[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 88
"Congratulations on winning the martial arts tournament."
Wherever Zeke went, the knights of Four Seasons Castle greeted him.
Their attitude was incredibly friendly, unlike what one would expect from the usually harsh Draker knights.
When Zeke first received his official knighthood, there were quite a few within Four Seasons Castle who didn't approve of him.
However, the atmosphere completely changed after the martial arts tournament.
Thanks to this, Zeke could personally experience the authority of the Draker martial arts tournament.
Receiving greetings from the knights, Zeke headed towards the lord's office.
At the door, the secretary welcomed Zeke warmly.
"The lord is waiting for you."
Guided by the secretary, Zeke entered the office.
As the secretary had said, Arthur Draker was waiting for him.
"Zeke, come in."
Once again, Arthur had prepared precious tea from the Eastern Empire.
Zeke sat down and savored the aroma of the tea.
Arthur looked at Zeke and said,
"I thought you would enjoy the winner's banquet and come back months later. My prediction was completely off."
Usually, when someone won the Draker martial arts tournament, they would hold a grand party with their sponsor clans and other related people.
After that, it was customary to tour the entire continent, participate in parties hosted by invited clans, and enjoy immense popularity.
However, Zeke didn't hold a separate banquet and didn't respond to invitations from other families.
"I'm not really the type to enjoy parties."
Arthur nodded at Zeke's words.
"I was the same at your age. I only focused on rigorous training for faster growth and thought parties and banquets were just entertainment for those who lacked training."
Putting down his teacup, Arthur continued,
"But remember this. Even if you become a Black Knight, you can't face the entire continent alone. If even two other Black Knights join forces, you won't be able to escape death."
Zeke didn't expect to hear such words from Arthur Draker, one of the strongest individuals on the continent.
Black Knights were called one-man armies.
But even Black Knights had limits to their power.
At that moment, Zeke suddenly thought of the Hero King Kaiser.
'If it were King Kaisir, I don't think it would matter how many Black Knights there were.'
The power of Black Knight was close to that of a Sword Master during the Hero King era.
But the Hero King was at the Grand Master realm, surpassing Sword Master.
'If I surpass Black Knight and become a Grand Master...'
He would become an absolute ruler who could look down on everything.
Arthur looked at Zeke and said,
"Well, my words probably won't reach your ears right now."
Zeke raised his head, looked at Arthur, and said,
"No, sir. I will engrave your words deep in my heart, that relationships with others are as important as individual strength."
Arthur chuckled at Zeke's model answer and said,
"Stop with the insincere flattery and come here."
He rose from his seat and gestured to Zeke.
Arthur took Zeke to an exhibition hall where he kept his personal belongings.
Rare items Arthur had collected from each continent were displayed in glass cases.
With his Dragon Eye, Zeke could see what each item was.
'Most of them are from before the Golden Age. They seem to be from the Hero King era.'
Arthur was collecting ancient artifacts like the Rom Emperor.
Walking between the displays, Arthur stopped at one spot.
It was in front of an old box.
He slowly opened the box.
An unexpected item was placed inside.
'A pocket watch?'
Arthur carefully took out the old pocket watch from the box.
Then, he looked at Zeke and said,
"This is the only thing Laura left me."
Zeke was surprised by Arthur's words.
"Are you saying it's my mother's memento?"
Arthur nodded.
"Yes, Laura always carried this with her."
Zeke looked at the expression in Arthur's eyes as he gazed at the pocket watch.
The man of steel, who seemed devoid of emotion, was looking at the watch with a wistful gaze.
After a moment, he turned his head, approached Zeke, and handed him the pocket watch.
"Are you giving this to me?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to know about Laura?"
"This watch doesn't contain everything about your mother."
"Laura used this watch to peek into realms we couldn't see. She said she found it in the Northern Continent. I don't know much more than that. She was always a secretive person."
Laura Agamemnon, an Irregular with the talent of a healer.
It seemed that even Arthur Draker, the head of the Draker clan and her husband, didn't know everything about her.
Zeke, holding the watch, looked at Arthur and asked,
"There's one thing I want to ask."
"What is it?"
Zeke clenched his fist.
"Have you ever considered that I might have the talent of a healer?"
Arthur closed his mouth for a moment at those words.
Then, he slowly answered, "Yes."
Zeke's hand trembled slightly.
Arthur looked at Zeke and slowly spoke.
"But Zeke, you weren't a healer. You're a proud, pure-blooded Awakened of the Draker clan."
Zeke gritted his teeth at Arthur's words.
'If I weren't a pure-blooded Awakened, were you going to abandon me?'
Zeke swallowed those words with difficulty.
The moments of hardship he went through in his past life flashed through his mind.
Arthur said to Zeke,
"Zeke, I'll tell you one thing. Don't delve too deeply into your mother, Laura Agamemnon."
Zeke raised his head at those words.
"What do you mean?"
"Laura was a healer, but she was also an Irregular. You know what that means, right?"
In the Central Continent, Irregulars were treated as cursed beings. So being born with the blood of an Irregular wouldn't be advantageous for Zeke.
There was a reason why Duke initially mistook Zeke for an Irregular and then deliberately hid that fact.
Zeke bowed his head to Arthur and replied,
"I'll follow your orders, sir."
Arthur placed his hand on Zeke's shoulder.
"You are a proud, pure-blooded Awakened of the Draker clan. Don't forget that."
Zeke nodded and tightly gripped his mother's pocket watch.
***
Returning to his mansion from Four Seasons Castle, Zeke went up to his room and examined the pocket watch.
"Why did Mother leave this watch as her last memento?"
At that moment, Zeke suddenly felt that this watch was quite familiar.
'Where have I seen this before?'
As he pondered, a spark suddenly ignited in Zeke's mind.
"Saturn Draker!"
He remembered the time when Bahamut's memories awakened while he was learning the True Dragon Sword Art.
It matched the shape of the pocket watch that Saturn Draker was holding when he visited Bahamut, the Ruler of Sunset.
Recalling that memory, Zeke looked at the watch.
'I remember this watch clearly had the power of Chronos dwelling within it.'
His mother, Laura Agamemnon, used this watch to foresee the future.
And in his memory, Saturn Draker used this watch to show Bahamut what would happen in the future.
'Could the power of Chronos be the power of prophecy?'
Zeke examined the watch's exterior, turning it over and over.
There were no inscriptions or markings on the surface.
However, despite being old, the surface was still smooth.
Opening the lid and looking at the watch face, he saw a large clock in the center and smaller clocks densely packed around it.
The hands of the clocks were stopped.
Zeke looked at the watch and slowly activated his mana.
'Will this work too?'
The ancient Hercyon and Agamemnon's Golden Mask had also awakened in response to mana.
If this watch was also an ancient artifact, there was a high chance it would react to mana.
Woooong!
Zeke infused mana into the watch.
However, unlike Hercyon and the mask, the watch showed no reaction.
"Hmm, is this not enough?"
At that moment, something occurred to Zeke.
Among ancient artifacts, there were often those that reacted to the user's blood.
Zeke took out a dagger, cut his finger, and let a few drops of blood fall onto the watch.
Still, there was no reaction, so he tried channeling mana again.
Woooong!
Suddenly, the blood Zeke dripped began to seep into the watch.
At the same time, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Detecting the soul of an Elder Dragon dwelling in the user's blood.]
[The dormant state of the ancient artifact is being lifted.]
[The ???'s Clock has been temporarily activated.]
[The title 'Blessed by the Ancient Dragon' unlocks the security of the ???'s Clock.]
[The ???'s Clock is connected to the system.]
[An authentication key is required to activate the ???'s Clock.]
[You must enter the Temple of Chronos and renew the authentication key.]
"Authentication key?"
At the same time, a window popped up before Zeke's eyes.
―Main Quest Mission―
[Renew the authentication key and activate the ???'s Clock. (No time limit)]
[Quest Mission Reward: Granting the power of Chronos]
"The power of Chronos, you say?"
Zeke knew the power of the Dragon Control, which was Bahamut's power.
'Chronos, the contracted dragon of the Hero King, must have power as strong as Bahamut's.'
Zeke opened the map to check the location of the authentication key renewal mentioned in the quest.
"This is...?"
The renewal location was none other than 'Aten', located in the eastern part of the Northern Continent.
"Hmm, Aten of all places."
The reason for his uneasy reaction was that Aten was the territory of the Nirvana clan, one of the three Transcendent clans.
If the Drakers controlled Midland and Ishtar exerted influence over the southern border and desert regions, Nirvana held great influence over Aten and the Stormy Seas.
"Well, it's not a place I can't go. There are many things to collect there, and I'll renew the authentication key while I'm at it."
In his past life, Zeke had been active in the Northern Continent longer than the Central Continent.
So he remembered various treasures and opportunities hidden there.
He recalled the hidden dungeon of the Archmage in Aten.
'It will take some time before that place is discovered.'
He had to be even more diligent, as he had to find not only the Seal of Chronos but also the authentication key for the watch.
Zeke carefully stored the pocket watch in his inventory.
Just then, Decker entered the room.
"Young Master, you have a visitor."
"If it's another banquet invitation, just send them away."
Decker shook his head.
"Cali Draker and Helen Draker are here."
"My sisters?"
Zeke rose from his seat and went to the drawing-room.
Unlike before, Cali and Helen were sitting on the sofa in casual clothes.
Zeke approached and greeted them.
"Welcome. I didn't expect you both to come in person."
Cali smiled and said,
"It's fine. We can't just summon the busy winner of the martial arts tournament whenever we want."
Zeke smiled back and sat across from them.
Cali then said to Zeke,
"As you might have expected, Helen is on our side. She participated in the martial arts tournament because she wanted to test your skills herself."
Zeke nodded at Cali's words and said to Helen,
"Thank you for your consideration, Lady Helen. If you had used your bloodline ability, I would have surely lost."
Helen flinched at Zeke's words.
"You even know about my bloodline ability. Zeke, you're starting to scare me."
Zeke grinned and said,
"Please consider it a personal interest in the Steel Knight."
Cali, who was watching the conversation between the two siblings with a warm smile, continued,
"The reason we came here is because of the current situation in Four Seasons Castle."
Zeke nodded as he listened to Cali's words.
"You're talking about keeping Abel Draker in check, right?"
"Yes, the elders will soon hold a meeting to discuss Abel's guardian knight position."
Zeke's expression hardened at those words.
Unlike ordinary knights, Draker's guardian knights could directly intervene in the clan's operations.
This was because the Council of Elders, who presided over the meetings, the Cross Society, which had internal audit rights, and the Guardian Knight Society, which was the executive body, were the main powers that moved the Draker clan.
If Abel received the guardian knight position, his influence within the clan would undoubtedly increase significantly.
Cali looked at Zeke and said,
"Abel is persuading the elders to obtain the guardian knight position at this meeting."
Persuasion was just a euphemism; it was no different from lobbying with the Empire's power behind him.
"Zeke, there's something I want to ask you."
She continued slowly.
"Go to the Dorta Republic and stop the deal between Abel and the Empire."
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]