Ch.936Rumors I’ve Heard

======[ Leopold ]======

The combined invasion of three dragons. This was an event that no one in the world, not even Feirus, had anticipated.

It was only natural that the whole world would be abuzz with talk about it.

“Three dragons attacked Hestella…?!”

Emperor Leopold of the Empire, who received this report through intelligence agents, broke into a cold sweat from shock and concern.

Three dragons. Just hearing it was truly a terrifying force. Even Haschal might have difficulty facing such opposition.

“This is serious… Are they safe? Surely, surely they haven’t been destroyed…?”

“Actually… quite the opposite.”

Therefore, the subsequent content of the intelligence director’s report gave Leopold considerable bewilderment.

“So… one dragon was finished with a single strike, and another was soon subjugated? And the last remaining one even volunteered to become a vassal, begging only for its life…?”

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

“Are you speaking falsehoods to me right now?”

Leopold glared slightly at the intelligence director as he asked. His eyes suggested he thought the man was spouting nonsense he’d picked up somewhere.

“I swear by Elpinel, though it may be hard to believe, this is clearly the truth. Every informant has reported the same thing. Without a single exception.”

The intelligence director, though sweating nervously, guaranteed that all these reports were true by invoking the goddess Elpinel.

It was a guarantee with the highest credibility next to swearing on one’s mother.

“My goodness…”

Leopold let out a hollow laugh.

Two dragons subjugated. Another surrendered.

No casualties among Hestella’s high-ranking forces.

It was a result so incredible that both the listener and the reporter were left speechless.

Though the capital’s walls and parts of the city were destroyed in the battle’s aftermath, and several knights below Master rank had perished…

Overall, it was an achievement that could only be described as beyond a great victory—a complete triumph.

Even if this were the accomplishment of a protagonist in a heroic tale, it would deserve criticism for being too exaggerated, yet according to the informants’ reports, this was the unembellished truth.

“I worried for nothing… Though I’m relieved.”

Leopold, overcome with a deflated feeling, slumped in his posture and let out a deep sigh.

He felt like having a drink.

‘…To be able to subjugate three dragons with minimal damage. The power gap is beyond comprehension. Not just her, but her subordinates as well.’

Subjugating two dragons and making one submit? That was an achievement the current Empire couldn’t even dream of.

Moreover, all those who accomplished this feat would have remained knights of the Empire had the Empire not granted Hestella independence.

‘…What a shame.’

Though he couldn’t show it due to his imperial dignity, Leopold was honestly frustrated to the point of madness.

‘Should I have kept them within the Empire’s fold even at the risk of facing opposition from the Church…?’

They say the fish that got away always seems bigger.

In this case, it was more like he had half-voluntarily let it go, but either way, Leopold couldn’t help but feel bitter about it.

‘No, that was the best decision at the time. I had to give up several forces that had crossed the Wall, but in return, I gained the support of the Church factions and Lord Wien.’

The benefits gained from that decision were not insignificant.

The Church expressed gratitude for Leopold’s decision and responded with even more wholehearted cooperation than before, while Lord Wien, having achieved his wish of becoming the Empire’s second-in-command, was so delighted he nearly lost all his hair, dedicating himself to state affairs.

The Empire’s internal affairs, which had been devastated by frequent wars, finally regained stability thanks to their full cooperation.

For Leopold at that time, it was truly the best decision he could have made. Politically, diplomatically, and economically.

‘However… now that the situation has worsened, the void left by releasing those forces is painfully apparent.’

In just one area—the military aspect—it might have been a decision that could be called a mistake.

“Sigh…”

Leopold let out another deep sigh.

It was impossible to hold back his sighs.

Around the same time Hestella achieved an overwhelming victory against three dragons, the Empire had to endure massive damage against just one dragon.

Three airships equipped with long-range mana cannons and small airboats, Archmage Floheta and Saint Lacy—all of the Empire’s high-ranking forces were mobilized for the bloody battle.

After a fierce fight, they barely managed to inflict serious wounds on the dragon and drive it away, but…

‘Even winning wasn’t really winning. Not like that.’

The city caught in the battle collapsed and burned to ashes, and most residents were swept away by lava and magic, not even leaving corpses behind.

Of the airships, one sank, another was half-destroyed, leaving only one intact, and the loss of fighting power was beyond words.

If not for Percival’s heroic tale, who crossed the Wall and became a Hero during the battle, they might have been defeated rather than driving the dragon away.

‘The Guardian’s Chalice… was it? We were lucky. In terms of anti-dragon combat doctrine, it would be hard to find a more useful ability.’

The Guardian’s Chalice.

That was the name of the heroic tale Percival obtained after crossing the Wall.

A sacrificial defensive heroic tale that forcibly twisted the direction of enemy attacks, making all attacks target oneself.

Since most of the dragon’s attacks were directed solely at Percival, others could disregard defense and concentrate all their power on offense.

As a result, Percival’s life was in constant danger at every moment… but he managed to endure. It was literally a human victory.

Not because Percival had such capability, but thanks to Lacy and high-ranking priests who intensively bestowed all kinds of protective miracles on him.

Anyway, for the Empire, which struggled so much yet could only drive away the dragon rather than subjugate it, Hestella’s achievement was both admirable and incredibly enviable.

To make a dragon submit and become a subordinate—if it doesn’t betray them, it’s truly an iron shield. Just keeping it like a guard dog would easily repel an attack from a single dragon.

In other words, it meant that Haschal, who couldn’t leave the palace due to the risk of the capital being raided, could now move freely and be active as before.

Of course, if three or four dragons targeted Hestella in Haschal’s absence, the enemy dragon she acquired wouldn’t be enough to stop them, but…

‘No, it’s uncertain. Nothing about that side ever goes as expected.’

Leopold decided not to be certain about this. Nothing involving Haschal had ever proceeded according to common sense, so this time would likely be no different.

“By the way, about the reason why the dragons attacked Hestella… So they said it was to kill ‘the owner of Gram’?”

“Yes. According to reports, these dragons targeted someone else, not the destruction of Hestella or the assassination of Queen Astika.”

The intelligence director, prostrated before the emperor, continued his detailed report.

As soon as the three dragons reached Hestella’s airspace, they demanded the surrender of the owner of Gram, and based on subsequent reactions, it was certain that this “owner of Gram” referred to Demian of Hestella.

“So, have you found out what that means exactly? For three dragons to cooperate and target someone’s life. What is this ‘Gram’ that would warrant such action…?”

The owner of Gram.

For Leopold, who had never even heard of the concept of Gram, it was a term whose meaning he couldn’t understand.

“It’s under discussion. For now, it’s presumed to be a sacred artifact in the form of a greatsword owned by Lord Demian… but its identity has not yet been confirmed.”

The intelligence director laid out the details of the ongoing discussions.

It was half-certain that the name Gram referred to the pure white greatsword that Demian wielded, but regarding the identity of that sword, all kinds of debates were currently taking place.

That was only natural.

Since neither Haschal nor Demian had said a word about Gram’s identity, others had to infer the sword’s nature solely from what the dragons had said.

A sacred artifact forged from Elpinel’s wrath.

A sword that threatened dragons eight hundred years ago.

A sword that granted the power of divine miracles to Demian, who was not a paladin.

Frankly speaking, there was only one sacred artifact that could match these conditions.

The holy sword Joyeuse.

The supreme sacred artifact said to have been bestowed by the goddess Elpinel to Carlos the Great eight hundred years ago.

Considering all circumstances, Joyeuse was the only sacred artifact that could be presumed to be Gram’s identity.

The problem was that this claim was based solely on circumstantial evidence.

The only commonality between Carlos’s sword and Demian’s Gram was that they were both powerful sacred artifacts. The two swords differed completely in name and form.

Carlos’s Joyeuse was in the form of an incredibly ornate longsword, while Demian’s Gram was a massive greatsword where grandeur and ruggedness coexisted.

Therefore, among those who had heard about Gram, an enormous debate was currently ongoing.

A debate between those who claimed that Gram and Joyeuse were the same sword, and those who argued that they couldn’t be the same when even their forms were different.

Elpinel’s clergy insisted it must be Joyeuse, while secular nobles countered that Gram was probably just a sacred artifact of unknown origin.

Clergy from other denominations maintained neutrality, saying they weren’t sure.

An uncompromising argument.

A discussion that could never reach a conclusion.

Both sides made persuasive arguments, but neither had anything that could be considered definitive evidence.

“This is a troublesome issue…”

Even for Leopold, it was a headache-inducing problem.

Acknowledging Demian’s greatsword as Joyeuse was a completely different matter from recognizing Haschal’s sword as Durandal.

Unlike Durandal, which was merely the sword of a legendary hero, Joyeuse itself symbolized the legitimacy of both the Elpinel Church and the Imperial House.

In other words, the discussion about Demian’s sword was an issue where ecclesiastical and imperial authorities were intricately entangled.

Unlike the clergy who were in religious ecstasy, claiming that Elpinel’s divine artifact had undoubtedly reappeared in the world, Leopold and the imperial nobles found it awkward to simply affirm this.

If that sword was truly Joyeuse, it would mean that the symbol of the Empire’s emperor had fallen into the hands of a mere knight from another country.