Chapter 359: Chapter 359: Interrogation (1)

The Wailing Witch, Liranne Vivienne.

As she slowly descended to the ground, the moment her feet touched down, she shouted.

“Necrapheto! Are you crazy?! Why did you just let them go?!”

The man, whose flesh was just starting to grow back onto his bones, frowned at her hysterical voice.

“I’m older than you, you know…”

“Ha! Now’s the time to be concerned about that? Tell me, why did you let those bastards go?! The Captain won’t let this slide!”

Vivienne shouted irritably, pointing her index finger at a spot. All that remained there was a deactivated, faint magic circle.

The man retorted in an annoyed tone.

“Ugh, why should I be the one getting scolded? It’s unreasonable to expect a Necromancer to fight in close combat, and you were watching too.”

Even the woman, who was about to retort, flinched at his unexpectedly sensitive reaction.

However, was there something she wanted to point out?

“…But you didn’t even use the Call of the Underworld!”

Vivienne clung to that core equipment of the Corpse Collector.

However…

“Why should I use that?”

The man responded as if he was dumbfounded.

“Because if you had used it, the Lighthouse Keeper wouldn’t have been captured!”

She wasn’t wrong.

If he had used the Staff of the Underworld, a high-ranking Double Numbered Item, he could have removed that tank-like man from the battlefield. That was a fact.

But…

“If I use that, one of us has to die. And you’re asking me to use it on someone I don’t even have information on? When I could have survived if I just stayed put?”

“…You have that new ability you got recently.”

“If that gets out, the royal family will come up with a countermeasure. Who would benefit from that? If I ever need to rely on that ability in a dangerous situation, and this incident comes back to bite me, are you going to save me? Huh?”

“…….”

“Please, know your place. You didn’t use your magic for the same reason.”

Vivienne couldn’t say anything more as the man started arguing back.

His words were hitting too close to home.

In fact, the reason she hadn’t stopped that monstrous man was the same.

She didn’t have enough information.

Her magic had been reflected, so she couldn’t risk using a stronger spell.

“Ah, this is annoying…”

Ultimately, they were all responsible for the defeat.

They were part of the same organization, working together, but their true nature remained unchanged.

There was no one noble enough to sacrifice themselves for others. They were more concerned about their own gains and losses than their companions’ safety.

“…Is everyone alright?”

The Blood Knight returned and joined them as Vivienne was biting her lip, suppressing her anger.

He looked the most pathetic of the three, missing an arm.

But…

“It would have been fine if grandpa did his job properly.”

Vivienne shifted her target to the Blood Knight, as if she didn’t even care about his injuries.

“……?”

“You should have targeted their rear, not that monster!”

She wasn’t just trying to find fault, she genuinely meant it.

“Why did you even try to stop him when you couldn’t even do it…”

If they had targeted the enemy instead of wasting time blocking that man, the situation would be different now.

It was the first time that monstrous man had left the formation, after tanking all their attacks with his bare body.

“Killing one of the Seven Strengths, the Blood Spirit Marquis, would have been a significant achievement, and the Golden Mage goes without saying. She’s one of our main targets, and if she died, the teleportation spell would have been nullified.”

The Blood Knight’s judgment was a mistake.

The man who was listening next to her exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow, you’re blaming grandpa in this situation? You’re even worse than I thought. How dare you say that to someone who was trying to protect us?”

“…Can’t I even talk to myself? And I’m not wrong.”

“Well, that’s true. Heh heh.”

The man nodded and glanced at the Blood Knight.

He had become prey to the wolves, but the old knight didn’t make any excuses.

He just muttered in a flat voice,

“Contact the Captain. We lost… the Golden Mage.”

“…Can’t grandpa do it?”

The Blood Knight responded to Vivienne’s question with a cold glare, and she lowered her head.

They had lost their target.

And not only that, but the Lighthouse Keeper, a valuable asset even within Orculus, had been captured.

And they had just watched as the enemy teleported away.

She couldn’t risk going after them.

“…….”

She couldn’t say that.

The Corpse Collector noticed her hesitation.

“I understand how you feel, but contact him first. There’s something we need to report, even if it’s not about the Golden Mage.”

“…Are you talking about that monster?”

“That too, but…”

The man trailed off and then continued,

“Anyway, just report it. I don’t know why he was here, but…”

“…….”

“…We found Amelia Rainwales.”

______________________

「Arrua Raven has cast the 4th-grade spatial magic [Multiple Teleportation].」

The first thing she saw when the light from the activated magic circle faded was a cage.

“Please wait. You’re in the right place.”

“…What?”

“It’s a safety measure installed on all warships. If a spatial movement ability is used, it automatically redirects you here.”

Ah, so that’s why.

Teleport redirection… that sounds familiar…

“I’m Arrua Raven, Vice-Captain of the 3rd Magic Corps. Here’s my ID. I returned via teleportation magic while fighting Orculus criminals.”

Raven revealed her identity to the soldier guarding the cage, and the cage opened after a brief verification process.

But…

Clank!

What the hell, why did it close after she went out?

“…What did you do?”

Raven avoided my gaze and spoke to the soldier, ignoring my informal tone.

“Keep an eye on them for a while. Don’t let them out.”

“Yes.”

Uh… I didn’t expect this.

My mind went blank, and Erwen grabbed the bars of the cage and shook them.

“…I’ll kill you!!”

It didn’t seem like her usual loss of control.

I was also losing control.

This reminded me of the guild’s basement, and I wanted to break out.

But…

“I understand how you feel, but please calm down. You can’t escape with brute force.”

“…What?”

“No. 399 Cage of Silence. It seals all abilities, including magic, divine power, and Aura.”

Damn it, no wonder I had a bad feeling.

I sighed and let go of the bars after confirming that my skills weren’t activating.

“Here… these are potions. Treat your wounds.”

Raven handed us a few potions through the bars and then left after giving the soldier a few instructions.

To summarize:

Treat them with respect.

But don’t open the cage under any circumstances.

And release us if the situation becomes critical, like if the enemies reach this point.

“…We’ve been tricked. Tersia, stop wasting your energy and come here.”

“What? She just locked us up, how can we—”

“Then what are we going to do?”

“…..”

“Erwen, she’s right. Calm down and come here.”

“…Okay.”

Erwen reluctantly walked over to me after I also regained my composure.

“First… we should use the potions.”

It seemed like it would take a while to heal with just Natural Regeneration, so we poured potions all over our bodies with Amelia and Erwen’s help, stopping the bleeding.

And after some time…

“…Are you okay?”

“…Yeah, I’m used to it now.”

Honestly, I felt like I was dying.

The only Pain Resistance I had left was the ‘30’ from Bion’s essence.

But what could I do? I had to treat my wounds.

“Um… can we get some water, please?”

“Ah… a-alright!”

The soldier hurriedly brought us water at Erwen’s polite request.

He was probably intimidated by Erwen’s status, on top of Raven’s orders to treat us with respect.

“Um… are you alright?”

Ah, so he was just worried about me.

“You’re sweating more than you’re bleeding…”

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

It was always like this when I drank potions.

I chugged the water the kind soldier gave us and then moved to the back of the cage.

We had to talk privately now.

“Anyway, let’s talk now that we’re done with treatment. Both of you, come here. And lower your voices.”

“You’re a bit too close, don’t you think?”

“What’s the problem? We’re just having a conversation.”

“…Th, then I’ll…”

“Hmm, fairies have good hearing, right?”

“Wh, what does that have to do with you?”

“I was just saying—”

Ugh, these two again.

“Both of you, stop it. This isn’t the time.”

“Okay…”

I quickly stopped them before the conversation could go off on a tangent.

The first thing we had to discuss was this:

“Why do you think Raven did this?”

Why did she lock us up?

The two of them, who had been bickering, easily reached a consensus on this.

“She must have realized your true identity.”

“Yes, that’s the only possibility. She knows you’re an evil spirit… Crack. She doesn’t even know gratitude after you saved her life so many times.”

Is her killing intent even seeping out of her teeth?

I didn’t know, but I was worried about Erwen’s dental health, so I brought up the next possibility.

“Emily, what’s the probability that she did it because she found out about you?”

“Well, that’s not impossible either. She was on that island too.”

Raven and Amelia knew each other.

They had fought together on Parune Island, and Raven knew about Amelia’s [Abyssal Power], [Self-Replication], and [Asura’s Fury].

And she used a dagger as her main weapon?

Raven would have noticed, even after two years and even with her face covered.

“Well… she might be suspecting that we’re spies for Noark because of me. Ha, as expected.”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘as expected’?”

“What else? That you’re going to be a burden.”

“Ha! You’re good at talking, even though you can’t even control yourself.”

“What…?”

Why is this happening again?

I quickly changed the subject.

“Whatever, Emily, are you okay? There’s a high chance that Noark also recognized you.”

“That’s… well, they probably did. The Blood Knight might not recognize me since we haven’t crossed paths much, but the Corpse Collector definitely recognized me.”

Damn it, I felt bad for her.

She said she had changed her identity and was hiding, but now she had both the royal family and Noark as enemies.

“Don’t worry too much. I knew it was a possibility. I’ll leave if it becomes too dangerous for you.”

“So you still have some conscience?”

“I have reason, unlike you.”

Ugh, these two…

We could all be in trouble if this went wrong.

No, would Erwen be okay even in the worst-case scenario?

I might be targeted by the royal family as an evil spirit, and Amelia might be accused of being a Noark spy, but Erwen was different.

The fairy tribe would protect her, even in the worst-case scenario.

“…So what are we going to do now?”

I organized my thoughts and answered Amelia's question.

“Well, we have no choice but to wait.”

There wasn’t much we could do while we were trapped.

The best we could do was wait for Raven to return and then react accordingly.

Therefore…

“Mister?”

…I stood up after ending the conversation.

And I approached the corpse, whose face was covered with the cloth I had received from the soldier along with the water.

I didn’t know what would happen in the future, but…

…it was better to do what I could.

“…What are you doing?”

“Checking the loot.”

“…Now? In this situation?”

Well, is there anything else we can do?

I shrugged and started looting.

‘Ten rings, one necklace, and I dropped the staff when I grabbed him…’

I couldn’t open the subspace pocket until we got out of here.

Magic tools didn’t work inside the cage.

‘Wow, how much is this worth?’

You have to learn to appreciate the little things when the situation is difficult.

Although I couldn’t estimate the exact amount, one thing was clear.

If I sold all of this, I could pay off most of the debt.

Well, the problem was whether we could even get out of here with it.