A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression – 164



Episode 164

“Hmm.”

Rick came to his senses and woke up.

He blinked then sat up abruptly and looked around.

However the area around the cave was clean and tidy and the group was all lying down in the campsite and sleeping.

‘What about the ghost?’

It felt as if what happened before I passed out was a dream.

But the lingering pain in his shoulder told him that it was no dream.

“Euuuuu.”

A painful groan was heard from somewhere. Rick looked around again and found an old man tied up in a corner of the cave groaning in pain.

‘What’s that guy?’

He got up from his seat and approached the bound Dusk.

Then Zeke’s voice was heard.

“It would be best not to touch that monster.”

Rick turned around and saw Zeke standing nearby shoveling snow.

He placed the pot of snow on the fire and walked over to Rick.

Passing by him Zeke approached Dusk and kicked him in the face with his foot.

“Eeeeeeeee!”

Dusk twisted his whole body as if in pain.

Rick asked Zeke puzzled.

“Mr. Ji Ji-ke. What happened? Who is that old man?”

“That’s him. The sorcerer who controlled the ghosts.”

“Really? Oh my goodness. Zeke caught the sorcerer!”

“Yes. Luckily the Flame Giant’s Breath that I had as a last resort worked well.”

Rick completely believed Zeke’s words when he saw that the cave was scorched by flames all over. It was a mark that could not have been left by the fire magic that Arin had used.

And if it was the breath of the fire giant the flames wouldn’t go out until the tree ghost was burned so it was an item that was enough to turn the situation around in an instant.

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By the time Zig finished preparing the food the rest of the group had also woken up.

Everyone was suffering from headaches due to the bizarre curse of the evil tree ghost but their expressions were happy because the work was finished safely.

“I’m eating warm soup and bread” Jason said.

“I actually saved some time since I didn’t have to go all the way to the dungeon.”

“I was lucky. If the shaman had been waiting in the dungeon with a trap set I might have missed it.”

Rick was startled by Zeke’s words. Thinking back on what had happened the night before he couldn’t help but feel dizzy.

Rick said to Zeke.

“Now that we’ve caught the sorcerer let’s go to Panstars and visit Duke Graham. What do you think Master Zeke?”

Zeke nodded.

“Very well. You can catch a carriage from Gorkha’s village towards Barkal. I believe the fastest way is to take the Panstars direct train from Barkal.”

After finishing their meal the group dragged Dusk and headed towards the nearest Gorkha village as Zeke had suggested.

Luckily I was able to catch a regular carriage heading to Barkal.

Jason was on guard not knowing when the evil sorcerer would cast a curse and escape but Dusk who had been interrogated by Zeke all night was in a broken state.

He had already felt with a chill that even if he ran away he would never be able to escape Zeke’s grasp.

* * *

“Whew! There are a lot of people.”

Barkal was a relatively large city among the Free Cities League of the Northern Continent.

It was a mining city that developed around the gold mines of the Ice Mountains and is now famous for its metal manufacturing including steel.

That’s why when looking at the overall proportion of races dwarves were seen the most.

And as expected from a city with many dwarves most of them were chugging beer like water even though it was still daytime.

Rick and his party headed to the Adventurer’s Guild branch in Barkal.

Although not as large as the headquarters in Argos the branch in Barkal was also quite large.

“Everyone wait in the waiting room. I’ll go through the procedures with Zeke.”

Zeke and Rick dragged Dusk to the reception area.

The process was completed when Rick filled out some simple paperwork and showed them the letter of appointment he had received from the Graham Dukes.

He returned to Zeke with a ticket for a special section of the direct train to Panstars to transport wanted criminals.

“I got it as soon as possible. It’s a train that leaves tonight.”

“Okay I see. I guess we should put this guy in the branch prison wash him and get some sleep.”

Since all of Dusk’s abilities were sealed with the soul sealing technique it was okay to put him in prison.

After finishing dealing with Dusk while Rick and his party rested at the inn Zeke decided to explore the city of Barkal.

Zik walked around the city of Barkal lost in thought.

Because in his previous life the city he stayed in the longest aside from Himonas was none other than Barkal.

‘It’s not much different from then.’

From the alley where he had a drink with his men after finishing his mission as a member of the Northern Alliance to the place where he had ordered equipment the places that were still in Zeke’s memories were there.

As of now it’s just a memory that only Zeke remembers.

Zick entered a restaurant he often visited in his past life and skillfully ordered.

When the restaurant owner he greeted every day did not recognize him Zick felt that he had returned to the past.

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Northern food was rough but full of sincerity.

Zig felt like he was back home tasting the food here after so many years.

‘I feel a sense of homesickness here that I never felt at the Draker household.’

As Zeek savored his food for the first time in a long while he heard a conversation at the next table.

“The Archduke’s situation is gradually getting worse.”

It was a unique table where dwarves and human nagas sat together.

The snake-man Naga said as he cut and ate a boiled duck egg with his characteristically flexible movements.

“I told you. If this continues Himonas will split into several pieces.”

At those words the dwarf gulped down his beer and put his glass down hard.

“Again! Again! Are you going to keep saying such unlucky things you little snake!”

Then the man who looked like a wizard next to him said with an embarrassed expression.

“If you keep making such racist remarks you’ll be in trouble. If you keep doing that you’ll definitely make a slip of the tongue in an official setting someday.”

The dwarf ordered another beer with an annoyed expression.

Nagaga who had already eaten all the boiled duck eggs licked his tongue and said.

“Anyway. If Himonas is divided it will be a blow to us as well. The Grand Duke is a smart and talented person but he is still young and inexperienced. If there is no one to support him he won’t last more than a few years.”

The human also nodded at Naga’s words.

“I agree with that. The northern lords like wild wolves are baring their teeth and waiting for an opportunity…”

Then the dwarf snorted and said:

“You guys don’t really know the Knights of Himonas! No matter how much the Northern Lords swear only the Archduke can move the Knights!”

The snake man said this while quickly eating the ice cream that was served as dessert.

“Who doesn’t know that? I told you. It’s like the ultimate magic that the Himonas Knights can never use. The moment they use it the situation is over anyway. It’s destruction together.”

As Zeke listened to the three people’s story he realized that Himonas’s situation was gradually taking a turn for the worse.

One of the reasons was that the Thistle Knights a large force among the Knights of Himonas went there and disrupted their forces as the Empire and Drakers were plundering the Ice Mountains.

‘That Naga’s words are right. The moment the Himonas Knights are used the North will enter into war and the Himonas blood alliance that was barely maintained will fall apart.’

The three people who had been talking about Himonas’ situation for a while got up from the restaurant and decided to go get a drink.

After finishing his meal Zeke also returned to the inn where Rick and his group were.

Although he was concerned about the situation of the Northern Grand Duke and Himonas it was not an issue in which he could directly intervene.

‘This is a problem she has to overcome on her own. If I clumsily intervene it will only cause harm to both of us.’

Zik suppressed the urge to run to Himonas right away.

As soon as he met Rick and his group he stopped by the branch with them and took Dusk to Barkal Station.

The special section Rick had been given had cages set up to hold criminals and Zeke placed Dusk in them before sitting down in his seat.

Jason said stretching out.

“Ugh! It’ll take fifteen hours so let’s take turns getting some sleep. I couldn’t sleep properly at the hotel.”

Then Claire who was next to him snapped.

“You could have just rested while you were picking up girls at the inn restaurant. Why don’t you try imitating Rick who only has his eyes on Arin?”

Jason chuckled and took it.

“If I had to choose between a virgin and a womanizer I would choose the latter.”

Soon Jason fell asleep in his seat snoring and Arin and Claire also fell asleep leaning against each other.

Rick came up to Zeke and said.

“I will be watching so please get some rest Mr. Zeke.”

Instead of answering Zeke asked Rick.

“How did you learn the Five Light Sword Techniques?”

For a moment Rick’s eyes shook violently.

He looked at Zeke and slowly opened his mouth.

“You knew that.”

“It doesn’t seem like an ordinary adventurer would have mastered the visionary swordsmanship of the Thebes Royal Guard. In fact I’m curious about Jason’s background as well. The skills of the other party members are also not ordinary.”

“Everyone has their own circumstances… but in my case it’s because of family circumstances.”

“Because of family circumstances.”

Rick hesitated and then slowly opened his mouth.

“Why would I hide anything from my savior Zeke? Actually my real name is not Rick.”

“Was it a pseudonym?”

“Yes my real name is Jeffrick Solmar.”

‘huh?’

The name Jeffrick was familiar. Zeke soon realized what it meant.

‘Jeffric Solmar the Knight of Smoke one of the five star knights.’

He was one of the future Five Star Knights whom I had hoped to meet in Valhalla but was unable to contact because he was away on a field training mission for the senior year.

Jeffrick asked seeing Zeke’s reaction.

“Do you know about the Solma family?”

“I only know that they are from an old and noble family in Thebes.”

“They are from a prestigious family. Yes that is what is known outside of the family.”

He continued speaking slowly.

“In fact I was practically abandoned by the Solma family.”

“Abandoned? What do you mean?”

“The Solma family has to compete fiercely with their blood brothers to become a prestigious family. Because of my personality I couldn’t adapt to that kind of family atmosphere so I always fell behind in the competition.”

When Zeke heard Jeffrick’s words something occurred to him.

‘Oh by the way there was that person in the Solmar family. Jonathan Solmar.’

Jonathan was Jeffrick’s older brother and was one of the knights who had a reputation as a genius since he was young.

He was promoted to Blue Knight before he turned thirty and when the Continental War broke out he was one of the main standard-bearers of the Western Resistance who fought against the Imperial Army until the end.

According to Zeke’s memories he died in a fight with the Knight of Madness Abel Draker.

‘Is it because of an inferiority complex towards my outstanding older brother?’

Jeffrick sighed again and continued.

“I left my family and entered Valhalla in an attempt to change my personality but I dropped out just before graduation.”

“Isn’t Valhalla a famous knight school? Why did you drop out…?”

“I was so worried about whether or not I was going in the right direction that I couldn’t focus on my graduation exam. In the end I couldn’t finish it properly and ended up wandering the continent as an adventurer.”

Zeke clicked his tongue inwardly after hearing Jeffrick’s words.

‘You think too much.’

Being cautious can be an advantage but sometimes it can also be a disadvantage making it difficult to make big decisions.

Jeffrick was exactly that kind of case.

He said looking at Zeke.

“Master Zeke. How can I become as strong as you? I… want to break this wall.”

After struggling for a long time without being able to break the wall I felt like I was completely lost and wandering.

Zeke looked at Jeffrick like that and said bluntly.

“Well I think Rick is just lost in his own wanderings right now.”

Jeffrick looked puzzled at Zeke’s unexpected answer.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Zeke looked at Jeffrick and smirked.

“Rick have you ever really pushed yourself to your limits?”