Dragon Poor Chapter 26

"But let me ask you one more question. Do you have any experience in a real battle?"
"Hmph. Do you seriously think the Royal Family would have sent us without any experience in battle? We've already had sufficient real experience…"

Yoojung suddenly thought why she was answering these questions, as she had a puzzled expression. However, the pace was already controlled by Sunhyuk.

"That battle, what kind was it?"
"We arrested thieves, and also dealt with some monsters as well."

This time, she answered unknowingly, as she had an angry, confused look. She was totally unconvinced of her own actions.

It would have been better if that guy, Johnstein, would have represented the group in place of her, however, the leader of the group was Yoojung, and she was his natural enemy.

The element of wind that was the foundation of her ability, and as a result, she could not freely control the wind with her influence, thus, she was just a target that was to be dominated by him.

"So, let me say this again. It'll be best for you to accompany us."

As if this was her original purpose in calling for him, she did not give up. But, seeing her try to attempt to persuade him with that upright face was laughable.

"So, come together with us. I will promise full support beyond the Royal Family."

At first it was coercion, but now it was solicitation. Near the end, she was nearly begging, as the sheep quietly monitored the situation behind her with absent-minded expressions.

"Well, once you survive, let's talk again."

Sunhyuk confidently said this, as he was pleased with her reaction of a frown.

"I have a feeling that, even if it is not this operation, I will see you again."

From those empty words, the girl shivered once.

"So you don't have to worry about having to have a reply right now."

"Hiya!"

Ahn Yoojung had belatedly realized that she had basically begged in front of Kim Sunhyuk without any pride. Though she had tried to change her attitude, it was too late, as all she could remember was him disappearing with his back turned, causing her to look down.
As a result, she did not have the courage to grab him and keep him in check before repeating the sequence once more.

It was an incomprehensible situation, which was likewise for the others.

"Do you have any other ideas?"

From Johnstein's question, she looked over.

"Currently, the Commander is supporting him, so we will retreat for now. If we were to provoke him, it might cause the Commander to step forth himself."

Though there was no persuasion in her words, Johnstein didn't necessarily pinpoint that. Whether it was this world or that, she was in an absolute position that was incomparable to others, so she had no need to go further.

"Then, we have other things we must do."
"Go on."

The other Strangers intentionally escaped the room, as only Ahn Yoojung was left muttering his name.

"Kim Sunhyuk…"

It seemed that she needed to go and search for Lee Eunse of the Royal Court Magicians. The almost perfect, but prideful magician had also failed coincidentally with the 24th Regiment as well.

It might be a coincidence, but she constantly repeated the name of that suspicious man.

"I had expected them to grow exponentially with the vast resources that they were provided, but they're just fighting in factions amongst themselves."

From the standpoint of Sunhyuk, it was truly laughable. While he and the other Strangers were fighting in the forefront of the battlefield with all their strengths, the Strangers in the center were grieving and struggling for power amongst one another, which caused him to shake his head from this pathetic scene.

However, it was wrong to make a hasty conclusion from that one meeting. Though he was disappointed, it was not too late for them to prove him wrong with their abilities. Besides, it wasn't long before that time would come.

More importantly, he had found the source of the attribute from a funky place.

"Was it an Elemental…?"

He could definitely feel it. Around Ahn Yoojung was a familiar, yet unfamiliar existence, that he recognized the existence of immediately after he saw her. Not only that, he instinctively recognized that the Elemental was afraid of his presence.

Shortly afterwards, the Elemental was stricken in fear and had hid trembling, causing Ahn Yoojung to completely collapse in that instant. In the end, that girl was lost in his pace as she continued to answer his questions, where he could no longer find the arrogance that she initially possessed.

"Wait, if I were to obtain a different attribute like this, won't they all be mine?"

With that unimaginable thought, he just laughed and moved on.

Finally, the day of the expedition had arrived. A company of the Heavy Cavalry of the 24th Regiment and another company of the Light Cavalry of Mengsk Fortress were to be dispatched.

"Good luck."

The Commander himself had went out to see them off and pray for their victory.

"I hope that you will not let me down."

After Fredrik replied with his trustworthy answer, the Commander smiled, before immediately heading in search of Kim Sunhyuk.

"That promise that you will not lose, please fulfill it. Then I will also give you more than I originally promised.
If you want to know what that is, win unconditionally and meet the Commander once more.
So go and succeed. I will tell the rest of the contents after you've returned."

Seeing him extending his hand for a handshake, it did not look like a Commander treating a regular soldier. From that unusual appearance, Captain Frederik and the other Strangers all stared at them with their eyes wide open.

"Then finally."

After the Commander roughly said goodbye, he retreated before raising his hand. That small gesture caused all of the soldiers inside the fortress to stomp their feet and beat the drums.

"Victory for the 24th Regiment!"

With that heartfelt greeting of those he had never spoken to, the entire cavalrymen replied with a farewell.

"Just as the Mengsk Fortress has always been, stay strong!"

The cavalry then left the fortress soon after those short goodbyes.

It wasn't a lie that the other Strangers had the Advanced Horsemanship Skill. Amongst them, the most surprising was Ahn Yoojung. Unlike the others, she had made up for the somewhat scarce horsemanship of hers with the strength of the Elemental, but her ability to control that power was not so sophisticated.

Since he had once felt and seen the faint presence of the Elemental, he was able to vaguely see its form once it appeared. There was a pair of wings similar to that of a dragonfly behind the back of a little girl, but once she met his eyes, she quickly hid her body.

She quickly hid behind her Master while trembling unconsciously, causing Sunhyuk to laugh subconsciously from that recent action.

"Are you crazy?"

Due to his laugh, he was scolded briefly by Clarke, but he did not stop monitoring the Elemental.

"Oho. So that's how."

While he was riding his horse, he was not amazed because of the Elemental. It was because he felt that there were a lot of things he could learn by seeing Ahn Yoojung, who was effectively using the energy of the attribute with versatility.

"Hmph. How difficult."

However, he realized that he could not imitate her actions immediately.

The method of using that strength was different initially. In comparison to an Elementalist that borrowed the strength of the Elemental, the way that the Dragon Rider used the attribute was violent and wild. In order to reach that degree of fine control, one must be able to perfectly control the strength of the attribute.

Despite that, it would be a great help for him to follow Ahn Yoojung around while experimenting with his attribute. His ineffective use of the wind attribute had soon changed.

[Attribute Dominance has increased by 1.]

It was a familiar message, which caused Sunhyuk to smile satisfyingly.

While he was spending a good time, hearing the message that his Attribute Dominance had increased countless times, Sunhyuk suddenly began to become curious.

If dominance was strength literally, then he thought he could try and convert this curiosity into action.

At first, it didn't go as smoothly as he liked. No matter how much power he used, since his method was quite arrogant, despite trying to control it, he overstressed the Elemental instead.

"Ahhhhk!"

From that attempt, Ahn Yoojung screamed, as her horse stopped. It seems that the bond between the Elemental and the Elementalist was stronger than he had thought.

"Eke."

Realizing her own mistake, she tried to utilize her strength, but due to her scream, the other Riders thought they were suddenly being assaulted, so they stopped in their tracks and looked around their surroundings in caution.

"Tch. I knew this would happen."
"I was wondering why she was following so well."

Realizing that it was nothing, they lowly grumbled themselves, which Ahn Yoojung could hear. She blinked while she had a lamentable look.

"That's not it!"
"If nothing's wrong, then will we set off."

With one kick of Captain Frederik, the horse rode off, which made the rest of the unit follow in unison. Unlike the visit of Lee Eunse, he had a completely different attitude, as it seemed that there was some secret promise that had been made with the Commander. If not, there was no way that the Captain, who had lowered his pride and did whatever he could to please Lee Eunse before, would change like this in a day.

"Hiya!"

Unable to endure the cold gazes of the rest, she glared over at Sunhyuk enraged. Instinctively, she knew that he had done something, but she felt that the gazes returned to her were not that good.

"Whew, how kind? Why are you so worked up?"

In the end, unable to release her anger, she focused on appeasing her Elemental. However, Sunhyuk did not stop attempting to dominate, as her suffering had just begun.

"If you have the same kind of showing you had today for tomorrow, I have no choice but to have you move separately."

Frederik, who were camping at a place that was much farther than the destination than what he had planned, began to blame her with a serious tone. She was too exhausted, as she had no strength to answer, so she just nodded.

"Tch."

From that mannerless attitude, Frederik frowned momentarily, but knowing that it might affect his career and have unnecessary friction, he avoided in trying to light a fire against her. After saying what he wanted, the Captain went away, which caused the rest of the cavalrymen to begin glaring at her instead.

Kim Sunhyuk, who was watching all of this from a distance away, began to smile.

During the march, he had continued to irk her Elemental. Naturally, the stress that the spirit received passed onto her, the contractor. As a result, she could not concentrate on riding her horse, which caused the whole unit to be delayed in their march.

As a result, she was given reproachful gazes by the rest of the troops, as Ahn Yoojung eventually collapsed down with her arms and legs spread out.

"Ahhhhh…."

The neat braids of her bangs could not be found, as they were drenched in sweat, and her whole uniform was a mess. Seeing her sit down on the ground while in that state caused others to not have such a bad opinion of her.

However, this was a task that he had to do. Since he didn't know when he'll meet Ahn Yoojung again, he was keen on leaping over her and crushing the pride and arrogance of their group.

'Since you are also a Stranger and know their dispositions, I will assign them to you.'

The Commander was worried that the chicks that had not experienced the harshness of the battlefield would end up fleeing, so he assigned the responsibility to him. Since even Frederik, who was keen on having a bright future, could not fulfill his role perfectly, he was the only one that he could trust. As such, it was a good time to teach her a lesson for her mistake. Although the speed of the march was not very important, a mistake was a mistake, and such a mistake could lower the morale of the entire group. He had somehow succeeded in lowering the possibility of discord between them in the future.

But, he felt a little sorry.

"Drink."

So as an apology, he came over and handed over a cool water bottle.

Gulp. Gulp.

As one that had been exposed to the wind the entire day on a horse, the cool, chilly water was enough to restore her tired mind. Once she was able to barely recollect herself from the exhaustion, she began to ask subconsciously.

"What's your identity?"
"What do you mean?"

Though he felt some guilt, he pretended he didn't know. When the battle started, his ability might be revealed, but he had no reason to announce it now.

"The one before, that was your deed."
"What do you mean…"
"Did you think I wouldn't know? Why is my Elemental … you…"

Due to her Elemental, she was able to fully recollect herself as she frowned. But,

"Afraid of you?"

From those words, a inexplicable desire and a sense of shame were contained in her eyes.

TL Afterword: 

Calvis: Nice revenge. Feels good for people like her to be repaid with suffering.

TL Notice: Calvis and us minions have taken, 'I am the Monarch,' under our wing, so look forward to that! Join us in our new Discord Server for updates, suggestions, and discussions with other readers, Patrons and us!

PR Afterword:

Sai101: N/A

BM: Can he technically contract with elementals?  ARMY OF ELEMENTALS!!!!  Although it would be different from a contractor and a contractee, it would be more master and slave relationship…

PR Notice: N/A

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Translator: Calvis
Proofreader: Sai101, BorderlineMasochist

Chapter end