Dragon Poor

Before Kim Seon-Hyeok could even understand the first topic, another topic popped up and messed with his head. The longer the conversation continued, the more he became confused. 

“You were too?”

That single question contained countless questions. Marek answered the biggest question first. 

“Just like you, I was also a guest of this world.”

Perhaps it was because he had heard too many things, but after a certain point, Kim Seon-Hyeok became rather calm. 

“But from what I know, the last Great Summoning took place 200 years ago.”

200 years ago, before the recent Great Summoning took place, there had been other people who first visited this world. They had waged a great rebellion under the banner of equality, but they were suppressed by countless monarchs and superhumans. In the end, they were all executed. 

“Is there another Great Summoning that I do not know of?”

Many of the conveniences and ideologies they had created were said to be deluding and deceiving the people and abolished by those in power. It was to the point that now, it was questionable whether they had really even stayed in this world. 

“It is as you know. The last Great Summoning was 200 years ago.”

However, the existence of that past, which Seon-Hyeok had thought was completely erased, had suddenly appeared in front of him, transcending 200 years' worth of time. 

“Then, how…”

“I am a survivor of the Great Summoning that occurred 200 years ago.”

That existence was Marek.

“Ha, what? What is this?”

Seon-Hyeok couldn’t help but laugh in shock.

“Then the reason we fell into this damn world without knowing why, and lived this shitty life suffering, was all to maintain the balance of a world we didn’t even know existed?”

Marek didn’t respond. However, Kim Seon-Hyeok knew that the uncomfortable silence was no different than an agreement.

“Why?”

Kim Seon-Hyeok question. 

This world already had countless superhumans who were amazing. There were hundreds of thousands of knights on just this continent who could break through a thousand men with a single sword, and there were hundreds of thousands of mages who could cause all sorts of miracles with spells at their fingertips. 

If it really was that, then they were enough to maintain the balance of the world. There was no reason to bring over ordinary people who were perfectly well living in a different world. 

“What were you planning to do if I had won and you had to accept Julian as your successor? She isn’t a foreigner.”

Instead of answering the question, Marek sat up in his seat.

“The conversation ends here.”

There were so many questions to be answered, but Marek seemed unwilling to speak with him any longer. 

“If you want to know more than this, then you need to take an equal amount of responsibility.”

In other words, if Kim Seon-Hyeok wanted answers to his questions, then he had to become Marek’s successor.

“Are you joking right now?”

It would have been better if he knew nothing to begin with. He really hated Marek’s approach of only raising questions and not answering them properly, and then ending the conversation whenever he wanted. 

“If you were going to be like this, why did you even bring this up?”

How excruciatingly annoying.

Kim Seon-Hyeok was fed up with Marek for evading his questions, muttering about qualifications or responsibilities, every time he was close to getting the truth.

He felt like he was a racehorse that could only run forward with his eyes covered with blinkers. He hated that he was like a controlled puppet that only ran towards a finishing point set by someone else without even knowing if someone was racing next to him. He didn’t want to do it any longer. 

Kim Seon-Hyeok had no intention of waiting any longer, and he knew how to get to the truth right away.

“I must know the truth immediately.”

Marek frowned when Kim Seon-Hyeok’s expression turned chilly as he took a step back. 

“Are you saying we should duel right now?”

In response to Marek’s question, Kim Seon-Hyeok tilted his chin upwards in provocation.

“Why? We can’t?”

For a moment, Marek looked at him probingly.

Almost as if to determine if he was being sincere, Marek stared into Kim Seon-Hyeok’s eyes for a while. Seon-Hyeok was willing to prove his sincerity.

Ooooooh.

The explosive energy of the war dragon was released in an instant as it swirled around the entire room. Marek didn’t lose either. He released a fighting spirit as keen as a sword so that the ferocious dragon’s spirit could not overwhelm him. 

The two superhumans didn’t back down a single step. With a loud noise, the pitiful household items in the room were destroyed by the wind created by these two men. 

Shatter. 

“Grand Duke!”

Kim Seon-Hyeok heard an urgent shout from outside the door, and before he could even answer, knights dressed in golden armor poured into the room.

“Protect the Grand Duke!”

Although the knights were thrown off for a moment by the fighting spirit from the two men filling the room, they didn’t forget their duty.

Clank, clank.

Just as he thought he heard the harsh sounds of the iron armor clanking, a sea of people had already formed around him. 

“Imperial Guards, draw your swords!”

Their opponent was a dignified duke of the Empire, the Sword Star, someone known to be matchless with his sword. But nonetheless, the Imperial Guards didn’t hesitate in drawing their swords.

“Hup!”

With a short breath, the knights drew their swords and pointed it at Marek as they brought up their sword energy.  

It wouldn’t be strange if swords started flying and people started to fall down as they bled out. The room had become a complete mess due to the fighting spirit exuded by the two superhumans as well as the knights.

“What on earth is going on?!”

“Stand back! This is where the Grand Duke is residing! No one may enter this place without the permission of the Grand Duke!”

The ruckus inside the room must have spread outside because a commotion could be heard from afar.

“This is Mangsk! At the very least, you should be informing us what is going on…”

“Do not make me repeat myself! Stand back!”

It was a mess both inside and outside the room.

However, Kim Seon-Hyeok and Marek, the two culprits of the disturbances, didn’t say a single word and just continued to stare at each other through the golden armor blocking their path.

Time continued to pass like this.

“I see you weren’t simply saying empty words.”

Marek’s stony expression relaxed enough to speak.

“There’s no reason to take the long way when there’s the fastest route in front of me.”

Marek muttered to himself when he heard Kim Seon-Hyeok’s response.

“The fastest route…”

It seemed like Kim Seon-Hyeok’s words were too blunt and crazy-sounding. Marek’s expression hardened.

“If you go too fast, your feet may be tied up forever. It’ll be too late to go back and regret it then.”

Marek was telling him that if he should lose, he would have to accept the fate of an Adjuster without complaint so he should decide carefully.

“Well, in my eyes, that path still seems to be a shortcut.”

It was unlikely that he would suddenly become stronger or that the outcome of this duel would change in a short period of time. There was no reason to waste anymore time.

“What will you do? Do you want to  end things right here? Or shall we move locations?”

Market’s question was very one-sided and left no room for his opponent to retreat.

“Let’s move. It wouldn’t be polite to destroy the host’s castle when we’re here as guests.”

Marek’s sword sharp fighting spirit quickly subsided and Kim Seon-Hyeok brought down his accordingly.

“Imperial Guards, stand down.”

The Imperial Guards withdrew their swords at his command, however, they didn’t relax their formation.

“Don’t make me repeat myself. Stand down, Imperial Guards.”

Although his fighting spirit wasn’t explosive like before, that didn’t mean his words didn’t carry weight.

A knight of the Imperial Guard responded as if he had been ready for it. 

“Her Imperial Majesty has said that at times, the Grand Duke will do strange things, and that all of them will be dangerous so we should stop you even if it means risking our lives, sir.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok had been staring at the knight of the Imperial Guard with a cold expression, but when he heard it was from Ophelia, he shuddered.

“I’m sorry to say this, sir, but I believe this is a moment in which I must risk my life.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok was speechless. He had never thought that Ophelia would have foreseen a situation like this and prepared for it.

“I will accept any punishment for the crime of disobeying you, Grand Duke.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok sighed at the knight’s sincere words while Marek, who retreated a bit, began to laugh.

“It seems that the Empress does not want the duel between us to happen.”

Seon-Hyeok frowned at Marek’s subtle taunting. 

If he wanted to, he could forcefully have the knights of the Imperial Guards stand down. It might make things difficult for them, but right now, it was more important for him to find out the truth.

After briefly thinking about it, Seon-Hyeok made a decision and began trying to get the Imperial Guards to withdraw. If necessary, he would have commented on the knight’s code of honor and forced the Imperial Guards to listen to him. At least, they would have listened if the knight hadn’t pulled out an envelope with the imperial seal stamped on it from his breast pocket. 

“Her Imperial Majesty has said that if the Grand Duke does not change his mind, then take out this letter and present it to him.”

“Ugh.”

His face flushed as if he was caught by his wife doing something bad, but he pretended like nothing was wrong as he asked Marek to wait a moment.

“Only when the family is at peace will your mind be at peace. I will wait.”

Marek murmured. The moment others had intervened, he had hid his true nature of an Adjuster and returned to be a tactless old knight. 

“It won’t take long.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok sighed as he ripped the seal off the envelope.

“What did Her Imperial Majesty say?”

Marek questioned Seon-Hyeok when he saw that the latter's expression had turned stony the moment he read the letter. However, Marek’s tone made it seem like they were already halfway through the duel and Seon-Hyeok was losing. . 

Instead of answering, Kim Seon-Hyeok raised his hand and asked for Marek to wait a little longer as he continued to read the letter.

“Hm.”

He raised his head after finally reading the last part of the letter. His gaze turned straight towards Marek. However, the look in his eyes was unfamiliar.

“How interesting.”

“What is?”

Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t answer. He merely tucked Ophelia’s letter away into his breast pocket as if it was a precious treasure.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone the duel for a while.”

“It seems so.”

Marek got up from his seat with his face expressing that he knew this would happen. 

“Then let’s continue this topic again later…”

“This time tomorrow.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok spoke firmy to Marek.

“I’ll be waiting outside the castle.”

Marek had thought that because of Ophelia’s reluctance, the duel would be postponed indefinitely, but Seon-Hyeok was setting the date for the duel to tomorrow, much earlier than expected.

“Looking at your expression, I’m getting more curious about the context of the letter.”

“You sure are curious about many things. Why are you so curious about a letter between couples?”

“A letter between couples…”

Marek frowned momentarily before asking.

“If it was just to say hello, why is your expression like that?”

“What do you mean?”

Marek’s expression hardened even more at Seon-Hyeok’s nonchalant answer. 

“Right now, you…”

Marek’s sharp gaze bore into him.

“Look as if you’ve already won the duel.”

Without realizing it, Kim Seon-Hyeok touched his face.

“Do I?”

His lips curled up enough that even he could feel it, but he didn’t bother fixing his expression. 

“If the Duke feels that way, then it must’ve been.”

His confident attitude was so hateful that Marek, whose expression usually doesn’t change, glared at him fiercely.

“I will make sure to find you tomorrow.”

The energy Marek exuded as he left the room was so intense that the Imperial Guards drew their sword reflexively.

However, Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t care how fierce Marek’s expression was.

“Who knew I’d get help like this?”

He pulled out the letter from his breast pocket and stared at it with a look of wonder in his eyes.