Duke Pendragon

The dragon’s emblem was vivid. Even ordinary humans could see the shining sign in the sky. It flapped its wings in the clear autumn sky as if it were alive.

“…..!”

The majestic dragon made the Nobira and Bresia flags look shabby, and everyone looked up at its glorious form in awe and wonder. Their minds turned blank, and they did not utter a single word.

Except for a few knights, everyone else were just ordinary people. They were overwhelmed just by coming into contact with the large symbol that was created from a fierce spirit. Isla moved forward a couple of steps before the stupefied humans and spoke.

“Get off your horses, all of you. Kneel down and show courtesy. Only the royal family can raise their heads high in front of the Pendragon family’s symbol.”

The cavalry shuddered at Isla’s words and laid down their weapons before dismounting their horses.

Who could hold their heads high in front of one of the five great duchies of the empire? Besides, it was none other than the Pendragon family - the Pendragon family, which had contracted with the creature called the strongest in the world.

Nobility that lived close to the Pendragon family would have been less shocked, as they were familiar with the family’s symbol, but the same did not hold true for nobility living in other territories. If they were fortunate, they would perhaps get a chance to see the symbol once in their entire lifetime.

Moreover, rumors about the Pendragon family’s resurrection had reached all the way to Sisak. Therefore, Sisak’s cavalry knelt on one knee and bowed their heads in front of the symbol to show respect, even though Filmore had not given any orders.

But there were still some people who remained unmoving with blank expressions on their faces. It was Filmore, Baron Nobira, Enzo, and Sophia.

When Isla tried to speak up once more, Raven stopped him.

“What, you still don’t believe me?”

“Heeeek! Ah, no no! Agh!”

Enzo tried to dismount his horse, but he couldn’t bear his own weight and fell straight off.

“I, I greet your grace Pendragon!”

Baron Nobira and Sophia also dismounted their horses with pale faces and showed courtesy towards Raven while trembling. Sophia, in particular, could not stop shaking pitifully, and held onto her hems tightly without daring to raise her head. When the armor changed colors and the symbol had shot up into the air, she had unknowingly pissed herself as she fell into unrivaled fear.

With a slight nod, Raven turned to the last person who had remained motionless. Filmore was standing in his place with a stone-like expression.

“What? Is Count Bresia still above me? Well, I guess you’re representing him as the High Lord of Sisak, so that could be the case. But…”

Raven continued with an icy smile.

“You should at least show some courtesy, like what I did in Elma, right?”

“……!”

Filmore's thick eyebrows wriggled.

“I still can’t believe.. that you, sir, are the young master of the Pendragon family.”

Even though he had just experienced the unbelievable spirit that almost caused him to fall on his knees as well as the pendragon coat-of-arms, Filmore still held onto his suspicions. Perhaps he could not let go of the pride he had as a representative of Sisak’s High Lord.

At Filmore’s words, Baron Nobira looked up and stole glances at Raven. He also held onto the tiny sliver of hope.

“You dare…”

Isla tried to reproach Filmore with a cold glare. But after stopping Isla, Raven shrugged and turned his head.

“Well, you have a point there. Then…”

All the heads followed Raven’s gaze. One person, the one who had been looking at Raven with an indifferent expression until now, started to walk towards them slowly.

It was Soldrake.

“What is…”

Filmore sneered. He has asked Raven for proof of his status, but the young man had not responded. Rather, he looked towards a woman who was walking towards them. But the laughter slowly faded from his face.

The woman stopped, and her shadow began to grow longer. After stretching out for tens of yards, the shadow soon began to take shape. Then, an even stronger spirit than what was shown before started to crawl all over the woman’s body like a flame. A silver-white glow expanded before exploding, blinding the eyes of Filmore and the other humans.

Woosh!

“Ugh!”

Everyone closed their eyes shut and turned their heads away. After a while, they opened their eyes as the light faded. As they looked to the place where the woman was standing a moment ago, bewildered expressions appeared on their faces.

“Huh…?”

Somehow, the surroundings had become darker than before, and they couldn’t see the woman anywhere. Some raised their heads in puzzlement at the sudden change in brightness.

“Oh my…”

“Argh!”

Then, those who had raised their heads fell onto the ground while screaming and gasping in shock. The others also raised their heads at the scene. They became shocked beyond belief.

It was a real dragon, not one that was made from spirit. A giant, silver-white creature floated in the sky, looking down at the humans with misty eyes. Raven glanced at Filmore, who was acting rather proud until now, with an indifferent expression.

“The self-confident and the foolish ones never believe anything until they see it for themselves.”

Thud.

Filmore’s sword dropped on the ground. Then he slowly knelt on one knee.

“I greet the Lord of the White Dragon, the heir to the Pendragon family.”

In the end, Filmore knelt on the ground, and now everyone was kneeling before the White Dragon and Alan Pendragon.

***

A tent was set up in front of the monastery. The surviving mercenaries lined up in the back, and the soldiers from the Nobira family and the Bresia family lined up on both sides leading to the tent. Filmore, the other knights, and the remaining nobles all gathered in front of the tent.

There was absolute silence in the monastery, with the occasional sound of the wind. After transforming into a human figure again, Soldrake exuded an overwhelming presence with her forehead jewels revealed. The humans could not even breathe easily as they stood near her.

Raven was the only one who was sitting down in this suffocating atmosphere. He parted his lips, “First of all, let me tell you why I hid my identity and came to Sisak.”

Filmore, Baron Nobira, and the other nobles finally lifted their heads at Raven’s words.

“I received a request from Prince Ian, the brother of Crown Prince Shio. He asked me and the Pendragon family to find out the truth behind the matter regarding the attempted assassination of Crown Prince Shio. As the Pendragon family also shares in the royal bloodline, I came to ferret out the traitors who threatened the well-being of the royal family.”

Raven took out a piece of paper and spread it open. The nobles shuddered at the sight of the letter. It was clearly stamped with the seal of the Aragon family, which only the emperor and his direct descendants had access to.

Raven continued in a cold tone, “But if I came to Sisak without hiding my identity, I would have had a lot of trouble with my investigation. It was obvious that the dirty rats would immediately have gone into hiding.”

Prince Ian had continuously bragged about his friendship with the Pendragon family. If Raven had come to Sisak without hiding his identity, Count Bresia would have cautioned everyone to remain silent regarding the matter three years ago, and Baron Nobira would only fawn over Raven. Moreover, Ramelda and Tylen would have fallen flat on the ground, disregarding their dispute.

“Prince Ian and I were sure that the treason case from three years ago was not planned and carried out by a single knight named Gray Valt. So, I did some research, and I found out that a rat named Tylen was deeply involved.”

“Heuk!”

Tylen became horrified at Raven’s words as he sat kneeled on the ground with only his underwear.

“How did I know? You all know what happened between the Armada Bird Mercenaries and I in Leus Harbor, right? One of them blabbered that they had delivered a letter to Ruv Tylen from Toleo Arangis.”

Of course, it was a lie. It was the conclusion that Raven had come to after combining all the information he heard from Ian and gathered from Leus. Even though it was not confirmed, Raven’s judgment was no different from the truth, and the reaction of Tylen proved it so.

“I, I, I don’t know anything! I, I was just told that if I delivered the letter, I would be able to take Gray Valt’s land… I, I did not know that the crown prince would become involved. F, Forgive me!”

Filmore closed his eyes tightly as he heard Tylen’s frantic words. Now that he had confessed, they were placed in a sticky situation.

“But Count Bresia blamed the whole incident on the Valt family and wrapped up the matter. As if he didn’t want the issue to become any bigger, he tortured the Valt family and beheaded all of them even before official investigators came down from the Royal Batallium. Am I wrong?”

“…..”

They couldn’t respond. It was Filmore himself who had suggested that very solution to Count Bresia and carried it out.

“In the end, the responsibility for this matter lies with the lord of the land, Baron Nobira, and ultimately, High Lord Count Bresia. You are guilty of covering up the unforgivable sin of poisoning the crown prince and wrapping up the matter without proper investigation and persecution. This will never be forgiven.”

The cold air, which was as heavy as Raven’s voice, weighed down on everyone’s shoulders. But Raven’s gruesome words had not come to an end yet.

“And… I saw something very interesting in this place. Enzo Nobira, and Sophia Bresia intervened in the dispute between the local knights on behalf of their family.”

“Gasp!”

“Ah…”

The faces of the two and Baron Nobira turned blue with horror.

“Even if you did not know my true identity, you interfered directly with the investigation which was requested directly from the royal family. All the while trying to abuse the name of your families.”

“I, I never intended to interfere with the investigation…”

“No! Absolutely not! I, if, if I knew of your identity, I would have never… Sob!”

Sophia squeezed out her tears and tried to use her identity as a woman to shield herself. But Raven had already experienced Sophia Bresia’s mean temper, and it had absolutely no effect.

“You said you would pull out my eyeballs and make me crawl like a dog, right? You were also going to enslave the guardian god of the Pendragon family. How about it, would you still like to try?”

Sophia’s tears immediately stopped as the White Dragon’s Spirit climbed down Raven’s shoulders and exuded into the atmosphere. In addition, piss started leaking from between her crotch once again.

After withdrawing his spirit, Raven turned to the shaking Baron Nobira.

“Baron Nobira.”

“Ye, yes! Hiccup!”

Baron Nobira quickly bowed his head.

“Your child helped the real traitor who betrayed his friend and tried to assassinate the crown prince. Do you have anything to say?”

“Ueghh…”

His whole body felt drained, but he could not find any words to object to Alan Pendragon’s claim. Then, Raven’s gaze turned to Filmore.

“Same to you, Sir Filmore. The daughter of Count Bresia used her family name and stood on the side of the traitor. As a bonus, she insulted the guardian god of the Pendragon family and me.”

“……”

Filmore also had no answer as he bit his lips with a somber expression.

“But…”

Raven’s voice turned soft, and everyone slightly lifted their heads with hope. Then, they followed Raven’s face as he turned to a man with a strange smile.

“There was still a righteous man in Sisak who could be called a true knight. Sir Derek Ramelda, step forward.”

“…Yes, your grace Pendragon.”

Ramelda was surprised, but he still gathered his hands respectfully before taking two steps forward.

“I was told that it was you who suggested getting to the bottom of the matter three years ago and advocated for Gray Valt. Moreover, I found out that Tylen was the first to cross the village border and threaten your territory. You brought this matter to Baron Nobira several times, but he refused to listen. Finally, you had no choice but to recruit mercenaries in order to defend your territory. Correct?”

“….That’s right.”

Raven turned his head towards Baron Nobira.

“The foolishness of the lord who covered up for the real traitor and not recognized a knight who was truly loyal to him. How should I report this matter to Prince Ian?”

“I, I beg for your forgiveness…”

Baron Nobira kept bowing. That was all he could do right now.

Raven felt his threats working and said in a slippery voice while smiling inwardly, “Do you want me to tell you a way out?”

“Ye, yes?”

“Moncha and Toro, as well as the land within a three-mile radius of the two. Hand those over to Sir Ramelda.”

Raven spoke as if driving a wedge at Baron Nobira’s confusion.

“I will personally request Prince Ian to appoint Ramelda with his royal authority as a viscount. Of course, he would hold his position independent of Count Bresia and would be a viscount of an independent territory. What do you say?”

“Yes, of course! Yes!”

Baron Nobira nodded his head up and down with as much force as he could muster. Apparently, even Count Bresia could not escape from this situation. With Alan Pendragon, and even Ian Aragon, who held a large influence in the royal family, knocking on their door, even Count Bresia could not avoid responsibility for the matter.

“Good. I will remember your quick judgment. Then there is only one more matter. Sir Filmore.”

“Yes…”

Raven had a deep smile as he looked at Filmore, who had his head down.

“Bring Count Bresia. Don’t you think we need to settle this situation that his daughter caused?”

“Ah…”

The face of Sophia Bresia, the beloved youngest daughter of Count Bresia, crumpled as she looked at the man who turned from Raven Valt into Alan Pendragon.