Chapter 207: Turning Point (7)
In the end, we had been a step too late.
No—perhaps, as Windy May had said, it was more accurate to say we were two moves behind.
"…Airos is dead."
Returning from the Forest of Secrets, Yeriel uttered in a dazed voice.
His voice was cracked and hollow, filled only with despair.
Everyone reacted differently to the shocking news, but the disbelief was unanimous.
"……"
Even Windy May, who hadn’t been on good terms with Airos, looked genuinely surprised.
Despite everything, he had been a being powerful enough to be called an Ancient Dragon.
He might have been easy to deceive, but he was never someone easily killed.
"What happened, Headmaster?"
It was Lian who broke the silence.
Yeriel slowly nodded.
"I had a bad feeling while fighting the invaders. I rushed over, but I was already too late. He was lying there with his heart torn out."
He paused to catch his breath, as if choosing his next words.
Then, leaning close to Windy May so that only she could hear, he added in a low voice,
"…The sanctum was completely destroyed. Everything inside it was gone."
"……"
Windy May quietly closed her eyes in guilt.
‘I can’t face Master anymore.’
It was true that the remains of several knights had been enshrined within the sanctum…
But nearly three hundred years had passed since then.
Naturally, time would have decayed and rotted their remains.
However, someone powerful enough to kill Airos.
Someone who used the bizarre iron needle that brought back the dead.
And the fact that the sanctum, where the coffins and belongings of the Heroes were placed, had been destroyed and completely emptied.
Not one of those was something to take lightly.
A thief who drew this much attention had to have a clear and significant purpose.
‘Even if magically preserved, it’s still been three hundred years. Not even the remains of a Dragon would serve well as a medium for summoning a spirit after that long. But their power is entirely unlike traditional necromancy. If so, then perhaps…’
…they might be trying to bring them back to life.
No—regardless of how optimistic one might try to be, it was clear that they had stolen the remains for exactly that purpose.
Windy May continued to consider worse and worse possibilities, spiraling deeper into thought.
Then, a low, heavy voice suddenly cut through her contemplation.
"What was the scene like?"
It was Urkubar.
He had approached at some point, still wearing that emotionless expression as he stared at Yeriel.
"……"
Yeriel glanced briefly at Windy May instead of answering right away.
When she gave a faint nod, signaling it was okay, only then did he speak.
"It was unnaturally clean. To someone unaware, it would’ve looked like nothing had ever happened."
He added,
"…Honestly, it looked like Airos had his heart torn out without putting up any resistance."
At Yeriel’s reply, Urkubar asked again.
"Then what happened to the body?"
"I recovered it myself."
Then he murmured quietly,
"I couldn’t just leave it there. More importantly, if it fell into the enemy’s hands, it would’ve been catastrophic. I was planning to wait for the right time and give him a proper burial…"
"In that case, hand it over to me."
Urkubar’s voice was firm.
It might have sounded like a polite request, but the undertone made it clear—he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
"I will personally conduct his funeral rites."
"…I appreciate your offer, but…"
Yeriel looked at him quietly.
"Airos and I were acquaintances, in our own way. …Yes, we were close friends. I can’t simply hand over the body of a friend to someone who just saw him for the first time today, can I? So I’m afraid I can’t comply with your request, Elder."
"No—you must hand his body over to me."
Urkubar’s response made Yeriel’s brow twitch slightly.
He continued in an unwavering tone.
"Why?"
"I don’t doubt that you were friends, but I’m sorry—humans cannot be trusted."
Urkubar’s tone was coldly professional.
"I know very well how you humans treat the corpse of a Dragon. The bones, flesh, blood, scales… not a single part is left unused."
"……"
"That’s why I want his body recovered by us—by Dragon hands. Even if we weren’t that close, Airos and I at least knew each other’s names and faces. More importantly, he is one of my kin. To be killed like this, heart ripped out in a foreign land… If I hadn’t known it was him, perhaps I could’ve walked away. But now that he’s in front of me, I cannot ignore this."
His voice was filled with sorrow, but also steely resolve.
Windy May gently tapped Yeriel on the shoulder.
"Yeriel."
"……"
It was a sign to hand it over.
Eventually, Yeriel sighed quietly and began pulling out a simple wooden coffin from his subspace, clearly hastily made.
Inside the coffin lay the cold, lifeless body of Airos.
"……"
Urkubar took the coffin silently.
His gaze lingered on it for a moment.
"…Originally, I had planned to leave quietly after taking my granddaughter and making that insolent brat pay."
A chill flickered in his eyes.
"But seeing my kin die in such a wretched way—I can no longer do that."
A chilling breath escaped from his lips.
"That masked man, and all who are connected to him… I will see them judged without fail."
"Are you saying you’ll join us?"
Lian asked, to which Urkubar scoffed.
Then, he looked at Windy May, Deiare, and the others in turn.
"How could I ever cooperate with mutts, beasts, and worthless humans?"
With that, he slowly approached Menoruka.
Menoruka, still shaken from earlier, was sitting pressed tightly against Amaruah.
Amaruah silently patted her back in comfort.
For the past few days, it seemed they had opened up to each other, even if just a little.
“Child.”
At Urkubar’s call, Menoruka flinched and looked up at him.
“G-Grandfather…”
“This is enough. Let’s go back now.”
Then Menoruka asked in a trembling voice,
“...Before that, may I ask you something?”
“Yes, ask anything you wish.”
She spoke carefully.
“When you said you would ‘make him pay’... may I ask what exactly you meant…?”
“It’s exactly as you heard.”
Urkubar’s voice was cold as ice.
“I will tear that arrogant bastard limb from limb for bewitching you and leading you on this perilous journey. I will scatter the pieces of his corpse across the continent on my way back. His family, too, will be severely punished.”
Menoruka’s breathing grew ragged at his answer—one that went far beyond anything she could have imagined.
“H-He… What crime could he possibly have committed…!”
“I already told you. He’s the reason you ended up in danger.”
Menoruka shook her head desperately.
“That’s not true! He… He saved me! If he hadn’t helped me back then, I would have already been captured by the masked man…”
She trailed off, unable to continue.
Then, with a trembling voice filled with resolve, she added,
“...I would have ended up just like that child.”
Urkubar’s brow twitched ever so slightly.
“…In that case, I will leave his family alone. I will settle this by punishing only him.”
“If setting off on a journey to find him is a sin—!”
Menoruka shouted.
“Then Grandfather, sealing away my memories is also a fault of yours!”
“The situation between me and that human is different.”
“How exactly is it different?”
“There’s no need for me to answer. You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
Menoruka bit her lip.
Then, a single sentence, filled with unwavering determination, escaped her lips.
“I will… I will marry him!”
Menoruka declared with conviction.
Urkubar’s face slowly twisted with fury.
“…Don’t think I’ll indulge your every whim just because I love you, my dear granddaughter.”
“No.”
Menoruka shook her head fiercely.
“This isn’t a whim.”
“Then what is it?”
“The truth is… even as I came here, even after meeting him again, speaking with him, and expressing my gratitude in my own way… I kept wondering if marrying him was truly the right thing.”
Menoruka slowly lifted her gaze to meet his.
“But seeing you like this, Grandfather… it’s only strengthened my resolve.”
Urkubar’s eyes gleamed with a chill.
“…Go on, then. Let’s hear the rest.”
All this while, Junongren had been quietly watching, but now she cautiously spoke up.
“E-Elder. Please calm down, just for a moment—”
Urkubar’s sharp glare snapped to her, and Junongren hastily closed her mouth.
Despite this, Menoruka did not back down in the slightest.
“I will never go back! Especially not if it means he’ll be hurt because of me! If… if something like that happens, then I, too, will repay the grace he showed me—with my life, if I must!”
“You—!”
Urkubar widened his eyes and stepped toward her, but Amaruah calmly rose to her feet.
“Please calm yourself, Elder.”
“…Ah. You’re that child who’s been hanging around our lineage.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“…Then stay out of this. I’d rather not disgrace a child from another lineage.”
Amaruah continued, her voice calm.
“Both you and your granddaughter are far too emotional right now.”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“…We’re standing before the body of a fellow kin. Please calm yourself, if only a little.”
Urkubar paused at her words.
Then, with a deep sigh, he turned around.
“…I will return in a few days. Be ready to leave by then.”
Leaving those words behind, Urkubar disappeared with Airos’s coffin in hand.
“Ah…”
Junongren hesitated for a moment, then gently patted the head of Menoruka, who stood with her head bowed, struggling to hold back tears. She then hurried after him.
“…That old man just had to stir up trouble and ruin the mood.”
Watching them quietly, Windy May clicked her tongue and muttered.
Then she approached Menoruka and gave a polite nod.
“I’m really sorry to bother you at a time like this, but could you help us for a bit?”
Menoruka quietly looked up at her.
“Yes… What do you need of me?”
“I know it’s hard, but as you can see, we’re short on time and options.”
Windy May spoke with a conflicted expression.
“Some of our companions have already been killed. Maybe even more have died without us knowing. We have to stop this before there’s even greater loss.”
“What can I do…?”
“The masked man.”
Her eyes glinted with seriousness.
“We’d like to hear about him. Would that be alright?”
“…”
Menoruka hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.