Chapter 55 Dragon Demon Prince (2).
Chapter 55 Dragon Demon Prince (2).
Chapter 55 - Dragon Demon Prince (2)
Soon, the party was granted an audience with the king alongside Arrieta and Kairen. As Azell had said before, they didn't have to do anything. It was a formal occasion to announce Arrieta and Kairen’s return to the capital. Arietta and Kairen gave a report on the important events that had happened up until now. Everyone else just held their head down and knelt. After awhile, they exited. That was all they did for the entire audience.
Giles made an expression as if he had just survived a life and death situation.
“Whew. It's finally ended.”
“It wasn't that big of a deal. What will you do if you get promoted later on?”
“Mmmm. A promotion…….”
“I'll have to excuse myself for now.”
Boar was a member of the Royal Knights so he had to go report on what had happened on the return trip.
Boar spoke to the two men.
“I'll contact you guys when I get off work. If you don't mind, why don't you come to my house tonight?”
The Marquis Zilred's domain was far from here, but as a noble, he naturally had an estate in the capital. Moreover, Marquis Zilred was from a prestigious family, so the extravagant estate was located near the center of the capital.
Azell spoke.
“Ah. I'm thankful for the invite, but I don't think it'll be possible today.”
“Why?”
“I don't think the Princess and the Duke will let go of me.”
“Ah, that's true. Sir Azell is quite popular with those two.”
“I don't particularly want to be popular with them.”
“Why don't you tell yourself that lie while watching yourself in a mirror? Please be sure to contact me when you escape from their grasp. I'll most definitely give you an invite.”
“I'll do so.”
“Sir Giles… Mmmmm. What about you? Do you have any older relatives you have to give greetings to?”
“No. I don't have to do that. I'll gladly accept the invitation.”
Viscount Vince's family wasn't really well-known, and not many of their blood-relations worked for the throne. This was why Giles had planned on looking for a suitable inn he could lodge in for his stay at the capital.
“All right, Sir Azell. You have to contact me later.”
“Ah, all right. You are inviting another guy, so why are you being so persistent...”
“I get the impression you are the kind of man, who will suddenly disappear if I turn my back on you. That is why I'm trying to nail you down...”
“Do I look that cold-hearted?”
At Azell's question, Giles and Boar looked at each other and nodded their head as if Azell had said something very obvious. Azell was slightly wounded.
“Jeez. All right. I'll most definitely contact you so don't worry about it.”
“I'll try putting some faith in you.”
Boar grinned, then left his seat. Azell also grinned as he looked at Boar's retreating back.
Giles asked in puzzlement.
“What?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking Sir Boar has changed a lot. When I think about how he was at the start of the trip, his actions right now is almost unimaginable.”
“I guess that's true.”
Giles snickered. He would have never thought a person could change so dramatically.
At that moment, Enora was walking towards them from the opposite corridor.
“Sir Azell and Sir Giles. Do the two of you have a place to stay in the capital?”
“Of course, I don't.”
“I don't have any firm plans right now.”
“I see. The princess has arranged for a place where the two of you could stay....”
“Thank you.”
Giles showed some signs of relief. Truthfully, he didn't have much disposable income, so he had been worried about the cost of lodging in the capital. It would have taken a large share of his money.
The two of them headed towards Arrieta's royal villa. In accordance to Arrieta, a guest room had been prepared for Azell.
It was basically a detached palace inside the royal palace. It was a guest 'room', but it was a far cry from what a normal person thought of as a 'room'. It was as spacious as a large house, and the interior was as luxurious as royal palace.
However, Azell wasn’t surprised when he saw the room.
“As expected of a palace, it is quite gaudy.”
That was all the words of admiration he spoke.
Giles was flabbergasted.
“I really am curious on what kind of life you lead in the past. Everything here is so dazzling...”
“I'm also curious. Well, didn't princess and Ms Enora say I was of noble birth? Maybe that's why.”
“You've regained some more memories?”
“One or two… I would be doing a task when my memories would overlap with the present. My identity always eludes me, but various experiences from my past appears in my mind. I do believe I was part of a well-off noble family.”
Ever since they had been travelling in the same party, it had been getting harder and harder to believe Azell's words regarding his memory loss. He was unbelievably strong, and he was hiding too many secrets. There were a lot of holes to his story, but they couldn't outright call him a liar. They were in an uncertain situation where they couldn't press him for answers.
‘Above all else, he was too self assured.’
If Azell was trying to fool them, he would be more careful. He didn't display such an attitude. He acted as if he didn't care if others believed him or not. This made people trust his story.
Moreover, Giles and numerous witnesses were present when they first found him. Azell had been in such a rough state that it wouldn't be surprising if he had some lasting traumas.
Azell spoke.
“However, I'm pretty sure I'm not of this country.”
“Why do you say so?”
“There were too many unfamiliar sights as we were coming here. The appearance of the streets, the customs and manners... If I could recall all of those, I would probably be a noble of this country. Still, I have no idea why I was in the forest.”
“Hmmm…….”
“It's quite fortunate you speak the same language as us.”
Truthfully, that was the point he was most impressed about after waking up in this time period.
If he compared the the current spoken and written language to the ones before he went to sleep, they were almost identical.
He could somewhat believe it for the written words, but the common speech hadn't changed either in 200 years. How incredible was that?
At the time, the Nadick empire used the language of Babel. Rulain kingdom and the other 7 countries that broke off from the Nadick empire was still using that language. There was minor changes in vocabulary and speech, but the framework of the language was still the same. It felt as if he was hearing a dialect of the language.
“I'll thank the legend of the Babel. It is unknown whether the legend is true, and I would have never thought there would come a day when I would give thanks to it.”
Even during the days of the Nadick Empire, the story of Babel wasn't written down in the history books. It was a story passed down through the ages.
There used to be a lot of languages in existence in the past. Even though the Nadick empire had been very close to uniting the whole continent, the lands outside their territory had their own language and culture.
However, in the far distant past, the world had countless more languages in comparison. Even by crossing a single mountain, the spoken language would change. The language divide lead to many conflicts and death.
The great immemorial mages of the past found this situation to be regrettable. They all gathered in one place to cast a massive magical ceremony, and it was named the 'Babel'. They erected a large tower that rose high into the sky, and they gathered all the languages from the consciousness of people. After gathering as many as they could, they created a common language that would express the intent of all the people. This was the language of Babel.
When the language was born through this highest order of magic, every single person on the continent knew the language. Then it had been passed down the the ages, and the framework of the language had never changed. Some of the lexicons changed, but it allowed people to speak to others without a hitch.
Azell spoke.
“I guess I'll rest a little bit until the princess calls me. Since we probably can’t wander around this place, would you like to have a chess match?”
“Mmmm. I'm a pretty poor player.”
“You should build up your skills up to a certain point. It is an indication of refinement for a noble.”
“Those words really don't suit you.”
Giles couldn't help but smirk.
3
In the end, Arrieta hadn't called for Azell on the day they arrived at the capital. After her return, he had a lot of reports to make, and she had been dragged around to make appearances at various locations. Before she knew it, the day had come to an end.
After receiving Arrieta's message of apology, Giles followed Boar to his house when he got off work. Azell was the only one left.
Arrieta had assigned servants and maids to him. After eating the dinner they brought, Azell was vacantly staring up at the ceiling.
“I should have asked for permission to enter the library.”
The royal palace's library probably had a lot of books. While he was staying here, he wanted to read up on all the history books to his heart's content.
Azell was lying atop a bed that was big enough to jump around in. He had thrown his body atop it, and he was looking at the ceiling of the bed. It really fit in with the image of a bed that should be inside the royal apartments. Each corner of the bed had a post, and a fabric with fancy patterns was place above to make a canopy.
“Relaxing like this isn't too bad...”
Now that he thought about it, it had been a while since he had the opportunity to do nothing.
It had been only a month since he had woken up from the ruins of the Balan Forest, but that month had been really hectic. He had experienced several battles. On the inside, he had been always been on edge as he tried to hone himself once again.
‘It's true even if I included the time before my sleep.’
After the Dragon Demon war had ended, he hadn't had a true rest afterwards. He was too busy taking care of the postwar events, and the Dragon Demon King's curse had been eating away at his life.
This was why he didn't mind spending his time doing nothing right now.
He was planning on spending the rest of the day staring blankly at nothing when it happened.
Ddok ddok.
He heard a knock on his door. Azell signaled for the maid to come in. After she entered, she spoke to him.
“Sir Azell. Someone important is here looking for you.”
“Someone important?”
Azell was puzzled. Arrieta had already said she won't be able to see him tonight. Was it a message from Kairen? However, the maid should already know Azell had traveled in the same party as Kairen, so it was strange for her to use the term ‘someone important’...
Azell pointed at his head as he spoke.
“Mmmm. May I ask for some help in tidying myself?”
“Yes.”
The maid understood what he was asking for. She approached him, and she brushed his tangled hair. Then she helped him straighten his clothes.
Azell knew how the world of the nobles worked, and he knew he was an outsider. Normally, even if the maid had offered to help him, he would have feigned ignorance of not knowing what she was offering, and it would have probably lead to irritating his maid. However, Azell had become the guest of the throne, so he had to think about Arrieta's reputation. He knew he needed to act with more prudence.
‘This is why they keep saying I act like a noble.’
As he was installed into the role of Duke Karzark, he was taught about manners until he became dry and worn away. It had been seeped into his bones. Azell stepped out of his bedroom with a bitter smile on his face.
Then his eyes widened when he saw the young man drinking tea in front of the table.
‘Uh?’
This was the first time Azell had seen this young man, but he knew who this was at a glance.
The young man had wavy yet tidy white hair. He possessed golden eyes and his ears were slightly pointed. There was a sharp and bluish-white feather-like horn above his left ear...
‘Dragon Demon Prince Seigar Weil Rulain.’
The young man looked very alike to Arrieta. He was two years younger than Arrieta, yet he looked at Azell with a cold elegance flowing across his face.
“I'm sorry for showing up announced so late into the night. Are you Sir Azell, the man who was knighted by my sister?”
“Yes, prince.”
“I told the maid not to tell you my identity, but it seems you recognized who I was. Of course, it should have been expected, since you spent a good amount of time with my sister.”
The young man didn't show any signs of being surprised. The Dragon Demon Prince was used to others knowing his identity, and he was well aware his appearance was similar to Arrieta.
“I'll formally introduce myself. I am the first son of the Rulain Kingdom. I am called the Dragon Demon Prince Seigar Weil Rulain.”
“Knight Azell Zestringer gives his greetings.”
Azell gave his greetings in a courtly manner. When Seigar saw this, he looked over Azell conspicuously.
“I heard you were an unknown countryman until my sister gave you the title of knight, but it seems those rumors were wrong. If she had told me you were from a noble family, I would have believed it.”
“Thank you.”
“Please sit. You might think me strange for saying this, since I came here looking for you.”
The young man was only 15 but he carried himself like a royal. He didn't show any awkwardness when speaking informally to an older person, who was beneath him in station. Moreover, he didn't give the vibe that he was looking down on others. He acted the way he did because it was befitting his station. It came naturally to him.
When Azell sat across him, Seigar spoke.
“I came here, because I wanted to see you.”
“Me?”