Chương 216: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 216 - Tavern Encounter — Words Unspoken

While Su Nian and Anna were wrapped up in each other. In a dim corner of a tavern somewhere in the empire—"Gulp." The girl drained a long pull of beer and set the mug down. She stared at the man across from her, doing her best to hide how nervous she was. That man was Dara Bengba. The Sword Hero. There was no version of this where an ordinary girl picked a fight with the Sword Hero and came out ahead.

"I can give you money. Then you leave." Dara Bengba's tone was flat. He pulled a coin pouch from his belt and dropped it on the table without looking. It hit the wood with a heavy thud. Whatever was inside, there was a lot of it. Every mercenary and adventurer in the room found their eyes drifting toward that pouch. Greed. Indifference. Something worse.

But then they glanced at the portly, middle-aged owner wiping down the bar in front of the liquor shelves, and one by one they settled back into their seats without a word. This tavern had rules. People who broke them had a habit of turning up in the city sewers come morning. Outside the tavern was a different matter entirely.

"Could you please spare the dragon?" It was the fifth time Aya had asked. The Sword Hero hadn't budged once. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Among Chromatic Dragons, there is not a single good one." His tone was cold, something dangerous flickering in his eyes.

"That lord saved my life." She kept trying. He didn't care.

"Monsters must be exterminated." No hesitation. No room for argument. They'd met on the road. A pack of wolves had been running Aya down, and Dara Bengba had stepped in. For a while, things had been fine between them, until she found out where he was headed. Everything changed the moment she learned he was going to slay a dragon. He still didn't understand why she was so determined to protect a Black Dragon with blood on its hands. He'd even started to wonder if the dragon had sent her on purpose.

"But surely there are good monsters too," she said.

"Just like people — some good, some bad." BANG! Dara Bengba's fist came down on the table. Aya flinched back with a sharp inhale, shoulders pulling in.

"Don't talk to me about the morality of monsters." His voice cracked with emotion, eyes gone red.

"My friends. My elders. Those innocent villagers. All of them died under monster claws."

"But those villagers," Aya said carefully.

"Wasn't it the Kingdom Guard's negligence that got them killed?" Dara Bengba let out a short, cold laugh.

"Yes." He leaned forward and dropped his voice, low enough that only she could hear.

"Do you think those Kingdom Guards are still alive?" The two of them sat in the dim corner, shadows pooling thick between them, the light barely reaching.

"You mean..." Aya's voice wavered. In her mind, the Kingdom Guard had always been something untouchable. Dignified. Almost sacred. She had never once imagined they could fall so easily to a single sword.

"I said nothing." Dara Bengba's voice rose back to normal, the cold smile still on his face.

"I am the Sword Hero, appointed personally by His Majesty. I am sworn to uphold justice, protect the weak, and destroy evil. The Kingdom Guard's fate was their own doing." He held her gaze, steady and unsparing. In that moment he looked less like a man and more like something that had been forged to pass judgment.

"Men who neglect their duty and live off their posts," he said, each word deliberate, "being cut down by their superiors — isn't that exactly as it should be?" The killing intent rolling off him pressed down on Aya like a physical weight. Her heart hammered. She genuinely believed he might turn that sword on her if she pushed too far. Aya. Don't you dare be a coward. Don't forget what that lord did for you. She bit down hard and forced herself to breathe. ➤ Next: Whatever — The Conversation