Hellbents
Chapter 173: The King of the Dead

After Ellijah managed to pierce the chest of the gnoll that he faced, King Dion was the one who rushed to open the chest placed on the small altar. Hard bread and a bottle of water. But without asking first, the king first chewed a tear of bread that was clearly larger, then vertical greedy drinks that exist. The rest, a piece of fresh bread and water that did not even reach half a bottle, was given to Ellijah by the shameless King Dion.

Duke Frost fully predicted this, but that didn't mean he wasn't upset.

Hours of fruitless walking, Ellijah herself was the one who always tried to defend themselves. Although his skill level did not change and he could kill monsters with just one strike, the mana he had was limited to just a few points. And when his mana is almost drained, he must rest so as not to faint later. But, the "king" who arbitrarily rules Ellijah like a guard dog, who is too busy screaming in fear to take care of himself, and the prospective in-laws he wants to replace his position with Eve, who is too busy screaming in fear to take care of himself, how dare he snatch the food rations he should have gotten! After the blood and sweat he spilled, his hard work was only looked at one eye by the arrogant man.

Ellijah is not stupid, he knows history. King Dion succeeded to the throne not because of his abilities. The royal family of the previous generation actually had three sons, Dion being the first child, and two other princes who "mysteriously" died as toddlers. Many rumors circulating wildly, some say royalty affected by the curse, the empress who gave birth has a hereditary disease so that the baby born weak, the queen of the child, but the most famous is of course the bird news that the paranoid prince Dion about the throne competition later killed his younger brothers. The empress who protested to the king hysterically was not harried because the evidence was not strong enough. Certainly, the king could not sacrifice his only remaining son. Thus, Dion was automatically crowned king at the age of 25 years replace his father who died because "suddenly sick". And now, she was living a prosperous life because of utilizing the talents of her children.

So Ellijah never expected the kind treatment of the crafty man, even more so when they were inside the gate without the constant supervision of the nobles.

"What?" bak had no guilt, Dion asked innocently to Ellijah.

"There is nothing, Your Majesty," Ellijah replied half-heartedly, trying hard to ignore the triumphal grin that the king proudly showed.

Continuing the journey slowly because Ellijah was quickly exhausted, they found three more crates containing meat, alcohol, and a sword. As the main force, Duke Frost had clearly obtained the sword. While the meat and alcohol were divided equally, Ellijah managed to precede King Dion, but unfortunately he still could not take revenge, not for now.

Finally, night came.

Although the labyrinth was dimly lit when they entered, at night there was no light at all.

Total darkness.

Moving with such a situation would only invite danger, which is why he decided to camp. Ellijah had to make his own campfire out of the crates they destroyed. It was fortunate that King Dion did not reject the suggestion, but the man still had complaints regarding other matters.

Unlike Ellijah who was required to take military training because of hereditary duties that required him to guard the North from bar-bar tribe attacks, Dion was more spoiled because he was the only one who could inherit the kingdom. So even though he was lazy to read books, his martial skills were minimal, and never understood the plight of his own people, Dion was still held in high esteem as the supreme ruler of Edodale. "You want me to sleep on the ground?" Typical spoiled rich kid.

"If you want to be warmer, I can dig with this sword." All six meters underground, with no air ducts.

Dion obviously doesn't like it when Ellijah pretends to be stupid. Sleeping on the ground will dirty his clothes! Moreover, such a hard ground was unlikely that his sleep would be comfortable!

But he realized that he had tested the limits of Duke Frost's patience. The man's obsession with Eve is the only reason he's not left alone. Dion knows that.

So, for now he shut his mouth.

Wait a minute, is that the worm he saw?

Nah! There's no way he could sleep here!

***

"So, who are you really?"

Ava was silent because of that question. He used to be grateful that Queen Isabel did not immediately reveal her true identity when Ava's disguise as Eve was revealed.

What's he supposed to say?

"Um, I am an herbalist in the remote village of the Meridianam kingdom."

"Herbalis, so a little tangent to the alchemy that Eve mastered?"

"Then, what's your name?"

"Ah, right! I remember! You never told me your real name!" Adam interrupted.

"... Rina Hoffman, Your Majesty."

"Omong empty, I told you you don't smell like Rina Hoffman!"

Shut up you ghost! After all, Ava still did not understand what that sentence meant!

"Then, why did you agree to disguise yourself as Eve? Mimicking a royalty of his law beheaded, you know? Is it just because of the coin?"

... Queen Isabel underestimated the existence of money as it turned out. It is clear that Isabel was a wealthy noble of high status from birth. He had no idea how horrible money could change a person.

But enough about her assumptions, Ava had to respond immediately.

Well, the contract he signed actually never mentioned the article that forbade Ava to spread the contents inside. After all, it wasn't her fault that Queen Isabel knew her real son and made Ava's play come to light. "I was promised with the item that Princess Eve had."

"Item."

"Elixir of life." There's no way Queen Isabel can guess this relying on her maternal instinct, right?

" ... You want to bring the dead back to life?"

Whahuh? Does anything work like that?

"I don't think so you want to be immortal? Live forever, is it?"

How come? This elixir is great.

"It doesn't happen either."

By the way, Ava sure has kept her expression flat. Why is Queen Isabel so good at reading minds?

"Is anyone seriously ill?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The reason he used to deceive River, Ava used it again to trick Isabel.

"Then Eve is not wrong. Each royal family has only the right to wear one drop of elixir of life throughout its life. To treat an incurable disease, one drop is enough."

Wait ...

So, Queen Isabel asks various things about herself ... Just to find an excuse so that she can justify her daughter's behavior?

Ava involuntarily bit the tip of her fingernail.