TEB Ch 102

The man, dressed in a white robe and long mustache, flattered the old man and looked at the dragon beyond the glass window. Because he continued to cause trouble, he had to be put to sleep for now, but since the spell worked properly, he will have no choice but to follow his commands at important moments. The man alternated his gaze between the old man and the dragon, hoping that the old man would rest soon. 

“As soon as it’s all over, it will only be a matter of time before our long-cherished wish comes true, and I’ll give you a great reward as the work is completed.”

The man said, but it seemed as though the old man didn’t even hear him. 

Either way, the old man seemed to have no doubt that he would use the dragon to help strengthen the imperial power of the Empire, but that was just wishful thinking. 

About twenty years ago, when the man first met the dragon, he remembered its potential to become a powerful being. However, the dragon, who was still small and weak at the time, showed aggression and rejection towards anyone except one person. 

It was a typical imprinting phenomenon. The owner of the dragon said the dragon was mistakenly imprinted on the wrong person and requested research to see if the imprint could be changed to someone else. However, the result at that time was a failure. The man, who had received a small amount of money from the Count as hush money, was threatened to keep the incident a secret. 

“If this incident spreads to other places, you and your family will be torn to pieces,” the man recalled the Count’s words. 

The man kept his promise to the Count to protect his life. However, the failed task continued to remain an unpleasant, unresolved case in the corner of the man’s mind. 

Why did it fail? The man couldn’t help but feel sorry for the dragon, who would cling to a small child as if its life depended on it. If the dragon was so dependent on someone, why not him? With that strength, he could accomplish great things with his power. That kid didn’t even know what kind of power he had and was treating the dragon like a dog or a cat. 

The man was a commoner and always felt like he was living off of others, despite having made significant research achievements while working at Magic Tower. The reason for this was not because of his social status but because most of his research experiments raised ethical issues, making him an unwelcome figure regardless of his accomplishments. He had only harbored resentment for not being recognized in his heart. 

If he could just succeed in this, he could turn his life around. That thought continued to dominate the man’s mind. What is this nonsense about living off of others? It wasn’t an impossible dream to become emperor if he had a dragon on his back. Dragons would do anything to protect the object of their imprint. It was their instinct to blindly show loyalty as if it were their sole purpose, even if it meant turning the entire Empire into their enemy with just one word. 

With this small hope in his heart, the man secretly continued his research. Since he couldn’t get a dragon to experiment on, he captured small demons that showed similar imprint phenomena and repeated experiments to change their bonds. Countless demons were sacrificed in the process, but that was not something to worry about. 

“Why the fuck do I keep failing?” 

If he could just succeed in this, his life would be completely different. The man used up all his remaining wealth to continue his experiments. 

Finally, he succeeded in changing the imprints of small demons, and he carefully proceeded with his plan. He couldn’t be confident that it was complete at this level. If the small demon was like a small cup of water, then the dragon was like a lake or the sea. Although the dragon was still young and closer to a lake than the sea, there was no guarantee that the same imprint would work.

He needed to experiment with a larger demon, but the man had no remaining wealth. By this time, Renard had already escaped from the Count, so the man searched for sponsors who could support him while asking about the whereabouts of the dragon. He tried to persuade them by saying that he would give them the power to control dragons if they supported his experiments, but there were no sponsors who believed him. Even if he claimed it was possible, as long as the Empire, which dominated most of the continent, existed, they wouldn’t go into full-scale war with the imperial army. And what would they use the power for? 

In that rejection, the man got a hint. If he wanted to become the new ruler of the continent, the biggest obstacle would be the Empire. So, all he had to do was overthrow the Empire. The man knocked on the door of the nobleman, who had ties to the royal family. Since he had successfully made the small demons follow him, it was not difficult to contact the royal family. 

The Emperor of the Empire promised him that if he found a way to control the dragons, he would grant him a noble title. Whether he said it or not, the man only thought about becoming the new Emperor himself. Now, his dream was right in front of him. 

<I will contact you as soon as he wakes up. It may take some time for the magic to take effect, so please wait in a comfortable place.> 

The man, afraid that the dragon would wake up again, sent the old man away. In the end, the experiment was a success. However, the problem was that the success was not complete and only half-hearted. 

According to the man’s research, the bond between the dragon and the subject was one-sided. It was strong enough that the subject could not break it, but the opposite was also true. So, even though he transferred the perception from the dragon heart, the source of all its power, to himself, it was still incomplete. The problem was that even though the perception was transferred to him, the dragon did not worship him like it did in the previous subject. 

“Won’t let this go!? I’ll kill you!”

Even though his limbs were restrained while he was unconscious, he went on such a rampage that he destroyed the laboratory, so we had no choice but to put him to sleep again. In any case, the dragon could not disobey his commands. Just by seeing that he could not resist the command to sit down, the experiment was considered a success. The problem was, what could he do with this power since the subject did not obey his commands and showed such aggression? 

“Sigh…” 

The man clicked his tongue as if in trouble. The only target the dragon couldn’t attack was himself. It was difficult when others, including the soldiers, threatened and rushed to kill them. Especially now, when the dragon’s control was not fully in his hands, he needed the Empire’s power even more. He couldn’t keep sleeping like this forever. While the man was pondering, the dragon’s eyelids twitched as if he were about to wake up at any moment. 

“I should increase the dosage again.” 

It wouldn’t be good if the beast woke up and caused chaos. He needed to stabilize the connection between himself and the dragon before he could wake up. The man entered the laboratory behind the glass and placed the syringe on the dragon’s arm. It wasn’t too difficult for him to keep the dragon in a sleepy state since he already knew the result of testing the dragon’s toxicity on a human body. 

“Even though this is a bit of a problem, I have to keep injecting him since his body detoxifies so quickly, so it has to be constantly injected.” 

For now, time is the only medicine. 

The man couldn’t help but admire the dragon’s beauty. 

“I mean, he’s really handsome, even though he doesn’t need to be.” 

Just then, someone urgently shouted from behind the glass. 

“Sir Douglas! The imprinter has escaped from the prison! 

With the sound, the man furrowed his brow and yelled back. 

“What? Didn’t you say he was just an ordinary weakling? And you couldn’t even properly monitor that thing?” 

When the man got angry, the soldier, who had run into the laboratory, defended himself. 

“It’s not that, sir. He had incredible strength. He was so overpowering that the guard couldn’t even move, and he fainted instantly. It seemed like he had received professional assassination training.” 

“What nonsense! He was just a low-level assistant in the laboratory.” 

“I know it sounds absurd, but that’s what happened.” 

“I swear, these useless people! Find him quickly! If he runs into the dragon, your head will be on the line.” 

Regardless, at that moment, Liev was breaking through the Empire’s sloppy surveillance network one by one.