Chapter 55: The Traitor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 55: The Traitor
After the meeting concluded, Ruri slipped away from Jed and Arwen, heading toward a specific destination.
She already knew the layout of the Grand Council hall. She knew where the humans gathered, and she knew where the Dragon Spawn congregated.
Unlike humans, Dragon Spawn were far from social. They were not weak enough to feel the need to build power by flattering others, and their pride as dragons forbade it.
Ruri headed for the second floor. As she ascended the spiral staircase, twelve doors came into view, arranged around the landing.
The 12 Dragons of the Serdes Continent.
From Evil Dragons to Guardian Dragons, every lineage was represented here. And among them, of course, was Silverwind.
Ruri looked up at the grand door engraved with the crest of Silverwind.
“…….”
The sharp, protruding horns and the lithe, agile body—it was a form whose bravery no one could deny. Though more than a hundred years had passed since he left this world, his image remained vivid in her mind.
That lingering memory made Ruri’s heart falter.
The loyal maid of Valdrova Castle—the sharp-witted woman who commanded the winds and never hesitated to speak her mind—was nowhere to be found. In her place stood a girl clutching her trembling chest with both hands, struggling just to push the door open.
Creeeeak—
The hinges groaned, drawing out into a long, low whine. Before her lay a long hallway, and guarding it were soldiers.
They were the warriors of Silverwind.
The chatter of the warriors died down instantly. They turned their gazes toward Ruri, and the atmosphere froze in a heartbeat.
“Who do you think you are, brat?”
One of them, oblivious to her identity, approached her with a swagger.
“You carry the scent of Lord Silverwind’s blood, but I’ve never seen your face. Which side sent you as a spy?”
“…….”
“I asked you a question, so answer. Or do you want to play rough with me? Hmm?”
“Knock it off.”
The man sitting with a staff in his hand broke the rising tension. He was the leader of the group.
“Don’t worry, Captain! You think I’d be stupid enough to cause trouble by killing someone in Blancaros’s territory?”
“You should be glad we’re in Blancaros’s territory. If we were outside, there wouldn’t even be bones left of you to bury.”
“What are you talking about? Do I look like some pathetic weakling who’d lose to a kid like this?”
“You’d beat a kid, sure.” The captain’s eyes shifted toward the young maid. “But I don’t think you could beat the Commander of the Mobile Brigade.”
“The Mobile Brigade Commander…?” Fear flickered in the man’s eyes. “You don’t mean… Ruri of the Bladed Winds…?”
He turned his head, his face filled with disbelief. Even if he had never seen her face, her reputation was legendary. Any spawn of the Silver Dragon would feel a chill of fear at the mention of her name.
The man froze and backed away, his outstretched hand trembling as he withdrew it.
Ruri walked through the space he had cleared and approached the man with the staff resting on his shoulders. They locked eyes; they had known each other for a long time.
“It has been a while, Percival.”
“It has, Commander of the 1st Mobile Brigade. Or should I call you 'former commander' since you’ve retired? No, even that doesn’t seem right.” The trace of warmth in Percival’s voice withered away. “The word 'traitor' suits you much better.”
Traitor.
The word felt like a blade piercing Ruri’s chest. But she had prepared herself for this.
“So, what brings you here?”
“I came to see… Lord Goz.”
“Then you’ve wasted your time. Go back.”
“I wish to speak with him.”
Clang!
The black staff the man held slammed against the floor.
“It seems you’ve forgotten much in the last two hundred years, Ruri Silverwind. Since when did the proud children of Silverwind settle things with 'talk'?”
“…….”
The Silverwind kin were warriors by nature. They were the ones who hunted demons and Frost Giants beyond the Frost Barrier. Actions over words—they were a people who communicated through strength.
“I understand.”
Knowing this all too well, Ruri gave a small bow and began to withdraw. She turned on her heel to walk away.
“Wait.”
Percival stopped her. Her foot, halfway through a step, froze in place.
“Go in.”
“?”
“The Chieftain has permitted it.”
She could hardly believe it, but she soon realized it was the truth. The doors she thought would remain closed to her began to swing open.
Ruri walked forward once more. A pressure far more intense than what she had felt at the entrance weighed down on her. Hostile glares felt like spears piercing her skin. Under the weight of those stares, she forced her heavy shoulders to move.
The room featured a single throne facing the main entrance, much like a king’s audience chamber, and a man as large as a bear sat upon it. He was different from the soldiers guarding the entrance. He wore a luxurious fur coat and gold rings. Where his skin was exposed, intricate magical tattoos, etched through ancient rituals, covered his body.
Everything about him belonged to the Goz Silverwind she knew.
‘No, something is different.’
Ruri felt a level of pressure that was on a completely different dimension than before. While there was a hierarchy among Dragon Spawn, it was rarely absolute. But now, she felt as if she were standing before an absolute authority.
The instincts dormant within her provided the answer.
‘Lord Silverwind’s… Essence?’
After Silverwind’s death, Goz, the leader of the Silver Dragon Spawn, had absorbed the Dragon Essence.
‘But it’s unstable.’
He held the Essence, but it hadn't fully merged with him. He hadn't been able to completely absorb Silverwind’s power into his own body. That was likely why he was barely able to remain upright on his own two legs.
“And how is Valdrova?” he spoke.
There was no greeting, no asking how she had been.
“Is Valdrova well?” He swirled the whiskey in his glass.
Ruri nodded. “Yes. She is working day and night to drive back the monsters of the Far East and protect the continent.”
“I see. I suppose that’s only possible because you’ve looked after her so well?”
“……Yes.”
“Are you proud of that?”
“…….”
Ruri couldn't find the words to answer easily. Goz’s cold gaze fixed on her.
“Did I ask a difficult question?”
“No.”
“And yet, there is no answer.”
She finally spoke, her voice sounding like a rope snapping under the strain of a violent storm. “……It is something to be proud of.”
“I see. Is that so?”
Crash!
The glass in his hand shattered. The chilly atmosphere froze over completely. Ruri’s body stiffened under his gaze.
“Then will the traitor who has served that woman so faithfully tell me with what face she dares to show herself here?”
Everything surrounding Ruri was hostile. Nevertheless, she opened her mouth. She had come here for this moment, so she had to speak.
“Do you still… hate Lady Valdrova?”
At her question, Goz’s eyes turned feral.
“I can understand your master saying such things. But do not use the word 'Lady' when referring to that woman in my presence. You are a spawn who carries the blood of Silverwind. Your only master is Silverwind, and him alone.”
“I am a spawn of the Silver Dragon, but she is my master now.”
“Before that woman was your master, Lord Silverwind was your master. Do you remember who Lord Silverwind was?”
“The Great Master of Wind and Steel.”
“Yes. He was the Master of Speed, whom no one could break. He was a man who never wavered.” The veins in Goz’s neck bulged. “And yet…”
Ruri felt it beneath his steady voice.
“And yet…!” He was still sharpening the blade of his revenge. “She tore out his throat! That woman! She sank her teeth deep into his neck and severed his artery! I saw that scene of slaughter with these two eyes! I felt it in this very chest!”
“…….”
“You ask if I hate her? The hatred I feel for that woman still burns fiercely within this heart.”
Ruri squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't control the emotions surging within her every time he shouted. Goz exhaled sharply as he watched Ruri suffer.
“His death is still vivid in this heart, but it seems it is not so for you.”
“I also saw it and felt it. And that pain… I still feel it vividly as well.”
Ruri had also participated in the Dragon-Demon War to kill the demons. And she had witnessed Silverwind’s death. As a spawn, she too had felt her master’s death and grieved.
“I also resented my master.”
It was unavoidable. To Ruri, Silverwind had been a father. She couldn't help but hate Valdrova for driving her father to his death.
“But… I cannot hate her.”
“No, that’s not true,” Goz denied. “If you had truly felt what we felt, you would have given up standing by her side.”
“…….”
“You were only away for a short while, yet you’ve been tainted by that woman. You’ve forgotten your roots.” Goz picked up a new glass and poured more whiskey. “Valdrova is still our enemy. As long as she exists on this Serdes Continent, our hatred will never end. This is the will of all Silverwind.”
“I see….”
It was what she had expected. She already knew it was a futile dream.
“However… I will give you a chance.”
A chance. Ruri lifted her head. “What is it?”
A flicker of hope rose within her—perhaps there was a way to soften his hatred for Valdrova, even just a little.
Goz reached out a hand toward Ruri. “Ruri Silverwind. Return to the fold of your kin.”
The thread of hope snapped.
“By returning to the fold… do you mean I should leave Lady Valdrova’s side?”
“Now that a Regent has appeared, there is no longer any reason for you to serve that woman.”
“…….”
“You have completed all the tasks Lord Silverwind gave you. So, return to your kin and become a warrior once more. Ruri of the Bladed Winds. Reclaim your position as the Commander of the Mobile Brigade and serve by crushing the filth swarming from the North. If you do, I shall wipe away the stigma of 'traitor' from your name.”
It was a name that had been stabbing at her heart. But that pain was nothing compared to the responsibility she carried.
“I cannot—”
The inevitable refusal was about to leave her lips. In that moment, Ruri’s body swayed violently.
“There is no refusal, Ruri Silverwind.”
The sheer momentum radiating from Goz’s body pressed down on Ruri directly.
“My blood now carries the Authority of Lord Silverwind. You know what it means for a Dragon Spawn to defy that Authority, don’t you?”
Death. For a Dragon Spawn who does not submit to Authority, there is only death.
“Nothing good will come of you resisting that Authority. So.” Goz’s index finger pointed to the floor. “Kneel before me and submit.”
Goz’s words were no empty boast. Ruri, who hadn't even blinked before, was now breaking into a cold sweat. She felt as if someone were strangling her, clutching her heart in a vice grip. If she rejected his words, it would inflict a pain akin to tearing out her own heart.
Even though he had only absorbed a tiny fraction of Silverwind’s Essence, it was still that powerful.
‘I mustn't cower.’
Ruri resisted desperately. She gripped her apron with both hands and forced strength into her trembling legs. It was the best she could do, and it was barely enough.
“You hold out well.” It was a sincere compliment. Any other spawn would have knelt long ago under such power. “Yes. I suppose that is why Lord Silverwind favored you.”
Goz didn't like her attitude. He didn't want to make her submit through Authority alone; that was far from the complete submission he sought.
“If it’s so hard for you to leave, shall I make the decision easier for you?” Goz tilted his head. “That Regent likely knows your identity. But does he also know the reason why you went there in the first place?”
“……!”
The composure on her face shattered. Her sweat-soaked hands drenched her apron.
“Do you think he will still protect you even after hearing the truth of your identity?”
Ferda Valdrova. He loved Valdrova. And he was a man who showed no mercy to those who posed a threat to her.
‘If Lord Ferda finds out….’
What would Ferda do? The will that had been enduring the pressure began to crumble under the weight of doubt.
‘I….’
Fear overwhelmed her. The air was squeezed out of her lungs until she couldn't even scream.
‘What should I….’
She was sinking completely into a thick, dark mire. She let out a silent scream.
Please. Please, someone help me.
“I apologize for barging in so abruptly.”
The answer that reached Ruri’s ears was a familiar voice.
“But what exactly do you think you’re doing to my maid?”
* * *
Ferda had been searching for Ruri. Finding her wasn't difficult; he was told she had gone to speak with the Silverwind kin.
So, she had to be beyond the grand doors engraved with the Silverwind crest. Ferda stood before them and thought.
‘Am I meddling unnecessarily?’
She was Valdrova’s attendant, but she was also a spawn carrying the blood of Silverwind. They might harbor rage toward Valdrova, but they might not have any ill will toward Ruri. Ferda had no reason to interfere in a family reunion.
And yet.
He tried to think that way, but it wasn't easy. Ferda recalled Goz Silverwind’s expression during the Grand Council. At the same time, Erica’s warning came to mind.
— The enemy you need to watch out for is someone else. Silverwind.
Dragons are immortals. Once they harbor a desire for revenge, they never let it go. The same applied to the Silverwind kin.
‘Was it a mistake?’
Even if Ruri insisted, even if Valdrova asked, should he have refused? Ferda couldn't shake the thought. That was why he had arrived at the Dragon Spawn’s quarters.
He saw the Silverwind soldiers guarding the inner chamber door. And then, he felt it—a thick, suffocating Dragon Fear.
It was certain now. This wasn't unnecessary meddling.
Ferda walked toward the center of that energy.
“Are you the Regent of Valdrova?” Percival, the Dragon Spawn with the staff on his shoulder, stood up and asked.
“Is Ruri here?”
“Answer the question.”
“I asked if Ruri Silverwind is here.”
Percival didn't back down, blocking his path. “She is.”
“Then move.”
“This is a family matter, Regent. It’s not your place to interfere.”
In the society of dragons, family affairs were an especially inviolable domain. However, Ferda did not respect that domain.
“If you’re going to stop me, you’ll have to break something.” Ferda’s blue eyes stared straight at him.
“Then Hand of Blancaros will sanction you. Can you handle the disgrace of the descendants of Silverwind causing trouble?”
“…….”
“If you’re confident, go ahead. I’ve already prepared myself for what I might lose.”
Percival stepped aside. He gestured to his subordinates to stand down completely.
Ferda opened the door.
He saw Ruri. He saw her about to fall to her knees before Goz. He saw her suffering.
In that moment, all other thoughts vanished from Ferda’s mind. His vision focused sharply on one point: the brute playing at being a king.
“I apologize for barging in so abruptly.” Ferda spat out the anger he had been holding back. “But what exactly do you think you’re doing to my maid?”