Dragonslayer’s Class Regression 21

Chapter 21

The entire academy was bustling with news of the sudden visit from Arthur Draker, the head of the Draker family.

Led by Principal Howard Draker, the academy’s instructors and students lined up from the main gate to the plaza, waiting for Arthur Draker.

When the appointed time came, the sound of rumbling echoed through the main road.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

A black carriage, much larger and heavier than ordinary carriages, was pulled by six massive black horses.

On the side of the carriage was a dragon-slaying crest made of gold.

This was the personal carriage of Arthur Draker, head of the Draker family.

And hundreds of knights followed behind the carriage.

The overwhelming procession made not only the students but even the instructors tense.

Eventually, the carriage stopped in the center of the plaza.

The massive black horses stomp their hooves and exhale rough breaths.

Principal Howard Draker approached the carriage.

The door opened and a man stepped out.

“Howard. It’s been a while.”

A middle-aged man with ash-gray hair swept back, exuding dignified charm.

This man was Arthur Draker, head of one of the continent’s three transcendent families and one of the eight strongest people on the continent.

Howard Draker and everyone gathered in the plaza knelt before him.

“We greet the Lord of House Draker!”

Arthur Draker raised his hand to acknowledge their greetings.

Then he placed his hand on Howard’s shoulder.

“You’ve been working hard.”

“It’s nothing compared to your efforts, My Lord .”

“Very reassuring.”

Arthur Draker lifted his head and looked at the young students lined up in the plaza.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“Students. Rise.”

Though spoken normally, his voice carried to every corner of the academy.

The students rose tensely.

Arthur Draker’s voice sounded as clear as if he was speaking right next to them.

“Young dragon slayers, you are the hope of our Draker family and our new seeds.”

Everyone focused on the head’s voice that was both gentle and powerful.

They were on edge, as if determined not to miss a single word.

“Focus on your training, and focus again! Your development will become the family’s development.”

When the short but impactful speech ended, the students saluted the family head.

“Glory!”

Arthur smiled and acknowledged the students’ salute.

“Everyone’s in good spirit. Now then, let’s head inside.”

The Principal went into the academy’s main building with Arthur Draker.

The students moved to their respective buildings to attend classes.

The students walking were excited about having seen the family head in person.

“I saw the lord with my own eyes! My siblings will be so jealous!”

“I’ll definitely enter Valhalla and make it to the Four Seasons Castle.”

“With your skills?keep dreaming.”

Among the excited students, Zeke headed to the training grounds while tilting his head in thought.

‘The family head never visited the academy before the regression. What’s going on?’

He already knew the future was changing bit by bit due to his regression.

But he hadn’t expected those changes to affect even the family head who stayed in the Four Seasons Castle.

Zeke returned to the Platinum Floor while tilting his head.

But soon he had to go out again.

This was because the family head had summoned Zeke

* * *

Zeke headed to the Principal’s office located in the main building.

While he hadn’t been shaken by much since his regression, even his solid mental defenses weren’t much help right now.

THUMP!  THUMP!  

In front of the Principal’s office door, he barely managed to calm his heart that felt like it would burst.

The door opened and he entered while steadying his breathing.

He was there in the luxurious Principal’s office.

“Welcome.”

Arthur Draker, who had changed from his uniform into casual clothes, greeted him warmly while drinking whiskey from a glass.

Zeke immediately knelt and greeted him according to family custom.

“I, Zeke Draker, a member of House Draker, pay my respects to Arthur Draker, Lord of all knights and guardian of the honored name of the Dragon Slayers.”

Arthur Draker laughed heartily at Zeke’s old-fashioned greeting.

“I haven’t seen anyone greet so formally even in the Four Seasons Castle these days. Don’t be so dramatic and sit over here.”

Zeke wasn’t used to Arthur Draker’s friendly response.

The last memory he had of the family head was when he was called in at age seven before entering the cradle, where the head merely looked him over once and told him to leave.

Until he was expelled from the academy, the head had never contacted or helped him.

Since he had barely seen his father Arthur Draker properly in his previous life, he couldn’t even gauge what kind of person he was.

When Zeke sat down, Arthur placed a prepared tea in front of him.

“I hear you enjoy drinking tea.”

Zeke was startled by his words.

It meant that even the information about him ordering tea every time in the Platinum Lounge was reported to the family head.

He felt the truth of the saying that while the Emperor might not know something, nothing escaped the notice of the Draker family head.

Zeke drank the tea while remaining wary of the family head’s actions whose intentions he couldn’t understand.

Then Arthur spoke first

“Yes, I heard you became Duke’s disciple.”

Zeke realized from those words why the family head had come here and why he had called for him.

‘In my past life, the Wind Storm technique was never properly passed down—it was practically lost. But now, a successor has appeared, and the lord of the house has taken notice.’

Zeke looked at Arthur and nodded.

“The Knight of the WindStorm has shown me great kindness.”

“Duke said you were so difficult that it frustrated him?”

“…..”

He didn’t know that someone who was supposedly a Dark Knight would have such a loose tongue.

Arthur said with a laugh,

“Honestly, I didn’t think there would be someone talented enough to meet Duke’s, that picky fellow’s, standards. Moreover, I never expected it to be my youngest son.”

Zeke’s heart pounded at the words ‘youngest son.’

Arthur looked at Zeke and said,

“Well. I’m curious about your goal. If you keep working hard like this, you could certainly go to Valhalla…”

“To become the strongest on the continent.”

Arthur momentarily lost his words at Zeke’s statement.

Looking at Arthur’s reaction, he repeated once more:

“My goal is to become the strongest person on the continent.”

At that moment, Arthur’s eyes changed.

Then he burst into laughter.

“Puahahahaha!”

Woong!

An invisible force burst forth from Arthur’s body.

Zeke clenched his teeth as that force enveloped his body.

Anywhere this force touches falls under Arthur’s will.

It meant he held the power of life and death over anyone within its range.

‘As expected, he’s a monster.’

Though he had a friendly face, the person before him was undoubtedly the continent’s strongest.

Therefore, he was definitely a mountain Zeke had to overcome to become the continent’s strongest.

Arthur Draker abruptly stopped laughing.

He looked at Zeke and said,

“That’s the most interesting thing I’ve heard lately.”

In an instant, the force surrounding him vanished.

Zeke’s whole body was damp with cold sweat.

Arthur Draker looked at Zeke with a satisfied expression.

Then he took something out from his chest.

“Originally, I was going to give you a gift to commemorate becoming the successor of the Windstorm… but seeing you now, that gift wouldn’t be enough.”

What Arthur took out was a metal card the size of his palm.

The Draker family’s dragon-slaying crest was intricately engraved on the card’s surface.

Zeke was shocked when he saw the card.

“Do you know what this is?”

“…I know it as the black card given only to top-tier VVIPs across the entire continent.”

“If you know, then no explanation is needed.”

Arthur handed the black card to Zeke.

“It’s issued under my name, but I’ll transfer the ownership to you, so use it freely.”

A black card, especially one used by the head of the Draker family, would certainly have unimaginable benefits.

Before his regression, Zeke had received no attention at all.

But after becoming a pureblood awakener and successor of the Windstorm, a completely different situation unfolded.

If Zeke had been an ordinary thirteen-year-old, he would have been simply overjoyed to receive the card.

But Zeke immediately understood Arthur’s hidden intention behind the black card.

‘While it’s a card with tremendous benefits, it could become useless at any moment with just one word from the family head.’

Additionally, since the card leaves records every time it’s used, all his activities would be directly reported to the family head.

Zeke was reminded once again that the person before him was an absolute authority who controlled the entire continent.

Arthur Draker spoke again,

“Though I’d like to have a cozy meal since we met after so long, I have another schedule, so I must leave soon.”

“It’s an honor just to have met you like this.”

“You’ve certainly changed from before.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind. You may go now. I shouldn’t take up more of the future strongest person’s precious time.”

As he gestured, Zeke stood up, bowed, and went outside.

Left alone in the chancellor’s office, Arthur downed the remaining whiskey.

Then, someone walked out from a shadowy corner of the Principal’s office.

“Quite the performance, pretending to be a good father.”

It was none other than Duke Draker.

Duke sat down heavily in front of Arthur, dropping all respect and formality toward the family head.

Arthur looked at Duke and grinned.

“Why are you so angry again?”

“Because it’s disgusting how you pretend to be a kind father now when you’ve neglected him since he was in the cradle.”

“This could be enough to arrest you for insulting the family head.”

“Go ahead. Arrest me.”

Duke acted defiantly, and Arthur stroked his well-trimmed beard while watching him.

“So, do you think Zeke can inherit the true path of the Windstorm?”

“How would I know? I’ll have to teach him more to find out.”

“Hmm… I was wondering why you took in some talentless brat who hasn’t even awakened his Aura, but…”

Arthur’s eyes flashed.

“Looking at you today, I can tell. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone who could withstand the Astral Sword’s energy, even if just barely.”

“Your bad habits are really irritating.”

“I missed that sharp tongue of yours. No one at the Four Seasons Castle speaks to me like that.”

“I offer my condolences to the knights suffering under such an ill-tempered family head.”

Arthur smiled and reached into his pocket, smoothly pulling out a whiskey bottle from his spatial pouch.

As he extended his hand, a glass from the cabinet glided through the air and was drawn into his hand.

Arthur poured whiskey into the empty glass.

When he swirled the glass filled with whiskey, ice formed inside by itself.

“Let’s have a drink.”

He handed the whiskey to Duke and poured another glass for himself.

They both downed their whiskey in one go.

“Whew… What is this? Dragon’s Breath? Red at that. Where did you get something this precious?”

“I Figured you’d like it.”

“Your personality is terrible, but it’s because of things like this that I can’t cut ties with you. You irritating bastard.”

Duke grumbled while savoring the whiskey.

Then Arthur spoke again.

“Do you know about the strange situation in the continent lately?”

“How would I know about such things, wasting time holed up in the countryside of Troy?”

“I know well that your eyes and ears spread across the continent are still alive.”

“Why probe when you already know, you sly fox?”

Arthur spoke while swirling his whiskey glass.

“Something unsettling seems to be happening in the Rom Empire.”

“That crazy emperor has been causing trouble since he was crown prince. What is it this time?”

“Duke, do you think immortality is possible?”

“Are you joking with me right now?”

“The emperor seems to believe it’s possible.”

“Ha, he’s completely lost his mind.”

“That’s the problem – this madman rules an empire that controls half the central continent.

These days he’s even created an emperor’s direct unit called the Hounds.”

“The Hounds? Even the name sounds ominous.”

“The emperor is using that unit to search for something.”

“What are they searching for?”

“Ancient relics.”

“Don’t tell me they’re searching for relics that grant immortality?”

“Bad feelings tend to be right, don’t they?”

“That’s… beyond just a bad feeling.”

Duke finished his whiskey while clicking his tongue.

He knew the Rom Emperor was superstitious and kept suspicious people around him, but he didn’t expect things to go wrong like this.

“Shouldn’t the family put some pressure on this situation?”

“It’s difficult to take strong action since we’re in an alliance to check the Eastern Empire together.”

“Ha, you’ve really mellowed out. In the past, you would have started a fight first.”

“Being the family head isn’t always good.”

“So what’s your point? Why are you beating around the bush?”

Arthur looked at Duke and spoke.

“I’m planning to leave the Four Seasons Castle for a while.”

“The Rom Emperor has gone mad, so why are you leaving the castle?”

“I’m heading to the Ice Mountains to find the ancient relic the emperor is searching for.”

“What? Are you crazy? Don’t tell me it’s because of immortality…”

“There’s a possibility that relic, might be traces of an Elder Dragon.”