The Emperor Has Returned

The black dragon flew with everyone on its back for a long time and only stopped in the middle of an unknown mountain around sunset.

Juan was dragged down from the dragon's back while being restrained by handcuffs. It was unknown as to what the handcuffs were made of, but it had an extraordinary function of binding mana and interfering with its flow. While Juan didn’t need such handcuffs to restrain him as he still had not recovered his strength, Sina didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of letting her guard down.

Upon seeing the wariness in Sina’s eyes, Swallan felt that the relationship between Juan and Sina was not a simple one.

“We will be camping out here today,” Horhell said.

Horhell got his dragon to break a tree into small pieces to make some firewood, and then a campsite was built in an instant so that they could sleep out in the open.

Meanwhile, Juan quietly stared at the dragon as it obediently followed Horhell’s commands. Most of the dragons had been driven to the brink of extinction under Gerard Gain’s leadership, and only a small number of Hatchlings were kept alive and tamed by the Order of Lindwurm under strict supervision. Juan had seen tamed dragons flying with the knights from the Order of Lindwurm and helping them achieve victory in the past. The dragons often played an active part in the Order of Lindwurm’s battles despite the strict regulations.

“Why are we camping this early?” Juan asked.

Horhell’s gaze turned to Juan, his gaze completely emotionless

“Is there any reason for us to camp out here just because the sun is about to go down when we have a dragon with us? We can just continue flying.”

“Dame Sina. Please help this sinner shut his mouth,” Horhell ordered.

However, Juan quickly opened his mouth again before Sina could put a gag on his mouth.

“The dragon must be unable to fly all night.”

Horhell paused upon hearing Juan’s observation. The dragon yawned while stretching its long neck and curling its body. The ornaments hanging on the dragon’s body sparkled, reflecting the light of the bonfire.

“That’s no ordinary ornament—it’s a restraining tool meant for suppressing the dragons. Judging from the shape of its horns, this dragon appears to be over seventy years old. You must have starved it quite badly, considering that it is still so small when it should be much bigger at its age. On top of that, you have even slashed the muscles around its wings so that its wings won’t grow larger. That’s why it can’t fly for a long time, and…”

Before Juan could finish what he was saying, Horhell stood up and kicked Juan in the stomach with all his might. Juan stopped talking, feeling the breathtaking sensation of pain.

Horhell looked down at Juan with a stiff face, then turned to look back at Sina. Sina nodded her head as if she already knew what Horhell was about to say.

“I’ll keep my eye on the sinner,” Sina said.

Horhell nodded and approached the dragon, while Swallan remained by Juan’s side.

“Why are you provoking that soldier?” Swallan asked while sighing.

“I wanted to find out if he really was the Horhell I knew,” Juan answered with a weak smile.

“Horhell? Are you talking about that Horhell of the Order of Lindwurm? I thought all of the knights from the Order of Lindwurm were dead.”

“Well, there are many ways to survive.”

It was said that the Order of Lindwurm was ruined because of internal conflict. That meant there had been those who started the conflict by raising their sword first, and a few knights from the Order of Lindwurm must have survived. Above all, the number of knights from the Order of Lindwurm which he had seen under the control of the Crack during his visit to the dungeon beneath Durgal were far from enough to account for all the members of the Order of Lindwurm.

However, Juan couldn’t sense any signs of the encroachment of the Crack from Horhell at all.

“Can you tell if he really is Horhell now that you’ve been beaten by him?” Swallan asked.

“I'm one hundred percent sure… but, I have no idea how he managed to become so young.”

Swallan stared at Juan, then turned her gaze to Horhell again. It was hard for anyone to believe that this non-commissioned officer of the Imperial Army, who appeared to be only in his mid-thirties, was the same knight who once stood and fought beside the emperor in the past.

There were many ways to prevent aging, but most of them were methods that would draw the ire of the Church. Among the famous people who didn’t age were Nienna Nelben, Dismas Dilver, and the Grand Magician Dane Dormund—due to the essence of the emperor that they had been granted.

Juan had no idea what method Horhell was using to prevent aging when even the Regent Barth Baltic couldn’t stop himself from getting older.

“So what are you going to do, Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces? Are you going to coerce that man into swearing his loyalty to you?” Swallan asked.

“Well, I still haven’t thought that far at all. Actually, I’d rather ask Sina that question since Horhell trained her with the sword.”

Sina, who had been quietly listening to Juan and Swallan’s conversation, flinched and glared at Juan upon hearing him mention her name.

“...He only pointed out a few things for me,” Sina said.

“You’ve made quite some progress compared to the last time I saw you. You’ve improved a lot over the short time I didn’t see you. That Templar in the dungeon seemed to be pretty skilled, so I hadn’t expected you to be able to subdue her that easily. Well, I guess it’s only natural; After all, Horhell gave you some guidance, and you have to consider that he used to be an Elite Knight of the Order of Lindwurm. I guarantee you that Horhell is probably the most skilled man you have ever met in your life.”

Sina glared at Juan with an unpleasant expression as he complimented her, but everything he said was true. Horhell had only given Sina a few pointers over the last few days while accompanying her, but her skills had improved to the extent that even she herself was surprised. Sina felt as if Horhell had completely mastered the essence of Baltic Sword.

“No matter how bright a candle burns, it can’t compare to the sun. No matter how good I become, I am only fit to be His Majesty’s subordinate,” Sina said.

“I guess so, huh?”

Sina threw a quizzical glance at Juan as he had unexpectedly agreed with her, then soon realized that she was only complimenting him.

Juan laughed as he watched Sina blushed, and Swallan clicked her tongue upon seeing the two.

“Don’t make fun of the poor knight, Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces. If you really are the emperor, show her your authority instead of messing with her.”

Sina looked at Swallan with perplexed eyes.

“Have you heard anything about his identity?” Sina asked.

“Like what? That Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces is the emperor?”

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Sina closed her mouth upon seeing Swallan speak about such a matter so naturally. Sina had been under the impression that Swallan didn’t know anything about Juan’s identity because she didn’t show any respect to Juan, let alone honor him.

“How did you find out? No, let me ask you a different question. How did you convince yourself to believe that so easily? Shouldn’t you be a little more cautious? Above all, if you know everything already, shouldn’t you respect his authority a little more?” Sina asked Swallan with a confused look on her face.

“Why should I? It doesn’t matter since I’m an elf—I’m just a second-class imperial citizen, and I have no reason to be loyal to the emperor. Of course, there are a lot of demi-humans that are fond of the emperor, but I am not one of them. It is kind of cool that Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces is the emperor, but I don’t think I need to change my attitude toward him.”

“But…”

“You are more of a strange person than Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces to me. You are a human, a knight, are loyal to the emperor, and know that Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces is the same emperor. But you are not showing him much respect either. Why is that?”

Sina tried to find something to say with a look of distress. Sina knew that she had placed herself in a contradictory position. Her decision to chase after Juan was no different from giving up on logic completely.

The path that Juan had taken so far was filled with strange incidents: long-lost beings appeared, old beings stood up and shook people’s minds, and made them start behaving strangely. Sina was affected even more than other people by these things.

Now that Sina had chased Juan all the way to the eastern territory, she felt like she was a completely different person compared to when she was in Tantil. If there was something within Sina that was the same, it was only her obsession toward Juan.

Juan cut off the conversation between Sina and Swallan.

“Stop it, Swallan. My relationship with her isn’t that simple. I don’t really want to be treated as the emperor anyway, especially with the current state of the empire.”

“Is that so? Then can I continue to treat Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces like I do now?”

“Have I ever expressed any dissatisfaction with your attitude?”

“Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces is just Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces. Right?”

Juan felt that Swallan’s question was a little strange and had some hidden implications. He just silently looked at Swallan, then soon answered.

“I’d rather have you call me Juan instead. I do not intend to be arrested as a wanted criminal and I do not have the ability to pay you ten thousand gold pieces—at least not for now.”

“Nah, I’ll just call you Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces,” Swallan grinned.

Juan nodded as he didn’t care.

Swallan slowly bent her head to the side to stare at Juan, and Juan couldn’t help but open his mouth first as if he was bothered by her gaze.

“If you have something to say, just say it.”

“Huh? Oh. I don’t.”

Juan looked at the strange smile on Swallan’s face with an irritated look in his eyes.

“To be honest, I had a lot of questions to ask when I found out that Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces was the emperor. Questions like why did you kill the god of the elves, why did demi-humans have to be treated so poorly within the empire, and why did Celine get so frustrated upon finding out Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces’ identity… But now that I have the opportunity to ask, I feel like none of those questions really hold any meaning.”

“They have no meaning?”

“Well, Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces is just Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces. You feel very different from the emperor that I know of.”

Both Juan and Sina’s eyes shook upon hearing Swallan’s words. While Swallan acknowledged Juan as the emperor just like other people did, the way she perceived him was completely different compared to others—Swallan accepted Juan as Juan himself, nothing more.

“Well, that’s all I wanted to say to Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces. Thanks to Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces, I was able to end my unfinished business in the dungeon of Durgal. While everything that happened there was unexpected, in the end, Celine ended up dying. So, I guess I won’t be suffering from hallucinations ever again,” Swallan said as she looked back at Juan. “Oh, by the way. Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces also had some business with the dungeon of Durgal, right? Did you deal with it?”

Sina leaned toward Juan and Swallan. Sina had no idea what business Juan had to deal with in the dungeon and what he did in there, since she wasn’t able to properly observe the situation inside the dungeon. Furthermore, Juan’s condition was weaker than ever when he came out of the dungeon.

Juan quietly looked at the bonfire, its flames being reflected in his eyes.

“I was looking for someone,” Juan answered.

“Like who?” Swallan asked.

“My son.”

‘His son?’

Sina almost questioned Juan, but managed to swallow her words.

The emperor had four children, and all of them were so famous that they were indispensable in the empire. Two of them were the captains of their own knight orders and their whereabouts were known, while one of them was killed by Juan himself after he became the incarnation of death. The only one left was known to be missing.

Sina couldn’t help but say the name that came to her mind right away.

“...Gerard Gain? Was he in the dungeon?”

Juan looked back at Sina, and Sina closed her mouth thinking that she might have rashly brought up a sensitive name.

However, Sina didn’t need to worry—there was no change in Juan’s expression.

“At least I thought he must be there.”

Juan answered lightly; however, it was not a light topic in the slightest. Gerard Gain was a man who disappeared after the assassination of the emperor. He was then blamed as the perpetrator of countless conspiracies without ever showing up once, and was often praised as the hero and the leader by those who rebelled against the empire. In other words, Gerard Gain was an official enemy of the empire itself.

“Why are you looking for him? He is…”

Sina hesitated and shut her mouth. No matter how much she hated Juan, she couldn’t ask him about the story of his own child stabbing him in the back.

“Yes. He stabbed me in the back,” Juan pointed at his back in a calm manner. “His sword pierced me from here to here. He stabbed me well enough so that I wouldn’t ever be able to survive, even by some miracle. I taught him well.”

The child whom Juan had taught swordsmanship to with his own hands and spent the most time with had stabbed him in the back. Juan still couldn’t figure out where everything went wrong, and wished to meet Gerard and have a proper conversation about it.

Then, Swallan opened her mouth.

“Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces, I don’t know much about Gerard Gain, but… the voices of the father and son usually sound… pretty similar, right?”

Juan and Sina’s gaze turned toward Swallan at the same time upon hearing her unexpected question.

Sina answered Swallan with a perplexed expression. “Swallan, Gerard Gain isn’t His Majesty’s biological son, but an adopted son. So there’s no reason for his voice or appearance to resemble His Majesty…”

“No. Swallan is right.”