Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Divine Medicine
In the dungeon, the former castle lord is now trapped within its confines. The speed of this turn of events is greatly influenced by George’s extraordinary abilities.
Drew sat on the bed with his head bowed, a thick chain wrapped around his wrist, and a plate of once-warm dishes lay cold in front of the rusty iron bars.
The heavy prison door creaked open, and Drew lifted his head to see a beautiful girl with black hair approaching him. She wore a brown cloak, tight pants, and boots, and a glass vial emanating a faint glow was fastened to her belt.
Drew looked meaningfully at Jima as she walked up to the iron bars.
Jima glanced down at the bountiful dishes on the wooden tray, suppressing her impulse to take a sausage from the bowl, and said:
“I heard you haven’t had a drop of water all day?”
Drew smiled, revealing a set of pearly white teeth and a pair of sharp canines, and said, “Give me blood.”
“From a magical perspective, you’re still savable,” Jima said, “as long as you sincerely believe that you are not a vampire.”
Drew scoffed, asking, “Oh?”
“Because you believe, that’s why you’re sick,” Jima said. “As long as you promise to come out of this dungeon and cooperate with the city guards, you won’t die.”
Drew burst out laughing:
“The brave should just change their name to coward. A true hero, fishing for fame, cherishing their reputation, unwilling to do dirty work themselves, hiding behind their woman. Heh, do you take me for a three-year-old? If I don armor and cooperate with you, after the orcs are dispatched, the righteous paladin will never tolerate even a hint of evil and will turn me to ash.”
“He can assure you.”
“I don’t believe the words of cowards and loose women.”
Jima countered, “So, you want to stay in the dungeon forever? Quite an interesting hobby.”
“What crime have I committed to receive such insult?” Drew stood up in a surge of anger, the chains tightening around him, his eyes burning with rage. “This is my territory, my family’s land. What so-called righteous benevolence are you using to imprison me in the dungeon of my own castle? Didn’t you say it’s to save more lives? Let me tell you, you won’t succeed.”
Jima remained unperturbed, gazing at Drew.
Drew continued:
“The guards fleeing last night was part of my plan. I told the officers that if you tried to usurp power, just open the city gates and run out, don’t serve the usurpers. I want to see how you will hold this city. When the city falls and the people die, the so-called heroes will abandon the innocent and flee in shame, the world will restore my honor. Only the lord can protect the citizens; you are overstepping, you are in rebellion!”
Jima flicked her little finger and asked, “Are you done?”
Drew, confounded, found that the fury that had surged within him had mostly extinguished, and he said, “I have nothing to say to shameless demons.”
“Is it that you’ve realized you’re in the wrong?” Jima said. “Look at you, speaking and then becoming dejected. Have you realized you’re not as angry as you thought?”
A surge of anger flared up within Drew as he retorted, “Nonsense! I can’t wait to see your backs as you abandon the city’s residents and flee in disgrace. Even if the filthy greenskins swing axes at my head, I would be satisfied.”
But strangely, as he spoke, that flame suddenly extinguished. In the end, he found no anger within, yet unable to let go of his pride, he kept his neck stiff and stared wide-eyed to prove he was indeed very angry.
Jima commented, “Your acting is terrible.”
Drew laughed instead of getting angry, the fear stemming from the fact that his anger had once again diminished.
He fell into self-doubt. Could it be that the succubus before him was right, that he wasn’t as angry as he had imagined?
I want to survive, to walk out of this prison, to hunt merrily in the forest come March, and to meet a beautiful flower fairy…
The desire to live surged uncontrollably in his heart.
Drew raised his chin, presenting an unwavering image as he said:
“The anger of nobles, you wouldn’t understand. Speaking of which, you put in a lot of effort to come here and persuade me, succubus. You concealed your horns and tail, using your beauty to disarm me, so I would unknowingly succumb to your lies. You even seduced me, wearing no dress and exposing a pair of long legs. Your ridiculous tricks are so easy to see through. There’s no need for your futile efforts; I have seen the most beautiful flower fairy in the world; compared to her, you’re just a faded, yellowing whore from a roadside inn.”
Jima looked at him with a ‘look at the idiot’ expression and said, “Oh.”
If you hadn’t said it, I wouldn’t have realized I had made so much preparation.
She looked down, picking up the glass vial filled with glistening liquid from her belt, its heaviness indicating the precious contents inside.
The ingredients were hastily gathered face-washing water and a quarter of the power of a lie.
She lied, “This is a potion made with golden sunwater as the main ingredient and the remains of a demon burned as a supplement. Three doses can cure vampire disease.”
Drew’s gaze was suddenly drawn to it, and he felt an uncontrollable belief that it might be true; he had long dreamed of a medicine that could cure the affliction upon him. But the flower fairy had said there was no such medicine in the world.
His rationality prevailed as he shook his head:
“That’s a lie. If you had a remedy for the vampire disease, you wouldn’t need to barge into my bedroom; you could have just given it to me on the first day.”
Haha, no longer angry. It seemed he still hoped it was true… people are always inclined to believe what they want to believe.
Jima’s lips curled up slightly, revealing her small fangs as she said:
“Because it’s mine, and it’s worth more than this city, more than you. I won’t hand over this bottle of divine medicine for the sake of a city’s people; their lives and deaths are of no concern to me. However, thanks to you, having made the situation so dire, George has offered a good price.”
Drew retorted, “There’s no love between you at all.”
Jima initially intended to affirm his words but ultimately held back. She gently shook the vial in her hand and asked, “Do you want it?”
Drew stared at the vial in Jima’s hand, speechless.
Jima put the vial back on her belt, fastening it as she said, “Goodbye.”
She turned to leave.
Drew gritted his teeth, feeling that, given his status, Jima should have offered it to him willingly. But as he saw her figure disappearing behind the door, he couldn’t help but call out, “How do I know if your medicine works?”
Jima stopped and said, “You can try it.”
“Give it to me.”
Jima seemed not to have heard him; she placed her hand on the doorknob, opened the door, and walked out.
Drew hurriedly said, “I agree to your terms.”
“Swear by the Lake God.”
“By the Lake God above, witness me agreeing to this damned condition; during this time, no matter what George says, I will comply like a worm.” Drew extended his hand and said, “Alright! You succubus, I agreed, come back quickly.”
Jima’s figure vanished beyond the prison door.
But it wasn’t long before Jima pushed the prison door open again, holding a whip taken from the interrogation room. The whip was made of leather, designed to extract words from prisoners swiftly, with a thinner end that easily produced a cracking sound.
“This medicine must be used externally and taken internally,” Jima said. “First, whip your own back with no less than thirty lashes, enough to draw blood and flesh. While lying down, the blood should drip onto the ground along your ribs. At this point, pour half of the medicine onto your back and drink the other half. Three courses, three vials of medicine; after the first course, half a day later, you should no longer burn under the sun but may feel discomfort and will regain your appetite.”
With that, she squatted down, placing the vial—filled with her face-washing water—and the whip in front of the iron bars.
Then she turned to leave.
The so-called treatment method was purely her fabrication, a way to retort to Drew’s brashness.
Jima believed that after paying the painful price, Drew would come to believe in her face-washing water’s efficacy, thus reaching a healing effect.
Using lies to counter lies.
Jima closed the heavy prison door, stepped out of the dungeon, then stealthily returned.
Before long, the sound of a clear whip cracking and a muffled sound of gritting teeth echoed from within the dungeon.
Jima couldn’t help but cover her mouth to suppress her laughter, walking out of the prison under the strange gaze of the guards.
