Valerian, The Legendary

Chapter 15: Treatment.

The next morning, the air in the city was heavier than usual. It seemed as if someone was lurking in the shadows, watching them all.

The head retainer of the city palace, Atrox Dans was not having the best of his days. At this moment, he was standing in his house, putting on his uniform when he felt as if someone was peeking at him through the window.

The head retainer was a strong man, two meters tall, burly build, and sharp features, however, his eyes were filled with deceit and cunning. He said in a deep voice, “Whoever it is, come out.”

Atrox turned around to look at the window as he adjusted the collars of his coat. The man was a warrior, blessed with superhuman strength, the strongest among the city guards. His senses would not wrong him like this. He walked towards the window in slow steps and said, “If I found you, I will make you regret ever being born.”

The man had come to the window and leaned over to check the place outside. Suddenly, he turned around and found a figure wrapped in a black cloak. Atrox sneered and said, “Mage?”

The figure did not reply to him but said, “Flamma Liga.”

Out of nowhere, chains appeared in the void and took hold of the retainer. Atrox was surprised, as the chains bound around him, the man winced from the burning pain. The cloaked figure walked over to him and stood just a few inches away from him. A feminine voice sounded, “Where did you send those little girls?”

.....

Atrox was shocked to find that the assailant was a female, and she asked him about the girls he and the city lord had sold into slavery. The woman asked again, but the retainer did not speak. He said, “Every magic spell can last for a certain duration.”

As soon as he said this, without caring about the pain, Atrox jerked and hugged the figure in his arms. The hood covering the woman had fallen off revealing a beautiful face and amber-colored hair.

Atrox clicked his tongue and said, “Such a shame, so beautiful yet so sneaky. I will have my sweet time crushing you.”

The woman did not give him the panicked expression he was waiting for, she said, “Warrior of the second ring. I see, Umbra Disiectio.”

The next moment, Atrox was left in another shock, he mumbled, “Double elements.”

The woman in his embrace had dispersed like smoke. The cloud of smoke then reunited in front of Atrox and before he could do anything else, the woman said coldly, “Vincla Infernalis.”

Atrox stood frozen, his pupils constricted to needle points. He did not expect the woman to be so strong. The woman said, “Do not bother about your guards, they are all sleeping. Now, if you did not tell me what I want to know, I will make you regret ever coming to life.”

Atrox gnawed his teeth and asked, “Who are you?”

The lady shook her head and said, “Flagellum Ignis.”

In her hand appeared a long whip that seemed to be made of magma. She said, “Would you like to tell me what I need now?”

Atrox spat at the woman, and the lady moved her hand. With a smack, the tip of the whip landed on the former, Atrox, despite being the high-level warrior, could not help but scream, the whip melted his flesh.

The woman asked, “Tell me.”

Atrox shook his head and the lady said, “Mens Laqueo.”

This spell sent a strong wave of pain to the mind of the target. The pain would be so much that it will make the whole person spasm. Atrox was the same, he suffered similarly.

After a few minutes, the lady stopped and Atrox panted, without being aware, he was already on his knees. The lady said, “Would you please tell me what I need to know, or should I do the same thing to your son? I wonder how long he would last.”

Atrox shivered, not many people knew that he had a son. However, this lady could find out. He gulped, no matter how dirty he was, he still cared for his son. The lady waited and then clicking her tongue she said, “Fine, I will bring your son here. You can then watch him.”

Atrox shivered, he could tell from her indifferent face that she will do it. However, since the lady did not waver, she still kept walking away slowly. The man roared, “Wait, I will tell you, I will tell you everything I know, please do not harm my son.”

The lady said, “Do not tell me that you will tell me, just tell me.”

Atrox said, “We organize an event every weekend, where the officials use those married women we have taken in custody, they are all kept locked in a secret house in the city, I will tell you the location. As for the young girls, they are all being kept by the City lord in his mansion at the Shore Hill.”

The lady said, “Someone will come and take you to a safe place, if I found that your information was incorrect, your son, will be left to burn slowly till he melts.”

Atrox shivered and said, “It is true, it is true.”, as he bowed his head.

When he raised his head, the lady had vanished from his sight, just like she had appeared.

...

Valerian was standing behind Azula, as she was dealing with some official matters. She turned and asked, “Valerian, you seem to want to ask something?”

The boy nodded and said, ‘Your Highness, when can we expect an answer regarding what we reported to you last night?’

Azula said, “Do not worry, by the evening, we will get some answers.”

Valerian nodded and the princess said, “Do not worry, was it not you who told us that we should not be angry? Similarly, do not be anxious.”

The boy bowed his head, suddenly, the princess raised her head and said, “Priscilla, you can come out.”

Valerian did not understand whom she was calling to, but the next moment, a figure in a black cloak appeared in front of him. Priscilla knelt on the ground and said, “Your Highness, the task has been completed.”

Azula narrowed her eyes and asked, “The result.”

“The location of the women and the young ones has been discovered. We just need to send some people to act.”

Priscilla explained everything to the princess and Valerian stood there in a daze, he could not understand the gravity but sensing the drop in temperature, he was sure that something bad has happened. He understood the concept of slavery and prostitution from the knowledge he had gained from the books.

However, books always recorded the knowledge in a modest manner. Azula waited for the woman to finish and said, “Find Rectus, arrange a trap, catch these filthy men red-handed, I want to make an example of them. I will call the shadows. These people will regret ever being born.”

Priscilla nodded and after casting Valerian a gaze, she vanished from her spot like a cloud of smoke. The boy did not say anything but waited for the lady to calm down. Azula asked, “Valerian, call over the city lord, I wish to give him some relief.”

Valerian bowed and then left the study. He came out and nodded to the guards and made his way to the stables. The staff was aware that this young boy was an attendant to the princess so they all greeted him with a faint smile on their faces. The boy returned the gesture but he was doing a fake smile.

Coming to the stables, he found the City Lord sitting on a leather chair, with an attendant fanning him. His work was delegated to the other subordinates.

The fat man noticed the child and his temper flared up, if not for this beggar, how could he end up here. He asked, “What do you want?”

Valerian raised the magic slate in his hands, it said, ‘Her Highness has asked for your presence in the study.’

Causus almost trembled with excitement. He stood up from the chair and said, “I shall visit her right away.”

He did not wait for anything else and moved straight to the study room. Valerian followed the man at a calm pace. He could tell that her highness was going to plan something big.

Arriving at the study, Causus wanted to barge in, but he saw the two guards giving him a glare of death. He calmed down and said, “Her Highness invited me.”

The guard looked at Valerian, the boy shook his head and showed the magic slate to the guard. The guard said, “City Lord Causus, you should know that your position is not qualified enough for her highness to invite you.”

The guard did not care about sparing this toad any face. Causus wanted to kill them but he endured and said, “I apologize, what I mean was that her highness has asked me to come over.”

The guards nodded and opened the door, they did not let the man enter, it was for Valerian. The guard said, “You can go in after her highness verbally calls for you.”

Valerian entered the study and closed the door behind him. Leaving Causus to glare at the mahogany door.