The Interrogation
The Empire’s assassination guild was renowned not only for targeting high-profile figures but also for taking on all manner of “various jobs” that had cemented its name throughout the empire’s underworld. Their reputation rested on accepting any request from an employer, no matter how dirty, and completing it with ruthless efficiency.
The guild’s leader was Katarina, known as the Black Rose, and her influence still lingered in the shadows even now. In other words, she was Olivia’s mother. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that my current mother still quietly managed the assassination guild from behind the scenes.
One of that guild’s members, Claire, had apparently captured a succubus today.
“Is this the place?”
Following Claire’s guidance, we arrived at a suitably sized mansion on the outskirts of the imperial capital. It was supposedly one of the old safehouses the assassination guild used to operate. Hearing that they had places like this scattered across the empire really drove home just how vast the organization was.
Olivia’s mother. No—our mother. She’s incredible!
Yeah. After spending all that time beside the hero, putting up with nothing but nonsense, it finally feels like I’ve received proper compensation. I used to handle everything alone like a damn dog. Now that I have subordinates, life is so much better.
“Yes, Saintess.”
“Saintess? Where did that come from all of a sudden?”
I never expected even Claire to start calling me that.
“I thought it would be more appropriate. That’s why I’m wearing a nun’s habit too, isn’t it?”
She had indeed put on a nun’s outfit while following me. I slowly looked her up and down.
“Hmm. It actually suits you pretty well?”
Thanks to her excellent figure and looks, the nun’s habit looked surprisingly good on her.
“Thank you.”
“By the way, there’s something I’ve been curious about for a while.”
There really was one question I had wanted to ask for some time.
“Yes, young Saintess?”
“How old are you, Claire?”
She looked quite young on the surface, but there was a certain aura about her. Having fought countless enemies alongside the hero’s party, I could tell. Those eyes were calm, cold, and utterly devoid of emotion—the eyes of someone who had crossed the line between life and death in brutal battles and reached a higher realm.
“Asking a woman her age is taboo, you know.”
She suddenly radiated killing intent. She must have more of it than I thought. I decided never to ask again.
I laughed awkwardly. “Ah, sorry. I figured it was fine since we’re both women.”
“Somehow, young miss, you don’t seem like an ordinary girl. So what exactly are you curious about?”
It wasn’t really about curiosity.
“No, it’s just… you look incredibly young, yet you give off this sense of experience? Your appearance is that of a minor, but you feel like a seasoned veteran who’s been through a lot.”
I could understand it for myself, given the environment I originally came from. But this woman was strange. Could someone the same age really carry an expression that suggested they had experienced so much?
“That applies to you as well, young miss.”
“Hmm, I suppose it does?”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t wrong, so I couldn’t really argue. And the fact that neither of us pressed the issue suggested we had both silently drawn a line there. Right now, the succubus was what mattered.
“First, we need to interrogate the succubus.”
“But wouldn’t it be enough to just bring back proof of the contract?”
She was right. That would be simpler. If Lily had formed a contract, a mark would appear somewhere on the succubus—either on her hand or lower abdomen. Naturally, contractors usually chose the abdomen to avoid detection. For ordinary people who weren’t mages, distinguishing it would be difficult.
“True. I could just punch Lily in the stomach once and find out.”
But handling it with brute force felt unsatisfying. And where was the fun in that? Things like this were best done slowly, tightening the noose until the target broke.
“We need to know exactly how much she cooperated if we’re going to take Lily down. You can only drag everything out if you enjoy the process.”
“Understood.”
When we entered the mansion, a space that looked nothing like the exterior greeted us—an interrogation room that reeked of a criminal organization’s hideout. In the center sat a creature with purple hair, almost completely stripped naked.
Unlike Lily, this succubus had a quite voluptuous and seductive figure. Sheep-like horns, bat-like wings, and a tail ending in a heart shape. Definitely a succubus.
The succubus was tied to a chair. I remembered seeing another succubus inside Eugene’s tent once. I had stormed in immediately back then.
—What the hell is wrong with this bastard? Doesn’t he have any standards?
—Hiiik! Hero, please save me!
—Shut up.
I had smashed her skull right in front of the hero. At the time, the hero’s party couldn’t afford any association with monsters, so it had been necessary. That was a memory too.
So what should I do with this succubus?
The purple-haired succubus looked at me and muttered to herself.
“I should have cut ties with that bitch long ago! Let me go already!”
So she really was connected to Lily.
“Hmm. Not bad looking.”
“Hearing that from another female doesn’t make me happy, you know?”
A chuckle slipped out before I could stop it. Female? Coming from a mere monster, it was absurd. Until recently I had possessed a face and body that could only belong to a man, yet hearing those words now actually irritated me.
Well, that wasn’t important. From now on, I had to beat this bitch until she spilled everything about Lily.
“I’ll ask you one thing. How many years has it been?”
“What do you mean, how many years? I have no idea what you’re talking about?”
The way she was sweating profusely told me she understood perfectly and was just acting.
“I’m talking about your relationship with Lily. You can’t possibly not know.”
“Lily? I really don’t know anyone by that name.”
She was going to play it shameless, huh?
“Oh? So you’re choosing to stay loyal?”
“Ugh.”
Her face crumpled visibly. It didn’t look like loyalty. So there must be something else. Hmm, just as I expected.
It was strange for a low-ranking succubus with no real power to be wandering alone deep inside the empire. That could only mean Lily was her only support. If she abandoned Lily now, the tower she had painstakingly built would collapse.
It had been nothing more than a guess, but it seemed I was right. In other words, without Lily, she had no other connections worth mentioning.
“Or perhaps you have nowhere else to cling to but Lily.”
Her pupils shook violently. It looked like I had hit the mark.
“It seems that way.”
The succubus’s face twisted in an easy-to-read expression. It was obvious at a glance. Pretending otherwise now was far too late.
“Alright then. Let’s give it a try.”
I pulled a mace from the sleeve where I had stored it with spatial magic. It wasn’t an ordinary mace. It was coated with magical power. Coating objects with mana might look easy, but even archmages couldn’t handle it casually. The moment you relaxed your focus even slightly, the coating would dissipate. But for the archmage Olivia, this was nothing.
“How on earth did something like that come out of such a narrow sleeve? I-is that a real mace?”
“Curious?”
She’d find out if she got hit by it. I swung the mace through the air a few times to get a feel for it. It sat nicely in my hand. Maybe next time I should just carry an axe or a club instead.
“W-what? You’re going to hit me with that m-mace?”
What was she so afraid of? She must have killed one or two people herself to get this deep. Otherwise she wouldn’t have made it this far.
“If you want me to kill you, I will.”
“When did I ever say I wanted the mace?!”
Not saying anything was the same as asking me to swing it. Yet here she was, still acting coy. If I still had my old personality, I would have killed her on the spot.
“Not saying anything means you’ve already prepared yourself to get beaten, right? Well then, those who must go must go.”
I twirled the mace as I slowly approached.
“I-I’m not the one who has to go! I’m not even human!”
So she didn’t want to die after all?
“Then the succubus who must go shall go.”
BOOM!
The mace I swung passed between the succubus’s spread legs and slammed into the floor. Since she was still useful, I couldn’t kill her. From now on, I had to properly tame her. After all, she had made it this deep into the empire, so she must have some value. Vital energy? Just send her to a host club frequented by noble wives and that would be the end of it.
“H-hiiik!”
But this succubus was far more cowardly than I expected. I had only threatened her a little with the mace and she had already created a puddle beneath her. To think I would live to see a succubus piss herself. Maybe I should just kill her. She seemed more scared and stupid than I thought. Still, if she was this frightened, it would be easier to toy with her.
“Good. As a merciful saintess, I shall give you one last chance.”
I had no intention of killing her this time. I would only beat her enough that she wouldn’t die.
“What are you trying to say?”
“If you confess everything right now, I’m willing to spare you. I’m getting quite tired of killing, you see.”
Since I couldn’t kill her when necessary, I would just have to turn her into a squishy piece of meat.
“What have you even been doing while wearing that nun’s habit?”
She was overreacting. I hadn’t even hit her yet. That was none of her business.
“Do you need to know? I’ll ask again. When did you meet Lily?”
“Suddenly changing the mood like that—keuk!”
She had been trying to joke around with a smile, so I punched her in the stomach with all my strength. Did I need to repeat myself? Monsters only listened when you beat them into recognizing you as the stronger one. I had planned to go easy since she was contracted to Lily, but…
“When did you meet Lily?”
“F-five years ago.”
Five years. That was quite a long time. It was right when the hero’s party had been most active. Those were the days I had been working like a dog. Come to think of it, that bastard hero Eugene really had just indulged in luxury the entire time, exactly like when he first started. The fact that I had endured it for over six years was impressive too.
Anyway, this wasn’t the time to think about that. I needed to beat this pathetic succubus contracted to Lily first.
“How did you meet?”
How could they have met? I was genuinely curious. When I asked while cracking my knuckles, the succubus swallowed hard and opened her mouth.
“T-that is…”
This wasn’t going to work. It seemed I would have to improve her conversational skills. So I decided to hit her once more.
THUD!
CRASH!
The succubus, still tied to the chair, was struck in the stomach and toppled backward. She coughed and screamed.
No matter how hungry she was, she still needed to speak properly.
“Claire, stand her back up.”
“Yes, young miss.”
The succubus was quickly lifted back into position, chair and all, by Claire. She wore a very resentful expression.
The one who should feel resentful is me. Because she made that contract with Lily, the previous me had died. As the second Olivia, I had to resolve the first one’s grudge. Only then would I have the right to use this body.
I swept my hair back and lowered my voice.
“Hey, you. Do I need to ask twice?”
The succubus coughed a few times before finally speaking.
“F-five years ago, I first met Lily in a village where she was abusing orphans over potatoes!”
“Succubi originally use foolish women with nothing but ambition to corrupt them. Lily must have looked like that to you?”
She certainly looked stupid at first glance. Perfect prey for a succubus.
“Y-yes. T-that’s correct.”
“Good, good. If you had said that from the beginning, how nice it would have been. You don’t want to get hit again, right? Let’s cooperate nicely, shall we?”
“Y-yes ma’am!”
Now that she was finally being honest, it was much better. This is exactly why I hate monsters. They always force good people to resort to violence.