In A Fantasy World I Can Absorbs Abilities

Chapter 52 A Young Dragon

Orpheus clammed up, realizing he had been seen through. Surely, they would spare him for his honesty, wouldn't they? He glanced nervously around.

"It's said that the blood quill requires blood sacrifices to function. What did you do to procure those sacrifices?" Michael's voice was cold.

Orpheus's eyes darted nervously. If he confessed the truth…

"Don't even think about lying. The truth will come out during cross-verification," Michael warned.

Backed into a corner, Orpheus took a deep breath and began recounting his crimes.

"I… First, with Nicholas and the knight commander, Xenon, we targeted a few slash-and-burn farming villages. And then…" Orpheus faltered, unable to continue.

A swift punishment followed. Slaps landed across his face until he broke down in tears, spilling the rest.

"Enough! Please, stop! I'll confess everything. First, we selected young children and… cut open their stomachs to extract their hearts. We made their parents watch, ensuring their hatred and resentment peaked before we decapitated them and offered their blood to the quill. Without blood steeped in such intense hatred, the Outsider sealed for centuries could not awaken…"

Michael clenched his fists, struggling to suppress his rising anger. It was hard enough knowing the plight of serfs, but what these innocents had endured was beyond comprehension. His heart burned with the desire to strike Orpheus down, but he restrained himself. Not yet.

"Was this why the blood quill was kept instead of being destroyed? To use it in situations like this? Is that also why kingdoms and nobles who defied the papacy fell into ruin?" Michael pressed.

Orpheus didn't answer, trembling and sweating as he lay prone.

"Such a noble god and clergy," Michael muttered bitterly. "After committing atrocities like this, how can you speak of divinity?"

He shook his head. The gods he knew, however harsh, only granted power for rightful vengeance. But Radiance? Michael pushed the thought aside. This was no time to invoke divine scrutiny.

For now, he needed written confessions from Orpheus and the knight commander. These would be sealed and sent to the royal palace. Such matters were beyond even Count Charles's ability to handle alone.

"Is there no way to restore those turned into the Outsider's followers by the blood quill?" Michael asked. At the very least, he hoped to bring peace to the survivors.

Orpheus, still lying face down, shook his head.

"No… It's impossible. Once someone has been stimulated by it, they are bound to follow its orders until their life force is extinguished."

"Truly useless," Michael spat. "You're good for nothing. Perhaps I'll have your skin turned into a drum—at least that would be of some use."

"Please, spare my life…" Orpheus begged.

Ignoring him, Michael approached Xenon, who was playing dead on the ground. A single kick forced him upright, and the cross-verification began.

Fifty people were questioned, but all were guilty. Compared to them, even Leonardo, the dreaded Necromancer, seemed like a saint. At least Leonardo bore no direct responsibility for the atrocities committed in the farming villages or the baron's lands.

The more Michael listened, the more his fury grew. These so-called clergy and knights had done nothing but kill innocents, torment them, and offer them as sacrifices to the Outsider.

Could this be allowed?

As the interrogation drew to a close, Alfred and his group arrived. True to Orpheus's words, they had brought the cart carrying the cage. The priests of the Outsider, former bandits, were nowhere to be seen, likely slain to prevent further harm.

Alfred approached the cage and pulled away the cloth covering it. A stunned silence followed.

Inside was a small dragon, its wings pierced by iron rods. Its body was battered and bloody, slumped unconscious in the cage.

"What is this…?" Michael muttered, recoiling instinctively from the grotesque sight. The young dragon's condition was horrific.

"It's so small… It must be a hatchling, just as that priest claimed. How could anyone do this? Do they not fear the wrath of the dragons for harming a hatchling?" Alfred asked.

[Nyah… This isn't a hatchling…] purred Miaomiao, the spirit beast accompanying Michael.

[A young dragon, yes, but not a hatchling. Still, this is…] Miaomiao hesitated, his voice trailing off.

Alfred finished his sentence.

"This is a disgrace among the dragons themselves."

[It may look young, but it's definitely not a hatchling,] Miaomiao explained. [Hatchlings are bigger than this. Only fully grown divine beasts can alter their forms, and a hatchling would never be left unguarded by both parents. It's clear this is a young dragon with incomplete inheritance.]

"Well, that's a relief. If that priest was right, and a horde of dragons was about to descend, it would've been a catastrophe," Michael said. "But you keep mentioning 'inheritance.' What is that, exactly?"

Miaomiao snorted in apparent irritation before replying.

[For divine beasts like me—or what you humans call first-grade magical beasts—inheritance is passed down during conception. It's part of our bloodline. Dragons, however, are foolish. Sometimes their inheritance isn't properly transferred, and when that happens, the unlucky dragon is abandoned by the group as soon as it reaches adulthood. This one's parents must have failed to pass down its legacy while it was still in its egg. Foolish and lazy creatures, dragons are little more than beasts.]

"So, this captured dragon is… a bit lacking, is that what you're saying?" Michael asked.

Miaomiao chuckled dryly.

[Of course. A fully capable first-grade magical beast would never be captured like this. Even if a magical beast contract is possible with first-grade creatures, just look at this state. Dragons are notoriously greedy. It probably fell for some human's trick or scheme, which led to this pitiful condition. Anyway, let's keep it asleep. It'd be a disaster if it woke up and started causing trouble.]

"What about its wings? They're in such bad shape. Won't that cause problems later?"

[Hmph, it'll be fine. Even a dull-witted dragon's body should heal without issue.]

Miaomiao's tone carried an undercurrent of disdain for dragons.

The group decided to transport the caged dragon, along with the captured priests and knights, to Leonardo's secret chamber. To do so, they would need to unlock the chamber's seal.