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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Please Marry Me.
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Seven Dragon Society.
The roots of this organization stretched back beyond the Heroes' Age, when Sword Masters still held sway, all the way to the Bronze Age.
Toward the end of the Silver Age, the golden era of gods and magic.
The world had plunged into chaos from indiscriminate witch hunts and religious wars.
That turmoil claimed countless innocent lives, and before long, the gods shifted from objects of faith to targets of resentment.
It was then that the seven dragons appeared.
Ancient beings who had slumbered to escape calamity, now awakened.
These seven dragons, masters of the mystic art known as psionics, devoured the gods' avatars with their overwhelming power. The persecuted masses were awed by their feats and became devoted followers.
The seven dragons didn't reject these followers.
On the contrary, they even passed down their own power of psionics.
As a result, their followers multiplied explosively, forming a massive organization—the Seven Dragon Society.
It was a religion that revered the seven dragons as gods and saviors, and for a time, a force that conquered and dominated the world.
But that was a tale from the Bronze Age.
After the first Sword Master, Sword Emperor, slew the seven dragons and ushered in the Heroes' Age.
The Seven Dragon Society lost its hegemony and fell into decline.
Yet, who was it that said it?
Even if a rich family falls, it takes three generations to fade completely.
Though fallen, the Seven Dragon Society hadn't vanished.
They rebuilt their crumbled organization using the vast wealth they'd amassed in the past and the power of psionics, aiming for a comeback.
But they tasted failure every time.
Whenever they tried to reclaim world dominance, there were those who relentlessly obstructed them.
And at the forefront was the Sword Master called Humanity's Guardian Deity—Rimon Asfelder.
In short?
The Seven Dragon Society and Rimon were sworn enemies, bitter to the death.
Though the times had changed and they no longer crossed paths in battle, old grudges didn't fade easily.
There had even been times when their assassins came calling as regularly as meals.
"This is good tea."
"It's just cheap tea bags from the supermarket."
"To think you got tea with such depth for cheap. As expected of the Sword Duke—truly popular with the people."
"...."
The girl lifted her teacup in admiration.
Rimon wore a sour expression as he looked at Li Chingwei. That was why.
'Never thought I'd live to hear that I have popular appeal from the princess of the Black Dragon Clan.'
Of course, he'd heard plenty of other things.
Scum who deserves divine punishment, kid who'll get eaten by dragons, and so on.
The Seven Dragon Society had a habit of bestowing new nicknames and ratings on him whenever the mood struck.
That "Sword Duke"—the least offensive title among them—was a miracle bordering on the inexplicable.
And now, to hear such praise from the princess of the Black Dragon Clan, the one clan among the seven with the deepest grudge against him.
If he told anyone, they'd ship him straight to a mental ward.
"Still, this is a bit unexpected."
"What is?"
"I'd heard the Sword Duke lived frugally, but I didn't expect it to be this humble."
From the yellowed wallpaper to the worn furniture and the ancient TV not even a junk dealer would take.
Rimon replied indifferently to Li Chingwei, who scanned the room—overflowing with lived-in poverty—with curious eyes.
"Frugal? Nah, I'm just a broke bum living here 'cause I have no money."
"A bum...? You, the Sword Duke?"
"Yup."
She looked at him as if he'd cracked a bizarre joke.
Li Chingwei tilted her head in confusion.
"I thought the Sword Duke had quite a fortune."
"That got donated away ages ago."
"Ah, I see."
Li Chingwei smiled as if she'd finally pieced it together.
"Donating your entire fortune— a noble decision."
Rimon shot back crookedly.
"Wasn't my decision."
"...???"
Question marks practically floated above Li Chingwei's head.
She couldn't grasp how one could "donate" without deciding to.
Rimon smirked at her.
"Told ya. I didn't donate it—I got donated away."
"Can you even get donated like that?"
"Weird, right? These critters called congressmen went 'hocus pocus' and changed the laws, so boom."
Rimon cackled.
He found it amusing that the Black Dragon princess was so baffled by his financial woes.
'Fair enough reason to be shocked.'
Rimon had indeed been quite wealthy once.
In the Heroes' Age, when Sword Masters were revered as absolutes.
Plenty were eager to curry favor with him, money be damned, and Rimon wasn't one to turn down free cash.
The gold and treasures he'd received filled dozens of warehouses, enough to build new ones.
But when the Iron Age dawned.
His tax exemptions from the state vanished, and his wealth melted away like a mirage.
Special taxes, patriotic laws, superhuman donation acts, etc.
A slew of new laws popped up, and a sudden tax bomb wiped out most of his fortune in just a few years.
Even the Sword Tower—sanctuary of Sword Masters—went bankrupt and shut down.
And afterward, every time he beat someone half to death or smashed property, he shelled out compensation like water.
No wonder nothing was left.
'Should've siphoned off some cash beforehand if I'd known.'
Back then, he'd scoffed at rich folks burying gold everywhere like deranged squirrels.
Now it seemed downright prescient.
Though most of those rich guys died without noting the spots.
Thanks to that, hunting for lost gold had been Rimon's hobby for a while.
But regrets are always too late, no matter how swiftly they come.
Instead of clinging to useless old wealth, Rimon turned to more practical matters.
"Anyway, I'd like some explanations now."
"Explanations...?"
"That favor you asked earlier."
"Oh, that?"
Li Chingwei, still puzzled by the sudden shift, finally caught on and nodded.
After a short breath.
She spoke with a serious face.
"You don't even need to give me a child."
"...What?"
"Just become my husband in name only. Then the Black Dragon Clan will serve the Sword Duke with all we have."
"Hey, hello?"
"I won't ask you to do any work. Just sit there, and I'll grant any wish. If I'm not enough, other women too, as many as you..."
"Story stop!!!"
After flapping his mouth like a carp for a good while.
Rimon raised a hand to halt Li Chingwei.
His face mixed utter bewilderment and absurdity.
"Hey, that's not the explanation I meant."
"Huh? It wasn't?"
"No. Not marriage terms—I wanna know why you came to me."
Rimon crossed his arms.
Then fixed her with a steady gaze and added.
"I can't figure out why the Black Dragon princess would stoop to taking a has-been like me as a live-in son-in-law just to use him."
"...How did you know?"
"I'd be an idiot not to after hearing that much."
No need for a kid, just play husband and do nothing.
Anything you want granted—even other women okay?
That wasn't a marriage proposal.
It was a job offer.
In other words, Li Chingwei wasn't proposing marriage.
She was just trying to rent his power—by selling herself.
"That's... complicated circumstances."
"Figured as much."
Rimon replied flatly.
Even if she was the Black Dragon princess, marrying Rimon wasn't something to brush off.
Not even the other Seven Dragon princesses, let alone her own clan, would stand for it without rebellion—and they'd have every right to riot.
If she risked all that just to make this request, it couldn't be ordinary.
"No need to spill the details on those circumstances. Not curious anyway."
He might have cared back in the day.
Enough to torture a few executives for answers.
But times had changed.
Now in the light, unable to kill freely, he had zero interest in Seven Dragon Society drama.
"What I'm curious about is why me, of all people."
"Because even if you marry me, you won't covet the Black Dragon Clan's power or wealth."
"Fair point."
Covet Black Dragon wealth?
Might as well crave dog shit.
Besides, they'd sooner use it to build bombs for a clan-wide suicide attack than hand it over.
Their enmity ran that deep.
"Still, I'm not the only one like that, right?"
"True, but no one else will do."
"Why?"
If she just needed a decent live-in guy, plenty of average men were available.
She was the Black Dragon Princess, after all.
Heir to the noblest bloodline.
Yet she hesitated before explaining why she'd sought him.
"You're the only one who won't die after marrying me, Sword Duke."
"...So anyone else who marries you will die?"
"Yes, almost certainly."
"Why?"
"Because whoever marries me becomes a target for terrifying enemies."
"Who are these enemies?"
"That... I can't say right now."
"Hmm."
Rimon made a peculiar face.
'Definitely not a normal situation.'
Of course—a Seven Dragon princess seeking a fake husband was serious enough.
They'd sooner topple a nation for a political match than fake it.
No need to spell out how bad it was if unspeakable foes scared her into picking Rimon as a sham spouse.
"Just curious—what odds do you give me dying if I marry you?"
He asked calmly about his own risk.
Li Chingwei answered without hesitation.
"None."
"Not fishing for flattery—that's a straight question."
"It's not flattery."
She shook her head firmly.
Her deep-set eyes fixed on Rimon as she said.
"No one but us could ever kill the Sword Duke, right?"
Rimon blinked vacantly.
Only after a long pause did he burst out laughing.
"Pfft! Haha! You do know your stuff!"
He chuckled for a good while.
Finally calming, Rimon refilled his cup, sipped, and murmured on.
"Well, anyway—not a bad offer. No honor lost in being a live-in son-in-law. Could live luxuriously, too."
Becoming the Black Dragon princess's fake husband.
Unthinkable in the old days.
But the era had shifted.
He was no absolute now.
Just a lowly civil servant—no one would care who Rimon Asfelder married.
So no real reason to refuse.
"Sorry to say, I must pass?"
"...So I don't appeal to you after all?"
"In this day and age, turning down a beauty like you would earn divine wrath."
"Then why refuse?"
"I'm a civil servant."
Rimon shrugged.
He set down his cup and continued lightly.
"Never know when I might have to smash the Seven Dragon Society for the country. Marrying you would make it awkward for both sides."
He knew it was foolish.
Politicians backed by Seven Dragon funds were everywhere, and their warriors enjoyed fame as actors these days.
No chance of clashing with them.
Even if trouble brewed, people would beg monarchs, not him.
Still, couldn't help it.
No matter how much time passed.
He was a man of the old era, who'd fought the Society to protect the world.
"...So the Sword Duke remains Humanity's Guardian Deity."
"Just an old man's stubbornness from living too long."
Rimon shrugged again.
Then told Li Chingwei with regret.
"Sorry for the wasted trip."
"No, it's fine."
Despite his curt, almost cold gaze belying his words.
Li Chingwei showed no disappointment.
Just a wry smile.
"Meeting the Sword Duke in person exceeds my expectations already."