97 – Third-Rate Play – 6
-Damn it!
It’s so loud that it’s hard to believe that it’s the sound of the palms colliding with the cheeks. The head of the kidnapper who was slapped on the cheek turned. Except for Seol-ah, everyone made a shocked expression. Only Seol-Ah had an expression that said nothing was wrong.
Seola continued talking while ignoring me and Hestia, who were taken aback.
“Lee, Ms. Lily?”
“You seem to be misunderstanding something, but you are not the one holding the initiative in this situation.”
There was a chill in her voice. Seol-ah began to push her kidnapper hard with her flat voice and overbearing tone. The kidnapper blinked with his eyes wide open, as if he hadn’t expected to be hit so suddenly.
A shout came out of the kidnapper’s mouth.
“You, you, what is this… !”
– Jjaak!
The kidnapper’s words did not come out until the end. Seol-Ah’s hand moved again, and the kidnapper’s head also turned. This time it was louder than before. Seol-ah still had an expressionless face.
“I only answer questions. Who are you and where are you from?”
“Do you think we can talk?”
“As I said before, we are almost certain of your identity anyway. It means it’s okay to put them on the scaffold right away without listening to you. I’m just giving you one last chance.”
It is as Seola said. We were certain that the light-mouthed kidnapper had been sent by the prince anyway. In the first place, there was no one who had a particular grudge other than the crown prince, and he brought up the story of the crown prince while in a mood earlier. Since we already know who she is, there is no reason to let her live.
Of course, it would be nice to hear more stories from her, but it’s a story when she’s thinking about telling it. If you don’t open your mouth even in this situation, it would be foolish to expect more. And if you keep your mouth shut here, there’s a very high chance your life will run away.
There’s no way that a person who works in the underworld can’t be an aristocrat, and it’s not clear that there is such a thing as a social status in the first place. With a high probability the identity will be unclear. An unknown criminal who kidnapped the count’s daughter? It wouldn’t be strange if the Count, who was very enraged when he handed it over to the Count, cut off his head right there.
She’s not just saying her words to placate her, we’re really giving her her last chance. The kidnapper’s eyes began to shake. It seems that he is not as calm as before when he thinks that death is really right in front of him.
She didn’t openly reveal her timidity, but everyone in her presence could tell she was nervous right now.
But I felt a little uncomfortable. It’s not that people who secretly cheat don’t have to show the spirit of biting their tongues and dying the moment they get caught like in a movie, but isn’t this too easy? It’s like we’re the villains. To lower his tail at the words of two cheeks and a last chance.
Her kidnappers eagerly rolled their eyes at her and seemed to be looking for an answer to get out of this situation, but with her recruit already in custody, she had no chance of winning.
“You better not think about running away. You’re right, you know, but the girl you just touched is a much better wizard than you think, and if you try to move in that state, you may not be able to stand up for the rest of your life. You know where this crippled, unknown woman will end up going, right?”
I looked at Hestia with eyes wondering if restraint magic really had that kind of effect. Hestia shook her head slightly. That means that all those bloody sounds just now were all made up by Seol-ah on the spot. Seol-ah may have more talent for intimidation than I thought.
In the end, the kidnapper collapsed.
“Horse… I will, I will speak!.”
It was easier than I thought. It was so easy that I wondered if it was okay if it was this easy. I didn’t mean to go through the horrific torture of having my nails pulled out, but I honestly thought I would be handed over to the Count without much consequence. But I never thought he would open his mouth so easily with a few words of flirtation and threats. The discomfort still hadn’t gone away.
The interesting thing here is the fact that the kidnapper’s gaze is on me, not Seol-ah. It was Seol-A who hit her, and Seol-A who threatened her, but she glanced at me instead of Seol-A in front of her. Then, if I even made eye contact with her, she would giggle and avoid my eyes, as if frightened.
Seola started asking questions.
“First of all, what is identity? Where are you from?”
“My name is Lisa, a third-class investigator belonging to the wild dogs of the imperial intelligence agency.”
“A wild dog?”
Hestia and I raised a question mark above her head at the first name we heard. Seol-ah looked quite surprised at the name wild dog. She seemed to know something. I think it’s a place that appears in the original story. Seol-ah explained to us.
“The Wild Dog is a secret intelligence agency exclusively loyal to the imperial family. They take street orphans and educate them from a very young age. They are completely isolated from society so that they cannot rely on anyone but themselves.”
Seol-ah shrugged and added, conscious of the question of how the hell she knew the identity of the secret intelligence agency.
“I heard from Wilhelm.”
It is a secret intelligence agency that takes orphans and raises them as secret agents, so it smells suspicious. However, there are still quite a few unknowns about her loyalty to the imperial family. Seol-ah also intensively asked if that part bothered her.
“It’s the imperial family, so it must be the crown prince who ordered the work like I said before?”
“… “
The abductor, who identified himself as Lisa, kept his mouth shut, probably thinking that it was a bit rude to talk about himself. But sometimes silence says more than a few words. The silence just now was a de facto affirmation.
Seol-ah crossed her arms and brought one of her hands to her mouth. That’s the gesture she makes when she’s in her troubles.
“This is strange. In the first place, even the crown prince wouldn’t be able to use the intelligence agency for such private purposes. Are you sure you belong to the wild dogs?”
“Oh, that’s right!”
Lisa screamed in half, probably in a hurry. Seol-A looked at her eyes without a bad look. After a brief eye contact, Seol-ah smiled. It’s a laugh that gives goosebumps because it doesn’t go well with this situation or atmosphere. Seol-Ah soon wiped the smile from her face and asked Lisa softly.
Did you say “Lisa?” Mr. Lisa. Do you know what happens when wild dogs get caught during an operation?”
The nape of Lisa’s neck moved with a gulp. She said nothing and broke out in a cold sweat. She grabbed Seol Agarisa’s chin and opened her mouth. Seol-ah’s thin fingers traced Lisa’s mouth. I dozed her chest, wondering if I would bite her, but Seol-ah took her finger out of her mouth as if nothing had happened.
Lisa looked at Seol-ah with an expression of what the hell is she doing. Seol-ah then replied that it is, and she did what she just meant by her own actions.
“It is said that wild dogs always hide poisonous medicine inside their molars. This is to avoid falling for tricks such as torture or brainwashing if captured by the enemy. But the moment you get caught….”
Seol-ah groaned and pretended to clench her teeth. Even with her gestures, everyone could tell what she was trying to say. Then, what is the identity of that woman who introduced herself as a wild dog?
“Ask me again. Don’t think of burying her under the authority of the imperial family. What is your identity, you?”
Lisa finally shook her head at her repeated questioning. A completely different voice came out of her mouth. She was the voice of a frightened girl when she first heard it, but now it is the voice of a quite mature woman.
“Ha, surrender. They know a lot more than you think, and they are sharp kids.”
“A little kid?”
Hestia asked back as if she was dumbfounded. A kid with a face that looks much younger than us. Lisa, no, Lisa might be the correct name. The kidnapper looked at us with an expression saying something.
“What, why? Judging people by their appearance is a very bad habit. Know?”
What kind of people are there? She acted as if everything she had done up until now had been acting. She told me not to judge people based on their appearance. Could it be that she is really just a young girl who is actually a witch with hundreds of years of age? She asked Hestia after yawning with her mouth torn open.
“More than that, does this really break your spine if you move just a little bit?”
“… Yes.”
“Well, I’ll trust you for now. I don’t think I’ll be able to escape if I’m tied this tight anyway.”
The more I talk about something, the more I feel like I’m drawn into the other side’s pace. This time her gaze turned towards me. It feels like her eyes are slowly crawling up my body like a snake. She flicked her tongue.
“Sup. No matter how I look at it, I don’t see him as such an evil guy. However, in our relationship with His Highness, she has never lied to me. Hey, unni, have you ever been in trouble with this handsome boy?”
“Your sister?”
Hestia asked back. Even though she said she was a little girl earlier, she is a person who can’t get a hold of her.
“If you count more than me, you’re an older sister. There was no rush earlier, so she did. So, how are you? Did anything really happen?”
“No. Not even once.”
“Have you ever hit me? Didn’t she forcefully stutter? Then what about other girls besides you? Violence, kidnapping, rape, everything?”
Hestia nodded her head, frowning as if her suspicion itself was offended. She’s a woman in trouble. Seol-ah, who had been standing next to her and watching her, clapped her hands and cleaned up the scene.
“Now, the two of you, get out of here for a while. Far from asking what the other person is doing, they are only telling us our circumstances.”
“It’s a pity. Her sister seems to be pretty smart. How did she know so much about her wild dog in the first place?”
“Actually, I don’t know anything either. That’s just what I said.”
“What?”
At Seol-ah’s shocking words, the kidnapper’s eyes widened. We were also surprised. No, then what are all the things you just said?
“I didn’t think you would know much about wild dogs anyway. And if she really knew she had such a poison, she wouldn’t have slapped her in the face so hard. Wouldn’t it be a big deal if you accidentally swallowed it or swallowed it?”
“… It ate one room. I didn’t even think about it. So what do you want to ask? I’ve raised both hands and feet, so I’ll answer pretty much anything. It was different from the contract in the first place.”
The abductor said that he had both his hands and feet raised, and wiggled his hands and feet as they were firmly restrained by magic and dangling dangling in the air. If you said that as a joke, your sense of humor sucks. Seol-ah lightly ignored her boring jokes and continued her interrogation.
“Is the name Lisa your real name?”
“Because it is my real name, the only people in the world who know my real name are my parents who abandoned me in a back alley, but when people ask me what name they call me, Lisa is right.”
Seol-ah nodded her head. Hestia didn’t seem to notice, but Seol-ah’s attitude made it seem like she knew Lisa.
“Wilhelm sent it, right?”
“Our handsome Crown Prince sent it. The other handsome brother over there is a very bad boy, so he asked me to clean it up for the public good. But what the heck, he wasn’t a particularly bad kid, and he wasn’t weak like I said before. Besides, there was no word that the lady over there knew how to use this level of magic.”
As if she had waited, Lisa told everything about things Seol-ah didn’t ask. The more I listened to the story, the more I fell into the idea of not knowing. How stupid is Wilhelm, no matter how blind he is to anger?
Seol-ah seemed to know the answer, but she frowned as if she wasn’t sure.
Lisa didn’t know whether or not she knew what she was in, and with her nonchalant expression, she began to stretch out what she was going to do now. She smirked, as if she were sure that we, or at least she would not abandon herself. She was very quick on her eyes.
“What should I do now?”
“What the heck? You will enter the dungeon of the Count’s family, and after that you will have to ask His Excellency, not us.”
Seol-ah replied coldly, but Lisa responded and let out her snort. She seems to not believe Seol-ah at all.
“Anyway, think about it. As you said, I will be waiting in the dungeon.”
Along with Lisa’s words, several people’s footsteps began to be heard from upstairs. It must be the count and his privates that Cordelia went to call.
Hestia heard the sound of footsteps, as Seol-A had ordered, and Hestia, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, suddenly jumped up from her seat. She snapped her thumb and her middle finger. Then Lisa’s arms and legs were freed from her restraints.
Seol-ah and I, as well as Lisa, who had been released from restraint, looked at Hestia with expressions asking what was going on. Hestia put her index finger to her lips and gestured to everyone to be quiet.
“Hestia?”
“Shh! Be quiet, Mikhail, don’t say anything, just stay still. Got it?”
I was taken aback by her forceful demeanor and just nodded her head without saying anything. Hestia looked around her and she placed her hand on the pile of boxes. Like a warehouse that had been neglected for a long time, her hand turned black just by slightly raising her hand.
Then Hestia began to spread the dust all over her own face. Everyone was taken aback by her eccentricity. Before long, Hestia, who had covered her cheeks with soot, ran towards me and embraced me in my arms.
And at that moment,
“Hestia! Where is Hestia!”
By defeating the soldiers approaching the entrance of the warehouse, the count entered the underground warehouse himself. Hestia whispered in her arms.
“No matter what happens, you can’t miss an opportunity like this. Yes?”