novelraw Chapter 222: [222] Half-Ear
Chapter 222: [222] Half-Ear
Eliron stared at the noble from the other side of the table, although he was fraught with rage, the scary part was that he still had a calm, cold demeanor on his face.
Ash had a similar reaction, but he failed to hide it as well as Eliron. His eyes were wide, and his jaw clenched tightly.
Ariel stared at the two of them, confused by what was going on.
Half ear... It sounded harmless, if you didn’t know the origin... but once you did, they you would know just how severe the insult had been.
After the war between the high elves and the wood elves, the one which led to the severe culling of their population, many elves were taken in as slaves.
To make sure the reputation of the wood elves wars completely destroyed, the high elves shared these slaves among humans, fae and even the dwarves.
Of course, they did everything in secret, hiding behind the mercenaries they hired to do their dirty work.
But a new trend began to spread among the lords. People who could not care to remember how their slaves looked, decided to leave a mark on them.
And so to make sure they knew who their slaves were...
Eliron’s gaze darkened.
Their ears were slit.
The Grand Marshal was standing up to apologize, but before he could even get up from his chair, Eliron vanished.
A strong gust of wind blew past them as he appeared right in front of the lord. Before the man could react, Eliron grabbed his neck, lifting him off the floor.
Kek—!"
The man gasped for air, the veins on his head poping as he struggled agaist Eliron’s grasp.
King Darius’ eyes narrowed as he stared at Eliron. ’I barely saw him move.’ Although he had not been on his guard, the ability to move that fast...
’I thought Alex was exaggerating about his abilities...’ It was not an uncommon thing for his son to exaggerate a bit just so he could get what he wanted.
But in this case, Darius had a feeling that Eliron was just as strong as Alexander had said. Maybe even stronger...
’We have to defuse this situation somehow...’ he shot the grand marshal a glare.
’Fix this!’ He screamed with his eyes. They needed Eliron, not having him would be a serious blow to their defence!
Eliron on the other hand glared at the noble, his grip tightening around his neck.
"Tell me general, do you know the meaning of those words?"
The noble could not talk, but Eliron did not care for his answer.
"Hey, control yourself, you are in the presence of the king!" One of the knights barked, just before he unsheathed his blade, all the other knights doing the same.
"Wait, you fools—!" The Grand Marshal screamed, trying to stop them, but the guards had already moved.
The first guard grabbed Ash’s shoulder to curtail him first, but just as he did, Ash’s aura flared violently.
"H-huh??"
Swish—!
It was a move Eliron had never seen Ash use before. Likely a martial arts technique he had picked up in the city.
He held the man’s shoulder, shifted his foot, and in an instant, the man was flying through the air.
Bang!
The guard was planted on the floor, Ash’s sword grazing his neck.
The grand marshal’s eyes went wide. ’That aura!’ He was already shocked that Eliron could posses such strength, but he was the leader of the wood elves so he used that as an excuse to soften the blow to his pride.
But now, even his attendant?! His aura was nothing less than that of a first stage Minor commander!
For a wood elf, that was unheard of. Just what was happening in Artaris?
"My lord, please forgive his travesty. He was not informed of the origins of the slur." The Grand Marshal clasped his hands together and bowed in apology.
Eliron glanced at the marshal. By now, the noble’s face was already turning blue. "Forgive him? If a man were to slap your king in the street, would you forgive him just because he did not know who he was?"
The grand marshal swallowed and glanced the thr dying noble, unsure of what to say. While his mind was racing for a proper reply, to his surprise, Eliron dropped the man.
The man quickly scrambled for air, coughing loudly as he rubbed his aching neck. Eliron stare at him for a moment longer and sighed.
Killing him would be going too far. There was far too much to gain for him to risk killing the noble.
Besides... Eliron was not really offended by his words. There were many people who would be, and with good reason.
But to Eliron, his words were nothing but babblings of a desperate fool. It was beneath him to be offended by the words of such a man.
’Still...’ Eliron smiled internally.
The noble had given him such a golden opportunity! He would be a fool to not capitalize on it!
Eliron’s voice dropped to an icy, cold tone as he turned to the king.
"I am greatly offended by your noble’s words, King Darius."
"Those words, they cut deeper than any knife, they remind me of things I would rather forget."
Eliron dramatically ran his hand through his face and slowly shook his head.
"I am afraid I may not sleep well this night, if at all." Eliron turned around to leave.
"Wait!" The marshal immediately called out, causing Eliron to stop.
"We are still in the midst of a discussion are we not? Please I hope you are not so offended that you would leave?"
Eliron did not bother to look back. "I do not believe I can work with you. How can I assure the safety of my people if there are people like that man in your group?"
The king’s eyes flared with rage as he stared intently at the Grand Marshal.
He had already tried to get Alex to talk to Eliron, but the prince seemed keen on seeing how things would play out.
Under the king’s intimidating gaze, the Grand Marshal began to sweat buckets. "We will assure their safety..."
Eliron shook his head.
"Guards! Take that man to the dungeons and strip him naked!"
The guards grabbed the half-conscious man and dragged him out of the room.
"Please Lord Eliron, consider our plight. What can we do to atone for his sins? Tell us and we’ll have it done this monent—"
Just as he finished speaking, Eliron smirked.
"..."
The grand marshal blinked.
’Did he just smile?’
"Dagon." Eliron said simply.
"Get Dagon to work for me for six months, do that and we’ll have a deal."
Silence...
With that, Eliron left the meeting room, Ash and Ariel following after him.
"Lord Eliron, could I ask who Dagon is?" Ariel asked when they had walked far enough.
"The lords all had a strange look on his face after you mentioned his name..."
Eliron chuckled. "He’s just a dwarf, nothing too important..."
’I guess that settles that part...’ He mused, a mischievous smile on his face.
<•••>
Back in the meeting room, the grand marshal stared at the door, his face as pale as a sheet of paper.
Alex tiredly shook his head and frowned. He too was in a similar state of mind as the Grand Marshall.
He glanced at the knight on the floor and kicked him hard. "How long do you plan on lying down like a fool? Get up."
The man quickly scrambled to his feet and went back to his post.
"So?" The king glanced at Alex and the grand marshal. "What is the problem, he just asked for one man did he not?"
The Grand Marshal shook his head. "He asked for Dagon, the blessed, your grace. The dwarf responsible for designing the Kingdom of Donia centuries ago."
Dagon was a legendary figure who had single handedly designed the entire plan for Donia.
It was said that he often traveled through kingdoms, looking for a challenge worthy of his talents.
His plans were revolutionary, and his designs were so far ahead of his time, that kingdoms would war for a chance to have him work for them.
But about a century ago, before the grand marshal was even born, it was said that he went to work for an emperor in the east, the supreme king...
And when he returned to Donia, he was different...
"Basically..." Alex spoke after the grand marshal finished explaining the situation to the king. "It would be much easier to recruit the devil than to get Dagon to work for anyone."
"It doesn’t matter if he is the devil himself." King Darius frowned. "Get him to work for us no matter the cost. We need anything that can give us an edge in this war."
’He says that, but he just wants a spat with him doesn’t he?’ The marshal thought, just before he nodded and said:
"I’ll look into his story, there may be something in his past that we can use. At the very least, the best we can do is try—"
"Please, do not speak as though the meeting is finalized, Grand Marshal." A deep, confident voice sounded as one of the nobles stood up.
The grand marshal frowned the moment he did. ’I was hoping he would stay quiet.’
Much like the marshal, the man had grey hair that had been styled neatly, but that was where the resemblance ended.
His posture was straight, just as strict as his personality, and there was a nasty scar running down from his cheek to his jaw.
Warren Silver, the lord of Rothekther.
He was the second strongest man in the room, and if not that he loved the comfort of the region he ruled more than the capital, he would have been named grand marshal.
It was no exaggeration to say that this man held great influence over the nobles. This man... was also his brother.
"Lord Warren," The Marshal frowned you witnessed what happened just now did you—"
"Even a minor commander would have done that, Reginald. Or has the war dulled your senses?"
Reginald sucked in a sharp breath but said nothing because he knew he was right.
Still, his brother must have sensed that Eliron was far stronger than he let on. Yet, he was still being difficult.
Warren stared directly at the king, something most people couldn’t do, and when he spoke, his voice did not waver.
"I understand your concerns, my king. But do we really need to go through these lengths to recruit one man?"
Reginald sighed tiredly, glancing at prince Alex who watched Warren patiently.
’This is going to be difficult.’