Thoroughly Searching the Search Party
The interrogation continued to intensify, becoming far more thorough than before.
The apostle nodded with a satisfied expression.
“A wise choice.”
As Curtis took a heavy step forward, Shrakhim stirred awake.
“Ugh... Curtis. No. You mustn’t. Do not fall for their tricks. I do not know what they are scheming, but if we turn on one another, it is surely they who will profit.”
Curtis seemed to flinch and halt for a moment, but then he walked on again.
“...I have no choice. I do not want to kill you, Sir Shrakhim, but there is nothing I can do now. Even for the sake of reporting back when the Count of the Border Region comes here later, I have to return and tell him what happened.”
“Joren Tamer is coming here? That will not happen. I told you earlier, there are three possibilities if Joren Tamer went to the capital.”
The apostle resumed the thought he had not finished before.
“If Joren Tamer did not merely flee, nor bring a great many reinforcements with him, then what?”
His words, hanging in the air, merged with the moisture dripping from the cave ceiling and left the humans’ ears ringing dully.
“He returns to the relay station at least to keep up appearances before the king... but he does not take the field himself, and instead sends the poor soldiers here in his place. That is the most likely stratagem.”
Shrakhim twitched at that.
“He steps forward for anything that brings him praise, but puts his subordinates in front when the danger is real. Is that not exactly the sort of plan that hypocrite would come up with?”
“No, you sharp-eared demon! I... I trust the Count of the Border Region!”
Even while staggering, Shrakhim forced himself upright, and the apostle frowned.
“What a foolish pig.”
Vines that had been lying coiled across the cave floor sprang up and bound Shrakhim’s ankles and upper body, twisting around him like a lamia wrapping prey with her tail.
“Gah!”
The apostle extended the index finger of his right hand and bent Shrakhim’s waist backward. Shrakhim collapsed into a bridge-like spasm.
“I have no more patience for long talk. You there, if you want to escape this place with your comrades, then kill him at once. I will give you one minute.”
With his left hand, he pointed at Curtis and urged him on.
“Ugh... no!”
Even with his ankles cinched tight, Shrakhim wriggled and tried to lift his heavy body, but it was no use.
“He looks like a fat maggot trying to squirm away.”
“Truly, how disgustingly insect-like.”
The elves jeered at the sight.
“...Please forgive me. Once we get out of here, I will make sure you are resurrected.”
Curtis approached him with a dagger in hand.
“I-I’m not saying this because I want to die! Of course I don’t want to die, but if you think about what I did last year, it would make sense for you to want to kill me... but that’s not the point. This is a trap!”
Shrakhim blurted wildly in his desperation.
“You really believe what they’re saying? It’s obviously a lie. They go on and on about how elves never lie, but that’s all nonsense meant to sound nice.”
With death closing in, his brain was in overclock.
“How many times have you been fooled already? That Ringring bitch laid layered traps, used the children’s shoes to set them, and just now she even tried to lure us with a fake exit, didn’t she?”
At that, Curtis stopped and glared at Lucy.
“You sharp-eared bastards! If it’s true that you’re letting us out, then show us proof! We almost got dragged in again, but I won’t be played by your tricks any longer.”
He brought the dagger to his own throat.
“Didn’t you say earlier that we were hostages? If we die, that’s going to be a problem, won’t it? So you’ve kept us alive and are only trying to kill Sir Shrakhim, are you not?! Show me proof that you intend to keep your promise! If you won’t, then I’d rather die. Better that than being toyed with by you lot. I’d take that a hundred times over!”
The apostle frowned and fiddled with the earring on his right ear. Lucy promptly touched the ring on her forehead.
Open the exit and show it to them.
Archangel, are you certain that is wise?
Have you already forgotten why I ordered their limbs cut off?
Of course, it would be troublesome if those pieces of trash gave up and killed themselves....
Exactly. So there is nothing wrong with planting futile hope in them. If there is a way out, won’t the insects struggle desperately to crawl toward it?
When the communication spell ended, Lucy slowly raised her staff.
“You really are tiresome... Very well. I’ll show you the exit.”
- KUGOONG.
Limestone formations rose up from the cave lake. At the top of the stepped travertine terraces, arranged like stacked bowls, a magic circle for underwater transport had been drawn.
“Wait. Is that really an exit that leads outside? Are you not just trying to play us with the same magic circle that moves people around inside the cave?!
But Curtis still shot them a suspicious look, unable to trust it.
“Enough of this! As you said, you’re nothing more than hostages, and you are in no position to make demands of us. You should be grateful to the Archangel for showing mercy, not throwing such a fit!”
Lucy Perhela reprimanded him sharply, but the apostle raised a hand to stop her.
“Guide of the Twilight, calm yourself. If you think about it, is not the reason he is so frightened largely due to your own efforts?”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that...?”
“Your scheme worked so well that even those fools finally started to suspect something.”
He had praised Lucy while mocking Curtis at the same time, and then he looked around at the elves before pointing to Vailin. The young woman who had earlier harbored doubts, only to be “purified.”
“Vailin, you go up there. Since that human does not trust it, it would be fitting for you, who also once lacked faith, to show him personally. Yes, since you are already going outside, stand guard as well. Do you understand me?”
As if the stray thoughts had been swept away, Vailin lowered her head without argument.
“I shall obey, Archangel.”
The apostle lifted his right hand and moved Vailin onto the travertine terrace.
As soon as Vailin stepped onto the top of the formation, the entire layer rose up at once and surged skyward.
“What?!”
Shrakhim and Curtis were stunned. The cave ceiling opened, and sunlight poured down.
Vailin was swallowed by the brilliant light and could no longer be seen, while only the empty strata drifted back down.
“Satisfied now?”
“...Fine.”
Curtis nodded and stepped forward.
“W-wait! Hold on!”
Pale-faced, Shrakhim thrashed his whole body as he shouted.
“I can tell the exit is real. And say he really does send you all outside as promised. But what if he cuts off our limbs like before? He’ll just twist the words and say, ‘I sent you out alive, so I didn’t break my promise.’ Can’t you see that?! Please, think.”
That sharp point made Curtis’s expression waver.
“Isn’t it strange that he sent out one of those sharp-eared bastards just now, too? He only needed to demonstrate that the exit works, so why bother putting her outside at all?”
Now that he thought about it, even the “guard duty” the apostle had assigned Vailin was suspicious.
“Curtis, this too is a trap!”
It was the moment Shrakhim acquired a new passive skill: Trap Detection.
“Oh? I did not expect a wild boar to possess such intelligence.”
Even while admiring him, the apostle made no move to silence Shrakhim.
“Sir Shrakhim may be right. But... there is nothing to be done. We have to get out of here somehow, right now.”
Though Curtis wore a mournful expression, he had already come to Shrakhim’s side.
“N-no!”
“Ahahaha! How amusing that he should be killed by the very man he saved. The filthy nature of insects is laid bare at last! What a shame that Joren Tamer cannot witness this sight.”
Lucy Perhela laughed loudly, savoring Shrakhim’s despair.
“Didn’t Hariad say, ‘Hope takes root most firmly in despair’? Looking at that sight, I’d rather say this: despair blooming from a handful of hope is the most beautiful of all.”
The apostle seemed pleased as well, reciting scripture with satisfaction.
“C-Curtis... at a time like this, you must stay calm!”
Shrakhim desperately cast Influence, but...
“I will never forget your courage and sacrifice, Sir Shrakhim.”
Curtis, already influenced, only lifted the dagger.
“Please remain still. The more you struggle, the worse the pain will become.”
“N-no... no!”
In despair, Shrakhim fought with all his strength, but the vines only tightened more.
With his back turned to the elves, Curtis blinked several times at Shrakhim and whispered.
Pretend to faint.
...?!
Curtis slammed the dagger’s hilt against Shrakhim’s forehead.
“Hmm. Did you knock him out to keep him from thrashing about?”
“When you butcher a pig, you bring a hammer down on its forehead too. Isn’t that perfect for a man like this Shrakhim?”
“Then is it time to slit the pig’s throat?”
The elves only laughed merrily, showing no sign that they had caught on.
In truth, Curtis had not struck him down at all; he had merely pressed the hilt hard against him. He had exaggerated the motion only to deceive the elves.
“Hah, hah. Did he faint?”
Curtis even gave Shrakhim’s cheek a few quick slaps. Not hard enough to wake him, just enough to make it look natural.
- SLAP!
...Curtis? That felt way more painful than when you pressed the hilt against me...
Curtis, having unconsciously let old resentment ride through the slap, flinched, but fortunately Shrakhim kept his eyes shut and said nothing.
“Yes, please stay down like that. I’ll finish this quickly.”
Curtis pressed the small catch protruding from the dagger’s hilt. The end of the hilt opened, and a small glass vial slipped out.
It is a healing potion.
With the dagger held against Shrakhim’s throat, Curtis subtly tucked the potion into his chest.
“Ugh... ugh. No matter how you put it, this is...”
He shook his head as if he simply could not bring himself to cut the throat.
“What a coward. He does not even have the nerve to slit a throat?”
“Maybe he just dislikes having pig’s blood splatter everywhere.”
“There, insect-man, do not hesitate. Just pierce his belly already.”
Under the elves’ taunts, Curtis took a deep breath and whispered to Shrakhim.
Run. We are hostages, so those bastards will not kill you lightly.
The dagger, lifted high over his heart, came down at last.
“Haap!”
It severed the vines binding Shrakhim’s arms and chest. After cutting the vines around his ankles as well, Curtis turned his body.
“Very well, I’ll pierce his belly as you wish! Die!”
The dagger, flung with the last of his Aura, shot forward with ferocious force, carrying the unwavering will wrapped around its blade like wings.
“What?!”
Even the apostle had no time to react.
“Kyaaaah!”
With the wound in her abdomen reopening just as it had only barely begun to close, Ringring -- Lucy Perhela -- let out a scream of agony.