Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1354: I think... we finally found what T.P. means

”Do you know why we brought you here?” The young lady’s tone was sharp, her gaze flickering with annoyance as she studied the others in the room... a tall elven man, and a quiet boy, both standing uncertainly beside her.

They exchanged glances. No one had explained why their rulers had summoned them so suddenly.

”I have not seen you here before... From which empire have you two arrived?” The young lady’s words rang with a blend of suspicion and curiosity.

The elven man drew himself up, pride shining in his stance as he answered, ”I hail from the High Elf Tribe, deep within the forests of Aerionis Zephyra Empire.”

The boy’s voice trembled as he spoke, ”I—I am from Elysiumis Aurora Empire. I came from the orphanage in the silver city.”

The young lady frowned.

Why bring together strangers from distant empires?

Just as their questions thickened, the chamber doors swept open with a metallic groan. Victor strode in, his dark cloak trailing behind, and beside him... Aether.

When the boy saw Aether, his composure shattered. Tears welled up instantly, streaming down his cheeks. He dropped to his knees, ”M-My God, you finally appeared... I—we are so sorry for what happened, please forgive our foolishness... My Archpriest, I have prayed for your return.”

Aether managed a gentle, awkward smile and knelt beside the boy, resting a reassuring hand on his trembling shoulder. ”Young man, rise. There is no shame here. The past cannot be mended with tears—what is done is done. The trials you endured are over, and soon I will return with you to our empire. That I promise.”

The boy nodded, tears glistening as he wiped his nose, overcome by the nearness of the one he worshipped. In that moment, nothing else in the world mattered.

Aether’s gaze shifted to the elven man, who only nodded stiffly in Aether’s direction. The elven man knew Aether would soon become father to the emperor, yet he struggled to find the words befitting him.

The young lady, meanwhile, kept her eyes fixed on Victor, barely masking her irritation. ”It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty,”

Victor offered her no glance, which made her clench her jaw.

Victor turned to face the trio, holding a document in his hand, his voice measured and solemn as he read their names,

”Athena Sola, once a noble of high standing, now assigned to the mines on the farthest reaches of Pyra Fulgur Empire.”

The young lady—Athena—snorted, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

”Maran Clon, watcher and scholar of the High Tribe in Aerionis Zephyra,” Victor continued.

The elven man—Maran—nodded silently.

”Theo, orphan of Elysiumis Aurora Empire, staying in the orphanage in the silver city.”

”Y-Yes, Dragon Emperor!” The boy—Theo—answered quickly.

Victor gave a single nod, then gestured for them to sit in the chairs set around the table. He and Aether took their seats opposite the trio, exchanging a brief, knowing glance.

Aether broke the silence, ”Do you know the reason you have been brought here?”

Theo, nervous, shook his head, unable to find his voice. Athena shot a glare at Aether. ”Who are you to question me?” she spat. The elven man watched Aether for a long moment, then slowly shook his head as well.

Victor sighed as he rubbed his forehead, ”Two days ago, you three encountered those so-called metallic figures, right?”

Hearing this, the trio flinched in unison. They exchanged uneasy glances, each realising the true reason for their summons.

Victor continued, ”It took us two days to find all of you. Since my friend and I were already investigating the legends of the Sixth Empire and the mysteries behind those metallic figures, your rulers decided to bring you here, straight to us.”

The young lady’s frown deepened, her lips curled with open defiance. ”So what are you going to do with me? I already told the truth to that old bastard Drakhairs... If you think your presence here makes any difference, believe me—it means nothing. I mean it, really nothing!”

Victor raised his eyebrows, ”I don’t believe there’s any enmity between us. Is there?”

”Oh? So now you claim you don’t care?” She let out a bitter laugh, ”Of course, bastard... Because of you, I—a great Noble Dragon, once revered and honored—now stand disgraced. Others bow their heads, but now they dare to look at me without fear. All of this... happened because of you!”

Victor simply hummed, unruffled by her rage. He studied her for a long moment before turning to the elven man and the boy. ”And what about you two? Are you just going to stay silent?”

The elven man and the boy both shook their heads, then quickly nodded, each anxious to answer and explain what had happened.

The elven man spoke first.... He had gone near the barrier to study its properties, to learn how its magics worked. While conducting his research, he suddenly encountered the metallic figure and... that was all he remembered.

The boy’s voice quivered as he recounted his story. He had been playing with his friends, curiosity drawing them to the edge of the barrier. They wanted to see what secrets lay beyond. But then, the metallic figure appeared without warning. In an instant, his friends were killed, and he alone was captured... That was all he could say.

Victor’s gaze returned to the young lady, who simply snorted, pushing her chair back with a harsh scrape. ”I’m leaving. I’m not going to indulge you with any more of this shit,” she spat, rising to go.

Victor’s eyes narrowed, ”Lady, you have to answer the question. What will others think if you disobey your own ruler?”

The woman scoffed, ”You were never my ruler. Fuck off!” she hissed, turning away, intent on leaving the room.

Thud!

Crack!

In one sudden motion, her head was slammed down onto the table. The wood split beneath the force, sending splinters flying and blood streaming from her nose. Victor’s eyes blazed, their red glow burning with barely restrained fury as he gripped her hair like a whip, holding her in place.

Both the elven man and the boy recoiled in horror at the violent sight, unable to tear their eyes away.

”Tell me what happened.”

The young lady’s eyes turned blank and lifeless. She began to speak in a flat tone, recounting what had happened to her. She had been working at the mines, far at the edge of the barrier. Wanting to escape the endless toil, she had slipped away from her duties. There, alone and exhausted, the metallic figure appeared from nowhere and...

”And? What happened—tell me!” Victor shouted, yanking her hair even tighter. Both the elven man and the boy trembled, swallowing hard in horror at the mercilessness in Victor’s voice.

”I... I... I—”

Before she could finish, her body splattered apart in an instant, pieces flying in every direction. Both the elven man and the boy recoiled, faces streaked with blood and fragments of flesh.

Victor calmly raised a shimmering barrier around himself and Aether, keeping the gore from staining their robes.

Victor clenched his bloodied fist, clicking his tongue with annoyance. ”Tsk.” Aether glanced at the spot where the bloody remains had fallen—and again, he saw it: a flicker of white-golden light, there for only a heartbeat before it vanished.

Aether looked at the two who stood frozen in shock. It seemed they were completely unaware of the golden light. Not only them—even his beloveds had never seen it.

Did that mean only he could perceive it?

But why?

What was the meaning of this golden-white, flickering light?

He wondered, when suddenly, the boy and the elven man rushed to Aether’s side, faces twisted in terror.

”P-Please believe me! I told you exactly what happened. Please, Lord Aether, I beg you... You will be one of us soon!”

”Y-Yes, my Archpriest, I’m scared... Please... I just want to go home... sniff, sniff.”

Aether drew a slow breath and glared at Victor. ”Victor, you’d better not hurt anyone else.”

Victor raised his hands in mock surrender. ”Okay, okay...” he said, turning away, barely hiding his indifference. Aether sighed, then looked to the elven man and the boy and spoke in a calm, steady tone.

”We need the exact time, the situation, and how it all happened. Please, explain everything in detail.”

And this time, both the boy and the elven man answered, their voices trembling but detailed, leaving out nothing. The elven man even described the events minute by minute, recalling every detail he could remember, down to the seconds.

Aether nodded as he recorded every word, knowing this was the real reason he had brought them together.

Honestly, their respective empires already had some details—but the reports were never precise. Too often, important facts were lost, or the truth twisted... Aether refused to accept anything less than the exact truth. He’d already seen what happened when he tried to manipulate their memories, so now he chose a different approach.

Yes, by using that young lady as an example for the remaining two... She had been difficult, always demanding something in return, even clinging to her noble title...

”Fuck you, bitch,” he thought coldly. ”You abandoned this empire when it needed you most.”

Victor had pitied her briefly. But in the end, she served as a warning.

And it worked. Both the elven man and the boy described everything as if their lives depended on it, not missing a single detail. Their eyes kept darting toward Victor, who had turned away, staring out the window at the sky... waiting, perhaps, for them to falter so he could make another example of them.

And they looked at Aether with hopeful expressions, knowing he was the only one who could save them from disaster.

As they finished telling every detail they could remember, both of them paused at the same point... the moment when the metallic figure called out its origin card and... everything stopped.

Neither of them knew what happened after that. When they awoke, they were lying alone on the ground, with no memory of what had passed.

Just like the others.... Aether frowned.

Even without manipulation, they couldn’t recall anything after the figures invoked their origin cards.

Did that mean something else was at play in those missing moments?

”T-That’s all I know,” the boy whispered.

”M-Me too... I lost my friends,” he said, voice cracking. ”Sniff... sniff...”

Both nodded as they glanced at Victor, who remained eerily still. Then, unexpectedly, Victor flinched, startling them both.

The elven man, searching his memory, suddenly added, ”Also... If I remember correctly, the time I lost consciousness... it must have been around five minutes. I’m almost certain. I sneaked in right when the patrol officer left—he comes by every fifteen minutes. My research was supposed to take ten minutes, so I finished up and was about to leave when the metallic figure appeared. So whatever happened... must have happened in those five minutes.” He spoke with a thoughtful expression.

Aether raised his eyebrows. Five minutes? What could have happened in those five minutes?

The boy, hesitantly, looked up at Aether. ”I... I noticed something too. I hope this helps you, Archpriest.” With trembling hands, he offered his origin card to Aether.

Aether accepted it, examining the card. At first, it looked ordinary, but his eyes widened as he noticed something at the top right corner... the usual ’0’ had been replaced with... ’1’!

Without a word, Aether looked at the elven man, gesturing for his origin card. The man immediately handed it over, saying, ”I haven’t checked since I got it—” but Aether had already taken it from his hand and looked.

There, in the top right corner, the ’0’ was also replaced with a ’1’.

Aether’s eyes widened further. ”I think... we finally found what T.P. means,” he muttered.