CH.289 Interrogating the Adventurers

CH.289 Interrogating the Adventurers

“Wilma?” I called, as I rushed to her. She was within the Swords of Revealing Light I used to immobilize the ‘adventurers’ that called for our help, but it doesn’t seem like she is frozen because of them.

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But the stab wound in her back might be a different case. That might make moving a bit more difficult.

I took a gentle hold of Wilma, even if moving her might be a bad idea, and took her quickly to Lua. As Lua got to work healing Wilma, I also got a card out of the Collection and activated it.

“Dian Keto the Cure Master.”

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Between Lua’s healing magic, and the card I just activated, we quickly closed the wound on Wilma’s back, and I finally took a nice deep breath.

As I turned back to look at the group of ‘adventurers’, the reality of what I just did hit me in the face.

A group of six people, frozen in place by Swords of Revealing Light. And one small child, well, I don’t know if he is a child, but still. One small cat-folk, with a hole in his chest, caused by my sword. My sword, which I ordered to end him, and even threw at him.Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

It didn’t quite make me feel sick, because in all honesty, he deserved it. But still, I did have a mild regret for what I did. I have the strength to be better, so I shouldn’t do things like that. I could have just activated a card like Shadow Spell or something else like that.

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“Alright. Brian. Can you ... unfreeze one of them? I want some information from them.” Mariina said.

She had of course woken up because of all of the commotion, and we had caught her up to speed. And because she is the ‘one in charge’, I let her decide how to go forward. I didn’t really want to take charge of the situation, as I was still quite emotional, so I likely would make some... not so good decisions. So in all honesty, I was more than happy to let her take over the command.

I entered the Swords of Revealing Light, took a good hold on the other beast-folk, and dragged ... her out. I think this one is a she, the other one is a boy. As soon as I touched her, the effect of Swords had on her was undone. It took her a second to catch onto what was happening, but as soon as she did, she began struggling and yelling.

“Shut Up.” I said, somewhat quietly, while trying to make my voice sound cold. “You will answer our questions, if you don’t want to end up like your brother.” Admittedly, I have no clue if he is her brother, but they do look similar enough where that could be the case.

I dragged her out of the Swords, holding her by the scruff of her neck. Even with her resistance, I was boosted by my Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword and Summoner’s Unity skill, so she would have to be extremely strong to be able to resist me.

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I tossed the cat-folk girl in front of Mariina, and then put my Red-Eyes Sword right next to her neck. She was visibly shaking, looking at my sword, then at me, then at Mariina, and finally taking a glance at her dead brother.

“She will question you, and you will answer.” I said, before I let Mariina take it the rest of the way.

Mariina squatted down so she could better look the cat-folk in the eyes, before she began her interrogation.

“Do you know who I am?” Mariina asked.

“...” The cat-folk didn’t answer, but she did shake her head a bit.

“Why did you attack us?”

“...” Again, no answer, just a small shake of her head.

“Which one of you is the one that summoned the lightning tiger?”

“... I ...” This time, we got a one word answer.

Wait? That tiger was a summoned monster? ... well, I guess it breaking apart like that makes sense then. And this little catgirl is the summoner? I guess she does have a staff, so.

“Agreed. For them to attack my Master, they deserve to burn.” Agunan agreed with her.

“... are you sure that is a good idea? They are just people following orders.” Lua commented.

“Are they?” I asked. “They had a choice. Pay their debt the normal way, but they picked murder. ... I do feel bad for the slaves though. They didn’t have a choice.”

“Then just don’t kill them? But then we would need to...” Alice didn’t say everything she wanted, because while Mariina does know about Monster Reborn, her companions don’t. At least I think they don’t.

“It also isn’t quite that simple.” Mariina stated. “Here. Look at this slave mark.” She pointed out the dead catboy.

It looked... Well, it was a bit different from the one Ria has on her body, but I cannot tell the real difference.

“... so, why is it different from other ones?” I asked.

“It is an older slave mark. It has long since been made illegal in the three Kingdoms and the Hero’s country. Even the Crystal Empire has banned its use. That is because it lacks some of the protections the newer ones have.” Mariina began to explain. “This slave mark, unlike the modern ones, doesn’t limit the orders the slave is given. For example, Brian, if you ordered Rhianna to kill herself, she wouldn’t have to do it, because the mark would protect her from that order. This one doesn’t. The same goes for orders to take other people's lives and so on. The modern one protects the slave from having to execute orders of that kind.”

“... alright, but so what? Won’t they be free if we kill their master?” I asked.

“No. That is the sad part. This seal... if their master dies, will kill the slave.” Mariina said. “It was made illegal for a reason. It is extremely inhumane.”

“... alright. So we will have to keep at least the leader alive.” I deduced. “Can that slave mark be transferred to be under a different master?”

“It can... but again, it is illegal. It isn’t common knowledge how to do that. We would have to get access to someone who knows more about it.” Mariina told me.

“Anyone that would know?”

“The Sages should know. I think the Sage’s towers library’s limited section should have info about it.”

“... I see. But there would have to be someone who transferred the slaves to that guy, right? They would have to know, wouldn’t they?”

“And do you think we can get that information? No one will admit to it, as that will get them executed. And in all likelihood, there won’t be any proof of the transaction.” Mariina reasoned. “But we should still warn the local lords that there is a slave trader in this area using this mark.”

“Then perhaps we should just keep them all alive and head back to Pekkers? And because this is a special situation, I don’t mind if we use one of my ships for it.” I offered. “But at the end of the day, you are the one we are working for, so it is your call.” I reminded Mariina.

“Well, since you are offering your airship, we should head back.” Mariina quickly decided. “We will head back in the morning. I’m sorry, but you have to add keeping an eye on them to your nightwatch. Can the others use that immobilizing card?”

“Yes. Alice, Lua and Ria can.” I confirmed.

“Good. Please do your best.” Mariina said, before her group headed back to bed.

It was about time for me and Wilma to also say good night, as our turn guarding had come to an end some time ago, but I still had one more thing to do. Actually two. Or maybe even three?

I first gave both Alice and Lua two copies of Swords of Revealing Light, so they could use them on our ‘friends’. Actually, let’s just give Ria two as well. It isn’t like I don’t have enough of them. And they could come in handy, so why not? And maybe having more cards will help Lua and Ria get LV.3 Card Summoner, so that they can have that deck feature.

Then the second thing. The dead cat boy. I used both Soul of the Pure and Blue Medicine to heal up the hole in his stomach. Then after Lua checked his corpse out and said he should be fine, I dropped a Monster Reborn on him to resurrect him. Then, before he had time to wake up, I moved him to be inside the Swords of Revealing Light.

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If anyone asks, he didn’t die and was just badly injured, alright. That is the truth, if I tell people that is the truth. That is how it works, right?

Last thing last. One quick request.

(Laura, can you Mia and Kekri look into that slave mark? Do we have ways of transfering the ownership to me with one of my cards? Like Snatch Steal, Brain Control or something like that? Or maybe just ask the system about how it works?)

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(Yes. I’ll have it done by the time you wake up.) Laura responded, so I was able to go to sleep with a relatively clear mind.