Academy's Genius Swordmaster

Chapter 231

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 231: Through the Sea, to the City of Dragon (4)

The ominous presence was unmistakable. It was the mana of the black-clad man seen at Aurora Skar. A shiver ran up the arm holding the hilt of the sword.

‘Could he still be around?’

Not knowing his identity could be extremely dangerous. Ronan urgently turned to Aselle and Shullifen and spoke.

“Quickly, check the area. Now.”

“N-Now?”

“Yes, it’s urgent.”

Though puzzled, the two followed his command. Along with Adeshan, two of the most efficient detection nets from Philleon Academy spread out in all directions. Aselle, eyes closed, stammered as he spoke.

“Th-there’s no one within a 5km radius. Positive.”

“Within 3km… hmm.”

Shullifen, about to follow up, shut his mouth. Judging by his frustrated glance at Aselle, it seemed Aselle had the superior detection abilities.

“Good.”

Only after hearing their reports did Ronan let out a sigh of relief. It seemed the man had already finished his business and left. Frowning as he looked down at Drahavier’s corpse, Ronan muttered.

“What the hell did this?”

At the junction of the neck and body, there was a gaping hole large enough to be shocking. Blood and seawater were gushing out of the hole. The absence of any other injuries suggested it had been a one-hit kill.

Considering its size and the thickness of its scales, Drahavier was a much stronger dragon compared to Landoheidel. It was hard to believe it had been taken down so easily. Ronan was about to lean closer when,

【Cough… ugh!】

“Shit, that scared me.”

From afar, Drahavier’s head twitched. The noise, reminiscent of a whale spouting water, startled Ronan into swearing.

Though he was sure the dragon was dead, it appeared to still be alive. Moving across Drahavier’s neck, Ronan leaped onto the other wing.

Positioned in such a way that the left wing was in front of his face, it felt like they were facing each other. Seeing it this way, Drahavier truly was a massive dragon.

Its enormous, bright yellow eyes, as big as coconuts, were glaring at him. This was crucial. Clearing his throat, Ronan began to speak.

“Lord Drahavier, are you alright?”

【Yes… are you one of the organization’s members?】

“Yes, I am. Such an injury, what happened to you?”

【Ah… good. Caugh, has he left…?】

Feigning to be a member of the Green Fang, Ronan spoke calmly. Aselle and Shullifen swallowed nervously.

Drahavier, lying down, hadn’t yet noticed the state of his son, still collapsed on his wing. After vomiting blood, he continued to speak.

【Tell my son, Landoheidel… to flee far from Adren… that spear, that spear is…】

“A spear? What do you mean?”

【He… is planning to assassinate the His Majesty with it… maybe even worse…】

“His Majesty? Do you mean the Dragon King? Please speak louder.”

Ronan asked, but there was no answer. Drahavier, now rambling like a demented old man, seemed close to death.

【This Poison Dragon… butterfly of the sea… ah…】

It seemed he was no longer in his right mind. A spear? Suddenly, the incident at Aurora Skar came to mind.

‘That box.’

According to Dydican, the black-clad man had commissioned a weapon, something that looked like a pillar or a spear. It took six men to barely move the box containing the weapon. Ronan remembered how the black-clad man had smashed the heads of two Green Fang members over a single drop of blood on the box.

‘Was he struck by that?’

Having never seen the inside of the box, he couldn’t be sure. However, if the hypothesis was correct, it was a truly formidable weapon.

To pierce dragon scales, known to be one of the hardest substances in the world, like paper. Ronan, his voice tinged with urgency, questioned.

“Do you know the name of that dark man? Who is he?”

【The great cause… so close… drenched in regret…】

“Hey, you poison dragon!”

【Lando… heidel…】

Despite Ronan’s urging, there was no response. Drahavier’s eyes dimmed as he muttered his son’s name for the last time. Scratching his head, Ronan spat on the ground.

“What the hell is going on…”

The current situation was hard to comprehend. The black-clad man, the mysterious weapon, and the plan to assassinate the Dragon King. There were too many overwhelming pieces of information.

One thing was certain: they needed to go to Adren. Just then, Shullifen, examining Landoheidel, shook his head.

“He died instantly. Judging by the missing heart, he didn’t even have time to scream.”

“Right. I guess it’s a small mercy he didn’t see his son die…”

Landoheidel’s heart and the surrounding area were completely gouged out. Though much smaller than Drahavier, the hole’s size made it seem more severe. Ronan clicked his tongue as he looked at the corpses of the two dragons.

“Damn it.”

Though it was a relief that a would-be adversary had been eliminated, he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. Father and son lying together—it was a tragic death, even considering they were enemies.

But that was that, and there was still work to do. As Ronan assessed the situation, he spoke.

“Aselle, if you have any empty bottles or containers, bring them all over here.”

“Huh? Why, are you sick?”

“To collect some poison. And pull out some teeth too. They seem pretty useful.”

“Oh, you’re a devil…!”

“Would you prefer to hold a funeral?”

Aselle’s face turned deathly pale. Regardless, Ronan raised his sword and began disassembling the deceased poison dragon. Opportunities to gather dragon materials were rare.

Because the air above the sea was filled with poison, Ronan was the only one who could work. He collected five barrels’ worth of poison, teeth, and hide, among other miscellaneous byproducts. From behind Shullifen, who was dispersing the poison with wind, a voice could be heard.

“Hmm. Fascinating, indeed.”

“Huh?”

It was a faint voice, barely more than a hallucination. Shullifen turned his head quickly, but there was no one on deck. Even with heightened senses, he couldn’t detect anything.

“…Maybe I imagined it.”

“Hey, keep sending the wind. The poison is rising.”

Shullifen turned back around. The work was completed about three hours later. There was no sign of the black-clad man until the Red Gale set sail again.

****

The Red Gale, carrying Ronan and his group, sailed for another two days. An unexpected storm delayed them by a day.

Still, the ship, which had been in disarray, was somewhat cleaned up. The heavy rain and wind had washed away the bloodstains on the deck and mast.

After the storm passed, clear skies continued. It was the evening of the seventh day since the voyage began. The ship, moving with the tailwind, suddenly stopped.

“What, why did we stop?”

“It seems we’ve reached our destination.”

“Our destination? There’s nothing here.”

Ronan looked around. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see anything resembling land. Only the massive southern sunset burned the sea on the horizon.

“…Have I drunk too much poison?”

Ronan’s party checked the map drawn by Itargand again. Unless all three of them were blind, this was the right place. Just as they were beginning to doubt Itargand’s directions, Ronan had a realization.

“Wait a minute.”

One fact suddenly crossed Ronan’s mind. Almost all dragons had wings and could fly.

He slowly raised his head. A gigantic cumulonimbus cloud covered about half the sky. Even though it was quite high up, its size was so massive that it was difficult to estimate its true scale.

“…No way.”

“R-Ronan, it can’t be what I’m thinking, right?”

“It seems like it is.”

The three of them, sensing something, looked at each other. Though it seemed absurd, there was no other explanation. Ronan tapped Aselle on the shoulder.

“This is a matter of life and death, so do it carefully.”

“Eeek! Really?”

“What other choice do we have? I really wonder what would’ve happened if I hadn’t brought you along.”

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Though Aselle looked like he was about to cry, Ronan was firm. Expecting some sort of entrance for guests from dragons was clearly a mistake.

“Alright, I’ll try my best…”

Resigned, Aselle let out a deep sigh. He walked over and sat cross-legged under the mast.

It seemed to be his preparation for precise manipulation. As he chanted a spell with his eyes closed, the ship began to slowly rise. Ronan turned to Shullifen.

“Let’s do what we have to do.”

“Alright.”

Shullifen grabbed his sword hilt in response. The sloop, ascending, soon entered the cumulonimbus cloud. Inside the dense cloud, nothing was visible.

The two men, on high alert, kept watch in all directions. If they were attacked in the air and Aselle lost concentration, the outcome would be disastrous. Their weapons were ready to unleash sword energy at any moment.

“Ugh…”

It was about twenty minutes into the ascent. Aselle, who was focusing, let out a faint groan. The rising sloop shook slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I sense powerful presences. It seems Adren is beyond this.”

Upon hearing that, Ronan focused his senses. He could feel the change in the surrounding airflow. Voices, wing flaps, and small roars from beyond the cumulonimbus pricked his sensitive eardrums.

Fortunately, there was no threat. After a few more minutes, the cloud barrier suddenly disappeared, revealing an open space. The still sunset poured onto the deck. Ronan and Shullifen’s eyes widened.

“Ah, shit.”

A massive island was floating in the middle of the sky. Majestic buildings of varying heights glowed in the twilight.

It reminded Ronan of Drimore, but on a scale tens or hundreds of times larger. Dragons of various shapes and colors flew freely around the island. Aselle, who finally opened his eyes, exclaimed in awe.

“My, my God…”

“Good job, Aselle.”

Ronan praised.

Ronan tousled Aselle’s hair proudly. The view was endlessly mesmerizing. Who would have thought dragons had such an aesthetic sense? Aselle, still dazed from navigating the ship, stammered.

“Wh-where do we go now?”

“We need to go through immigration. I know where it is.”

Itargand had mentioned that the only immigration checkpoint was on the north side of the island. As Aselle moved his hand, the ship’s bow turned. Young hatchlings flew around the ship, laughing gleefully.

“Ahaha, humans! Humans!”

“Hello, hello!”

After sailing above the clouds for a while, they finally reached their destination. Indeed, a wide and long stone pier, reminiscent of a bridge, jutted out from the middle of the northern side.

A tall white obelisk, about five stories high, marked this place as special. It was the immigration checkpoint for visitors from outside.

The pier was lined with various airships and mounts like griffins. At the end of the pier, a massive gate connected to the island, large enough for dragons in their true form to pass through.

Aselle landed the ship on the pier. The ship, leaning as it landed, looked clumsy, but there was no other option since it wasn’t an airship. After a week at sea, they slowly walked towards the gate. Ronan raised his eyebrows.

“There are others besides us.”

In front of the gate stood six or seven humans, who seemed to have arrived earlier. Their flashy and unfamiliar attire suggested they were envoys from other countries.

Two burly guards blocked the gate. An elderly man with a long hat sat next to them. He appeared to be the examiner. Shullifen, observing the scene, spoke up.

“The atmosphere isn’t good.”

“Huh?”

Ronan tilted his head. Focusing a bit, he heard the sounds of an argument.

“Leave at once. We are not accepting visitors right now.”

“Th-That’s impossible! We made this appointment six months ago!”

“That’s unfortunate. But we cannot let you in.”

“This is outrageous! We will lodge a formal protest!”

The man, who appeared to be an envoy, started to vent his frustration. He must have been deeply aggrieved to show such defiance, likely unaware that the examiner was a dragon or a servant of one.

However, the guards continued to mechanically repeat their order to leave. After a few minutes, the examiner stood up. He walked between the guards and spoke to the envoy.

“I am Examiner Banartier. You refuse to leave?”

“Finally, someone reasonable! As I said, we are here under direct orders from our king!”

The envoy raised his voice upon seeing the examiner. The old man, Banartier, listened quietly to his grievances. The envoy gestured passionately, expressing his frustration.

“This is not a trivial matter. It is a breach of protocol between nations. To our king…!”

“Yes, I understand.”

Suddenly, the examiner’s mouth opened wide. The guards turned their heads away. Fwoosh! Flames erupted from the examiner’s mouth, engulfing the envoy. Ronan’s party froze in place.

“H-Heeek!!”

Aselle screamed. The molten flames subsided in less than three seconds. The lively upper body of the envoy was completely incinerated.

Thud. The lifeless body fell to the ground. The charred lower half could no longer speak.

The people who appeared to be the envoy’s companions looked like they were about to faint. After being frozen for a while, they screamed and fled.

No one retrieved the body, so the charred remains stayed there. The examiner looked at Ronan’s party and spoke dispassionately.

“Next.”

“…He killed him.”

Ronan chuckled wryly. The infamous immigration process lived up to its reputation. He turned to Aselle and Shullifen.

“Don’t worry. We have our marks.”

“R-Right? That should be fine, right?”

“Yes. We are servants of the famous Itargand. Don’t be afraid.”

Aselle asked tearfully. Shullifen nodded calmly. Ronan patted their shoulders and spoke.

“Let’s check one more time before we go. Show me your marks.”

“H-Here…”

Aselle rolled up his sleeve. Shullifen showed the back of his hand without a word. The imprint of Itargand was clearly engraved on both of them. Finally, Ronan lifted his shirt.

“Alright, then I’ll…”

Wanting to show off, he had asked to have it engraved on his back. The examiner, looking at Ronan baring his back, saw the two companions’ faces turn grim.

“…Huh?”

“Are you sure it was engraved here?”

“What are you talking about? You saw it just yesterday.”

Their expressions were not good. Ronan frowned and reached towards his back.

The engraved area should have a slight indentation, so it should be detectable by touch. As he groped his back, his eyebrows shot up.

“What?”

The mark wasn’t there. He could only feel the skin and muscles beneath his fingertips.

Aselle and Shullifen stared in disbelief at Ronan’s empty back. The examiner, losing patience, spoke again.

“Didn’t you hear me? Next.”

[Translator – Peptobismol]

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