My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 265

265. What He Left Behind (1)

A sensation of floating through a dream.

A hazy consciousness persisted.

Rustle…

A gentle breeze brushed across my face.

Wind…?

A question formed in my mind.

How am I even aware of the wind?

No, more than that, what is this consciousness that’s returning?

I definitely should have died, right? Is this the afterlife?

Does the afterlife really exist?

Questions continued endlessly.

And questions about the consciousness that was asking those questions also continued.

An area of space-time where even the flow of time was imperceptible.

Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation in my right leg.

As if blood wasn’t flowing, a jolt of electricity ran through my right leg.

This was definitely physical pain.

Clear physical sensations were being felt.

Flash.

Sian’s closed eyes snapped open.

What he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

Unfamiliar ceiling…?

Is there an unfamiliar ceiling in the afterlife?

Still pondering these questions, Sian slowly lowered his gaze.

He wanted to check the source of the pain in his right leg.

As he looked down, he quickly identified the cause.

A woman with long, flowing platinum blonde hair.

A woman was lying face down, using Sian’s leg as a pillow.

The woman’s slightly visible profile.

Her beauty involuntarily evoked the word ‘transcendental’.

Aria?

“Kkeueuk…?”

He tried to call Aria’s name, but only a groan filled with pain escaped his lips.

His throat was parched and constricted, as if he’d been in a desert.

“Euum…”

Aria wriggled and stirred.

At the same time, the temporarily blocked blood flowed, and the tingling electricity intensified.

“Aaaagh…!”

Once again, a dry groan escaped his lips.

Perhaps because the sound was a little louder this time…

Aria’s eyes, slightly visible, opened a crack.

Sian, struggling in pain, was reflected in her partially opened eyes.

“Sian…?”

Aria’s eyes widened instantly.

Her face, as she abruptly sat up, was etched with surprise.

Her pupils began to tremble.

And…

“S, Sian…”

Aria’s face began to subtly distort.

Her lips pouted like a child.

Her eyes welled up with tears.

It was truly an ugly crying face.

“Sian!!!”

Aria rushed forward and hugged Sian’s chest!

Aria’s dizzying fragrance filled his senses, and her slender body pressed against him.

W, wait a moment…!

Sian was flustered and tried to push Aria away.

Especially since his physical condition wasn’t good.

If Aria hugged him like this, the demonic energy would run wild.

He couldn’t handle the rampaging demonic energy in his current state.

He would definitely faint again.

But… why?

‘It’s fine…?’

Strangely, he felt nothing.

If Aria got this close, there should have been a reaction long ago.

Especially if he could even smell Aria’s body scent, it should have been driving him crazy.

But it was quiet.

Like the surface of a lake where not a single breeze blew, his inner state was calm.

Of course, he felt pain.

However, it was only physical pain.

There was no rejection, no inner turmoil.

‘What is this…?’

Before he could dwell on the question.

Aria’s slender shoulders, pressed against his chest, began to heave slightly.

Along with sobbing sounds, Sian’s chest, where Aria’s face was buried, began to get wet.

Without knowing what was going on, Sian had to hug Aria for a while.

#

It was quite a while before Aria could bring herself to pull away from Sian.

And was it only then that she became aware of her actions?

“……”

Aria’s face was flushed red.

Her pure white face was the same color as a radish.

Sian slowly tried to sit up.

“Aaaagh…!”

However, the pain that shot through his entire body forced him to lie back down.

“Are you okay?”

Aria approached with a worried expression.

Looking at Aria’s face, flushed like a radish, Sian slowly nodded.

“Not enough to die…”

As he said, it wasn’t enough to kill him.

It was pain as if his entire body was being torn apart, but that was all.

And it was recovering at a rapid pace.

He was already talking, wasn’t he?

That’s why Sian had to ask.

“What… happened?”

Why he didn’t die.

Why he was lying here alive.

And what the situation was.

“That’s…”

Aria calmly began to speak.

Thus, a long story unfolded.

And when all the stories finally came to an end.

“Karze… did that?”

Sian finally understood why he was alive.

And only then could he properly assess his physical condition.

The transcendent magic power latent inside him.

That forbidden power was now contained within Sian.

None other than the organ of will that contains infinite magic power.

The Dragon Heart was engraved upon Sian.

Thanks to that, the inherent transcendent magic power no longer threatened to consume him.

Rather, it was thoroughly controlled according to his will.

Perhaps this was the reason.

The reason why he didn’t experience a rejection reaction to Aria’s divinity.

Even a powerful divinity couldn’t stir up this transcendent power.

Sian was no longer affected by divinity.

This meant that…

He had approached the source of magic that Kyle had wielded.

Not only that.

Sian’s cash shop item, Noemi’s legacy, Soul of Dragon.

Sian’s body had already been strengthened to the level of a dragon.

In this situation, with the Dragon Heart added…

Sian could feel the complete power of a dragon coursing through his entire body.

It was different from the Dragonkin [humanoids with dragon-like features].

The Dragonkin only possessed the characteristics of a dragon, but they weren’t true dragons.

Therefore, they didn’t have an identity like the Dragon Heart.

But Sian was different.

A human, yet a dragon.

Sian could be said to be a new race.

So the physical pain he was feeling now was probably his body adapting.

To a new body, a new being, and a new reality.

And the reason why all of this was possible…

“Karze-nim [honorific title]… left me the Dragon Heart?”

Aria slowly nodded.

Sian asked again, his mind still reeling.

“But if Karze-nim dies, shouldn’t it disappear too?”

The dragon didn’t leave its corpse behind.

Therefore, even if Karze left the Dragon Heart to Sian, it should have vanished with Karze’s death.

“That’s… it didn’t disappear.”

“It didn’t disappear? What does that mean?”

When Sian asked, Aria lowered her gaze slightly and answered.

“He refused to die as a dragon at the end. Because of that, the dragon’s body also didn’t disappear.”

The corpse of a dragon whose life had ended.

Karze’s corpse, the only dragon’s corpse on the continent, was said to remain here now.

“And… he wants you to use his body.”

Aria looked at Sian and continued.

“He wants you to be able to leave his legacy in this world through that.”

Then Aria told him in detail about Karze’s will.

Sian blankly, really blankly, listened to Aria’s story.

As the long story came to an end.

“Finally, he left these words for you.”

‘Go to where Charlotte sleeps. There may be truth there.’

With those words…

Karze was said to have passed away.

Leaving the Dragon Heart to Sian, and his body behind.

Thus, leaving his legacy in this world.

“……”

Sian was speechless.

He couldn’t say anything.

A dazed mind.

In the meantime, ting!

『[Story Hidden Quest] – ‘A Worthy Death’ (Cleared!)]』

Suddenly, the notification sound of his smartphone rang from his chest.

Sian slowly took out his smartphone.

After listening to the story, he had recovered enough to move his hands.

Click.

《A thousand years was a daunting time for one being to endure.》

《They must lonely watch the repetition of life and death, that cycle.》

《And they must also endure alone the results that it produces.》

《Perhaps that’s why. The last dragon left on the continent became accustomed to inertia in that infinite time.》

《They didn’t take any action on the futility of life.》

《They were just waiting for death at the end of their life.》

《The ancient dragon was dying like that.》

《No one could wake the ancient dragon.》

《But you were different.》

《You didn’t stop your meaningless efforts.》

《You didn’t stop struggling.》

《As if proving that the efforts of the noble Arnaizes a thousand years ago were not meaningless.》

《No, it didn’t matter even if it was meaningless.》

《You were trying to prove that the efforts of the Arnaizes were not meaningless.》

《Your existence made the existence of the Arnaizes meaningful.》

《And so finally.》

《You have created a different result.》

《It was just a very small twist.》

《But the ancient dragon of a thousand years could see the legacy continuing within it.》

《Value is always a subjective element.》

《Its meaning is different for each person and each being.》

《Then what value did the ancient dragon, Karze, see?》

《It has now become an unknowable question.》

《But there is still an existence that can find the answer.》

《Your achievements. Everything you do.》

《Karze’s existence will always be within it.》

《The immortal legacy continued by a mortal being.》

《The true legacy that Karze left in this world.》

《Wasn’t that perhaps the being called you?》

[Reward: Karze’s Legacy]

.

.

.

“……”

Still dazed.

Sian couldn’t take his eyes off the smartphone screen for a long time.

#

The long silence stretched on.

Sian blankly stared at the smartphone screen.

Aria didn’t say anything, as if she understood his feelings.

Such a long silence continued.

A really long silence passed.

“Karze Ruben.”

Sian slowly opened his mouth.

Aria tilted her head and asked.

“Karze Ruben?”

“How is it? The feeling seems okay.”

“It’s not bad, but…”

It was a name-like title.

Because the name Karze was in it.

But if it’s Karze, what is Karze Ruben again?

Aria looked at Sian with a suspicious expression.

Sian nodded slightly and said.

“The name I’ll give to my child in the future.”

Karze’s name. Sian’s surname, Ruben.

It was a name made by combining those two.

A name that would connect generations.

A name that would be remembered forever, even if Sian died in the distant future.

You might think that he has to do this much.

But Sian wanted to do it.

“But if it’s a girl… it’s a bit difficult. What should I name her if it’s a girl?”

Sian tilted his head and thought repeatedly.

But Sian looked at Aria because he couldn’t think of a suitable name.

For a girl’s name, you should ask a woman.

“Do you have any pretty names?”

Sian asked Aria right away.

But why?

“Wh, wh, wh, what are you… s, s, saying…?!!”

Aria shouted, greatly embarrassed.

She was so embarrassed that she waved her arms and moved away from Sian.

Her pure white face was also flushed.

Her face was as red as a radish.

Sian tilted his head and asked.

“If my child is a girl, I was wondering if you had a good name to give her.”

“Wh, wh, why, why, why, to, to, me…?”

Aria stuttered.

Then suddenly, she had an expression that said, ‘s, surely!’

Suddenly, she hugged her chest with both arms.

“I, I’m… not ready yet…”

Then she muttered in a barely audible voice.

“I, I, isn’t it too early… n, n, now…? I, I haven’t even dated yet…”

‘Why is she like that?’

Sian wondered why she was acting like that.

He really wondered why.

Aria kept muttering to herself.

Her well-ripened strawberry face was so flushed that it seemed like it had been hit by a dragon’s breath.

Sian shook his head as he looked at Aria.

‘I’ll think about it when the time comes.’

He doesn’t even have a lover yet, so what kind of child is he talking about?

He didn’t know why Aria was like that, but he didn’t care much.

‘That’s right…’

Sian changed the flow of his thoughts.

To the story Aria had just told him.

To be exact, the will that Karze left to Sian.

‘Go to where Charlotte sleeps. There may be truth there.’

Is he talking about the Hall of Arnaiz?

The Hall of Arnaiz located in the basement of the Imperial Palace of the Empire.

The first place that came to mind was this place.

It was highly likely that it was there.

But there was also a possibility that it wasn’t.

Because Karze didn’t need to be so vague.

He could have just said, ‘Go to the Hall of Arnaiz.’

Nevertheless, Karze expressed it vaguely.

And the Hall of Arnaiz was just a place to honor the Arnaizes.

It was a bit of a stretch to say that Charlotte sleeps there.

Above all, Sian didn’t feel anything special when he visited.

Leia also didn’t say anything about it.

Um…

‘I think it’s the hall.’

But I still think it’s the hall.

The Hall of Arnaiz was a name given by the humans of the Charlotte Empire.

Karze may not have known the exact name.

It seemed that the place Karze was talking about was the Hall of Arnaiz.

However, why is he telling me to go there…

‘I’ll know if I go.’

There was nothing he could learn by thinking about it here for a long time.

More than that.

“What about Helen and Caris? What happened to them?”

Sian turned his head and asked Aria.

The two people who had been eroded by Nurvia and Gulneria.

Sian aimed for the spirit of the monarch, but it was already a unified spirit.

It was clear that they had been affected by Jin – Asura [likely a powerful demonic entity].

There was a risk that their spirits would also be destroyed.

So he asked Aria about their condition.

But why?

“Sh, should we have some time alone… sh, should we have children after that…?”

Aria was still muttering to herself.

She was spinning her platinum blonde hair and twisting her body.

“Aria.”

“Of, of course, children are lovely, but… still…”

“Aria?”

“While enjoying time alone normally… Hot!”

At that moment, Aria seemed startled.

Then she slowly turned her head to Sian and opened her mouth.

“What… did you say?”

“I’m talking about Helen and Caris. What happened to them?”

Only then did Aria tidy herself up.

She untangled the platinum blonde hair twisted in her fingers and straightened her posture.

“Th, they’re safe.”

Aria answered.

For some reason, her voice was slightly trembling.

“But they’re not waking up.”

That was to be expected.

As I said, it was already a unified spirit, so it was inevitable that they would be shocked to some extent.

It was not easy to wake up from that profound shock.

It seemed that Aria had healed them with divine power, but they still hadn’t woken up.

What they received was only damage to their spirits.

But the recovery of their bodies would have a clear effect.

It meant that their lives were not in danger, so they would wake up soon.

“That’s a relief.”

Only then could Sian let out a sigh of relief.

“……”

Aria was speechless at Sian’s reaction.

The two people he risked his life to protect.

No, it wasn’t just risking his life.

Sian burned his very existence to fight the demons.

Thus, he protected countless people of Ruben.

Countless beastmen.

But Sian had no reason to do that at all.

There was no reason to do that at all.

But Sian didn’t refuse or hesitate.

Even devout priests couldn’t do this.

“Why… did you do that?”

“Huh? What?”

Sian tilted his head at Aria’s sudden question.

Aria was speechless again at the sight of him really not knowing what she was asking.

“Why did you go so far?”

“Ah. Well…”

Sian nodded at Aria’s question.

And he said firmly.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I don’t know either. What reason do you need to protect people? You just do it.”

Sian waved his hand dismissively.

And Aria was speechless again.

The Sian that Aria had seen so far was really no different from a loafer.

His usual demeanor was somehow foolish.

He was so crazy about money that he went insane.

How could such a person not be a loafer?

But in fact, the man named Sian was not like that.

It was something that no one would do even if their life was at stake and they were given billions of gold.

But in such moments, he didn’t consider any personal gain.

“And I promised. I promised to save them no matter what.”

Sian’s words.

Aria couldn’t open her mouth again.

I don’t know what that promise is, but…

I thought it was an answer that was very Sian.

The lord of the territory of Ruben, Sian.

The Ruben that Aria went to was a paradise on earth.

It was located near the Dark Forest, but it didn’t matter much.

There were no problems such as diseases.

Food was plentiful and people were harmonious.

The educational facilities were also well equipped.

It was a great place to broaden your horizons because you lived with various races.

It was really the best environment to raise children.

Ruben was definitely better than the Vatican.

Free Ruben was a hundred or a thousand times better than raising them in that damn Vatican.

Then… will my surname also change to Ruben?

Will Aria Renew Sapphire change to Aria Renew Ruben?

Wait, did Sian have a middle name?

Um… maybe just Aria Ruben would be okay?

When I think about it, two children would be just right.

A boy and a girl.

If it’s a boy, I’ll name him Karze Ruben…

If it’s a girl, um… ah. Yes.

It would be nice if the girl took my surname.

Sapphire Ruben.

Oh, how pretty.

Who does she take after to be so pretty?

“Hehe.”

A laugh escaped her lips.

Aria was imagining things on her own.

And Sian was watching Aria.

‘Why is she acting like that again all of a sudden?’

He really wondered why she was like that.

And right then.

Ting!

Once again, a cheerful notification sound rang from the smartphone in his hand.

Before he could wonder what it was.

《Achieved the legendary achievement ‘The One Who Continues the Immortal Legacy’!》

An achievement notification window popped up on the screen he was looking at.

《A special reward will be given for achieving a legendary achievement!》

And the notification window that popped up again.

[Additional Reward: Karze’s Legacy]

“Karze’s Legacy…?”

Hadn’t he already received that?

None other than the Dragon Heart that was beating vigorously inside Sian.

Wasn’t this the legacy that Karze left behind?

“But what is the legacy ag─.”

Right at that moment.

One thought flashed through Sian’s mind.

None other than the enormous treasure in Karze’s nest.

The thousand-year-old treasures that easily exceeded several billion.

“N, no way…!!”

Sian’s eyes flashed open.