Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Undressing
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"Is it that ugly?"
She shot back. It was a sharp voice, her defenses kicking in.
"No."
I shook my head and popped a piece of bread into my mouth, chewing it slowly.
"It looks like a medal of honor. That must've been a deep cut. A sword? Or an axe?"
Something like a ding rang in my ears.
"An orc's serrated shortsword."
She fell silent for a moment, then spat it out.
"Three years ago, on the northern front, during our dispatch to the Kingdom of Gras. The bastard split my helmet open and came at me. One more centimeter deep, and my skull would've been cleaved in two."
"But you survived. And you took its head, right?"
"Of course."
A faint smile, laced with pride, flickered across her lips. Memories of the battlefield. The victories won through her own spilled blood were the strongest source of self-esteem for any warrior.
I seized the opening. I set down my spoon, straightened up, and looked straight into her eyes.
"Yeah, that's what a warrior does. Fighting the enemy right in front of you and winning. Even if it means spilling blood and earning scars, it's an honorable victory."
I let out a deliberate sigh and shifted my gaze to the spot on the floor where Lucas had collapsed.
"But what about the ones targeting us now? They hide in the shadows, wielding poison and schemes, using innocent soldiers like pawns and discarding them. They're not charging head-on like your scar—they're the rats stabbing you in the back."
I could see Adella's fingers, arms crossed, gripping her bicep tightly. The creak of her leather gloves compressing. Her breathing grew slightly ragged.
"Captain, you caught the scent too. That foul, rotten breath from Lucas's mouth. And the dank stench of betrayal permeating this entire prison."
I leaned forward and gripped the iron bars. The distance between us shrank. The torchlight cast shadows over her scar.
"I'm a tyrant and trash. I'll admit it. But at least I've been honest about my desires. I'm not some coward fiddling with poison in the dark. Adella, what do you despise most? Crushing the powerless with authority? Or..."
I lowered my voice.
"Those who won't fight fair and square, hiding like cowards to harm their comrades?"
Adella's pupils wavered. She pressed her lips tight. My words had struck the trauma and sense of justice buried deep in her core.
In my game memories, Adella was one of the better companion candidates. She'd lost her younger sibling in the past to the schemes of corrupt nobles.
Poison, assassination, intrigue. To her, those were evils more loathsome than an orc's serrated shortsword.
Persuasion (Lv.1)
Opponent's 'hostility' has been mitigated to 'wariness'.
Opponent begins to sense 'sincerity' in your words.
The system notification flashed in the corner of my retina. It worked.
"...You talk too much. For a prisoner."
She spoke gruffly on purpose, but the icy chill from before had largely thawed. She pushed off the bars and let out a sigh.
"Lucas woke up. He can't speak properly yet, but he's lucid."
This was the first piece of info she'd volunteered without me asking. A sign that the conversation had opened up.
"Good to hear. That guy should thank me when he wakes up fully."
"Who knows. He nearly went to the afterlife on the emperor's dime—doubt he'll be grateful."
She snarked, but the tension around her mouth had eased. She watched silently as I finished the stew. When the bowl was empty, she held out her hand.
"Hand over the bowl. I'll take it."
I put the empty bowl and spoon on the tray and slid it through the serving slot. She bent down to pick it up.
In that moment, through the gap in her armor, I glimpsed her sweat-slicked collarbone and the curve of her breasts below. The body of a woman hidden beneath the shell of a rough warrior.
She grabbed the tray and turned to leave, then hesitated. She scratched her helmeted head and glanced at me sidelong.
"Was it good?"
Her first personal question.
"The best. Way better than anything from the palace kitchens."
I gave her a genuine thumbs-up. I didn't miss the faint reddening of her earlobes.
"Hmph. The head chef would faint if he heard that."
She snorted and strode off briskly. Clack, clack. Even after her footsteps faded into the darkness, I wiped the stew from my lips and stared at the spot where she'd stood for a long while.
"See you tomorrow, Captain."
Time in prison flows differently from the outside world. The chill seeping through the walls, gnawing at my joints, was the only clock.
The pressure of Queen Helena's Roselia army charging past the empire's borders toward the capital was palpable, even unseen. Five days left... I had to find a way to survive within that time.
Clang.
The heavy iron door groaned open, slamming against my eardrums. Steady footsteps. A rhythm I'd grown used to. Patrol Captain Adella.
In her hands, as always, a rough wooden tray. Steaming vegetable soup and freshly baked bread.
"Dinner."
Dry voice. She stopped before the bars and fiddled with her keyring. Since the Lucas incident three days ago, she'd been personally handling my meals.
Because she trusted no one. Dark circles shadowed her eyes from fatigue, but her gaze remained sharp.
The moment she bent to open the serving slot...
My nose twitched.
Mixed into the hearty aroma of the soup was a faint, alien scent.
Like wilted lily petals steeped in honey—sweet yet fishy. A scent from the emperor's knowledge of anti-assassination measures. The emperor's body reacted.
'Amethyst Spider venom.' Not instant death upon ingestion, but a vicious toxin that slowly courses through the veins, causing paralysis before stopping the heart.
Now I knew why the tyrant emperor hadn't died to poison but only after the rebellion. Perfect nose. He was the type immune to "normal poison assassinations."
"Stop."
My voice was low but firm. Adella's hand froze mid-air. She furrowed her brow and looked up.
"What now? Not hungry enough?"
"Smell it. Not the meat—the undercurrent beneath."
I nodded at the tray. Adella leaned in curiously and sniffed the bowl. Sniff, sniff. Her nostrils flared.
A warrior with battlefield senses wouldn't miss it. The off-putting rotten sweetness. Her expression hardened instantly.
"This is..."
"Amethyst Spider venom. A tiny amount, but definite. Eat this, and you'll sleep peacefully tonight... and never wake up."
My words made her pupils shake. She slowly set the bowl down and backed away. Her hand unconsciously rubbed her nape.
"Damn it... I missed it."
Her voice trembled. A subtle quiver, but in this cramped cell, it rang like thunder.
"How much did you have?"
"A spoonful... no, half a sip."
"Did you swallow?"
"Yes."
Silence fell. Adella bit her lip. Her face paled.
The terror of an unseen enemy—the despicable shadow of death she loathed most—had entered her body. It shook her to the core.
Persuasion (Lv.1)
Amplifies opponent's 'anxiety' to induce 'dependency'.
I gripped the bars and stood. I had to stay calm, like an expert.
"Half a sip isn't lethal. But don't relax. This poison circulates through the veins and accumulates. When red spots appear on the skin, it's too late—even antidote won't help. That's the sign right before heart failure."
"Spots?"
Adella frantically checked her hands and forearms. More areas were hidden under her armor.
"You need to check visually. Right now. The spread varies by person. Warriors like you with high metabolism might spread faster."
I stared straight into her eyes.
"I'll check for you. Take off your armor."
"What?"
Adella let out a disbelieving scoff.
"Are you insane? Strip in front of a prisoner?"
"If you want to live, strip. Can you see your own back? Your armpits or under your breasts? Spots start where veins cluster. I'm the only one who can check you here. By the time you fetch the medic, if it reaches your heart, you're done."
My words were swift and logical. Of course, the spots were my invention, but the poison was real.
Before the fear of death, human reason simplifies. Survival. Nothing else matters.
Adella hesitated. Her brown eyes darted between me, the tray, and her armor. She swallowed hard.
Her throat burned like fire. Whether from the poison or tension, even she couldn't tell.
'I can't die. Not like this... not to those rats.'
Her survival instinct crushed her shame. She set her jaw, resolute.
"Try anything funny, and I'll cut your throat before I die."
She yanked off her rough leather gloves and tossed them to the floor. Thud.
Clink.
Her hands went to the buckle at her waist. The thick leather belt unfastened with a dull scrape of metal on leather, slicing the prison's silence. She deftly unhooked the silver breastplate.
Clang.
The heavy plate hit the stone floor with a racket. Beneath was a sweat-soaked linen tunic, darkened to gray.
The thin fabric clung, outlining her breasts starkly. They heaved with her ragged breaths.
Her face flushed red. Shame? Or the poison's heat? She avoided my gaze as she unfastened her shoulder guards.
Thud. Thunk.
Pieces of armor piled up. With each layer shed, the human Adella beneath the steel shell emerged clearer.
She untied the tunic's laces. Her fingers trembled faintly.
Shh.
The sweat-damp cloth slid off her shoulders. White skin gleamed under the dim prison light.
Firm trapezius muscles, smooth lines flowing from her collarbone. And the faint scars crisscrossing them—records of her hard-fought life.
She didn't cover her chest with her arms. Instead, she stood tall before me, biting her lip against inevitable embarrassment.
Her full breasts hung naturally, defying gravity just enough. Nipples, chafed pink by the tunic, hardened in the cold air.
A bead of sweat pooled in her collarbone hollow, then trickled down between her breasts.
Adella's scent hit me—a mix of old leather and tangy-sweet sweat. Raw, living womanhood no perfume could mimic.
"Enough? Now... look."
She turned her head aside, breathing heavily. Her neck and ears burned crimson. Goosebumps prickled her bare skin in the chill air.
I pressed my face to the bars. I scanned her taut abs above her navel, split sharply by muscle, then raised my eyes to inspect the underside of her breasts carefully.
"Arms up. I need to see the veins under your armpits."
She paused at my command, then slowly raised both arms. Her smooth, pale armpits lay exposed.
"Need a closer look. Come nearer."
"Hah... damn it."
Adella spat the curse but stepped closer. Her bare skin nearly brushed the bars. Her body heat warmed my face.
"Still... not close enough?"