My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 241. The Golden Dragon Orosagrado

No matter how bloody a war was, its end was always sweet in some way.

Sometimes people relieved the tension accumulated during the war by taking the treasures inside the castle as spoils, holding a feast with someone else’s grain and livestock, and then dispersing.

But this war was different.

At the end of this war, only hardship remained.

"Move, move!"

"There isn’t a moment to rest! The faster you move, the sooner we can all go home!"

The knights commanded their men as though they were still in the middle of battle.

Normally, half of the troops would be sent to handle the aftermath while the other half took care of the cleanup.

But even that system could not be properly followed because the scale of this incident was simply too enormous.

Even the knights who were supposed to be giving orders were participating in the backbreaking labor.

The king was dead.

The king who had bravely charged into enemy territory had died inside the castle.

A king was a symbol of the nation, and his remains had to be recovered.

If his body could not be recovered, then even a single finger—or at least a speck of dust from his remains—had to be retrieved.

The allied nations, now united by a common objective, were working together to excavate the ruins.

"Th-there!"

In the midst of that desperate situation, someone pointed toward the ridge.

Someone was coming over it.

There were enough of them to be called a large army.

"Could they possibly be... trying to steal the feast we’ve prepared for ourselves?"

"Look at them swarming toward a famous banquet..."

"It’s not even a banquet. It’s a funeral..."

It was a common occurrence in war.

But that anxiety lasted only a moment.

When the people saw the emblem on the flags appearing at the edge of the ridge, they breathed a sigh of relief.

That radiant flag seemed to shine as though it would never become corrupt, even if the entire world fell into depravity.

It was the flag of the Holy Kingdom of Orosagrado.

They had come to the battlefield with a large force of personnel, and the people in charge gathered to welcome them.

"I am the Orosagrado Order of Relief Knights. My name is Leora, and I am the commander of the Order as well as an acolyte. His Holiness Gregorio has sent us here to serve you."

"We were just in need of manpower. We can only be grateful that the Holy Kingdom has sent us the Golden Grace."

The knights welcomed them, but the priests did not look upon them favorably.

They knew perfectly well what their intentions were.

Converting soldiers through charitable missionary work—helping people during difficult times and then persuading them to convert—was a classic method.

But there was no one in a position to refuse or protest.

Even after winning the war, weren’t they still stuck here, clearing stones instead of returning home?

If an ordinary soldier had died, they would have simply left his corpse to rot.

If it had been a knight, they might have hesitated for a while before abandoning him.

But a king had died.

In the Arken Empire, the beloved Count Rooster and the Second Prince, Ureas Arken, had died.

If their remains were lying at the entrance to Hell, they would have to risk their lives to retrieve them.

This was no time to distinguish between dirty hands and clean hands.

The Orosagrado Order of Relief Knights treated the wounded, supplied provisions, and filled the gaps in manpower.

Leora, the middle-aged man who called himself an acolyte and was the overall commander of the Order of Relief Knights, moved somewhere.

He headed toward the area where King Hudret’s army was stationed among the allied forces.

Hudret, the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, was directing the excavation of the kings’ corpses from among the ruins.

It was hard to believe that he had slept only three hours after going through countless fierce battles, yet he was overflowing with energy.

Hudret glanced at the man entering the tent.

His back was perfectly straight, his eyes fierce, and his overall appearance made him look like someone incapable of telling even a single joke.

Hudret nevertheless welcomed the man warmly.

"Welcome, Acolyte."

"Good to see you, Your Majesty Hudret."

"Is His Holiness doing well?"

"Isn’t he the very embodiment of a miracle blessed by the Golden Grace? He is still in excellent health."

"Must be difficult. You’ve been looking after that old man for several decades."

"I’m fine."

"I heard about it. I was deeply moved to hear that the Holy Kingdom was providing this kind of support."

"Direct military assistance would go against His Holiness’s will, and furthermore, against the will of the great Golden Dragon. But assistance after the battle is another matter."

"Is that so?"

Hudret did not like that answer.

Nevertheless, he forced a smile and let it pass.

"I understand. Do your best."

"Yes. But before that..."

Leora did not seem to have any intention of leaving immediately.

"Would you return it?"

"Return what?"

Hudret played dumb.

"The Golden Grace."

"The Golden Grace?"

"....."

"Oh, you mean Orosagrado’s scales."

Hudret scratched his head awkwardly.

"I lost it."

"....."

"You know how it is in a fight. Things get lost."

"To use it, you would have had to embed it into your body. Could you really lose it that easily?"

"Someone might have gouged into my hand and pulled it out."

"His Holiness ordered us to recover it by any means necessary. The Golden Grace is an object even the people of the church cannot use. Saying that you lost it does not resolve the matter."

"If I don’t have it, how am I supposed to recover it? You’re being unreasonable."

Leora demanded that he hand it over.

Hudret essentially told him to go to Hell.

"Commander, I need you to come with me for a moment."

"What is it?"

"There is something that needs to be coordinated with the priests regarding the healing work. It involves matters of protocol, and I believe things will only work out if the commander handles it personally..."

The timing was almost suspiciously perfect.

Looking at Hudret’s arrogant face, Leora wanted nothing more than to continue standing his ground, but as the person in charge, he could not do that.

"...Our conversation isn’t over. I’ll come back later."

"By all means."

Leora left the tent.

Hudret watched him go and gave a mischievous smile, wondering if he should simply run away right now.

After Leora left, another member of the Order of Relief Knights entered the tent.

"I have come to see His Majesty Hudret."

"What is it?"

"The delivery you ordered has arrived, so I came to deliver it. It’s..."

He checked the order sheet once more before speaking.

"You requested one hundred kilograms of ham delivered in an oak barrel, correct?"

"...Yes, that’s right."

"Where should I put it?"

"Bring it inside."

"Understood."

The soldier rolled the oak barrel over and placed it beside King Hudret.

"Then I’ll be on my way."

An oak barrel sat before him.

The scent of wood and the subtle aroma of aged protein stimulated his appetite.

"That certainly looks like some delicious ham."

He tapped the barrel lightly with his index finger before reaching for his waist.

"Let’s see what’s inside."

Hudret drew his sword and slipped it between the wooden slats of the barrel.

The barrel suddenly shook.

Then a bouncy, giggling voice came from inside.

—What kind of person opens an oak barrel like that?

It was the nasal voice of a young girl.

Hudret chuckled when he heard it and answered.

"Looks like the ham has gone bad. It’s talking."

—What kind of ham would the Holy Kingdom’s ham be? It must be the holiest ham of all. It doesn’t merely fill your stomach; it also teaches you wisdom. How could that not be holy?

"If it’s holy ham, then the sword wouldn’t even be able to pierce it, so I wouldn’t be able to eat it."

—Hehehe. Even if I look like this, I have a delicate body, you know, dear. If you poke me hard with that, I’ll go ’ouch’ and pop right out.

"May I try?"

—Hahaha! You irreverent little thing. Go ahead and try.

Hudret released his Aura and thrust the sword in with all his strength.

The sword plunged deep inside.

Then the lid of the oak barrel shot into the air, and something leaped out.

"Ouch~!"

It was the most pathetic scream Hudret had ever heard.

The owner of that scream was a small girl who had been just the right size to hide inside an oak barrel.

She had thick golden-blond hair and beautiful features.

She was absolutely not someone who should have been wearing a dark-colored robe, smelling entirely of ham, and being stored inside an oak barrel.

No.

She was someone who should never have been inside it in the first place.

Who in the world would believe that a dragon had been hiding inside a barrel of ham?

A pair of golden horns, darker and richer than the girl’s hair, looked exactly like the emblem on the flag of Orosagrado’s Holy Kingdom.

That girl was none other than the Golden Dragon, Orosagrado.

"You damned thing! You stuck a sword into me, and now my side hurts so much I feel like I’m going to die! Hahaha!"

The girl rubbed her side, but naturally, there wasn’t even a scratch on her body.

Instead, the sword that had been thrust into her had bent and become lodged in the barrel.

Hudret frowned and glared at the girl.

"You’ll have to pay for this sword."

"Don’t be so stingy. Your warehouse must be overflowing with swords like that, isn’t it?"

"Hahaha! I made a vow to walk the path of conquest together with that sword. It’s worth at least that much."

"Fahaha! I suppose it can’t be helped. Fine, I’ll have one of my swords prepared for you."

Hudret secretly grinned.

But they say there is always someone flying above the person who runs.

"Then I suppose I should get something back from you as well."

The girl waved her hand through the air.

The pile of supplies stacked nearby began to tremble.

Something sharply pierced through the pile and flew into her hand.

It was a golden scale.

The very object they had argued over just a few minutes ago because Hudret claimed he didn’t have it.

Hudret clicked his tongue.

"There are tens of thousands of those scales. Can’t you give me just one?"

"Hahaha! You’re one of countless swords as well. Couldn’t you have given me just one?"

"I was shortsighted."

"You should have had a kinder heart, you foolish thing."

The girl burst into a nasal laugh while the middle-aged man let out an incredulous chuckle.

Orosagrado lightly placed the scale behind her head.

The light vanished, and the scale began to emit a faint glow from her hair.

"So you were supposed to remain in the Holy Kingdom, but you secretly came all the way here because you were afraid I might steal one of your scales?"

"Do you really think I’d go through all that trouble? Besides, curling myself up inside such a narrow barrel was no easy task. Oh, my aching body."

"Then why?"

She leaned backward, stretched her waist, and answered with a bright smile.

"I came to see our little one’s fiancé."

"My son is studying diligently at the castle."

"Hahaha, that’s an amusing thing to say. I’m not talking about your child."

The languid-looking girl pointed her thumb at herself and declared proudly,

"I’m talking about my child."

Orosagrado’s child.

Hudret had a deep connection with her, but this was the first time he had ever heard that she had a child.

She herself looked more like a child, so who else could she possibly be talking about?

’And in a battlefield like this...’

Before Hudret could figure out what she meant, Orosagrado pulled her robe over her head and began walking.

Hudret naturally followed her.

"Where are you going, smelling so strongly of ham?"

"I’m going alone, so don’t follow me."

"When the great Golden Dragon makes her procession, shouldn’t I serve as her palanquin?"

"Fahaha! Forget it, you fool! Someone as big as you carrying me would only draw attention!"

Orosagrado walked away, laughing softly.

Hudret watched her back in silence.

After thinking for a moment, he realized where she was going.

"Her child..."

The woman Orosagrado called her child might have been small in Orosagrado’s eyes, but to Hudret, she was an overwhelmingly enormous presence.

***

Ferda opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the ceiling of the tent.

And then Luri.

Sensing movement, Luri had leaned her head toward him.

"Luri..."

"You’re awake?"

"Yes."

"....."

She started to say something, then stopped.

Judging by the shape of her mouth, which had begun with a sound like ’gi,’ she had undoubtedly been about to ask him how he was feeling.

Ferda knew very well why she could not bring herself to ask even such a simple question.

He could not turn his head, so he moved his right hand slightly, just in case.

He felt nothing.

It had been tightly wrapped in cloth, and because he had been given painkillers, he could not feel a thing.

That emergency treatment could not have been performed by Hudret.

Ferda stared quietly at her.

Just as he was about to say something—

"Do you know what happened?"

Luri spoke first.

Ferda eventually closed his mouth and shook his head.

"The castle collapsed, and the outer walls were completely destroyed. But there was no time to celebrate the victory."

"Yes. All the kings died..."

The allied forces had five kings.

Four of them had stabbed one another to death, while one had been killed by Ureas.

Rooster had then attempted to kill Ureas, but Ureas killed Rooster instead, only to die himself in the end.

Whatever the circumstances, there were no surviving leaders apart from Ferda and King Hudret.

Just as everything was about to turn into ruins, King Hudret had thrown Ferda toward Luri.

Luri caught Ferda’s body and escaped the battlefield at the fastest speed she could manage.

"Sir Zed and Sir Arwen, who had followed behind me, also escaped safely."

"What did they do?"

"They helped kill and weaken the monsters inside the castle."

"They did their best."

Ferda was relieved that none of his close aides had died.

Luri continued speaking.

"And there was a brief internal conflict."

"Internal conflict...?"

"The kings didn’t all die, and some of them returned alive. Wouldn’t that have seemed suspicious?"

The high-ranking commanders already knew what kind of plan the kings had been making.

Since all those who had wanted to monopolize the book had died, they would have assumed that either Ferda or King Hudret had killed them.

"So what did you do?"

"King Hudret resolved it."

"How?"

He had reportedly said exactly this:

—I killed them all.

He had declared, without the slightest hesitation, that he had murdered the kings.

—They were all being led by Black Magic, and they intended to turn their kingdoms into another Heinkel Kingdom. I killed them all on the spot. In the name of God and my conscience, I have not the slightest shame about what I did. If you dare question my judgment, then I am prepared to wage war against all of you here and now.

Ferda could not understand Hudret’s actions.

’It would have been easier if he’d pinned everything on me...’

Ferda would have been the one put in a difficult position, while Hudret could have simply stood by with his hands behind his back and let everything unfold.

Yet, in another sense, Ferda thought the decision made sense.

In the end, it was the cleanest way to finish everything.

Not a single person dared to object to the King of Heinkel.

They had already lost far too many people during the siege of the Heinkel Kingdom, and they were exhausted.

Besides, recovering the kings’ bodies was their top priority.

Furthermore, Hudret, who had claimed to have killed the kings, also helped them recover their bodies and gave them the minimum respect they deserved.

Ferda had thought he was nothing more than an arrogant man.

But seeing him refuse to be swayed by emotion and willingly lend a hand wherever necessary completely overturned everything Ferda had thought of him until then.

That had to be the Emperor’s vessel Hudret had spoken of.

"That’s what happened."

"I see..."

"Yes."

"......"

"....."

Luri swallowed.

Ferda sensed a storm within that dry breath.

"...I’ll prepare some tea."

Luri turned around and began making tea at the table.

The tea set rattled and trembled as her hands touched it.

Seeing that, Ferda opened his mouth again.

"Luri."

"Don’t say anything."

"Luri..."

"I don’t want to hear it!"

Luri suddenly screamed.

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