That Man’s 101st Bad Ending

How to strangle a tiger-4

The dragon of death is a mythical being.

The dragon that appeared a long time ago and tried to steal the moon,

The most feared legendary dragon in the empire, but why Arwen was talking about him was unknown.

Even though it only existed in the past, it is a legendary being that has not been seen for a thousand years.

Isn’t the atmosphere that is just fiction now mainstream?

Even after returning several times, he hadn’t heard that the evil dragon existed, so he looked at Arwen with a puzzled expression.

What did that have to do with the prince’s mind being clouded?

“You seem to know about the dragons. Then I think the story will be a little easier. They don’t seem to be related at all, but in fact, I think the connection between the two is quite deep.”

“…A deep connection means that the crown prince is related to the dragon?”

“As I said earlier, this is just a guess based on my research. It may not be accurate, or it may be nonsense that is completely different from reality. But… I think the odds are very high.”

After a brief pause, Arwen put down a piece of paper on the table.

A glance at it seemed to contain what she had been researching.

Among them, what stood out was the contents of the mural located in the southern temple. Arwen continued talking while slowly examining it.

“Imperial Moon is unique. In other places, the full moon rises once a month, but in the Empire, it sometimes rises twice a month. The Full Moon Festival is held during that period.”

“Because it is an empire born with the blessing of the moon. I never thought of it as strange.”

“…In the past, when the dragons tried to steal the moon, Eden, the god of the moon, tricked the dragons into stealing the darkness. So, I think you know the story that the last day of the year disappeared, and Manwol took its place again.”

The legend of the dragon was quite widespread like a fairy tale.

Even young children must have heard it at least once, so I had no choice but to know more about the legend.

Listening to Arwen’s story, I think of the Full Moon Festival, and look at the contents of the mural again.

It was pretty interesting.

It was a mural depicting the legend of the dragon as it was, but there was a different story than what was drawn in the legend.

“…thoughts?”

“The four dragons are dead, but they are not completely extinct. The grudge of the four dragons eventually grows bigger depending on their will to survive.”

“Are you saying that now that you’ve died once, your remaining thoughts have grown bigger?”

“I think it is now that it has grown the most, perhaps out of control.”

Arwen’s words sounded like the prince was being swayed by thoughts.

However, the bloodline of the imperial family is not something that can only be swayed by curses.

Is it for nothing that there is a lunar bloodline?

It was the purest and cleanest, and if it was a common curse, it could be cleansed just by breathing.

Even if it was the evil dragon’s evil thoughts, wouldn’t there be a higher chance of enduring them on their own?

Arwen also nodded at my question.

However, as if he had already thought about it, he soon opened his mouth by pointing to another part of the mural.

“Proceed with your shadow on your back, but never be swayed by the abyss.”

“Did you interpret the text written on the mural?”

“I think it is about thoughts. It’s because the picture before this writing is of the dragon dying. Perhaps it means that even if you touch the thought, don’t be swayed by the madness of the thought…”

If you think about it simply, you could have thought so.

But why was the crown prince exposed to the evil dragon’s thoughts that had nothing to do with him?

Arwen gave an answer to the question I had this time.

“Keitel’s goal is quite different from that of His Majesty the current Emperor. Unlike now, where we are trying to maintain a proper balance between the nobility and the imperial family, we are trying to concentrate power on the imperial family.”

“Is that why you made Icarus? To set up your own organization.”

“Icarus has been around for a long time. It’s just that Keitel has perverted that purpose. Perhaps he was using Icarus to build his own power. And until that point, it was probably pure will.”

Arwen let out a small sigh, then raised his eyebrows as if his head hurt.

To summarize what we have said so far: The prince is swayed by his thoughts.

And that thought, in addition to the will of the prince, caused something that didn’t have to happen.

Then, it was said that what would happen after that would happen when the spirit of the prince was devoured by evil thoughts.

But is it really so? No, I remembered the look in the prince’s eyes.

Those eyes that were colder than anything else, showing no emotion other than reason.

There was a reason for that, but it was a story that I couldn’t understand in many ways.

If he was being swayed by his thoughts, at least the saintess would notice first.

If she had been endowed with divine power directly by God, she would have realized that the crown prince had a special energy.

I know we met recently, but I didn’t notice it…

Wouldn’t it be more correct to think that the prince had no such thoughts?

So, when the saint was mentioned, Arwen said that he had considered that possibility as well.

Then, what is the relationship between the prince and his thoughts? When I asked, Arwen answered with a frown as if he was troubled.

“…Maybe it’s not a thought. It’s possible that Keitel isn’t acting because he’s being eaten up by his thoughts, but he’s trying to use his thoughts.

After a short pause, Arwen, who closed her eyes gently, added.

“For the resurrection of the dead dragon.”

#

The dragon was a being standing at the antagonistic point of the empire.

As an existence that tried to steal the moon in the first place, wouldn’t it be possible to say that the empire could never accept it.

Especially in the imperial family, there were times when they tried to erase the name of the four dragons from history, so it was safe to see them as complete enemies.

‘…That’s why it’s even weirder.’

Now, in the space where only he was left, Arwen narrowed his eyes and stared into space.

Everything else was speculation.

Even if there were data, in the end, it was a guess based on that data, so it could be wrong.

That’s why I said I was excluded, but wasn’t there one ‘fact’ that still remained?

The prince is trying to take advantage of the existence of the dragon.

The prince’s secret that he came across by chance before leaving Icarus.

It was the reason he had been pursued until now, and the reason he almost died.

What would have happened if Robert Taylor had not appeared in such a situation?

probably dead

Those assassins who are now corpses must have killed themselves and buried them in an unknown place.

No matter how many times I think about it, it is a creepy memory, but on the other hand, I have questions.

How did Robert Taylor find out about the raid?

“It must have been top secret.”

There was no way the prince would reveal the assassination to anyone else.

It is unknown even if he is a duke, but how did he, who was no different from being abandoned by his family, come to know this fact?

And isn’t it quite different from what I knew before.

When I first saw it, I doubted it was someone else.

Robert Taylor, whom I had known from previous investigations, could be said to be a gentle person in many ways.

It could be said that he was a model of a good man.

It was rumored that he sympathized with the death of a mere beast and took special care of those around him.

Even though he was always ‘punished’ within the family, his nature did not change easily.

He almost fell into a twisted path a few times, but it was only for a short time, and Arwen was well aware that some of the rumors now widespread were quite exaggerated.

Although known for being a jerk and weak on such subjects, Robert Taylor was just a good man.

The only problem was that he had a mild personality enough to be used by others several times.

So, even when I met the current Robert, I doubted again and again whether this was the same person.

How can people change so much?

As if it were a person who was hiding his true nature, unlike the previous times I saw him, his empty eyes bothered me.

It may have been acting. Wouldn’t he have been prepared to completely change his behavior when the time came?

The power to kill four assassins alone is not something that can be built up overnight.

Robert, who had never held a sword since his birth, had to train like that… how much did he have to train?

If it was really secretly preparing everything, it was truly amazing.

It was as if he had predicted all of this.

He prevented himself from being assassinated, and was even preparing to go south in advance.

– The resurrection of the dead dragon.

– I don’t know exactly right now. I’ll have to go to the south and do some more research, but the Temple of the Moon is only accessible to saints.

– Then I’ll look for it and come back. I’m going to the south in winter.

I never thought I would have a friendship with the saintess. Last time, I also worked with Northern Grand Duke Ygritte.

However, rumors were still going in a bad direction for him.

Even with the background of the Grand Duke of the North, the saintess, and Taylor.

what are you aiming for

After striking the crown prince’s neck, what the hell was Robert Taylor thinking?

If Robert Taylor was also of the same type as the crown prince, Arwen was going to try to stop it, even risking death.

If he, too, was likely to cause blood like Keitel, he would have stopped it the moment he reaffirmed that he would kill the crown prince.

So I asked why. Why do you want to kill the prince?

I thought this was a rebellion for simple power, but the answer that came back was unexpected.

-…because I died too many times.

Arwen’s expression became strange when he recalled the blurry eyes.

Even when he killed the assassin, even when he said he would kill the crown prince, his eyes were calm.

It didn’t shake at all, and the empty eyes made me mistakenly thinking that it might have been carved in place like a doll.

However, when he said that, it was different.

It was shaken with a myriad of emotions.

I couldn’t answer the look on my face that seemed like it would break at any moment.

Sadness, hatred, regret, regret.

Unable to find out what to call the other feelings, instead of answering, he told me what he knew…

The moment I saw those eyes, I couldn’t help but believe it.

As far as he knew, the only person who died by Robert’s side was his mother, but the heart he contained was the truth.

What kind of wind will the words he uttered today blow?

Robert compared the crown prince to a tiger.

He then described himself as someone who might know how to strangle a tiger.

What did you know to say that?

Like someone who knows everything about you, as if you’ve known them for quite some time.

Arwen, who had managed to get down to the chair with a grunt, moved toward the window.

Originally, the last time should have been the last sky.

However, he was saved and survived. What will this salvation mean to you?

Arwen just stared blankly at the sky.

The Wind Blows.

Far away, as winter approached, the wind from the north intensified.

It’s cool and cold, and the cold wind (cold wind) that disappears all the warmth that I have been holding for a while.

After being blown by the wind for a while, I close the window and lock it.

“Kaytel. Robert.”

I don’t know what kind of bad relationship there is between the two of them.

The only curious thing was that the two were aiming for each other’s neck.

Arwen smiled and stared into the darkness.

Maybe that’s why Robert started moving now.

Realizing that Keitel intends to kill Robert one day, he too is about to take the plunge.

But how could he have known that?

When the crown prince learned that he was trying to use the dragon’s existence, there was one thing that was ordered at that time.

To find out everything about the Taylor family’s Robert.

What I know about him now was also the investigation at that time, so I realized that the prince’s interest was in Robert Taylor through such an investigation.

And that one day I will kill him.

What on earth is Robert Taylor up to?

Arwen pondered for a moment, then shook his head as if he didn’t understand.

It was something he didn’t need to know. As Robert said, he would only have to focus on strangling the crown prince.

Breathing out again was heavy.

“…Only the time of billions of eons can endure the coming dawn, Ra.”

Recalling the last line of the mural, I gazed into the air like that.