Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 27
“Your Majesty, didn’t we already locate the Black Flame Dragon’s new lair? If you’d just grant us a bit more time, we could easily resume the pursuit.”
“Silence! Are you defying my orders now?!”
Kyle tried to speak calmly, but Emperor Ferosen shouted, waving his finger wildly.
Watching that display, it felt like I’d swallowed 300 piping-hot sweet potatoes whole—my chest tightened in pure frustration.
“But Your Majesty, if you must hold someone accountable, then please hold only me responsible. My companions have done nothing wrong!”
“I said I don’t want to hear it! I can’t stand the sight of you either, so get them out of my sight immediately!”
Emperor Ferosen picked up a wine glass and hurled it at Kyle.
Kyle could’ve easily dodged or caught it, but he didn’t. The glass shattered with a loud crash against his head, drenching him in red wine that made it look as if he were bleeding.
“Get up.”
The soldiers began pulling us to our feet again. I let out a long sigh.
I wasn’t so clueless as to blurt out something like, ‘I’m not even part of this group—can’t you just let me go?’
So, with no choice, I trudged after the hero’s party on our way to the prison.
I had only planned to stay with them until we got out of the forest. But somehow, I’d ended up as a cellmate of the hero’s party.
“…Sorry. I should’ve persuaded my father. You all got dragged into this because of me.”
Kyle said glumly, turning to the group with a rare downcast look.
“What are you talking about? If you’re punished, we’ll take it with you. We’re in this together!”
Elonen boldly declared something absurd.
‘In this together,’ my foot. I didn’t have the slightest intention of sharing a fate with them—not even the amount of a hangnail on my pinky toe.
“So, what now? Are we supposed to wait until the trial?”
Gerard grumbled, his face sullen. Judging by the tension in his grip on his staff, he looked like he was barely restraining himself from thrashing every soldier escorting us.
“What if we’re actually found guilty?”
Elonen asked anxiously, but Kyle shook his head slowly.
“We’ll prove at the trial that Reynold’s accusations are false.”
Would the trial even be fair?
They should’ve just left when I told them to. Not that thinking that now would change anything.
***
The imperial palace’s prison tower was in worse condition than I imagined. The windows were barely the size of a palm, letting in no light and allowing no ventilation. It made the place reek.
Cold air seeped from the moldy walls and floor, and the only ‘bed’ was a small, rickety wooden plank.
“I can’t stay in a dump like this for even one more day.”
Gerard muttered as he grumbled and pulled a bed out of his subspace pocket. Who knew he had something so nice on him?
Once we placed two beds into the cramped cell, there was barely room to move. Still, lying side-by-side on them helped ward off some of the chill.
“If anyone might listen to us, it’s Archbishop Premlen.”
Kyle murmured to the ceiling, almost like sighing.
“Who was that again?”
Gerard asked, frowning as he turned to Kyle beside him.
“Don’t you remember? The priest who blessed us at the departure ceremony. He’s the one who told me about the legendary sword Fragarach, which can even cut through the Black Flame Dragon’s scales.”
Even I had heard of the ‘Fragarach’. It was the divine sword Kyle had obtained through great effort, said to be able to cut through anything.
“If I hadn’t heard the legend about Fragarach, I never would’ve set out on this journey. The Black Flame Dragon’s scales can’t be damaged by any ordinary weapon.”
The Black Flame Dragon’s scales were said to be harder than any material in the world—impossible to wound. That’s why Kyle had to find Fragarach in order to defeat it.
“Do you think that Archbishop guy’ll get us out of here?”
“Maybe not, but… he might speak in our defense at the trial tomorrow. Hopefully.”
In most cliché fantasy novels, a corrupt trinity of useless royalty, greedy nobles, and depraved clergy ran rampant with corruption. But this story seemed to subvert that. The church in this world wasn’t corrupt.
On the contrary, they were portrayed as compassionate, charitable figures who looked after the common folk suffering from the Black Flame Dragon’s tyranny. That’s why the Holy Order often clashed with the Imperial Family.
