Chapter 7 :

Episode 7. Please Marry Me.

 

The Seven Dragons Association.

 

The roots of this organization stretched beyond the Heroes Age, when Sword Masters had been active, all the way back to the Bronze Age.

 

Near the end of the Silver Age, when gods and magic were at their peak, the world had fallen into chaos because of indiscriminate witch hunts and religious wars.

 

That chaos created countless innocent victims, and before long, the gods were no longer objects of faith but objects of resentment.

 

That was when the Seven Dragons appeared.

 

They were ancient beings that had awakened after sleeping to escape a calamity.

 

The Seven Dragons wielded the mysterious power known as Psionics and devoured the Incarnations with overwhelming strength.

 

Those who had been persecuted were deeply moved by that feat and became followers of the Seven Dragons.

 

The Seven Dragons did not reject their followers.

 

If anything, they even taught them Psionics, which was their own power.

 

As a result, the followers of the Seven Dragons multiplied explosively and formed an enormous organization.

 

That organization was the Seven Dragons Association.

 

It was both a religion that worshipped the Seven Dragons as gods and saviors, and a force that had once conquered and ruled the world.

 

But that was a story from the Bronze Age.

 

After the Sword Emperor, the first Sword Master, cut down the Seven Dragons and opened the Heroes Age, the Seven Dragons Association lost its supremacy and fell into decline.

 

But as the saying goes, even a ruined rich family lasts for three generations.

 

Though it had fallen, the Seven Dragons Association did not disappear.

 

Using the immense wealth it had accumulated in the past and the power of Psionics as its foundation,

 

it rebuilt its shattered organization and sought to rise again.

 

But each time, it tasted bitter failure.

 

Because whenever it tried to reclaim world supremacy, there were people who desperately obstructed it.

 

And standing at the forefront of those people was the Sword Master known as Humanity’s Guardian Deity,

 

Limon Asphelder.

 

“This is good tea.”

 

“It’s cheap tea brewed from supermarket tea bags.”

 

“To think you bought such deeply flavored tea so cheaply. As expected, Sword Duke, you truly have great personal connections.”

 

“…”

 

Li Qingyu lifted her teacup and admired the taste.

 

That was why Limon looked at her with an awkward expression.

 

‘Never thought I’d live long enough to hear a princess of the Black Dragon Clan say I have good connections.’

 

To summarize it simply, the Seven Dragons Association and Limon were mortal enemies.

 

Even though the times had changed and there was no longer any reason for the Seven Dragons Association to fight him, old grudges did not disappear so easily.

 

There had even been a time when assassins from the Seven Dragons Association visited him as casually as people went out for meals.

 

Of course, he had heard plenty of other things from them as well.

 

Things like “bastard who deserves divine punishment” or “freak who ought to be eaten by a dragon.”

 

The Seven Dragons Association had always enjoyed coming up with new nicknames and evaluations for him whenever they had the chance.

 

The fact that Sword Duke was among the comparatively mild titles they had given him was practically miraculous.

 

And now, of all people, he was hearing praise from the princess of the Black Dragon Clan, the clan among the Seven Dragons Association that bore the deepest grudge against him.

 

If he told anyone else about this, they would probably have him admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

 

“Still, this is a little unexpected.”

 

“What is?”

 

“I heard that Sword Duke lived frugally, but I didn’t expect you to live somewhere this shabby.”

 

Li Qingyu smiled as though she had finally understood.

 

“To think you donated all your wealth. That was a remarkable decision.”

 

From the yellowed wallpaper, to the worn-out furniture, to an old television that even a junk dealer would refuse to buy.

 

Li Qingyu looked around the one-room apartment, which did not merely feel lived-in but positively radiated poverty.

 

Limon answered indifferently.

 

Then he added crookedly,

 

“Frugal, my ass. I just live here because I’m broke.”

 

“Broke…? You, Sword Duke?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“It wasn’t my decision.”

 

“…?”

 

Li Qingyu looked puzzled,

 

as though she had just heard some bizarre joke.

 

She could not understand what he meant by saying he had donated his wealth without deciding to do so.

 

Limon chuckled at her reaction.

 

“I was under the impression you possessed considerable wealth.”

 

“That all got donated for me a long time ago.”

 

“Ah, I see.”

 

“I told you. I didn’t donate it. It got donated for me.”

 

“Is it possible to have your wealth donated against your will?”

 

“Funny, isn’t it? Apparently, if a bunch of lawmakers get together and change the law, that’s what happens.”

 

Limon chuckled.

 

He found it amusing that a princess of the Black Dragon Clan was this confused over the state of his finances.

 

‘If I’d known this would happen, maybe I should’ve hidden some money away beforehand.’

 

‘Well, I guess it is surprising.’

 

Limon had once possessed considerable wealth.

 

Back in the Heroes Age, when Sword Masters were regarded as absolute beings, there had always been people willing to spend any amount of money to build a relationship with him.

 

And Limon was not the type to refuse money people freely offered him.

 

The gold, silver, and treasures he had received back then had filled dozens of warehouses, to the point that new warehouses had to be built.

 

But after the Iron Age began,

 

the tax-exemption privileges granted to him by the state disappeared,

 

and his fortune melted away like a mirage.

 

Special Tax.

 

Patriot Act.

 

Superhuman Donation Act.

 

One strange law after another appeared, and within just a few years, most of his wealth vanished beneath an absurd tax burden.

 

Even the Sword Tower, once considered the sacred ground of Sword Masters,

 

could no longer afford its operating expenses and went bankrupt.

 

After that, every time Limon beat someone half to death or destroyed property, he spent compensation money like water.

 

There was no way much wealth could have remained.

 

Back when he had seen rich people burying gold in random places, he had thought they were acting like squirrels.

 

Looking back now,

 

it had actually been remarkably foresighted behavior.

 

Of course, most of those rich people died without leaving behind any record of where they had hidden their gold.

 

Thanks to that,

 

searching for ownerless buried gold had once become one of Limon’s hobbies.

 

But regret was always too late, no matter how quickly it came.

 

Instead of clinging to wealth he had never really needed anyway,

 

Limon turned his attention to a more realistic issue.

 

“Anyway, I think it’s about time you gave me an explanation.”

 

“An explanation…?”

 

“You know, about the request you made earlier.”

 

“Ah, that.”

 

Perhaps because the topic had changed so abruptly,

 

Li Qingyu looked confused for a moment before finally understanding and nodding.

 

Then, after taking a short breath,

 

she spoke with a serious expression.

 

“What? Was that not what you meant?”

 

“Right. I’m not asking about the conditions of the marriage. I want to know why you came to me in the first place.”

 

“You don’t have to give me children.”

 

“…What?”

 

“Even if it’s only in name, please become my husband. If you do, the Black Dragon Clan will do everything in its power to serve you.”

 

Limon crossed his arms.

 

Then he stared at Li Qingyu and added,

 

“Hello? Are you listening to me?”

 

“I won’t ask you to do any work either. As long as you remain in your position, we’ll grant anything you desire. If I’m not enough, you can have as many other women as you want…”

 

“Wait. Stop!”

 

“I don’t understand why a princess of the Black Dragon Clan would go so far as to take a washed-up relic like me as a live-in son-in-law just to make use of me.”

 

“…How did you know?”

 

“If I heard all that and still couldn’t figure it out, I’d be an idiot.”

 

After opening and closing her mouth like a fish for a while,

 

Limon raised one hand and stopped Li Qingyu from speaking.

 

Then, wearing an expression filled equally with disbelief and absurdity, he said,

 

“Hey, that’s not the explanation I was asking for.”

 

She did not need him to give her children.

 

He only had to become her husband in name and quietly remain in place.

 

She would grant him anything he wanted,

 

and she would not even care if he had other women.

 

No matter how he looked at it, those were not marriage conditions.

 

They were employment conditions.

 

In other words,

 

Li Qingyu had not proposed marriage.

 

She was trying to sell herself in exchange for borrowing his strength.

 

“That’s… because there are complicated circumstances.”

 

“I figured.”

 

“Of course there are.”

 

Limon answered indifferently.

 

Even if Li Qingyu was a princess of the Black Dragon Clan, marrying Limon was not something that could simply be overlooked.

 

The other princesses of the Seven Dragons Association could object, and even the Black Dragon Clan that followed her could rebel against such an outrageous act.

 

If she was willing to endure all that just to make this request, then there was no way her circumstances were ordinary.

 

Was he tempted by the Black Dragon Clan’s wealth?

 

He would sooner covet dog shit.

 

Besides, rather than hand their fortune over to Limon,

 

the Black Dragon Clan would probably use that money to build bombs and launch a clan-wide suicide attack.

 

That was how terrible the relationship between Limon and the Black Dragon Clan was.

 

“You don’t have to tell me what those complicated circumstances are. I’m not particularly curious anyway.”

 

“But I can’t be the only person who fits what you need.”

 

“Yes. But no one else will.”

 

“Why?”

 

In the old days, he might have wanted to know.

 

He might even have dragged out a few executives and tortured the truth out of them.

 

But times had changed.

 

Now that the Seven Dragons Association had come out into the open and could no longer be killed indiscriminately,

 

Limon had no interest in its internal affairs.

 

If all she needed was a reasonably suitable live-in son-in-law,

 

there were plenty of acceptable men she could choose.

 

After all, she was the Princess of the Black Dragon Clan.

 

A girl who had inherited one of the most exalted bloodlines.

 

Even so, Li Qingyu had deliberately sought out Limon.

 

After hesitating, she explained why.

 

“What I’m asking is why you came specifically to me with this request.”

 

“Because even after marrying me, you would never desire the power or wealth of the Black Dragon Clan.”

 

“And because Sword Duke is the only person who could marry me and not die.”

 

“…You’re saying anyone else who married you would die?”

 

“Yes. Almost certainly.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because there is a very high chance that whoever marries me will be targeted by a terrifying enemy.”

 

“And who is that enemy?”

 

“That… I cannot tell you at present.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Limon casually asked how much risk he himself would face.

 

Li Qingyu answered immediately.

 

“None.”

 

“I asked because I wanted an answer, not flattery.”

 

“It isn’t flattery.”

 

Limon made an odd expression.

 

Li Qingyu shook her head.

 

Then she looked at him with deeply? No, let me restate that cleanly.

 

Then she looked at him with calm, deeply settled eyes and said,

 

‘So this really is something serious.’

 

“There can’t possibly be anyone in this world capable of killing Sword Duke besides us, can there?”

 

Well, the fact that a princess of the Seven Dragons Association was searching for a fake husband was already serious enough.

 

The princesses of the Seven Dragons Association were the kind of women who would rather overturn an entire country than settle for a political marriage they did not want.

 

And if Li Qingyu was so afraid of an enemy she could not even name that she had chosen Limon as a fake husband, then there was no need for further explanation.

 

Limon blinked blankly.

 

Then, after a long moment, he burst out laughing.

 

“Just curious. What do you think the chances are that I’d die if I married you?”

 

“Puhaha! Good. You know your stuff.”

 

After laughing for quite a while,

 

Limon finally calmed down and poured himself another cup of tea.

 

Then he continued quietly.

 

“I’m a civil servant, you know.”

 

“Well, anyway, it’s not a bad offer. It’s not like I have any reputation left to lose by becoming a live-in son-in-law. I’d probably get to live comfortably too.”

 

Limon shrugged.

 

Then he set down his teacup and added lightly,

 

“But I never know when I might have to beat down the Seven Dragons Association again for the sake of the country. If I marry you, things would get awkward for both of us.”

 

For him to become the fake husband of the Princess of the Black Dragon Clan.

 

In the old days, such a thing would have been unimaginable.

 

But the times had already changed.

 

He was no longer an absolute being.

 

Now he was merely a low-ranking civil servant,

 

and no one would care whom Limon chose to marry.

 

So there was no particular reason for him to reject the offer.

 

“I almost feel bad turning you down.”

 

“…So you don’t like me after all?”

 

“If a man said he disliked a beauty like you in this day and age, he’d probably be struck by divine punishment.”

 

“Then why are you refusing?”

 

Limon knew it was foolish.

 

These days, politicians supported by the Seven Dragons Association could be found all over the world, and martial artists from the Seven Dragons Association enjoyed popularity as movie stars.

 

There was no real reason for Limon to fight the Seven Dragons Association anymore.

 

Even if an emergency occurred, people would now ask the Monarchs for help instead of him.

 

Even so, he could not help it.

 

No matter how much the times had changed, he was still a man of the old era who had fought the Seven Dragons Association to protect the world.

 

“…So Sword Duke is still Humanity’s Guardian Deity.”

 

“It’s just the stubbornness of an old man who’s lived too long.”

 

Limon shrugged.

 

Then he looked at Li Qingyu with a hint of regret.

 

“Sorry you came all this way for nothing.”

 

“No, it’s fine.”

 

Despite Limon’s gaze being more indifferent than apologetic,

 

Li Qingyu showed no disappointment.

 

She merely gave him a bittersweet smile.

 

“Being able to meet Sword Duke in person was already a better result than I expected.”