654. [Side Story] Dusk Bringer (2)
The Palace of the Grand Duke of Bringer.
The girl lying on the bed was still breathing heavily and not regaining consciousness even after being treated.
“…”
Sitting at the girl’s bedside, the Daybringer observed the girl’s condition with a dark complexion.
At that time, Lieutenant Layton entered the room and reported to the Day Bringer.
“As a result of the investigation, he has no registered personal information, let alone a family register… He is probably a tramp from the slums.”
“…Why are you so hurt?”
“It’s common for poor street children to get hurt and die, sir.”
“A common thing?”
When the Day Bringer turned around with a raised voice, Layton responded coldly, remaining expressionless.
“dismissal. There can be no country without poverty and without crime. Don’t you know?”
“…”
“No matter how good His Excellency is, in the shadows, some will starve and some will be stabbed. Your Excellency is a great man, but he is not a god. Something like this happens.”
“…I know, Lord Layton. I am a flawed king and this country is not perfect. But even so.”
The Day Bringer peered into the unconscious girl’s face.
“Such children are dying in the shadows while my country celebrates in the sun.”
“…”
Layton glanced at the girl on the bed and let out a low sigh.
“It is already too late for that child. In a weakened state, too many injuries. I probably won’t make it through tonight.”
“…”
“Leave it to me, sir. I’ll bury you in a good place…”
“No.”
The Daybringer, who refused under the guise of a word, slowly rose.
“It is my… and this nation’s responsibility that this child is dying of starvation and injury.”
The Day Bringer’s calloused hand reached her mouth. The distinctive sharp teeth of the dragon blood heir were revealed.
“Since I governed the country badly, shouldn’t I be held accountable?”
“Your Excellency, no way…”
“I’ll save you.”
Embarrassed, Layton opened his mouth. Daybringer declared with a serious face.
“I will take this child as my follower… as my dragon knight, Lord Layton.”
The Daybringer bit off his little finger, drew blood, and brought the droplet of blood to the girl’s mouth.
“I don’t take objections.”
“dismissal! No…!”
There was no time for Layton to stop.
The dragon lady’s blood dripped into the girl’s lips.
***
When she opened her eyes, she thought she had died and had come to heaven.
Morning sunlight pours in through the cracks in the curtains. The feather pillows are soft and the duvets are warm. A cleanly washed body smells of good soap.
The girl finally believed that she was dead.
Can we live in a world where there is no pain or hunger?
Growling-
“…?”
But no.
This place was real and the body was clean, but the empty stomach was still there. The girl grunted and lifted her upper body.
‘I’m hungry…’
The girl found it when she lifted her head while holding on to her stomach, which was sore from starvation.
“…!”
Bread and fruit on a small plate on the bedside table.
I swallowed without realizing it, when I heard a voice from the other side of the bed.
“are you okay. It’s yours, so eat it.”
The startled girl looked over and saw a woman in a uniform wearing reading glasses and doing paperwork.
The woman who met the girl’s eyes – The Day Bringer smiled kindly.
“Doesn’t it market a lot? Eat comfortably.”
“…”
The girl hesitated and hesitated, then reached out with a trembling hand and picked up the bread. And I hurriedly took a bite.
The aroma of grain that spreads in your mouth and you don’t even know how long it takes to eat it.
Water droplets dripped from the corner of the girl’s eyes without realizing it.
Without even thinking of swallowing the bread, the girl shed tears.
“I’m sure I’m dead…?”
the girl asked in a muffled voice.
“If it wasn’t for the afterlife, there’s no way someone would treat me so warmly…”
“This is undoubtedly a reality. and.”
The Day Bringer chuckled.
“There will be many people who will treat you warmly in the future, child.”
The queen’s hand gently stroked the girl’s hair. And then the girl was able to swallow the bread in her mouth.
Bread soaked in tears was sweet.
I couldn’t get it that way.
***
The girl’s name was Soot. It meant ‘soot’.
“It’s called a name, but it’s been called that since sometime…”
The girl, who was discovered and raised in a coal mining town as a baby, has since moved to the back alleys, living in soot, ash, and garbage all her life.
So, it was the first time in my life to wear and dress up like this. The ribbon tightening her neck felt stuffy, so the girl flinched.
“Suit Sutra… that’s a good name.”
The Daybringer, who had personally trimmed the girl’s clothes, smiled with her thick lips.
“Don’t tell me first. suit. You have to live with me.”
It was a very happy and surprising statement, but Suit could not understand it.
It’s late to recognize, but the opponent is definitely a dragon lady. Aren’t you the queen of this country?
Why would you want to live with something as insignificant as yourself?
“I fed you my blood…dragon blood and transfused it again. Dragon blood flows through you now.”
In front of the startled suit, Daybringer scratched the back of his head as if making an excuse.
“Are you surprised? But your energy was so weak that I couldn’t help it to save you. Even then, you were unconscious for several more days. How fortunate I am to wake up like this.”
Suit was surprised because he didn’t know why the Daybringer did such a thing for someone like him.
I didn’t have the courage to ask any more.
It was because he was afraid that the Daybringer would kick him out because he asked for nothing and couldn’t find the reason.
“So, am I going to become a dragon now?”
So I turned the topic around. The Day Bringer kindly explained.
“It has some of the ‘qualifications’, but it’s not. To become a dragon, you need more courage, dragon blood, and… the decisive one.”
the definitive one?
Unable to guess what it was, the suit tilted its head.
The Day Bringer stroked his hair as if the suit was cute, then took the suit and headed inside the palace.
audience room.
The Daybringer came into this place, where there was a large but frugal throne without a single jewel attached to it.
She sat on the throne and the suit hesitantly stood beside her.
And I was able to find it a beat late.
“…!”
Two people were kneeling in front of the throne, bound.
It was a young woman with tattoos all over her body and an old male veteran who had one leg replaced with a prosthetic.
“According to the order of the great Dragon Lady, we have found and captured the culprit.”
The Day Bringer’s loyal lieutenant Layton reported. He has been scouring the city for the past few days in search of the culprits who brought Suit to death.
“Please order a disposition.”
“hmm.”
The Day Bringer’s eyes lit up with a cold light.
“Since you dared to touch a child who has become a member of my family and a dragon knight, you should be punished accordingly.”
Both women and veterans trembled like aspen trees.
It was a common occurrence in the slums countless times every day that a poor kid was beaten to death.
But, of course, it caught the king’s eye.
If you can’t see it, you don’t know, but you have to deal with what you can see. It was the king’s business, and the two criminals were well aware of it.
“Ja suit.”
Daybringer looked back at his suit and asked.
“They’re the ones who made you this way.”
“….”
“I have already received all the investigation results. They are the ones who exploited you and beat you to death. what punishment do you want? Dispose of it as you wish.”
The Day Bringer was expecting how harsh the suit would respond.
Dragon blood changes the person who accepts the blood into a warlike one. This was the reason why the dragon knight was also called a berserker.
No matter what their previous personalities were, those who received dragon blood enjoyed fighting and became rougher.
The suit was also endowed with dragon blood, and since he received dragon blood, he was destined to become a dragon knight raised by Daybringer himself. You must always pick up your sword and slash and kill the enemy.
The Day Bringer tried to observe how the suit would take revenge on them.
Depending on the aspect, you can guess what kind of dragon knight this girl will become in the future.
“…”
And after hesitating for a while, the suit opened its mouth.
“…I can dispose of it as I wish, my queen?”
“okay. What do you want?”
“Then can’t you release these people… Fu?”
Daybringer blinked in surprise at the unexpected answer.
“She exploited you for years and beat you terribly the day you almost died.”
“…”
“And that man stabbed you right before he died. If he had hit you a few more times, you would have died on the spot.”
“…”
“But you mean you’re just going to let them go?”
Suit opened his mouth in a trembling voice.
“But… my oldest sister has provided me with a place to live until I grow up. That and that soldier man, I stole his wallet first.”
“…”
“If you’re going to punish these two people… Please also punish me for being a pickpocket…”
With a trembling voice, the suit, which vomited out, closed its eyes tightly.
Silence fell in the audience room.
After a while, the Day Bringer let out a long sigh.
“…I guess I’m the one who should be punished.”
The Day Bringer scanned the people gathered in the throne room with a deep gaze.
“You left children like you unable to make ends meet except for pickpocketing, and let such children gather in the slums and exploit each other… and helped veterans who were loyal to the country live a difficult life. I, the king, am the greatest sinner.”
The Day Bringer then gestured.
“Let go.”
“yes.”
The soldiers untied the woman and the veteran. The two stood up from their seats, confused.
“The constables and my knights will be watching from now on, so be careful not to see my face again like this… never twice.”
The two people who had been caught walked out the same way they came.
The two bowed their heads to the Queen and to Suit. Suit could not bear to meet his eyes and lowered his head.
The Daybringer turned to Layton.
“Sir Layton.”
“Please tell me.”
“To tour the slums with the knights constables and treasurers to identify current issues and organize short-term and long-term slum welfare. Also look at the welfare of veterans. Not just in pension, but in many ways.”
“I take orders.”
“Also, strengthen the reporting system to reduce blind spots in the law. Make sure no children starve or get beaten to death in my city. Do you understand?”
“yes.”
Besides that, after completing various instructions to Layton.
The Day Bringer looked back at his suit.
“…Anyway, I don’t think you’ll be a good dragon warrior.”
At Day Bringer’s words, the suit shook his shoulders. But then he took a deep breath and lowered his head.
“Sorry to disappoint you… are you going to kick me out now?”
“what? Hahahaha what do you mean?”
Daybringer smiled brightly and rose from his throne.
“The essence of a person cannot be covered even if it is covered with soot.”
Then he leaned down in front of the suit and met the girl’s gaze.
“You are a good boy, Suit. And I’ve been waiting for a good person like you all along.”
The Daybringer smiled warmly at Suit, who blinked his eyes wide without knowing why.
“Do you want to live with me?”
Suits stared blankly at that smile that was dazzlingly warm like the midday sun.
The girl at this time did not know yet.
This benevolent and warm smile…I don’t think I’ll miss it for more than a hundred years.
And that it would take more than a hundred years to meet a boy with the same warmth and smile.
The girl at this time had no idea.
