Future Knight

Chapter 85

“Indeed, as the capital of the Empire, it’s grand.”

“The food must be delicious too?”

“……”

Erika looked slightly nervous.

Being an Elf, she attracted a lot of attention.

The lecherous gazes from men and the envious looks from women made her curl up like a frightened rabbit.

There were also those who viewed them with discomfort.

They were the guards responsible for the city’s security.

Their gazes were not kind as they looked at Kang Chan’s group, who were walking around in conscripted soldiers’ uniforms.

“How could conscripted soldiers enter the city?”

“Exactly.”

Conscripted soldiers were literally those forcibly drafted.

They were no different from slaves.

Seeing such people boldly walking around the capital made them uncomfortable.

Moreover, it was suspicious that conscripted soldiers were walking around with incredibly beautiful women, including an Elf.

“Damn, is this some new type of scam?”

The guards thought they might be some noble family’s eccentricity or even members of the royal family.

However, they couldn’t neglect their duty and decided to question them first.

“We should conduct the inspection as politely as possible.”

Ten guards approached Kang Chan and spoke to him as courteously as possible.

“Excuse us. We need to conduct a brief inspection.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Judging by your attire, you seem to be conscripted soldiers. Is that correct?”

“Yes, it is.”

“May I ask how you came to be here?”

“We are on leave.”

“Leave, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Leave… hmm.”

‘Leave for conscripted soldiers? What kind of nonsense is that?’

The guard started to get annoyed.

“Then, may I see your leave papers?”

“Just a moment.”

Kang Chan took out a bundle of leave papers from his pocket.

“Here it is.”

The guard who received the leave papers was taken aback.

‘Whoa… What is all this? Battalion commander, division commander, corps commander… how many are these?’

A corps commander was at least at the duke level.

Even he had never seen a leave paper above the division commander level.

‘Judging by the seals, they don’t seem fake. Knowing how serious a crime forgery of official documents is, no one would dare to do something so childish… Who is this guy?’

“Can I know your identity?”

“Didn’t I just tell you? I’m a conscripted soldier…”

The guard cut Kang Chan off.

“Which kingdom and family do you belong to?”

Kang Chan was momentarily at a loss for words at the guard’s question.

He couldn’t say he was Captain Kang Chan of the Special Forces of the Space Federation, Red Mars, nor could he claim to be an Elven Knight from the Elf Forest.

‘Huh… This is quite troublesome.’

As Kang Chan hesitated, the guard pressed harder.

“If you cannot confirm your identity, you’ll have to come with us.”

At this, Zikyon, who had been silently observing, lost her temper.

“Are these bastards taking me for a fool?”

Zikyon intended to kill these humans ruining her rare moment of peace with a single blow.

Sensing the mana surge from Zikyon, Kang Chan stepped in front of her and spoke.

“Perhaps this will prove my identity?”

Kang Chan handed over the comb given to him by Edelene.

The guard took the comb with a puzzled expression and examined it closely.

Soon, the guard’s eyes widened in shock.

He found the royal seal imprinted on the comb.

“Where did you get this?”

“I received it directly from Princess Edelene.”

“From Princess Edelene?”

“Yes.”

The guard stammered.

Seeing that he referred to her simply as “Princess” without any honorifics, they couldn’t help but think his status must be quite high.

However, the comb alone couldn’t fully verify his identity, so they couldn’t just stop the inspection.

“Then, how did you enter Bellaren?”

Conscripted soldiers’ uniforms would never have passed the inspection. They must have changed into them after entering the city in different attire.

If it was true, it would be a truly terrible hobby.

But the problem started with what Kang Chan casually said next.

“We used teleportation.”

“Teleportation?”

At the mention of teleportation into the heart of the Empire’s capital, the guard’s previously cautious expression turned cold.

“From where?”

“From our base.”

Kang Chan didn’t realize how rare teleportation magic was in this world.

Having lived among great magicians like Zikyon and Arteon, he took teleportation lightly.

However, teleportation wasn’t something commonly experienced in the human world.

Only royalty, high-ranking nobles, or wealthy merchants could occasionally use it in urgent situations.

Magicians who could perform teleportation, those above the 7th circle, were highly valuable.

Moreover, long-distance teleportation required immense mana, making it extremely costly.

Additionally, large cities like this one had spatial distortion fields installed, making unauthorized teleportation nearly impossible.

Zikyon had set up several counter-magic circles here long ago, allowing her to enter without issues.

These were set up long before the founding of the Visman Empire.

Zikyon had watched human kingdoms rise and fall in this place countless times.

This underscored just how long Zikyon had lived.

A conscripted soldier with a royal item, who teleported into the capital.

There was nothing that didn’t raise suspicion.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to come with us.”

“For what reason?”

“Unauthorized teleportation into the capital is a serious crime. Didn’t you know?”

“Hey! They say it’s illegal?”

“How would I know? Who cares about human laws!”

“What will you do? Will you comply?”

The guards pointed their swords and spears at Kang Chan’s group, clearly intending to use force if necessary.

At this, Zikyon, genuinely angry, couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Damn it! I can’t take it anymore! Wait here for a moment!”

Pop!

Zikyon disappeared instantly using teleportation.

Those left behind were flabbergasted.

Kang Chan, fearing that Zikyon might kill all the guards in her fury, was tense, but fortunately, Zikyon didn’t cause any trouble.

However, seeing the woman Zikyon returned with, Kang Chan’s eyes widened.

The woman was none other than Edelene.

“E-Edelene?”

“Hey! This should be enough, right? Can we go now?”

“A-ah! P-Princess!”

The guards immediately recognized Edelene and knelt.

A flustered Edelene blinked at them.

She had been in the middle of an afternoon tea when Zikyon suddenly appeared and brought her here.

Seeing Kang Chan, Edelene blushed.

“Oh! Captain Kang!? H-how are you here?”

“Ugh, Edelene?”

Kang Chan spoke while sneaking a glare at the instigator, Zikyon.

Zikyon just shrugged.

Once freed from Zikyon’s grip, Edelene first greeted Zikyon with the royal protocol.

“I greet the great one.”

“Yes, it seems you’ve finally learned some manners.”

“Yes, of course. You are great after all…”

She couldn’t help but feel immense fear of the Dragon’s ability to abduct her from the imperial palace in the blink of an eye.

The imperial palace boasted the highest magical defenses in the human world.

Even the teleportation counter-magic circles were densely laid out.

For Zikyon to move in and out of such a place as if it were her own home… She realized why Dragons were called the lords of magic.

But even for a Dragon, it wasn’t an easy task.
The reason Zikyon was able to so easily bring Edelene was that she had spent time in the Visman Empire in the past, indulging in amusement.

At that time, her persona was that of a notorious villainess.

She had enchanted the Emperor and risen to the position of Empress, manipulating him completely.

Her extravagance emptied the state treasury, and her cruel nature led to the deaths of countless ministers and nobles.

Despite the empire’s citizens suffering from a prolonged war with the Orcs, her luxury and hedonism continued unabated.

In such a dire situation, a loyal subject risked his life to beg her to stop her extravagance, pleading that the empire’s people were starving.

She responded with the infamous words:

“Then why don’t they eat the dead Orcs?”

“……”

At that time, the battlefield was piled high with Orc corpses.

Humans collected these bodies to burn or bury them.

However, the number of corpses was so vast that many were left in the fields, becoming food for wild animals or decomposing.

The humans of the Arkandor Continent did not consume the flesh of humanoid races like Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs.

This saddened Zikyon.

To her, it was foolish of humans to waste food.

‘Orc stew is quite delicious if you cook it right…….’

For Zikyon, a Dragon, Orc meat was an occasional delicacy.

Tender flesh, with a good balance of lean meat and fat… She simply suggested eating it to avoid starvation, but her words went down in history as an infamous remark.

She might have felt somewhat unjustified since she said it with the people in mind.

However, since her role at that time was a villainess, she didn’t care much.

Yet, the impact of her words on the empire’s citizens was tremendous.

Having a ruler who suggested eating the enemy’s corpses when hungry was appalling.

But there was no need to bring up such past events voluntarily.

“What brings you to call me here?”

“Because of the comb you gave me, this mess happened. You need to resolve it.”

“What?”

“Get rid of those troublesome people in front of me. You know what will happen if I handle it myself, don’t you?”

A Dragon’s act of such restraint was an immense consideration.

Who would go out of their way for a few ants?

Usually, one would simply crush them and move on.

Zikyon had gone out of her way only because Kang Chan was present.

Understanding the Dragon’s words, Edelene quickly called the highest-ranking guard.

After whispering something in his ear, the chief guard looked alarmed and hurriedly retreated with his subordinates.

“They’re gone, Lady Zikyon.”

“Oh, you’re learning to understand words now.”

“By the way, what brings you here? Did you come to see me?”

“Do I look crazy to you?”

“……”

Unable to watch any longer, Kang Chan stepped forward.

“We’re here on leave.”

“L-leave? Now that I look closely, you’re really in uniform?”

Recognizing the uniform as one given to conscripted soldiers, Edelene made a perplexed expression.

Knowing Kang Chan’s skills, she couldn’t understand why he was affiliated with conscripted soldiers.

“But why are you wearing such clothes?”

“Because my current status is a conscripted infantryman.”

“What? Conscripted infantry? Why?”