A Depressed Kendo Player Possesses a Reckless Aristocrat

Side Story – How the Golden Sun Spends Winter Vacation

Meanwhile.

Somewhere far removed from the continent.

A mysterious land not even marked on the Empire’s standard maps.

The Forest of the Forgotten, Floytun.

A woodland always lush with crimson, a perpetual autumn of vibrant maple leaves.

“Hmm~ I think it was around here?”

A blond boy was traversing the forest.

His light footsteps crunched over the red fallen leaves.

He strolled through the overflowing crimson trees as if on a leisurely autumn picnic.

“Strange… I’m sure it was here in my memory.”

Was he searching for something?

The boy muttered to himself, constantly glancing around.

His brow furrowed in a questioning frown, when suddenly a hazy figure appeared before him.

“Who dares awaken me from my slumber?”

A voice laced with chilling killing intent.

The emergence of this being, radiating overwhelming presence, caused the ambient mana to subtly tremble.

The spreading pressure warped even the surrounding space.

The inky silhouette faced the boy standing before him, and spoke.

“To trespass in my domain without fear… you will pay for this arrogance with your life.”

“Aren’t you being a bit too uptight?”

“Huh?”

“How about we help each other out, us dragon kin? We get called lizards because we’re so isolated~!”

“What… are you talking about?”

The silhouette wore a momentarily blank expression.

The boy gazed at the shimmering haze, and audibly chuckled with amusement.

“Finally found you. The leader of the Red Dragons… Plaguerus.”

“How do you know that…?”

Plaguerus, hidden in the shadows, frowned, bewildered.

It was a recognition-dulling magic so potent, it could even deceive the laws of the world.

A normal eye shouldn’t even be able to perceive it.

But the boy pierced through such a polymorph, instantly grasping even his identity.

“You, you’re not human.”

“You got it~!”

“What are you… a goblin? An archangel? Or perhaps a demon?”

“I told you, I’m a dragon.”

“That’s a joke! Among the dragon children I know, there’s no one like you.”

“Really?”

“I’ll ask one more time. What are you?”

“I’m hurt~ I haven’t forgotten you, but you’ve forgotten me…!”

The boy scratches his head with exaggerated gestures.

He sighs briefly, muttering to himself, then snaps his forehead as if belatedly remembering.

“Ah ha~! Is it because I’m in this form that you can’t recognize me?”

“What…?”

“Sorry, sorry… Just wait a moment. I’ll go back to my original form.”

The boy waves his hand as if telling him to wait.

He lowers his head and mumbles something in an unknown language, then raises his fingers high and flicks them sharply.

– *Ttaak!*

Thumb and middle finger strike each other, creating a popping sound.

The sound’s waves, born from the somewhat theatrical movement, carve through the forest’s stillness and shoot straight outwards.

At the same time, the boy’s aura changes drastically.

“How about it… can you recognize me now?”

Hair that turns from radiant gold to pure white.

Eyes that gleam with an intense blue.

Small sparks of blue flickering around his fingertips.

The boy’s appearance, transformed in an instant, hardens Plagerus’s relaxed expression.

“……That’s impossible.”

“So, you do recognize me.”

“H-how… How can a member of the Lightning Dragon clan be alive? They were supposed to be extinct more than 200 years ago…!”

It was a remnant of the past, appearing out of nowhere.

Plagueis, unable to hide his bewilderment, stammered.

The white-haired boy stared intently at Plagueis, as if observing his reaction.

The sly smile had vanished without a trace.

Only a cold glint remained in his face, now shrouded in darkness.

The boy spoke in a voice as frigid as winter.

“I’ve come to collect the debt, Plagueis.”

“Wh-what are you…”

“For when our clan was hunted. The debt for ignoring our pleas for help, and scurrying away like a rat.”

-Zzzzt!!!-

Blue lightning began to swirl around the boy.

His white hair whipped about with the wild fluctuations.

Pushing his bangs back, the boy’s eyes flashed ominously.

“Thanks to you lot… I’ve had such a delightful time.”

“W-wait a moment…!!”

“The screams of my mother, begging you to run away to the very end… still ring clearly in my ears.”

“Us? What are you even talking about?! Humans were the ones who hunted the dragons!”

“Yes, of course… I expected you to deny it.”

Hatred simmered within his transparent pupils.

Plagueis, feeling a pressure as though his entire body were being crushed, roared.

“Don’t talk about things you don’t know!! We at that time…!”

“You traded with the humans, didn’t you? Guaranteed your safety, in exchange for our clan’s location?”

“H-how did you…?”

“Well, I heard it directly from the mouths of others.”

“Others? But all the ones who knew that fact are dead……”

Plagueis’s face, as he muttered the question, filled with horror.

“No way, for the last 200 years, all those Lord-class dragons that were being hunted were…”

“That’s right, it was me.”

“……”

“Green, blue, black, even gold are all dead… now it’s your turn.”

A boy, returning a simple affirmation.

Plaguerus, momentarily stunned, soon roared, eyes blazing red.

“How dare you speak of death to me! I am the pinnacle of all dragons!!”

“So what.”

“Even if you’re of the lightning dragon clan…you’re nothing more than a whelp not even 300 years old, you cannot possibly touch me!!”

-Crak, creak!

With the sound of bone and flesh twisting, Plaguerus’s body began to transform.

The wavering haze vanished, and his entire form swelled.

Red wings sprouted from his back, and a massive tail emerged.

Having released his polymorph, Plaguerus was now a fire dragon, radiating overwhelming power.

“I’ll tear you to shreds and kill you!!”

With a blood-red aura swirling behind him, Plaguerus opened his massive jaws.

Heat gathered, and an eternal flame flickered.

It was a sight that could take your breath away, yet the boy even let out a faint sneer.

“What are you even going on about, you moron.”

The boy’s fingertip once again pointed towards the sky.

Crackling, loud noises flickered, saturating the surrounding air.

“The Book of Sacrifice.”

Oh, primordial lightning dragon.

Your descendant calls upon you.

Please take this young future, and make the present omnipotent.

The lifespan offered is 900 years.

With it, bestow upon me your power.

“Pierce.”

-Jernotus Ryu’s Heretical Magic, Section 3’s Paradox-

‘Impale’

-KWAJIIIIIIIIIIK!!!

Immediately after completing the chant, a blinding blue flash engulfed the entire forest, centering on the boy.

The boy clenched his fist, high-voltage current crackling around it.

And without a moment’s hesitation, he hurled it with all his might towards the enemy before him.

-Thud…

With a somewhat lifeless sound, a hole is blown through Plaguerus’s body, which had been preparing to breathe.

No, it was hardly even a hole.

Most of his body, excluding his long neck and tail, typical of dragons, had been annihilated.

-Splat, patter…

Just a few seconds ago, it had borne the appearance of life, but now it was mere fragments of flesh.

The remaining scraps of meat fell to the ground.

On the dark red blood staining the floor, the boy casually brushed off his scorched hand.

“Haa… I’m beat.”

The boy stood, stepping on the dragon’s head that was rolling at his feet.

His face was etched with exhaustion.

Perhaps because he had drastically shortened his lifespan, a bit of blood spattered from his mouth.

As he wiped away the bloodstains from his lips, a dying voice came from below.

“One… strike… such…unbelievable…”

“What? You’re still alive?”

Even with his torso gone and only his head remaining, Plaguerus was still feebly twitching.

The boy frowned at the fire dragon’s characteristic tenacious life force.

“Even… a member… of the Thunder Dragon… clan… this… power… is… unexplainable…”

“Shut up and just die already. Using my lifespan like that is giving me a headache.”

“You… just… who… the hell… are you…”

Plaguerus asked, expelling his last breath.

In response, the white-haired boy spat out a phlegmy gob of blood.

“Khak, ptoo… Just die peacefully. Asking unnecessary questions.”

“Damned…”

“……Well, it’s your last moment. I guess I can answer that much.”

Listen closely.

This is both revenge for the blood of the past.

And the price of comfort that your clan will endlessly face in the future.

“My name is Zernotus.”

The last remaining member of the Thunder Dragon clan in this world.

Unrecorded history, the festering wound of the Empire, alive and breathing.

And…

“This is your divine retribution.”

-CRACK!!

Once more, the boy’s fist, hurled, pulverizes the head of Plagueis, who was barely clinging to life.

A completely mashed lump of meat.

The white-haired boy collapsed before it, a single groan escaping his lips.

The thick stench of blood wafted through the air.

For a moment, he lay sprawled, savoring it, before abruptly lifting his head to gaze at the sky.

“…I miss Mom.”

A single phrase, escaping between dark lips.

A small murmur, tinged with deep longing and a faint emptiness.