Chapter 187

It was said with certainty.

Ian replied.

“I’ve heard that there is a posse, chasing after Fran.  And those posses have attacked me and my city, too.  Spartoi, the dragon mercenary, and real dragon, does anything come to your mind?”

From the tens and thousands of the mercenary dragons to the real dragon.

Wasn’t every one of them the beings connected to the dragon?

(A posse, what do you mean?  Of course, it is true that our race can command the dragon mercenary and real dragons.  However, that power does not solely belong to us.  Fran Paige, he, too, is a being who is possible to wield them.)

It was a power that Fran Paige could also wield?

“That means.”

Was everything just a Fran’s script to manipulate Ian?  He couldn’t be sure yet.  Still, his mind swayed.  At least, it was more believable than Fran’s words.

“…..I’d like to hear more.  Everything that your race knows about Fran Paige, every single detail.”

On Ian’s request, Reeses Rajendu surveyed the surroundings.

He was looking at the herd of the dragons, and Herpai Dotos, the sentry who was barely able to sustain himself.

(Everyone, return to your places and maintain the seal.)

(But, But…..)

(It’s fine.  Are you concerned about me?)

(…..Will follow your order.)

(Hm.)

Finally, everyone has returned to their own places.

Only Ian and Reeses Rajendu remained.

The private conversation between the two strong beings continued.

(Fran Paige.)

Reeses Rajendu fell into a deep thought.  He had so much to talk about the being of Fran Paige.  The question was, from where, and in what fashion should the story be told.  He was thinking about how to go about doing that.

(To attain our flesh, to attain the power, stronger than every member of the race combined, he wasn’t shy about committing some of the most heinous deeds.  To escape from the weak human body, he had conducted a countless number of experiments.  Is this a fact that, perhaps, you are aware?)

Ian nodded his head once.

Wasn’t it a story that he has heard from the real dragon?

(It would have been good, had he put a stop to his greed….Then perhaps, it might have stopped by cutting off just the relationships.  However, Fran Paige.  That sorcerer, who has fallen to the lowest level, did not know how to stop.  He began to show excessive obsession in strengthening his power, and in protecting the humanity, such that whenever his plan got sidetracked, he began to abuse the power of time.  He was so quick to change the outcome by turning back the time, even over a very minor event.)

Fan Paige regularly turned back the time?

This was the first time that he was hearing about it.

(As a side effect, what had been one world has been divided into many dimensions.  The tens of thousands of spawned dimensions, different worlds while the same, which cannot be controlled.  Think about it.  What do you think is waiting at the end of those divisions?)

That was, just because time was turned back didn’t necessarily mean that everything was turned back.  It was a concept of spawning a new, independent dimension, every time at which point the event of turning back of time would take place.  That was, even the world, in which Ian had been poisoned by Ragnard, was continuing as an independent dimension as well.

“……”

It wasn’t easy to believe.

Yet, it was persuasive.

(Even I, nor my race, could dare to guess what the end of that will be.  So, I wanted to eliminate the being of Fran Paige first, and put my race in charge of managing the divided dimensions, but it was impossible to bring death to someone who had already become an invincible monster.  Hence, I couldn’t help, but be satisfied by merely sealing him in.)

Fran has harnessed the ‘power of invincibility’.

Sealing was just the best alternative method.

That’s what it was in short.

(So, this dimensionless space was chosen as the place to seal him in.  That’s because this place does not get influenced by the outside world, at all.  Even if he was able to resurrect his spiritual being and turn back the time, it would still be meaningless.)

Reeses Rajendu who had looked at the purple sphere.

His story has stopped, right there.

“…..Thank you for the story.”

It was a story that was quite satisfactory to Ian.  It was entirely the work of Reeses Rajendu’s.  Unlike Fran who would make invidious remarks, or played tricks, he spoke with a speaking capability, fitting a being that lived for a long time.

The story was nearly perfect, only if what was true and false was filtered.

“However, there seems to be one thing missing.”

(What is missing?)

“I’ve heard that your race and Fran Paige were very close.  A teacher and an apprentice, or teacher-pupil relationship was what I’ve heard…”

Reeses Rajendu nodded his long neck when he heard Ian’s question.

“How did you become enemies?”

(It was a difference in the points of view.)

“Difference in the points of view?”

(He wanted us to protect the humanity from the many monsters, and even go further and nurture them afterwards.  Initially, I’ve accepted that idea.  I’ve diligently worked at it, and it wasn’t particularly problematic, either.)

The cooperation of the dragon race and Fran Paige.

As a result, the humanity was able to continue to exist at this present time.

(All the problems began to arise from that humanity.  As when they were able to take roots, they immediately began to take sides among themselves.  That is, going beyond establishing tribes, they formed countries, and then they killed, plundered, and robbed from each other.  Yet, they continued to cry out to us to be only on their sides.)

Reeses Rajendu who has been quiet as if to be reminiscing those times.

He continued in a lamenting tone.

(My race drew one conclusion, after having watched those endless conflicts.  That was that there was no more reason or value in protecting the humanity. As far as we were concerned with respect to the request, we were the protector of the entire humanity, rather than to be on the side of a part of the humanity.)

It was a very wise and cool headed decision.  Perhaps, if Ian had been on the stand as the leader of the dragons, he thought that he might have made a similar decision.

(However, Fran Paige had a different thought.  He had proposed to stand on the better side of the humanity as the humanity was divided between good and evil ones, amongst themselves.  We could not agree to that idea, at all.  No, not just disagreeable, we had decided that it was impossible.)

Fran’s idea was to help those groups that deserved help while it was the dragons’ position to equally not help any of them, at all.  Of course, there probably was a deeper and serious discussion on it, but that was the whole story in short.

(That’s how we ended the long existing cooperation, and things started from there.  That is, when he began to distrust us, and….)

There formed complex emotions around Reeses Rajendu’s eyes.

(When he had begun to fear our powers.)