Overpowered Reincarnation Perks! - Chapter 17.3
His elegant, long fingers picked up a green fruit candy from the table and brought it to his mouth.
His thin lips parted and bit the candy, then his red tongue gently moved, rolling the candy. The translucent fruit candy quickly became glossy with his saliva.
Red lips and white teeth.
The green candy contrasts with the red tongue.
It seemed like the fresh apple scent was wafting all the way here.
“The lure ore has the property of approaching the monster’s core.”
I know. I saw it. The button thrown by the investigator exploded in mid-air, and the light that spread out with the explosion pierced the monster’s chest. The core stone must have been in that location.
“We feed that to a prisoner, then throw them as food for the monster.”
“…What did you say?”
“When the prisoner eaten by the monster enters its stomach, the ore gets close to the monster’s core stone and explodes. The monster collective shatters into pieces right then and there.”
If you detonate it from the outside, it swells up and attracts other monsters to form a collective, and if you detonate it from the inside, the unstably attached core stones are destroyed, and the body disperses.
The ore that attracts monsters is both the ore that creates monster collectives and the ore that destroys and eliminates them from the inside.
If what he’s saying is true, I understand why they created such an ore for the monster elimination operation.
But.
“Are you planning to use prisoners as bait now?”
“They are those who have broken the law and committed crimes.”
“You’re not punishing death row inmates, you’re using humans who can be killed as tools because you need weapons to eliminate monsters!”
Moreover, in this rotten castle, are all those convicted of crimes truly deserving of death? Durak and Valt’s friend were also said to have been exiled due to false accusations.
Weren’t it the castle soldiers who dragged me away and threw me in prison as an ‘intruder’ just because I suddenly appeared from the fountain? I don’t think there are no innocent people among the prisoners arrested and imprisoned by the soldiers.
“And you call yourself a commander?”
Dienes continued to suck on the candy leisurely, disregarding my outburst. The scent was terribly sweet. Perhaps due to my agitation, I felt nauseous.
“You’re insane.”
Negotiating with such a man is impossible. It might be better to reveal the truth of this inhumane plan to the residents and overthrow the command.
I stood up. The negotiation has broken down.
“Please sit down, Ju-in.”
“The deceased comrades wouldn’t want us to go along with such methods just to find their bodies. Let’s stop this.”
“I said, sit down.”
As I tried to turn away, ignoring Dienes’ call, I heard a clicking sound, and something cold touched my ankle.
“Huh?”
Unable to move my foot, I looked down to see handcuffs that had sprung from the chair leg clamped around my ankle.
“W-what is this? Why is there such a thing on the chair……”
I tried to push the chair away, but it wouldn’t budge. Even though it was an iron chair, I thought it wouldn’t be too heavy because of its thin frame, but no matter how hard I tried, the chair wouldn’t move, as if it were stuck to the floor.
‘Dienes pulled out the chair for me so lightly earlier.’
Was it not just basic courtesy, but to hide the mechanism in the chair?
“Ju-in, please sit down.”
“Let me go! What are you doing now!”
“I’ll release you when our conversation is over.”
Dienes crunched the candy with a loud crack.
The sound of the candy breaking was unusually loud, startling me and making me lose my balance. I plopped down onto the chair, and he raised one corner of his mouth at the sight.
“Now you’re seated.”
I had to sit nailed to the chair, watching Dienes chew and swallow the candy. I couldn’t leave my seat anyway, with my ankle fixed to the chair leg.
Crunch, crackle.
The sound of the candy breaking sounded just like a predator crushing its prey’s skull, making my fingertips go cold.
“W-what do you want to talk about?”
Gulp. Dienes, who had swallowed the crushed candy, smiled faintly.
“Anything.”
A pale cyan system window appeared next to his face.
[Dienes] is interested in you.
If you satisfy his interest, you can lead to a negotiation favorable to you.
I don’t need any negotiation, I just want to be sent home. This guy is clearly not just a bad person, but someone who’s mentally unstable.
Isn’t it common sense that ‘diseases to doctors, medicines to pharmacists’? I don’t understand why I’m suddenly in a position to counsel the mentally ill Dienes, leaving aside Arvan, who’s a doctor.
‘Why on earth did I end up in this world?’
They say there’s no reason for being born, but if some supernatural power sent me here, shouldn’t there be a reason?
It was really too much to ask me to save people with an ability that’s both vague in its use and full of restrictions.
And to think I have to persuade such a scary and strange person!
“I’ve said all I had to say. That I’ll protect the people in the castle with my ability. Now it’s your turn to speak.”
For someone who thought I was the lord’s murderer, he doesn’t seem to have any intention of punishing or killing me, but I felt uneasy because I couldn’t understand why he was acting so scary.
What does this man want?
“My demands…”
Dienes wiped his hands on the napkin on the table, then took out two empty wine glasses and uncorked the wine bottle.
Glug glug. The deep burgundy wine flowed into the clear glass.
He placed the first filled glass in front of me.
“Would you like a drink?”
“……”
If you were in my position, dragged here semi-forcibly and with shackles on your ankles, would you be in the mood for a drink?
I don’t know what’s in it, and even if it were normal wine, I’m not in the mood to drink.
“No, thank you.”
“Is that so?”
Dienes, seemingly unconcerned, elegantly picked up the glass and sipped the wine. The small amount of red liquid was sucked into his lips. Strangely, it felt like my heart was being squeezed. It’s as if he was sucking my blood.
Dienes, who had put down the empty glass, stood up and approached me.
“W-what is it?”
Is he angry because I refused? Surely he’s not going to hit me?
As I looked up at him with anxious eyes, the corners of his mouth lifted, and his green eyes curved into crescent moons.
Dienes picked up my share of the glass. The red liquid I hadn’t even touched swirled inside the clear glass.
He then turned the glass upside down, pouring it onto my chest.
“Eek!”
The dark red liquid soaked my shirt and stained my chest red. The white clothes were instantly dirtied.
I blinked, unable to comprehend the situation. My neck stiffened, and my hands trembled, preventing me from even thinking about wiping it off.
“What, this, why.”
“I’m not the type to offer twice.”
Dienes, who put the glass down on the table with a clank, gripped the backrest of the chair I was sitting on and slowly bent down to meet my eye level.
‘Snake.’
He was a snake. There was a huge snake right in front of me. The frightened prey’s face reflected in those venomous green eyes. It was my face.
I couldn’t hide my expression. I knew that if I showed my fear of this man, the situation would become even more unfavorable, but my body wouldn’t cooperate.
My heart was pounding. Afraid that I might gasp and beg for help if I opened my mouth, I bit my lips tightly.
“Do you dislike alcohol?”
“……”
“Or did you dislike that I offered it?”
He asks so quickly. You should ask such things before spilling it.
No, even if you’re upset about being rejected, who pours it on someone’s chest like that!
