One month later.
After finishing my spar with Milim, I spent several days showing the Kingdom of [Ingrassia] to Ramiris, who had managed to keep her prime form for a while, and visiting the Sorcerous Dynasty [Sarion] with Ria. After that, I came to the Jura Great Forest.
Chronoa was starting to lose control of her body again, and Ria was too busy commanding the newly arrived white-aligned demons, so unfortunately neither of them had time to come with me. That was why I had ended up entering the great forest alone.
And thanks to that, I once again had to meet this shut-in bastard by myself today.
[Ho... You seem to have grown a little stronger. Did something happen, Adelio?]
[Storm Dragon] Veldora.
This guy was still sleeping alone inside the Sealed Cave, but whenever I came to the great forest, he somehow always noticed right away and stirred up his condensed magic power to lure me into the cave.
If he had spent the time he used coming up with tricks like this on awakening an [Ultimate Skill], he could have broken the seal and come outside ages ago.
I had no idea whether that possibility had simply never occurred to him or whether he just could not be bothered, but either way, he really was a [True Dragon] with a lot missing upstairs.
He had more than enough potential, but the one holding it was... like this.
"...I fought Milim again not long ago, for the first time in a while. All I managed this time was a draw too."
As I said that, I stored the Hipokte herbs blooming around Veldora into subspace and reached toward a magic crystal lodged in the corner.
The weeds and rocks inside the cave were all infused with Veldora's magic power, so there was no harm in gathering them in advance.
Even Veldora, the original owner of that magic power, did not seem to care.
[Hmm, so you came away with a draw against my elder brother's only daughter...]
Veldora quietly watched me collect the magic crystal, then seemed to sink into thought for a moment before speaking again through telepathy.
[...If you went through something like that, it would not be strange for you to grow stronger. That child is an [Irregular] like you, but of a rather more special kind.]
"A special kind... You mean the bloodline of a [True Dragon], right?"
[Indeed. Though still young, that child inherited the power of my elder brother, the first [True Dragon], and is a [Demon Lord] more than capable of rivaling beings like Guy and Dagruel.]
The moment the topic turned to his niece Milim, Veldora started bragging as if it were his own accomplishment.
I wondered if possessing the power of a [True Dragon] was really something to be that proud of, but the more I thought about it, the more understandable it seemed.
Across the entire world... no, across all dimensions, there were only four of them: immortal natural disasters made flesh.
Though the one said to be closest to true immortality, Veldanava, still had not revived.
Anyway.
Seeing signs that Veldora's boasting was about to drag on for a long time, I changed the subject by throwing him a question.
"Come to think of it, there's something I'm curious about. Have any factions been coming around here lately? Something like Deathmen, or maybe a newly born majin?"
[...Hm? No, I have sensed nothing of the sort. Other than that [Hydwarf] you occasionally summon, there is no one strong enough to come this close, so I am certain of it.]
"Really? Then that's good. There's still more than a hundred years left, and I don't feel like getting dragged into something annoying already."
[......A hundred years?]
Veldora, who still knew nothing of that slime, had no idea what I meant, but I had no intention of explaining the future to him in advance.
If I told him for no reason and things became even more troublesome, that would be a problem.
The original flow of events had already been broken long ago, so it was better to make the most of that as much as possible.
The reason I had come to the Jura Great Forest this time was also to make the best possible use of the flow I knew.
Agera, the reincarnation of Araki Byakuya, Hell's Greatest Sword and one of the founders of the [Oboro Shinmei Style].
Gran Dwargo, the first emperor of the armed nation [Dwargo], and the one who entrusted me with swordsmanship and [Overlord Black Star].
The descendants of those two swordsmen, both of whom I was connected to through the sword, were figures deeply tied to the Jura Great Forest.
Hakurou, Agera's grandson, an [Ogre] who had already been called the [Sword Demon] of the great forest for hundreds of years.
And Gazel Dwargo, Gran Dwargo's grandson and the third emperor of Dwargo, who had learned swordsmanship from Hakurou long ago.
Those two.
Because I knew the story that a young Gazel had learned the [Oboro Style] from Hakurou, I had met Hakurou and Gazel, who was still being taught by him, more than a hundred years ago, using [Overlord Black Star] and the basics of [Oboro Style] as my opening.
It had only been possible because [Overlord Black Star], which had once belonged to old Gran, and the fundamentals of [Oboro Style] I had learned while fighting Agera were proof too undeniable to question.
After that, explaining where old Gran and Agera, who should already have been dead, were now took some effort... but fortunately, both of them had heard the Voice of the World before, so they accepted it more easily than I had expected.
Still, it was not as though everything had gone well.
Because—
...If I had known this would end with me being saddled with a title like [Sword Emperor], I would have held back a little.
—I had wound up gaining a new epithet.
Maybe it would sound like I was complaining too late now, but for me, it was honestly pretty embarrassing.
Of course, compared to epithets like [Grand Duke of the Underworld] or [Sword of Spirit], it was much better... but I still could not help thinking that something a little more ordinary would have been nice.
That feeling only got worse because, like the last time I met Ermesia, I had been teased more than once by being called [Sword Emperor].
Using it as the name of an [Arts] and having people actually call me that were two completely different experiences.
...Gazel is probably going to call me Lord [Sword Emperor] again too. Can't he please just call me normally?
Just thinking about being called [Sword Emperor] again soon was enough to make my stomach hurt.
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