Side Stories: Chapter 18

“The event will take place on the day that the Pope is scheduled to give his speech. If you can, try to avoid guarding and escorting duties since you all might also be affected.”

“I will bear that in mind. Even if things go wrong and we are put in charge of guarding the dragon itself, proceed with the plan. We will take care of things on our own end.”

“I understand.”

“Then, why don’t we separate if we’re done talking?”

Piros watched Wesker get up and said firmly, “Keep in mind that the success of this plan depends on whether or not you do a good job from now on.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Wesker turned around to leave the house.

“Wait!” Piros called out to him again.

“What is it this time?”

“Is the dragon slayer Zich, perhaps, already here?”

Wesker recalled his recent meeting with Zich and replied, “Yes.”

“Be extra careful with him. According to my sources, he’s incredibly sharp-witted and scheming. He could catch onto our plan.”

“…You think very highly of that man.”

“He is the biggest figure behind the dragon and the Bellids’ annihilation. I can’t help but evaluate him highly.”

“I will remember that,” Wesker said and finally left the house.

‘Things are going well.’ Wesker felt the magic box containing the dragon’s corpse inside his belongings. Though the magic box maintained the same weight no matter how heavy its contents were, it felt heavier than usual right now.

‘Did he really say that I should avoid guarding or escorting duties if I can? How utterly absurd.’ Wesker had already volunteered to guard the dragon on that day, and he would get the role if nothing big happened. Then, when the dragon was resurrected, the ones closest to it would be Wesker and the Miftil Kingdom’s troops centered around the Grashane knights.

‘We will defeat the dragon!’ Wesker thought. Then, a new dragon slayer would be born into the world. Of course, the battle won’t be easy and since many important figures from different countries and many tourists were attending the festival, there would be many sacrifices. However, Wesker didn’t care about that.

‘There must always be sacrifices for great things to happen,’ Wesker reasoned, and he thought such a situation would dramatize his fight over the dragon. Thinking about the cheers and praise he’d receive after his great victory, Wesker couldn’t stop smiling.

***

‘That’s probably what he’s thinking.’ Piros smirked. He could almost see what was probably going through Wesker’s head right now.

‘What a fool. He thinks he and some guys from the Miftil Kingdom would be enough to deal with the resurrected undead dragon,’ Piros thought. Wesker clearly didn’t know his place. It was to the point that Piros wondered if Bellu had directly sent Wesker to him for the Bellids’ plans.

‘Seriously, that might really be the case,’ Piros thought.

Wesker was the perfect figure to use considering his personality and status. What were the chances that such a guy like him would pop up at a time like this to help him with his revenge? Piros previously had plenty of information about Wesker. The one who had been in charge of setting up Glen’s plan to get Lara completely on his side was the Bellids’ western branch. Thus, as the leader of that branch, Piros had detailed information about Wesker, Feijadiru’s personality, the Miftil Kingdom, the Grashane and Browning families, and finally, Lara. Thanks to that, Piros was able to come up with this current plan pretty easily.

‘Those guys wouldn’t miss a chance to join hands with us,’ Piros thought. Only a year had passed since the Flaud family collaborated with the Bellids and completely fell into ruins. A normal noble wouldn’t have ever thought of cooperating with the Bellids no matter how much they yearned for something. Instead of just refusing, they would’ve gone straight to the Karuwimans to rat them out. Yet, those two had joined hands with Piros.

‘Everything is going well,’ Piros thought.

Wesker and his men were placed in charge of guarding the dragon and they even brought the dragon’s corpse from Lara. Now, all he had to do was wait.

‘An undead dragon won’t be weaker than the original,’ Piros thought to himself. There were various methods to making an undead, and the method they used allowed them to resurrect the dead with the original powers they had while alive. Therefore, they had to follow many complicated and complex processes and pour in tremendous resources to achieve this; some of these resources included people’s lives. When Piros asked his subordinates to sacrifice themselves, he was talking in more ways than one. Yet, his few remaining precious companions gave themselves up willingly with smiles on their faces, and the Karuwimans would soon pay for the sacrifices they had made.

‘It won’t be long.’ Soon, the world and the Karuwimans would get a taste of the Bellids’ rage and realize that the Bellids had not yet fallen. Even while everything was unraveling well, it wasn’t as if Piros had no worries. He worried if Wesker would continue to do well or if he would get caught by his enemies. Above all…

‘Zich…’ Wesker was worried about that man the most. He had made the greatest contribution to the Bellids’ fall. Piros had researched thoroughly about Zich. Since Zich was extremely famous, it wasn’t difficult to find detailed information about his life circulating in public.

‘There’s the deal with his strength, but what scares me the most is his keen senses and head.’ Zich was somebody who uncovered a scheme through small clues and crushed it entirely. Very few could carry such deeds beyond words and in action. Furthermore, he had stellar strength and fighting capabilities on top of that. Yet, there was nothing that Piros could do about Zich. It wasn’t as if he could kill Zich for being a hindrance.

‘If possible, I would’ve killed the Pope and the Saintess already,’ Piros thought and got up. The success of the plan depended on Wesker and the Miftil guys now, but there were still some things for Piros to do. There was no more time to waste and to inflict more damage on his enemies — he needed to perfect his preparations. After Piros left, a sinister silence fell in the empty house.

* * *

The festival was just around the corner. High-ranking officials and nobles from each country or group began to arrive gradually. They greeted each other and busily moved to make new connections. No matter how big and fun a festival was, people of their status couldn’t enjoy it carefreely. Making connections with Zich and the other dragon slayers and Bellid subjugators was their most important goal for this festival. Considering the dragon slayers’ skills and reputation, they wouldn’t be losing anything by getting closer to them. Moreover, if things went well, they might be able to form a friendship and get help from them. It sounded very opportunistic and calculative, but they wouldn’t be able to maintain their high positions without these characteristics.

However, Zich had no intentions of meeting them or accepting their extension of friendship. Thus, there were very few high-ranking officials or nobles who successfully met Zich—Joachim and Evelyn were one of those very few exceptions. After greeting Joachim and Evelyn, Zich and Lyla sat in front of them.

Zich said, “It’s our first time seeing each other after the wedding.”

Joachim smiled at Zich’s words. “Thank you again for coming to our wedding.”

Not long ago, Joachim and Evelyn got married. As promised, Zich and Lyla attended the wedding. A wedding between a count and a daughter of a marquess was a huge event, so it attracted all the attention of their surrounding territories. Furthermore, since the world-renowned Zich also appeared at their wedding, the responses they got were simply explosive. Just that alone significantly raised Count Dracul’s reputation and status, and he was able to reap great benefits in many areas thanks to Zich.

“One way or another, I’ve received so much help from you once again, Sir Zich.” True to Joachim’s words, Zich had stopped a malicious plot against the Dracul Estate, made Joachim the Count, and raised the reputation of the Dracul Estate which had fallen to rock bottom. Joachim was even able to meet his wife, Evelyn, through his connection with Zich. Joachim had received countless help from Zich, and he naturally felt extremely indebted to Zich.

“How are you faring, Countess Dracul? Have you been adjusting as the new Countess?”

No longer called Lady Rogue, Countess Dracul was Evelyn’s new title. Evelyn smiled and replied, “Yes, everyone in the Dracul family is very nice to me, but above all, the Count is paying his utmost attention to help me adjust.”

Joachim and Evelyn looked at each other. They looked at each other with love-sick eyes. Joachim now gave off the aura of a fully-fledged high-ranking aristocrat, and Evelyn showed the attitude and mannerisms befitting of the Countess. However, as expected, their old selves still showed up sometimes in front of Zich and Lyla since they were close to them.

Joachim and Evelyn were extremely happy to meet them. It was because they considered Zich and Lyla to be very good friends, but most of all, it was because they didn’t have to maintain their dignity and manners as aristocrats. In front of them, they didn’t have to act as Count Dracul or Countess Dracul; instead, they could return to their former selves as Joachim and Evelyn and purely enjoy themselves.

“By the way, when are you two planning to get married?” Evelyn’s eyes twinkled as she asked.

Then she looked at Lyla and said, “You even received my bouquet at our wedding.”

When Evelyn threw the bouquet at her wedding, it landed right in Lyla’s arms.

“Haha. I just caught it by chance…”

“What are you saying? If you couldn’t get it with your physical ability, you were planning to even use magi…ugh!”

Lyla stepped on Zich’s foot as he was about to add meaningless information and continued, “Nothing’s been decided yet. We also just want to travel around for now.”

“You won’t put it off for too long, will you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you hear that, Sir Zich? You should propose as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry. It might not seem like that, but I’ve been rigorously planning my proposal.” In a way, it was a very romantic thing to say. However, Joachim, who deeply trusted Zich, Evelyn, who was obsessed with love stories, and even Lyla, who would receive the proposal, looked at him with lukewarm eyes.

“If it’s alright with you, may I ask what your plan is?” Although proposals were usually done without the receiver’s knowledge, Evelyn had a strong premonition that she should listen to it now. Since Joachim and even Lyla, the one receiving the proposal, felt the same way, they didn’t stop her.

“Although it’s supposed to be kept a secret, I’ll tell you briefly. Proposals are done to move people’s hearts, right? That’s why people give unexpected gifts or perform surprising actions. I decided to focus on human psychology instead.”

With just these words, their ominous premonition seemed to already be correct.

“I’ve heard that it’s easy to fall in love in crisis situations because it’s easy to confuse thrill with love. In short, extreme thrill can also feel the same as extreme affection.”

“…Please go on.”

Evelyn didn’t want to hear it, but for her friend Lyla, Evelyn was determined to sacrifice her heart and ears.

“Rather than a proposal in an ordinary situation, I’m sure that a proposal given in a special situation would be more touching and memorable. That’s why I’m trying to look for bad guys suitable for my proposal—ones with a lot of people and power. If I wipe them out with Lyla and propose after that, there won’t be a better event than—.”

“Don’t even think about it!” Lyla couldn’t hold it in the end. She grabbed Zich by the collar and furiously shook him. Joachim laughed bitterly, and Evelyn clutched her head.