Chapter 329 – History

“Alright, we’ve now left the Dragon Roar Kingdom. After crossing two more mountain peaks, we’ll enter the Maple Leaf Kingdom. Let’s interrogate Huai’en here.”

Amidst rugged mountainous terrain, Punk stopped on a relatively flat hilltop. Truthfully, after kidnapping Huai’en, neither Ovakain Acidmaw in the Dragon Roar Kingdom nor Jiaoni Zordas in the Maple Leaf Kingdom could track him through divination spells. For Punk who possessed the Haitzita Magic Box, conducting the interrogation anywhere would have been equally secure. The main reason Punk spent the entire night leaving Dragon Roar Kingdom’s borders was primarily to prevent that old man Ben Lajie from noticing anything unusual.

However, judging by Ben Lajie’s distracted behavior, Punk’s concerns seemed somewhat unnecessary.

By the time dawn broke, Ben Lajie had already deftly built a campfire on the ground. Now, an unfortunate mountain goat was being roasted whole over the flames by Ben Lajie.

While carefully applying spices to the goat, Ben Lajie cheerfully called out to Punk:

“Haha, old friend Cyan, since we’ve already escaped the Dragon Roar Kingdom, come eat something quickly! I’ve had my fill of travel rations along the way. Now that we’re relatively safe, we should take this chance to enjoy ourselves!”

Watching Ben Lajie meticulously roast the goat meat with fire spells while speaking, Punk could only speechlessly ignore this carefree eccentric mage.

Without acknowledging Ben Lajie, Punk directly carried the unconscious Huai’en to a spot far from the campfire.

Actually, Punk could have used memory extraction spells at this point. However, considering his lack of expertise in memory search techniques (which left subjects mentally incapacitated) and Huai’en’s considerable influence, Punk decided to try controlling this guy through spells to turn him traitor. After all, a living deputy consul, if properly utilized, could definitely plant a massive disaster for the Dragon Roar Kingdom.

Thus, Punk directly used a spell to awaken the deeply unconscious Huai’en, then took out a small bottle of “Liquefied Sorrow” as spell components to cast another quite insidious spell:

“Master-Level Mental Spell—Heart of Compliance: Influences the mind of any creature below Master-Level, suppressing its original will and making it instinctively obey the caster’s commands.

Note: If the target’s resistance is too strong, this spell’s energy may cause significant damage to the creature’s consciousness.”

This “Heart of Compliance” wasn’t particularly powerful among the mind-altering mental spells, but it was more than sufficient for interrogating an Apprentice-Level ranger. At least Punk considered it more than adequate.

Under the spell’s influence, Huai’en awoke from deep, murky darkness. But this awakening only applied to his physical body—his consciousness instead sank into what felt like a muddy swamp. Endless darkness and immovable formless substances tightly enveloped Huai’en.

“This is… where? I am… that’s right… I’m Huai’en, I… what else was there? Must quickly… quickly remember…”Deep in the darkness of his consciousness, Huai’en’s thoughts grew hazy and sluggish. Yet unlike his muddled mind, his body rose effortlessly to its feet upon Punk’s command. However, the pallor of impaired health and vacant, lifeless eyes revealed the body’s severely compromised state.

Seeing the dragon-touched man with horns on his head show no signs of resistance, Punk nodded in satisfaction. He had initially worried that the diluted draconic bloodline might interfere with his less-proficient mental magic, but it appeared Huai’en’s mental fortitude wasn’t particularly strong.

Mind-altering interrogations required gradual progression from simple to complex. With Huai’en being his only captive—and losing him meaning losing all intelligence—Punk proceeded with caution.

His first question touched on no sensitive secrets, merely posing an ordinary yet valuable historical inquiry:

“As a Consul, you must be well-versed in the Kingdom’s history. Now, recount to me what you know about Ovakain Acidmaw.”

In the murky darkness of his consciousness, Huai’en heard a somewhat familiar voice posing a question with unnatural clarity. Simultaneously, beyond his control, his memories began autonomously retrieving information. Knowledge about “Your Majesty” surged forth from the depths of his mind like an unending spring.

“No… something’s wrong… This… I shouldn’t recall this? That… voice… wrong… problematic……”

Huai’en couldn’t form coherent thoughts, yet he felt he shouldn’t obey an unfamiliar voice. He struggled desperately with his illusory “body” in the dark mire, but his efforts proved utterly futile.

Regardless of Huai’en’s conscious resistance, his memories involuntarily retrieved information about Ovakain Acidmaw. His mouth almost instinctively began recounting the details to Punk with bureaucratic formality, as if delivering an official report:

“Our great Your Majesty hails from the Barren Swamps. According to my family records, three hundred ago, the lands of Dragon Roar Kingdom still belonged to Maple Leaf Kingdom. That swamp surrounded by mountains hosted only an insignificant Half-Dragon Tribe.”

“Leading this tribe was a Formal-Level priest—elderly and weak, who unrealistically sought to establish trade and communication between the brutish, ignorant half-dragons and humans. Surprisingly, this half-dragon tribe indeed abandoned their raiding and thieving ways. However, as no one was willing to trade with the dangerous half-dragon tribe, the clan remained small and underdeveloped.”

“But legend says that one day, unnoticed by anyone, this seemingly insignificant tribe somehow gained a powerful black dragon as their leader—our great Your Majesty, Ovakain Acid Throat.””The great Your Majesty possesses unparalleled might that none can challenge. All greedy fools who overestimate their strength and dare to invade are corroded into acid by the unstoppable Dragon Breath… Yet Your Majesty is also merciful. The benevolent Your Majesty has forgiven the ignorance of humans. He even created the miraculous ‘Well of Goodness’ to dissolve the brutal curse of the half-dragons. Finally, the great Your Majesty led the virtuous half-dragons to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the Maple Leaf Kingdom, uniting all tolerant and kind-hearted people with the industrious half-dragons to establish our shared homeland—the Dragon Roar Kingdom. No matter how rampant and arrogant the cruel rulers of the Maple Leaf Kingdom become, the great Your Majesty will always protect our prosperous home.”

(End of Chapter)