Radiant Dragon’s Otherworldly Reincarnation

Chapter 235. A Bastard with Mustard on His Luck (1)

The Monster Stampede, which had been the worst crisis, was over.

The Schneider fiefdom had miraculously overcome this unprecedented crisis.

Everyone had come together with one heart and one mind to fight against the pouring out monsters and had won.

And when a desperate crisis situation arose, Patrick had come leading the fiefdom’s main forces, saved them from the crisis, and even killed the Hydra.

However, after that.

A powerful being, incomparable to the likes of the Hydra, attacked the fiefdom.

Kallaron’s apostle.

Rushing Death.

The being, whose identity was revealed by the Seven Sages, was said to be an absolute being that even the ancient superpower, the Roman Empire, had failed to subjugate.

But even though such a transcendent being had attacked the fiefdom, the fiefdom was able to remain safe.

Why?

The name of one man was enough for the answer.

Patrick Schneider.

The Double Dragon.

The youngest winner of the Arcana.

The youngest 7-star swordsman.

An unparalleled swordsman who had fought a war single-handedly against the Kaisar Kingdom and won.

A man who embodied both an excellent character, enough to be acknowledged by the Elves, and wisdom, enough to be recognized even by the Seven Sages, renowned for their continental intellect.

Had there ever been a time in the history of the continent when so many praises were attached to one person?

Even the name of genius was shabby in front of Patrick Schneider.

And he was the young lord of this Schneider fiefdom.

He had protected this fiefdom against the transcendent being called Rushing Death.

He had stood tall against Rushing Death to protect the subjects of the fiefdom.

[O Rushing Death. You will not be able to invade my precious fiefdom until you have passed over my dead body.]

Then, Rushing Death was greatly impressed and, holding the courage of this great swordsman in high regard….

[I accept your challenge. Double Dragon.]

it said.

And the two fought a duel.

It was truly like a scene from a myth.

Although their duel took place far away from the fiefdom, the aftermath of the battle was so fierce that not only the Schneider fiefdom but also the neighboring fiefdoms in the East could feel it.

Terrifying roars and shocks as if the heavens and earth were collapsing erupted without rest.

And in the end, after a tornado that soared high into the sky was seen, the duel between the two ended.

And the result of the duel was….

“Rushing Death personally brought the young lord here and said. I cannot kill this great and courageous swordsman. The duel is my defeat. That’s what it said.”

“Woooow….”

“So cool.”

The children’s eyes became dreamy. And the explaining adult continued to speak.

“And Rushing Death said. As the price for my defeat, I will acknowledge the pioneer city you have created and the domain below it. That’s what it said.”

“Really?”

“Yes. That’s why we can live so peacefully in this pioneer city of Ava. Do you understand?”

“Yeees.”

“Yeees.”

The profession of the woman who was looking fondly at the cute children answering in one voice was a teacher.

She was a teacher at a school in this pioneer city of Ava, in charge of basic education for children.

Dang. Dang.

At that moment, the bell rang.

The teacher gathered the pictures she had prepared as materials and said to the children.

“Alright, that’s all for today. See you again tomorrow.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Goodbye.”

This was the pioneer city of Ava.

The most peaceful city in the Great Forest.

Now, one year has passed since the time of Patrick and the White Tiger’s duel.

This place was peaceful.

***

The past year.

The Schneider fiefdom had truly undergone a radical change.

Originally, the development speed of the Schneider fiefdom was astonishingly fast.

The fiefdom, which was no different from a rural village when Patrick was young, had become a respectable city with a population of over 50,000 by the time Patrick returned.

But the changes over the past year were so great that they surpassed the changes of the past ten years.

The pioneer city of Ava, created while pioneering the Great Forest, was perfectly established.

Ava, which had secured a stable transportation network through the waterway of the Moana River, had many people settling down.

Jobs were overflowing.

They could either farm in the vast agricultural lands of the Moana River basin or make a living by processing the by-products from the monsters of the Great Forest.

The development speed of the industrial city of Ava was truly terrifying.

A year after it was built, the population exceeded 80,000, and combined with the population of the main city of the Schneider fiefdom, the total population influx was close to 200,000.

The great famine of last year had also played a part in this sudden increase in population.

The East originally had little farmland and had to import food from the outside.

But with the great famine, food prices soared dramatically.

Moreover, it was now a time of war.

With major wars being fought all over the continent, including the Venator Empire and the Saint Louis Holy Theocracy, food prices skyrocketed to an insane degree.

As food prices soared, the other fiefdoms in the East had to feel a serious sense of crisis.

It was said that not only were the subjects starving, but even the lord’s vassals had to save on food, so one can imagine how serious the situation was.

In the midst of that, what became a ray of light was the vast farmland of the Moana River basin.

An enormous amount of barley and wheat was produced in the farmland of the Moana River basin, created with the help of the Orcs’ labor and the Elves’ assistance.

The amount was enough to feed the entire East, and even after feeding the entire Kingdom of Atronia, there was a surplus left for export.

As a result, the Schneider fiefdom had no choice but to absorb almost the entire population of the East.

Abundant food amidst a great famine.

It was a condition where the population could not help but increase.

And the new people who joined the Schneider fiefdom were all bound to be surprised.

Because in the underdeveloped and remote East, only the Schneider fiefdom had developed as if it were a completely different world.

Let’s set aside the high castle walls and neatly arranged new buildings.

Let’s also concede, for the sake of argument, the large fountain decorated with beautiful sculptures in the spacious central square. But….

“Karotus, what is it?”

“I came to deliver fruit.”

“Oh. Leave it in front and go.”

What’s that?

If I’m not mistaken, that young man with blonde hair and pointed ears looks like an Elf.

No, it wasn’t just Elves.

“O… Orc?”

That green, muscular giant walking in the distance with a large Troll corpse slung over his shoulder was definitely an Orc.

Human children were running past that Orc, laughing and giggling, but no one considered it dangerous.

Although Orcs were defined as a different race, they were still servants of Kallaron.

Because of that, the reality was that many people treated them half as monsters and feared them.

But in this fiefdom, they were living together with the Orcs without any issue. And….

“Excuse me. Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“What is that tower being built in the center over there?”

“That? Ah, you must be from out of town.”

The man nodded as if in understanding and said.

“That is the tower of the Sixth Sage.”

“Sixth Sage… of the Seven Sages of Truth?”

“Yes. They are building a tower here.”

“Heh heh…. Aren’t they supposed to be in a foreign country?”

“Not anymore. Three of the Seven Sages have decided to reside in our fiefdom. They said there’s a lot to research in the Great Forest, or something like that?”

And the man laughed and went on his way.

And the immigrants left behind realized.

That this place was literally in a ‘different league’.

Population, city scale, infrastructure, economic scale….

The Schneider fiefdom had emerged as the center of the East in all aspects.

If Baron Schneider were to draw in the other nobles of the East and form a faction, it would be no trouble at all to pull the Parmas County family down from their position as Margrave.

However, no one thought that Baron Schneider would do such a thing.

However, no matter how indifferent he was to political factions, considering the current growth rate and value of the Schneider fiefdom, the King could not just leave him be.

Thus, today.

“In consideration of your past achievements. I hereby promote Baron Jaycall Schneider to the rank of Count.”

The imperial envoy, having received the King’s order, read the letter of appointment in a solemn voice.

With this, Baron Schneider had become Count Schneider.

“Congratulations, Count.”

“Hahaha. So it has come to this.”

“Indeed, who would ignore the Count’s merits when he is supplying food to the entire Kingdom of Atronia?”

That’s right.

Setting everything else aside, if he were to just cut off the food produced in the Moana River basin, the King himself would have to come to the Schneider fiefdom and earnestly beg him not to.

The Schneider family had grown that much.

“If only the Young Master were here on such a fine day….”

At that moment, someone’s single remark made the atmosphere in the room turn cold.

Count Schneider, who had been awkwardly smiling and receiving congratulations, also had his expression stiffen, and soon his eyes reddened.

A white hand holding a handkerchief approached his eyes.

“Don’t worry, dear.”

His beloved wife comforted her husband by wiping his tears with a handkerchief.

“He’s our son, isn’t he? He’ll be back soon.”

Ava’s words were also the wish of everyone present in this place.

In the room with the best sunlight in the Schneider fiefdom’s mansion.

A man was lying on a wide bed in that room.

This man, who lay still without moving a single finger, repeating only shallow and long breaths, was Patrick Schneider.

Despite having been lying down continuously, his appearance was neat.

His hair and beard had not grown untidily, and he was clean and tidy.

It was because someone was devotedly nursing him by his side.

That someone was holding the sleeping Patrick’s hand tightly, lying face down on the bed, with their eyes closed.

‘She must have been terribly tired.’

The man who entered the room and saw the scene smiled bitterly and said.

“Senior.”

“Ah…. Matthew?”

Isabella woke up and sat up. She saw Matthew who had entered the room and spoke.

“Did the graduation ceremony end well?”

“It was just so-so. Well….”

Matthew had gone up to White Town for the Academy graduation this time and had just come back down.

Actually, he had no intention of going, but he couldn’t not go.

He was told he had to give a speech as the representative of the graduates.

“Normally, this guy would have had to do it.”

As Matthew said, glancing at Patrick, Isabella smiled and said.

“Well? Do you really think the professors would have entrusted it to him?”

“…….”

Right. That was a bit questionable.

Graduate representative Patrick Schneider.

Just hearing the words was enough to make one anxious about what kind of trouble would erupt.

But still….

“I don’t care if he causes trouble, I just wish he’d wake up now….”

“…….”

At Matthew’s words, Isabella just smiled bitterly.

“Ah, this is for you, Senior.”

Matthew handed a graduation certificate to Isabella.

Not just Matthew, but Isabella had also graduated this time.

Normally, she should have graduated sooner.

But she had been postponing her graduation for certain reasons.

However, there was no reason not to graduate her, who had shown excellent performance in the Arcana, and the Academy graduated her.

“Actually, you should have been the graduate representative, not me.”

“It’s fine. I’m not going back to the capital anymore.”

Isabella flatly refused.

In fact, the royal family had recently issued a return order for her. Since Patrick’s condition showed no signs of recovery, they were thinking of breaking off the engagement.

The promotion of Baron Schneider to Count this time was, in fact, a form of compensation for that.

Before wielding the whip of breaking the engagement, they had presented the carrot of promotion.

But Isabella refused the return order itself.

Princess or not, refusing an order directly given by the king was a serious matter.

But she didn’t care.

“I’m going to stay here.”

A faint smile hung on her lips as she spoke, stroking Patrick’s hair.

‘Who would have called this person the Vampire Princess?’

White skin and black hair.

A beautiful face that captured one’s gaze just by looking at her.

But seeing her who always had no change in expression, the Academy juniors called her a rose carved from ice.

Or the Vampire Princess.

But the woman in front of Matthew’s eyes now was just a devoted woman watching over her beloved, hoping he would wake up.

Matthew smiled bitterly and said.

“Where are the other two?”

“Where they always are.”

“You mean the Great Forest.”

April and Elione.

While Isabella was by Patrick’s side, they were doing their best elsewhere.

First, April.

She took off her maid uniform.

Instead, she put on armor and joined the Double Dragon Knightly Order.

The moment she joined, Sanson tried to yield the position of commander, but she refused.

Instead, she received the position of vice-commander. And then….

[That tragedy all happened because we were weak. Therefore, I will make sure such a thing never happens again. From today on, hate me and curse me.]

With those words, she began to whip the Knightly Order into shape.

It was even more severe than when Patrick was at his peak in training the Knightly Order.

If Patrick had trained them to a level where they wouldn’t die but it would be hellishly hard, April was much simpler.

Either die or get stronger.

She was literally training them as if she didn’t care if they died.

Thanks to her, the daily life of the Double Dragon Knightly Order turned into hell, but they did get stronger.

The strange thing was that in that process, not a single person gave up or left on their own.

They had all learned something from the Stampede incident.

And Elione.

She was also someone who had despaired in her powerlessness that day.

She called out those who followed her from among the Elven warrior corps who had received the Aura Blessing from Patrick and created a royal guard.

Since her younger brother Kirioth was the king, she was now royalty, and creating a royal guard that followed her might seem plausible at a glance. But….

[We live only for Patrick, and we die for Patrick. Understand? If you do not die when he tells you to die, I will kill you.]

For the royal guard she recruited, the object of loyalty was not herself, but Patrick.

Well, it wasn’t without justification.

Right now, the seed of the World Tree was inside Patrick’s body. In that situation, Patrick’s life was a treasure that the Elf tribe could not trade even for the whole world.

So it was natural to gather a royal guard to protect such a Patrick.

There were many applicants, but Elione aimed for a small elite force and selected 30 elites.

And she trained them intensely through fierce practical training, making them stronger.

In the end, their goal was the same.

They had despaired at their own powerlessness when they couldn’t follow Patrick in the moment he had to fight the White Tiger one-on-one.

And to never experience the same thing again, they were training themselves like mad.

In fact, whenever they had time, the two of them would go into the Great Forest and repeat training that was like actual combat with each other.

April, who had inherited Patrick’s swordsmanship as it was, and Elione, who had top-tier skills even among Elven Knights.

The only place where these two could clash with their full power was the Great Forest.

According to one theory, the reason monsters were not seen near the pioneer city of Ava was not because of Rushing Death’s promise, but because these two periodically had violent spars and destroyed everything around them.

In any case, everyone was spending the time without Patrick Schneider in their own way.

Matthew looked at Patrick lying in bed and said.

“A bastard with mustard on his luck….”

Anyway, he was a guy with a talent for pissing people off even while sleeping with his eyes closed.

In any case, I wish he’d wake up now….