His efforts to protect his superior’s honor without regard for his own life were so heroic that an air of tragic resolve seemed to surround him. But Daemon was not the sort of man whose will could be broken so easily.
“If you eat that food, I promise to release all the knights except the sorceress. Moreover, I’ll even hand over the necromancer Winterdale, whom you’ve been trying to capture.”
Conflict flickered across Elkaine’s face.
“Is that really true?”
“Of course. The moment you finish the food, you’ll all be released. That Winterdale fellow is of no use to me anyway, so if you want him, I’ll hand him over immediately.”
“Then why exclude Sarina?”
Daemon glared coldly at Sarina.
“I can’t just release the girl who insulted me. If she wants to get out, she’ll probably have no choice but to eat the food too, won’t she?”
Poor Sarina was frothing at the mouth. She had never imagined that she would regret insulting her opponent this much. Unable to stand by and watch, Elkaine spoke up on her behalf.
“Th-that’s too much. How can you make a woman…?”
“My conditions will not change under any circumstances. If you don’t like them, then die here.”
Elkaine finally made up his mind. If only his own life had been at stake, he would have gladly accepted death, but he could not allow the young knights with their whole futures ahead of them to die as well. Moreover, were they not subordinates whom he had personally taught the art of swordsmanship? Sarina did trouble him somewhat, but the fault had been hers in the first place.
“I’ll eat.”
As if there were nothing more to consider, Elkaine pulled the bowl toward him. This was the only way to save his men. With his eyes squeezed shut, he shoveled the food into his mouth as quickly as he could. Since he would inevitably gag if he actually watched himself eating, this was the best choice available to him. The food in the bowl continued to slide down his esophagus and into his stomach.
Chomp, chomp.
He swallowed without properly chewing, trying not to taste the food. The trainee knights watched him with deeply moved expressions. There was no way they failed to understand that Elkaine was acting this way to save them.
“Lord Elkaine.”
“I would gladly die for you.”
They stamped their feet anxiously, watching Elkaine’s every movement with desperate eyes. A determination to serve him loyally, even at the cost of their lives, was being etched deeply into their hearts.
“Hm?”
Elkaine, who had been frantically swallowing the food with his eyes closed, slowly knit his brows. Despite trying so hard not to taste it, he had ended up tasting the food after all.
Amazingly, it was delicious. Far more delicious than anything he had ever eaten before. Without realizing it, he began chewing the food. The more he chewed, the more its flavor captivated him.
‘Th-this can’t be happening.’
He shook his head violently, but by then the flavor had been etched clearly onto his tongue. The taste satisfied all five of the human senses: sweet, spicy, bitter, and salty. Elkaine’s hand, which had been shoveling the food into his mouth without pause, gradually slowed. He was now savoring the taste.
‘Who would have thought maggots and cockroaches could taste this good…?’
Even though he had slowed down, the plate of food was gradually being emptied.
Clatter.
When he could no longer pick up anything from the bowl, Elkaine cautiously opened his eyes. His brows instinctively furrowed when he saw the insect legs and viscous fluids lying filthy across the bottom of the bowl, but without a word he scraped them up and put them into his mouth.
In the end, the bowl was emptied so cleanly that it did not even need washing. After licking up even the scraps around his mouth, Elkaine looked at Daemon as if asking whether that was enough. Daemon smiled broadly.
“You’ve fulfilled the condition, so I’ll keep my promise. I’ll release your men. Take them outside the cave and wait there.”
“Wh-what are you planning to do with Sarina?”
A sinister smile rose across Daemon’s face.
“That girl must finish her meal before she can leave, no matter what. If she can’t eat it, I’ll kill her and bring you her corpse, so don’t worry. Go outside and wait. You’ll know the result soon enough. I’ll hand over Winterdale then.”
“B-but…”
Daemon waved a hand as if he had no need to hear any more. At once, the death knights approached them. As they untied the ropes binding the knights, they snarled threateningly.
“Do as you’re told while we’re still speaking nicely. Anyone who tries something foolish will learn just how painful that mistake can be.”
Elkaine and the other knights of the expedition had no choice but to be driven outside by the death knights. They had no weapons, and even if they had, they would not have been a match for their opponents. They were utterly helpless. Elkaine could barely manage to say a single thing.
“Sarina. Just close your eyes and eat it. It won’t kill you.”
With those words as his farewell, all the knights were driven out. Naturally, the death knights would guard the entrance like an iron fortress, so there was no chance of them getting back inside.
Left alone, Sarina was on the verge of losing her mind entirely. Daemon, of course, was thoroughly enjoying the situation as it unfolded. After untying Sarina, he looked at her with an exceedingly sinister gaze.
“Now it’s your turn. You’ve been waiting for this moment, haven’t you?”
“Oh, God.”
She desperately wanted to faint, but unfortunately Sarina’s mind was perfectly clear. She had already vomited up everything in her stomach and had nothing left to throw up. Nevertheless, the moment she saw the grotesque food in the bowl, nausea surged through her again.
“Blech!”
After vomiting stomach acid for quite some time, Sarina looked at Daemon with infinitely pitiful eyes. Her mouth was smeared with vomit, but she could not even think of wiping it away.
“P-please, forgive me. How can you make a woman eat something like this?”
“Of course you have to eat it. Aren’t women human beings too? You eat and defecate just like anyone else, so why can’t you eat?”
Daemon answered with a sly grin. Sarina finally had no choice but to make up her mind.
“Then kill me instead. I’d rather die than eat that. I absolutely will not eat it.”
When Sarina took an all-or-nothing stance, Daemon wore a cruel smile as if he had been waiting for it. He had already anticipated a situation like this.
“How foolish. Don’t jump to conclusions… I have no intention of killing you just because you refuse to eat.”
At those words, Sarina rekindled the faintest glimmer of hope for her life. She was a seasoned woman, one who had been through everything there was to go through. Even if he demanded her body, Sarina was prepared to comply.
That would still be preferable to eating the food.
“Then what are you going to do with me?”
Daemon raised a hand and pointed to the side with an evil expression. There stood Winslet, holding his head tucked beneath one arm. Sarina’s face filled with bewilderment.
“Th-that’s a dullahan, isn’t it?”
Seeing that Sarina still did not understand the situation, Daemon began to explain kindly.
“Let me introduce him first. His name is Winslet. As you can see, he’s a fairly useful dullahan. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a suitable mate. That has always bothered me greatly. Since such a wonderful opportunity has presented itself, I’d like to pair the two of you together. Of course, that’s assuming you refuse to eat the food.”
Sarina felt as if every hair on her body had suddenly stood on end. She was so shocked that she even began stammering.
“Th-then you’re saying you’ll, you’ll marry me off to that hideous du-dullahan…?”
Daemon nodded with a broad grin.
“Correct. The two of you seem like a perfect match to me. Ah! Don’t worry about what happens in bed… I made certain to confirm that he is exceptionally well-endowed.”
The fact that Sarina did not faint in that situation was nothing short of a miracle. Gathering every ounce of her strength to regain her composure, she silently approached the table.
“I-I’ll eat. That’s all you want, right? I’ll eat it. I’ll eat every last bite.”
With her eyes tightly shut and tears streaming down her face, Sarina began picking up the food and putting it into her mouth. She thought that eating it was preferable to becoming a dullahan’s wife. She felt that death would be better, but the circumstances did not permit it. This was the only choice she had.
Sobbing incessantly, Sarina swallowed the food one mouthful after another. The food piled high in the bowl went down her esophagus and into her stomach mixed with her tears and mucus.
“How does it taste?”
Daemon watched her with a triumphant smile. Tormenting that insolent girl was always an enjoyable experience.
In truth, the dishes Elkaine had eaten and Sarina was now struggling through were meals Daemon had prepared with great care. In other words, their grotesque appearance was merely an illusion created through magic.
The food was yuxiang rousi, suixiang rou, qingzheng banchai, and other dishes unique to the Central Plains. They only looked horrifying on the outside. Daemon had deceived their eyes by applying powerful enchantments and sorcery. Elkaine had at least been able to taste the food, but Sarina had no such luxury. She was repeatedly eating, crying, and vomiting.
“Chew, chew. Blech! Sob, sob, sob.”
She was making a desperate effort solely to avoid becoming the dullahan’s wife. The table was becoming a complete mess with vomit, but little by little, the bottom of the bowl was finally beginning to show.
Outside the cave, Elkaine and his men, who had been driven out, continued to loiter nearby. They were waiting desperately for their companion. They had no idea whether Sarina would emerge alive or as a corpse, but regardless, they had to recover her.
The death knights had practically dragged them out of the cave. With their strength gone, the knights had been utterly helpless.
“Anyone who wants to test how tough their bodies are is welcome to come inside.”
After threatening them menacingly, the death knights went back into the cave. But the knights had no time even to sigh in relief at having escaped with their lives. The burden of having failed their mission was simply too great. Yet Elkaine gave no thought to the punishment he would receive upon returning to the capital for failing the mission. The only thing he wanted was for Sarina to return alive.
“Please, let her come back safely…”
Elkaine murmured anxiously and looked around. Because their injuries were so severe, most of the trainee knights were lying flat on the ground. Their lives did not seem to be in immediate danger, but unless they went to a village and had their wounds treated, they would have to live with the scars for the rest of their lives.
The knights were sprawled here and there, groaning in pain. They looked no different from the remnants of a defeated army after a battle. It was a crushing defeat they had never even imagined possible. Elkaine, who normally placed great emphasis on strict military discipline, could not bring himself to say anything to the knights.
“I never knew Arcadia had such a powerful necromancer. The Empire’s future truly worries me.”
As Elkaine sighed, a strange light passed through his eyes. He had sensed movement coming from inside the cave.
“They’re coming.”
At Elkaine’s words, all the trainee knights turned their heads toward the cave. Along with the sound of heavy footsteps, someone finally emerged. The first to appear was, naturally, the necromancer they hated beyond words. Wearing an irritating smile, the necromancer looked around at the knights. Elkaine hurriedly approached him.
“What happened to Sarina?”
Daemon said nothing. He merely raised a finger and pointed behind him. The one who emerged from the cave after him was a dullahan—Winslet, carrying Sarina slung over his shoulder.
“Sarina…”
Elkaine’s eyes trembled faintly at the sight. If the dullahan had carried her out instead of her walking out on her own… Elkaine rushed toward the dullahan without a second thought. A furious roar burst from him toward Daemon.
“Did you kill her after all?”
But when he saw Sarina after the dullahan set her down, Elkaine let out a sigh of relief. With her eyes rolled back and foam bubbling from her mouth, there was no way she could be dead.