Chapter 563: A Royal Steed (1/2)
Truen and Zero were escorted back to the palace with King Sharo. The elven king went back to his ice popsicle behaviour in the presence of many eyes, and Zero sighed. There was a long way to go if Zero wanted to re-educate the poisoned mind.
”What did you discuss with the spriggan?” Truen asked after they were given some privacy in their room.
Zero's expression was grim. Compared to the time back at Rocket Mountains, Zero didn't have the luxury of a few months to re-educate a stubborn elf. Bob sent a message to inform him about Jermine and her family's condition. While the mole beast folks were able to remain hidden underground, the pressure from King Gaon was getting worse. Lycantopia was a huge city full of festering wounded warriors.
”The request isn't hard, but it's a little too time-consuming. We're in a rush to find Monoman and Jermine in Lycantopia, and I have to go there in person as the envoy of Smargdas. I also can't leave you to complete the request on my behalf.”
Truen sat down on the bed beside Zero. ”What's the request? Can't we just bring it along with us and work on it in Lycantopia?”
Zero thought about it and wondered if it was possible to kidnap the king of Altear to travel with them so that they could fix some of his poisoned mentality.
”That's it!” Zero beamed and looked at his friend. ”We can create a clone to replace King Sharo before we leave and disguise the actual King Sharo into something else. How attached are you to your wyvern?”
Truen blinked. ”Not particularly attached but it is a very convenient mount. Why?”
Zero grinned and whispered his plan in Truen's ear. When the wood elf heard about what his friend intended to do, he smirked. This was probably better than any form of torture Truen had in mind. The amount of humiliation at becoming a mount for someone else would be enough to crush Sharo's mind completely.
”How are you going to do it? We can keep the wyvern here or send it back to Half Moon Village while I ride on the royal steed. For the record, I'm not going to let you ride on him just in case he tries something funny. You're not a very skilled rider, and I believe he would need someone capable of strict discipline.”
Zero pouted but agreed. ”I can always make something and slip the transformation potion in.”
The plan hatched quickly, and Zero decided that the sooner they left Altear, the better. Bob wasn't able to do much for Jermine and her family. He might be a dragon, but Zero told him to stay out of the conflict between the werebeasts and the merfolks. Having a dragon from Half Moon Village would only complicate matters. If possible, Zero wanted to swiftly resolve the internal conflict in Lycantopia and bring Jermine's clan back to New Moon Village safely. He didn't want to meddle too much with Lycantopia's royalty and politics.
That night, Zero spent it in his mindscape pharmacy designing a tasteless transformation potion with Lovina's help. The potion's effectiveness only lasted for a few days. Zero wondered how long it would take them to get from Altear to Lycantopia. At the same time, he wondered if there was a way to keep King Sharo in his horse form without needing to force-feed the royal transformed steed more potion when the effects started to wear out.
By the time the potion was ready, it was already morning. Zero gave the potion to Truen who used stealth magic to sneak into the kitchen. With this, they could create a doll of King Sharo to take his place while they kidnapped the actual elven king with them. The treaty could wait for now. Smargdas wasn't in urgent need for a non-aggression agreement, and the trade pact between Altear and Half Moon Trading was only a matter of time.
Zero was still figuring out the route they should be taking when Truen returned.