Ch.922Long Live the Queen

The second Dragon Slayer who subjugated the Four-Headed Dragon Tarasque, Persiella of the Celestial Horse Sect.

However, unlike my time, her heroic tale didn’t create much of a stir.

There were three reasons.

First, the subjugation of a dragon was something that had already happened once before.

People tend to place great value on first experiences, but not so much on second or third experiences.

The same applied to dragon subjugation.

If it were the first, it would be surprising and admirable, but the second time feels somewhat deflating. It’s certainly impressive, but a bit stale, you could say.

Come to think of it, it was the same in the original world.

Everyone knows as common knowledge the name of the first man to leave footprints on the moon, but no one cared about the second man to reach the moon.

Persiella was exactly in that position.

Moreover, unlike me, Persiella didn’t defeat the dragon single-handedly.

That was the second reason.

“They managed to bring down Tarasque after deploying all available forces in a war of attrition, but the Celestial Horse Sect suffered near-annihilation.”

Eleonora, who had received this news via imperial messenger, continued her report with a composed face.

It wasn’t just Persiella who faced Tarasque, but nearly the entire military force of the Celestial Horse Sect.

And most of them were reduced to torn and melted pieces of flesh before the dragon’s ferocity.

“The losses were so severe that they couldn’t even dream of recovery. It’s called subjugation in name only, but it’s essentially a lose-lose situation.”

They somehow managed to subjugate the dragon through sheer numbers, but suffered such enormous damage that they could hardly rejoice.

A victory with no gains and only severe losses. Isn’t that what they call a Pyrrhic victory?

Since the Celestial Horse Sect was essentially ruined, it felt somewhat ambiguous to praise them as they did with me.

Although rumors said I defeated the dragon with the Holy State’s border guards, I actually fought alone, so there were no casualties.

Haschal, who defeated a dragon without a single death, versus Persiella, who barely defeated a dragon after losing almost all her subordinates.

The difference in class is painfully obvious, isn’t it?

Considering that Persiella suffered such extreme losses despite presumably preparing for the dragon’s appearance, I suspect the Four-Headed Dragon that attacked them might have been stronger than Amitamir…

Well, what matters is the result. With such an outcome, the evaluation could only be mediocre.

“Well… public opinion holds that they had no chance of recovery even if it hadn’t been a lose-lose situation.”

And there was still one last reason.

“That makes sense. Other people don’t know, do they? That Persiella is Cylude’s sister.”

A reason stemming from misunderstanding and ignorance.

The fundamental reason why the public didn’t particularly praise the Celestial Horse Sect and its military power, or couldn’t find a reason to praise them, was…

“So those people probably think Persiella’s head has already been cut off and displayed. Or that she’s locked in the royal dungeon, serving the guards as her husbands.”

Shortly after the Celestial Horse Sect suffered massive casualties to subjugate the Four-Headed Dragon, the royal army under the Dragon King appeared before them, as if they had been waiting for this opportunity.

Yes.

The survivors of the Celestial Horse Sect had already been captured by the army sent by Cylude and taken to the royal palace.

Normally, the Celestial Horse Sect would have broken through such a military encirclement with a sneer or even annihilated them, but they were forced to surrender due to their severely weakened state after the battle with Tarasque.

Anyway, since being taken to the palace, there had been no news of them whatsoever.

Some speculated that they had all been beheaded, while others claimed that Dragon King Cylude was trying to persuade or brainwash them to make them his royal troops.

Those with questionable humanity snickered, suggesting that Persiella, Simeir, and the other women of the sect were being used to increase the birth rate in the Dragon Kingdom.

Of course, in my view, all three theories were nonsense.

If I had to forcibly side with one, the speculation about making them royal troops might be closest to the truth.

The reason Cylude dispatched the royal army wasn’t to capture and punish the heretics of the Celestial Horse Sect, but to bring back his sister.

That means the letter I sent had some effect. Probably.

So, contrary to the grim public speculation, Persiella was likely recovering her weakened body while living in luxury as a member of the Dragon Kingdom’s royal family.

I wasn’t sure what had happened to the heretic Dragonborn under her command.

While Persiella was the Dragon King’s sister and thus one of the most important figures in the royal family, her subordinate heretic Dragonborn were just powerful criminals.

Especially Simeir, who was known as a truly vicious criminal.

If they pledged loyalty despite knowing Persiella’s identity, Cylude might leave them be… but if they resisted, he might really throw them into an underground prison.

Actually, what happens to Simeir isn’t my concern. What’s important to me is what happened to Bernard…

“Is there any news about the Demon Tamer? That Bernard Failer. That bastard is the fifth apostle of the Ancient God Cult I mentioned before.”

“…I couldn’t find out that much.”

Did my voice momentarily mix with killing intent? Eleonora, who flinched briefly, shook her head and expressed regret.

She said the information she received didn’t include Bernard’s whereabouts.

“That’s a shame. I should have killed him for sure back then… Anyway, these apostle bastards just don’t die easily no matter how hard you try to exterminate them.”

I clicked my tongue and roughly exhaled cigarette smoke.

If Bernard was in Cylude’s custody, I really couldn’t touch him now. If Cylude followed my advice and executed Bernard, there would be no problem…

But if, just if, he somehow allied with that bastard, the situation could develop in an irritating direction from my perspective.

It would mean not just Persiella but the entire Dragon Kingdom royal family would become enemies of humanity. And they had obtained an intact dragon corpse like us.

Really, no matter how I think about it, I should have definitely caught Bernard before leaving. But that crazy white lizard bastard had to show up without reading the room.

I’m so unlucky, yet somehow these human scum always seem to have luck on their side. The more I think about it, the more unfair it seems.

“…Does Your Majesty consider the ‘Apostles of the Ancient Gods’ enemies?”

“Of course. Despite appearances, I’m a saint of Goddess Astraea, aren’t I? So I can’t possibly let scum like them live.”

Why ask something so obvious? Even if I weren’t a goddess’s saint, opposing the Apostles of the Ancient Gods would be the most natural thing.

Those bastards are actively ruining this world in real-time. Though that’s highly classified information known only to a few of my acquaintances.

“Well… saying that, I’ve only managed to kill two of them so far. And I don’t even know the names of the other three. Really, we have a long, long way to go.”

I let out a long sigh, leaned back on the throne, and supported the back of my head with interlocked fingers.

“Still… someday I’ll find them all and tear them to pieces. Very slowly, so thoroughly that even their parents wouldn’t recognize them.”

“…Hiccup!”

Eleonora covered her mouth with a veil and hiccupped softly. Her face turned pale as she broke out in a cold sweat.

“Ah, sorry. Did my killing intent leak again? I’ve been having trouble controlling it lately.”

I relaxed my fierce expression, took a deep breath to calm myself, and apologized to Eleonora.

Since gaining control over the power of Murder Karma, I no longer leaked killing intent constantly like during my school days, but perhaps because I’d become overwhelmingly stronger, even the faint murderous intent that leaked out now was more intimidating than back then.

Masters or Heroes might laugh off unconsciously leaked killing intent…

“N-no, it’s fine! Hiccup! I apologize for my rudeness… Hiccup!”

But for a bookworm like Eleonora, even this much was terrifying enough to make breathing difficult.

“Ah… alright. I’ll be going now. Good work. Having some tea might help you feel better.”

Seeing Eleonora’s complexion, I realized she wouldn’t be able to calm down anytime soon, so I clicked my tongue and had no choice but to leave.

What face could I possibly show Leopold if I caused his sister to die from respiratory distress?

Besides, Eleonora was an indispensable figure in the current Hestella.

If she died, I would have to perform the queen’s duties myself, and honestly, I’m not confident in such matters.

There is Prime Minister Rambert, but he too is specialized in assisting superiors, not in governing the state like Leopold or Eleonora.

In the first place, if I made him regent, he’d probably abandon everything and try to run away. If he thought he might get caught, he might even try to escape this world altogether.

If that happened, I would lose both a capable regent and prime minister.

So Eleonora needed to live long and healthy. For me… no, for Hestella.