Chapter 216: East (1)

The clash between Theo and Kinkarnon quickly spread throughout Winterer.

- I heard Kinkarnon tried to stage a coup during the Soaring Dragon Tournament.

- Apparently, Young Lord Theo caught wind of it first and subdued him.

- Kinkarnon lost to Theo in the tournament and is now imprisoned.

Rumors spread like wildfire, but one fact became indisputable.

- Theo's complete victory.

In the power struggle that might have intensified, Theo had seized an overwhelming advantage.

Furthermore, news circulated that the White Armored Dragon Cavalry and the Ranke family had quelled the disturbances that had nearly erupted across Winterer. Some even voiced concerns.

They feared Theo might use this as a pretext to purge potential rivals.

After all, every time a new ruler of the throne was decided, bloodshed followed—alongside civil war, it was a long-standing Ragnar tradition.

Indeed, the Judgment Hall moved swiftly, arresting those associated with Kinkarnon. Among them, even Ansio was taken into custody.

However.

Theo made no statements, nor did he take any further action.

As a result, the aftermath of the Soaring Dragon Tournament merely ended with the title going to "Anonymous."

The chaos quickly began to settle.

* * *

"...What is this?"

Still wearing a ridiculous wooden mask, Lezé frowned as she watched Amore casually slide over a nameplate.

"What do you think? It's the Soaring Dragon Token."

"I can see that! But why are you giving it to me?"

"Why not? You really wanted this, didn’t you?"

"What I wanted was victory, not some handout."

Lezé wondered if Amore had taken some strange drug.

The Soaring Dragon Token was, as the name suggested, a badge that symbolized a Soaring Dragon.

Surely, Amore had gone through a lot of trouble to obtain it. And yet, she was just handing it over like this?

Wait—was this token even something that could be traded so easily?

If that were the case, wouldn’t the richest people in the world have become part of the Nine Dragons by now?

"Then just say you won. Doesn’t that work?"

For a moment, Lezé felt a surge of anger. Was this tiny senior here just to mock her?

After Kinkarnon's coup had ended in failure—

Lezé and Amore had fought in a match of their own, and Amore had emerged victorious.

Although the tournament had lost most of its audience by then, the fact remained—Amore had officially become a Soaring Dragon.

Though it left a bitter taste, Lezé had sincerely celebrated Amore’s victory.

Even though her steps toward the throne had been halted, her determination and fighting spirit had not wavered.

The Soaring Dragon Token, which bore the traces of that journey, naturally held great significance for her.

And yet—

She was being handed this heavy burden as if it were some trinket exchanged on a neighborhood hillside.

If she weren’t angry, that would be strange…!

‘What’s going on? Why is she avoiding my eyes?’

Just before she could burst into a shout,

Lezé realized something—Amore, who always wore a cheerful smile whenever they spoke, was now deliberately looking elsewhere.

Even with the mask obscuring her face, it wasn’t hard to tell where her gaze was directed.

Even now—look at her.

Roll…

She deliberately shifted her steps, rolling her body sideways to avoid eye contact.

Sensing something was off, Lezé followed the direction of Amore’s shifting gaze.

Roll.

Amore’s eyes darted to the opposite side.

Again—Roll. Opposite direction.

One more time—Roll, roll… Again, the other way.

"……."

Now, she understood.

This woman—she was afraid of making eye contact!

Amore’s playful nature was well known throughout Winterer.

Something was definitely strange.

So, Lezé narrowed her eyes and silently observed Amore for a long moment.

"……W-why are you looking at me like that?"

Amore flinched and took a step back.

"You’re hiding something, aren’t you?"

"Hiding? What would I even be hiding? More importantly, just take this already…!"

Whoosh!

At that moment, Lezé suddenly reached out toward Amore’s face.

But Amore quickly leapt back, widening the distance between them.

"What are you doing?!"

"See? You are hiding something."

"What do you mean, hiding?! There's nothing—!"

"You’ve got something on your face, don’t you?"

"W-what are you talking about…? I don’t… understand…"

"You’re stuttering now. Seize her!"

At Lezé’s command, the Reaper Division, who had been blending into the shadows, swiftly emerged and lunged at Amore.

"You little—!!"

Amore gasped, instinctively turning her sword toward them—but Lezé had already noticed.

Her movements were nowhere near as sharp as they had been during the Soaring Dragon Tournament.

Whatever was going on, her mana circulation wasn’t normal.

That meant this was the perfect time for a surprise attack.

Lezé, having already gathered enough mana, hurled her Grim Reaper skyward.

Swoosh!

Crack—!

With a sharp gust of wind, the blade grazed past Amore’s mask—splitting it cleanly in two.

The broken mask fell away, revealing Amore’s face.

"Aaah! Nooo—!"

"……."

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?!"

Amore desperately tried to cover her face with the shattered remains of her mask, but it was already too late.

Creak.

Wearing a devastated expression, she attempted to piece the broken mask back together multiple times, but it wouldn’t fit properly.

In the end, she turned her head toward Lezé, looking like a broken wooden puppet.

"…Did you see?"

"……."

"You… saw, didn’t you?!"

"……Pfft."

"You saw! I know you saw!!"

"Puhahahaha! What is that look?!"

"Aaaaah! You're so dead!"

Lezé burst into laughter, her face already turning red from trying to hold it in.

And no wonder—

Both of Amore’s eyes were swollen with massive bruises.

They said there was a peculiar bear in the Eastern Continent called a panda… and right now, that’s exactly what she looked like.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

"I'm going to kill you!"

Amore, her face burning with fury, wildly swung her sword at Lezé.

She was so angry that she was even slashing with sword energy.

The Reaper Division stood there, looking unsure of what to do.

On one hand, they should probably step in—if she kept swinging her sword like that, Lezé might be in danger.

But then again… Lezé was effortlessly dodging, laughing all the while, so maybe there was no need.

She was clearly enjoying this.

No one would have expected that the ever-smug, ever-mischievous Amore—the one who had constantly toyed with people, even flipping their clothes inside out during the Soaring Dragon Tournament—would end up in this state.

Given how beaten up she looked, she had likely lost a lot of strength too, making it even easier for Lezé to dodge.

"Huff… huff… huff…! I swear, I’ll kill youuu!"

"Kyahaha! Kyahaha!"

"You, you, you—!"

"If I tell Theo, I bet he’d love to hear about this~."

"If you spread a single word, I swear, I’ll hunt you to the ends of hell!"

She was so worked up that she had completely abandoned her usual cutesy act.

"At least explain yourself. The bruises on your eyes and the Soaring Dragon Token—they seem connected."

Amore silently glared at Lezé for a long while before finally letting out a deep sigh, as if the world were collapsing beneath her.

Then, pouting, she muttered,

"I didn’t want this to happen, okay?"

Her explanation was simple.

The moment she won her Soaring Dragon title, she had gone straight to Julius.

And then—

She had challenged him to a duel.

"…Against the Demon Dragon?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you two were on good terms?"

The White Armored Dragon Cavalry was well known within Ragnar for its free-spirited and family-like atmosphere.

But what if there were subtle conflicts that outsiders didn’t know about…?

"Of course! He’s the person I respect most in the world."

"Then why?"

"Because respect aside, he constantly pisses me off!"

"……?"

"He always torments me!!"

The 1st Squad served as Julius’ personal guard.

They were often assigned difficult missions alongside Julius or deployed to treacherous battlefields for grueling fights.

Now, here’s a question.

Among them, who suffered the most?

"……It must have been toughest on you, Amore."

"Exactly!! The captain keeps nagging me for not moving fast enough! The squad members come whining to me whenever they have complaints! But when I relay those complaints, I get scolded every time! And if there’s a tedious task, they just dump it on me… I suffer so much in the middle of all this!"

Honestly, she would rather be dropped in the middle of a warzone and swing her sword a few more times!

Every time something happened, it was always Amore who got dragged into it. From a middle manager’s perspective, it was infuriating.

"So! So!! That’s why I—"

"……wanted to become a Soaring Dragon just to fight him?"

"Of course!!"

If only—

If only she could land just one good punch on that infuriating captain’s face, she’d have no regrets… That’s what she thought.

And last night—she finally got her chance!

-……You want to fight me?

-That’s right!! You kept tormenting me all this time! Now it’s my turn to torment you!!

That was how the duel with Julius began.

-Hmm, well, alright. If you insist. Just don’t regret it later.

The way he pulled out his sword with that halfhearted expression—it pissed her off so much.

Then he lunged at her, looking like he was having the time of his life… and from that moment on, she thought she was going to die trying to keep up with him.

And the result?

Well—just look at her now.

"If only—if only I had landed just one hit on that damn smug face, I’d have no regrets!!"

Lezé comforted Amore, saying she must have had a tough time—but at the same time, she deeply realized just how strong Julius truly was.

People said that even among the Nine Dragons, the hierarchy was absolute. It seemed that was indeed the case.

"Anyway, just take this already. My so-called revenge(?) was a total failure, and there’s no way we can have two Soaring Dragons in the same unit."

In other words, she had no intention of leaving the White Armored Dragon Cavalry.

In the end, Lezé could only blankly accept the Soaring Dragon Token.

"…But still."

"But still what? Kinkarnon got his head chopped off in the tournament, and I forfeited. So who else but you is supposed to take it? Besides, I acknowledge you. Who’s going to argue against that?"

"……."

"If someone does, just bring them to me. I’ll slice them right in half."

Lezé silently stared at the Soaring Dragon Token in her hand.

The rough, coarse texture beneath her fingertips gave her a strange feeling.

An emotion she couldn’t quite put into words filled her chest.

"Still, if you ever feel like this doesn’t truly belong to you—help us."

It was a subtle way of saying, It’s time to fully stand by Theo’s side.

After a long moment of contemplation—

Lezé gave a quiet nod.

* * *

Beyond the iron bars, Theo gazed silently at Kinkarnon, who was seated inside the prison cell with his eyes closed.

"……."

Kinkarnon remained motionless.

Everything about his posture radiated the clear message: I have nothing to say.

"You don’t want to answer anything I ask, do you? I get it."

"……."

"So I won’t bother you either. Just answer one thing."

Between the dimly lit corridors, Theo’s eyes gleamed coldly.

"The key that unlocked the relic’s seal—where exactly did you get it?"