, all those meticulous schemes….Everything were to follow the plan?”

“Schwartztoyel nodded his head.

“Look at Behemia. It has become a place where it is impossible to live, unless both humans and demon races worked together. That is the master piece which Frantz, the 4^th has created.”

I thought of Pilsen, which was a great big city in Behemia. The place which was being rule by Kubalt, the spy king, was peaceful, and the humans and the demon race lived in harmony.

I couldn’t see that that was the result of Frantz, the 4^th efforts. Even the spy king Kubalt, himself, was not aware of it, and always complained about the emperor!

All of a sudden, I saw the being of the emperor as someone not easily reachable. He has been maintaining peace in the empire by demonstrating certain powers which could not be imitated.

“Don’t worry. Valerstead Valer. I’ll mobilize myself and keep that dark army’s power at bay.”

Schwartztoyel was confident.

Gosh, the things have grown out of control, at least beyond what I was thinking. I had no idea that we could have the emperor on our side.

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