Chapter 215
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, please look this way. If you pull this lever, the sluice gate will open and the water will drain.”
Clunk!
At the lock operator’s explanation, the lever was pulled.
With a clanging metallic noise, the pulley inside the lock turned.
The sluice gate opened.
The water inside the lock drained, and the water level dropped.
“Oh? It’s real. The water’s draining?”
“My goodness. What kind of device is this?”
The small cruise ship waiting inside the lock also descended as the water level lowered.
The passengers looked around the lock with curious eyes.
The inside of the lock was like a huge rectangular tank.
As the water receded, various relief carvings were revealed.
A dragon raising the royal city in the distant past.
An interim king chosen by the dragon’s vote.
Greedy, ambitious people revealing their desires as the interim king aged.
The royal capital engulfed in flames due to the ambitious people’s civil war.
A heroic knight appearing at that time.
He saved the old interim king.
He drove out the ambitious people.
He received the people’s fervent support.
And so, he took the interim king’s princess as his partner.
Finally, he declared this place the royal capital Magentano and opened a new dynasty.
“Isn’t that our kingdom’s founding myth?”
“That knight there, doesn’t he look like the founding ancestor, Hero-King Michael?”
“Judging by the large flower on his helmet, it seems certain.”
“That flower—wasn’t it a token of the promise the Hero-King made with the dragon in his youth?”
“That’s right. That’s why it’s used as a symbol of our royal family, isn’t it?”
The carvings of the founding myth inside the lock.
Pride rose on the passengers’ faces at that unexpected spectacle.
They were proud to be citizens of a prosperous kingdom.
That patriotism peaked when the cruise ship, following the waterway, reached the center of the garden.
“D-dragon…”
“Are those real dragon bones?”
“It seems so. But that… is that a statue?”
“Statue? Where?”
“In front of the prostrate dragon skeleton.”
“…Ah, it’s really there!”
“It seems like that’s Her Majesty the Queen.”
“It’s like she’s making the dragon kneel.”
“Amazing…”
A dragon bowing its head and prostrating itself.
A statue of Queen Alicia standing tall before it.
It was a masterpiece, magnificent and exquisitely balanced.
The sheer scale and power overwhelmed the viewer.
The waterway had been laid out so the cruise ship would pass right in front of it and look up at the statue and dragon bones, making that overwhelming presence feel even more dramatic. No, it even felt like you had become part of the scene with the dragon and the Queen.
A feeling of witnessing great history.
A sense of unity, as if you had stepped into a decisive moment.
The cruise tour stirred the passengers’ patriotism to the fullest.
In that state, the passengers disembarked at the pier.
The pier connected directly to the opening ceremony banquet hall.
In other words, the nobles of the royal capital were entering the banquet with their pride in the nation at its peak.
Of course, Lloyd’s own pride, having quietly blended into that crowd, had also reached its peak.
‘Such a delicious buffet. Long live the Magentano royal family. Long live Queen Alicia.’
The vast banquet hall prepared in Magentano’s Resting Place, the garden’s central space.
It was beyond luxurious.
Even to Lloyd, who had attended quite a few banquets in this world, it felt like the final boss of extravagance.
‘This is even more than when Ahinsa was throwing money around, isn’t it?’
There was every kind of food.
And it was all delicious.
Like triple-plus top-grade Korean beef bought by emptying your wallet.
The moment it hit the tongue, it melted away, delivering the mysteries of nature straight to the taste buds.
And best of all, it was free.
“So, do you like this kind of food, Lloyd?”
“Oh, of course.”
Lloyd replied as he slurped up an unbelievably delicious seafood pasta whose name he didn’t know.
Then he asked Javier, who had spoken to him.
“Of course I like it. Why would I hate it when it’s free?”
“…”
“What are you doing? Eat quickly. If you don’t know, memorize it. In times like these, eating is always the best thing to do.”
“Not really…”
“You don’t feel like it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To be honest, I’m having doubts about whether we should be wasting money on such luxurious food.”
Javier said as he looked at the plate in front of Lloyd.
“It’s too precious. It’s unnecessarily luxurious. It’s inefficiently expensive. With the money to prepare the food on that plate, we could buy much more grain and bread.”
A faint dissatisfaction shimmered in Javier’s eyes.
A smile formed on Lloyd’s lips.
“Ah. You mean if we cut back on this luxurious meal a little, more people in the royal capital could eat?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re not wrong. But what can you do?”
“What do you mean, what can I do?”
“It’s not like this food will be left over and handed to commoners just because you don’t eat it.”
“…”
“It’s not our money either. This banquet is prepared and hosted by the royal family. This food matches the dignity of the occasion.”
“Still, such luxurious events…”
“Are absolutely necessary.”
Javier paused.
Lloyd glanced around the banquet hall.
“Look over there. Those people are nobles from the royal capital, right?”
“Yes, it seems so.”
“Then what about those people over there?”
“They seem to be foreigners.”
“That’s right. They look like diplomatic envoys from neighboring countries. That’s why.”
Lloyd continued.
“Events like this are absolutely necessary. Especially after the nation poured funds into a huge, magnificent construction project.”
“Why is that?”
“Because this place itself is nothing more than a thoroughly planned, grand showcase.”
Lloyd looked around the vast, meticulously crafted garden.
Javier frowned slightly.
“A showcase…”
“Yes. For showing off.”
“Are you saying it’s a display of national power, aimed at both domestic and foreign countries?”
“Of course.”
Lloyd smiled brightly.
“Not just anyone can create a garden like this. The fact that we can carry out a project of this scale without problems proves we have that much capital, that materials are abundant, and that we have the strength to mobilize and support such a massive undertaking. It’s a statement to the world.”
That was the truth.
Projects like this weren’t mere pretense or extravagance, despite how they looked.
A construction project of this magnitude was an indirect but clear measure of real national power.
History on Earth was the same.
France’s Palace of Versailles, similar to this Termina Grand Garden, was like that.
Russia’s Peterhof, built in imitation of it, and Prussia’s Sanssouci, were like that too.
So this was a showcase.
A grand event to inform both domestic and foreign countries of the royal family’s power and potential.
“So enjoy it. This is an extravagance being carried out because it’s necessary.”
“Hoo, but…”
“Oh? This is an Ahinsa specialty, a palm fruit.”
Flinch.
Javier, who was about to protest, froze.
The palm fruit he had tasted in Ahinsa.
That sweet-and-spicy flavor surfaced in his mind.
An evil smile spread across Lloyd’s lips.
“Gotcha?”
“…”
“See? If there’s food you like, you’ll eat it without hesitation.”
“No. I was just holding back a sneeze, so I tensed up.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Sincerely?”
“Yes.”
“Then can you swear you won’t touch that palm fruit even if it’s placed in front of you?”
“Of course…”
“Oops, the real thing is here.”
Lloyd quickly snatched a passing servant’s plate.
There really was an Ahinsa specialty palm fruit on it.
Lloyd’s grin turned even more wicked.
“Then I’ll enjoy it.”
“…”
Javier’s face hardened.
Seeing that, Lloyd couldn’t help smiling again.
Was it because teasing him was fun?
No.
‘Those reactions… they’re definitely Javier.’
A knight who always stands on the side of the weak.
A hero who pursues distant righteousness over power right in front of him.
Once again, images of Javier from the novel *Iron-Blooded Knight* surfaced in his mind.
‘That’s right. It’s easy to forget because I’m with him every day, but Javier was always this kind of guy.’
A man who would choose a conversation by a bonfire over a luxurious banquet, and never regret it.
A man who would buy dozens of sacks of bread with the money spent on rare food and hand it out to people.
That didn’t change even after he became a Grand Master in the novel.
‘If he wanted to, he could’ve gained wealth and power without limit. No—if he truly went all out, he could’ve established a kingdom with ease.’
But Javier didn’t.
‘What an incredible guy.’
Lloyd smiled and picked up a palm fruit.
He held it out to Javier.
“Why are you so serious? Eat it.”
“…”
“I won’t say anything. I’m telling you to eat it.”
“…”
“Hey, eating is more important than swearing, alright?”
“I didn’t swear.”
In the end, a bitter smile formed on Javier’s lips as well.
He took the palm fruit.
But it was at that moment.
Thud, kuang—!
“……!”
A loud, heavy crash rang out without warning.
Startled, Lloyd turned.
“Huh.”
The dragon skeleton kneeling in the center of the garden, as though part of the decoration.
Its skull, assembled like a museum dinosaur fossil, had separated and fallen to the floor.
‘What is this?’
He was dumbfounded.
That wasn’t something that should come loose and drop that easily.
He had seen the installation process himself.
It had been secured with steel chains and supports.
‘At least no one got crushed.’
For an accident like this to happen at an event meant to be a showcase…
Lloyd clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched.
Sure enough, the banquet hall was in an uproar.
Queen Alicia, who had been seated at the head table, rose and began issuing orders to those at her sides.
Soon, two people were summoned to the head table.
The sculptor responsible for installing the statue and dragon skeleton.
And Viscount Norte, who had overseen the garden construction.
‘Damn. Viscount Norte, you’re going to be writing a proper report.’
Watching Viscount Norte fidget as he was called up, Lloyd couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.
It couldn’t be helped.
‘He was picky, but he was still good to me.’
The Viscount had voluntarily taken charge of most of the design and construction. Thanks to that, Lloyd only had to focus on the waterway and the locks.
How comfortable he’d been through the entire construction period because of it.
‘And that guy even cried after finishing this construction.’
He said this garden was the greatest masterpiece of his life.
He said he’d finally left his name in the kingdom’s construction history.
He cried his eyes out, saying he would have no regrets even if he died right then.
And now an accident at the banquet celebrating that masterpiece’s completion.
‘Tsk, tsk. This is why you shouldn’t rush to take the lead.’
Lloyd felt sorry for him, but at the same time, he felt relieved. Once again, he thought he’d done the right thing by not taking overall responsibility for the project.
But then—
“Lloyd.”
“Huh?”
Javier tapped him on the shoulder.
“I have something to tell you.”
“What is it? You want more palm fruit?”
“No. It’s about that dragon skeleton.”
“Skeleton? Why?”
“It’s a little strange.”
“……”
Javier’s expression was stiff, serious, hardened.
It was a look and atmosphere Lloyd had seen before.
When had it been?
He turned his head for a moment, and remembered.
‘Ah, that’s right. Cremo. That was also a completion ceremony.’
The maritime completion ceremony for the mermaid statue.
The Gigatitan that attacked the banquet.
Hadn’t Javier been the first to sense danger back then, too?
As the memory clicked into place, unease crawled up Lloyd’s spine.
“What is it this time? Don’t tell me you’re going to say the dragon skeleton is suspicious.”
“That’s exactly what I was going to say.”
Javier was dead serious.
Lloyd’s heart sank.
“……”
Ah, seriously.
Completion ceremonies were cursed.
Come to think of it, even the assassination attempt on the Queen had happened at the suspension bridge completion ceremony in the royal capital.
It was too much to call coincidence.
At this point, wasn’t the completion ceremony the root of all evil?
As Lloyd was thinking those absurd thoughts, Javier continued.
“I’ve been feeling it for a little while, but Mana is starting to move inside the skeleton.”
“What? Mana?”
“Yes. A dragon’s bones are imbued with a large amount of Mana, aren’t they?”
“That’s right. But it’s Mana whose flow stopped because it’s dead.”
“Yes. It was definitely like that until just now. But since around the time the skull fell…”
“It started flowing?”
“Let’s check.”
“……”
It was a reminder he didn’t need.
The Asrahan Heart Technique specialized in detecting, absorbing, and circulating Mana. And Javier was its creator and greatest expert.
There was no way he had misread a Mana flow.
“……”
Lloyd began rotating the three circles as a creeping dread tightened his chest.
Kiiiiing……!
As the Asrahan Heart Technique activated, the flow of Mana around him became clear.
The Queen’s fierce Mana from over there.
The Mana of the people buzzing over the sudden incident.
The natural Mana carried on the wind.
And—
“Damn it.”
The moment he sensed the Mana inside the dragon skeleton, goosebumps ran over his skin.
It was certain.
Javier was right.
There was a Mana flow inside the dragon skeleton.
Worse, it was clearly intensifying by the second.
A blatant, explosive surge.
Gulp.
So something is happening.
Something no one here is expecting is about to happen.
The moment he moved past suspicion into certainty—
‘This damn completion ceremony really is going to kill me!’
Lloyd moved immediately, without hesitation.
He didn’t know what was about to happen.
But he had to get people away first.
If he didn’t, he was certain he’d regret it.
So—
He shoved a hand into his inner pocket.
To drive everyone away from a threat they hadn’t realized yet, he pulled out Bibeong.
“Bibeong?”
“Bibeong?”
“You’ve been forced to stay small since the construction ended, so you must’ve been frustrated, right?”
“Bibeong? Bibeong?”
“No, you must have been. So eat this.”
Bibeong, who had been living in the royal capital and eating blue sunflower seeds every day. Lloyd held out red sunflower seeds.
“Do you trust me?”
“……Bibeong?”
“Or do you trust Bangul?”
“Bibeong!”
At the word Bangul, Bibeong nodded firmly.
“Good. Then eat this, and do as I tell you.”
Lloyd fed him the seeds.
Then he immediately threw him far away, to a spot with no people.
And then—
Boom!
“Bibeong!”
A hundred-meter-long beaver revealed himself at once.
He stood tall to one side of the banquet hall and roared.
Then he started dancing the kung-ku-kung-kang-kang dance.
The effect was immediate.
“Kyaaaaaaak—!”
With one noblewoman’s shriek as the starting gun, the terrified guests began a panicked evacuation that looked like a mass migration.