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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“Lady Christine.”
There was no response.
Artel called Christine’s name once more.
“Lady Christine?”
“Ah, yes.”
Christine’s dark circles had deepened considerably in just one day.
Artel asked carefully.
“…It seems you didn’t sleep at all?”
“That’s correct.”
Artel felt oddly proud inside as she looked at the tired Christine.
‘You must have had a good night.’
Vampires’ stamina was especially good during nighttime activities.
She must have spent a passionate night until morning without any rest.
Moreover, since it was her first time, how much more intense must it have been?
Artel nodded quietly to herself.
“Anyway, Lord Jekkiel just departed. I wonder if things will go well?”
“For now, we can only believe in him.”
He would probably resolve it well.
For some reason, she had a feeling that he could turn even impossible things into possible ones.
Artel smiled unknowingly.
Christine asked in a low voice.
“You seem quite pleased with this situation.”
“How could I not be pleased? A man who works hard for Lady Christine has appeared.”
When they were imprisoned in the demon realm, they had worried about what to take revenge on first, what to reclaim first when they got out.
But now, their greatest enemy had become their greatest ally.
How could she not be pleased?
“Lady Christine, may I ask an impertinent question?”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“You like Lord Jekkiel now too, don’t you?”
At Artel’s words, Christine pondered for a moment, then…
“…I hate him.”
She muttered quietly so that Artel couldn’t hear.
In the end, Jekkiel had not visited Christine’s bedroom until morning.
“Hmph.”
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“Hey, has the harpy not returned yet?”
“No, Princess. She’s still not back.”
The expression of Parna, the harpy princess who had been tugging at her secretary’s collar, suddenly turned gloomy.
The secretary enveloped Parna with his wide wings.
It was partly to hide his own dark expression.
“Princess, please lie down on the bed and rest a bit. It will be alright.”
“It’s not alright at all… Can we ever be alright?”
Tegaru, the secretary, couldn’t say anything to Princess Parna.
Although the dragon folk hadn’t gone as far as to ransack the princess’s quarters, they had done almost everything else they could.
It seemed like they hadn’t come to get along with the harpy race in the first place.
Their attitude had been bad from the moment they first demanded information.
Now, they were even making frequent threats to kill if their orders weren’t followed.
Peltir Hill had been a neutral territory.
But they had turned that neutrality into lawlessness in an instant.
The most lamentable thing was that the harpies had no power at all.
They had no strength to resolve this unjust situation on their own.
That’s how neutral territories were.
If someone strong appeared, the weak ones had no choice but to be devoured.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Princess! A-are you alright?”
“Mmm…”
She nodded with effort, but her face was undeniably pale.
‘Damn them…’
Tegaru gritted his teeth.
The dragon folk were more vicious than imagined.
As soon as they arrived at Peltir Hill, they cut off all the information that was converging there.
That was extremely critical.
Because information was urgently needed to cure Parna’s rare disease.
“Is everyone… still alive?”
“They’re safe, so you don’t need to worry, Princess.”
“Thank goodness…”
Tegaru heaved another sigh.
They were barely alive, but quite a few comrades had been beaten and bound.
However, he didn’t have the courage to tell her all of that.
Knock knock—
At the sound of knocking from outside, he hurriedly laid the princess down on the bed.
When he went out the door, another harpy was waiting for Tegaru.
“Tegaru sir, shouldn’t we just give them the information about Lepista’s Wand?”
“That’s out of the question.”
Tegaru shook his head firmly.
“If they would leave us alone forever after receiving just that, it wouldn’t be a bad deal. But those guys intend to extort information now, and keep extorting it afterwards. It’s obvious.”
“Then what on earth should we do? What other options do we have?”
“We must wait for Harpia.”
“Harpia…”
The expression of the other harpy talking with Tegaru crumpled.
“She barely managed to escape this place after severely injuring one of her wings. It will take a very long time for her to return, and she might be killed as soon as she does.”
“Hmm…”
“Honestly, shouldn’t our race stop moving based on emotions? It’s time we moved according to the flow of the world. If there’s a good side, we should get in it!”
“Are you saying the vampires aren’t a good side?”
“Compared to the dragon folk, they’re not that good of a side. Even now, they’re not giving us any news, are they? We should have increased our intimacy with other races. What has come of only favoring the vampires?”
Ugh.
Tegaru’s expression darkened further.
He knew better than anyone that the one expressing such dissatisfaction to him was not a disrespectful person.
All the young harpies these days thought like this.
He was just the one who brought up this conversation on behalf of them.
They must have discussed this among themselves, held it in again and again, and finally, the conversation had reached Tegaru.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand their feelings.
He absolutely did understand, but still.
“We must believe.”
“Haah…”
Both the young harpy who had spoken up and Tegaru fell silent.
Everything must have a foundation, and for the harpy race, the most fundamental thing was ‘affection’.
The young harpy also respected Tegaru for consistently trying to maintain that foundation.
They all shared the desire not to abandon their fundamental principles.
Everyone held that feeling.
It was just that reality was too harsh.
It was at that moment, when concern was deepening on both their faces.
“Tegaru! Hey! Tegaru!”
Someone was shouting, calling for Tegaru.
There were only a few guys who would call his name so casually here.
The harpies’ faces instantly turned cold.
“I’ve called twice already, but there’s no answer? Tegaru!”
Among the dragon folk, only that guy would be so arrogant.
If they ignored this and didn’t go out, things would get even worse.
Tegaru heaved a deep sigh and headed outside.
“What is it?”
“Don’t play dumb, decide whether you’ll give up the information or not by today.”
Was it okay for someone with such a high position in the dragon folk to be this rude?
Once again, Tegaru felt deeply that it would be impossible to build affection with the dragon folk for a lifetime.
“We’re considering it. Please give us a little more time.”
“That’s why I gave you today, right? Don’t say anything else, and decide by today. If not… you know what will happen, right?”
Do I know?
I know all too well, and that’s the problem.
If they didn’t provide the information by today, they would torture and kill to extract the information.
It would be a disaster if other races stepped in to prevent the dragon folk’s monopoly.
If a fight broke out, the harpies would be caught in the crossfire.
Would they fight to protect the harpies of this hill?
They would fight because if someone was going to monopolize, they’d rather it be them.
“Step aside. I’ll talk to them directly.”
“Ah, yes.”
Another dragon intervened.
It was a dragon he hadn’t seen before.
Seeing how quickly the arrogant one lowered his tail, this must be someone even higher up.
Tegaru’s gaze naturally turned to the new dragon.
A hood covering his head.
Black scales barely visible on the nape of his neck.
Just that was enough to understand his status.
‘A Black Dragon.’
Black Dragons were noble from birth.
Just their existence alone meant they held quite a high position among the dragon folk.
“Nice to meet you. I’m the one who brought this map here.”
The dragon with black scales unfurled a map.
Tegaru’s face naturally hardened.
It was clear they had stolen the map, yet they were so brazen about it.
“What is your name?”
“Malygos.”
“…Malygos?”
Tegaru’s complexion darkened.
He had heard of this before.
Rumors of a black dragon who brought misfortune wherever he went.
‘…They’re being overtly serious now.’
At this point, they had clearly sent a high-ranking official.
It meant they were prepared for an all-out war even if conflicts arose with other races.
“The decision you make today should be to provide the remaining half of the map to the dragon folk.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“On the contrary, we already know.”
“Hmm?”
Malygos nodded.
“If you don’t make the decision we want, there will be no trace of harpies left on Feltir Hill. Remember that.”
The faces of the harpies listening nearby darkened.
Some were even hugging each other and sniffling.
“I don’t think we even need to give you until the end of the day. Decide right here.”
“What do you…”
“Decide. Right now. For the sake of saving your princess, wouldn’t a quick decision be better for you as well?”
“Haah…”
Tegaru heaved a deep sigh.
Many thoughts crossed his mind.
He couldn’t figure out which ones he should voice.
“We will never associate with the dragon folk, for the rest of our lives.”
“Aha. Is that your decision?”
Malygos stared directly into Tegaru’s eyes.
However, Tegaru’s lips remained tightly closed.
Moreover, his face had turned pale.
“Yes. That’s our decision.”
“……?”
Now that he listened, wasn’t the voice coming from behind?
Malygos whipped his head around.
One harpy with an injured wing.
One tired-looking vampire woman.
And…
‘Who is this? No, this is…’
The last person had a very familiar face.
No, beyond familiar, it felt like he recognized who it was as soon as he saw him.
This man was surely…
As if reading his thoughts, the man spoke.
“Jekkiel. No affiliation.”
…Jekkiel?
Malygos’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
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[Adrian finna chew some gum, and kick ass, and he’s all out of gum. Also Christine got cucked so harddddddd]
