Room of Truth and Conscience
The spies surrendered without a fight. Eisen hadn't done anything particularly extreme; he'd simply made a careful suggestion to the ones writhing in agony from the poison.
"If it's the poison Eisen mentioned, a little more and you'll be spewing everything out from inside."
"Why not surrender with some human dignity instead of holding out? Wouldn't that make us all happier?"
Honestly, if they'd hunkered down in the cockpit and held out to the bitter end, Eisen would've been the one shedding bloody tears. But thanks to the pre-set security measures and the poison's chain reaction, the spy gave up and came out meekly.
Now trussed up tight, with Mina using her holy magic to ease the pain a bit, he looked almost relieved to be alive.
"I'll charge double for treatment."
"You didn't even treat them."
"I didn't cure them, sure. But easing the pain is treatment."
Mina said it like a joke, but it wasn't pettiness or anything. She'd deliberately avoided fully detoxifying them, probably to prevent the spies from changing their tune once the pain stopped.
"Every twenty minutes, if I don't cast holy magic, the symptoms kick right back in."
Who knew holy magic could do that? It was way more versatile than he'd thought.
Considering potato sprout poison wasn't exactly weak stuff, the fact that holy magic could mitigate or even cure natural toxins made it pretty damn impressive.
"But why no Saintess Beam?"
"I've got Saintess Blackjack, so I'll demo it sometime soon."
Mina's waist pouch looked stuffed with gold coins. That'd hurt if she swung it.
Anyway, the spies' goal was obvious—no need to grill them further. Just figure out how to dispose of them. That's what Eisen was mulling when something whooshed in from the entrance.
"Lord Eisen, are you safe?!"
"Gotta research that flight spell ASAP."
He muttered it watching Noel zip in, crackling with electricity. She'd flown straight from the mansion at the sound of trouble, not even grabbing her staff.
A beat later, clanking armor announced Erika bursting through the door.
"Eisen! I'm heeeere!"
"Is the lord safe?!"
Daniel and Sir Galled Knight, plus all the combat crew from the mansion, had rushed over. Pointing at the two limp spies signaled mission accomplished, and everyone sighed in relief.
"What a relief..."
"Honestly, we nearly died three times."
No exaggeration—if they hadn't tried persuasion first, they'd probably be dead. Two more skirmishes after that made it three close calls.
Noel half-lidded her eyes in a glare. Erika handed over the staff she'd fetched, and Noel planted it to land.
"If that's true, it's impressive, but you shouldn't say it so lightly like it's a joke."
"Yeah."
Less bragging, more self-preservation. But since she was glad he was okay, Noel didn't press further.
Instead, she eyed the spies coldly.
"...I hoped it wasn't, but trying to steal a golem again..."
"They've been gunning for it nonstop since Phoenix County."
Eisen had heard post-facto: while he'd been out fighting monsters, real spies had infiltrated, only stopped by Reina and the others.
"From the Empire's view, Cyclops is a must-have weapon. Persistent makes sense."
"I'll tell Father, and we should double security."
They'd picked now because the territory lacked a solid defense setup—ripe for the taking, she figured.
Daniel, who'd arrived, glanced at the spies.
"How'd you catch them? You don't look hurt."
"Poisoned 'em with potato sprouts."
"I handled treatment."
Noel and Erika went speechless at the absurdity. Then Erika snapped her fingers.
"That's right—you always saved those sprouted potatoes!"
"Heard you once dusted Reina with potato peel powder... How do you even think of this stuff?"
"Life happened."
Ancient history now. Back when Mark's goons couldn't hack it alone and called in knights for a beatdown, Eisen had whipped it up for easy defense. Old Arklite Territory had potatoes rotting everywhere, so potatoes it was. Sprouts were legit dangerous, though—he'd carried them but never used till now.
"Only tossed it 'cause Mina was here. I wouldn't dream of flinging poison dust at people otherwise."
"Pass me the leftovers."
Mina said it dead serious—clearly saw the value.
Noel slammed her staff down.
"...No poison deals, please. These prisoners are the issue."
"Goal's obvious: theft. To extract info, ship 'em elsewhere..."
Spies knew too much—everyone would want a crack. Phoenix knights itched to interrogate personally.
"Cyclops is royal property now. Can't take lightly, even if these are for sale."
"Phoenix County has a specialist prison. Palace is chaotic lately—better send there to avoid sabotage."
Daniel and Sir Galled eyed Eisen. His call.
"I'll handle it."
"Lord Eisen?"
Noel asked cautiously if he was sure. No proper military facilities here—easy escape for skilled spies.
"I'm the lord. And these guys? I need to deal with them personally."
He glared down coldly.
"Dared talk efficiency, slap tracks on it first."
Mina muttered it was more efficient and he knew it, but yeah—he knew, he just hated it.
The spies flinched, then blurted,
"That was just the Empire military's idea, not ours—!"
"Got questions for you. Keep 'em tied till ready."
A quick time investment to prep.
Eisen mapped the territory mentally, planning their cozy cell...
"Eisen, treatment fees."
"Right."
Mina's nudge—he turned back, confiscating their gear.
"Lightning whip and Empire mana metal? Nice keepsakes."
His priciest gift before heading back to the academy.
Daniel breathed a huge internal sigh of relief.
'If the baron had defected to the Empire, it'd be a catastrophe.'
Cyclops falling? He'd chalk it up to inevitable. Empire had the resources to keep sending elites for theft or intel. Abatus's meddling had botched the contract anyway—splitting into palace and civilian models.
Full palace backing would've shut out Christa Merchant Group, but Abatus's political sabotage left them speechless.
...On the flip side, this mess made it harder for Abatus to sabotage production. Not purely good or bad—complicated.
Still, if Empire snagged civilian ones, they'd reverse-engineer eventually. Mina would vet buyers, but some traitor would sell out, Daniel figured.
They couldn't match palace production scale quick, though—no instant power flip from a few units.
And with Eisen in the kingdom, he'd outpace them in that time. 'Knight proves it—totally doable.'
Just keep Cyclops from the front lines first. That's what Daniel banked on.
Bottom line: Cyclops replaceable.
'Eisen? Irreplaceable.'
So his defying recruitment? Pure blessing. Looked fed up with Abatus already—perfect outcome.
'No Abatus, no worries.'
To avoid this? Daniel eyed Noel, Erika, Mina.
Might seem excessive, but best way to tie one man down...
"...They seem interested too..."
Even exciting. All three clearly liked him—easy.
Time to scheme—then a knight piped up.
"Always impressive. Building a custom prison in seconds."
He watched from afar as Eisen magicked something up. Daniel glanced over.
"What's he making?"
"Prison. All rock walls, meals lowered by rope. Running water inside."
Hygiene and water sorted. Rock walls in dirt? No digging out. Climb up? Block at mealtimes—no escape.
"Smart. But what're you making them do?"
"Sculpt."
What? Daniel stared; the knight waved it off.
"Y'know those Cyclops-like statues in the baron's office? Hand-carve those."
"...Just that?"
"Yep. Rock walls, running water, dim ceiling light. Keep 'em molding dirt till info spills."
Dark room, one task forever. Daniel imagined, then quit.
"What info does he want?"
"None."
Daniel blinked. Knight shivered slightly.
"Precisely—he doesn't know what he wants, so whatever they say, 'not it,' and see what spills. Show desperation, they'll lie."
"Deadline?"
"When they beg and bawl, decide then."
Lock in dark, endless dirt-molding, dismiss every word—break 'em till they spill everything.
"Baron named the prison Room of Truth and Conscience."
"Fitting. Tempting to try... Wonder where he gets these ideas."
Glad he's ally, Daniel thought.
And—
"Oh, management falls to you, Daniel."
"Me? Why?"
"You're employed as proxy lord."
What now? Eyes said deal with it. Daniel finally clocked the payback for his prank.