Chapter 61: No, This Here?

“That’s it.”

Ian was startled by that voice.

For a moment, he felt as if time had stopped.

But Giovanni was appalled seeing the man holding him. He didn’t seem to understand this situation.

“W… why is my magic…?”

His flame magic that was about to kill Ian vanished into thin air.

Thus, Giovanni tried to ignite the magic again and burn both the red-haired man and Ian.

“You fool.”

The man’s reptilian eyes flashed, and a surprising thing happened in the next instant.

He reversed the flame magic Giovanni was trying to use, and Giovanni was engulfed in the fire that was meant to be directed at Ian.

“Argh!”

He became firewood alive and was reduced to a lump of charcoal.

At the end, when Giovanni collapsed, the man wiped his hands as if they were dirty.

Seeing the shocking sight, the three knights stood in front of Ian nervously. The aura exuded by the man was unusual.

“Your Highness, it is dangerous.”

“Please run away. We will buy time.”

The red-haired man looked at the knights with great interest.

“Oh, you can stand in front of me? You lot are pretty good.”

“…!”

“But how rude of you?”

As the red-haired man approached, the knights gripped their swords even tighter.

Everyone had no choice but to gulp nervously at the choking aura and killing intent.

However, feeling the red-haired man’s purpose and murderous aura, Ian ordered the knights.

“Everyone, lower your sword.”

“B… But Your Highness! That guy is dangerous…”

“If he made up his mind, we would very well have died, after all.”

“!”

It was most likely true.

This intense aura pressed the knights just by his appearance. Besides, although Giovanni’s level was not above four-star, that man had the ability to neutralize the spell of a three-star wizard with just a tap.

The dragon was clearly above the level of Celestial Dragon at the least.

Those fabled creatures in the legend who were called the masters of magic.

‘If that’s for sure, we’d better not fight that guy.’

Ian didn’t know why that man saved him, but if he confronted him, it would be his loss. As if reading his thoughts, the man with the red hair smiled mysteriously.

“Oh, so that’s how you’ll do.”

The man reached out to Ian in an instant, and magical energy oozed from that hand.

The knights immediately invoked their Oath.

“Your Highness!”

But then.

Bang!

The attack from the red-haired man’s hand flew past Ian’s face and straight behind him.

And the shriek that followed.

Kraaaa!

The red-haired man’s attack was directed at the dragon trying to rush toward Ian. The dragon eventually collapsed with a cry.

The man dusted off his hand and looked at Ian.

“Well, good. Anyway, I guess it’s meddling in. Let’s deal with that first and continue our talk.”

“That?”

“The idiot that was kidnapped and mutated by humans.”

“!”

“Well, you found that thing too, so you can do as you wish now.”

At those words, Ian narrowed his brow.

After all, the red-haired man must have come to retrieve that dragon.

And the reason he hadn’t come forward until now was…

‘It was also because of this.’

Ian glanced at the object he had stolen from Giovanni.

This tool was probably something that controlled the dragon.

And for some reason, that man couldn’t come forward earlier because of this object. Ian didn’t even have time to inquire about the object in detail.

Krarara!

It was because the dragon had risen again and was running after Ian.

At this, Ian smiled at the man.

“How about you deal with that first?”

“Me?”

“Ah. Should I press this button here?”

Ian lifted the stolen object as if to press it.

There were three buttons in total. One would be to make it go berserk. One of the other two would be to self-destruct or to make it stop.

“Please stop that first.”

Seeing that, the red-haired man bared his teeth as if annoyed.

“This little boy.”

Then he kicked the dragon roughly.

***

“Huh, the vitality of wizards is really astounding. I don’t expect him to stay alive in such a condition.”

Meanwhile at the same time.

Walter looked at Giovanni that had turned into a lump of charcoal as if looking at a strange creature. The wizard who was beaten by the red-haired man was still alive.

Of course, his condition did not look good.

“Kill… me.”

He seemed to be better off dead.

Normally, Ian would have let him die, but he gave the order to keep this man alive by any means.

He had no choice but to do so.

‘They are certainly people I haven’t seen in my previous life. There must be something I don’t know.’

A three-star or higher wizard was a rare resource in the kingdom.

On top of secretly working in such a place, he felt uncomfortable with the way they controlled the dragon.

‘They are people from the Kingdom of Magicians. If these jerks are doing an undercover mission in this kingdom, I must know their background for sure.’

It was a serious matter that could lead to the invasion of their kingdom if things went wrong. And even if the other wizards were clueless, the leader Giovanni must know something.

He had to get information.

Shortly after that.

Thud!

Dust puffed out in all directions with a loud boom.

“Your Highness!”

Galon quickly blocked Ian’s front. Thanks to that, Ian was not covered in dust.

It was only after the dust settled down that everyone could see.

“Ah. It was hard.”

It was the handsome red-haired man and the dying dragon. The dragon was unconscious with scars dotted on his body, and the man was dragging the dragon’s tail toward them.

And the man with a pretty refreshed expression stood in front of Ian.

“Where did we leave off?”

“Do not come close.”

Galon blocked his way.

But Ian stepped forward as if it was okay.

“If he had any intention of hurting me, he would have done it sooner.”

Seeing Ian’s gaze, the red-haired man smiled. He seemed pleased with his spirit.

“Thanks to you, I was able to recover this idiot. And dragons never forget grace nor grudges. I’ll give you compensation before I leave.”

“Compensation?”

“I’ll give you anything on condition that you don’t take the life of this idiot. What do you want? Treasure? Conquest of the continent?”

At that, Ian laughed.

“From the beginning, I have said that our purpose was dragon meat.”

Then, the red-haired man looked at Ian sternly.

“How despicable. I see you are already done.”

“I think you are the one who’s already done.”

“What?”

“Let’s negotiate with this.”

“!”

Ian took out the object he had stolen from Giovanni.

“This thing controls dragons, right? And for some reason, dragons can’t touch it.”

“…”

Ian smiled.

This man was strong. Still, why did he leave it to him without thinking of getting the dragon back himself?

And it’s speculation from here on out, but it’s probably because he didn’t want to touch this thing.

“Wouldn’t it be troublesome if we took this and researched it?”

The red-haired man laughed.

“You can’t control dragons above Celestial Dragon class with that, kid.”

“Then, you’re saying it’s possible for below that class?”

The knights swallowed their saliva.

They couldn’t figure out what Ian had in mind for provoking his opponent.

Of course, just like the wizards did, if they could use a dragon, it would be a great power, but still…

Nevertheless, Ian smiled at the man.

“Well, it’s funny that in the first place, the dragon who said he could help conquer the continent is captured by humans.”

Then the man looked as if wronged.

The dragon that fell over there in the first place was not even his clan.

“Hah. If only I didn’t need the information he had…”

“?”

“Information?”

The red-haired man woke up the fallen dragon instead of answering. Of course, he didn’t wake it up by shaking as a human would.

Bang!

He woke the dragon up by creating a huge explosion on its head.

The dragon finally woke up with a start and got angry, thinking it was Ian’s doing again, but soon after seeing the red-haired man, he jumped in surprise.

[Ka, Ka, Kanhel-nim? How did you get here…!!]

“Shut up and wake up. What kind of trouble did you cause? We are still busy looking for traitors.”

[I, I apologize.]

“So, what about them?”

The fallen dragon spoke with a puzzled face as it had just regained its senses.

[They were also cooperating with humans. They’re all the reasons I ended up like this…]

Ian furrowed his brow at those words.

“Cooperating with humans?”

The red-haired man sighed.

“There aren’t many dragons above the Celestial Dragon class, but we have traitors among us. They pretend to be human, hiding all over the kingdom and intervening in their affairs.”

“Kingdom?”

“Most of them are in the Kingdom of Magicians… It seems that they also put wizards on Kaistein’s side. I hope they don’t get involved in the royal family.”

Ian frowned.

‘Royal family?’

Could it have something to do with the succession war?

Of course, he wasn’t sure if it was really related, but if Ian didn’t know it from his previous life, there was no telling how deep and secretly they penetrated.

At the same time, Ian wondered what to do.

‘That scented candle.’

It’s from the Kingdom of Magicians, so perhaps it had something to do with this?

He was investigating it now, but there might be royalty and nobles associated with it.

Well, that wasn’t important now.

“So, who are you? You are trying to save a dragon that is not of your clan.”

The dragon, caught off guard by those words, freaked out.

[Hey, human! How dare you open your mouth without knowing who he is! Speaking of this figure here, he is the great Red Dragon—!]

“Huh? What, is he some big shot?”

[Ahh! Kanhel-nim is…!]

At that time, the dragon called Kanhel stopped him with a snort.

“What. It doesn’t matter that much.”

[Kanhel-nim?]

“Even if he is such a jerk, he is an Earth Dragon who serves our family, so I’ll give you a reward. You seem to be a swordsman. Do you want a nice sword made out of my tooth?”

But Ian shook his head.

“From the beginning, I have said that my purpose was dragon meat.”

Kanhel glared fiercely.

“Didn’t I say no dismembering? Be content with a similar-looking drake, kid.”

He shot a threatening gaze. However, Ian did not avoid his gaze at all.

Kanhel locked into Ian’s golden eyes for some time.

“Oh, well. Take it. Do whatever you want, you can slice it or boil it.”

[Ka, Kanhel-nim?!]

The dragon, which suddenly became nothing more than a chunk of meat, screamed, but Kanhel turned his back as if it was bothersome.

An object that controlled that dragon. It was not really that powerful, and it was not worth negotiating with.

“Whatever. I’ve got the information, so I have no reason to see you anymore.”

[I, I, but I’m also of a dragon clan!]

“Who cares? Then should I personally slice your goddamn neck?”

The dragon howled.

Ian wondered why this man suddenly changed his attitude, but Kanhel scrunched his brow while staring at Ian as if it was complicated.

It must be because of the vivid color of Ian’s eyes that resembled the First King.

Just as expected.

“I thought I would never see that golden color again.”

“?”

Kanhel turned to look at the captured dragon and waved his hands as if annoyed.

“Anyway, it’s not very pleasant to be teased by a human kid because of one Earth Dragon class jerk. It would be better to just deal with it.”

[Ahh! Kanhel-nim!]

The dragon hurriedly bowed his head to Ian and began to plead. At this rate, he would likely be killed first by Kanhel instead of a human.

[Please, I will make a pledge. Save me. It would be much more useful than my meat.]

But even Ian couldn’t help it.

“I’m sorry. We need dragon meat, too.”

[Hick!]

The dragon’s dignity suddenly was nowhere to be seen. The dragon looked like it was about to cry at any moment.

But Kanhel watched with amusement.

“Well, it’s definitely delicious. I’m not interested, but you guys are often eaten by us.”

[Kanhel-niim!!]

At that point, Ian smiled.

“Then should I cut the tail? Will it ever grow again?”

“Huh. You think we are some kind of lizard that can have the cut tail grow back?”

“Does it really not regrow?”

“Not… regrow?”

The crying dragon seemed to be okay with that.

[If it’s just the tail… It’s not like I will die from it.]

Hearing that, Ian smiled inwardly.

He couldn’t stop himself from doing so.

‘The most delicious part of a dragon is the tail.’

Legend had it that dragons fished with their tails in the water, and there was even a story that the fish were so coveted.

It was unknown what it was like in reality, but the tail was that part that was well-sought in the west. It was also one of the best parts that was hard to find on the market because it was a sensitive part.

Anyway, for the envoy, bringing this should be fine.

However, Ian didn’t want to end it with just the tail.

“Give me some teeth, and give me the pledge you said earlier. You know that it’s generous enough to take a part of your meat instead of your life, right?”

[What?]

Leaving the leftover of the hunt to the territory’s people would do.

The dragon was flustered, but there was nothing he could do.

[A dragon cannot say two words in the same breath.]

The captured dragon made a pledge with Ian.

[Only once. When you need help, I’ll come whenever you call me.]

Kanhel frowned.

“Only once? Anyway, it is true that he saved you, so please repay the kindness worthy of it.”

[If you ask me to pay him back…]

Seeing Kanhel’s eyes, the dragon sighed and handed out something.

It looked like a beautiful jewel.

[This is half of my dragon heart. It’s not a big deal, so just accept it.]

The heart wasn’t that big.

Ian couldn’t understand the dragon’s train of thoughts for a moment, but this deal wasn’t bad anyway.

At least Kanhel said the same thing.

“You can stew it or eat it raw. Do whatever you feel comfortable with.”

And thus, the deal was over.

It was only then that Ian could truly smile.

Of course, except for Galon, the knights looked at Ian as if their spirits were drained.

‘To think he is negotiating with those monsters…’

Well, it’s much better this way than ending this with getting a one-time corpse. Still, this left a bitter aftertaste. Although Galon looked at his liege proudly.

“Anyway, Your Highness, you must make haste. If you wait a little longer, you may not be able to catch up with the envoy reception. It’s still a little tight.”

“It is.”

Before long, Kanhel saw Ian about to leave.

“What’s your name?”

“What?”

“Your name.”

“Ian Kaistein.”

Kanhel smiled at that and headed for the cliff.

“Anyway, I’m going. I won’t forget this and I’ll remember you. If you’re still alive by then.”

Kanhel fell off the cliff, then transformed back into a dragon and soared into the sky.

Ian was mesmerized by the beautiful appearance for a while before he urgently asked Kanhel.

“What is your name? You have to tell me your name!”

Right at that moment.

The dragon of red scales that was leaving, Kanhel, spoke only to Ian’s ears.

[My name is Kanhelna. Kanhelna Kaistein.]

Ian widened his eyes.

What? What did he just say?