Chapter 36: The Rat King

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In the study, Raine read the interrogation record Bessalia had brought him.

Diamond had been brought in as well, complete with shackles on his hands and feet, awaiting the judgment of Lord Raine.

“The Dracuron family?” Raine gave a scornful laugh. “You?”

“Wise and discerning lord, I would never dare conceal the truth from you!” Diamond dropped smoothly to his knees and immediately prostrated himself before Raine. “I left my family many years ago and wandered the seas for a long time. Those years stripped away my noble bearing, but Dracuron blood truly does flow through my veins!”

Aerlina, standing nearby, was already struggling to keep her expression under control.

The high elves were direct descendants of the ancestral elves, and Aerlina therefore regarded Diamond as one of her own kind. Watching this kinsman kneel so skillfully before an undead mage and beg for mercy made her long to blast him into ash with a bolt of lightning.

He had disgraced the entire elven race!

“The Dracuron family has never exiled its erring members overseas,” Raine said unhurriedly. “They merely send them back to the family’s domain, Amethyst Island.”

“I…” Diamond’s expression shifted several times before he suddenly changed his story. “Your eyes are truly keen, my lord. It is simply that my circumstances are rather unusual… I am an illegitimate child. I had no way of going to Amethyst Island.”

“So the contents of this interrogation record are mostly lies.” Raine picked up the papers from the desk.

“Forgive me for being unable to speak frankly, my lord.” Diamond’s tongue was as slippery as an eel’s. “I am ashamed to mention my illegitimate birth, but I would never dare deceive you. I am your captive and your prisoner, my lord. A captive must fulfill the obligations of a captive. Otherwise, you may simply cut me down, my lord.”

“How many times are you going to call him ‘my lord’?” Aerlina snapped irritably.

Diamond’s expression remained unchanged as he defended himself.

“I am not groveling out of servility. I was never this obsequious toward Kalichi. It is merely that Lord Raine’s bearing and generosity have won me over, and before I knew it, I had begun to regard myself as his servant…”

“It is only because I have placed a sword at your throat,” Raine interrupted. He casually drew the longsword from Bessalia’s waist and pressed its edge against Diamond’s neck. “That you have no choice but to bow your head and submit to me.”

“Isn’t that right, Rat King?”

Diamond’s expression changed dramatically.

His face went deathly pale. His lips trembled a few times, as if he wished to continue spinning his honeyed words, but his dwindling courage no longer allowed it.

“You have seen through my identity, my lord.” At last, he lowered his head deeply and buried his face in the carpet.

“What does ‘Rat King’ mean?” Deya asked curiously from the side.

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“He was the former overseer of the underground black market in the High Elven Kingdom,” Raine said casually. “Presumably, he lost an internal power struggle and was driven out.”

“It was not a power struggle.” Diamond hurriedly explained. “Someone spread a curse throughout the black market in order to frame me.”

“A curse?” Everyone stared in surprise. Was it the Corpse-Worshipping Cult of the Gem Archipelago?

“Starting three years ago, members of the organization would occasionally lose their minds without warning,” Diamond continued. “They would scream, go mad, mutilate themselves, commit suicide, or even attack those around them for no reason.”

“Unfortunately, one such deranged member attacked a great noble who had come to the black market, implicating the entire organization and bringing immense pressure upon it. To appease the noble’s fury, I, as the chairman, had no choice but to take responsibility, shoulder all the blame, and flee overseas.”

“Besides, I truly am an illegitimate child of the Dracurons. They simply refuse to acknowledge me. A bloodline-verification miracle would confirm it easily.”

There was no need.

Whether the Rat King of the High Elven Kingdom was truly an illegitimate child of the Dracuron family was utterly irrelevant.

What mattered was that he had once ruled the black market. That meant he not only understood the High Elven Kingdom’s smuggling routes abroad, but also knew its covert internal channels of transport.

“Do you intend to return to the Gem Archipelago?” Raine asked suddenly.

Diamond raised his head in astonishment. His keen instinct for danger told him that the answer to this question would determine his fate.

“Of course I intend to return!” His expression suddenly twisted with viciousness. “One day, I will go back and take my revenge, and make those who framed me pay the price! Everything I lost—I will reclaim with my own hands, without leaving a single thing behind!”

He had chosen correctly.

Raine was extremely satisfied with his answer.

Those who desired nothing were the most difficult to control. Someone like Aerlina, who had already embraced death in her heart, would remain impervious no matter what cage one locked her in—unyielding to both force and persuasion, and troublesome beyond measure.

If Diamond genuinely wished to return and seek revenge, Raine could make use of him.

“I have only recently become the lord of Salt Island,” Raine said slowly. “Before I took office, all of Salt Island’s supplies were transported and provided by Sea Rock City. Likewise, all the minerals, lumber, and catches of fish produced there—apart from what was consumed locally—were carried away by Sea Rock City.”

“And that is not all. Iron Harbor City does not even have a tax official, so the residents’ taxes cannot be collected either.”

Diamond listened attentively. The moment Raine paused, he immediately declared, “My lord, I can serve you. I can use my knowledge and wits to establish a free market on Salt Island, allowing the townspeople to purchase supplies while collecting transaction taxes. I will select young and reliable locals to form a mature and efficient tax-collection force, ensuring that the territory’s taxes reach you every month on schedule…”

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Catching a hint of amusement in Raine’s expression from the corner of his eye, Diamond hurriedly changed his wording.

“Of course, I will only be responsible for establishing the market and organizing the team. It would be more appropriate for the officials you appoint to take over the subsequent affairs.”

“Very well.” Raine moved the sword away from his neck. “I accept the bargain. You have purchased your own life, Diamond.”

Diamond carefully wiped the sweat from his brow.

To be honest, with his own departure for the imperial capital imminent, leaving a newly released high elven prisoner—one quite capable of causing trouble—on Salt Island was hardly a wise decision.

The man was the Rat King. He possessed both the experience and the means to command a swarm of rats, as well as the skill to evade official searches. Raine could easily imagine that, if left to his own devices, the moment Diamond walked out of Blood Fortress he might cast their agreement to the winds and flee without a second thought.

“Bessalia?” he said softly.

Bessalia understood at once. She drew an alchemical bottle from her sleeve. Inside was a watery potion of vivid emerald green.

It resembled viper venom.

“I suggest that Mr. Diamond drink this,” she said in a honeyed voice. “It is a corpse-transformation poison I have recently developed. After taking it, the body will gradually change toward a corpse-like state… unless the antidote we provide is taken regularly.”

Diamond’s throat worked for a moment.

He knew perfectly well that these powerful figures could never casually trust a prisoner who had only just defected. Voluntarily taking the poison and submitting to their control was already the best possible outcome.

To people of their stature, as long as one continued to demonstrate sufficient value, they would not casually take one’s life.

“Very well.” Diamond rose to his feet, decisively took the alchemical bottle from Bessalia, and drained the potion in a single gulp.

As it slid down his throat, an intense chill swept along his esophagus. It felt like chewing ice, and he could not help shuddering from head to toe.

He lowered his head and looked at the back of his hand. His skin seemed to have taken on a faint gray tinge, though it was not yet obvious. When he pressed it, a slight pain arose, like that of a wound beginning to decay.

Diamond no longer had any doubts about the poison’s effects.