Dragonslayer’s Class Regression Chapter 138

Chapter 138

“Ho, you caught all of this by yourself?”

“Is it not enough?”

The Hermit shook his head.

“Ah, no. It’s sufficient.”

He didn’t expect someone to catch ten magical beasts in less than an hour.

Even for an outstanding knight, hunting magical beasts wasn’t an easy task.

One had to understand the characteristics of magical beasts and needed tracking skills to follow them stealthily.

Moreover, Mount Ouroboros was a place with so many grotesque magical beasts that the Hermit himself had to establish his territory there. Each one was a special magical beast.

The Hermit looked at Zeke suspiciously from various angles.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are you perhaps a Highlander?”

Zeke pretended not to know and shook his head.

“What’s that?”

Zeke spoke so casually that he really seemed like someone who had no idea what a Highlander was.

Looking at Zeke who was putting on a desperate acting performance, the Hermit shook his head.

“No. Hmm. There’s no way that could be possible. Hmm, no matter what, this shouldn’t be possible.”

The Hermit carefully asked Zeke.

“Do you perhaps need a new job?”

“What I’m doing now is already overwhelming.”

Zeke immediately cut off the Hermit’s words, afraid he might have to take the Highlander oath again.

The Hermit spoke while licking his lips.

“Hmm, quite a shame. Nigel would really want you if he saw you.”

Zeke almost hiccupped when he suddenly heard his master’s name.

‘Not in this life, absolutely not.’

Zeke didn’t want to face his master Nigel even in his dreams.

He hurriedly changed the subject.

“Now, please tell me about the holy relic.”

Having passed the test he proposed, the Hermit couldn’t refuse to answer the question.

The Hermit looked at Zeke and asked.

“Where did you hear about the holy relic?”

“I happened to meet a servant of ‘The Lord of the Lowest Place’ and heard that demons were competing over the holy relic.”

The Hermit dropped the fan he was holding at Zeke’s words.

“W-what are you saying?!”

“…What? I just answered because you asked…”

“S-say that again. Did ‘The Lord of the Lowest Place’ really appear?”

“The demon itself didn’t appear, but its servant revealed itself by borrowing a human body. Its name was… Griesmodal, a werewolf-like creature.”

The Hermit’s face turned pale.

“I-insane. Griesmodal? That’s the demon famous as the beast tamer who controls 999 magical beasts.”

“You know this demon?”

“R-rather than knowing directly… Anyway, that’s not what’s important. The demons are competing over the holy relic?”

“Yes. That Griesmodal said that if they bring the holy relic, their rank as servants will rise and they can receive the name of a constellation.”

“Huh…”

The Hermit slumped down with a dejected expression.

Zeke looked at the Hermit and asked.

“But what does it mean for a demon to receive a constellation’s name? It’s not like they become a demon.”

The Hermit barely picked up his fan and spoke while cooling himself down.

“That’s exactly what it means.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Just as it sounds, when they receive a name as a constellation, they become a demon.”

“Demons are constellations?”

“Demons are constellations too. The evil kind of constellations.”

“I thought there were only constellations like the Sun God, Moon Goddess, and the thirteen constellations.”

The Hermit shook his head.

“Demons were originally constellations like them, but when they fell, their essence changed. To what they desired. ‘The Lord of the Lowest Place’ – that’s how their aspiration became their constellation name.”

“So when a demon race’s rank rises, it means they become a demon.”

“The demon race is ultimately bound by mortal limitations. By becoming a constellation, they can break free from those limits and become immortal beings.”

Zeke understood why the demon race was desperately trying to obtain the holy relic.

He asked the Hermit.

“Does the holy relic have the power to transform demon race into demons?”

The Hermit shook his head.

“That’s impossible. The holy relic is probably needed by another demon. That demon would have the power to transform demon race into demons.”

“If there were humans who found and offered the holy relic, it would be easy for that demon to fulfill their dream of immortality.”

“Immortality? Hmm, that’s a bit ambiguous, but a powerful demon could create something similar.”

He understood why even the Empire’s Emperor was searching for the Lubern bloodline.

Princess Arina thought that the Holy Kingdom and the Rom Empire were looking for a healer who could perform miracles to heal any wound, but that wasn’t all.

‘Using the Lubern bloodline to find the holy relic, offering it to a demon to gain immortality. That crazy Emperor would definitely do something like that.’

Zeke thought he needed to find the holy relic first somehow.

After pondering, the Hermit asked Zeke.

“With demons and demon race involved, this is really serious. Hmm, with something this big happening, why hasn’t karma shown any unusual signs?”

Zeke was surprised at the Hermit’s words and asked.

“You know about karma?”

The Hermit was rather flustered by Zeke’s words.

“Karma? I do know about it, but how do you know that word?”

At the Hermit’s reaction, Zeke calmly made up an excuse.

“I found that word in the resting place of the Terakan Draker that I discovered before.”

“A sanctuary for Terakan Draker. Hmph. I think I’ve been more surprised today than in the past 300 years.”

“What exactly is Karma?”

The hermit pondered Zeke’s words and slowly opened his mouth.

“Karma is, simply put, something like a collection of causality.”

“Causality?”

“Yes. If I plant a seed in the ground and about a hundred years pass, a huge tree will grow there. There are many causal relationships between that seed and tree. And Karma refers to all those causal relationships between concepts.”

“…That’s difficult to understand.”

The hermit stuck his fan into the ground.

“Well, if we leave it like this for a hundred years, will a tree grow?”

“I don’t think so.”

“There isn’t a proper causal relationship between the fan and a tree. However…”

The hermit waved his hand toward the fan.

Suddenly, small branches started sprouting from the fan.

Zeke asked in surprise.

“Is it magic?”

“Magic is one means of adjusting causality. But this is directly adjusting Karma to narrow the causal relationship between the fan and tree. That’s why sprouts and branches grew from a fan that couldn’t become a tree.”

Zeke started to understand the hermit’s words bit by bit.

‘Then Karma Points must be the numerical expression of Karma that can adjust causality. So it’s possible to accomplish impossible things using Karma Points.’

When the hermit waved his hand again, the fan returned to its original form and was grasped in his hand.

“Anyway. Getting back to our original conversation, demons and demon folk are beings that cannot appear in this physical world.”

“That means many causal relationships need to be adjusted for such beings to appear in the world, right?”

“Oh, you’re clever. That’s right. The world is ultimately composed of causality. When it leans too much to one side, balance breaks down. When that balance is about to break, Karma is supposed to show warning signs, but it’s strange that I don’t sense any such signs.”

“Could the demons have figured it out? A way to adjust causality while avoiding Karma’s signs?”

“For now, we have to assume so. Hmm. Suddenly a big worry has appeared. I’ll have to convene the High Table after a long time.”

Zeke was surprised at the hermit’s words.

The High Table consisted of representatives of the Highlanders scattered across the continent who had the authority to adjust covenant guidelines.

Since his master Nigel was also a member of the High Table, Zeke knew about this concept.

‘To think I’d see two High Table members across my past and present lives. Not sure if I should call it lucky or fateful.’

After pondering, the hermit spoke to Zeke.

“It’s a bit sudden to say this, but I think you need to find the holy relic quickly.”

“That’s why I came here.”

The hermit nodded and waved his fan again.

Suddenly a book appeared in his hand.

“Let’s see. The story about holy relics… ah, here it is. Holy relics were made by the Fairy King for humans. Do you know this story?”

Zeke nodded.

“I heard it from Lubern’s successor.”

“Then this will be quicker. There are three holy relics in the physical world. Among them, I know the exact location of one.”

“What about the other two?”

“Hmm, I’ll ask the other High Table members about those. They’ve all lived long enough, so someone surely knows.”

“I understand. Which one do you know about?”

“The holy relic I know about is the ‘Holy Grail’. Have you heard of it?”

“This is my first time hearing about it.”

The hermit folded his fan and began explaining.

“The Holy Grail is connected to both Terakan Draker and Lubern that you mentioned earlier.”

“How so?”

“You know how Terakan Draker defeated the evil dragon Bahamut and created the Dragon Slayer legend, right?”

“Well, I am a Draker after all.”

“The Dragon Slayer legend passed down to current Drakers is missing many parts.”

This was something Zeke had felt while investigating the Dragon Slayer legend.

Because the Draker family had censored the Dragon Slayer legend and unified it into a single version, the information wasn’t properly preserved.

The hermit waved his fan to bring out another book.

Several books appeared.

“The story about the Dragon Slayer… found it. Phew, the Dragon Slayer part is so complicated it’s confusing. By the way, not everything I’m saying is correct. I’m just reading stories that have been revealed and recorded.”

Zeke watched in amazement as books floated around the hermit.

Despite noticing Zeke’s gaze, the hermit continued telling the story about what lay behind the Dragon Slayer legend without paying attention.

“Actually, Dragon Slayer doesn’t just refer to Terakan Draker. It was a term for a kind of unit.”

“You mean the Dragon Slayer unit.”

“Yes. It’s true that Terakan Draker was the captain leading the Dragon Slayer unit. But if it was just him, the Liberation War would have been lost. Without his helpers, that is.”

Zeke recalled the past vision of the Liberation War he had seen at the 4th Defense Base.

Many races worked together, led by Terakan Draker, to stop the magical beasts and dragons.

The hermit slowly opened his mouth.

“One of them was ‘The Brilliant Light Magician’ Claudia Lubern.”

“Lubern? This is the first time I’ve heard that Lubern’s founder was a magician who helped Terakan Draker.”

“It’s more than that. Claudia and Terakan were lovers.”

“What?”

“Claudia used the holy relic, the Holy Grail, to create light magic and weapons effective against demon folk to lead the Liberation War to victory. With Claudia’s power, Terakan Draker could lead the Dragon Slayer unit to defeat Bahamut’s monster army.”

“Then is the Holy Grail’s power to create light magic?”

“No. The Holy Grail’s original power is to grant longevity and health to those who drink water from it. Claudia drew out the Fairy King’s power residing in the grail to create light magic.”

“Then the Lubern bloodline is descended from Claudia Lubern. That’s why light magic is only passed down to Lubern’s bloodline.”

“Right. A child was born between Claudia and Terakan, and that child became the founder of the Lubern dynasty.”

Zeke was surprised at the hermit’s words.

“You mean the Lubern dynasty is Terakan Draker’s bloodline?”

“To be precise, they were closer to Claudia’s side than Terakan’s. Their child was a Healer class.”

“H-Healer?”

“Yes. The power Claudia created using the Holy Grail produced the blood ability called Light’s Blessing.”

“Good heavens.”

The fact that Terakan Draker’s child was a Healer wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the Dragon Slayer legend.

Then Zeke asked the hermit.

“Did Terakan Draker have another child after the first who was born a Healer? One with sword talent?”

The hermit shook his head.

“Claudia sadly passed away during childbirth. Terakan loved Claudia so much that he had no desire to marry another woman.”

Zeke’s face hardened.

“Then what about the current Dragon Slayer family? Terakan is known as the founder…”

The hermit waved his fan and opened a new book.

“The Draker family’s story is complicated. Let’s see. Terakan Draker… Terakan, here it is. Actually, the Draker family existed from before, since the Hero King’s time.”

Zeke knew this too.

It was because the Sword Saint, Noble Knight Sethon, had the surname Draker.

‘Is Sethon Draker really the founder of the current Draker family? Then why is the family founder recorded as Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker instead of Sword Saint Sethon Draker?’

Then the hermit continued.

“There’s an interesting story written here. Terakan Draker was actually someone who was rejected and expelled from the Draker family.”

Zeke looked like he’d been hit on the head with a hammer.

“Terakan Draker?”

The hermit continued slowly.

“The name Terakan was given to him when he was a free knight. His original name was…”

The hermit slowly opened his mouth.

“Siegfried.”