Back in the castle, Floid was seated in front of a fireplace in a different room from his office. He was just staring into the fireplace opposite him with a curious look. Floid was wondering if this would work. Floid wasn't even worried about the undead at all, instead, he was worried about what would happen with Rosavellt. It was strange for Floid since this is the first time he was feeling something like this. She is just a slave, so why the hell am I worried about her? Don't tell me I've become so attached to her. Floid frowned in annoyance.
Floid suddenly heard the sound of the door opening behind him and he spoke up calmly while still staring into the fire.
"How did the search go? Did you find anything that can help us?"
Dragonnel groaned and twisted his neck to both sides while walking into the room. He has been gone for two months as he was trying to look for Givalich's position and he was not able to find anything that would help them at all. Dragonnel didn't know what sort of magic the humans used to seal her, but it was damn good!
"Sorry, master. Nothing at all. I think we're going to have to go to Uta and get the information we need ourselves. If there's anyone that has that information now, it is Uta,"
Floid nodded at Dragonnel's perception. The only two kingdoms that knew about Givalich were Uta and Aquinas. Ever since the vampires took over Aquinas, they already turned the castle inside out while looking for the information about Givalich's whereabouts, Floid made sure they checked the entire castle! But it turns out that it wasn't there. The only thing that Floid found were more of the former king's journals and none of them spoke about Givalich again. They were mainly filled with stupid messages to his children.
The only other place that it could be was Uta so that may be where it is. Floid would have to speed up his invasion plans for Uta. He needs to get into that kingdom quickly if he is going to find Givalich before Elias.
Floid looked to the side as he saw Dragonnel staring into the fire as well. Floid waved Dragonnel over and told him to sit down on the chair beside him. There was a small table between the two chairs and Floid opened his spatial space and a board appeared on the table.
Dragonnel rose a brow in surprise. Chess?
"Play a game with me while you rest and tell me about your search."
Floid didn't even wait for Dragonnel's response as the pieces immediately appeared on the board. Floid took the red pieces while Dragonnel took the black and they began to play. As they played, Dragonnel spoke about the mission that he went on. He told Floid about the distant mountains that he searched through and also the ocean. Dragonnel traveled through thousands of miles of water before he finally decided to turn back because he was almost reaching mogul. In his searches, the only place that Dragonnel saw anything that looked suspicious was a plateau that had some sort of magic circle drawn on top of it. But Dragonnel wasn't able to find anything even after searching that mountain for days. It turns out that the mountain was just a site for some ritual that a small tribe of villagers performs for their fake gods. But there was no sealing spell on it.
Floid and Dragonnel already started the game and it was now Dragonnel's turn to move. Dragonnel advanced his Bishop forward and threatened Floid's king, Floid used his pawn to block it and Dragonnel knew if he didn't retreat he would lose his Bishop, but instead, he advanced his knight and protected the bishop from behind.
Dragonnel then spoke up respectfully.
"I heard a strange rumor when I was coming in, master. It turns out that the demon army won't be focusing on eradicating the undead in our territory, but instead, they'll be focusing on containing the effects of their presence. My lord, I never took you for the merciful type,"
Dragonnel said this while looking up at Floid from below. He knew that what he said was bullshit. Floid and mercy were two words that didn't belong in the same dictionary! But it was still a surprise that Floid gave an order like this. Why would he be so merciful to the undead?
Floid smiled as he shifted his queen to protect the king and threaten the knight that Dragonnel moved earlier. Dragonnel saw that he was in danger and he quickly took away his knight to try and attack from the other end. Floid killed the first bishop that Dragonnel had been protecting and Dragonnel scowled in annoyance. Floid then spoke up.
"There isn't some grand idea behind my instructions, it's rather obvious and I'm sure you and Alucard have already discovered it. People can only be what they are, this is something I learned a long time ago. People cannot become something else on their own because they will lose themselves in the process. But, in order to change, you need a catalyst. Something that would act as an intermediary,"
Floid moved his rook forward and blocked the path of Dragonnel's queen. Dragonnel charged toward the rook with his pawn and took it but Floid then used his own pawn to place Dragonnel's queen in a pincer movement. No matter where Dragonnel moves his queen, it would be killed. Dragonnel gained a tick mark on his forehead once he realized that he had been played! He quickly tried to recover as he shifted his last knight to cover for the loss of his queen.
"So what you're saying is that this is a catalyst for change?"
Dragonnel asked this while looking down at the board as he tried to come up with a new plan! He was getting destroyed by someone that wasn't even one-tenth of his age!
Floid answered in the negative as he made another move.
"No... Not a catalyst. Let's say it is a lesson,"
"A lesson, eh?"
Dragonnel hummed. He didn't need to ask who the lesson was for since it was obvious from the beginning. Dragonnel was Floid's teacher and he understood Floid more than any of the other members of his household. Right now, Floid was not even slightly bothered by the undead. Floid could wipe them out any moment he wants, but he was using this as a lesson for Rosavellt. But why? Dragonnel didn't know this and he knew that Floid wouldn't answer him even if he asked so Dragonnel asked something else.
"What will you do if the lesson fails? What happens if there is no change?"
Floid moved his knight forward and captured Dragonnel's last pawn. By now, Floid had eleven pieces on the board while Dragonnel only had five left. Dragonnel charged forward with his last rook and placed it in the path of Floid's king. Floid moved his king one step to the side, and when Dragonnel tried to use another route to capture the king again, Floid sprung the trap he had in place and captured Dragonnel's rook and his last two pawns. Floid shifted his last rook forward and placed it to the right of Dragonnel's king. Check.
Dragonnel clicked his tongue. What the fuck? Who can be this good at chess? Dragonnel has played chess many times before but he has never seen anyone that is this good!
Floid smiled when he saw the avoidance on Dragonnel's face.
"There are some things that you just can't remove from people, some truly permanent characters. People will always have those traits no matter what. Just like in this game, you have that tendency to attack with full force once you see a chance. It's the same way you approach an enemy in real life. It's not a bad thing and I commend it, but you really shouldn't make it so obvious so that people don't use it against you."
Floid's queen made her final move and landed right in front of Dragonnel's king. Checkmate. Dragonnel grimaced at the utter defeat. This was his worst game of chess ever.
"Rosavellt's weakness is her family and she makes her love for them too obvious. I will try to teach her a lesson. But there is only so much that I can forgive, and I can only teach so much. So if this lesson does not sink in, then I will discard of her."
Floid's last words didn't shock Dragonnel that much. But even still, it was a little surprising to hear him talk about discarding someone like he was simply talking about the weather. Dragonnel expected nothing less from a demon lord. How cruel.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l