Chapter 294
Side Story – Memories of a Certain Princess (45)
#59 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Kingdom
There is magic in the Empire that cannot be blocked by any magic!
This rumor began to spread in various places in the Merdeah Kingdom.
At first, most people thought it was nonsense.
As time passed and the imperial army did not use such magic, the soldiers of the Merdea Kingdom thought it was just a groundless rumor after all. There was no reason why they wouldn’t use such absurd magic in war.
Having confirmed that the magic that had been passed down as a rumor did not exist, the Merdeah Kingdom began to move its troops again to advance.
The goal is Pesra Castle!
Although they had lost many troops, the commander of Pesra Castle Has changed after General Pelstine, the empire’s greatest general, was eliminated.
To a 12-year-old imperial princess who had not even had her coming-of-age ceremony yet.
Judging that the people actually commanding the army would be the close aides around the princess or the generals belonging to the princess’s army, the Merdeah army investigated the princess’s army and confirmed that there were no special beings.
It was an opportunity.
Without a monster like General Pelstine, it would be very easy for the Merdeah Kingdom, evaluated as a military powerhouse, to overthrow the young princess and the unnamed army and occupy Pesra Castle.
That’s why they boldly mobilized a lot of troops.
The number that moved under the command of generals known as geniuses even within the Merdeah Kingdom was a whopping 80,000 main force.
It was a force on a different level from the messy vanguards.
Every legion was one of the best legions in the Merdeah Kingdom, and some legions had reinforced firepower that could not be compared to ordinary legions.
An army that removed all the cumbersome forces to minimize supplies and gathered only the best forces as much as possible!
Each legion commander is the best legions commander and is called a master general!
And the one commanding those legion commanders was Marquis Arisetias, the supreme commander of the Merdeah Kingdom military.
The Merdeah Kingdom soldiers’ trust in Marquis Arisetias was absolute.
In the 12 years since he took office as supreme commander.
The Merdeah Kingdom was evaluated to be at its military peak.
His excellent management skills quickly dealt with corruption within the military, and he used all the income gained from that as a base to raise the military power by more than one level.
In addition, under the banner that soldiers should be evaluated only by ability and performance regardless of commoners and nobles.
Talented common people were able to be promoted quickly, which further enhanced the Merdeah Kingdom’s military might.
The one who completed an ideal army encompassing commoners and nobles, ignoring the objections of many nobles.
That was Marquis Arisetias of the Merdeah Kingdom, and his ability was evaluated to be one step above that of the Empire’s General Pelstine.
When he went out to attack the enemy, leading the elite 80,000 troops he had created, the Merdeah Kingdom believed without doubt that not only would Pesra Castle fall, but they would be able to advance to the heart of the Empire if proper support could be sustained.
At least until they heard the news of Marquis Arisetias’ death before even reaching Pesra Castle.
#60 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Dragon
From a very early age, often called fledgling, my father would often say this.
“Humans are a very strange race, son. Weak and short-lived, yet occasionally monsters appear among them, and they fight among themselves routinely despite lacking strength even when united.”
According to my mother, my father was severely abused by humans during his first hunt.
After being recognized as an adult and getting permission for his first hunt, Father did his best to court the first human woman he met and fell in love with.
But while my father briefly left, the woman, who had caught the eye of a passing nobleman, was kidnapped. The next day she was found chopped into five pieces and left in the mountains.
Shocked at the sight, my father…
If the story had ended there, my father might have been able to forget about it.
However, after his rival, who had loved the same woman, and his friends protested to the nobleman and ended up with only their heads hung at the castle gate, my father had to stare blankly at the faces of his headless comrades.
Wanting revenge within the limits of dragon law, my father failed at that as well.
As it turned out, my father’s rival friend was a high-ranking noble who had been hiding his identity. After killing him without knowing that fact, the brazen lord who hung the heads on the gate was himself, as well as his whole family, horrifically executed.
Claiming that killing just the lord’s family was not enough to compensate for his murdered son, the murdered man’s father slaughtered all the civilians living on the lord’s territory.
Upon learning these facts, my father did nothing and returned to our lair. I heard he lived like a cripple for about a millennium.
Even after recovering from the shock, he never left the lair for a hunt and spent most of his time inside, possibly due to lingering trauma.
So my father overflowed with distrust of humans.
“Humans regard even their own kind as objects to be robbed from. They are a very frightening race. So be cautious, extremely cautious of humans.” My father would always say.
I nodded my head but did not take his words to heart.
No matter what, they are humans and I am a dragon! Thousands or tens of thousands of them gathered cannot scare me!
However,
– Croak! Sa, save me!
– Ick, disgusting!
– Run away! You can’t stop that thing!
“Haha, it blows up nicely!”
Seeing the madman next to me enjoying human bodies getting crushed under huge ice boulders and the things under them blowing up, my father’s words came back to me.
My father was right. Humans were a very frightening race.
“As expected, the front view is good.”
– Croak… Sa, save… me.
Watching a dying soldier crushed under a collapsed pile of rubble from the bombing, that was not something to say.
“Oh, they’re clustered over there. We need to shoot over there!”
Seeing the soldiers pulling out weapons to defend themselves, he gets angry.
Although they were intercepting the bombardment with swords, magic, etc., they looked very panicked.
I wonder how long they can hold out?
They seem quite decent, so they may be able to buy some time.
But I don’t think they can get out of there alive.
“They’re holding out pretty well. Contact headquarters to move the magician unit over, and bombard them with magic when their magic runs out.”
“Ah, yes sir.”
A communications soldier who had been waiting for contact nods and runs out, no longer wanting to see the gruesome sight.
Pop!
“Ah, damn! Did it break again?”
One of the image transmission orbs showing the scene goes black.
It seems the image transmission orbs the Empire’s spies hid among the enemy were shattered by the bombardment.
“That thing was expensive…”
Tsk. Hearing the human click his tongue as if it was a waste, chills run down my spine again.
Even after seeing countless humans blown apart, he clicks his tongue over the cost of an image transmission orb!
Even a dragon who looks down on the value of lives other than our own would not click their tongue while watching such a scene.
This guy was a madman.
I already knew he was insane, but never imagined he would be this mad.
“Maref Seyzar.”
“Yes, Sir…”
Terrified of humans, my reply to the madman calling me came a beat late.
“Don’t you think something’s a bit lacking?”
Saying something is lacking while watching people turn into chunks of meat! Just how many people blowing up does it take to satisfy this bastard?!
“Wha, what is lacking, Sir?”
Terror? Despair? Or the blood the people are shedding?
Only things demons would enjoy come to mind.
The word demon, even an archdemon, comes to mind from this human’s question!
“Popcorn.”
“Pardon?”
But the reply was a word I’ve never heard before.
“Popcorn? What is that, Sir?”
It could have been a human technical term.
What kind of horrific implication could this word have?
“Popcorn is a good snack to have when watching scenes like this.”
It was shocking.
While I don’t know exactly what this popcorn is, is he saying there’s a good snack for a situation like this?
Even for a dragon, we aren’t so thick-skinned to be able to casually eat something while things are exploding and dying around us.
As expected, the human race is…
“Urp!”
One of the people inside rushes out, dry heaving.
The others around him don’t look too good either.
“I, is that so?”
I had to correct my thinking.
This individual human and the human race should be treated separately. Otherwise, it would be an insult to humans.
Being too focused on this one, I didn’t realize, but everyone else’s expressions were united.
Wanting to get out of here quickly. Wanting to escape this horrible situation as fast as possible.
These were not ordinary people. They were all soldiers trained to kill enemies.
Not just ordinary soldiers, but commanders responsible for the lives of countless others!
They knew that the lives of many depended on their actions.
Killing the enemy for their country.
The fact that even people who understand that are this disgusted shows just how gruesome the scenes from the image transmission orb are.
“Hmm… Did they eat something bad this morning? Everyone looks kind of sick.”
But breakfast was so good.
Seeing him smile as he talks, two people can’t take it and rush out.
“Isn’t it still before lunch? I heard lunch today is supposed to be really good.”
“So, sorry… Sir Ast. My stomach feels a bit unwell…”
“Me too…”
At their words, people start rushing out one by one.
In the end, only I and this madman remain in the room with the image transmission orb.
“I guess something was off with breakfast?”
No, it’s not breakfast that’s off, but your humanity, demon!
I want to yell this at him, but I can’t give any reply.
This man is my surveillance target.
An existence bearing a fragment of evil that belongs to dragons, born from the hands of a wicked evil god!
If this human goes wrong, the fragment of evil, a massive bomb, could rebound onto my clan.
“I guess so.”
“It can’t be helped. We’ll just have to eat lunch, just the two of us. Call to have food brought.”
“What? Here?”
“Of course. The magicians are still bombing from high altitudes, so this is the image transmission that can give us the most accurate situation. We can’t just leave.”
That wasn’t my point. I meant whether he could really eat while watching such scenes.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and order it.”
“Ah, yes Sir.”
But I had no choice.
I have to keep observing this human while hiding my identity, in the role of his junior.
I have no choice but to order food.
“You don’t mean…”
“Yes. He said to bring food over because he’s hungry…”
“There?”
“Yes…”
“Urp…!”
One person whose expression had brightened rushes back to the bathroom again.
I guess no one else will be coming to the room with the image transmission orb for a while.
“Sigh…”
To keep being stuck with such a lunatic…
Gulp –
“As good as expected.”
Seeing him eat bread spread with red jam at the same time…
– Scream!
A person turns into a red chunk of meat and disappears.
“Want one?”
Looking at the demon, no, the human holding out a piece of bread spread with red jam with a smile, I thought.
No matter if he’s of my clan, I ought to beat the crap out of him!
#61 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Dragon (2)
– I quit! I’ll beat you up! No, I won’t do it, no!
“Has he gone mad?”
Having received the regular report, the dragon lord scowled and tore up the regular report he’d just been given.
“Impossible.”
It seemed some time further into the future before a certain dragon could be freed from the ordeal.
