The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 787

Episode 787: You Know Who I Am (4)

“What do you mean?”
Arterion answered Giselle’s question plainly.
“It’s exactly as it is. It means the saint’s life is in danger.”
“Please tell me the details.”
“I heard that the saint has awakened and is wielding the power of the Holy Stone.”
“From whom?”
“Grondal.”
“…”
“And I heard about you from Iraniel too.”
“You have more friends than I expected. And you’re quite knowledgeable.”
Arterion smiled, seemingly amused by those words.
“I hear a lot of news from the world. That’s the dragon’s duty.”
“You hear everything from the Lair?”
“Yes, when the Demonic Realm is active, news reaches me in some way. That’s how I heard about you. First of all, I sincerely commend your efforts.” ”
…Praise isn’t what I want to hear.”
“No, no. You deserve praise. You deserve it. The emergence of a true saint capable of wielding the power of the Holy Stone is a very meaningful event for us dragons.”
“…”
“Our dragons have also been waiting for someone capable of handling the Holy Stone to appear.”
Giselle didn’t dismiss Arterion’s words lightly.
“What you’re saying is… do you happen to know what the Holy Stone is used for?”
“Since it’s an object imbued with the power of the goddesses, it would naturally be used in the fight against the Demonic Realm, wouldn’t it?”
Giselle narrowed her eyes.
Arterion was speaking as if the Holy Stone was only useful in the fight against the Demonic Realm.
It was a remarkably weak response, considering they had been waiting for the Saintess. They had been doing well in the fight against the Demonic Realm without the Saintess.
Arterion noticed this and shook his head.
“They expect the Saintess to be a great help in the fight against the Demonic Realm. Perhaps she could even eliminate the Demon God’s energy, wasn’t she?”
“…I see.”
His words made sense. Deneb’s divine power could burn away the energy of the Salvation Church. After all,
if they’d heard about Deneb, they could expect that much.
However, Giselle didn’t simply believe Arterion’s words. There were too many hidden secrets in this past for that to be the case.
Arterion gazed at Giselle with a profound gaze and continued,
“You have come to me to ask for the Holy Stone, haven’t you?”
“Yes. Deneb deserves the Stone.”
“That’s right. Treasures must return to their rightful owners.”
“Will you give it to me right away?”
“There’s no reason to refuse. Rather, I’ve been waiting for someone worthy to appear. However, if I hand it over now, the saint will be in danger. That’s why I can’t give it to you right now.”
Giselle understood Arterion’s meaning.
“Is it because of the Pope?”
“Yes. He is a greedy man. He will kill the saint and take the Stone.”
Giselle had expected that much. The Pope desperately wanted the Stone.
But she had no intention of handing it over to him. The Stone should belong to Deneb.
And Arterion, right before our eyes, wouldn’t want the saint to die. I could tell from their conversation so far.
The dragons were said to have been waiting for the saint.
So I tested Arterion.
“What if we just let it go? He’d just quietly offer up the holy stone and step down.”
“Still, he’d kill the saint. You could have predicted that, couldn’t you?”
Giselle snickered. Indeed, it was a perfectly natural thing to say.
The Pope wouldn’t leave a saint who could wield the power of the holy stone alone. The very existence of a saint posed a threat to the Pope.
Giselle sighed and said,
“Yes, I expected that too.”
“What were you planning to do?”
“If the Pope tried to take it by force, I was going to fight him.”
“Huh?”
Arterion’s expression was momentarily bewildered, then he burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! You’ve got a lot of guts. But no matter how strong you are, you can’t win against the Empire and all the kingdoms.”
“…”
“And the Salvationists will now come after you.”
“….”
“In other words, you have become enemies of the world. Can you really handle it?”
Giselle crossed her arms and frowned.
No matter how strong the Yulien Mercenary Corps was, it would be impossible to take on the entire continent. Even if she were to return in her original body, it would be impossible.
But that would only be if they fought head-on. Giselle had no intention of fighting like that, so she had a good chance of winning, but there was no need to tell Arterion that.
It was hard to completely trust him, but at least for now, the Dragon Lord seemed to have a crush on them. Needless to say, it was because of the saintess’s presence.
So they asked,
“If you, Lord, kill the Pope, it might make our journey a little easier. What do you think?”
“Huh… The more I look at him, the more dangerous he
seems.” “I don’t think the dragons would want the saintess dead .”
”
That’s true. But killing the Pope is impossible.
” “Why?” “Because that’s the pact we made.” ”
…A pact?”
“Yes. When the Demonic Realm rises, no dragon can touch the Pope. We can ignore his work and refuse to help, but we can’t actively interfere either. That way, we can fight the Demonic Realm without internal strife.”
“…” ”
The Demonic Realm priests have taken action. That means our dragons must now keep our oath.”
Oaths are the only way to control dragons. They are promises engraved in their souls.
“Ugh.”
Giselle clicked her tongue.
The Pope held the greatest power on the continent. If even a dragon couldn’t touch him, that meant the Pope was virtually invincible in the current situation.
Ultimately, Deneb had to be defended solely by the Yulien Mercenaries, without the dragon’s help.
Arterion smiled again and said,
“Do you understand why I can’t give it to you now? Because if I hand over the Holy Stone here, I can no longer intervene.”
“Then what were you planning to do?”
“Originally, I wanted to see if you were worthy of protecting the saint. Skill is one thing, but whether you could truly ‘serve’ the saint. I shouldn’t indulge in unnecessary greed and idle thoughts.”
Giselle chuckled at those words. Perhaps no one in the entire world cared as much about Deneb as Yulien.
If anyone tried to exploit Deneb, Yulien would risk his life to fight.
If Arterion had researched the Yulien Mercenaries, he would likely know a thing or two about them. The awakening of Yulien and Deneve was well-known even to the dwarves.
But Arterion likely wanted to see the Yulien Mercenary Corps with his own eyes.
“What if they’re not worthy?”
“I was just going to kill them and keep the saintess with me until I thought of another, better plan. Telling the Pope that I was considering handing over the Holy Stone would buy time.”
“…”
It was a radical, but understandable, approach.
If Arterion held onto the saintess without handing over the Holy Stone, the Pope would be helpless for the time being. After all,
he was the one who wanted to collect all the Holy Stones more than anyone else.
Of course, the faces of Deneve and her companions, who had been listening to the conversation, paled.
Giselle leaned back in her chair like Arterion and asked,
“So, how are you now? Do you think you’re worthy?”
“I don’t know. I’m still debating. It seems quite useful, but I’m not sure if you guys can handle this.”
“The elves and dwarves will help us.”
“I see. Iraniel and Grondal praised us so much that their mouths were watering. That’s why I’m worried. Because you’ve won the hearts of those picky people.”
“With the help of the elves and dwarves, the Pope’s army won’t be able to persecute us so easily. I’ll use that to persuade the Pope.”
“Persuasion?”
“Yes, we need the saint’s power to fight the Demonic Realm anyway. If the Lord supports us, the Pope will have to make some concessions.”
“Concessions…”
“The Pope wants the Holy Stone because, ultimately, he wants to stop the Demonic Realm. If we fight for the Stone, we’ll lose sight of our purpose.”
“Hmm…”
Arterion’s expression turned into one of disbelief at Giselle’s words. He didn’t think the Pope would give up so easily.
But he couldn’t just tell them to split into two groups and fight. From his perspective, it was more important for humanity to unite and fight the Demonic Realm.
If that weren’t the reason, he wouldn’t have made such an oath with the past Popes.
Of course, Giselle didn’t believe it would be resolved so peacefully.
‘I’ll do my best to persuade the Pope, but…’
If that didn’t work, she’d have no choice but to resort to other methods. After all, the owner of the Holy Stone was Deneb.
Knowing Arterion’s concerns, she’d tried to put the best spin on things.
But she knew it wasn’t enough. So she offered one more suggestion.
“If we become stronger, negotiations will be a little easier.”
“Stronger?”
“We need the Lord’s help.”
“What help?”
Giselle said with a smirk.
“I plan to train in the frigid lands for a while. Could you help me?”
“…Help us train?”
“Please share your knowledge with us, Lord. And provide us with various things we need for training, right?”
“Huh…”
Arterion looked intrigued.
Who would have thought a human would dare ask a dragon for help with training?
This was the first time I’d ever seen such a person. Yet, their reckless attitude intrigued him.
Dragons had always imparted much knowledge to humans, including magic.
So, it wasn’t unusual or difficult for Arterion to help the Yulien Mercenaries train.
Giselle continued with a confident expression.
“With your help, Lord, we will be able to become much stronger than we are now. And please provide us with some 8th and 9th circle magic books.”
Even Giselle had a hard time obtaining magic books above 8th circle. She couldn’t even find a clue about 9th circle magic books.
What good was it if his enlightenment was comparable to that? Without knowing the magic arts, Astion’s studies had stalled.
Since he’d already met the dragon, Giselle was determined to obtain the spellbook.
And Arterion burst into laughter at that bold request.
“Are you fearless? Or are you crazy?”
“I hear that often. But I’m neither fearless nor crazy.”
“Then what?”
“I’m doing it because it’s necessary.”
To protect Deneb, he must become stronger than he is now. Only then can the Yulien Mercenaries save the world.
Giselle never forgot that purpose. While others sometimes misunderstood Giselle’s actions, he was always moving toward achieving his goal.
Arterion looked at Giselle for a moment, then turned his gaze to Deneb.
“What do you think?”
“Huh?”
“Now that you’ve been proven a saint, we dragons must protect you. However, because of our oath with the Pope, we cannot act immediately. Are you prepared to stand with these friends until the end?”
Deneb nodded with a determined look.
“Yes, I want to save the world with these friends.”
A faint divine power emanated from her body again.
It wasn’t intentional. The divine power had naturally responded to Deneb’s resolve.
Arterion’s eyes lit up at the sight.
“Hmm… The Holy Stone is really responding.”
He looked extremely pleased.
The emergence of someone capable of handling the Holy Stone was the dragons’ greatest wish.
So, it was also true that they didn’t want to offend Deneb too much.
“Very well. If that’s what the Saintess wants, I will trust you and help you.”
Everyone’s faces brightened at those words. Obtaining the Holy Stone was easier than expected, and they had secured the dragons’ support.
The only remaining threat was the Pope. However, the group believed Giselle would be able to persuade him.
Arterion looked at Giselle and smiled meaningfully.
“Giving you the magic book isn’t difficult. Helping you train as you wish isn’t difficult either. But before that, I must first teach you according to my will. To protect the saint, you must become even stronger than you are now, as you said.”
“That’s what I’ve been asking. Just exclude a few.”
“Who are you talking about?”
Giselle pointed to the regular mercenaries and Marika’s subordinates who had recently joined.
“They can’t endure the harsh training yet. I plan to set aside some time to train them separately.”
“Yes, that shouldn’t be too difficult. I’m interested in you and Yulien.”
“If you say that with that face, others will misunderstand.”
“Ha? Hahahahahaha!”
Arterion laughed heartily, genuinely amused.
He had never seen anyone treat him so openly. He loved it.
Originally, Giselle had planned to send the regular mercenaries back to other branches.
But Crops’s assassins were watching the surroundings. If they were separated from her, they could die without anyone knowing.
So I had no choice but to keep him company.
I even thought about training with him, but I couldn’t drag him along without knowing what Arterion’s teachings were.
Arterion stood up and said,
“I’ll move right away. Everyone, get away from me.”
In an instant, a dazzling light and overwhelming energy exploded from his body.
The Yulien Mercenary Corps was startled by the intense wave of magical power and stepped back.
Paaaaaaa… …
As the debt subsided, what stood in their place was a giant dragon covered in pure white scales.
An elegant yet imposing form, seemingly embracing a blizzard. Its mere presence seemed to freeze the earth’s air.
A commanding voice rang in the ears of those who had been mesmerized by the sight.
“Climb onto my back. I’ll fly straight to the frigid lands.”
Giselle leaped lightly, as if treading the air, and climbed onto Arterion’s body.
He whistled as he perched on the dragon’s shoulder.
“Wow, it’s nice to ride on a dragon’s back.”
Arterion chuckled softly at this.
“You’re such a fun guy.”
Unlike Giselle, who was delighted, the rest of the group froze.
“W-We’re really supposed to climb onto a dragon’s back?”
“What if we fall?”
“Ah… I want to run away.”
They felt an instinctive fear. Traveling with Giselle felt like experiencing all sorts of things.
But they couldn’t avoid it, so they crawled onto Arterion’s body.
Once everyone was on his back, Arterion raised his head to the sky.
Kuoooooooo!
With a roar that seemed to rip through the sky, massive wings spread.
In an instant, a gust of wind blew, sending Arterion soaring.
“Waaaaaaah!”
The group screamed and clutched Arterion’s scales tightly.
The ground grew smaller, and they soared above the clouds.
Soon, Arterion’s body flew into the cold northern sky, drawing a silvery trail.
They began heading towards the frigid land.
To the end of the legendary blizzard, to the land sleeping on eternal ice.
And Darenz, watching them, broke out in a cold sweat and unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck.
“W-It was a real dragon?”
Judging by the situation, it seemed like the dragon had come to the Yulien Mercenary Corps in person.
I don’t know what they talked about. But if they were going to carry it on its back like that, the Yulien Mercenary Corps had a high chance of obtaining the Holy Stone.
“K-Please contact the Pope quickly…”
They couldn’t head towards the frigid land in this state.
This was Dragonlord territory.
To step into it without permission would be considered not a simple mistake, but trespassing.
Doing so would bring the dragon’s wrath upon them.
Darenz hurriedly wrote the letter, his hands trembling.
It was impossible for them to pursue the Yulien mercenaries alone.