Dragon Maken War

Chapter 170 - Advent of Confusion (2)

3

“Jisel…….”

Leticia was struck dumb as she looked at the Dragon Demon in front of her.

She was aware that he had the face of her teacher.  She knew it was him.  At the same time, it felt as if she didn’t know this person at all.  The reason being…….

“…why did you dye your hair into such a strange color?”

Her teacher hadn’t possessed bright blue hair color before.  He would have been at the center of attention wherever he went if he had possessed such hair color.

Aside from that, he hadn’t changed much from what she remembered from her memories.  He had already reached adulthood, so his appearance hadn’t changed or aged.  It hadn’t been long enough for such changes to take place.

Jiesel smirked.

“You are still the same, Leticia.  I didn’t dye my hair.  This is my original hair color.  My hair was dyed when it was black.”

Azell queried in surprise when he heard their conversation.

“So Leticia’s teacher Jisel was you, Reshoo?”

“That is correct.”

“I thought it might be a possibility, but….   I was told you had different hair color, and your reservoir of Dragon Demon magic was small.  That is why I abandoned such thoughts.”

“My hair color draws too much attention outside.  That is why I dyed it black.  Also, it isn’t too hard to hide one’s Dragon Demon magic.”

“…it isn’t too hard? We aren’t talking about someone else, right?  We are talking about you.”

Azell put on an expression as if he had heard something really strange.  Jisel...no, Reshoo laughed.

“It has been over 220 years.  How can I be the same as before?”

“You did change a lot.  First, you did age a lot.”

“Isn’t it normal to say you grew up a lot?  I’m far from being old.”

Reshoo grumbled. 

In Azell’s memories, Reshoo had looked as if he was in his mid teens.  He looked to be in in his mid-20s right now.

‘At the time, he was like a rude brat, who didn’t know that the world was really dangerous….’

Of course, in the past, Reshoo was considered to be someone that possessed great power.  However, that had only been true in outward appearance.

The current Reshoo had not only grown up, but his demeanor had changed a lot.  His sharp eyes had softened.  There was an air of calmness, and he looked comfortable in his own skin.  His Dragon Demon magic used to have a murderous and violent intent.  There was a calmness to his energy now.  He now understood why Leticia was unable to recognize how monstrous his Dragon Demon magic was.

‘You’ve become scary, Reshoo.’

That point made him shiver.  

Reshoo was formed from a unification between a Dragon and a Demon.  He possessed no parents, and he had been on top of the food chain as soon a he walked on the surface of this world.  Didn’t his current demeanor mean that Reshoo had obtained techniques that allowed him to use his power in a rational manner?

He even developed the Dragon Soul.  There hadn’t been a technique that opened up so many  possibilities like this since the Dragon weapons were created several thousand years ago.

Maybe, Reshoo was stronger than Azell, who had recovered his Dragon weapons.

Reshoo looked intently at Azell and Leticia before he spoke.

“I knew we would see each other again, but…  This is quite surprising.  It’s a happy coincidence to meet you, Leticia.  However, Azell’s presence does make me wonder if I’m dreaming or not.”

“Were you aware that I had fallen asleep?”

“I did.  Albatan-nim knew about it too, right?”

“He did.”

“It seems we have a lot to discuss….  Before we do that, there is something we have to do.”

“What is it?”

“We have to build a house.”

“…….”

Everyone was at a loss for words.  Reshoo shrugged his shoulders.  

“I heard you wanted me to teach you about the Dragon Soul.  It isn’t something that can be done in a day or two.  It is impossible for four people to sleep in my hut.”

“The town isn’t that far away from here.  Can’t we just travel back and forth?”

“It isn’t a bad idea if we are trying to strengthen your physical fitness, but…   It won’t be possible.  There are days where the training will put you in a state where you won’t be able to return.”

Reshoo spoke with a bright smile, but his words implied that their training would be very brutal.

“You can travel back and forth on days when you are able to.  However, we should build a temporary shelter.  Let’s converse as we build the house.”

“You know how to build a house?”

“I built this hut.  As I traveled around the world, I picked up on how to be a carpenter.”

“I really can’t see you as a carpenter…..”

The current Reshoo was radically different from the one Azell knew.  What kind of life did he live during Azell’s hibernation?

Reshoo laughed as he spoke.

“Azell, your words made me into what I am right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m a bit disappointed that you don’t remember it.  You told me understand what it is to be human.”

“Ah…….”

Azell finally remembered the past event.

After losing to Atein, Reshoo had been at death’s door.  Reshoo asked what he had to do to become as strong as Azell.  At the time, Azell told him to understand what it is to be human…  Azell never expected him to remember his words after all that time.

Reshoo spoke with a soft light in his eyes.

“I followed your words.  I approached and got to know various humans.  In the process of understanding them…  I fell in love with them.  They were so small and weak that my heart ached.  I couldn’t help, but love them.”

Reshoo placed a hand on his chest, and he gave himself up to his recollection.  As Reshoo spoke, Azell tried to merge the memory of Reshoo he had known, and the figure named Jisel, who was described to him by Leticia.

Jisel was completely different from the Reshoo from his memories.  However, what if it was as Reshoo had said?  Was this change the result of Reshoo taking his advice and approaching the humans?

“It took you a very long time to return.  During that time, I lived amongst the humans.  At times, I lived amongst them as a Dragon Demon.  I also lived amongst them disguised as humans…  I protected, nurture, loved, fought and killed humans.”

There was some contradictions in his words, but Azell knew what Reshoo was trying to convey with his words.

It was hard to love humans, yet they were easy to hate.  If he was able to find values that made humans worth loving, it would have been easy for him to find reason to hate them.  Humans killed other humans.  As a Dragon Demon, would it have been strange for him to be able to separate the humans he loved and wanted to protect with the ones he wanted to kill?

Reshoo continued to speak.

“I’ve experience much happiness and joy.  At the same time, I experience an equal amount of heartache and pain.  The ones that shouldn’t be sick got sick, and the ones that shouldn’t have been killed got killed.  These were all done by the hands of humans…..”

How much tragedy had he seen in the past 200 years as he wandered the world?

After the Dragon Demon war ended, the world had been overflowing with tragedies.  The absolute threat called the Dragon Demon king’s army was gone, but that didn’t mean everyone could live a happily ever after.

Still, Azell was able to experience a brief period of peace.  Even as he was dying from Atein’s curse, he knew he had fought for a worthy cause.  His actions resulted in a lot of people finding their happiness.  He was able to experience this when he ruled over the County of Karzark.

However, Reshoo had seen many darkness that Azell hadn’t been able to witness.  These darkness didn’t go away, because the war was over.  

Still, humans shone within this darkness.

“The Dragon Soul arose from such experiences.  I hope I can repay some of what I gained from you with this.”

“Recompense….  I never expected to hear such words from you.”

“Do you think it would be fun to live the same way in an unchanging world?  We have no idea what will happen the next day, so we have to enthusiastically live our lives.”

Reshoo laughed as he spoke those words.

When he saw Reshoo’s laughter, Azell perceived that a lot of time had passed.  It had been awhile since he had such a feeling.  Reshoo had been like simple beast, but enough time had passed for the 1st generation Dragon Demon to become a mature adult…..

4

Leticia quickly took control of her shock, and she calmed down.  It didn’t matter what occured in front of her.  She was used to focusing on the reality right of her eyes.  She was able to do this, because she had experience pain at the bottom of hell.

“Jisel… No, would you prefer to be called Reshoo?”

“I don’t care either way.  I’m used to being called by various names.”

“That means you used aliases aside from Jisel as you wandered the world.”

“Didn’t  you do the same?”

“I did.  If you were to choose a real name, what would it be?”

“It is Reshoo.”

“Then I’ll call you by Reshoo.  The Jisel I remember didn’t have such an eye-catching head.”

“You don’t like the color of my hair?  Everyone tells me it is pretty.  They are jealous of my hair color…..”

“It doesn’t matter if it is pretty or unsightly…….”

Leticia furrowed her brows.

“Your hair color is radically different from what I remember.  That is why I find your outer appearance to be strangely objectionable.”

“Mmm.  If it is bothering you, do you want me to dye my hair black?”

“It’s all right.  I’ll probably get used to it the more I see it.”

“It seems that part about you remain the same.  How have you been?  I never expected you to show up with Azell.  I was surprised.”

“I met him while I was killing the Dragon Demon king worshippers.  So…..”

Leticia spoke about what happened during the 7 years after they parted.  There wasn’t much to talk about.  Before she met Yuren, she had travelled to various regions around the continent to fight Dragon Demon king worshippers.  Occasionally, she was mistaken as a Dragon Demon king worshippers, so she was chased by the Guardian Shadows.  She healed herself in hiding when she received injuries from battle.  Then there was the very brief periods of time she set aside for training….  She had lived a very dreary life.

This was why she had much more to talk about when she talked about Yuren, Azell, Kairen and Laura even though they had been comrades for only a brief amount of time.  Reshoo let out a gentle smile after he heard her story.

“You’ve met some good comrades, Leticia.”

“Mmm…….”

Leticia had an awkward expression on her face.

‘Good comrades…….’

From the time she gained independence from Reshoo to the fight against the Dragon Demon King worshippers, she had been alone for a long time.  Occasionally, she did fight alongside others, but she never became colleagues with anyone else.

This was why the concept of partnering with outs for foreign to her.  Currently, she had opened her heart, and she travelled with them.  Sometimes it did feel like a dream.  It was as if she was seeing herself from a distance.

Reshoo asked her a question.

“It seems you’ve gotten better.  You are hurt yet you are able to keep your Dragon Demon magic calm and ordered.  Did Azell teach you a lot of things?”

“It isn’t as if I hadn’t learned nothing.”

“Azell always had a knack for teaching others.  He’s able to learn everything easily, yet he has a talent for breaking down a theories in a logical manner.”

“You guys were each other’s teacher?”

“That’s right.  Of course, if we considered the content of what we learned, I learned more from him.  In truth, I wasn’t at a point in my life where I was capable of teaching someone else.”

Reshoo let out a bitter laugh.  At the time when they taught each other, he had really been like a beast.  He had taught Azell about the Dragon’s power, but it was hardly a proper instruction.

Leticia became surprised.

“I can’t imagine it.  I’ve never seen anyone be more patient in teaching others than you.”

It didn’t matter if one’s student was good at studying or not.  The most important qualities of an instructor was patience and an ability to stay calm.  From what Leticia had observed, Reshoo had excelled in those departments.  It didn’t matter if he was teaching Leticia or the village children.  Reshoo had never expressed any annoyance, and he had taught them with patience.