Chapter 121: For now, just eat, ok?

“Was…was that just a dream…?”

Raul who has just woken up breathed out a sigh of relief.

In this supposed dream, despite leading an army of 5,000 soldiers, he was still defeated by Luke.

It was so impossible that it could have been nothing but a dream.

If it was indeed a dream, he thought he and his army might still be in their camp in the wasteland the night before the battle.

However, when he looked around, he found he wasn’t in his tent.

“…a prison?”

Raul was lying on a bed surrounded by stone walls and iron bars.

“Good morning, Raul. How are you feeling?”

“!!”

When Raul saw the person on the other side of the iron bars—and to whom the friendly-sounding voice belonged—he reflexively shouted their name.

“Luke!”

Even though Raul was fiercely glaring at Luke, the latter kept smiling.

“You’re hungry, right?”

“You! Have you come to mock me!?”

“Nope. Look, I brought you some food. They’re the village’s specialty, you know.”

Luke said so and then slid in a tray of food into the dedicated hole in the middle of the iron bars.

“What are you scheming here!?”

“Nothing. I just want you to eat. There’s no poison in it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Angered, Raul tried to throw the tray away, but paused to look at its contents when the aroma hit him.

There, he found a massive steak. It was still making sizzling noises on the metal plate it was served in. Based on its looks alone, Raul could tell that it was some high-quality meat.

*gulp*

*growl*

His throat and stomach told him so at the same time.

While his pride and his appetite were battling it out, Luke proceeded to tell him something.

“It’s minotaur meat from our dungeon.”

“Minotaur meat!? No, more importantly, what!? Your dungeon!? There’s a dungeon near here!?”

“Yup. But let’s talk about the details of that later. For now, just eat, ok?”

“Tch…”

The only time that Raul has ever eaten minotaur meat was during the celebration feast after he got his Gift.

Its taste still lingered in his mind, and just remembering it was enough to make him salivate.

Given that all his equipment was taken, and that he was being imprisoned by the thick iron bars, there was nothing much he could at the moment to help himself.

Starving himself would only serve to worsen the situation. So, instead, he thought he should utilize the foolish generosity of his enemies.

…he came up with such reasons, but the fact of the matter simply was that his appetite won.

“Wooooooowwww!?”

The moment he took a bite, an explosion of flavor—and juices—happened in his mouth.

He had no doubt that this was indeed minotaur meat. Only, this was so much better than the one he had before.

From that point on, he was couldn’t stop himself from eating.

He was apparently so hungry that the whole 200 grams of meat vanished in an instant. All that was left was the vegetable garnishing.

Raul wasn’t fond of vegetables, but in an effort to distract himself from the sorrow of having eaten all of the meat, he reluctantly put the vegetables in his mouth.

“~~~~~~~it’s, it’s good!?”

Much to his surprise, even the carrots which were one of his many least favorites tasted sweet, like it was some kind of fruit.

In an instant, he finished the vegetable garnishing as well.

“Do you want more?”

“G-give me!”

Raul forgot his rivalry with Luke and demanded for a second helping.

Before long, that second helping was gone as well.

Now full though, Raul has finally relaxed. And at this point, he no longer had a choice but to recognize something.

“I lost…didn’t I?”

It wasn’t a dream.

All of those things really happened.

He lost.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“…huh?”