The Unicorn Legion: The Golden Capital – Chapter 7

Author: Demon Lord D (D魔王)

Translator: Lylis

Editor: None – Still looking for one, contact me if interested!

Chapter 7: A Study of the Ceremony of Allegiance

“Even though this outfit is a little inappropriate, but having a sword should be enough.”

“What?” Ellen received the sword Cain passed to him in confusion.

“I’m very poor, with nothing I can give, so I hope you can accept this.” The knight said, smiling softly.

“I, Cain · Frank, hereby swear my loyalty to Ellen as master, I am thy sword, thy shield, to always be by thee, until death should take me*.”

The elf looked at the knight kneeling in front of him, his face saying that he was at a loss, “Cain, you saved my life, I’m just repaying that dept. You don’t owe me anything.”

“You cleared my name**, to me, honor is something more important than my life.”

“No, this… is too valuable. Please don’t decide so easily – you should save your oath for someone more worthy.” The elf shook his head, replying, “Besides, I don’t really need protection…”

The knight probably did not expect to be rejected in such a way, he revealed a hurt expression, and as if he just thought of something, smiled slyly at the elf.

“Well said, Lord Viscount of 400 gold.”

The elf was rendered speechless by that comeback, after a while, he picked up the sword smiling wryly, lightly tapping the knight’s shoulders.

“Then I shall gratefully accept.”

The young siren observed everything curiously and silently, then came to a conclusion.

“You sold yourself.”

“It’s not sold, it’s an oath of loyalty, a type of ceremony.” The knight stood up, rebutting seriously.

“What’s a ceremony?”

“When humans form a contract, they show their sincerity through this method.”

“Sincerity, contracts… that means ‘Delivery upon Payment, non-refundable’.” The youth came to a second conclusion, “You sold yourself, and won’t let Ellen return the goods, — that’s so sneaky.”

“… Even though the knight’s creed says that we ‘must never bully those who are weaker’,” the knight replied, gritting his teeth, “but if my master orders it then there’s no problem. So, Ellen, please let me beat him up… Ellen?”

The elf was standing to one side already out of breath from laughing, so the knight would have to decide on his own actions.

When he was about to viciously start building a bun tower*** on the siren’s head, his opponent speedily transformed into a petit girl in an elegant dress.

“Do you think changing into the Queen will save you, you brat!”

“Stand down, knight. Don’t be impertinent.” Aemelian · Grecia said, as she wagged her eyebrows, she raised her skirt.

“Stop! Stop I said!” Cain turned his head away painfully, “You are ruining a noble lady’s reputation! The Queen would never…”

“Please be gentle with Aemelian, it’s my first time.”

“Don’t say such strange lines in the middle of the street! – And don’t pick your nose while saying it! Ahhhh —“

Naturally, this psychological battle concluded in the knight’s complete defeat.

While Ellen was busy arranging a resting place for the Siren in the Mercenary’s Home, the knight was being forced to sign two or three unfair treaties. In summary, the contents were: never to use violence against under-aged endangered magical creatures, which include but are not limited to shouting, threatening and raising a head as if to attack, and so on. In exchange, the young siren promised ‘to the best of his abilities’ not to act in a way that goes against human social norms while in public.

Finally, as the victor, the youth demanded that the knight relinquish his ‘territory’, and upon confirming the success of his capture, he wrapped himself in the blankets and curled up in satisfaction to sleep in the bed. So Cain could only pack up his things, and move into the room originally prepared for the Siren.

Walking into the room, the knight suddenly thought of something, turning to the elf just outside the door, he asked, “I say, can’t we just send the kid do some magical creature protection organization or something…”

“Cain, we’re the ‘Unicorn Legion’, right now in the whole country, or probably the whole continent’s only magical creature protection organization. Plus he might be the only link to finding the duke, I want to keep him near in all possibility.”

“… I should have known, in this day and age how can there still be an organization with the first class recruitment rights.” The knight let put a pained sound.

“That was just an excuse to deal with the pope,” the elf replied patiently, “if you want to quit you can…”

“If you think that…” Cain turned to look at him, his expression complicated.

Ellen immediately knew he said the wrong thing.

A knight’s fealty was not something simple. If this person has already chosen to do this, any suggestions to rescind was equal to an insult.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.” The elf lowered his head.

“You have no need to lower your head to your servant,” the knight smiled forcefully, “My Lord.”

That title seemed to immediately create a boundary between them.

“Please return to your rest. I shall be awaiting your orders.” The knight bowed slightly. The strange thing was, even armour-less, to Ellen, it seemed he was even more distant than when they first met.

“Cain?”

“Here.”

“I accept Cain · Frank as my knight.” The elf took a deep breath, and continued onwards, “thou shall fight by my side, to be my weapon, my protector. I swear, in the name of God, never to allow thy honor and loyalty to be tarnished, unwavering, till the end of this life.****”

Then he stepped on top of the threshold, holding on to the knight’s shoulders, he placed a light kiss on his forehead.

“That should complete it.” The elf smiled a little embarrassedly, “as I don’t know the modern customs, so I followed the traditions of the Legendary Age. If I’m missing any steps, please tell me.”

“No, it’s enough,” the knight replied after a while, his face a little pale, “My Lord.”

“Call me Ellen.”

“Is that the first order?”

“Use your own judgement,” the elf smiled, turning to leave, “sweet dreams, Cain.”

The knight closed the door, leaning his back against it, he reached a hand to touch his forehead.

It wasn’t that the elf didn’t do enough, he did too much.

Something like “the Kiss of Oath”, was common in the Legendary Age. But now, it was only used when accepting the knight as a lover.

–But something like that, as long as he didn’t accept the allegiance of another knight, there was no need it tell him this.

On the other hand, the elf didn’t think too much.

Under the combined effects of the Siren’s Tears and the remaining alcohol, he didn’t even have time to change upon returning to his room, he simply fell unconscious once his head hit the pillow.

---

Translator’s Notes

*時刻不離，至死方休 – (I hate translating idioms lol) it means: Never to leave one’s side and un-resting till death, or something similar. I might come back to change the text at a later date, since I’m not really satisfied with the translation.

**Technically he didn’t, he just saved you from being executed, but ok.

***在海妖少年的頭上狠狠敲個爆栗 – I don’t really know how else to translate this. XD “Beat him up” doesn’t sound accurate either, so just imagine anime style bun towers.

****終此一生，矢志不渝 – I seriously wanted to write “till death do us part”. Seriously.

Thanks for being patient with me, I am alive and have just returned from my vacation! Hopefully I’ll be back to a more frequent release schedule. Hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^. Poor Cain, he should realize that he will probably never win against in a psychological contest with a siren using illusion magic.

On another note: Here’s an illustration of the Kiss of Oath by Tina! *Squee*

<< Chapter Six                                                                              Chapter Eight >>

The Unicorn Legion: The Golden Capital – Chapter 6

Author: Demon Lord D (D魔王)

Translator: Lylis

Editor: None – Still looking for one, contact me if interested!

Chapter 6: Paladin/Holy Knight*

They hurried through the streets, hoping to reach the Mercenary’s Home before the day lightened anymore.

The elf returned to his usual form, the boy had transformed into a regular human boy, silently following closely behind.

Whenever the knight tried to get close, the boy would turn and glare at him, so the knight could only follow at a distance behind.

“The one that locked you up was a vampire,” when they reached within viewing distance of the Mercenary’s Home, Cain finally couldn’t resist saying, “not humans.”

The young siren didn’t reply.

“At least we…”

“That’s right,” the youth finally stopped, turning to look at the knight, “you saved me, as a reward, I can give you a night of good dreams.”

“I’m not…”

“Just say it, how do you want it? It’s my expertise.” The boy’s expression was mocking, “a nun? Or a female knight? Kneeling in front of the holy statue to service you?”

Cain’s eyes were wide, speechlessly staring at the boy.

“Even if you want the Queen it’s possible.” The boy continued briskly, “Just a few days ago someone requested it.”

“Don’t be that way.” Ellen sighed, reaching out to rest a hand on the young boy’s shoulder, turning him towards himself, “Cain didn’t mean to pressure you.”

The boy snorted, not saying anything more.

Therefore, the group continued forward with an awkward air.

Upon reaching the inside of the walls of the Mercenary’s Home, the door to the inn just opened, two people dressed as paladins stepped out.

Cain drew a shocked breath, making as if to hide. But the gaze of the two had already landed on him.

“Damn it!” One of the paladins turned around fiercely closing the door, the other one rushed towards Cain, lowered his voice, and said in a urgent tone, ‘Felix, you idiot! You should have ran months ago, why did you stay in the city!?”

“I –“

“They have the Pope’s arrest warrant, and they’re about to start a countrywide manhunt! – run! As fast as possible!”

“Carl” Cain said faintly as the other pressed a bag of coins into his hand, “I didn’t…”

“I know, we all know” the knight called Carl pulled him into a strong hug, then pushed him away, “Leave quickly! Before we find out the truth, don’t die!”

“Such a touching reunion.” Clapping sound came from behind them, “Carl Turner, conspiring to assist a fugitive and his accomplices, you are guilty of malfeasance, you will be sentenced to the whip and your name struck from the Order**. – Knott, what are you standing around for, arrest him.”

The elf turned around, to stare silently at the owner of the clapping sound, fingers lightly brushing the hilt of his dagger. The young siren hid behind him, watching everything with a hint of fear.

The knight who closed the door came forward very unwillingly, grasping his companion’s wrist, pulling him to one side.

“The others are still inside?”

“…yes.”

“Let them continue searching, there could be other criminals hiding inside.” The owner of the applause, the bishop of the lower city church Charles Wrede, ordered the team behind him in a self-satisfactory manner, “surround them, kill any who runs.”

A sound of unenthusiastic footsteps, the paladins behind him formed a circle full of holes, surrounding Cain and his companions.

The bishop searched his pockets for a moment, fishing out a piece of document, wiped his monocle, coughed loudly, and started to read aloud.

“Former knight of the holy order***, Felix Paladin****. For severe misconduct and sacrilege, and harming…”

Before he could finish reading, the document in his hands were snatched away.

The bishop lifted his head in rage, only to have another piece of paper thrust in his face.

“Please finish reading this first.”

“You you you –“ the bishop pulled down the piece of paper from his face, pointing a shaking finger at the elf, “how dare you to God’s servant –“

“God’s servant, the Queen’s citizen.” The elf pointed to the paper in the bishop’s hands, at the end was Queen Gracia’s elegant signature.

The bishop’s eyes widened, then angrily looked down to read the document.

As his eyes scanned downwards, his face became red.

“What is this! Outrageous!”

“If you are dissatisfied, you can always go ask the Queen.” The elf balled up the arrest warrant, throwing it away behind him, “The Pope’s orders are no longer valid, I am exercising first class recruitment rights on this man.”

“Absurd! I refuse to acknowledge this!”

“Also, please rescind Carl Turner’s punishment, he was assisting the Queen’s immediate subordinate, not a criminal.”

“You shameless liar –“

“The newly appointed Viscount of Soloris Valley, at your service.” The elf bowed slightly, watching as the bishop’s face slowly changed from red to purple.

The paladin’s surrounding them started talking in small voices, just loud enough for the bishop to hear.

“I heard that the former Archduke Crane was on very good terms with the Pope…”

“Lately, it seems the Queen wants to remove members of the clergy from all over.”

“No matter what, the Pope wouldn’t want to go against the Royal house…”

Normally, the bishop would have already scolded them for their rude actions, but hearing those words now, his face turned pale.

One insignificant lower city bishop, and a new noble, if there was to be any argument with the one said to be the Queen’s favored, the Pope would definitely not stand on his side.

The bishop finally withdrew.

He forcefully arranged his face into a smile that looked worse than if he was crying, humbly returned the document, “Please… please forgive this humble, humble servant’s rude behavior, Lord Viscount. Everything will be as you say, I’ll… take my leave now. May God’s protection be with you. Please… don’t mention this to the Queen.”

Following the bishop’s retreat, the paladin’s also started to leave.

When they passed by the elf, each of them nodded in respect, and when they passed Cain, they patted his shoulder, pushed him, or made all sorts of strange faces.

“Good luck.”

“May God protect you.”

“Long live the Queen.”

“Now you can openly drink wine.”

“Now you can wolf whistle the nuns.”

“Now you can go seduce noble ladies.”

Cain stood in place, listening to those well wishes that were gradually groing more ridiculous, working hard to maintain a smile.

Because if he didn’t do that, tears would start leaking.

“You’re smiling like an idiot.” The siren observed.

But when he looked at the knight, there was no longer any antagonism in his eyes.

“If you wish, you could return” the elf said softly, “Cai… no… Mr. Paladin?”

“Cain is fine,” the knight turned his gaze, no longer looking in the direction of his retreating peers.

“Felix Paladin was a name given by the Church, I no longer need it.”

---

Translator’s Notes

*圣殿骑士 – I couldn’t decide between Paladin and Holy Knight (basically the same thing lol) but they both work? Google actually translates it to the Knights Templar but it didn’t seem suitable for this.

**He means that Carl’s will basically be dishonorably discharged and be disgraced in history because his name is removed from the records – something along those lines

***This time in particular, I’m using Holy Knight instead of Paladin because his last name is Paladin and it would be so confusing T^T

****菲尼克斯 帕拉丁 – Paladin was the actual phonetic translation, don’t look at me.

Sorry, there will be a delay in the translation this week, I’m currently on holiday in Taiwan and will be spending most of my time sightseeing and shopping. But hopefully I’ll still be getting some things done in the evening, it just won’t be coming out as fast. XD

<< Chapter Five                                                                             Chapter Seven >>

The Unicorn Legion: The Golden Capital – Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Duke’s Collection

Just because he ‘didn’t want to draw too much attention” and didn’t bring his bow and arrows along, it was really a fatal miss.

If he knew the Golden Capital was like this, even if he was in danger of being stared at, he would make a habit of bringing along his weapon.

Perhaps 300 years of sleep was too long, so long that he had lost the ability to scent danger.

To not realize Duke Elmond’s true identity, worse yet, to let him escape.

To this type of undead creature with such strong regenerative abilities, heavy injuries would only force it to be dormant for a few months, then it would return to causing harm to humanity.

The him from the past, would never make such a mistake.

Ellen gritted his teeth bitterly, picking up his dagger from the floor.

When he looked up, he found Cain examining the clothes the duke had left behind.

The scent of blood in the room was getting stronger, but Cain seemed indifferent to it.

Then the knight extended his hand, picking up something from the pool of blood. — It was a small key.

“What do you think this opens?” eyeing his companion, he asked.

“Probably a trap door somewhere.” Ellen thought for a moment, replying.

He surveyed his surroundings, lifted his hand, he started cutting away at the tapestries on the wall.

After a moment those probably priceless decorations, were already reduced to scraps in a corner of the wall.

Who knows if the duke would spit out another mouth full of blood, after seeing this.

There was not a single crack on the walls, the elf shook his head in disappointment.

Cain was unwilling to give up though, and cast another spell on himself.

“What is that?”

“Holy Eye. If there is any magic traps in the area then — ah there it is.”

Cain inserted the key into an invisible keyhole on the wall, reached his hand forward to push, a slab sunk inwards, and at the same time a section underneath popped out.

Within was a notebook and…

“Another key?” the knight frowned, “What is this some sort of twisted treasure hunt?”

The elf took the notebook from his hands, flipping to a random page.

Inside was full of dates and simple notes. On the latest entry was the following ledger.

January 15th, Received “Curse Heart”, supplier: Shark, 10

January 18th, Delivered “Male Dog”, recipient: L.M, 100

February 1st, Delivered “Witch burned at stake, with stake”, recipient: T.P, 100

February 21st, Received “Young Werewolf (?)”, supplier: their father, 30 — February 15th, confirmed to be fake, disposed of*

May 5th, Delivered “Siren’s Tears”, recipient: Shark, 0

May 7th, Delivered “Girl on Golden Seat”, recipient: A.R.C, 100

“The ledger is more disgusting than I thought…”Cain read over Ellen’s shoulders, but turned away immediately.

“Let’s hand it over to the Queen. She’ll know how to deal with it.” Ellen hastily read a little more of the contents, putting the notebook away, he turned to ask “About that second key, any luck?”

Cain led him to another wall, a section of the wall was darker, under a closer inspection it was smoother than the rest of the sections.

“Probably a secret room” said the knight “but I feel it shouldn’t be opened.”

“Did the Holy Eye tell you that?”

“Mother always said a vampire’s secret room is never going to be hiding something good.” Cain shrugged “And the Holy Shield can’t be used again for some time. — If I’m controlled by some mental magic, please come at me here.”

He pointed to his temple, then inserted the key into the hidden lock, pushing open the door.

This room was similar to the one outside with an elegant but ominous atmosphere. The difference was that there were no windows, nor was there an altar.

On the floor was a large magic circle, glowing a faint red, lighting up the entire room.

In the center of the circle, was a small sleeping figure.

Perhaps it was the sound of the door opening, the figure shifted a little, rose up, rubbed their eyes, looking at the uninvited guests in confusion. Then the figure moved, the clanking of chains followed.

“A little nun?” Cain exclaimed in shock.

The elf shook his head, pulling the knight who was about to step forward, “no, take a closer look.”

The little girl wearing a nun’s outfit disappeared, at the same place sat a boy. A youthful face, he was without any clothes on, the top half of his body was no different from another human’s, but from the waist downwards, a layer of scales covered him. Iron Cuffs were attached to his wrists and ankles, chains connected to the cuffs were secured to pins hammered into the floor, the length of the chains was not enough to allow him to stand.

After observing the situation, the knight’s frown deepened. Unhesitatingly he raised his sword, bright white light broke through the magic circle’s barrier. The red glow immediately disappeared.

“Don’t move, I’ll get you out right away.”

But the youth was unwilling to accept his help. He lifted his head, face full of hate saying in a clear voice, “Don’t come near me, human.”

Cain froze, looking pleadingly at the elf.

The elf sighed, saying to the boy, “Then can I help?”

The boy glanced over his face, upon seeing the pointed ears, his expression softened, and he nodded once silently.

The elf tried inserting the point of his dagger into the keyhole of the cuffs, opening the chains on the boy’s hands and feet. There were wounds on his wrists, many of the scales on his ankle had already fallen off, his condition didn’t seem to be good. But the youth didn’t seem to care, once he had regained his freedom, he looked curiously into the elf’s face asking, “Why were you able to see through my illusions?”

“You should be saying thank you.” The knight said from the side.

The boy completely ignored the interruption, and reached out his hand, to lightly touch the corner of the elf’s eye.

“Ah… then, they used my tears on you… I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” the elf helped him up, “thanks to you, I had a good dream.”

The boy shook his head, and replied seriously, “Good dream, but not a good ending… or else, you wouldn’t be awake.”

The elf smiled bitterly in silence.

Naturally it was not a good ending. When he woke up in that dark coffin, there was truly a moment, that he wanted to continue sleeping forever.

“Let’s go” said Cain, “After that loud commotion a moment ago, I fear someone will come soon.”

Even before he finished speaking, knocking came from the outside. Cain and Ellen both grasped their weapons.

The boy waved his hand, signalling them to remain in the hidden room. Then went to open the door outside.

The butler stood uncomfortably outside the doorway, seeing ‘the duke’ answer the door, he let out a breath in relief.

“Apologies for disturbing you. The guard’s body has been disposed of. But, why did you suddenly…”

“His footsteps were too loud, it was audible even from above.” The disheveled duke smiled at the butler, “Norman, you know I hate it when people disturb my ‘fun’.”

The butler glanced into the room using the faint light.

Everything was normal, the elf remained unconscious, his naked arm hung listlessly from the altar, the servant lay in the corner of the room covered in blood.

“The one inside… shall I remove it?”

“Leave it.” The duke smiled again, revealing sharp teeth, “You’ve worked hard today, return to your rest. Come back to wake me in the evening.”

So the butler bowed again, and retreated.

He decided that once he returned to his room, he would drink a glass of the manor’s private wine, then get a good sleep, to bring an end to this hectic night.

“In a moment I’ll change you to look like the butler, we can leave by the front door.”

The young Siren closed the door, and said looking back at the elf.

— He still did not spare the knight a single glance, naturally not offering to help disguise him.

Thus, near dawn, the night watches guarding the front door, stared in fear as the duke and the butler left the manor, following behind closely was a servant covered in blood.**

---

Translator’s Notes

*I realized that the dates are a little strange (receiving the werewolf on the 21st of February and realizing it was a fake on the 15th of February). And it can’t be that it was the following year’s February since the page was supposed to be the latest log in the ledger. The mistake was in both the web AND the published novel, I assume no one checked.  (I think that the dates were probably switched, that would make more sense.)

**Lol Poor Cain, he’s hated.

<< Chapter Four                                                                                       Chapter Six >>

The Unicorn Legion: The Golden Capital – Chapter 4

Author: Demon Lord D (D魔王)

Translator: Lylis

Editor: None – Still looking for one, contact me if interested!

Chapter 4: Duke Elmond

At the end of the secret passage was an ascending stone staircase.

Near the top of the stone stairs, a thread of light appeared overhead.

–Someone knew they were coming, and opened the door.

–After adjusting to the blinding light, Cain observed his surroundings.

The place looked to be a storage room, the trap door underfoot was carefully concealed in a shadowed corner.

“I don’t remember calling you.” The one who opened the door was a person dressed in trim butler outfit, he asked in a tone full of arrogance and distain, “Where’s Locke?”

“Edward? Toilet. Seems e’ ate s’thing bad.” Facing the questioning, the ‘servant’ replied with rough words.

“…Follow me.” Norman · George · Walt, the man referred to as ‘Master Butler’ in the Duke’s Manor, snorted coldly, turning around to leave with long strides.

The butler was in a very bad mood. Even though he hated Golden Tooth Shark, now he would be forced to personally go and make nice with more new mercenaries, this really was unpleasant.

And the situation in the duke’s manor wasn’t any less worrying. Before the war a third of the servants resigned and left the capital to escape, and the new replacements from the countryside, were brainless, and have never been through any etiquette training to ‘make them seem smarter’.

Like this new guy here, looking around all the while.

If this was before the war, even some of the picker merchants won’t want someone so coarse, for him to wear a uniform with the insignia so blatantly, walking on the carpet of the duke’s manor with dirty shoes. –It was an insult to the noble house.

“We’re here” the butler stopped, knocking on the door.

The door was made of thick wood with metal strips framing the four sides, once closed, no matter how loud the screams or cries, it probably wouldn’t reach the outside.

Even though it’s the middle of the night, the door still opened quickly.

The room was wide and elegant, filled with the scent of incense. The tapestries on the four walls were complicated and delicate, if she sees it perhaps even Queen Gracia would jealously scold “luxurious”.

There was only one window, very small, with bars along it, like a cage.

In the center was a marble altar, its design no different from those seen in the Holy Temples. But underneath the atmosphere of the environment, it gave off an ominous feeling.

The one to open the door was probably Duke Elmond. Very young, in comparison to his name and status, too young.

Long black hair, framing a thin face, carrying an uncaring expression common to the noble fops.

Pale face and dark bangs under the eyes fully indicated that this was an over-indulgent individual.

When he saw the servant behind the butler, and the elf in the servant’s arms, the duke revealed a smile like that of a child looking at his new toy, and even deigned to interact with the servant himself, ordering him to place the elf on the altar.

“My Lord,” the butler sighed softly, “though I have no rights to dictate your hobby, I still wish that during these unusual times you can…”

“Norman, my dear old Norman,” the duke laughed lightly, “you never could understand how to enjoy the finer things. – 400 gold was trivial, not even a month of the ‘Mermaid’s’ income, compared to this priceless treasure, what significance was that?”

“Money isn’t the problem, my Lord” the butler shook his head “Compared to the old King, the new Queen is…”

At this time the duke’s expression turned impatient, the butler could only hold his tongue helplessly.

“You can leave. – As for you, stay.” The duke pointed to the servant.

The butler bowed silently, left the room, closing the door behind him.

As the duke and the butler talked, ignoring his existence, Cain naturally sensed the reason. – They never planned for this ‘servant’ to continue living. Purposefully leaving him here was surprising, could it be that the duke had the habit of getting his own hands dirty, regarding silencing someone?

But afterwards, all of the duke’s attention was focused on his new toy.

He stretched his hand out, gently caressing the elf’s hair, saying in a tone reserved for lovers, “They call you Ellen. In the elven tongue it means ‘star’, right? – Such a good name.”

Cain cursed in his mind, reaching a hand for the sword hidden in his jacket. Even if the duke had some sort of strange tastes, like having an audience during the deed or threesome, he was looking at the wrong person.

“Then, let me teach you, a pleasure your celibate race doesn’t know.”

Cain’s heart froze, the sword that was drawn stopped.

The duke’s voice had a mesmerizing power*, of course it wasn’t the so-called ‘charisma’, but magic, very strong magic.

At that moment, the duke shuddered, stumbling backwards.

Cain immediately felt the power freezing him in place disappear.

“If the one making the ‘Siren’s Tears’ was truly a master illusionist, you might have gotten your wish.” The elf released the dagger, jumping down from the altar, “but, you were over confident about your magical abilities.”

The duke looked down at his own chest, the blade was already all the way into his heart, leaving only the hilt visible. Fresh blood rushed out continuously from the wound, staining the delicate silk shirt red.

Then, the duke laughed lightly.

“As expected, prey that struggles, is better.” He reached out his hand to pull out the dagger, dropping it uncaringly at his feet. “It’s been a long… long time since I’ve been this excited.”

The elf paled.

On the duke’s chest, the wound visibly started to heal, blood no longer came out.

“But, however disobedient the kitten, once it’s claws were removed, it’s no longer a threat.”

The duke moved towards the elf who no longer had his weapon, hand raised, nails long and sharp.

He smiled at his prey, revealing sharp fangs.

Suddenly a shadow entered his vision.

Almost at the same time, the duke once again felt a chill on his chest.

“A cat has nine lives,” the knight said, standing in front of the elf** “how many does a vampire have?”

He gripped the sword firmly, pulled out, and trust into the duke’s body once again.

Even without armor, a faint white light surrounded the knight’s body. It was a holy shield that blocked all magic.

The duke wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth, revealing a slightly annoyed expression, but only slightly.

“That’s why, I hate knights, especially paladins. Even their blood stinks of holy water.”

The knight didn’t reply, only pulled the sword out once again, and thrust forward again.

But this time, his sword hit empty air.

The duke’s body had disappeared.

In its place, a bat flew up, through the bars and disappeared into the night.

Afterwards, a shocked cry came from outside the window, which quickly turned into a blood curling scream.

The elf rushed towards the window to look down.

In the duke’s garden, a night guard lay on the ground.

A large hole gaped in the guard’s chest, there was an emptiness, where the heart was supposed to be.

---

Translator’s Notes

*勾魂攝魄 – Technically means “to grab and capture someone’s soul”.  But I went with ‘mesmerizing’, google translate says ‘erotic’ though :3 I guess a vampires powers could be considered that? A little random trivia: 魂魄 means soul and in Chinese belief, a person has 3魂 7魄, which is the composition of the soul. They stand for the 3 spirits (life, memory and intelligence/reason) and 7 emotions (joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil and desire). In death, the 7 emotions disperse, of the 3 spirits, one goes to heaven, one to the grave and one to reincarnation.

**Cain to the rescue! Woot! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

Wow, two in one day ;). Here’s proof that waking up early will result in more work done than staying up late at night. (Plus the fact that I only ever type out my translations during the day/work hours. *Whistles innocently* yay to procrastinating during office hours? — I do hope that no one at my work place ever sees this.)

<< Chapter Three                                                                             Chapter Five >>

The Unicorn Legion: The Golden Capital – Chapter 3

Author: Demon Lord D (D魔王)

Translator: Lylis

Editor: None – Still looking for one, contact me if interested!

Chapter 3: To Coffins

Carrying a large bag over his shoulder, the mercenary knocked on the back door of the “Mermaid Brothel”, someone looked out.

“I’m here to see ‘that’ person.”

“I’ll go look.”

Golden Tooth Shark leaned against the wall, his mind filled with images of gold, several long minutes was spent like that.

After a while, someone finally came to lead him in, they finally arrived at a door at the end after walking through a long winding corridor.

“You’re finally here” In the room, the man wearing a mask placed down his cup of tea, he said lightly, “only you?”

Golden Tooth Shark cursed in his mind, but he remained respectful on the surface, even revealing a speck of sorrow, “Very sorry. The elf was more difficult to deal with that imagined. His resistance was fierce, my companions…were not so fortunate.”

The man made a non-committal humming sound, pointing at the floor, “Put it down.”

Golden Tooth Shark carefully lifted the bag down from his shoulder, as if placing down some priceless antique. At the same time his gaze had shifted to the wooden box at the corner by the wall several times.

“It’s in the box”

“Hem, other than the agreed upon amount, I need to give pensions for their families…”

“A total of four hundred gold. Take it and leave.”

Not waiting for the man to finish, the mercenary was already by the box, displaying his agility as a bandit fully. Opening the box, he knelt in an almost pious position, plunging both hands into the golden coins. Then taking a handful out, kissed at it repeatedly.

Then he fell over in that blissful position, started to twitch, his eyes rolled back, lips turning an unnatural shade of black.

The man watched this scene silently, after a while, he pulled on the summoning bell.

An hour later, the back door of the Mermaid Brothel opened again, two coffins were pushed out one after the other. Four of the brothel’s employees walked sleepily alongside, because this type of job paid well, so no one complained about their sleep being disrupted.

The destination was two streets away, one of the places where bodies were gathered for incineration in the city. As to who died, they didn’t know, nor did they care to know.

The morgue was not large, there was no one inside, just a few oil lamps releasing a dim light. The employees put down the coffins, their minds already on the warmth of the bed, they left at the same speed they came.

Soon after, a shadowed figure silently drifted in.

It was a young man around twenty, carrying a sword. After he investigated the area, he came up to one of the coffins, lifting the lid.

A stench blew into his face.

In the coffin, Golden Tooth Shark’s body was already changing colour.

The young man grimaced, closed the lid, and turned to the other one.

The moment the lid opened, a hand reached out, grasped the young man’s wrist, and twisted it to one side extremely fast. In order to prevent from having his wrist dislocated, the youth could only follow along by falling down. Incidentally the coffin’s owner didn’t plan to let him go, immediately leaping out to straddle him, the other hand trapping the young man’s throat.

“Really Ellen, this sort of greeting, isn’t it a little too exciting.” Looking at the elf’s angry expression, the young man said helplessly.

The elf was black for a moment, “Who are you?”

He had never see this person before, but the voice was indeed strangely familiar. Unless…

“…Cain?!”

“At your service, Sir” Cain replied happily, “now can you get off of me, sir?”

“How were you able to find this place?” Ellen hesitated for a moment, pulling Cain up.

“That,” Cain nursed his wrist, “Because when I returned to the Mercenary’s Home, I saw Golden Tooth Shark asking around for your location.”

“This man?” Ellen pointed to the coffin.

Cain nodded, “Anyways, I didn’t think you would lose to those small fry so I didn’t interfere. Finally when I didn’t see either of you by late night, I figured it strange so went to take a look – that group mostly deals in the flesh trade, even an idiot would know where they would conduct the trade-off – sorry if I offend you – how much did you drink?”

“Quite a bit” the elf admitted, “But it’s not because of alcohol.”

”A woman?… No? … A man?”

“… Siren’s Tears. They used it.”

Cain’s brows rose, “When did Golden Tooth Shark become so generous? For him to be willing to spend a hundred gold, the reward would at least be two hundred. – Congratulations, even the most wanted criminal in the country is only worth fifty gold at most.”

It was difficult to reconcile the Cain without his armor with the armored warrior.

Like removing the skin from a mysterious and solitary wolf, for a large dog to emerge in its wake.*

Now that dog stood to one side, looking around with a casual expression. Completely changing the dark and frightening atmosphere of the morgue into something picnic like.

The elf opened Golden Tooth Shark’s coffin to search for a moment, retrieving his dagger and documents. Then used two fingers to pull at his cloak from under the body. – A dead person will lose control of their facilities, so the cloak was already smeared with unmentionable things, even if the person wasn’t a neat freak, seeing this, no one would want to wear it again.

The elf sighed, dropped the cloak, and closed the lid.

–Turning around, he found Cain staring at the wall in a daze.

“What…”

“Shh.” The knight turned his head, there was no smile on his face, “hear that?”

The elf immediately realized what he was saying.

A set of heavy footsteps could be heard drawing near, from the other side of the wall.

The two immediately hid to either side of the room.

On the wall, an area of bricks suddenly sunk in, revealing a dark hold.

Then, the owner of the footsteps came into the room.

It was a man about 30 years of age, wearing a servant’s long jacket, with the insignia of a certain noble.

The first to make a move was Cain, sword already resting against the man’s neck.

The man let out an involuntary shout of fright, but his mouth was immediately covered, only a muffled sound emerged.

“Name?” Cain asked the man with threatening eyes, signifying he was not to shout for help, then removed his hand slightly.

“Ed…Edward…Locke.”

“Were you sent by Duke Elmond?”

“Nev, never saw the duke. It was the but, butler.”**

“To do what?”

“Said, said a group of mercenaries stole, stole the duke’s money, was, was punished. Asked, asked me to come check, if one was still a, alive, to bring, bring them back for questioning.”

The man felt the sharp edge of the blade moving against his neck, and almost passed out in fear.

Cain asked a few more questions, confirming that the man knew nothing at all, and swiftly knocked him out, then removed his uniform jacked, and stuffed him in the elf’s coffin.

Seeing Cain change into the servant’s jacket, while returning the sword to its sheath without any expression, Ellen felt the knight behind the iron bucket was back.

But then the knight lifted his head, asked using a tone that suggested “let’s go shopping”, “This path should lead to the duke’s residence. Want to take a look?”

The elf nodded, unbalanced.

Then the knight did something unpredictable – he came over, bent, picked the elf up over his shoulder, and walked towards the secret passage.

“What are you doing, I’ll fall!” The flustered elf struggled on his shoulder.

“If you don’t mind, we can change positions to a princess carry as well.” Cain continued forward without much care.

“I can walk by myself!”

“Please pretend to be an honest unconscious elf, who knows how long the path is, what would happen if someone finds out?”

“No one will find out when it’s this dark! At least wait till we’re there!”

The secret passage was indeed longer than imagined. Dark and small, the stone walls were moist with condensation, the floor beneath the feet was uneven.

Cain continued forward carry the servant’s lamp, his footsteps echoing in the passage. Though the path was long, there were no divisions, soon they reached the end.

“Good, starting now, you can play dead.”

In the darkness, the knight declared somberly.

---

Translator’s Notes

*So, a pic of doggy Cain 😉 from the author’s facebook page, go and check out the art by Tina!

**It’s always the butler!

On a side note, we finally meet Cain (under the iron bucket of an armor), and he’s nothing like Ellen thought XD. Poor Ellen.

<< Chapter Two                                                                              Chapter Four >>

The Unicorn Legion: The Golden Capital – Chapter 2

Author: Demon Lord D (D魔王)

Translator: Lylis

Editor: MeeBoo

Chapter 2: Siren’s Tears

When Ellen walked out of the bar, it couldn’t be said that his condition was good, but at least he walked out by himself. In comparison to those that were carried out, or like the drunkards leaning against the wall vomiting, he could be considered relatively sober.

The door to the pub closed behind him, with a deep clanking sound. Then everything was silent.

The curfew during the wartime had already be lifted early on, but during the late night, the lower city belonged to the burglars, thieves, murderers and black market dealers, normal people would not want to be wandering about here.

Moonlight came down gently, spilling on the ancient streets. But the small alleyway on either side seemed as if to reject the light, hiding themselves completely in the darkness, even the elf with his night vision, could not see completely within.

Don’t come near – it was as if it was giving out a silent warning.

Then in that darkness, something seemed to move. Ellen rested his hand on his dagger and looked in that direction.

In threes and twos, a group of people came out. The elf released his breath.

They were mercenaries. Although more than half were unknown to him, most of them could be considered familiar faces. A few of them, Ellen even joined in on missions together.

The leader was a bandit, seemingly recognizing Ellen. He nodded, as if in greeting, then turned in another direction.

Probably returning to the Inn after a mission, the elf thought, silently following ten paces or so behind them.

The Inn was simply “The Inn”, there was no name on the signboard. But since that was the only place in the lower city that accepted mercenary boarders, there was a silent consensus, to call it “The Mercenary’s Home”. The story was that the owner was saved by a mercenary in his youth, so he was happy to accept people who were considered vagrants and thugs in the normal people’s eyes – as long as they were willing to pay a room fee higher than that of a normal person’s.

“The Mercenary’s Home” was located at the edge of the lower city, it was a group of buildings surrounded by high walls. The story goes that it was refitted from a jailing facility, thus it was far away from the civilian quarters and in the center is a large empty field.

That field had been used to house refugees from all over, but since the war was over, they had all been sent back.

Now all that was left were all sorts of crudely shaped lean-tos, which had yet to be dismantled.

Between the various tents, was a small well-worn path, which was just manageable to pass through.

Since stepping onto that field, Ellen had felt a strange atmosphere. Perhaps it was simply the effect of alcohol, or perhaps it was because this is the first time he had ever returned this late, or perhaps it was because…

Yes, it was the silence.

A group of mercenaries just returning from a mission, in full gear, needn’t worry about someone purposefully causing trouble, so there was absolutely no reason for them to be discreet. This should be when they are laughing and joking loudly, but not one of them could be heard talking.

–As if they were not on their way home, but in the middle of a mission.

Ellen lifted his head, finally confirming the source of his suspicion.

–The numbers were different.

A group that started off with around ten or so people; now there was only four, walking in front of him: a warrior, two bandits*, and an archer.

Ellen could almost be certain, that the ones who were missing, were mostly archers.

Naturally they aren’t really missing, just hidden, preparing to sneak behind; prevent the prey from escaping.

Not a bad trap. Unfortunately once the “prey” realizes this, it would be pointless.

The elf’s lips lifted in a mocking smile, silently bent down, and disappeared behind one of the tents.

The first to notice something was wrong, was one of the bandits.

When he looked back, he found that the elf was no longer following behind them like before, he immediately alerted the other three urgently.

From afar Ellen watched as the four stopped, talked for a moment, then turned around, carefully returning the way they came.

Too bad they were not stupid enough to search separately, Ellen thought with a little regret. –Since one versus four is still a little tiring.

As the four painfully searched for their prey, Ellen had already found two of the hidden archers, and dealt with them. Following that he successfully snuck behind the four.

The last member of the four man group was a warrior. He felt like cursing. They spent the whole day searching the streets for that damned bastard, and he was actually leisurely hiding in the bar, and now…

The warrior threw down his helmet in frustration, looking around himself, hoping to find the drunk elf passed out on some roadside.

“Looking for me?”

Reflexively the warrior turned his head around, what welcomed him was the hilt of a dagger. Hitting him across the nose, the pain made his eyes water. It was followed by another blow, to the back of his head. He dropped, armor and all, lying in the muddy road.

The two bandits and the remaining archer got into battle formation, forming a straight line, facing their opponent.

Thus the few archers still in hiding, even if they wanted to help, they would find the only barrier between them and the target would be their three comrades. They would have to abandon their advantage of ranged attacks and run to the front to help, or choose the easy way out: casually release an arrow or two, then pretend to die to one side.

–They chose the latter option.

The elf’s fist struck out randomly, hitting the upper torso of the archer unprotected by armor, and so, the expert they called “The one who could hit a running boar 100 paces away (aka Running Boar)”, writhed on the ground like a dying boar.

At that moment, one of the bandits finally managed to sneak behind the elf, preparing to stab at the unprotected back. But just as he was about to thrust forward, his face ate an elbow soundly, and so he went to join his other comrades.

The one remaining bandit was undoubtedly the leader.

Facing this type of raid, he didn’t panic, just drew his dagger, blocking the elf’s own short knife.

They were basically evenly matched, but the bandit was relieved.

The elf in front of him was not good at close quarter combat, just relying on agility and night vision, gaining quite a bit of an advantage in this setting. Plus the elf was not wearing any protective gear, even a little nick could decrease his energy by a lot.

In comparison, his own light armor had already blocked several threatening attacks by the dagger. As time drags on, becoming an endurance match, victory would undoubtedly be his.

But at that moment, the hidden archer made his move as if waking from a dream. Arrows flew towards them one after another, at a low angle, clearing aiming for the lower body. – As long as they were lucky enough to hit the target, it would be fine even if a team mate got a little hurt accidentally.

The bandit immediately began to feel the pressure. It was as if the elf was dancing, casually strolling through the rain of arrows, at the same time leading his opponent into the path of the archer. Cold breeze following the path of the arrows, brushed against the leg of the pants, and again.

Until one arrow sliced across the bandit’s body, the cloth near his thigh – or rather the side of his buttocks – was left with a hole. The wound wasn’t deep, but it burned a little painfully. The bandit finally couldn’t stand it, and opened his mouth to shout angrily.

“Can you fuckers stop shooting! You bunch of idiotic –“

Who knows if the following words were “pigs” or “asses”, the sensation of a cold strip of hardness against his throat stopped him.

The elf’s green orbs reflected the moonlight, looking at him calmly.

“Though I don’t expect to get an answer, but to be polite I should still ask – who sent you?”

The bandit finally made his decision, when he felt the sharp point of the dagger pressed against his throat, closing his eyes, he scratched at an indentation at the hilt of the dagger.

A cloud of purple gas silently spread from between the two of them.

Poisoned gas.

The elf jumped back reflexively, holding his breath at the same time.

But still he miscalculated, the gas didn’t target the lungs.

The ground at night, turned into a forest shadowed by trees.

The sun shone through the treetops, leaving spots of light on the ground.

Amongst the sound of the cicadas, the elf lifted his head, faintly he say “them” standing under the trees, waving in his direction.

“Siren’s Tears”. A hallucinogen created using the tears of the magical creature Siren, along with strong mental magic. Non-lethal, due to its high cost, it was almost never used in real battles.

300 years ago, it was a popular drug in the black market.

–People say that, in the tears of a Siren, you can see heaven.

The elf swayed and fell.

The bandit – a veteran mercenary called “Golden Toothed Shark” – sighed with heartfelt pain, putting away his dagger.

The tool given by the employer was used just like that.

Although he originally wanted to save it for emergencies, not planning to trade it for money.

But, it was still regrettable: the current asking price for “Siren’s Tears” in the black market was one hundred gold coins, and it was in a long term state of shortage.

However, compared to the reward this time, who cares if it was used.

Golden Tooth Shark sighed again, and started to kneel down to check on his team mates.

It seemed that the elf had been merciful, they were all breathing. That was unfortunate, but he would remedy that mistake quickly.

Golden Tooth Shark picked up the elf’s dagger, and drew a line across the warrior [Shield]’s throat, followed by the archer [Running Boar], and finally his peer [Shadow].

The archers hidden around the clearing were already up, and heading in this direction.

The idiots.

Golden Tooth Shark laughed coldly and silently at the bottom of his heart.

The elf was light, not requiring two people to carry.

Therefore, only one person can leave this field alive to collect the reward.

---

Translator’s Notes

Wow, I’m churning these out fairly fast, but don’t get used to it! It’s only because this is the first few chapters and everything is new XD. Eventually, it’ll taper off to one chapter every few days. I’m currently staying up crazy late to get these done and I do like my sleep.

*盜賊 – I couldn’t decide whether to use “Rogue” or “Bandit” for the job title, but in the end i decided to use ‘bandit’. (Google translation says bandit or robber lol)

<< Chapter One                                                                                 Chapter Three >>

The Unicorn Legion: The Golden Capital – Chapter 1

Author: Demon Lord D (D魔王)

Translator: Lylis

Editor: MeeBoo

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Era of Reality

[In the 100 years since the “Unicorn Legion” fought the Death Dragon, magical creatures slowly started to disappear. The other intelligent species other than humans, such as elves, dwarves, werewolves and beastmen, all started to leave this land for various reasons, to look for a new home. Humans became the only species on this continent with higher intellect. Historians generally agree, that this signified the end of the Legendary Age.”

–Lim . Boladier

<<Historical Records of the Ulia Continent>> Scroll 18

Sighing, Ellen lowered his last book.

During the time he had been in the capital, he had already read through all the books about the “Legendary Age”. Every one of those books makes some mention of the Unicorn Legion, but none had any solid information.

“All the members of the Unicorn Legion sacrificed themselves to defeat the Death Dragon”, this seems to be the common consensus amongst the modern historians.

They don’t even care to know the name of the members…

The elf thought as he quickly walked out of the library.

The bar “The Three Pirates” in the lower city has basically regained its atmosphere since the war, and its supplies were adequate, but the prices has been increased by several multiples.

This forced the mercenaries to accept jobs with higher rewards more enthusiastically, and also increased the rate of them creating dead bodies by quite a bit. If the dead bodies created were not their own, they would come to this bar after work for sure. – This tradition has existed since 300 years ago, and would probably continue to exist.

It was very easy to forget the difference in time in this rowdy atmosphere.

A woman carry a baby walked between the patrons of the bar with difficulty, occasionally calling out pitifully with a low voice. Her responses were either harsh scolding or vulgar jokes.

Ellen sat in a far corner of the bar, holding a silver coin and hesitating as to how he would pass it over.

Suddenly, someone took the coin from between his fingers, calling out to the owner of the establishment “two cups of Dawn Manor Wine.”

Ellen turned his head to look at the self-assertive client: it was a party member who had joined in the mission to ambush the rebels during the war, everyone calls him Cain.

Cain was a very unique individual, not because his face made him especially memorable or anything – truthfully, his getup had always been the same as today’s: heavy armor from head to toe, even his face was covered – it was because, in the several months since Ellen had known him, even despite having partied together in several missions, Ellen still could not completely grasp what this person was thinking.

This heavy armored individual was a silent, lone wolf, and almost always received only solo missions. In the few rare occasions when they operated together, he always left immediately after the mission was complete, even the reward was collected by a middleman.

But his skills and sense cannot be made light of.

For example, during the mission against the rebels, Cain secretly cast several area magic. The timing was perfect, with none the wiser, the others in the party would shore that up as their “condition seeming to be exceptionally good today.” If it was not for his familiarity with magic and an elf’s exceptional night vision, Ellen would probably have missed it as well.

A warrior with magical talents would surely be a great boon to any party, and yet he chooses to hide it.

Ellen wasn’t someone who likes to look into another’s past, so he chose to keep silent. But since then, he can’t help but pay closer attention to this person.

— If he wasn’t that antisocial, he would be a hot choice for employers.

But “antisocial” seems to be too mild a term, “extremely withdrawn” is a more accurate description. He was never seen greeting anyone, giving a nod in return to another’s greeting, is already a very friendly gesture. Most of the time, talking to him is similar to talking to a brick wall. It might be because the circumstances of their meeting was a bit different, or because Ellen was one of the few among the mercenaries to try to maintain a relationship with him, Cain retains a reluctant hot and cold attitude towards him.

But being so forward in interacting with him, today was the first time ever.

The bar owner looked at the silver coin with suspicion, placing it in his mouth to bite it and staring at it for a long while, before finally going towards the counter, coming back a moment later and placing two cups on the table, he said in a rough voice “ain’t got enough in the storage.”

The mugs were only filled a little over half-full by wine, certainly not enough to be worth half a silver coin. But it seemed that Cain was not someone to make a fuss either, so he received the mugs without a word.

Ellen waited for him to take off his helmet, but he simply flipped his visor up, turned towards an empty corner and tossed the drink back.

It wasn’t as if the elf was not curious, he simply refrained from prying.

And so, in the rowdy bar, only this corner seemed to be under a silencing spell.

Until the warrior put his cup down, and replaced his visor, did Ellen push his own cup towards him and said softly, “can you tell me, why I shouldn’t give charity to that woman?”

Cain gave a low sarcastic laugh from under the helmet, “the child she’s holding is bought. – Something like a nun from the Grand Temple having a child, while it can’t be announced as a miracle, it still can be traded for a few coins.”

“But…that’s—“

“Until that child gets to about 6 or 7, and can’t garner anymore sympathy, they will be sold to the [Mermaid Brothel] the next street over. After that, she can buy another one.”

The elf stared at him in shock, hoping to find that it was a joke under the helmet, but logically he can tell that Cain was completely truthful.

As if thinking that Ellen’s reaction seemed to be a little too big, Cain stood up, and patted him on the shoulder.

“Sometimes I really don’t know where you’re from, the Legendary Age from 300 years ago? – Either way, welcome to the Era of Reality.”

“In the Era of Reality,” when Cain pushed the cup back towards him, Ellen asked without looking back at him, “As a Holy Paladin, do you have to be so careful?”

The armored hand froze for a moment, “Because in the Era of Reality, rather than gods, people have more faith in this.”

He didn’t deny his guess, and the sound of the armor gradually became distant.

Ellen looked at the item Cain placed down – a silver coin, hesitated for a moment, then stretched his hand towards the cup of wine, picked it up, and drained it.

In the past, his friends would often say he was too rigid and disciplined, not even drinking wine, something that was harmless and enjoyable. Now that he has tried it, he felt disappointed.

Perhaps he should have tried it 300 years ago. The wine back then would probably taste as sweet as they say, at least it wouldn’t taste like it did now, of a bitterness that burned in that empty corner of his heart.

At his third cup, the elf felt that he was waiting.

Perhaps in a moment, someone would push open the door while joking loudly, and call out his name, complaining about how difficult that the old Ent they had dealt with today was.

But until the bar closed, the ones he was waiting for never came.

–Because, whether it was Ents or them, neither exists in the world anymore.

<< Prologue                                                                                     Chapter Two >>

The Unicorn Legion: The Golden Capital – Prologue

The Unicorn Legion

1. Golden Capital

Author: Demon Lord D (D魔王)

Prologue: Queen Amelia’s Troubles

Queen Amelia Grecia sat in the large throne, with an armrest that was fully half as tall as she was, with a troubled mind. Her father – the late King Allen Grecia’s crown was too large on her small stature, if she moved even the slightest, it would slide down. It had been a month since the coronation, but they still could not free anyone to adjust the size. As all the blacksmiths in the city were busy forging new weapons.

The patrols around the city had been doubled in size, but that still was not enough to give the nobles in the city any sense of safety. If it was not for some sort of godly protection – or some miraculous luck –a month ago, the Golden Capital would have been captured by the rebel army ten times the size.

Now she was paying for that luck.

The most important issue was the reshuffling of political power. After that battle, a full third of the offices and land were left empty.

The land owned by the rebel faction’s leader, Archduke Crane* was distributed among the nobles with some sort of achievement during the war or those that at least joined the right camp. It was a good thing that the bastard climbed high enough, was just greedy enough when he was alive, that there was just enough to satisfy everyone.

As for government offices, that was a little tighter, the misters were all hinting that they or their sons would not mind helping with the burden of the state, but who knows if another Archduke Crane would emerge among them?

Following that were the knighthoods, normally just a titles that comes along with one or two remote villages, given to the common born commanders and to those who have some accomplishment. From now on they would be elevated from their original class, becoming respected gentleman – most of these gentleman probably couldn’t read a single word.

Finally, the treasury gold, given to the others, ones that didn’t stand out nor achieved anything of great mention, but still lived to tell the tale. But even if this was the Golden Capital, there wasn’t much leftover after such a great civil war.

— Duke Lesting**, the financial minister in charge of rebuilding costs after the war, was about to go insane. These last few days, during meetings, Grecia felt that he was staring at her crown and necklace with wolf like eyes.

The award ceremonies have been going on for a month, and anything with even a speck of value had already been given out.

Other than the traditional reward, those with exemplary performances could also ask one extra favor from the crown. Naturally, she could veto them, but refusing too many would affect her image and make the Queen seem too stingy.

Within this month, she had refused fifteen marriage proposals, five of which were from titleless peasants. – Does the word “overstepping” not exist in their dictionary?

Another eight wanted to send their heirs into the palace as Prince Consort candidates (being lovers was fine too), four that wanted the rights to adjust taxation in their own lands, three that wants the position of the Captain of the Royal Guards… etcetera etcetera. After negotiating with them they accepted alternative proposals, and happily went back to their drinking and merry making, leaving the Queen alone with a headache.

Now, there was only one person left. Thinking about that made Grecia very happy, but also a little uneasy.

There really was nothing more left to give. If they wanted a thousand gold coins, she could only write an IOU.

This man – the records say his name was Ellen, no last name. The name left Grecia with a strong impression.

One month ago, this was the man that led a small group of mercenaries and after spending half the night leading them around on the leash like dogs on a walk, eliminated the group of elite scouts sent by the rebel faction; they also gained a lot of information from the ones that lived. This made the Archduke Crane hesitate, the attack was delayed for a full two days, giving the Capital some breathing room, enough to hold on until reinforcements came. If he were a noble, this would guarantee a promotion of at least two ranks, even if not, it was worth the title of Viscount.

This man whose face was covered by a hood, the newly appointed Viscount of Soloris Valley (it was a remote ravine, the name means “Carefree Valley”, but it was probably more appropriate to call it Nothing Valley, there was even some rebel stragglers camping around there), knelt before her,  head down. The hood hid part of his face in shadows, only his straight nose and thin mouth could be seen clearly. His chin was smooth, with no beard, perhaps he was young.

Upon hearing that he could make a request, the Viscount spoke, pure Sistare*** Common tongue without a hint of accent.

“Your Majesty, I do have a request. It might be a little abrupt, but I hope you can grant it. After all, historically –“

The Queen’s eyebrows twitched, her mouth pulled downward almost unnoticeably.

–Here it is, the sixteenth marriage proposal. The marriage of the first Queen of Sistare to a commoner was an undying legend that had been passed down in history, but the idiots who happily continue to recount that story will never know, that the commoner was actually a bastard prince, and the first Queen was the child from an adulterous affair between the Queen and a guard, not the King’s own daughter. It was an under the tables agreement in order to maintain the bloodline and power, that’s all.

Her mind wandered for a while, so by the time she returned to her senses, she had already missed the first part of his narration. So the Queen nodded her head as if she had been listening and cut off his speech.

“Then, what is your request?”

“Please reinstate the establishment of the [Unicorn Legion].”

Grecia thought for a moment, before the phrase [Unicorn Legion] came to her from a deep corner of her memory. It was an independent unit chartered by the Founding King, its’ purpose was… to travel the country and protect the livelihood of the citizens from interference from magical creatures.

In most cases, these magical creatures refer to Dragons, Medusas and Vampires, those with such strong supernatural powers that normal armies have no chance of facing.

The problem was, within the magical creatures, even the smallest, most harmless Gnomes, have disappeared from this country for over two hundred years.

If the one that made such a request has not gone insane from reading too many stories of the Legendary Age… then…

The Queen looked at the new Viscount, who raised their head just in time, to look back at her calmly. He didn’t seem insane, no matter how you look at it.

If there was any sort of trickery involved, then it would have to do with the special rights permitted to the legion. Even though the Unicorn Legion was not financially supported by the Kingdom, it was one of the organizations in a small number with [First Class Recruitment Rights].

Top Class Recruitment Rights, means that they have the power to recruit anyone into their troops regardless of their wishes, and only in times of war, could this be specially permitted by the King.

First Class Recruitment Rights, means that as long as the recruit was willing, they can be recruited, and no one can interfere other than the King. This means, the organization can recruit anyone. For example, a bandit on death row, or a heretic about to be burned at the stake by the Pope, or a wanted criminal on the run, all of these could coin the legion to escape from a death sentence. Therefore, only groups that are constantly at the edge of life and death, could have this power.

Undoubtedly, when the magical creatures still roamed, the Unicorn Legion fit all these requirements. But now…

The Queen’s eyes became sharp, but the young man named Ellen still made no move, on the contrary, he addressed her concerns.

“Regarding the limit of the recruitment rights;  cannot include the remaining rebels and traitors, you can add that to the documents. Everything else can also be determined by you. – What I want… is a memento of the past.”

The youth stood up, and gently pushed his hood down.

The Queen heard the exclamations from the guards around her, she herself also held her breath in shock.

All eyes in the audience hall were riveted on the new noble, he had pale golden hair, green eyes and a pair of long slim ears, not belonging to any human. – A symbol of the elves that had long disappeared from this continent.

The elf regarded these stares with poise, as if he was no different from anyone else.

“Viscount,” the Queen said, after a while, her voice calm as always, “I will have the registry prepare all the necessary documents. – May victory always be with you.”

The elf elegantly came forward to kiss her hand.

The Queen gazed at the lord that was half knelt before her, unavoidably, a thread of regret entered her heart.

— Such a beautiful man.

— But he didn’t propose marriage.

——–

Translator’s Notes

*克蘭大公 – Names are basically phonetic translations of English names into Mandarin, if anyone has a better translation, please do tell me!

**公爵萊斯汀

***西斯塔爾語 – “西斯塔爾” is the name the country that they are in, no mentions of any other countries besides this one has been mentioned yet. But I believe the continent is called something different. So I believe there should be some other countries scattered around.

Chapter One >>