Dragonlord

Ep 201. If You Don’t Want It, Then… (2)

Ep 201. If You Don’t Want It, Then… (2)

“Where’s Letherien?”

“…”

“We already know this was her doing. Shutting your mouth isn’t going to keep it a secret for very long; you might as well talk while I’m being nice.”

Although iris glared down at the three elves with as menacing an expression as she could manage, they barely seemed to listen to her, much less comply.

“Even should we return, we will be killed as defects; our fates were decided the moment we were captured. You cannot scare us, human.”

“…Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

Gritting her teeth, Iris summoned a shimmering mana-based firearm into her hand. She swiftly clocked the tip against the speaking elf’s forehead, pressing the muzzle against his bare skull.

But even then, she couldn’t see any visible reaction from the shadowguard captain.

Instead, it was Serenis who reacted to the enforcer’s threatening gesture, approaching to her side to steer the firearm’s aim away.

“Settle down now. You’ve mentioned that you already know of Letherien’s quarters, did you not?”

“…There’s no guarantee she’ll be there. Especially not when there’s an active war going on.”

“It’s alright. I’m quite certain we could find her in another manner still.”

And by another manner, she really just meant having Letherien find them first.

“…”

After a short sigh, the weapon in Iris’ hand faded away as the enforcer reluctantly nodded back to the dragonlord.

And with the immediate threat no longer present, Serenis turned to examine the captured shadowguards once more.

Scarred faces, fierce eyes…ragged appearances that betrayed what difficulties they’d likely endured. Even though the three seemed relatively young for elves, it appeared as if they’d each participated in hundreds of battles already.

‘This is hardly any different to how elves were during our era. Their owners have merely changed from their fathers to their deity…’

The dragonlord let out an exasperated sigh as she reflected on the similarities between the elven race’s past and present: following demonkind’s demise, she’d expected them to have flourished as mankind did under the Twelve’s rule. But clearly, that hadn’t been the case for everyone.

Though, as Serenis mulled over her own era, a distant memory began to resurface.

Even back then, the dragonlord hadn’t been particularly close with elves: occasions where she’d encounter them were rare, and even during such occasions, she’d had little reason to establish friendly relations.

But her daughter had been different. In fact, she could vividly recall some of Eden’s closest acquaintances being elves.

‘And if I recall correctly…back then, Eden had…’

It didn’t take long for the silly idea to take root in Serenis’ mind.

And, without realizing, her lips had twisted into a devious grin when she addressed the elven captain again.

“That reminds me. You lot had always refused to eat anything besides greens. Is that still the case?”

“Naturally. We’re different from barbarians like yourselves.”

“Mhm. And you’re no different from a wild stag. Your body cannot even process meats.”

“…”

Having effectively silenced the elf again, Serenis then turned to Patrick.

“Patrick. What you made last night…can you make it here again?”

“Eh? What I made last night…?”

For a moment, the mage tilted his head in confusion, wondering what he possibly could have made yesterday – but when he eventually realized what his sibling was referring to, a deep frown crossed his face.

“Wait, you want me to make that now…? I can’t just make it out of thin air, you know.”

“This is a city as well, is it not? I’m sure you can manage to find what you need.”

“In these burnt-down, ashen streets? I doubt it.”

Both Serenis and Patrick glanced around – and, true to Patrick’s words, the surrounding streets were filled with ash and coal.

But nonetheless, the dragonlord only shrugged back at her human brother.

“Still, do give it a chance. It’s quite important.”

“Wha…you try finding the ingredients here then!”

“I do not know what goes in it.”

“…”

In that moment, Serenis could recognize the particular expression on Patrick’s face: it was an expression ridden with annoyance and reluctance, an expression that he would make when his sibling asked ridiculous things of him.

And also, it was the expression Patrick often made before giving in and doing as asked.

✧   ✧   ✧

The sounds of a crackling fire can evoke varying emotions depending on one’s circumstance.

Of course, for the three elves that were being held captive outside under an enforcer’s watchful eye, those emotions weren’t exactly happy ones.

Despite being bound and on their knees, the two subordinate shadowguards were fidgeting about in unease. They glanced every now and then towards the burnt swinging door beside them, to which the unnerving sound was continuing to leak out of.

When one of them finally couldn’t take it anymore, they looked to their captain – the only one who still seemed to be at ease.

“…Captain Keldrin, what do you suppose that noise is?”

“Who knows. Could be iron rods being heated.”

“…”

Their captain’s answer didn’t exactly help alleviate any stress.

For some time, Patrick had brought the group to the outside of a small building that had managed to remain standing through Kavir’s wreckage. And although the shadowguards had no way of knowing what the building’s purpose was, the blue-haired mage had gone inside without bothering to explain, simply asking the rest to wait here.

For the three elves, all they could tell was that there was a crackling fire in there.

But as if the sound was of little concern, their two watchers – Serenis and Iris – merely stared into the distance, relaxed as ever in their seemingly idle conversation.

“I’m surprised, Serenis. I didn’t think you’d ask something like that to Patrick.”

“It seemed appropriate given the hour. And this should be more effective than most tortures anyhow.”

Unfortunately, their conversation didn’t exactly help alleviate any stress for the elves, either.

‘More effective than…’

‘Most tortures…?’

Even at this point, the shadowguards’ imaginations were running wild: they still had no idea what the dragonlord had asked of their sibling, and the fiery sounds coming from within were only worsening their panic. Given Serenis’ claim about it being more effective than most tortures, their imagined scenarios were growing grimmer by the second.

“There we go. All done.”

“…?”

So when Patrick burst out of the building with a plate of food in hand, their confusion was palpable.

“Thank heavens this place had their storage unit underground…here you go.”

With a small smile, Serenis received the plate from Patrick to study its contents.

“Thank you, Patrick. And you said there aren’t any meats in this, yes?”

“Yeah. It may not look it, but it’s a pretty healthy dish.”

‘Dish?’

When the item’s contents became apparent, even Keldrin made an audible gulp.

Contained within the plate was a type of food he’d never seen before: streaks of thick, golden strings were forming a large, collective swirl, while a crimson paste coated their surface with bits of greens added into the mix. Given that elven culture had little to no emphasis on culinary arts, the dish seemed more than just peculiar to the elven captain.

But as if it was hardly anything special, Patrick gave an apologetic shrug towards his sibling, pointing at the dish he’d just made.

“I’d put in more stuff, but that’s all they had available in there. And I’m not about to go searching another dozen streets to find a bag of unburnt mushrooms.”

“I’m sure this will be plenty.”

When Serenis turned to approach the kneeling elves, the dish’s strong, irresistible scent began to prick their nose.

‘…Bearing pain is a trivial task. But this…’

“…”

After studying the elves’ reactions for a moment, Serenis likewise lowered herself to her knees. Stabbing at the dish’s contents with a nearby stick, she scooped up a small amount of its contents, bringing it towards Keldrin’s mouth for the bound captain.

“Being captured shouldn’t equate to one being deprived of nourishment. You needn’t worry; there aren’t any meats in this dish.”

“…”

Truth be told, Keldrin and his team had hardly had a proper meal since their stay in Kavir. They’d had nothing but small amounts of water and a few, tiny spheres that were basically a mixture of dirt and grass.

But, still…

“…I…refuse. What guarantee is there that it isn’t poison?”

“Is that so? Very well.”

Accepting Keldrin’s answer with nary a complaint, Serenis instead brought the mouthful to her own lips instead. She bit down without a second thought, as if to prove that the food was devoid of any ill substances.

She then glanced to Keldrin’s two subordinates, holding out the dish in an offering gesture.

“And what of you two? Would you like to try some?”

“…”

“…”

Despite their captain’s pressuring gaze, the two elves audibly gulped in hunger, unaware of their captain’s glaring entirely.

After all, Letherien’s punishment had become an inevitability the moment they were captured. The two shadowguards were well aware that they were as good as dead.

‘And if we’re going to die anyways…’

Quietly, one of the elves nodded back towards the dragonlord.

“Mm.”

With a satisfied smile, Serenis offered a second mouthful to the elf all too easily.

“…”

No reaction came forth for the first few seconds: the noodle remained lodged in their mouth as the elf seemed to freeze in place.

…But once the initial shock had passed, the food quickly disappeared into his mouth. The elf’s eyes seemed to lose focus as he severed himself from the rest of the world, relishing in the taste that filled his senses.

Once the mouthful was finally swallowed, a newfound vigor glimmered in the shadowguard’s eyes as he lost himself in the discovery of “cooked food.”

And, as if the reaction was expected all along, Serenis grinned in satisfaction once more.

‘It’s only to be expected. They likely survived on raw greens their whole life.’

In Karia, even a cup of tea – or rather, water that was boiled with a piece of leaf in the mix – was a “complicated dish.” Given elven tendency to thrive exclusively on fresh vegetables, culinary science was practically nonexistent, and hence, it was literally the first time the elf had tasted anything that was properly cooked with spices and seasoning. 

It certainly wasn’t surprising to hear their teammate chiming in afterwards, either.

“C, could I…also…”

When another elf expressed her eagerness to try the dish, Serenis repeated the exact same procedure, bringing another mouthful to their lips.

Once both had finished eating their first bites, the dragonlord exchanged glances with both, looking to the two with a devious smile.

“How was that for the two of you?”

“It’s…good. Very…”

“…Can I have another bite?...Please?”

Both were expected reactions.

And at the same time, both were reactions that she vividly recalled.

Though, in the dragonlord’s memories, the person serving the food to their elven guests was her daughter.

‘…Even now, I’ve things to learn from you.’

Despite Serenis nodding back to the two elves that were all too eager to continue eating, she only shook the dish in a tantalizing manner this time, refusing to offer more right away.

“I’m afraid you two will have to tell us where your deity is first, then.”

“B, but…”

“…That’s…”

A soldier could be trained to endure tortures far better than regular people. And it was, in fact, a common part of the training regimen in various regions.

But even then, soldiers aren’t normally trained to endure something like…this. Whatever this is.

After all, it isn’t possible to prepare against things they aren’t aware of existing.

Though, having seen the evident reluctance in the two elves’ reactions, Serenis leisurely pretended to turn away from them.

“If you don’t want it, then…I suppose I’ll eat it myself.”

“W, wait!”

“We’ll tell you! We’ll tell you, so…”

When the dragonlord managed to make his subordinates surrender all too easily, Keldrin looked to them with a fierce glare, bellowing at the two louder than ever.

“SILENCE, BOTH OF YOU! It’s merely some scrap food!”

Under normal circumstances, their captain’s bellowing orders would’ve been more than enough to make his subordinates instantly obedient.

…And right now, they were not under normal circumstances.

“We’re dead anyways, captain! Might as well eat before we go!”

“Yeah, Borok’s right! Don’t tell us what to do!”@@novelbin@@

“You crazy bastards…!”

Although Keldrin considered reprimanding them even further, deep inside, even the elven captain’s heart was beginning to waver.

They were his squadron. He knew better than anyone how capable his subordinates were.

And, if that dish was able to persuade them this easily…

‘Just…what does it taste like…?’

Without realizing, Keldrin made another audible gulp, his eyes drifting over to the dish in Serenis’ hand.

And, noticing the captain’s gaze, the dragonlord offered the dish once more – with a wider grin than before.

“Would you like some as well?”

“…”

He might as well have been staring right into the devil’s eyes.

Then again, it was a demonlord, so…maybe he wasn’t too far off.