Rogue Villain-Chapter 258: Smile

"Listen here, you old goat. There is one offender. One."

Ackster held up a finger to show the dragonling how many that was.

"And it’s this guy. If you want to blame me for you falling for his lies, sure, go ahead. But don’t you dare think you have any right whatsoever to punish me or convict me."

Tararat face-palmed and sighed.

"If you’re going to treat me like an enemy, I will show you what it means to be my enemy."

Ackster finally went silent after threatening the Council in charge of the Land of Dragons’ affairs. And he was met with silence, at least for a moment.

"Outrageous! Even if you were sent by Mastrax, you have no right to behave this way in front of the Council!"

Another member of the Council sitting not far from the leader shouted at Ackster with his scales red from anger.

"Zip it, sheep. That Dragon has nothing to do with me."

"All the more reason for you to accept the punishment for lying to the Council!"

"When?"

"Feigning ignorance?!"

"No. When did I lie? I was nice enough to inform Tararat over there of a rumor I heard first-hand. What if it had been true and Kargas was really planning something? Would you rather not know about it, and he takes you with your pants at your ankles, you dog-humping mongrel? Or would you rather have prepared and at least lubed up first?"

"A-Aph! W-what kind of language is that?!"

"Now that Councilman Gor mentioned it, how are you speaking our language?"

The goat-like leader of the council silenced Gor with a wave of his hand before turning to Ackster, clearly not fazed by his provocations or obscene language.

"I learned it. Duh."

"Learning our tongue is not that simple of a matter, child."

"Maybe not for idiots."

"What I’m trying to say is. It takes time. If you do not tell me how you learned it, I will have to suspect you of planning this in advance. Why else would you need to learn our language unless to communicate with us and tell us Kargas was planning something?"

’Is this what they mean by using the wrong solution to get the right answer?’

"It seems your head is stuck in your beard. Just because not even your O’ so great people can learn your silly language this quickly doesn’t mean I can’t. It took me a couple of weeks after meeting someone here nice enough to teach me."

"—"

"Ah, and before you say anything else with that crusty tongue of yours, a shipwreck brought me to this land. It was a coincidence. Sure, it might have been trespassing according to your laws, but I was going to leave after training a little. But then, I met Tararat, and stuff happened."

The old dragonling narrowed his eyes while stroking his beard as he looked at Ackster.

"A couple of weeks, you say."

Ackster looked at Tararat.

"Are you sure you want a deaf person to lead your Council?"

Ackster was a little worried that his foul mouth was a little too much like the original Ackster Phileam’s habits and that it could lead to exposing his identity. But it was a necessary tool for provocation. However, it didn’t seem to work against the unmovable monster of a dragonling at the helm of the Council, which was a shame since it looked like he would be the key to whether the Land of Dragons would fight Kargas or not.

No one except Gor had spoken when the leader of the Council was addressing Ackster’s rebellious tantrum. And when the old dragonling had waved his hand in Gor’s direction, he had shut up like smashed radio.

"You seem intent on provoking us, child."

"Provoking you?"

’Sly snake. Of course, he saw right through me.’

"Cut the bullshit. I obliged your and the Guild’s request to have me here and fill in any blanks in your questions. Yet, as soon as I arrive, you treat me like I’m on trial? Like I’m a fucking criminal? I’m pissed off, and your refusal to acknowledge that fact, as well as your negligent attitude, aren’t helping. You refuse to take responsibility for falling for someone else’s lies, instead choosing to dump it on someone who only had good intentions. And when that said person speaks out about this injustice, you remain silent, instead focusing on trivial things like the language I speak."

"Done?"

"Oh, I will continue to stand up for myself and what I believe is right until the end of time. You can bet your wrinkly ass on that. But I guess that will be difficult since you can’t move it from your seat, can you?"

Ackster’s eyes twinkled as he looked at the old dragonling’s legs behind the desk. With his Overhuman Senses strengthened even further with his Will, it was easy to see the crumpled remains of what had once been fine muscles on the old dragonling’s legs. They hadn’t been used in quite a while. The old dragonling probably had magic close to a true dragon, considering his age. But his body was an entirely different matter.

"You’re paralyzed below your hips, aren’t you? No wonder you would bother leading this shitty Council. It’s the only way you can feel powerful, right? Even if you can fly, levitate, hover, or whatever, as soon as you don’t have the authority of this position, people, your people, will notice what a failure you are. A powerful dragonling succumbed to such a flaw."

Ackster grinned as he saw the old dragonling’s face darken. He had found the sore spot he needed to turn this council into a raging fire. Naturally, he needed to continue prodding it.

"It’s embarrassing, isn’t it? Not being able to do something you were the best at. I’m sure you were among the strongest of your generation, right? That explains why your mana is so fucking ridiculous. But now, you can’t even walk. Who cares about everything else and what you were in your past? Now, you are just a crippled old man, stubbornly clinging to some form of influence in a desperate bid not to be forgotten or remembered as a depressing failure—"

A disgustingly powerful and thick wave of mana flooded the meeting hall, with the Council leader as the epicenter. The weaker dragonlings present fainted outright, and only a select few were powerful enough to remain standing, including Ackster, who bore the brunt of the old dragonling’s unleashed pressure with a smile.