Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Flower Language of the Winter Flower is Salvation (6)
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Snow Dragon Pers was once again struck by the realization that he'd been utterly duped.
'Damn that demon bastard. You said you could catch him... You said you could catch him!!!!'
He'd been swayed by the guy's confident swagger, the way he'd boasted about taking down the Northern Archduke. But reality had hit hard—Pers couldn't even exchange a few blows with Yuri before his body was cleaved in half and dragged off by Bergil.
Now, only the Dragon Slayer and his disciple remained in the cave, a hopeless situation.
Pers subtly twitched his wings, wondering if he could slip away fast enough to escape.
"Put those wings away. Or I'll rip them off."
Even though he'd moved them as slowly as any human eye could miss, Yuri's sharp voice pierced right through him.
For Pers, a snow dragon who'd lived for centuries, this was the first—and possibly last—life-or-death crisis of his existence.
He cast aside all draconic pride and opened his mouth as subserviently as possible.
"Uh, um... Could you possibly spare my life?"
It was a posture of utter humility from a snow dragon, not some lowly wyvern, and one dripping with arrogance no less.
Yet Yuri's expression didn't change a bit.
"Shut your mouth and stay put."
"...Yes, sir."
Yuri silenced Pers, then gently stroked the head of Karin, who was still half out of it and thoroughly broken.
"Karin. It's okay now. It's all over."
His voice hammered away at the heart Karin had sealed shut under Lucas's relentless obsession these past few days.
For Karin, whose world had felt like nothing but black and white for so long, this was the moment colors began to seep back in, ever so slowly.
"...You're too late."
"Sorry. To catch Lucas... no, that demon, I needed solid proof."
The sole daughter of the Northern Archduke, known even in the Empire as one of the Four Flowers.
She buried her face in the arms of Yuri, who had retired decades ago.
Yuri could feel the warmth soaking into his chest—Karin's tears.
Those tears held relief that the Lucas who'd tormented her for years was gone, mixed with the grief of truly losing the brother who'd cared for her in childhood.
Emotions too tangled and profound for a single word to capture.
After shedding them in a flood, Karin—exhausted in body and soul—curled into Yuri's embrace, her breathing steady and even as she drifted off.
"No wonder you're worn out."
It was only natural.
Karin had been shattered to her core.
"Anyway... putting Karin aside, Pers."
Pers shuddered as he watched the deepening bond between master and disciple unfold right before his eyes.
"Y-You called for me?"
"Fell right into Lucas's trap, didn't you? Never thought you'd be that stupid."
"...Urk."
"What, thought you could win two-on-one?"
Yuri's words crushed the dragon's pride.
But rather than flare up, Pers bowed his head even lower.
"...I fell for the demon's scheme. Please forgive me."
"Forgiveness, huh? Then make me a promise."
"...A promise?"
In an instant, the distance between Yuri and Pers—over a kilometer apart just a moment ago—closed to nothing.
Now they were close enough that a stumble would mean nose-to-nose.
From that intimate range, the tip of Yuri's sword pointed straight at Pers's right eye.
"I'll bind a mana oath to your right eye. In exchange for sparing your life, you'll protect the North until your dying breath. Sound like a fair deal?"
Yuri smiled brightly, but to Pers, it felt more insincere than even Lucas's grins.
'Refuse, and my head rolls.'
Pers, with centuries behind him, sensed it instinctively.
This was his do-or-die moment.
'Cling to draconic pride? Or beg for life?'
The answer was already clear.
"...I'll accept your proposal."
"Smart choice."
Yuri's blade slashed downward in a flash.
—Shlick!
The sharp slicing sound sent chills down the spine as Pers's right eye—once a gleaming jewel—split straight across in a single line.
"Grk...!"
Severed clean by sword aura, it was a wound no elixir could ever heal.
It symbolized the weight Pers would carry forever for daring to defy Yuri.
That day, a straight slash marked Pers's eye.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The basement was pitch dark despite it not yet being night, lit only by a few torches—the sole sources of light.
It was a place artificially crafted to make people honest, their guards down.
For me, visiting the ducal mansion's basement for the first time, I couldn't help but be impressed.
"Took you long enough. Later than I expected."
"Had to tuck Karin in."
"I see... I should have paid more attention."
Bergil let out a self-deprecating sigh, having roughly grasped the situation from interrogating Lucas.
"Noticing would have been the weird part. Of all people, it possessed your grandson."
There had been odd signs, honestly.
Lucas, whose magic talent hovered near zero, had suddenly awakened overwhelming genius.
'Sure, he's Bergil's bloodline, so you'd chalk it up to that.'
The lineage of the Archmage of Extremes was bound to produce such prodigies.
His son had been one, his daughter too.
Lucas and Karin lacking talent entirely had been the anomalies.
So when Lucas awakened his gift, they probably celebrated it as a blessing.
"By the way, what faction is this thing from?"
"...Sigh. Got that it's a demon baron from the demon realm, but that's it. Won't say more."
Bergil wiped sweat from his brow and heaved a deep sigh.
Interrogating a demon—hardly human—was no easy task.
"Go rest. I'll handle the rest."
"You sure? You just fought a snow dragon."
"Wasn't much of a fight. He charged headfirst, so I slapped on the mana oath and came."
"...Mana oath?"
A mana oath was an unbreakable vow or contract backed by one's soul.
Bergil's jaw dropped upon hearing what passed between me and Pers.
"...That thing's really a dragon?"
"Kinda doubted it myself."
Dragons were arrogant, with pride that never bent.
Put life and honor on the scales, and they'd pick honor every time.
Pers choosing life flew in the face of the dragons from the conquest wars.
"Anyway... good news for you, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'll wrap this up quick and head up. Get the drinks ready."
After sending Bergil off, only Lucas and I remained in the basement.
Blood splattered the walls of this ominous chamber.
Torture tools lined the side: knives small and large, pliers, axes, hammers.
All perfectly suited for breaking someone.
But for me, one little knife sufficed.
"Lucas Clayman... grandson of Bergil Clayman, brother to Karin Clayman. And wielder of overwhelming magical talent."
A setup too perfect for a demon to pass up.
—Shlick!
I swung the knife in my hand casually.
Lucas let out a guttural scream, shocked by the searing, dizzying agony like his body was burning from within.
"Gaaahhh...!!!!"
"Loudmouth."
—Shlick.
Another swing, and his eyes rolled back as foam bubbled from his mouth.
Makes sense. Even a demon baron, bound to a human body, couldn't endure direct slashes to the soul.
"Alright, you're lucid now. Answer a few questions."
I shoved the knife in his face, lowering my voice.
The menace and swagger he'd shown me earlier were gone; he trembled, staring up in terror.
To that Lucas, I had only one thing to say.
"Don't worry. I won't make it hurt. What I want isn't in you anyway."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Having successfully dealt with Lucas in the basement, I pulled a small vial from my pocket.
A glass bottle plastered with talismans scrawled in Hanja script.
An import from the East, used to capture demons during the conquest wars.
"...Well, mission accomplished. Hand it off to Bergil from here."
I'd learned all I could; analyzing the bound demon was for a mage like Bergil.
My job was just handling Lucas once freed of the demon.
"What about you?"
I turned my head, and my eyes fell on a handsome man with pale purple hair.
Tortured and gaunt, his body a wreck he could barely control.
Not a trace of revulsion in me.
This was the real Lucas Clayman.
"...I want to apologize to Karin."
He bowed his head deeply as he spoke.
A picture of genuine remorse.
Well, his body was his, but the crimes were all that demon's.
Would Karin, the victim, see it that way?
"Headache. How to handle this."
Thanks to my soul-slicing earlier, he had less than an hour left.
As I pondered letting him meet Karin given his sincerity—
A woman staggered in from afar and quietly spoke.
"...Brother?"