Chapter 55 - Turncoat

After the meeting ended, Luri slipped away without Zed and Arwen noticing and headed somewhere.

She already knew how the Grand Council hall was laid out.

Therefore, she knew where the humans socialized and where the dragon spawns gathered.

Unlike humans, dragon spawns were far from sociable.

This was because they were not weak enough to need to build a faction by flattering someone, and at the same time, it was their pride as dragons.

Luri headed to the second floor.

Upon climbing the spiral staircase, she saw twelve doors arranged around the center.

The twelve dragons of the Serdes Continent.

Every dragon was there, regardless of whether they were an Evil Dragon or a Guardian Dragon.

Naturally, Godwin had a place there as well.

Luri looked up at the large doors engraved with a sculpture of Silverwind.

"..."

Those sharp, protruding horns and that sleek body.

A figure whose valor no one could deny.

Even though it had been over a hundred years since he left this world, his image still flickered before her eyes.

That flickering image made Luri's heart frail.

The loyal maid of Valdrova Castle.

The resolute maid who wielded the wind and bluntly stated when something was wrong was not there.

The girl, clutching her anxious heart with both hands, merely struggled to open the door.

CREAK—.

The sound of the door's hinges dragged out lengthily.

What came into view was a long corridor.

And the soldiers guarding its front.

They were Silverwind's warriors.

The noisy chatter of the warriors was cut off.

They turned their gazes toward Luri.

The area instantly froze over.

"What are you, kid?"

One of them, not knowing any better, looked at Luri and swaggered over.

"You smell like someone who inherited Lord Silverwind's blood, but I've never seen you before. Where are you a spy from?"

"..."

"When you're spoken to, you should answer. Or do you want to play rough with me? Hmm?"

"Drop it."

The one who dispersed the escalating tension was a man sitting with a staff.

He was the captain among that group.

"Don't worry, Captain! Would I really cause an accident by killing someone in Blancaros's territory?"

"Consider yourself lucky it's Blancaros's territory. If you were outside, you wouldn't have even been left with bones to collect."

"What are you talking about? Do I look like an idiot who can't even beat a little kid like her?"

"You could beat a kid."

His eyes turned toward the maid girl.

"But I don't think you could beat a mobile brigade commander."

"A mobile brigade commander...?"

Fear crept into the eyes of the once-confident man.

"Could it be... Luri of the Bladed Wind...?"

He turned his head with a look of disbelief.

He had never seen her face before, but her reputation was widespread.

If he was a fellow Silver Dragon's spawn, he would have felt fear at her reputation.

The man backed away, frozen in place.

His outstretched hand trembled violently as he pulled it back.

Luri walked along the path he had cleared and approached the man resting the staff on his shoulder.

Luri and the man met eyes.

The two had known each other for a long time.

"It's been a while, Percival."

"It's been a while, Commander of the 1st Mobile Brigade. No, you retired, so should I call you the former Commander? No, that won't do either."

The goodwill contained in Percival's voice ran dry.

"The word 'turncoat' just suits you better."

Turncoat.

The word felt like it was piercing Luri's heart.

However, she had been prepared for this.

"So, what brings you here?"

"I have come to see... Lord Goz."

"Then you've wasted a trip. Go back."

"I wish to speak with him."

CLANG!

The black staff the man was holding slammed into the ground.

"It seems you've forgotten a lot over the past 200 years or so, Luri Silverwind. Since when did the proud children of Silverwind engage in something like a conversation?"

"..."

Silverwinds were inherently rough warriors.

They were the ones who hunted demons and Frost Giants far beyond the ice wall.

Action over words.

They were those who were more accustomed to conversing with their bodies.

"I understand."

Knowing this well, Luri offered a bow and stepped back.

She spun around and began to walk away.

"Wait."

Percival stopped her. Her half-raised foot froze in place.

"Go inside."

"?"

"The leader has granted permission."

She couldn't believe his words, but she soon realized they were true.

The door that she thought would never be opened to her began to open.

Luri started walking forward again.

A pressure even thicker than when she stood at the entrance weighed down on her.

The hostile glares felt like spears piercing her.

Bearing those glares, she carried her heavy shoulders forward.

The place resembled a king's audience chamber, with a single throne facing the main door, where a man as massive as a bear sat.

He was different from the soldiers guarding the entrance.

A luxurious fur coat and gold rings.

Where his skin wasn't properly covered, his body was densely filled with ritualistic magic tattoos.

Everything was exactly as she knew of Goz Silverwind.

'No, there is something different.'

Luri, who was on a completely different level from back then, was feeling a sense of pressure.

There was a hierarchy among dragon spawns, but it was not absolute.

However, what she felt now was standing before absolute authority.

The dormant senses within her provided the answer.

'Lord Silverwind's... essence?'

After Silverwind's death, Goz, the leader of the Silver Dragon spawns, had absorbed the dragon's essence.

'But it's unstable.'

He harbored the essence, but it hadn't fully melted into him.

His body had failed to completely absorb Silverwind's power.

That was likely why he was barely managing to stand on his two legs like this.

"Valdrova."

He opened his mouth.

He didn't offer any greetings like asking if it had been a while.

"Is Valdrova doing well?"

He swirled the whiskey in his glass.

Luri nodded.

"Yes. She is working day and night to drive out the monsters in the far east and protect the continent."

"I see. I suppose that's possible because you've been taking good care of her?"

"... Yes."

"Are you proud?"

"..."

Luri could not easily open her mouth.

Goz's cold gaze stared at Luri.

"Did I ask a difficult question?"

"No."

"And yet you don't answer."

She answered as if a rope that had finally snapped in a terrible storm had given way.

"... It is something to be proud of."

"Right. I suppose so."

SHATTER!

The glass he was holding shattered.

The cold atmosphere froze over entirely.

Luri's body also stiffened under his gaze.

"So, will you tell me what kind of nerve a turncoat who has been serving that bitch so well has to come here?"

The environment surrounding Luri was hostile toward her.

Even so, Luri spoke.

She had come for this moment, so she had to do it.

"Do you... still hate Lady Valdrova?"

At her question, Goz's eyes grew fierce.

"I understand your master speaking like that. But don't call that woman 'Lady' in front of me. You are a spawn who received Silverwind's blood. Your master is Silverwind, and him alone."

"I am a Silver Dragon spawn, but she is currently my master."

"Before that woman was your master, your master was Lord Silverwind. Who was Lord Silverwind?"

"The great Master of Wind and Steel."

"Yes. He was the master of a speed that no one could surpass. A being who never wavered."

The veins in Goz's neck bulged sharply.

"And yet..."

Luri could feel it in that calm voice.

"And yet...!"

That he was still sharpening the blade of revenge.

"She bit his neck off! That bitch! She dug into the inside of his neck with those teeth and severed his artery! I felt that scene of slaughter with these two eyes! With this heart!"

"..."

"Did you ask if I hate that bitch? The hatred for that bitch is still burning blazing hot inside my chest."

Luri squeezed her eyes shut.

She couldn't control the emotions swelling up every time he shouted.

Goz snorted as he watched Luri agonizing.

"His death is still vivid in this heart of mine, but it seems that's not the case for you."

"I saw and felt it too. And that pain... I feel it vividly as well."

Luri had also participated in the Dragon-Demon War to kill demons.

And she had witnessed Silverwind's death.

Because she was also a spawn, she felt her master's death and grieved.

"I resented my master as well."

That was something that couldn't be helped.

To Luri, Silverwind was a father.

She had no choice but to hate Valdrova, who had driven her father to his death.

"However... I cannot hate her."

"No, that's not true."

Goz denied it.

"If you had completely felt what we felt, you would have given up standing on her side."

"..."

"You were just separated from us for a short time, but you became tainted by that bitch. You've forgotten your roots."

Goz picked up a new glass and poured whiskey again.

"Valdrova is still our enemy. As long as she exists on this Serdes Continent, our hatred will not end. This is the will of all of Silverwind."

"Is that so..."

It was what she expected.

She already knew it was a vain dream.

"However... I will give you a chance."

A chance.

Luri raised her head.

"What is it?"

She harbored hope that perhaps she could soften his hatred toward Valdrova, even just a little.

Goz held his hand out toward Luri.

"Luri Silverwind. Return to the embrace of the clan."

The thread of hope snapped.

"By returning to their embrace... do you mean I should leave Lady Valdrova's side?"

"Now that she has a Regent, there is no longer any reason for you to serve that woman."

"..."

"You have accomplished all the tasks Lord Silverwind gave you. Therefore, return to the clan and become a warrior. Luri of the Bladed Wind. Rise to the position of mobile brigade commander once again, crush the filth swarming in from the north, and serve. If you do, I will erase the stigma of being a turncoat for you."

It was a name that had pierced her heart.

But that torment was nothing compared to the responsibility she bore.

"I cannot do..."

A natural rejection was about to slip from her lips.

At that moment, Luri's body staggered wildly.

"There is no rejection. Luri Silverwind."

The sheer aura radiating from Goz's body was directly crushing Luri.

"My blood now holds the authority of Lord Silverwind. You know what it means for a dragon spawn to defy authority, don't you?"

Death.

For a dragon spawn who disobeys authority, there is only death.

"It will do you no good to resist that authority. Therefore."

Goz's index finger pointed to the floor.

"Kneel before me and submit."

Goz's words were no bluff.

Luri, who hadn't even blinked, was breaking into a cold sweat.

She felt as though someone was choking her neck and gripping her heart.

Rejecting his words would inflict pain equivalent to tearing out her own heart.

Even though he had only absorbed a minute fraction of Silverwind's essence, it was this severe.

'I must not cower.'

Luri resisted desperately.

She clutched her apron with both hands and forced strength into her trembling legs.

That was the best she could do.

And that was all.

"You're holding up quite well."

It was an exclamation laced with genuine admiration.

If it had been other spawns, the force would have made them kneel long ago.

"Right. That must be why Lord Silverwind favored you."

Goz did not like that attitude.

He didn't want to make her submit through authority alone.

That was far from the absolute submission Goz sought.

"If leaving is so difficult for you, should I make the decision easier?"

Goz tilted his head.

"That Regent probably knows your true identity. But does he also know the reason you went there?"

"...!"

The composure that had settled on her face shattered.

Her sweat-drenched hands dampened her apron.

"Do you think he will cover for you even after hearing your true identity?"

Ferda Valdrova.

He loved Valdrova.

And he was a man who showed no mercy to anyone who posed a threat to her.

'If Lord Ferda finds out about that...'

What would Ferda do?

The willpower that had withstood the pressure was crumbling into doubt.

'I...'

Fear overwhelmed her.

Her breath choked up so much she couldn't even let out a scream.

'What should I...'

She was fully sinking into a sticky swamp.

She screamed silently.

Please.

Please, someone help me.

"It's rude of me to barge in like this, but."

The response that reached Luri's ears was a familiar voice.

"What are you doing to my attendant?"

* * *

Ferda was on the move to find Luri.

Finding Luri wasn't difficult.

He had heard she went to speak with Silverwind's side.

So, she would be beyond these large doors engraved with Silverwind's sculpture.

Ferda stood before them and thought.

'Am I meddling needlessly?'

Valdrova's attendant.

However, she was a spawn carrying Silverwind's blood.

They would surely harbor anger toward Valdrova, but they might not hold ill feelings toward Luri.

Ferda had no reason to meddle in that 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.

What came to mind simultaneously was Erica's warning.

["The enemy you need to watch out for is someone else. Silverwind."]

Dragons were immortals.

Once they harbored a desire for revenge, they never let it go.

That applied to Silverwind as well.

'Was it a mistake?'

Even if Luri threw a tantrum.

Even if Valdrova asked, was it an issue he should have refused?

Ferda could not erase that thought.

Thus, he arrived at the spawns' lounge.

What he saw were Silverwind's soldiers guarding the inner chamber doors.

And a dense Dragon Fear.

He was certain.

It wasn't a needless intervention.

Ferda walked toward the center of that aura.

"Are you Valdrova's Regent?"

Percival, the dragon spawn resting a staff on his shoulder, stood up and asked.

"Is Luri here?"

"Answer the question."

"I asked if Luri Silverwind is here."

Percival did not back down and blocked his path.

"She is here."

"Then step aside."

"This is a family matter, Regent. It's not something for you to interfere in."

One should never meddle in family affairs, no matter what they are.

Especially in dragon society, it was an inviolable domain.

However, Ferda did not respect that domain.

"If you intend to stop me, you'll have to break something."

Ferda's blue eyes stared straight at him.

"Then Blancaros's Hand will sanction you. Can you bear the disgrace of Silverwind's descendants causing trouble?"

"..."

"If you're confident, go right ahead. I am prepared to lose everything."

Percival stepped back.

He also signaled his subordinates, making them fully retreat.

Ferda opened the door.

He saw Luri.

He saw Luri about to kneel in front of Goz.

He saw her in agony.

At that moment, all of Ferda's distracting thoughts vanished.

His vision distinctly focused on a single spot.

The sight of the ruffian masquerading as a king.

"It's rude of me to barge in like this, but."

Ferda spat out the anger he held in his mouth.

"What are you doing to my attendant?"