Chapter 113 : Chapter 113
Chapter 113: Homecoming (6)
Ibi began to drag Don Paulo, who was in a near-death state and unable to resist, under the guise of supporting him.
“Hey, this way.”
The ‘Back Door’ she guided us to was, in fact, a hole.
To be precise, a small hole at the bottom of the high wall, which was built almost to the level of a fortress wall.
The kind of narrow passage commonly called a ‘dog hole’.
Normally, it would have been absolutely impossible to go through this hole without being spotted, as guards constantly patrolled this area, but now, all those guards had headed to the annex due to the ‘unidentified explosion’.
In other words, it was empty.
Thanks to that, we were able to get out through the hole without any problems.
“Uh, um… I’m sorry…”
“……Help me out.”
Though the two who got stuck in their boxes, Lily and Toric, had a bit of… trouble getting out.
Still, it wasn't a case of being discovered by the guards and playing tag or fighting; it was quickly resolved by just pushing from behind and pulling from the front, so well… I guess you could say there were no problems.
After crossing the wall and getting off the mansion grounds, Miki slung the limp Don Paulo over his shoulder in place of Ibi, who said she couldn't carry him anymore.
With that, we moved far away from the mansion and entered the sewers once again.
Because that was the safest path to the Kapers’ safe house we had made our base.
***
Although Lily’s 「Healing」 had stopped the bleeding, Don Paulo’s body was still limp and lifeless.
But as if it didn't matter as long as he was still breathing, Ibi began to tie his hands and feet, which she had him sitting up with, tightly to the chair.
After finishing the restraints.
“Where do you think you’re going, trying to die already.”
Slap, slap!
And so, by quickly slapping both his cheeks in succession, she woke up Don Paulo, who was in a 'dazed' state.
“Wake up, old man.”
As he woke up, Don Paulo looked around with an expression that suggested he didn't even know how he had gotten here.
“This place is…”
“Don't you worry.”
Screech.
In the meantime, Ibi dragged a nearby chair over and plopped down.
“It's not hell yet.”
Then, with her arms resting on her spread legs and her body slightly bent forward, she flicked the stiletto—which was probably Don Paulo's—held in one hand.
“You've been kidnapped.”
Don Paulo, who had been staring at Ibi for a while, finally let out a bitter smile along with the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
“…Right, are you planning on torturing me now?”
As if telling her not to do something so pointless.
“Have you forgotten, Evie? The one who taught you ‘how to make people talk’ and the one who taught you ‘how not to talk’… was all me.”
As if asking if she really thought she could get the answers she wanted from him.
To this.
“That's right.”
Ibi obediently nodded her head in acknowledgment.
“That’s why I’m not going to do anything.”
Then she let out a short laugh and stood up from her seat again.
“This guy will.”
She then jutted her chin towards me.
Just like that, I immediately swapped places with Ibi.
“Hello.”
As soon as he saw me sitting in front of him, Don Paulo once again let out a weak scoff.
“If even Evie can't do it, what can a clown like you possibly do?”
“Well, just watch.”
I replied instantly, raising one corner of my mouth.
“What I can do.”
And I slowly took off my mask.
“…!”
At that moment, Don Paulo’s two eyes, looking at me, were tinged with the light of fascination.
At the same time, his mouth fell open blankly.
I had mentioned that the number of targets I could simultaneously cast on had increased thanks to the skill level of 「Word Command」 going up.
However, that wasn't the only thing that had increased.
The types of commands had also increased along with it.
It had become easier to break through subconscious resistance.
Thanks to that, whereas before I could only issue short and simple commands of about one word, which could be followed instinctively without thought as long as they didn't go against survival instincts──
“──From now on.”
It now meant I could issue more complex commands that required a 'thought' process, just like when I was in the box today.
『To my questions, speak only the truth.』
“──!”
For example, forcefully prying open the mouth of a man who wouldn't speak no matter what kind of pain was inflicted.
The process of uncovering the truth through 「Word Command」 could be seen as similar to 「Spirit Talk」.
Because it was closer to extracting information than having a ‘conversation’.
In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say it was like using 「Spirit Talk」 on a living person.
Instead, it was a 「Spirit Talk」 that didn't provoke the God of the Underworld and therefore didn't have a five-minute time limit.
However, it was inevitable that it shared the same drawback.
“What are you plotting with the Krom bastards?”
Even if I demanded he speak the ‘truth’ like this.
“I, I also… don’t know in detail… what they’re plotting…!”
If the target of the information extraction didn’t know the details of that truth, it was impossible to obtain the ‘facts’.
“I just, did as I was told…!”
Judging by Don Paulo's extremely bewildered expression, as if he couldn't understand at all why he was spilling these words to me, he was, for all intents and purposes, telling the ‘truth’.
“To create slaves, and send them to Krom…!”
It was just that it wasn't conveying the ‘facts’.
“Ha, you just did as you were told? You, the boss of the biggest cartel on the continent?”
At that, Ibi, who had been listening from behind, chimed in with a scoff, as if finding it absurd.
“After acting like you were some king who owned the world, it turns out you were nothing more than a slave in the back, doing whatever the dark elf bastards told you to do without even knowing why?”
“…!”
“Wow, the guys on the street should have all heard this story, huh? The great Don Paulo they all trembled at the mere mention of his name, turns out he was a dog who did whatever the darkies told him to do. Ha! Funniest shit I’ve heard all year, fuck.”
Listening to Ibi’s words, Don Paulo's face contorted even further.
“Aah─ I finally get it now. Why you bad-mouthed the darkies to me so much, why you told me not to hang around with bastards like them.”
“Who ordered you?”
At my next question, Don Paulo suddenly bit his lip.
It seemed he was trying to resist saying anything.
However.
『Speak.』
In the end, he succumbed to my 「Word Command」.
“Ka, Kain… Baron Midrashi…!”
And so, he confessed the truth again.
“The… Grand Admiral… of Krom…!”
But as soon as he answered my question, the man bit his lip again, hard enough to draw blood.
“Keuk…!”
As if he absolutely could not say any more.
But it didn't matter.
With that answer, I had essentially heard all the information I needed to hear from him.
--
Companion Quest
「Not Like Us」
Go to Krom and uncover Baron Midrashi’s plot.
--
In the flow of Ibi's companion quest, Don Paulo was ultimately an intermediary.
“…Hmm.”
A place that could, perhaps… become a true ‘home’ for Ibi.
“Krom, you say.”
Leading to Krom, the city of the dark elves.
“You can’t…!”
Just then, Don Paulo struggled as if to get up from the chair he was tied to.
His gaze was fixed on Ibi, who was standing behind me.
“This is not something you can handle, Evie…!”
It was a look of desperate dissuasion.
“With them…! You, must never get involved with them…!”
“What the hell have you been talking about since earlier?”
“They are not human…! They are cruel beasts…!”
“Then was I some kind of pet beast of yours?”
“They are absolutely not your family… not your kin…!”
“So did I say anything about it?”
Ibi wore an expression that suggested she had no clue why Don Paulo had suddenly started reacting that way.
When the topic of Krom first came up a while ago, Ibi had said that she felt no sense of kinship whatsoever with the dark elves.
That she didn't even have that kind of feeling.
“Listen to me, Evie…!”
“Ah, shut up.”
As such, Ibi seemed to think that Don Paulo was barking up the wrong tree.
“For now, just go to sleep.”
Thwack!
A dull sound echoed.
It was the sound of Ibi knocking Don Paulo unconscious by punching him hard in the face.
***
We called Logan to the safe house.
He was startled at the sight of Don Paulo, covered in blood and tied unconscious to a chair, and then began to look at us with eyes full of disbelief.
“You, you kidnapped… Don Paulo…?”
As if asking how on earth we did it.
“The boss of the biggest cartel on the continent…?”
And a short while later, when we told him what we had heard from Don Paulo.
“They were using… Don Paulo… as a puppet…?!”
Logan was once again unable to hide his astonishment.
(Even though he's in this state now) Don Paulo was, in name and reality, a big shot in the underworld.
As Ibi said earlier, he was a being who wielded power practically like a king in the world of crime.
Such a man, one of the most famous criminals on the continent, was a puppet of the dark elves?
“…Whatever is happening, it doesn't seem like it will be anything good.”
It was undoubtedly a sign that something was happening.
Something, some huge, uncontrollable conspiracy.
“…To all of you, I really don't know how to express my gratitude.”
Saying this, Logan bowed his head to us.
“It seems I will have to gather the Kapers as soon as possible and go to Krom.”
“No.”
“…Pardon?”
“There’s no need for that.”
I said to Logan, raising one corner of my mouth in a grin.
“We’ll go.”
“……!”
“Since we’ve come this far, it’s a bit weird for us to back out now, isn’t it?”
And to be blunt, the Kapers alone would not be able to stop the conspiracy brewing there.
“The Demon King beyond the Wall is one thing, but now that we know about this problem, it would be extremely unsettling to leave it behind.”
I looked at my companions one by one.
They all gave a quiet nod in return.
“You will…?”
“How should I put it, stopping grand conspiracies is a hobby of our party.”
We are a ‘Champion’s Party’, after all.
And, for Ibi's sake as well.
We had to go to Krom.
“…? What are you looking at?”
Of course, she herself doesn't know that fact yet.
“Right, Ibi?”
In fact, the ‘catalyst’ for Ibi joining us was the threat of Don Paulo chasing her.
As Ibi herself said, to have ‘guys to use as bait and ditch in a pinch’.
And as you can see, that threat has now been more or less dealt with.
So, there was no longer a reason for Ibi to continue traveling with us.
“Yeah, whatever.”
Nevertheless, Ibi answered coolly.
She looked as if she had completely forgotten what she had said, but that wasn't the case.
“…Anyway, since I worked under that bastard, even if I didn't know, it seems I was involved in some bullshit they were pulling.”
That is, if you saw how she went out of her way to come up with a new excuse, saying that if she just left things as they were, she'd probably have nightmares.
“Let’s go, fuck.”
In order to say that she would continue to be with us.