In the few seconds that the King had maintained eye contact with his general, the following had taken place:
King Zander's golden eyes were focused on the young boy who did not appear to be frightened by his general who most certainly was a scary-looking man.
General Viktor Espren, had a muscular body and was as big as a mountain.
Despite his large body, he was pretty agile and could move faster than those half his size.
There were scars over his neck and his dark eyes were like tiny vortices of abyss that leered into ones' soul.
An excellent torturer and strategist, he was one of King Zander's best generals in his army.
He and five of his best men had been assigned the duty of guarding the King on this journey which was almost at its end.
Once they reached the Capital of this Kingdom and completed their business with its ruler, their final destination was Valanthur, their homeland.
However, never had they thought that they would meet someone in this dense forest while they were struggling to find something edible to fill their empty stomachs with.
What was further frustrating was that they had not been able to sense the presence of the stranger who had shown up out of nowhere.
Therefore, upon receiving the signal of their King, General Espren had leaped in that boy's direction with the intention of holding him captive.
Espren was behind him in no time and twisted his arms, succeeding in restraining his movements.
Sizing up the boy who stood before him in silence, without struggling to get out of his hold, the general could not help but frown.
No matter how he tried to analyze this young boy, he found only a meager amount of life essence in his body, which proved that there wasn't anything special about him.
This was exactly the report that he had sent to the King who had been looking in his direction.
Since they were communicating through their minds, none of the others could hear what was being said.
But they could sense that something was not right when the King narrowed his eyes while staring at the newcomer.
Turning away, King Zander's gaze landed next on his chef, gesturing him to speak up.
Upon receiving the command, the chef did not waste any time and disclosed everything he knew about the berries that Treegan had found.
The elkerberries that he had seen until this date were all shriveled up and much smaller in size than what was before them right now.
Black in color and shrunken to less than half the size of the berries they were seeing right now were the elkerberries that he had seen in the past and hence could not recognize them right away.
Thankfully, the kid had stopped them before they consumed any.
After all, elkerberries, if used with a few other herbs could have medicinal properties.
However, there were numerous purposes they could be used for by people with ill intentions.
"Master, that boy was right." The chef lowered his head while stating the truth.
Since King Zander had given them strict orders to not address him as their King during their journey to avoid unwanted attention, the chef called him 'Master' just like the others had done.
Elkerberries, once consumed, would paralyze the one who ate them for a whole day.
If that wasn't enough, it caused severe dehydration which could have grave consequences on the body of whoever consumed it.
"Master, they have extreme laxative properties." He mentioned and blushed just like the young boy had done earlier when he stopped before completing his statement after making his presence known.
Treegan now understood why the chef had distanced himself from the shrubs and was glad that he had done the same.
King Zander's brows furrowed in disgust at the implication of the chef's words.
If what the chef had said was the truth they would have been paralyzed for an entire day after eating these berries and while they would be unable to move their bodies, their stomach and other organs would be working in overdrive.
Elkerberries were often used as a means to humiliate the ones who consumed them.
Frozen in place, they would have no way of rushing to the restroom even if that was what they desperately wished to do.
Thus, soiling their pants to the extent that they get severe dehydration and remain that way until they regain control of their senses.
The men in the King's group hissed at the fortunate events that would take place after one ate these elkerberries.
Treegan shuddered at the thought that he was about to feed his King something so awful.
'That would be the least of our worries.' The King realized that the wild animals and monsters they had been killing to survive would be able to gobble them up before any of those nasty side effects could affect them.
Thus, King Zander had not noticed his frightened state as his eyes were back on the stranger who had saved them from a lot of trouble.
However, this did not mean that he would trust someone who had shown up out of nowhere and even saved them.
It was not uncommon to hear stories of traveling groups being saved by a stranger who, after gaining their trust, sought the right opportunity to strike the unsuspecting travelers who had lowered their guards before him.
He did not wish to become a part of another such pitiful story being passed around in bars and taverns.
Therefore, he wasn't willing to drop his vigilance in the presence of their 'savior' who appeared out of nowhere.
"Who are you?" He narrowed his eyes dangerously and interrogated the young man still in the hold of his general.
His golden eyes were looking into those icy blue orbs which were as calm as a frozen lake, waiting to hear what answer he might receive.
As these words left his lips, absolute silence surrounded them as they all were eager to hear who exactly this young boy was.