Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

“A so-called love that transcends social status, you could call it.” Zeurus flashed an evil grin, delivering details to his previous statement.

Just as the name suggested, the Ancient Magic Kingdom Zaales amassed the greatest strength of magic in humanfolk history. Standing at the summit of such, Shildonia was treated as a god by most. And yet, this Shildonia, according to Zeurus, had encountered a young individual. He possessed no talent in magic whatsoever. People who had no talent in magic were treated as lower citizens in Zaales, so the difference of social standing between the two was like heaven and earth.

Back at the time, the fight against the demons had started to grow more serious, and Shildonia was unable to confess her feelings for the young individual, who had trained themselves in the sword as magic was not an option.

“It was right in this room. You came here without previously informing me, and told me about this young individual with all the joy in the world. The you back then strongly denied it, but you were simply bragging about the person that had earned your feelings. I didn’t know what to tell you when you had asked how you should handle things.”

“So you asked the [Dragon King] for love advice?” Kyle sighed in disbelief, but Shildonia was too busy blushing and growing pale from Zeurus’ words.

“To humanfolk at the time, she was like a living god, so nobody would even dare to talk with her as an equal.”

“That…sounds troublesome…”

“Honestly speaking, I couldn’t have cared less.”

“At least take me seriously, will you?!” Shildonia roared, but Zeurus continued.

“But, you came over again and again…Seeing no other option, I read a book about romantic relationships between members of humanfolk, studied about it, and tried to give her advice.”

—What a great guy…dragon, actually.

“You really gave me a lot of trouble,” Zeurus said while shaking his head, and yet his tone sounded like he enjoyed himself despite that.

At the very least, he didn’t fully mean what he was saying. As the [Dragon King], he was an existence respected by the majority of all living beings, an existence feared and revered. He probably never had anybody he could have an idle talk with, so he might have just enjoyed Shildonia’s presence.

“When I brought up the idea of using your power as the [Magic King] to make them your lover, you said that you didn’t want them to hate you. You wanted to raise their affection for you, so I said you might as well present them with a sword. As a result of that, you used all technology at Zaales’ disposal and created the greatest sword in existence. And when I offered to help as a token of goodwill, you stole one of my fangs…No restraint whatsoever, you humans.”

“That…sounds crazy.” Kyle agreed with the Dragon King, but he couldn’t tell him how many times this sword saved his life.

“…So, what happened in the end?” Shildonia seemingly ended up curious about it herself, asking about the end of that love.

“Well, things didn’t work out, as you would expect. By the time the sword was finished, that youngling married their childhood friend, without ever learning of your feelings.”

“I see…so I couldn’t even confess my own feelings…” Despite the current Shildonia not even having experienced this broken heart, she had a distant gaze. “Then again, my real body had far too much fame to her that because of political reasons she had no spouse. She should have known that nothing good would come of this, and yet…”

“Despite knowing it, there is nothing that can be changed. That is how the principle of love works. Thinking about it to no end, you still won’t get an answer…or rather, there is never any correct answer in the first place.” Zeurus crossed his arms, saying words you wouldn’t expect from someone who lives inside a tree.

“So, as for the reason why these memories had not been passed onto you…Well, the guess is easy. She most likely didn’t want anybody but her current self to suffer from these memories.” There, Zeurus once again flashed a devilish grin.

“Urk…”

Hearing about the romance of herself who also wasn’t her, Shildonia blushed furiously while holding her head as she slammed it onto her desk.

Kyle didn’t know what to even say to her, but when she realized that he was staring at her, she started shrinking even further.

“What are you looking at…Hmph, it seems like even the great [Magic King] was such a worthless woman she could not even enjoy one fulfilling love in her lifetime. You are free to laugh.”

Seeing Shildonia sulk in a rather troublesome manner, Kyle felt the urge to cheer her up.

“Don’t say that…I’m always in your care, and there’s nobody more reliable than you. Without you, I definitely wouldn’t have made it this far. So don’t say you’re worthless.”

As she seemed like she had lost her confidence, Kyle tried to give her an extra boost. It might not look like it, but Shildonia loved being relied upon quite a lot.

“…Do you really feel that way?”

“Of course. When I understood that I traveled back in time, you were the first person I realized I needed the help of…I can’t do this without you.”

Those were Kyle’s genuine feelings, whether or not he wanted to cheer her up.

“I see…Indeed, that’s how it is.”

Of course, Shildonia understood that Kyle was trying to brighten her mood, but she also knew that he wasn’t just sweet-mouthing her either. And as Kyle had known, Shildonia started to cheer up and feel at ease, knowing that she was being needed.

“Hmm…Maybe another reason why these memories hadn’t been passed onto you was that your real body wanted you to taste the feeling of love for the first time yourself. The reason she implemented you into the sword, was it possibly because she wanted you to see the youngling in your future user?”

Zeurus watched the exchange of the two with a teasing grin, only for Shildonia to grasp what exactly he meant with that, leading her to blush furiously.

“Either way, this just means you turned out to be an even bigger maiden than I had already assumed you were. Phew, that was a good laugh…how many thousands of years has it been…or ever, really.” Zeurus made it sound like he enjoyed this exchange from the bottom of his heart.

“Enough! L-Let’s return to the main topic at hand…Zeurus, you have no intention of lending the demons your strength, yes?” Shildonia showed a serious expression, to which Zeurus responded with one of his own.

“What a foolish question. We are still neutral as we have been for eons. We do not plan on assisting you humanfolk, but neither will the demons receive our support.”

“But in the end, you still teamed with the demons…”

“The human over there is simply saying that. I have no reason to believe everything he said.”

As he said he had no intention of supporting the demons, Shildonia decided to leave it at that today. However, Kyle was different.

“It’s not that I don’t believe your words, but I have seen the dragons fight on the side of the demons…and there was one thing that caught my attention.”

Kyle directly asked what he had been doubtful about the second he entered this room.

“Just now, you said that it had been hundreds of years since the last time you talked with the humanfolk, yes? There was no mistake about that?”

“Exactly.”

There, Kyle stood up and walked towards the corner of the room. As expected, it was covered in death that made it seem like it hadn’t been used for who knew how long.

“…It is dusty, but the table and chair definitely aren’t nearly as bad…If anything, I can see traces of it being used recently. Definitely not frequently, but it sure looks like you have recently met someone here.”

This room originally had been created for the sole purpose of offering a meeting room for negotiations with Shildonia, so if what Zeurus said was true, this room should not have been used for hundreds of years. If it was a meeting between dragons, they wouldn’t use this room. If so, then this must have been used while meeting with someone who is neither humanfolk nor dragon.

“Wait…Zeurus?!”

Shildonia’s eyes opened in shock as she most likely realized what Kyle was getting at, roaring at Zeurus.

“Did you…meet the demons here?”

Zeurus received a sharp and ice-cold glare from Kyle, narrowing his eyes.

***

At around the same time, Lieze and the others had about nothing to do, so they simply enjoyed some sweets and tea, conversing with each other on a small carpet.

“It still is hard to believe that we’re inside that giant tree right now.” Seran was lying around like this was his own home, munching up some of the sweets Lieze made.

“I knew the World Tree from its name, but it was more like an existence out of a legend…My mother, who had a staff made from a World Tree branch, told me stories often…I however didn’t expect I would actually set foot inside of it one day.” Urza also commented with admiration.

She originally had been traveling around the continent to visit new places and see extraordinary things. Being able to see the renowned World Tree this up-close, she naturally must be feeling a tad bit emotional.

“Here, you eat some as well, Erina. They have a lot of fruits in them, so they’re delicious…What’s wrong? You seem a bit out of it.” While handing Erina some baked sweets, Lieze couldn’t help but be worried about Erina’s recent attitude.

“No, I was just thinking how amazing all of you are…”

Although she herself had wished for this, coming to the nest of the dragons like this, Erina was filled with tension. They might be attacked and burned to a crisp by a dragon the very next second. And yet, Lieze and the others were casually eating snacks, looking like different living beings to Erina.

“Yeah, not like being nervous all the time will do us any good.” Lieze showed a sunny smile.

Erina seemed to feel a bit of relief with that smile, as she bit onto the sweets offered by Lieze. The pleasant scent of the sweets, paired with the sweetness of the fruits mixed in quite well, makes it exceptionally delicious. Despite being out and about traveling through a dangerous forest, Lieze managing to make such a treat was more than admirable, and it helped melt some of Erina’s tension. While they were enjoying the tea party, Irumera approached the group.

‘You humans, you are in Zeurus-sama’s room…’

Seeing them hold a banquet of sorts, he couldn’t help but stare at them in disbelief.

“Not like we have anything else to do, and I’m hungry…Also, the [Dragon King] and Kyle aren’t back yet, so what do you want from us?”

Seran’s assertive and arrogant tone didn’t change even towards a majestic dragon.

‘…What troublesome folk I brought with me…Really, what a day.’ Irumera spoke with a disgusted tone like he was biting on an insect when a shadow appeared from behind him.

Truthfully, Irumera had been in a bad mood at that point, but he most definitely didn’t hold any hostility. Not many official visits had asked of the dragons amidst their long history. On top of that, there were already previous visitors present. The dragons had no concern to make the two parties wait in different locations. That’s why, he guided her here—and the result was obvious.

“Ah…”

Who let out such a dumbfounded voice? The woman who entered the room gave off a sharp and wise impression, being quite the beauty. What stood out beyond anything was the single horn growing from her forehead—the proof of being a demon. And, Seran’s group had seen this horn before.

“You’re…Yuriga?”

The demon who had appeared was the female demon Yuriga, who they had encountered in the Mining City Callan, and fought off thanks to the valiant efforts of Lieze and Urza.

‘Zeurus-sama is currently talking with the comrades of these people, so please wait here……Why are you frozen stiff like that? Humanfolk and demons are not fighting, no?’ Irumera saw the awkward reactions of Seran’s group and Yuriga, asking with a confused tone.

He was fully aware of the history these two races had. However, for half of his lifetime, they had been on a ceasefire, so he didn’t know what the problem here was.

“W-Why are you people here?!” The one to recover first was Yuriga, immediately entering a stance of caution.

“That’s our phrase. You didn’t come here to continue the fight from before, right?”

Seran stood up around the same time, putting his hand on this sword, ready to pull it at any given moment. Urza and Lieze followed suit, stepping in front of Erina.

‘What are you doing.’ Feeling the tension in the air, as a risky mood passed between them, Irumera asked with more force in his voice. ‘…You are our guests, even if I wish you weren’t. I will not allow any fighting, and if you don’t abide by our rules here, you will lose your status as guests. You will turn every living dragon in the World Tree into your enemy, so you best be prepared.’

Pressing this fact onto everyone present, Seran’s group and Yuriga all undid their postures, but the caution had yet to fully vanish.

‘For crying out loud, both demons and humanfolk are helpless altogether.’

Seeing this, Irumera shook his head, glaring at all members present with half-opened eyes.