Myths Reawakened

Chapter 214 (1): Dragonrider

Lando Estate.

After dinner, Wayne strolled around the lawn outside the grove, looking for cuties like Monica or Veronica. He had to admit that the magical barrier of the Lando Estate was dependable. The mist that covered the entire Londan gave it a wide berth, and he could see the large moon when he looked up. There were very few stars, though, almost no visible ones.

The magical barrier could keep out the mist that emerged in Londan at night, but only the supernatural one. The smog that came from the factories was unaffected, so one would have to leave Londan to see a starry sky.

While walking, Wayne saw a hand doing a come-hither gesture at him from behind the tree. There stood Veronica.

He went up to her with a beam. “What a coincidence, Veronica. I’m looking for Monica. How about you?”

I’m looking for you!

Veronica grabbed the scum’s collar with practiced ease, pinning him to the tree and sniffing his collar. Perfume!

During dinner, she had smelled the complex mix of scents on him, but she couldn’t make herself confront him when there were other people around. Thus, when she spotted Wayne wandering toward the grove, she came and intercepted him.

Where does the smell of perfume come from? What did you do today? She fumed as she considered the possibilities, glaring at the scum and opening her mouth to speak. Then...

(⁄⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄⁄)

His shy look infuriated her so much that she threw a punch at his face, her other hand clutching his collar tightly. “Stop playing innocent before me. I’ve read all of your diary without missing an entry.”

“I know. You’re my most loyal reader.” Wayne covered his nose and pretended to be in pain for appearance’s sake, clenching his teeth. “I noticed during the meal that you didn’t seem to have an appetite. What’s wrong? Was the food not to your liking, or did your relative visit?”

“Your relative visited!”

Veronica punched him again. She hadn’t been familiar with the euphemism until she read Wayne’s diary and figured out what it meant based on the context[1].

“Then the food wasn’t to your liking?”

“That’s not it, either. When I was eating, I kept smelling something strange coming from you. You smell terrible. That’s why I couldn’t eat.” Veronica scowled at him.

“Really? I think it smells quite good!” Wayne lowered his head and sniffed. “It’s Mona’s perfume. I asked her to go shopping today, and we bought many things. I picked this perfume for her. Apparently, it’s combined three types of scents for the top, middle, and base notes...”

Bam!

Veronica interrupted him with another punch, gnashing her teeth together. “Who asked you that? As the heir of the Lando family, it’s unbecoming of you to date unsavory women every day. You’re tarnishing the image of the family.”

“No way. Auston has already tarnished our image plenty. It’s hit rock bottom with no room to go further down,” Wayne said logically. “Besides, Mona isn’t an unsavory woman. She’s smart and competent. I’d say she’s quite savory.”

“Who’s talking about that?!” Veronica made several more punches. Knowing that she couldn’t win a debate with Wayne, she bit out, “It’s exactly because she’s your secretary that you should keep your distance from her. Going shopping with her will create rumors. Do you get it now?”

“I don’t think I do...” Wayne would burst out laughing if he weren’t putting on an innocent act. He asked with a confused face, “Why are you so angry, Veronica? Is it because I asked Mona on a date instead of you?”

Veronica raised her hand, veins popping on her forehead. Wayne caught her fist.

“You misunderstood me, Veronica. It was for a mission. I bit the bullet for the family.”

“Huh?!” Veronica pulled her hand back and crossed her arms, waiting for Wayne to continue his nonsense with a sneer.

“Londan has been chaotic recently, and Auston and I have been busy. I’m sure you’ve noticed that much. I’ll be frank with you: Londan’s facing a demon invasion.” He looked around and whispered into Veronica’s ear, his warm breath hitting her sensitive skin. “It’s confidential. Auston doesn’t even dare to tell Master. I’m only saying this because it’s you.”

They were standing so close that they looked like a couple sneaking to the grove for some intimate time. Veronica didn’t think anything of it. Perhaps it was because he had seen every part of her, or because they had gotten even closer during their sparring sessions.

Subconsciously, her personal space when it came to Wayne was nonexistent. If she weren’t worried about getting her clothes dirty, she would’ve pinned him to the ground and straddled him.

“You’re lying to me again. How can there be so many demons in Londan?” Veronica frowned, but quickly came to a realization. “Wait, what does demonic presence in Londan have to do with your date with Mona?”

“Lie to you again? She’s a spy the Church of Heavenly Father planted. Do you understand now?” Wayne raised an eyebrow. “You’re smart, so make sure to keep this between us. You’re the only one who knows.”

Confused, Veronica tried and failed to make sense of the whole story.

“Demons... Church of Heavenly Father... Royal Family... Tulip Families...”

Wayne gave her a crash course on the political landscape of Windsor before concluding, “Worried that the Church of Heavenly Father would seize the opportunity to invade Windsor, Auston sent me to seduce Mona and make her willingly work for me, turning her into the Lando family’s spy within the Church of Heavenly Father instead. So, I went on a date with her for the future of the family.”

“No way. You’re still lying to me!”

Wayne took the written agreement out, flaunting the evidence. “Megan’s handwriting and Auston’s signature. There’s no disproving this.”

Veronica’s jaw fell. That looked real.

When she reached out for it, Wayne quickly put it away. “You’ve had a look. If you tear it, where am I going to get another copy? Auston’s heart is completely black. He isn’t going to give me another.”

Damn you, Scum Sr., how could you do this to me?!

Veronica opened her mouth and closed it. Her clenched fists showed her fury clearly.

“Do you get it now? Although it may seem like I’ve been messing around with other women, it’s all for the family. And...” He put his hand on Veronica’s shoulder. “There’s a girl I’ve been yearning for but never get a response from. I even keep my first kiss for her, but she always gives me the cold shoulder. A barrier remains between us even though we see each other every day. It’s been difficult for me.”

For the family? That’s your excuse for dating other women?

Veronica slapped his hand off. Things were different now, and it wasn’t so easy to fool her. She said with certainty, “There can’t be this many demons in Londan, and the written agreement must be fake. You two bastards have to have reached a secret agreement you can’t tell anyone about.”

How unfilial, very amusing.

Wayne broke out laughing, but his laughter died down after a moment. He looked up at the night sky and gaped. “Seriously? Speaking of the demon, the demon comes. Veronica, look.”

She took two steps backward, wary of the scum. “Bastard, did you get more dragon blood?”

She had developed PTSD for that.

Without wasting more breath, Wayne grabbed her hand and rushed toward the main house, all the while swinging his fist at the sky to gather a great volume of fire elements and send them exploding like a brilliant firework.

The beacon was lit! Wayne called for aid! Although Windsor didn’t answer, Auston did hear the explosion from his study.[2]

He looked out of the window with a frown, observing the strange spatial distortion happening above the Lando Estate. He recognized the barrier—the Ministry of Magic had developed it to capture legendary mages, reverse-engineering it from a legendary mage’s vitality field. It first isolated space in the real world before transporting it to a projection of the Astral Plane, the double-layered seal ensuring that the target wouldn’t be able to escape.

After that, legendary mages could come in and capture the target alive with greater numbers.

“Master, a demon.” Megan went up to stand behind Auston, observing the changes in the air. “There’s a traitor among the leadership of the ministry. They made a deal with the demons.”

Auston’s expression remained composed. “Tell everyone to go into top alert. They are allowed to open fire at their discretion. The same goes for you. You may lift your seal and kill all threats on sight.”

Megan nodded, her eyes glinting coldly. She contacted all servants serving the Lando family with her thoughts, telling them to go into the main house and arm themselves to set up defenses.

“Auston, did you get in trouble again?” Silvia opened the door to the study and went up to the window, glancing at her daughter and student. Irritated, she said, “That’s the Ministry of Magic’s handiwork. What terrible crime did you commit? Treason?”

“No, it’s a demon.” Auston pointed at the sky. “That white thing is an Astral Egg the Ministry of Magic lost, stolen by a demon. As for why they showed up at the Lando Estate...”

He glanced at Megan. “Perhaps they came for Megan, or perhaps they came for you. If the High Reverend of the Church of Nature dies, the church would turn on the ministry.”

“Where did all the demons come from?”

“I don’t know. I heard they were after the Death Knight.”

“The Death Knight’s here?”

Stunned, Slivia twisted around to stare at Auston, her eyes filled with shock and doubt.

“I’m not the Death Knight.” Auston scowled. “Don’t overthink it. I swear the Death Knight isn’t here. At first, the demons were after the Death Knight, but for some reason, they started going after the royal family and are now attacking a Tulip Family.”

“What do you know, and why didn’t you tell me anything?”

“...”

“Bastard!” Silvia punched him in the face. Auston covered his nose, pretending to be in pain for appearance’s sake.

“You don’t care about the matters between the royal family and our family, and I don’t want to trouble you. That’s it.”

“Megan, you tell me.”

“Mistress, Master is worried that you’ll get in the way.”

“I knew it!”

Enraged, Silvia punched him again.

1. In Mandarin, people say ‘your aunt visited’ to refer to menstruation. Since Veronica isn’t familiar with the expression here, it’s like Wayne introducing the language quirks of his world and language into this world. Thus, I decided to keep the literal meaning here. ☜

2. The original line is translated into ‘An arrow through the clouds. An army of ten thousand strong comes to provide aid. Well, there’s no army of ten thousand strong, but Auston did hear the explosion from his study.’ The first part is a reference to the movie Kung Fu, where the protagonist says the line while lighting a firecracker to summon help. Since the reference isn’t very well known outside (and likely inside) Mandarin-speaking circles, and the context fits, I’ve opted to use a Lord of the Rings reference instead. ☜