Chapter 71: Room of Truth, II

A chill ran up Victor’s spine, and his face turned pale.

“You! You—!” He finally realized that this rookie who had just entered was behind everything. “Wh-what did you do?!”

But he still couldn’t make sense of it all. Why would Douglas follow orders from such a young boy? And what exactly was going on here?

As Victor glared at Louis, the latter casually gestured with his chin toward Erica and Floria.

“Wake them up.”

“Yes sir!”

With those words, the twins approached Erica and Floria, and light flashed around their hands.

Zzzt.

“Ack!”

“Argh!”

The mild electric shocks jolted Erica and Floria awake. Seeing this, Victor felt relieved as he realized how much easier his own capture had been compared to theirs. Being knocked out cleanly by a punch was preferable to being electrocuted.

“What—what is this?!”

“How…how dare you do this to us?!”

As Erica and Floria regained consciousness, they cried out in shock just as Victor had earlier.

At that moment, Louis rose from his seat.

“Since everyone’s awake now, shall we begin?” The light behind him cast his face in ominous shadows.

Erica shuddered but quickly gathered herself, indignant at being trapped like this. “Hey, you little brat! What the hell did you do?! Let us go right now!”

Louis seemed unfazed by her outburst and even smiled at their tightly bound forms.

“I’m sure you’re all quite surprised right now, aren’t you?”

“You think so?!”

“I didn’t want it to come to this, but I felt there was no other way to get your attention.”

Victor scoffed incredulously. “What do you want?”

“Oh-ho? At least one of you seems to understand.”

“What do you want that’s making you act like this?”

“What I want is simple.” Louis’ eyes gleamed brightly as he continued with a calm voice and a smile, “To establish hierarchy.”

As soon as Louis finished speaking, all three captives felt a sudden chill run down their spines. The mysterious shiver lasted only briefly before they stared at him incredulously.

”…What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“This brat is babbling gibberish! Let us go right now!”

“That’s right, rookie. These people aren’t to be trifled with. How do you plan to handle the consequences if you release them?” In order, these were Victor, Erica, and Floria’s responses.

Of course, none of it made any impact on Louis. He simply ignored their words and continued speaking while casually cleaning his ears.

“Over the past few days, I’ve observed that the hierarchy of this Wish Tower is a mess. As someone who has entered here, I cannot stand idly by.”

Erica frowned deeply and yelled at him, “If you solve it, you’re dead! Understand that we’ll strip you naked and beat your ass! Hey, Victor, how long will you just sit there?! Get rid of those damn chains!”

Louis chuckled at Erica’s outburst and turned to Victor.

“So, were you planning to transform?”

”…?!” Victor flinched, startled by Louis’ words.

“How do you know about…?” He felt confused, bewildered, and disoriented all at once.

Louis pointed at each of them as he spoke, his words laced with mixed emotions. “Werewolf, Jötunn, elf, and…” His finger then gestured toward Douglas standing quietly to one side. “A dwarf.”

Erica yelled at Douglas when she realized Louis knew their true identities. “Hey…Douglas! Did you tell him?!”

“…” Douglas only glanced at Louis without saying anything.

Just then…

Snap.

When Louis lightly snapped his fingers, the chains binding Victor, Erica, and the elf fell off.

“What?”

“…I’m free.”

“You little brat!”

Erica sprang to her feet as soon as she regained mobility, intending to give Louis a piece of her mind. However…

“Huh…?” Erica’s body wouldn’t move—or rather, her legs refused to obey her commands.

“Wh-what is this…?” She had never experienced anything like it before and glared at Louis, flustered.

“You! What did you do now?!”

“Well, I haven’t done anything special?”

“Then why can’t I move?!”

“Hmm… Perhaps you should ask your own body instead of me.” Louis appeared quite relaxed.

“Ack!”

Erica tried to move her body but found it unresponsive. Victor and Floria experienced the same issue.

“Huff huff.”

“Ugh…”

They were drenched in cold sweat.

An inexplicable fear gripped Floria, while Victor couldn’t control his trembling legs or racing heart. Amidst this confusion, Douglas was faring the worst.

“Spare me! Please spare me!” Half-delirious, he repeatedly bowed towards Louis.

Floria muttered softly, trying to make sense of the situation: “What’s…going on…?”

“Should I give you a hint?”

“…”

Louis scanned the group once more with his hand.

“A werewolf, Jötunn, elf, dwarf.” Finally, he pointed at himself and the twins. “So who do we represent?”

“…”

It was like solving a riddle, leaving everyone initially perplexed by Louis’s cryptic words. Erica reacted most strongly among them.

“What kind of bullshit is this?!”

At that moment, Floria whispered, her lips trembling, “No way…”

Erica and Victor turned to Floria as she seemed to have figured something out.

“What is it?”

“Floria?”

Despite being blindfolded, Floria stared straight ahead at Louis. Elves were naturally sensitive to life energy, and losing her sight had heightened this ability even further.

Floria possessed the innate ability to sense the energy signature of living beings, and losing her sight had heightened this skill even further. She was startled by the sudden appearance of a peculiar presence right before her.

“I-is that—?!” Floria’s face contorted strangely as she became disoriented by Louis’s dragon aura, which he’d been concealing until now.

“This can’t be true…” Her reaction gave it away.

Louis smirked at her. “What do you feel?”

“It’s…that is…”

“You don’t feel much? Hmm… How about this?” As soon as he finished speaking, Louis allowed his restrained draconic energy to surge more forcefully.

Instantly…

“Oh!” Floria collapsed on the spot.

…?!

The blurry image from before was now crystal clear, almost as if Floria’s eyesight had been restored. In the direction where she believed the rookie to be, there stood the unmistakable shape of a massive dragon—a huge white beast emanating fierce and savage energy.

Floria paled, muttering in disbelief, “D-d-dragon?!”

Though her voice was soft, everyone heard it loud and clear. Victor and Erica were startled, their eyes widening.

“A-a dragon?”

“Floria, have you gone mad? What nonsense is this…?” They tried denying reality.

Stomp!

Louis took a step closer to them.

Flinch!

Erica and Victor instinctively recoiled.

Louis gritted his teeth and softly commanded them, “Kneel.”

Instantly, their legs gave way.

Thud.

As they collapsed helplessly onto the ground, Louis addressed them.

“I shall ask you this…”

“…”

“What do I appear as to your eyes?”

At that moment, Louis’s pupils transformed into those of a reptile, filling Douglas’s lair with an overwhelming presence. The prey trembled endlessly before such a predator.

“O-O-Oh Great Being…”

“A-a real dragon…?!”

It was unbelievable. A dragon, something no one had ever encountered before, existing only in legends. Yet, there was no denying it, as the immense pressure weighing down on them felt all too real.

“G-gurgle…”

Eventually, hearing Douglas choking for breath, Louis retracted his aura.

Louis grinned at their dazed expressions.

“Well then, is this ranking settled? I’m number two from now on. Naturally, the Lord of the Tower remains number one.”

“Yes! Then Khan will be third!”

“No way! Kani should be third!”

As soon as Louis finished speaking, Khan and Kani raised their arms enthusiastically. They revealed their draconic presence just like Louis had done earlier. However, unlike Louis, who maintained control to keep it tolerable for the others, the twins didn’t hold back. With not one but two dragons exerting their full aura simultaneously…

“Gulp!”

“Eep!”

“Uh…”

The three villagers emitted strange noises before fainting in unison.

Scratching his cheek, Louis muttered, “Any objections? Raise your hands?”

Naturally, no hands went up.

As they headed back to the headman’s house after sorting out their ranks, Fin anxiously asked Louis:

“What were you trying to accomplish with that display?”

Louis responded nonchalantly: “What do you mean?”

“You may have revealed too much. If we give them ideas…”

“Don’t worry. I thoroughly educated them.”

“Heh-heh, it certainly looked like it.” The trio seemed more spirited since waking up from unconsciousness, so it didn’t appear as if they would be spreading any rumors recklessly anytime soon.

Nevertheless, Fin remained concerned. “We’ll need to leave soon…”

His worries were understandable. After all, Louis’s group was set to depart eventually, and leaving behind witnesses known to the dragon could potentially cause problems. However, Louis had his own plan.

“That’s why.”

“What do you mean?”

“There wasn’t enough time for anything else.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

Louis cautiously explained his reasoning. “No matter how much I thought about it, that stubborn old hag wouldn’t have handed over the sword willingly, no matter what tactics I tried.”

“Hmm… You’re right.” Through their interactions with Dexter, Fin had also come to understand Grandpa’s personality quite well. As Louis surmised, he was indeed a very headstrong woman.

Realizing this early on, Louis changed his approach to acquiring the Dragon-Slaying Sword.

Seeing Fin’s puzzled expression, Louis kindly began explaining his plan. “Fin, think carefully. Every single disciple has been throwing tantrums, refusing to become the next chairman, correct?”

“Yes, that’s true…”

“So here’s my idea!”

Louis raised his tiny fist and exclaimed passionately, “Ah, this is like a well-set table! All I have to do is grab my fork and dig in!”

“…?”

“It’s perfect! We just need to claim it! Or something along those lines.”

“Claim? Claim what?”

“The Wish Tower.”

“…What?”

Louis grinned mischievously. “Fin, you know that saying: ‘It’s easier to take than persuade’?”

“No, sir…”

“Heh-heh. If persuasion doesn’t work on the current chairman…I can simply become the new chairman of the Wish Tower and wield the Dragon-Slaying Sword myself!”

“What?!?”

The idea was utterly absurd, but…

“As expected, Louis!” Fin unconditionally supported him, awestruck by Louis’s audacious plan.

Encouraged by Fin’s enthusiastic response, Louis declared with determination, “I will seize control of the Wish Tower!”