Chapter 205: Prisoners

Despite Uriel's relentless attempts to stop him, Tristan still forced his way down to the dungeon accompanied by both Gazef and the helpless Uriel. He wanted to check the three prisoners he just captured, and there was nothing that could stop him from doing exactly that.

Tristan and the other two swiftly entered the damp and gloomy dungeon, and they were immediately greeted by the pitiful sight of the three prisoners. The three were completely stuck on the dungeon wall as their four limbs were bound by metal chains, immobilizing them from any sort of movement.

When Tristan took a closer look at them, he realized that the two elven warriors looked like they were on the verge of death while the elder strangely looked very lively despite his old age.

The moment the elder saw Tristan, he immediately opened his mouth and spoke as if he had expected his arrival. "Huh! Release us! This is not how you treat the elves!"

Tristan ignored the other party's words as he approached them. When the distance between them was only a mere meter, he spoke in a reserved tone. 

"Ah, I'm truly sorry, elder. I just received a message from the capital.. And I feel really bad for my actions."

"Hahaha! Callan! So predictable! Now release us!"

Tristan appeared to be in panic as he tried to find something on his waist. While the elder was smiling and thinking that he would get the key to release him, Tristan took out his crystal dagger instead. Even so, the elder still thought nothing of it and only assumed that Tristan wanted to return his dagger back to him.

Unfortunately, reality didn't go as the elder had hoped because Tristan abruptly lunged forward and stabbed him in the shoulder.

"Aaarggghh!" The painful wail of the elder echoed throughout the dungeon, sending shivers if one could hear it.

Gritting his teeth, the elder stared dagger at Tristan as he said, "What's the meaning of this?!! You dare!??"

Faced with the elder's murderous glare, Tristan returned to his nonchalant attitude. "Aahh, I'm truly sorry, elder. Is this treatment still not good enough? If so, let me do it better for you."

He immediately stabbed the elder's other shoulder after saying that, causing another cry to be heard.

"Aaaarrggghh! You are a lunatic!!"

Instead of disagreeing, Tirstan actually seemed to agree with what the other party said.

"Hmmm.. Maybe I am.." Tristan answered while showing a wondering look. Then, his gaze suddenly turned sharp and he brandished the dagger on the elder's neck. "So you better tell me what I need to know! Tell me about the truth about the mines, and the whereabouts of my wife now!"

Despite the pain he currently felt, the elder unexpectedly chuckled at Tristan. "Hahaha.. You're new, aren't you? If you hurt me.. Your king will be in trouble, and so will you..  you better release us now and I will say nothing about this"

Tristan fell silent as he stared deeply at the elder. "You really think that I wouldn't dare to kill you, don't you?"

The elder smiled wickedly at his words, but just as he was about to chuckle again, Tristan walked over to the elven warrior on the right and slit his throat. Blood immediately painted the floor of the dungeon, followed by a body that twitched violently and nearly slumped to the ground only to be held back by the chains.

The elder was stupefied as he had taken the live view of what was happening with his own eyes. He slowly pointed his finger at Tristan and stammered as he spoke. "What?!! You- You are crazy!!"

His eyes shifted toward the two people next to Tristan, his gaze was telling them to try and put some sense to this crazy mayor of theirs. In the meantime, Tirstan calmly wiped the blood on the dagger with a cloth, turned his head around and said,

"Gazef, it's sad that we were forced to release the prisoner. You did already release those elves, didn't you?"

Gazef was caught off guard for a moment by Tristan's question and then understood what the latter meant the next moment. Nodding his head, he deliberately lowered his voice but still loud enough for the elder to hear. "Yes, My Lord. I released them already"

"I see.. Let's hope they don't run into any bandits or dangerous creatures out there. After all, it would be a pity for their family if they died somewhere unknown in the wilderness."

At this moment, Uriel unexpectedly joined in the conversation. "Actually, Lord Tristan, there are many bandit groups roaming outside Caerleon. This place is located very close to the Chaotic Plains, after all.

Tristan turned to Uriel with a smile on his face. "That is indeed true, Mayor Uriel."

Hearing the three people's conversation, the elder and the last elven warrior panicked. They finally understood how cruel and insane Tristan was, and realized that the threats he had made earlier were no joke.

"You.. You are crazy!! You can't do this!!"

Tristan turned around and smiled wickedly at the elder. "This is where you are wrong, elder. I definitely can.."

The two fell silent while anger and hatred welled up within them. Realizing that, Tristan quickly gave his next move.

"Actually, I need ONE of you to pass a message back to Forlorn. Therefore, the first to answer my question will be the lucky one. Only the first-"

Surprisingly, it was the elder who quickly interrupted him.

"I will answer your questions! Just promise me that you will keep your word!"

Tristan inwardly smirked when he saw this, though outwardly he kept his calm demeanor.

"Of course, I will."

Hearing this, the elven warrior could only watch in disbelief as his elder betrayed him so quickly. He couldn't even see the slightest bit of hesitation at the latter's actions.

"Go on, then. Answer my previous questions."

Fearing that Tristan would take back his words, the elder quickly spilled everything that he knew. He said that their prince had always fancied Serene for a long time. So even though she was captured and held captive, she was treated very well.

As for the orcs, the elder appeared to be a little hesitant. But he immediately revealed the truth when he saw Tristan playing around with the dagger in his hand.

"Our prince wants to return Forlorn to the position of the strongest elven kingdom once again. We have been experimenting on the orcs for that endeavor, hence the mines."

Tristan showed an interesting expression when he heard that. "How much help can 100 Orc Uruks give him?"

Hearing this, the elder strangely started to chuckle. 

"100? No, no, no.. We actually have over 20 of such mines scattered around the Chaotic Plains, totaling more than 3000 Uruks."

The elder sounded so proud that he even said the grand plan was using the Uruks to take over the entire Chaotic Plains' orcs under the banner of Forlorn Kingdom.

Satisfied with the answer, Tristan said his thanks and began playing with the dagger again.

"I told you everything.. Let me go this instant! You promised me!" the elder said hurriedly as he was terrified seeing Tristan flip the dagger around.

"Aaa.. did I really?"

Realizing where this was going, the elder made his last ditch attempt. "Keeping promises is an elf's honor!"

Tristan looked at the elder with a wicked smile. "Elder…. Did you forget what you said about me when we first met?... Didn't you say I'm not a ...real elf..?" Tristan asked with a confused tone, but the smile on his face grew even wider.

The elder was at a loss for words. He then started begging for mercy, but unfortunately, Tristan wouldn't and didn't plan to give it to him.

Spllaaattt!

Tristan cut the elder's throat open and watched as life slowly left out of the elf body.