Emperor Sakon yawned in front of me as he twirled something in his hand. One of his legs was propped up on top of the armrest.

Ah, god damn it. I shouldn’t have trusted that receptionist.

“So we meet again, young captain,” Sakon replied.

“Yeah, hi. Nice to meet you or whatever.”

Sakon breathed out heavily. “To wake to such a disastrous morning… And I thought I gave enough time in between our next meeting. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you missed me.” He threw whatever he was twirling behind the throne. It looked like the same rod he was fiddling with before. Another guard rushed over to pick it up. “So, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Alright, let’s see if I can talk my way out of this. “Seems pretty cruel what you have going on down there. You sure you’re an emperor? I’d say you’re more of a murderer yourself.”

Sakon’s face became rigid. “Cruel?”

“Yeah, cruel. I saw those collars. Those people were dying. As if they were starving to death. That’s not cruel to you?”

“I think you have quite the misunderstanding, child. Cruel?” He raised his hand as if in praise. “They are simply being used as valuable resources. I reform them into soul crystals because I believe that all life should be useful. It is, to the criminals, a blessing that they will not simply die after committing such heinous crimes. They shall die after having done something good for society.” He pointed his finger to my right. “You see that one over there?”

I turned my head to where Sakon was pointing. I didn’t notice before, but there was a brawny guy who was being held down by four guards. He still had a piece of the collar stuck to his neck. The guy seemed to sneer at the emperor.

“That man has already killed three other guards today.” Sakon leaned in closer to me. “That is a man you freed. That is a man you used as a distraction for your own escape! Are you proud of that man? Are you happy he was so useful? The three he murdered today aren’t even half the people he has killed before. Do you know what that criminal scum has done? That murderous bastard killed thirteen others! Thirteen crimeless citizens of Sakoria! One of them was Alevaly! My very own daughter! She was murdered in cold blood during her coronation.” He breathed in heavily. “It was supposed to be a day of celebration, but now… it is a day of remembrance… Do you really believe that twisted creature deserves to live? Would you truly release him after hearing what he has done? Tell me! Look me in the eyes and tell, you fool!” He slammed at his chest in anger.

“Gahaha!” The supposed murderer behind me roared wildly. I peered over my shoulders to see his long hair rippling heavily like tidal waves. The guards who were holding him down shook with every movement he made. “Oh, she deserved it, dear emperor! It was all worth it!” he replied mockingly. “The look on her ignorant face—”

“You dare?!” Sakon cried. “Guards, get that thing out of my sight!”

The guards quickly pulled the man out of the throne room all while he was bellowing out in laughter.

Sheesh. He really is kind of crazy.

Sakon put his hand over his forehead. “The mere sight of him makes me want to kill him myself, but I am the emperor! If I do not uphold the very laws that I have created, who will?” He leaned back on his throne and took a deep breath. “These criminals are simply atoning for their sins. As much as I do not wish to use such filthy crystals created from their flesh, I give such villains some meaning to their lives before they perish. A little agony before they die is not what one would consider cruel.” He gestured at me. “It is you who are cruel. To save one single sakonian’s life, more than twenty of my guards have already been killed.”

As if I care about those nobodies. “Well, if you have such an enlightened view,” I asked, “what’s your excuse for the dragons then? They’re just animals? Is that it?”

“Dragons? How nostalgic…” There was a slight pause before he responded. “But I don’t quite understand your question. I have made no excuses.”

“So you’re admitting that you killed all those innocent dragons?”

“Innocent? Dragons?” Sakon scoffed. “Far from it. You should think of them as rusty tridents. Useless, but dangerous nonetheless.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Like I just said, they were dangerous. The meat was also poisonous. Clearly, every part of a dragon was practically unusable.”

“Wait, you tried to eat them?!”

“Why, yes. What would you do with a large creature like that other than to consume it? All they caused was disaster. Thankfully, there was one thing any living creature could produce—soul crystals. So we killed thousands of them. Made millions of crystals. Enough to last Sakoria decades in prosperity!” he proudly exclaimed.

“Are you crazy?! How could you slaughter all of them like that? They’re intelligent! They can talk and think like you do! You guys could’ve lived together, but you just killed them? For those tiny crystals?”

“Intelligent?” Sakon laughed. “So the rumor was true. You've actually conversed with Merlovak. I’m quite astounded he didn’t kill you. Perhaps he has grown lonely over the years… How very sweet of him. Or perhaps it has something to do with your sapien blood.”

I furrowed my brows. “What? How did you—”

“Merlovak!” he exclaimed. “The self-proclaimed dragon king after he killed off all the other dragons.”

Huh? Killed the other dragons? “What… do you mean?”

“Wish to hear an old story?”

“Wait, why would he—”

“Of course you do.” Sakon gestured for the guard to come forward. The guard quickly handed over the small rod he had dropped earlier. “See, dragons were not natural creatures. To have a large reptilian body fly in the sky… Its biological structure and mass had to all work out somehow. Perhaps with hollow bones it could be possible, but what would a large beast do with such thin and brittle bones? They could break at the lightest touch! They would be so very fragile.”

“This doesn’t explain—”

“But one researcher made it all work somehow. Morgan, my childhood friend. He managed to create dragons!” Sakon waved his hand in the air in grandiose fashion. “A wonderful feat indeed.” The emperor sighed deeply. “Mel, was it? Let me tell you something about dragons. Dragons were no different from large sakas but with sharp, dangerous teeth. They were idiotic, brainless… Utterly useless pieces of flesh.” He threw his little rod in the air and missed the catch. It fell on the carpet in front of the throne. A guard quickly picked it up. “What would be the point of a beast if all it did was nothing but kill? There would be no point.”

“Are you sure—”

“So, in the end, we banned the creation of dragons. Of course, the only person that could truly create dragons was Morgan. He begged to create more. He begged and begged and begged! For seventeen straight years, he begged. And when famine hit Sakoria for the first time in centuries, we were all out of soul crystals. So I did what any intellectual leader would do.”

“What? Make canned food?”

“I stole Morgan’s research on dragons.”