"Latest leaflets from the Kingdom of Cinders!"
"Righteous coalition attempting to assassinate the red dragon completely annihilated!"
"Lionheart Knights ambushed!"
On the streets, a newsboy shouted and hawked his wares, clutching a stack of scavenged pamphlets in his hand.
The Kingdom of Cinders seemed to possess some sort of advanced printing technology. The paper was smooth and fine, and the ink remarkably crisp, making the leaflets very popular among the townsfolk. Even setting aside their contents, the sturdy paper served many practical uses, not to mention that the printed headlines were sensational.
Street urchins had long since noticed the business opportunity in these free leaflets and began hawking them aggressively.
At first, this indirect promotion of the Kingdom of Cinders had been forbidden by the principality, and anyone caught risked arrest. But as the sheer volume of scattered leaflets swelled alongside the profits to be made, the patrol guards had no choice but to turn a blind eye.
"I'll take one."
A pleasant feminine voice spoke up, though it was tinged with anxiety.
The newsboy looked up to see a figure draped in a long traveler's robe. Her face was concealed beneath a deep hood, yet it could not disguise her tall, slender figure or the fair, delicate skin visible beneath the cloth.
He guessed she was likely some noble lady or young miss slipping out in secret, and a flattering, fawning smile immediately spread across his face.
"Five copper coins, my lady."
"All right."
"May good fortune follow you today!"
The boy handed over the leaflet, took the coins, and could hardly suppress his grin, thinking to himself that sheltered noblewomen were truly the easiest marks.
In a secluded alley, the noblewoman pulled back her hood, revealing a clear, exquisite face—she was none other than Olivia, the "Silver Stars," the mortal guise of the silver dragon.
She scanned the lines of text on the paper, her expression grave, and murmured softly:
"'The court wizards of the Principality of Lakeman, those contemptible cowards from the Northern United Kingdom...'
"'They laid a venomous trap in an attempt to assassinate the great Lord of Cinders...'
"'Yet the dragon's majesty brought an end to it all.'"
By this point, Olivia's brow was tightly furrowed, her blue-gray eyes brimming with worry.
The report spoke of the assassination attempt on the red dragon and the operation's total collapse, but from start to finish, there was no mention of the specific details—or the information she cared about most: the fate of her fellow dragon, the gold dragon.
Which meant it was still unknown whether he was dead or alive.
Olivia looked up at the sky and whispered to herself, "Anhel... are you still alive?"
She had originally disliked the gold dragon, annoyed by his secretive manner and self-righteous cleverness.
Yet ever since their last conversation, an unfamiliar feeling had taken root in her heart. The gold dragon's impassioned words of justice and his final entrustment had left an indelible impression upon her.
For the first time, she had felt the genuine charm of a gold dragon's moral conviction and idealistic spirit.
Perhaps out of a silver dragon's innate benevolence, perhaps out of concern for one of her own kind, or perhaps from other tangled emotions, she now desperately wanted to discover where he was.
"I hope I'll see you at the next gathering of the Arcane Hermitage."
"Anhel..."
"I really don't want to carry out that troublesome request of yours."
Olivia lowered her gaze, pulled her hood back up, and vanished into the rippling air of the alley.
***
Inside the manor of Grand Duke Bosque.
"My lord, here is the latest intelligence regarding the Kingdom of Cinders."
"Very well. You may leave."
Duke Leo Bosque took the leaflet handed to him by his attendant and perused it carefully.
Unlike the formidable, lion-like, and short-tempered image he projected to the outside world, Leo was actually a remarkably steady and calculating man in private. His past accomplishments made that abundantly clear.
Thirty years ago, this duke—honored as the "New Lionheart King"—had crushed the allied forces of the northern nobles and presided over the renowned Lionheart Alliance.
He had integrated the surrounding territories, and after an interval of more than three centuries, firmly reestablished the Principality of Bosque as the paramount power within the Northern United Kingdom. In doing so, he reclaimed the honorary title of "Sovereign of the Northlands," though he rarely referred to himself that way.
At this moment, Duke Leo's brow was deeply furrowed, his expression grim, his lion's-mane beard practically bristling with tension.
"So they failed after all."
"A pity. I shouldn't have dispatched the Lionheart Knights to rendezvous with them."
"Cassius Claubau Norixus..."
Duke Leo pronounced the name that had thwarted him time and again, spacing out each syllable.
Ever since the Lionheart Alliance, the Principality of Bosque had enjoyed smooth sailing, growing ever more powerful. It had been a very long time since Leo had tasted a defeat of this magnitude.
In this operation, he had never genuinely expected to kill the red dragon; his intention was merely to probe its strength and, if possible, bind or weaken it. Yet he never anticipated that the Lionheart Knights sent to reinforce the ambush would be wiped out entirely as well.
Fortunately, the man he had dispatched was Fried, the "Black Lion Knight," whose loyalty had always been suspect and whom Leo had long wished to replace.
He turned to look toward Count Trischka, who stood nearby.
"Trischka, is there still no response from Holy Fadlan?"
Count Trischka spread his hands helplessly. "The scale of the imperial rebellion is unprecedented. Every scrap of the empire's power has been mobilized to suppress it. They are only willing to deploy the northern border garrisons. As for the 'Scions of the Gods' from the Blazing Sun Legion, not a single one can be spared."
Duke Leo's tone was heavy. "That is utterly useless. Only a force of legendary caliber could possibly stand against that red dragon."
Trischka offered a quiet reminder. "My lord, have you forgotten someone...?"
"I know what you're thinking. The Tower of Polar Night—the Dragon-Mad Black Wizard, Vagnerd. Am I right?"
Duke Leo shook his head. "He is an absolute madman. I exhausted every means at my disposal just to purchase that single scroll from him. A sane man cannot collaborate with such a lunatic."
Trischka lowered his voice. "My lord, we don't need to collaborate with him. We only need to pit him against the red dragon so they tear each other apart. That way, our interests are maximized."
"Hmm..."
Duke Leo stroked his scruffy beard, deep in thought.
Suddenly, the hurried bang of a door being thrown open shattered his contemplation.
A messenger knight rushed inside in a frenzy.
"My lord, disaster! The Principality of Norton has fallen!"
"What?"
"How is that possible!"
Duke Leo slammed his hand onto the desk and surged to his feet, disbelief blazing in his eyes. Even a man as customarily composed as he was utterly shaken.
A visible crack splintered across the wooden tabletop.
The Kingdom of Cinders was an upstart nation established barely a few months ago. Without any warning, without any formal declaration of war, it had directly conquered the Principality of Norton? How could that be?
"Is Bosque's entire intelligence network staffed by useless freeloaders? Should I send every last one of them to the guillotine?"
Duke Leo erupted in a rare display of genuine fury.
The messenger knight trembled, his voice quavering. "Th-they moved too fast! From the moment they marched to the fall of the capital... it took only a single day!"
Chapter 160