Chapter 73: House Orleans

Lucius and Crane rode in a carriage.

The desolate landscape stretched outside, with barely any grass growing. Hills with faint greenish rocks dotted the landscape, and the horizon extended beyond.

“This is the territory of House Orleans.”

“…Quite desolate.”

Despite it being midsummer, a cold draft seemed to blow from somewhere. They had left the state capital of Barondia and come near the border between the west and north.

During the journey, they had taken a shortcut on a wyvern through sparsely populated areas, Crane making  nervous about being eaten alive.

“I heard that this area used to be a lush forest.”

“And now?”

“The former state capital was destroyed by undead, and since then, this place has become infested with monsters.”

“I see.”

Monsters prefer places filled with magic. It’s the same with the Silverwood forest in Lucius’s hometown. Though he couldn’t fathom the connection between the destruction by undead and the presence of monsters, dwelling on the past wasn’t their concern.

They had to acquire the magic sword.

“Where is the magic sword now? Is it in House Orleans?”

Crane shook his head.

“No, it hasn’t been found yet. The magic sword is in the undead city of Burgia. It’s being held by the undead that emerged from the collapsed area due to a recent earthquake.”

“Undead are holding it? So, you can’t retrieve the magic sword?”

“Yes, it’s impossible for ordinary people. It agitates the spirits of the dragon knights.”

“The spirits of dragon knights?”

Crane’s expression was unusually serious.

“Yes, the Dragon Knight Corps is still protecting the old capital of Burgia. Even in their undead state.”

“The Dragon Knight Corps still…”

Lucius involuntarily gasped.

“Is this your first time coming here, Lord Lucius?”

“Yes… and Crane, you don’t have to call me Lord. Your position as a member of House Orleans is higher.”

“But, you’re the hero of the nation…”

“No, it’s not like that.”

He had simply done what needed to be done. He felt uncomfortable with all the praise and glorification.

He was just the heir of a poor rural baron’s family. But above all, Lucius was proud of his position.

“I see… then, I’ll call you Lucius.”

With that conversation, the carriage came to a stop.

“We’ve arrived.”

The coachman swiftly got down from the driver’s seat and opened the door.

“Here?”

Before Lucius stood a rocky mountain. He had thought they were going to the mansion of House Orleans.

“Yes, this is our base.”

“Base?”

Doubtfully, Lucius turned his gaze back to the mountain.

Upon closer inspection, houses sprouted from all over the mountain. However, strangely, there were no roads leading to the houses.

Even if there were roads or stairs, it was a sheer cliff. It seemed like they would have to climb vertically with ropes.

“This way, Lucius.”

Crane gestured towards a large rock shadow at the foot of the mountain.

As they approached as instructed, they found a huge black gate there.

– There’s a gate attached to the rocky mountain.

Crane touched the gate and infused it with magic. The massive gate made a rumbling sound as it slid open sideways.

Beyond the open gate was an entrance adorned with lighting and paintings. It resembled the mansion of a noble.

As Lucius stood in amazement, Crane approached, wiping his glasses.

“We’ve hollowed out the mountain to use it as a base because monsters frequently appear around here. I’d love to refrain from getting dust on my glasses every time I open the gate.”

“Hmm.”

“Anyway, let’s go talk to my father.”

Lord Strauss had said that Crane’s father was the current head of House Orleans.

“Yes, it would be rude not to greet him first. What kind of person is he?”

Lucius subtly probed.

Both the old lady Gufell and her grandson Crane seemed a bit eccentric. Orleans family members were somewhat odd.

The head of the family must be quite something. It was doubtful if he could engage in a human conversation.

“My father only thinks about the house and territory.”

“Is that so?”

Surprising indeed. In a way, it was a sensible and noble-like way of thinking.

“Anyway, let’s go inside.”

Perplexed, Lucius stepped into the base of House Orleans.

As soon as they entered, Crane communicated with the attendant who welcomed them back.

After a brief exchange with the attendant, Crane returned.

“Sorry, Lucius. It seems my father is currently with a visitor, so we’ll have to wait for a while. While we wait, can we measure the evil dragon height?”

Crane looked apologetic, but his eyes were filled with expectation.

“That’s fine, but… I won’t lift its head.”

“Just the tip, just the tip! Just a little bit!”

Unbelievable words. Lucius would sooner believe that a drunkard ranting in a tavern was a king.

“No means no.”

Disappointed, Crane slumped his shoulders, and they proceeded down the corridor.

The Orleans base was inside the rock. There was concern about the risk of collapse, but it seemed to have been considered and built accordingly.

Apart from the lack of windows, it was no different from the mansion of an upper-class noble.

“Oh.”

As Lucius turned the corner, he accidentally kicked a book.

“Sorry for the mess.”

One major difference was the sheer number of books and documents crammed into every available space.

Some had fallen on the floor, occasionally hitting their feet.

At first, Lucius tried to pick them up, but Crane advised against it, saying they’d never move forward if they kept doing that.

Doors opened occasionally, revealing people measuring something with unfamiliar equipment. They were probably parts of monster bodies.

“We’ve arrived! Let’s measure here!”

Crane’s eyes were shining.

They had reached an open hall.

“Please don’t do anything strange.”

“It’s okay! I’m just examining the spell formation.”

Lucius headed towards the giant device in the center of the hall.

He had been measured with something similar before.

“What’s that?”

A large painting adorned the center wall of the hall.

A mural, perhaps.

It didn’t look like something painted on canvas but rather dyed onto the stone.

Even among the latest equipment owned by House Orleans, it stood out with its peculiar feel.

—Dragons fighting people?

It was a painting of a long, slender white dragon with wings fighting a person wielding a spear.

People fleeing in panic, collapsing buildings.

Around them, people riding wyverns were flying around.

Beside Lucius, who had stopped in front of the mural, stood Klein.

“It’s said to depict the last day of the dead city of Burgia. It’s what inspired me to study dragonkind.”

“Burgia was destroyed because the dead turned into monsters, right?”

“Yes, that’s our official view. This mural was painted by the dwarves.”

—Dwarves

Dwarves were a race different from humans.

They all had hair like metal and were said to be short in stature.

Some called them demi-humans, but it was more accurate to say that they belonged to a species within the human family.

They rarely appeared in public, to the extent that some considered them to be an extinct ancient race.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that both humans and dwarves were mixed among the fleeing people.

—Did humans and dwarves live together?

“Now, could you summon the evil dragon here?”

Crane reached towards the machine in the center.

On the ground, a magic circle was drawn, and suspended above it was an artifact resembling a chandelier without light.

“Understood.”

Lucius manipulated the magic core in his left hand, and immediately, the evil dragon appeared.

“Woah.”

Crane gazed at the three-headed wyvern with an ecstatic expression.

Noticing Lucius’s skeptical gaze, he quickly started operating the device.

“Let’s proceed with the measurement, then.”

The magic circle faintly glowed, and a weak magic force rose and was absorbed into the chandelier above.

The evil dragon lay on the floor, with three heads each, looking bored.

“Dragon Core, Body Strengthening, Magic Sensing, Pressure Blackening, Dragon Flame, Bloodline Dragon, and Rapid Rain… What’s this? There’s one spell I’ve never seen before.”

Crane muttered something.

“Is there a problem?”

“Well, there’s a spell I’ve never seen before incorporated into it, so I can’t measure it. This has never happened before. It’s strange.”

The Dragon Core and Body Strengthening spells were closely related to the evil dragon’s body and manifested within the evil dragon’s body, so they were not usable by Lucius.

The Dragon Core spell, which seemed to be useful for dragon flight and sensing powerful beings, seemed to be related to the evil dragon’s flight and sensing powerful beings, but honestly, Lucius couldn’t understand it even if he asked for more details.

Magic Sensing, Pressure Blackening, and Dragon Flame were spells he had possessed from the beginning.

He was familiar with Bloodline Dragon and Rapid Rain.

Both were spells he learned upon evolution.

—Is Bloodline Dragon a spell for creating wyverns?

And Rapid Rain was a spell to temporarily summon rain. It consumed a vast amount of magic power and had few practical applications, so he had only used it once.

“You understand it well, as expected—”

When Lucius spoke to Crane, something approached Lucius.

It rapidly approached as if sliding on the ground.

—What!?

Instinctively, Lucius put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

But whatever it was that approached passed through Lucius.

“Aaaah, it’s overflowing with an unbelievable amount of magic power! There are many multi-headed monsters, but I’m endlessly fascinated by how our powerful dragons control themselves! Show me more! Show me more up close!!”

An old lady who could be recognized as dangerous approached.

“Oh, grandmother.”

Crane muttered quietly.

It was Gufell.

She was the former head of House Orleans, responsible for the records and research of the rituals in the kingdom, and was the one who first appraised Lucius.

After passing through Lucius, she clung to the forelegs of the evil dragon behind him.

—Unbelievable.

The evil dragon talons had enough destructive power to demolish even castle walls with a single blow.

Probably, she was the only one who would rub her cheeks against those forelegs.

—Surely not all the members of the family do that, right?

No, rather, I’d prefer to believe that they don’t.

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