Reincarnated Dragon Goes to the Academy!

Chapter 166 : Cold Things.

Cursis's eyes, staring at the cold stir-fried meat, were filled with regret.

'I served a foolish emperor.'

The image of Nella, stuffing her mouth full of the stir-fried meat he had made and giggling, was vivid in his eyes.

'I, who served that emperor, am also foolish.'

It was a precious connection that had come by chance.

It was also quite cute that what she had asked for after healing his injured leg was just to be taught swordsmanship.

'She's fearless.'

The child had approached him without fear, even though a man as big as a mountain was living alone in the forest, and had treated him without hesitation.

'Well, her skills are superior to mine...'

The image of her tearing bread with her hands and putting it in her mouth, and the image of her clumsily swinging the long wooden sword that came up to her waist, were unforgettable.

Cursis's eyes turned to the wooden sword leaning on one side. It was a small gift for Nella, who had saved him and become his friend.

He had chosen a good, hard piece of wood and had carved and polished it himself. He had polished it meticulously so that not a single splinter would stick out, lest it hurt Nella's soft palm.

'I wish she would come looking for me...'

He didn't even hope for forgiveness. He just hoped that the connection he had made with her would not all remain as bad memories.

Cursis, who had been staring blankly at the wooden sword, got up from his seat.

"Hah..."

He picked up the wooden sword and then the sandpaper that was placed next to it.

-Scrape, scrape, scrape.

The sound of the sandpaper finely sanding the wood grain echoed quietly in the forest.

-Scrape, scrape, scrape.

He moved his hands meticulously, as if washing away his sins with each stroke of the sandpaper.

-Scrape, scrape...

But there was no way his sins would be washed away by this mere sanding.

He knew who Nella's parents were. And he clearly remembered when Nella's father and the others had disappeared into the dew of the execution ground.

They had been under a silence spell and couldn't even scream, and they couldn't say a single word that they were innocent.

They just shed tears silently, and they were executed without being able to say a single word of love or apology to their families who were watching them.

"..."

Cursis looked down at his hand that had been sanding.

'How many sins have I committed with this hand.'

Tears welled up in Cursis's eyes as he stared blankly at his hand.

He had joined the Imperial Knights at the age of twenty and had achieved more merits than anyone else, and at the young age of twenty-seven, he had become the captain of the first prince's personal knights. He was the empire's promising young knight, and a sturdy sword to protect the first prince.

He had thought he would walk a smooth path like that. He had lost his parents early on and had gained the ability to support his lovely younger sister, so he had no worries.

But one day, his younger sister died. And she was brutally murdered at that.

'Oppa. I'll be right back!'

That day, when she had shyly smiled, flipping her shiny red hair that was just like his. That day, when he had asked her where she was going, dressed so prettily, and she had just blushed and left with a flick, his sister had died.

He couldn't believe it. Why on earth? Who had killed his sister?

He had run around for days and nights without eating or sleeping to find the one who had killed his sister.

'I heard that the young master of the Garrett barony was courting your sister.'

At someone's tip, Cursis had immediately gone to the Garrett barony.

When the central nobles were busy taking sides before the princes' fight, the Garrett barony was a family that had sided with the first prince early on.

When he had entered through the gate of the barony, Cursis had seen it. His sister's blood-stained hair ribbon, placed in a corner of the garden.

A bloodbath had occurred at the barony that day.

'Haze...'

But he was just a mere knight. Since the law should judge the crime, the act of wiping out the barony with his own hands was no different from breaking the law, so he had been arrested.

The one who had extended a hand to him then was the recently deceased emperor, Grad.

"Keuk..."

Cursis, who was reminiscing about the past, finally burst into tears.

"Keu-heuk..."

He was full of regret. For losing his sister, and for taking the side of the second prince, Grad, and taking the lives of countless people and staining his hands with blood.

Just as he was burying his head and wiping his tears, Cursis lifted his head at the feeling of a presence.

'Nella?'

Just as he was feeling a brief sense of gladness, thinking that Nella might have returned, his vision, which had been hazy with tears, slowly cleared.

"What makes you cry so sadly, my loyal knight."

It wasn't Nella.

"..."

Although it was a face he had never seen before, Cursis could tell.

That he was the emperor he had served.

"Don't cry. Are you sad because I left?"

The ashen skin and the straightly protruding horns. Even when the dazed Grad had suddenly changed as if he had become a different person one day, Cursis had vaguely known.

That there was another being in Grad's body now.

"No answer."

The protagonist he had only guessed at had now appeared before his eyes.

"I was reminiscing about the past."

He answered naturally, hiding his expression.

"Is that so. I came to see you after a long time."

The man with the ashen skin curled his lips.

"You are no longer my lord. I plan to forget everything and start anew here."

The fact that he had revealed himself and appeared was not a good sign. Therefore, Cursis expressed that he had no intention of revealing all the facts he knew.

"Is that so... that's a pity. You were like a friend to me."

The man rubbed his palms together and licked his lips. Like a person who couldn't eat even though there was delicious meat in front of him.

"A very good forest. The air is clear and clean."

"It is my new home. I am glad you like it."

"Hahaha! What good is it that I like it? It is your place to live, so it is good that you like it."

"..."

"Now, how is it. Do you like this place?"

"Yes."

The man's eyes scanned the forest once.

"I'm glad to hear that. Very glad."

"A guest is expected."

Cursis bowed his head politely. It was a way of telling him to leave now.

"Oh, right. I should. I've seen you, so that's enough."

The man nodded his head and smiled benevolently.

"Ah, but."

The man, who had turned to leave, stopped.

"I forgot one thing."

He turned his body again and approached Cursis.

-Swish.

A dark red streak of light cut Cursis's neck.

-Thud.

The head, separated from the neck, rolled powerlessly on the floor.

"I forgot this."

-Thump.

Cursis's body collapsed with a thump.

"I'm glad you like this place. I also thought it was a perfect place for a grave."

As he kicked the head rolling on the floor with his foot, Cursis's wide-open eyes turned towards him.

"Since a guest is coming, I should go now."

He bowed politely to the head rolling on the floor and turned his body.

"Farewell."

***

Nella, who had run out of the forest and returned to the Count's estate, had a head that was not just complicated, but as messy as if someone had rummaged through it.

They were things she had known without anyone telling her. But when all of those things came back as certain information, she felt like she was going crazy.

"Hah... hah..."

The small pond in the corner of the garden. Nella, who had sat down at the place where she had first met the Naiads, gasped for breath.

Her heart was heavy. Her heart was pounding as if it would burst, and she felt like she would vomit at any moment.

-It's a big deal.

-Something terrible has happened.

How much time had passed? The Naiads who had been staying by her side began to stir.

-What should we do.

-What should we do?

-Should we tell her?

As they circled around her, making a fuss, Nella slowly exhaled and looked at them.

"What is it?"

-It's a big deal.

-What should we do.

But they just kept repeating the same words.

"Hurry up and tell me."

-But...

-But he's your friend.

-No. She fought with her friend.

-Still, he's probably a friend.

Frustration welled up.

"Hurry up and tell me."

-But...

-Let's tell her.

-Right. We have to tell her.

And seeing the Naiads so anxious, she had a bad feeling.

"Hurry up and tell me."

-Your friend. That human...

-Can't be healed.

-That's right. He can't be healed anymore.

Hearing those words, Nella shot up from her seat.

"What does that mean?"

-He can't be healed anymore.

-Your human friend was attacked. By the gray human.

The human friend the Naiads were talking about was surely Cursis.

'No way.'

Nella, who had shot up from her seat, began to run.

"Heok... heok..."

Her breath came up to her chin.

'No. It can't be.'

To Nella now, Cursis was no different from the person who had killed her parents. Nevertheless, Nella liked Cursis.

The gentleness with which he had taught her the sword. The kindness with which he had told her about monsters and bandits seemed to prove that he was not a bad person.

'Nella. Not all bandits are bad people. They probably wanted to live a good life too. If you look into their hearts, there are many pitiful parts.'

He had taught her that even bandits who stole from others had pitiful stories, and that she should not hate anyone carelessly.

'Still, it's not right to walk a bad path. That's why we punish bandits. Otherwise, wouldn't the people who walk the right path even when they are in a difficult situation be pitiful?'

He had taught her to value those who lived righteously.

'The sword is a mirror that reveals the heart. If the heart is disturbed, the sword is disturbed.'

He had taught her how to use the sword righteously.

'Nella, since your heart is righteous, you are doing a righteous swordsmanship, even if you are clumsy. In my eyes, your sword is the most righteous.'

He had not berated her when she had gotten frustrated that it didn't go as she wanted, but had encouraged her.

"Please..."

As she entered the forest, the roof of Cursis's small house came into view.

"Please..."

Nella, who was walking, staggering as if her legs would give out at any moment, prayed ceaselessly.

That Cursis had not been harmed.

'Mister, I'm actually a bad child. I was secretly thinking of growing my strength someday and punishing all the bad people who drove out our villagers.'

Even when she had confessed her angular heart, Cursis had smiled faintly and said.

'Of course you should. That's what strength is for. Do you know what's really bad?'

She had quietly shaken her head.

'Those who grow their strength and walk the same path as the bad guys are the bad ones. And Nella. Everyone has that much of an angular heart, so don't ever think like that. In my eyes, you are a kinder and more beautiful child than anyone else.'

"Please..."

Cursis's laughter echoed in her ears. Every single word he had said rummaged through her mind.

Nella, who was standing in front of the small fence, could tell.

That he was already dead.

"Heuk... euk..."

The strong smell of blood and the house where no presence was felt.

"Heu-eu... heuk..."

She didn't want to see it. She wanted to grab her feet and stop her steps right away.

"Mister... heoo-eoh... Mister!!!"

But at her unstoppable steps, Nella, who had faced the gruesome scene with her own two eyes, wailed.

She plopped down on the floor and crawled, grabbing the ground. The blood that was soaked on the floor mixed with the sand and stuck to her hands.

The rolling head, which she lifted and hugged, Nella's cry was like that of a beast.

"Uwaaaak!!!"

The light in her two eyes, which she had lost on the day she had lost her mother, had returned not long ago, but it disappeared again.

"Why..."

Nella, who was holding Cursis's head, nonchalantly washed away the bloodstains that had dried on his bushy beard.

"Who..."

The girl who had lost her light approached the headless body.

"Who did this..."

She carefully placed the head on the cold neck.

"Mister. You said it was a good thing to grow your strength and punish bad people. Right?"

The water droplets that had gathered in Nella's hand washed away the bloodstains cleanly.

"O great king who rules the water."

The expression of the girl, who was reaching out her hand into the air with a blank expression, was like that of someone who had lost everything.

The water droplets that had gathered in Nella's hand floated up and began to draw a small magic circle.

"I wish to borrow your great power and make a contract."

The magic circle that had been slowly drawn in the air began to emit light.

"O great water spirit king, Ellaim, who has existed since the beginning of time. Please answer my call."

The small light began to grow larger.

"Please answer my call."

Nella's hand, which was maintaining the magic circle even as she was in pain from the vast amount of mana leaving her body, was firm.

"Please, please... answer me...!"

The desperate cry of the young girl, who had knelt before Cursis's now-clean corpse, filled the forest.

-Paaaaat!

Had the girl's desperation reached him? A strong light emanated from the magic circle that had been rumbling with a humming sound, and something that looked like a person walked out from it.

[Child. Pitiful child.]

"El... laim?"

Nella's arm, which had lost its strength, dropped.

[How pitiful...]

The small body collapsed onto Cursis's corpse.

[You've grown a lot.]

Ellaim, who was looking down at the girl, clicked his tongue as if in pity.

[You've grown a lot.]

A pure white light emanated from Ellaim's hand and warmly enveloped Nella.

[End of Chapter]