Evil DragonChapter 10: Denial

Chapter 10: Denial

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: CaiCai, Kris

“Uh, just a little scratch…” Lin Nuo pulled his hand in, involuntarily shrinking his head, resembling a quail.

Rennes didn’t say anything, simply striding towards him, then grabbing his right hand to inspect it carefully.

Hiss… Lin Nuo became nervous, his body trembling slightly. Since the day Sir Rennes had frightened him into cold sweats from clasping his shoulder, the knight had never touched him again. Every time Rennes treated his injuries, he only drew a magic circle beside him, even avoiding strands of Lin Nuo’s hair. So being suddenly grabbed now made Lin Nuo quite flustered.

He hung his head, increasingly resembling a quail, murmuring, “It’s really just a small wound… The doctor’s bandaging was a bit exaggerated; it doesn’t hurt at all…”

Actually, this wound was peculiar. Although not deep, it bled a lot. Even after applying the medicine powder, blood still seeped out. Moreover, when Lin Nuo had raised his right hand just now, he had clearly felt a slight pain in his palm. The motion of raising his hand wasn’t strenuous, but the wound seemed to have subtly split open, and blood had soaked through the white gauze.

Rennes wordlessly began to unwrap the bandage. Lin Nuo became even more flustered, instinctively wanting to retract his hand, but Rennes exerted a little force, pressing down on his wrist, “Don’t move.”

Lin Nuo immediately dared not move, not even a hair. Rennes peeled back the bandages layer by layer, exposing the wound entirely. The cut that had been medicated had indeed reopened, seemingly enlarged, and was still bleeding.

“Doesn’t this hurt?” Rennes furrowed his brows and asked.

“Um, it doesn’t hurt,” Lin Nuo answered with a stiff tone. “The wound wasn’t this big initially.”

Rennes didn’t say anything. He merely held Lin Nuo’s hand in his left palm then extended his right index finger, gently touching the wound and drawing a line along the edge. In an instant, the cut miraculously healed, leaving only a pink scar.

Lin Nuo exclaimed in shock, “Huh? It’s better? It doesn’t hurt anymore?”

While helping him rewrap the bandage, Rennes casually asked, “Oh? Weren’t you just saying it didn’t hurt at all?”

Speechless, Lin Nuo lifted his head, trying to find something to ease the embarrassment but ended up meeting Rennes’s gaze. This was the first time Lin Nuo had looked so closely at this person. Though his eyes were black like Lin Nuo’s, they were darker, deep as a starless night sky. Lin Nuo stared at those eyes, momentarily lost for words, not knowing what to say.

It wasn’t until Rennes released his hand that Lin Nuo snapped out of it.

“Ahem, uh, it didn’t hurt much before, and now it doesn’t hurt at all,” Lin Nuo blurted out, trying to cover his confusion. At that moment, he was surprised to notice a slight upturn at the corner of Rennes’s mouth and a glint in his eyes.

Was this person… smiling? Doubting his eyes, Lin Nuo subconsciously raised his uninjured left hand to rub his eyes.

“Is your left hand injured too?” Rennes asked.

“No, no, it’s not,” Lin Nuo hastily replied, simultaneously diverting the topic, “Uh, Teacher, were you also using healing magic just now? Without drawing a circle?”

“When there’s physical contact, we can directly channel magic for healing without drawing circles,” Rennes answered briefly.

“Oh, I see.” Then why had he gone through the trouble of drawing magic circles before?

Before Lin Nuo could ask, Rennes spoke first, “How did you get injured?” 

Lin Nuo scratched his head, “The handle of the dining knife was too rough, like a failed polished piece, and it cut my hand.”

He found it perplexing. Normally, all royal items underwent repeated checks. Even the addition of a pea beneath a down mattress would be felt, so how could such a rough knife suddenly appear? Was it… deliberately done? But what was the purpose? Just to give him a minor injury?

Upon hearing this, Rennes didn’t inquire further but instead led Lin Nuo to a small door in the corner and took him inside. This was Lin Nuo’s first time in this side room. To Lin Nuo’s surprise, this room, barely ten square meters, was actually a study. Wooden bookshelves towered around, stacked with thick volumes, and even the air carried the distinct scent of books.

There was a small wooden table in the room, illuminated by a magically powered lamp, casting a dim light that made the whole place seem mysterious, even a bit eerie.

Rennes gestured for Lin Nuo to sit at the table and tapped the paper & pen in front of him, saying, “Draw the dining knife.”

Lin Nuo swallowed nervously, looking up at Rennes, “I, I only glanced at it; how can I draw it?”

To which Rennes said, without changing his expression, “You certainly can.”

Lin Nuo’s face paled, quickly denying, “No, I can’t…”

He really didn’t want to expose his talent.

Rennes lowered his gaze at Lin Nuo, saying, “Your Highness has an impeccable memory, don’t you?”

In the dim light, unable to see Rennes’s expression, Lin Nuo’s mind exploded: What’s going on? How does he know? How did I expose myself?!

“Otherwise, how could you have remembered the positioning of the magic arrays with just a glance?”

Lin Nuo suddenly couldn’t find any excuses. Had he exposed himself so early?! Just from that one instance?! Oh, this dreadful knight. Unable to argue further, Lin Nuo reluctantly picked up the pen and started sketching the appearance of the dining knife. He drew it in great detail, capturing every extra burr and peculiar protrusion.

After finishing, Lin Nuo timidly handed the paper to Rennes.

Rennes took the paper, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Your Highness truly has an impeccable memory.”

Lin Nuo was dumbfounded, taking a moment to find his voice. “Teacher, you… you tricked me just now?”

Without lifting his gaze, Rennes replied, “Mm.”

Lin Nuo seethed with anger, almost wanting to charge and give this person a piece of his mind— Nah, he didn’t dare entertain that thought.

Setting the paper aside, Rennes said, “You can rest for today.”

Lin Nuo instantly forgot his anger, eagerly asking, “Really?” But then he remembered something else and immediately changed his expression. “Um, the coin…”

Rennes placed the coin in his hand. “Take it.”

This time, Lin Nuo genuinely giggled. “Thank you, Teacher.” With a smile at the corners of his eyes, he asked, “Can I go back now?”

Rennes uttered a “Yes,” and added, “Tomorrow afternoon, you’ll accompany me on a mission.”

Lin Nuo’s smile froze instantly. “Ah—But, but, I don’t know anything…?”

Hey, hey, this was absurd! What kind of mission was this? They’re taking a useless person like me along?!

Rennes curtly replied, “It’s fine. You just need to follow me.”

Lin Nuo forced a smile, “But I’m worried… I might slow you down…”

Rennes looked at him strangely. “You don’t know anything. You won’t do anything. How could you slow me down?”

Was that really the logic here?! So, he’s really going to make me lie around like some kind of decoration?! Lin Nuo, with no words to counter, felt extremely annoyed but could only draw cartoons abusing the knight in his mind and finally huffed away.

—

Later, Lin Nuo lay on the bed, teeth clenched, sketchbook sprawled open. He decided to bring his fantasies into reality and quickly sketched out the first episode of the Arrogant Knight Abused by the Evil Dragon series.

At the end of the comic, the cold arrogant knight, preparing to slay a dragon, was instead stepped on by the dragon, who grinned and asked, “Aren’t you good at everything? Aren’t you unbeatable? Then why did I catch you?”

After finishing the drawing, Lin Nuo dropped the pen, feeling much better.

Having vented his frustration, he hid the sketchbook, flopped onto the bed, and began to seriously ponder: Why did Rennes suddenly decide to take him along? He knew Lin Nuo was useless. What could he possibly contribute? Just watch him fight monsters and draw his portraits as souvenirs? No matter how much he thought, Lin Nuo couldn’t find a reasonable answer.

He lay on the bed, gazing at the elaborate canopy, thoughts swirling about the peculiarities of the dining knife and Rennes’s focused expression as he examined it. A vague, shapeless speculation suddenly emerged in his mind… Forget it; better not to speculate. Let’s just go to the study and finish my politics essay.

—

Late at night, on a street in the capital, a figure cloaked in black dismounted near the grand entrance of a magnificent cathedral, then circled around to the back door. Within the narrow doorway, a servant stood respectfully by the wall. Seeing the cloaked figure, the servant promptly opened the door, leading them into a dark, narrow passage.

The winding passage ultimately led to the cathedral’s underground chamber. The basement air was stagnant; the light was dim, barely revealing a shadowy figure seated against the wall. The cloaked person stood in this small dark basement, not removing their hood or sitting down. Instead, they reached into their cloak, extracting a small parcel, then tossed it to the figure.

The figure caught the package and shook off the white cloth covering it—

A blood-stained dining knife lay exposed.

The figure held the knife in one hand, tracing patterns in the air with the other. After a while, a glowing magic circle appeared. Placing the knife within the circle’s center, the figure rotated it a few times and let go. With a soft whoosh, the glow of the magic circle extinguished, and the knife fell to the ground, emitting a crisp thud upon impact.

The figure picked up the knife, murmuring, “There is no magical essence in the blood; there’s no need to worry.”

The cloaked person swiftly removed their hood, revealing their face in the dim light: it was the Crown Prince Otto Heinrich. He anxiously spoke, “Really? Is it true? Then why is Rennes Clement still training him? It’s been a whole month! Why hasn’t Clement given up?”

The figure replied, “Sir Clement is merely using this opportunity to avoid taking sides. Nothing to concern yourself with.”

Otto shouted in frustration, “This knife uses the church’s techniques, capable of causing wounds to fester and bleed endlessly on regular people. But I heard that the boy’s wound has healed and isn’t bleeding anymore— What’s going on?”

The figure explained, “Indeed, there’s no magical essence within him. If the wound has healed, it’s only possible that Sir Clement healed him.”

Otto clicked his tongue. “Hmph, it’s Clement after all; he doesn’t know his limits.” He smirked slyly, “Luckily, tomorrow, Clement will temporarily leave the court. Bishop Vite, give me something useful again. I’ll use this chance to make that boy really suffer!”

Referred to as Bishop Vite, the figure shook their head. “Too late. Sir Clement has already met the king and requested that from tomorrow, as part of his special training, the young prince join him on the mission. With Sir Clement on guard, I’m afraid no item could harm the boy. If you still want the young prince to suffer a bit, your only chance is tonight.”

 

 

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