113 Episode 113: Dragon Emperors Rite (2/2)

”Princess Ryu's ritual, but due to certain circumstances, the date of the event was postponed.”

”” ”” ”Eh!?” ””

Everyone voices their dissatisfaction with the mere proclamation of the postponement.

”Did the demon raid have any negative effects after all?

”No, I decided to hold a ceremony at the same time starting this year. I decided to skip the timing just to get ready.”

”A ritual?

”It is! From this year onwards, it has been decided to hold not only the ritual of the dragon princess for women only, but also the ritual of the dragon emperor for men!

”” ”” ”What!?” ””

The adventurers in the guild are coloured when the mayor's mouth tells them that a dragon emperor's ritual will be held for men.

”Are you serious?!? Can we participate in the tournament we've only ever seen?!?”

”Of course there will be a prize at this tournament!?”

”Of course! It's the ritual of choosing the role of the legendary dragon emperor of our country! And to commemorate it's first ritual, the prize shall be 400 gold coins, double the amount of Princess Ryu's ritual!

”” ”” ”Ohhhhhhh!?” ””

”The ceremony takes place in a month! Sometimes it's called the first ritual of choosing the role of His Majesty the Dragon Emperor, and some aristocrats live in the Wang capital! Depending on your activity, you may be hired as a knight!

”” ”” ”Uhhhhhhhhhh!?” ””

”Are you serious!? Can you be a knight as well as 400 gold coins?!?”

”Shit, I can't beat you. 400 gold coins and a knight's seat is my mon!

”You're kidding, I'm the one who wins!

The adventurers are excited by the mayor's continued remarks.

Speaking of which, even on the adventures of the Great Swordsman Rygaard, the story of the adventurer being recognized as a knight by the nobility is very popular as a story in which civilians emerge.

In that story, Rygaard, who saved his people and nobles, is recommended to the knight, but Rygaard chooses freedom to decline the story.

But instead, Rygaard recommended his fellow swordsmen as knights.

Everyone said they liked where Rygaard's people became knights, but I felt empathy for Rygaard, who chose to be free even out of honor.

”Brother! Brother! Let's join them!

And when I was thinking about it, Gyro invited me to the tournament the way you were excited.

”Huh? Gyro, did you want to be a knight?

No, but Gyro, your purpose is to become famous, so if you win and become a knight, can you achieve your purpose?

”I don't care about knights or anything. I think I'm gonna hold on to something. More than that, I want to fight in the tournament! Whatever you do, pick the strongest king in the country! And with a prize of 400 gold coins! Absolutely amazing. The strong ones are coming for you! So I want to fight the Soytes and make sure! My brother trained me to be strong!

As long as it takes, Gyro is your aim to fight the fierce men who have come looking for a prize and a knight's seat.

Sure, humans and demons. Then even if they were of the same rank, sometimes they struggle unexpectedly with or without wisdom.

”So let's get your brother out of here with us!

”What!? Me too!?”

No, no, I don't want to stand out, so you don't want to be in these competitions.

”Don't say that, brother - I want to fight my brother too! Norb will be joining us.”

”What!? I'm in too!?”

Ugh, Gyro, you're staring at me with your sparkling eyes.

I'd really like to fight a strong opponent.

And Mr. Norb, I'm sorry.

That's what I'm asking you to do.

and there comes the guild chief.

”Up to guild length......”

”I've heard from my men about the demolition site. You're adventurers who can crusade dragons, aren't you? And one of them came with an S-rank adventurer.”

Uh, you're the guild leader. Do you know as much about the nature of the adventurer you belong to?

”She is, even for Liliera, but she still needs guests for the festival. In particular, the Dragon Emperor's Ritual is not only the first tournament, it is also a glorious tournament that determines the strongest synonym in our country: the Dragon Emperor. Is it weird that an S-rank adventurer came to this town at that time, even if he felt some kind of fate?

No, it's crazy! It's a coincidence, it's a real coincidence!

”Haha, but I'm not interested in the prize money or the knight's throne...”

”Not good, let's take it, Mr. Rex.”

And that was the time.

All of a sudden, Liliera came to the conversation from behind.

”It wasn't originally because Mr. Rex told us to fight the dragons alone in the city. Then I think Mr. Rex is obliged to participate in this competition, too. Wow.”

Seeing the look on Liliera's face grabbing Nimmari and my arm, I somehow imagined an undead trying to drag his victims to the bottom of the dark dirt.

It's like you're the only one who can stay in the warm sun.

”No, I'm not in trouble for money, and I'm not interested in honor.”

Well, if it's true, it's my purpose to hunt demons and live that day with plain adventurers.

I want to live my next life without honor.

”Oh, then you'll be fine. I have a good idea.”

……

I don't know why, I don't feel like a very good idea.

◆

”Looks like the dragon emperor's ritual is being held all over the country as planned.”

”Well, now you can smoke out a new dragon emperor in the name of the tournament as planned.”

At the corner of the mansion, in the salon that kept the servants away, we were gathered for a ruse.

A gathering for a successful conspiracy to bury the new dragon emperor, who was resurrected in this day and age.

We fought when we heard that a bunch of demons who attacked the town of Tatstron were annihilated by the activity of what (...) who (...) rode (...) go (...) - (...) l (...) de (...) n (...) d (...) la (...) go (...) n (...).

Because the Dragon Knight driving the Golden Dragon, the strongest dragon, means being the Dragon Emperor, the strongest Dragon Knight in Dragonia.

The resurrection of the great emperor, it was not a celebration to be celebrated as our Dragonian people......

At least for our senior nobles.

Once the Dragon Emperor became a man who would not return in a showdown with the Devil, and Dragonia was to be inherited by the prince born between him and Princess Dragon.

But the epidemic of later times left no Dragon Knights alive.

Above all, the problem was that the Dragon Emperor was among the victims, the Dragon Knights.

Even worse was that all Dragon Emperor blood relatives at the time were Dragon Knights.

The terrible fact that not a single Dragon Emperor blood relative has disappeared in a very short time.

There's no way this won't crack the country.

Dragonian upper management, which lost its leader, was rough and rough.

For a while, the country was close to being divided.

Ultimately, the country settled down by using the legend that the then Chancellor would one day return the Dragon Emperor to elect the best of the nobles and make him the acting emperor.

It was also a chair removal game of electing a new emperor's deputy each time we replaced him, and many nobles endorsed a hopeful system in which a de facto emperor's seat might come around to us, if only excellence.

Well, in fact, a grand aristocrat who can be educated enough is a mechanism to monopolize the throne of the emperor's deputy.

Nevertheless, this mechanism was still working.

Even though it's all about form that everyone has a chance, it's likely that the nobles will be taken up as ministers even if they can't act as new emperors because they're starting to cultivate an excellent succession.

But there was also one big hole in this mechanism.

It is only a declaration that we are acting on behalf of the Emperor in order for someone not to monopolize the throne.

That declaration was only a declaration that I was acting on behalf of the Dragon Emperor, and if I rebuffed this declaration, it was a constraint that could invite not only hostile factions within the country, but even other countries to intervene.

Its contents were: ”At the dawn when His Majesty the Dragon Emperor returned, the Emperor's deputy would return the throne to His Majesty the Dragon Emperor”.

And now, with undeniable evidence of a dragon knight who followed the Golden Dragon, the nobles of the Wang Capital were fussing with the appearance of the Dragon Emperor in the town of Tatsutron.

But...

”The dragon emperor that he has risen has not yet raised his name, nor has he made a demand for the return of the emperor. There is no doubt that there is any intention in this.”

Yes, the dragon emperor disappeared after that, even though he said he rode the golden dragon into battle.

It is utterly a creepy silence.

”Are you suggesting that we are unwilling to return the emperor?

”Perhaps the junior aristocrats, who are not amused that our senior aristocrats hold the throne of the emperor, are on the side of the dragon emperor.”

That's a good chance.

No matter how good the lower aristocrats are, it is difficult for our senior aristocrats to emerge any further because of their monopoly of the higher office.

It is likely that we are looking to improve our position by welcoming the Dragon Emperor because we are dissatisfied with that.

”Well, what can you do to give me an emperor without the ghosts of the past?”

Exactly. Whatever the intentions, it is an unshakeable fact that it is our senior nobility that has now come to power in this country.

Most importantly, everyone knows that the proclamation to return the Emperor to the Reigning Dragon Sooner or later is just a convenience for us to acquire the throne.

That is why we ordered the mayor of the town of Tatsutron to hold the ritual of the Dragon Emperor in the name of the resurrection of the Dragon Emperor.

Behind that, to carry out the plot to assassinate the Dragon Emperor.

”We have already falsely turned to the assassins as participants in the tournament. As soon as we find out who the dragon emperor is, we're going to finish him off.”

”How can a dragon knight follow a golden dragon, make a dragon crash all over the city, etc.”

Goddamn it, Dragon Emperor, you'll disappear before the Emperor returns to his throne.

Selected assassins who have so far made a leap to take control of us will gather in one town just to kill one human being.

If you are attacked by a bunch of rabid dogs who choose no means to finish their goal, how can you be safe with the Dragon Emperor?

”The proclamation of the holding of the Rite of the Dragon Emperor has also greatly reduced the number of humans out of the town. As planned, mercenaries and adventurers have chosen to stay in town to participate in the tournament.”

Um, the decision to hold the Dragon Emperor's ritual was also made because the purpose was to stop the Dragon Emperor, who could be lurking in the town.

Dragonia, whose emperor himself ruled the country as a dragon knight, pays homage to the strong.

Therefore, if the dragon emperor himself does not show up at the first tournament to determine his role in the ritual, he may be questioned about his strength.

Of course the facts don't matter.

We just have to spread the rumors so the people can assume.

”From that and the Adventurer's Guild, we prepared a roster of men's adventurers staying in the town of Tatstron. In the name of an adventurer who might be used as a knight. One of them cares.”

”Hmm?”

Comrade Count Zihou extended the roster on the table, pointing to the name of one adventurer.

”Lex the Big Eater. He says he's an amazing adventurer who's been promoted to S-rank for less than a year since he signed up as an adventurer.”

”S rank in a year!?”

Everyone who was on the spot shouts surprise at the words of Count Zihou.

It should also be, for us, an adventurer is the profession of a mountain master who is as cheap as a civilian for a thousand dollars.

Among them, however, only S-rank adventurers are recognized as distinct.

Crusading the unfulfilled warcraft of crusading even through the regular Knights, and bringing back the legendary treasures from the depths of the Labyrinth, the S-Rank Adventurer contributes to all the challenges of the senior nobles of the nations as equal strength to the Kingsguard Knights.

Literally, a monster who looked like a person, that's the S-rank adventurer.

What's more, they don't have proper sexual roots, and if you don't like them, you can bite them even if they're noble.

With its strength and difficulty in handling, even our senior nobility, S-rank adventurers have to be concerned about coping.

”... I'm surprised that such a big man is staying, but there is no reason for him to be the Dragon Emperor.”

But only this time, I'm worried about it.

”Right. I don't think Dragon Emperor will stand out as an S-rank adventurer or anything more than he hasn't made a name for himself before.”

”Um, still? It's just that... the rank was rank, so I was a little concerned.”

”Well, the powerful are off the list of one candidate. It could be a bad thing.”

”Um, right. If such a monster were the Dragon Emperor, there would be assassinations and snares.”

”” ”” ”Ha-ha-ha” ””