Chapter 165: Wow! The Iona Carry! (3)
Chapter 165: Wow! The Iona Carry! (3)
“You crazy bitch…”
The branch manager muttered, looking utterly appalled.
Well… even from my perspective, the way Iona flips back and forth makes her look a bit like a psycho.
Of course, I’d never say that out loud.
Iona might be a nutcase, but she’s our nutcase.
Perhaps thinking the same thing, Carla scratched her cheek awkwardly and replied.
“Aha… Professor Iona is as merciless as ever when it comes to cultists.”
“What? Carla, have you seen Professor Iona fight before?”
“Yes, just once. During a field exercise, a cultist trying to scout the Academy got caught. …I was shocked back then because she transformed into a completely different person.”
“Oh, stop! Don’t say things like that! It’s embarrassing!”
Iona twisted her body, cupping her cheeks in feigned bashfulness.
The branch manager, who probably couldn’t even see her clearly in his dying state, spat out blood-streaked phlegm as if he were about to vomit.
“Ptooey! An old hag who’s lived far too long acting all cutesy. It’s revolting.”
“…See? See? I told you he still has room to breathe.”
“Ha! Babble all you want. If you’re not going to believe anything I say anyway, I might as well say my piece before returning to His embrace.”
The branch manager then turned his head toward me.
“You there! You, who dares to play at being the Adversary.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes. Yandel, was it? You’ve got guts, leaving a slave stronger than yourself completely unchecked.”
“I wouldn’t say she’s unchecked. I give her plenty of affection whenever I have the chance.”
“…The crazy bitch had a reason for doting on you. You’re just as insane as she is.”
Tsk.
The branch manager clicked his tongue lightly. Iona raised a hand as if to resume the interrogation, but I stopped her for a moment.
Whether he realized I had granted him a brief reprieve from his agony or not, the branch manager chuckled and continued.
“I’ve seen more than a few fools meet their end after growing attached to their slaves. Why on earth would a mage superior to you stay beneath you? And you, daughter of Lindelheit. Are you so certain your hot-blooded master won’t grow bored of that body and favor another slave instead?”
“Huh? I waited to see what you had to say, but…”
It’s just total bullshit, isn’t it?
Is he trying to sow seeds of jealousy between Carla and me even as he’s dying? It’s a fittingly petty trick for a follower of the God of Narrow-minded Usurpation.
With a snort, I offered my neck to Carla.
“Carla. Want to take a bite?”
“Sure.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Carla began nibbling on my neck, her teeth tickling me.
It was just a cute, playful gesture, but if the mood had been different, it could have easily passed for foreplay.
Enjoying the sensation of Carla’s teeth against my skin, I cried out jokingly.
“Aaaargh! Carla bit my neck… My strength is fading…!”
“Chomp! Chomp!”
Carla even played along with the act.
Was this unexpected? At the sound of our giggling, the branch manager began to grind his teeth audibly.
I didn’t even need to use my Magic Eyes to set this up; did he really think such a cheap trick would work?
Even a priest of Boiling Silence, a specialist in driving wedges between people, wouldn’t find us an easy mark.
I gave the neck of the lonely-looking Elisha a light nip—earning a startled “Pyak?!”—and turned back toward Iona.
She looked like someone who had been forced to swallow a fistful of sugar.
Well, I suppose it’s only natural, having to watch people being lovey-dovey right in front of her.
I know that feeling all too well from my past life.
Scratching the back of my head awkwardly, I stood beside Iona.
“Professor? What did you ask him that made you so dissatisfied?”
“Well, you see, I asked for the locations of other branches and how they handle their reporting. But something felt off.”
“Aha? And what was his answer?”
“Let’s see… to tell you in order…”
Iona calmly relayed the details of the interrogation. The content was quite surprising.
“…What? That’s actually a very plausible lie.”
The story was so well-constructed that someone who didn’t know better, or only knew a little, would have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
It was almost impressive that Iona saw through it.
“Hmm? Oh, it’s not that I actually knew it was a lie! It’s just that in my experience, when you work them over—ahem, I mean, when you interrogate them appropriately—they often give a false confession while pretending they can’t hold out any longer!”
“That’s… certainly one way to show your years of experience.”
Just how many cultists has she broken?
I was momentarily stunned by Iona’s nonchalant answer.
The branch manager, his face contorted in a grimace, shook his head violently as if he were being wronged, spraying blood in every direction.
“Bullshit! That’s utter nonsense! What do you know?! I told nothing but the truth! So stop! …Just let me die in peace. Let me return to His embrace already…!”
Unlike his initial fury, his voice trailed off weakly at the end.
He looked like a man who was frustrated but had resigned himself to everything, simply wanting the pain to end.
However.
“Professor, who do you trust more: that guy or me?”
“Well, well. Student Yandel, of course!”
I was told from the start never to trust a cultist’s word.
A snort escaped me at the sight of the branch manager, who was still trying to project an aura of exhaustion.
“Hah! What a shame. Our professor says she trusts me more.”
“…Aren’t you ashamed to be acting so smug while hiding behind your teacher’s back?”
“Whatever. You guys do the same thing, hiding behind Narrow-minded Usurpation to justify your own actions.”
“You…!”
I guess a priest is still a priest, even if they’re a cultist. He had a fit the moment I mentioned the name of the god he served.
Letting his verbal curses go in one ear and out the other, I spoke up indifferently.
“Let’s see… you’re using a hidden ruin in the Orthos Mountain Range as a branch? Well, that’s not technically a lie. But that’s a story from about thirty years ago. All that’s left there now are some barely functioning ruin guardians and the traps you lot left behind.”
It’s a place that actively lures in adventurers by spreading rumors of treasure.
Anyone confident enough to step foot into an ancient ruin must have some skill.
And the stronger someone is in life, the stronger the undead they become after death.
In other words, that ruin itself became a source of undead for the followers of Narrow-minded Usurpation.
…I know this well because, back in my newbie days, I thought it was a treasure hunt event and tracked down the location, only to have my party wiped out.
The Bad Ending illustration back then was the protagonist turned into an undead.
No matter how hard you customize your character, they all look equally disgusting once they’re half-rotten.
To think they traumatized my innocent(?) past self who just wanted to strike it rich. I’ll never forgive them.
“Oh, and the branch in Kundal Port? That is a branch of Narrow-minded Usurpation, but it’s not just some ordinary rural branch like you said.”
On paper, and even to the villagers, it’s known as a fishing warehouse bought by a small-scale merchant group…
But in reality, it’s a storage facility for the undead of Narrow-minded Usurpation.
While other minor branches might create their own undead, if they run low on numbers, they receive reinforcements from the warehouse in Kundal Port.
Naturally, it would be great to destroy it, but the security is just as tight.
Due to the nature of Narrow-minded Usurpation’s Authority, its danger level rises exponentially if they have time to prepare traps in advance.
And he wants us to barge into a place plastered with the Authorities of high priests without any preparation?
That’s basically telling us to go die.
“Finally, about the reporting system… you got that completely wrong.”
According to what Iona told me, the man claimed he regularly sent encrypted reports via letter to a city called Flamang.
I don’t know what that place is, but I do know that the reporting of the Church of Narrow-minded Usurpation relies entirely on Authority.
First, they gather those with mental-type Magic Eyes at the main chapter. Then, they completely shatter the minds of kidnapped civilians and control them like familiars.
It’s like linking their five senses after turning them into mindless dolls.
Those dolls then travel to branches across the continent to hear reports directly from the branch managers.
Naturally, the city he mentioned as the reporting site is likely a trap, just like the other two places.
“And after all that, you expect to die in peace? Professor! Show him what you’ve got! Let’s see if we can make his blood flow backward until the truth comes out of that liar’s mouth!”
“Eek… Student Yandel, you say such scary things so casually.”
Iona looked at me as if she were slightly put off. But soon, a corner of her mouth curled into a smirk.
“But I don’t hate it! Since Student Yandel wants it, I guess I’ll have to give it a try!”
The branch manager’s face turned deathly pale at Iona’s enthusiastic response.
Hiding behind Iona as she rolled up her sleeves, I peeked my head out and extended my middle finger.
It’s an insult that works even on the Eurelia Continent. Though he probably couldn’t see it clearly, the man’s pale face flushed red again.
“How… No, just how much do you know?! I heard a mere brat interfered with our great work…! Who are you?! Yandel, who the hell are you, and who is backing you?!”
He screamed at the top of his lungs as if in a final struggle.
It was the most intense reaction he’d shown so far. What, it wasn’t because of my middle finger?
Well, whatever. If I’ve shaken him up this much, Iona’s interrogation should go smoothly.
I gave a big thumbs-up to Iona, who was looking at me with a strange expression before resuming the interrogation.
Then, I returned to where Carla and Elisha were standing, staring blankly at me.
“While the professor finishes the interrogation, let’s search the office.”
“…….”
“…….”
The two nodded, looking as if they had much to say but were choosing to remain silent.
—Aaaaaargh!!
—Guaaaaah!
—Gueeeh….
With the branch manager’s screams as background music, we searched every nook and cranny of the office.
Just as I was starting to get tired of reading through insignificant documents.
—…….
The surroundings suddenly went quiet.
For a moment, the office was filled only with the sound of rustling paper. Before long, a familiar notification rang out.
Ding!
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【You have subjugated a Cultist Branch!】
You have successfully annihilated one of the cultists' strongholds without a single exception!
Since those who love corpses have simply become corpses themselves, wouldn't the parties involved be satisfied?
If they have a problem with it, tell them to come back to life and complain!
Even if it wasn't accomplished by your strength alone! Even if the subjugated branch was small!
An achievement is an achievement!
You are fully entitled to the rewards!
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Oh. I guess he’s dead.