༺ Eyes of a Dragon and the Human Heart (21) ༻
Ian collapsed on the spot.
Neris’ gaze betrayed a subtle disappointment as she confirmed that he was unconscious.
She had been fired up for the first time in ages, but the fight had ended rather anticlimactically.
With an indifferent expression, she withdrew her aura from the surroundings. Gradually, the senses she had dispersed throughout the room began to shut down one by one.
The dim room also started to brighten, slowly revealing the daggers lodged into the ceiling.
Her aura’s ability was deceptively simple. It allowed her to precisely discern every object, including other people, within her mana’s reach. She was also capable of manipulating and scattering their senses.
Thus, her aura allowed for a few clever tricks. For instance, she was able to plant several daggers into the ceiling while pretending to stand with her arms behind her back and drop them as she needed. She could also replenish the daggers by throwing more whenever she made the earlier ones drop.
It was a simple execution made possible by briefly disorienting her opponent’s senses.
Yet, as a member of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, discretion was paramount. Members lived veiled in deception, concealing not only their capabilities but also their true identities. Neris, too, harbored her fair share of secrets.
Her emerald-green eyes shifted back to Ian.
She now planned on torturing him for information. She had to find out the source of his information regarding their branch, even if they were just an unofficial one.
Fully disguising their Academy branch was simply impossible because, unlike official branches that frequently changed their bases and signboards, their club had a long history and tradition spanning hundreds of years. Even then, they made it a point to maintain strict confidentiality.
Despite being instituted for recruiting talents and the fact that most of them were only agents-in-training, they were still part of the Imperial Intelligence, and they weren’t so incompetent that some child of a random rural viscount family would be able to uncover them.
As such, if there had been a leak of information, she had to trace it back to its origin. Failure to do so would potentially jeopardize her bright future.
“Haaa…”
Neris let out a deep sigh.
It seemed she would have to resort to harsher torture; his crime? Ruining her mood.
However, she didn’t find it exactly unpleasant. Rather, the pleas for mercy from arrogant nobles were, secretly, one of her guilty pleasures.
Suddenly, an unsettling chill crawled up her spine, and her eyes widened.
She felt someone staggering up from behind her.
‘That’s impossible.’
It was something that shouldn’t have been possible.
His mana had been restricted, and her subordinates’ anesthetic was so potent that it could bring down a mammoth from the northern moss regions in a matter of seconds.
Neris discreetly took a glance at the man behind her in disbelief.
Indifferent, golden eyes were looking right at her.
The moment she met those eyes, her body instinctively froze up.
It was as if he had transformed into an entirely different person.
Calmly extracting the dagger lodged in his thigh, he let it clatter to the ground.
“…Neris Findleston.”
For a split second, she shivered. The name that he had uttered shocked her like a bolt of lightning.
Commoners did not have a family name. Thus, it followed that she wouldn’t have one either.
But in truth, she did have one—a name long abandoned.
It was information that should have been known only to the imperial family. No, even within the imperial family, only the very central figures had access to the information.
‘Just how…?’
Her mind briefly went blank, but she quickly tightened her grip on her dagger, radiating intense hostility.
“That name… Who did you hear it from?”
“Huuu…”
The man sighed.
His previously dazed eyes now gleamed sharply.
“I was only going to listen silently, but it sure has become troublesome… Perhaps I should have been more careful with my words.”
“…I’m asking who you heard it from!”
Even as she shouted, her dagger-wielding hand trembled.
An unknown fear seeped into her eyes.
It was a secret that had to be kept hidden from everyone.
Neris, with her keen mind, quickly came to a decision.
She decided that she had to subdue him once again.
She was convinced that the poison was still effective, given the absence of mana she felt from him.
Even if the anesthesia had worn off, she determined that he wasn’t her match if he couldn’t use his mana.
Launching off the ground, she caused a small tremor as she shot towards him like an arrow at a speed impossible to react to without mana.
It only took an instant for her to reach him
Just as she had anticipated, the man stood motionless, unable to even react.
‘Good.’
She was still in an overwhelmingly superior position.
Confident in her impending victory, Neris moved her arm to plunge her dagger into the man. However, at that moment, time seemed to slow, and her eyes widened in shock at the unbelievable scene in front of her.
The air itself was bleeding.
Red mana, reminiscent of blood, was rippling in the air. Then, forming a path, the mana ultimately gave rise to a peculiar blood-red symbol.
This intricate character, which would likely go unrecognized by regular people, was immediately identified by Neris, an intelligence agent serving the imperial family.
After all, such symbols represented the emperor’s authority.
In that slow passage of time, a small streak of fire lashed out as the blood-red symbol formed completely.
Aware of what would happen next, Neris wanted to immediately retreat, but she was unable to stop her body that was already swinging the dagger.
Despair filled her eyes.
-Boooooooom!!!
Blazing trails of fire consumed the room, with papers fiercely burning and scattering through the air. Various pieces of furniture were obliterated around the explosion’s epicenter, and she, too, was blasted against the wall.
“Heuuuk…!”
Neris gasped for breath as she bore the impact of the crash. However, the pain of the crash was the least of her worries.
Flames enveloped her body, causing scorching pain to radiate from every inch of her skin. Though she was currently managing to endure with her remaining mana, the heat threatened to melt her skin away in time.
A scream burst out from her mouth at the horrifying prospect of being burned alive to death.
“Kyaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! S-Save me!”
Despite her desperate cries, the man calmly walked forward within the blazing room.
A glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes even as she rolled around on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the fire that was burning up her body.
She had faith that he wouldn’t abandon her to be burned alive, given that execution by immolation was a punishment reserved for the most depraved criminals due to its unbearable pain.
She had faith that even he would have a shred of mercy.
And as if to meet her expectations, he took out a canteen from his waist.
‘Ah… he’s going to open it and douse me in water.’
Though the flames had barely grazed the room, the room was already ablaze with numerous trails of fire.
What difference could a mere canteen’s worth of water make in the current situation? Yet, engulfed by the flames, she had long lost the capacity to make such judgments.
The contents of the canteen trickled down as the man tilted the bottle, just as she had hoped.
But for some reason, even amidst the raging flames, her sensitive nose detected an unusual scent emanating from the liquid.
Her eyes turned blank.
It was the smell of alcohol.
The flames engulfing her intensified instantaneously, along with her thrashing.
“Ah-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! S-stop! P-please, stop!”
Without uttering a word, the man released a heavy sigh and kicked her aside, sending her body rolling out the room.
Walking out, the man picked up a nearby water bucket that was placed alongside a mop.
-Splash!
Mop water poured down from above her, giving rise to a cloud of steam.
She curled up, trembling, and soon, the lingering flames subsided and were extinguished.
A foul smell filled the air, an inevitable consequence of being doused with mop water.
Neris slowly lowered the arms shielding her head and looked up at Ian with fearful eyes.
This man had intended to kill her.
The fact that he had poured alcohol served as decisive evidence. No sane person would douse a woman burning to death with alcohol.
Neris concluded that the man was extremely heartless, even among the callous
It wasn’t entirely surprising, considering he came from the deepest recesses of the Imperial Palace, a place no different from a demonic den steeped in malevolence.
Trembling, Neris sank to her knees and inquired with a quivering voice.
“…W-Where do you come from?”
The man briefly averted his indifferent gaze, appearing to be contemplating something.
Then, he spoke in a low voice.
“Neris Findleston… I’ll tell you one thing you should be careful of when facing me.”
Neris bowed her head like a drowned mouse, offering the necessary respect that was due to the emperor’s proxy.
Yet, a faint suspicion lingered in her eyes.
Everything had happened so fast—a sudden reversal that even her sharp mind found bewildering, prompting a sense of panic.
Neris raised her gaze, hoping to glean some insight into his thoughts, intentions, or even his mood.
But in the next moment, the sound of muscles and other tissues being torn apart reverberated through her ears.
Neris looked at her shoulder in stupefied disbelief.
A bloody hatchet was sticking out of her shoulder.
“Euh-aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Another anguished scream tore through her throat.
Given her state of confusion, she couldn’t help but scream, especially since she was already not in her right mind when a hatchet suddenly embedded itself in her shoulder.
But her scream was abruptly stifled as the man forcefully seized her hair, bringing her face to his level.
Confronted with those cold, golden eyes, Neris promptly clamped her mouth shut.
Her eyes quivered violently.
She couldn’t see through him. Instead, his very air and every action seemed genuine.
At that moment, her ears captured a stern warning.
“…Do not doubt me.”
Neris nodded her head frantically, unaware that tears were streaming down her face.
*
A minute ago.
Ian remembered as he poured the liquid from the canteen.
‘Ah, right. This is alcohol, isn’t it?’
