A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

105 – The Death of Randor-3

Karria woke up drenched in cold sweat. Her head was so wet from sweating profusely. As soon as she got up, she looked around.

“Randor? Darling?”

But Randor was nowhere to be seen around her. Realizing that she was lying alone in bed, Karria realized that the bed was unusually empty and desolate.

“No.”

She covered her face and began to tremble.

The sight from yesterday came to mind.

“No. No.”

She couldn’t even scream.

It felt like her soul was crumbling. If one could die from sheer despair alone, she would have died long ago. Overwhelmed by intense despair, she began to sob with a sound of deep anguish.

And it seemed like someone outside had heard the sound.

“Karia!”

Adran urgently opened the door and entered. Karia lifted her head to look at him as he appeared.

Her eyes were filled with a frightening intensity.

“It’s a relief. You’re awake. Listen carefully. Now, about the explanation………”

Karia grabbed Adran by the collar.

It was treason.

It wasn’t just any treason, but Karia didn’t care.

“I told you not to send me. I told you not to….. I told you not to send me!!!!!!”

“Wait, let go of this for a moment…….!”

“It’s all pointless now. The reason for me to live has vanished. I’m just going to follow Randor. Before that, I’ll tear apart and follow everyone who killed Randor!!!!”

In a tremendous outburst of rage and screams, Adran raised both hands in a hurry.

“That’s it! That attitude! That attitude is excellent, Karia! Maintain that emotional state!!”

“…What?”

“First, let go of this and let’s talk. Listen to my story about what I’m planning.”

“Speak. Explain. Tell me everything about what you’re scheming!”

In response to Karia’s ominous voice, Adran honestly laid out all his plans.

And when she heard all those plans.

“T-Then Randor is……… Ah.”

Karia collapsed to the floor again as if all the strength had left her body.

That afternoon.

Caria, holding the Holy Sword in one hand, visited the place where the dragons were dwelling.

The sturdy wooden door burst open as she approached the room, and Karia, with the Holy Sword tightly gripped, entered. After the shocking event of Randor’s death, all seven dragons had gathered in the Blue Dragon’s lair.

As the dragons debated how to handle the situation, they trembled at the sight of Karia entering the room exuding immense intensity.

“You bloody bastards.”

Upon seeing the dragons, Karia began by cursing at them.

“My husband died because of your cowardly nature!!!!!!”

The Holy Blade with its tightly woven runes made a swishing sound as it swung. The dragons cowered in a corner, doubting if these legendary beings, who wielded 9th circle-level magic as naturally as breathing, were truly the ones before them.

“Calm down! Calm down!!!!”

“We didn’t kill him! We didn’t kill him!!!”

“Shut up, you reptilian bastards.”

Clearly deranged, Karia, drenched in sweat, clad in a nightgown, and wielding the Holy Sword, was a sight that truly embodied madness. The dragons, who knew of the relationship between Karia and Randor, couldn’t even fathom calming her rage.

“J-Just calm down! Calm down!!!”

“Calm down?! Calm down???? Say that one more time. Tell me to calm down just one more time!!!”

As the sharp blade of the Holy Sword was thrust forward persistently, the dragons recoiled in fear. Karia, looking at the dragons in such a state, spat out words full of mockery and anger.

“And you call yourselves great beings? Huh? Merely one Holy Sword. Merely a sight of hundreds of Elementalists trembling in fear!! You have no dignity!!! Huh?”

“W-We…!”

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“The Elven Elder killed my husband in front of everyone!!! He mocked you as cowards afraid to fight, afraid of getting hurt! And even in that situation, aren’t you ashamed of cowering in a corner!! You bloody bastards!!!!!”

As the Holy Sword was pushed even closer towards the dragons, their expressions paled in unison. When the Holy Blade, firmly inscribed, shook before their eyes, the Blue Dragon, the strongest misanthrope among the seven dragons, finally raised his hands in surrender and spoke sincerely.

“It’s terrifying!! What if we get hurt!! We don’t want to risk the possibility of getting hurt unless absolutely necessary!!!!”

“That, that’s right!!! We’ve lived for over thousands of years and never been injured even once!! Scared of getting hurt!!”

“We’re not used to getting hurt like you guys! If we get a scratch in a battle with spirits and our wing membrane tears!!………”

“Just get treated!! You fools!! If you get hurt, get treated and stand back up, isn’t that what you should do!!! Is your Ninth Circle magic and spellcasting just for show!!!!!!”

Following another roar, the dragons flinch.

After plunging the Holy Sword into the ground, Karia lights a cigarette. She points at the Red Dragon.

“Red Dragon. You.”

“Why, why?”

“You remember when you got a sword cut from me, right? Your face was slashed. Remember that?”

Just thinking about it makes the Red Dragon shudder.

“It was a terrifying memory I never want to experience again.”

“Since you’ve been hurt once, tell me. They say dragons’ memories are eternal, right? What does it feel like to get hurt? Was it painful and agonizing?”

“Are you calling that pain……”

“You might have been too out of it to think clearly the first time you got hurt, but think about it now. If you were to feel that pain again, do you think you could endure it?”

At those words, the Red Dragon falls silent.

The dragons’ ability for complete memory preservation meant they could easily recall.

The intensity of the pain when Karia slashed its face back then.

And when asked if it could endure that pain again, it could quickly make a rational judgment.

“If I were determined to endure it…….I don’t think it would be unbearable.”

“Exactly. Your scales are transcendently tough and your defense magic is omnipotent. Even if elves and humans go wild, it’s very difficult for them to leave you with wounds fatal enough.”

“But a dragon died by a hero wielding the Holy Sword.”

At the timid retort of the Blue Dragon, Karia lets out a long sigh.

“Haven’t you read human legends at all? An old, sick dragon shed a piece of its scale, and while the dragon was asleep, someone approached and stabbed it with the Holy Sword. If the dragon had been on guard and fought back, the hero would never have been able to kill it. Damn, talking about this is getting me pissed off. You guys are too cowardly for your level!!!!!”

Karia points the Holy Sword towards the imaginary land beyond the sea.

“Elves!!! Those pointy-eared bastards killed my husband!!! And they openly treated you all as cowards!!! Doesn’t that hurt your pride! You damn bastards!! Are you so afraid of getting hurt? Even though thousands of dragons and all the armies of the continent will rally to fight alongside you? If you’re going to live as cowards for the rest of your lives!!”

Karia swings the Holy Sword randomly. The dragons’ expressions naturally turned pale.

“I will kill you all here and ride the Guardian Dragon alone!! The Guardian Dragon will follow! You’re nothing more than worms compared to Ancient-class!! You spineless bastards lacking any pride like insects!!”

“aaargh!!!”

As six dragons flee to avoid being slashed, the Red Dragon, though flinching, does not retreat. After seeming to contemplate something deeply, it steps forward.

“Did you really say the worm will follow me? The one I trained?”

“Yes. In my eyes, that fellow is braver than all of you. You cowardly and prideless lizard bastards.”

The Red Dragon absentmindedly touches its cheek upon hearing this.

Then, lost in thought, it seemed to be comparing the pain of Karia’s sword cut and the current situation.

With a sudden resolute expression, it approaches Karia.

“I’ve decided. The Empire’s pillar, Changeongbaek, was murdered. The elf bastards openly insulted me as a coward in front of humans. And in a situation where even the worm-class dragons are participating, if I don’t step up, it will greatly tarnish my name. I will actively assist.”

After saying so, the Red Dragon looks at the other dragons with a mocking expression.

“Leave those pathetic bastards as they are. They’re kids who haven’t even been cut once by a sword, so it seems they’re terrified of getting a tear in their wing membrane. They seem like kids who haven’t experienced getting hurt.”

As the Red Dragon starts to chuckle tauntingly, the fear dissipates from the faces of the other six dragons, replaced by a look of realization.

“W-We, us……..”

“Oh. Shut up. You idiots. You just sit in the corner like that. You’ll be recorded in human history as cowardly dragons for generations to come. You useless lot who couldn’t even help a human empire seeking revenge for the death of Changebaek, endure a lifetime of ridicule.”

The Red Dragon’s face was filled with a sense of superiority greater than those little bastards. He was the only one among the dragons who had experienced being wounded. And he was confident in being the first to seek revenge for Changebaek. He chose pride over pain.

As the fear of the long-standing trauma of dragons’ wounds, which he felt like he had overcome for the first time, was completed, the Red Dragon became incredibly proud of himself.

Truly a childish sight.

Childish, yet…

It was working.

“If that guy can endure wounds to that extent, I have no reason not to endure. I will also participate. Karia. I will help you seek revenge for your husband. As the Empire’s Guardian Dragon.”

The Green Dragon briskly followed the Red Dragon. Then, the situation of the remaining five became subtle.

Suddenly, it turned into a staring contest.

A strange staring contest where the last one standing would be the biggest coward.

“We will seek revenge for the death of Changebaek!”

The Bronze Dragon was next.

“Even the lowly Worm is participating, I can’t be left out!”

The Silver Dragon was next.

As it turned out, the remaining dragons, thinking they couldn’t be last, all expressed their willingness to participate at once.

“We will go too! We will show those arrogant bastards their place!”

Though belated, the remaining ones managed to protect their pride. Karia sheathed her holy sword, watching their display.

“Now, we are true Empire Guardian Dragons.”

She smoked her pipe entirely, then exhaled smoke with a grim expression.

“This is it. This is how I can truly avenge my husband’s death.”

With Karia’s sword dance and the Red Dragon’s persuasion, the participation of 7 Ancient Dragons and Worm-level dragons was decided.

And as soon as the news spread that the dragons had joined Randor’s revenge battle, Aylam and Karamba simultaneously declared war.

The reason for the war?

“For the revenge of Randor Changebaek!!!!”

“Is there anyone who opposes!!!”

The reason for the war was the revenge for the damned bastards who killed Randor, who had been sent as an envoy.

It was a perfectly justified cause.

The people of Aylam united as one, calling for war, and even Karamba, who had many grievances, could not speak out against participation.

“Chieftain. Are you not going to participate in the war?”

“Your Majesty… our tribe is really…”

“Randor is dead. Randor, who had done a lot for your tribe, became an envoy and was brutally murdered by those damn bastards.”

“…”

“As the dragons have decided to participate, how will the relationship between Aylam and Karamba be if you stay out?”

“…I will offer 20,000 warriors for battle.”

“Good decision.”

Randor’s death was nothing short of a declaration of war.

It took only two days for the Aylam and Karamba Allied Forces to be established.