episode_0015

“How… how…”

The brown-haired man’s pupils shook violently.

“Huff… What kind of drug did you give me?”

There was no need to use polite language with a guy like this.

If I, a skilled manipulator, am only slightly affected after drinking, then there must be something else besides drugs.

“Stop talking nonsense and answer my question. How…?”

I tried to pull out the gun tied to my right leg, but it wasn’t there.

“Hey.”

“…”

Click!

He suddenly pulled out my gun and aimed it at me.

Even if he pulled the trigger, the gun wouldn’t fire since the cocking was already released.

“What the hell is wrong with this guy!”

He trembled as he aimed the gun at me.

As I suddenly stood up, he was startled and pointed the gun at me with both hands.

“What… what are you doing?! Do you want to die?! Don’t move!!”

“You’re acting crazy, just shoot.”

“What… what did you say?!”

His face turned red as he pulled the trigger.

Tick! Tick!

But no matter how much he pulled the trigger, the gun with the cocking released wouldn’t fire.

“Damn it…”

Thud!

I kicked him in the face with my heel as he turned around and fell to the ground.

“A guy who can’t even handle a punch is acting all tough…”

I climbed on top of the guy who fell flat on the floor.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please! Please!”

Thud!

“Ouch!”

Thud!

“Please spare me!”

Thud!

“Ahh!”

Thud!

Silently, I continued to hit his face with my fist.

With each punch, his face began to distort strangely with a dull sound.

As blood splattered and my hand started to hurt, I stopped hitting for a moment.

“Ugh…”

I sighed as I looked at him, lying unconscious on the floor, his face covered in blood.

I searched the room, grabbed my saber and gun, then cut the curtains into strips to tie his hands and feet.

I rolled up a piece of curtain and gagged him with it, turning it into a makeshift gag.

I put the key in his sternum, then went out of the room, locked the door, and headed towards where my friends were.

#

“See, I told you I’m fine, right?”

“Hmm? What are you talking about?”

Suddenly, Rotus pointed at me and said something strange.

What does he mean by saying I’m fine all of a sudden?

“Well, certainly…”

Laurent nodded in response to Rotus’ words.

“Wait, what are you two talking about?”

“Oh, Laurent, Mari went out drinking alone and was worried. So I told her your story.”

“Marie Yoo. I had no idea you were such an impressive person.”

Laurent looked at me with a sparkling gaze that made me feel uncomfortable.

“Marie, did you drink well?”

“I did drink, but… later, something not so great happened. Or maybe, in the end, it was a good thing?”

I pondered Rotus’ question and replied.

I’m not sure if I should say it’s not good because I drank spiked alcohol and passed out, or if I should say it’s good because I managed to uncover a clue to the incident.

“Anyway, follow me and you’ll find out.”

“Let’s do that. You and Laurent go first, and I’ll bring Aramis.”

“Got it, come to the floor where the lodging is later.”

Rotos nodded at my words.

Rotos left to fetch Artemis, and I went up to the room where I had been captured earlier with Laurent.

“It seems like there’s a lodging here too.”

“I didn’t even know there was a lodging here.”

I stopped in front of the room where I had been captured by the brown-haired man and took out the key from between my collarbones to open the door.

“Um… Young lady, can’t you refrain from doing that?”

Laurent said to me, his face turning red.

“Why… this?”

“Ugh!”

As I took out a silver coin from my collarbones, Laurent coughed awkwardly.

“Ugh… a damn scammer.”

I patted Laurent’s back once and then entered the room.

“What is this smell of blood?”

As I entered the room, the smell of blood from the guy who had hit me filled the room.

“After giving me medicine inside, he tried to do something to me, but I hit him and now he’s tied up.”

“What?!”

Laurent asked, surprised at my words.

“No, you shouldn’t talk about it so calmly, right?”

“If he’s fine now, it’s fine.”

I waved my hand as if it was nothing.

“Ugh…”

The guy groaned in pain from being hit by me.

“Wow… his face is covered in blood…”

Laurent glanced at his face and then looked at me.

“No…! I didn’t do it on purpose… I got angry and ended up hitting him like that.”

Although Laurent didn’t say anything, I felt ashamed and made excuses in my mind.

“No, you did well.”

Laurent nodded at my excuse.

“These guys…”

Laurent stretched out his leg and kicked the guy’s side hard.

Thud!

“Ow!!!”

The guy, who was unconscious, writhed and screamed as the blow hit his side.

“It’s noisy because he’s unconscious.”

Thud!

Laurent kicked the guy’s side again.

“Ow! Ow! Owww!!”

The guy, who had been screaming, began to sob.

“He’s crying like a baby. Pathetic.”

“He didn’t have the guts to face me with confidence and instead tried to drug a woman, make her faint, and then mock her? What a pathetic guy!”

“A disgrace to the nobility!”

Laurent and I took turns mocking the crying guy.

He could only sob in response to our repeated mocking.

“But what did you go through with this guy?”

Laurent’s question seemed to make my face flush.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that the guy had drugged me and made me faint, leaving me in a dazed state.

“Ugh! It was nothing, don’t ask.”

“Understood.”

Although Laurent didn’t drop his suspicious gaze, he obediently nodded his head.

“Oh, Mari. Rotos told me something happened.”

Not long after, Rotos and Artemis entered the room.

“I didn’t tell them where I was, but they managed to find me.”

“The door was open, and we heard voices, so we came here. By the way, who is this? He seems to have been beaten badly.”

“He’s the guy who drugged me. I subdued him in case he was related to the recent incident.”

“Laurent, go close the door.”

At Artemis’s words, Laurent closed the door.

“Silence.”

Artemis cast a spell on the door.

“Oh… it’s magic.”

“Artemis is a former priest, so she can use some magic and healing spells.”

“A priest?”

Laurent looked surprised as he looked at Artemis.

“Not every priest has to live as a priest.”

Aramis shrugged his shoulders.

We untied the brown-haired man from the chair and removed the gag from his mouth.

“But when will this guy wake up?”

Rotus pointed at the brown-haired man tied to the chair, slumped over.

“It’s time to wake him up.”

I brought a bucket of water and splashed it on his face.

Splash!

“Cough!”

He coughed and lifted his head.

“Hey.”

“Y-yes…! Yes, sir!”

He answered vigorously, nodding his head.

“What did you feed me?”

“…”

“Are your eyeballs rolling?”

I pulled out a mango shiv and held it in front of his eyes.

“I’ve cast a soundproofing spell in this room. No matter how loudly you scream, it won’t be heard outside.”

He swallowed dryly and looked at me with trembling eyes.

“Name.”

“Andre.”

“How many people have you committed crimes against so far?”

Thud!

I kicked Andre in the chest.

“Ugh!”

“This bastard is lying through his teeth.”

At my gesture, Laurent and Rotus lifted him back up.

“How many people did you drug?”

“T-th-three times.”

Thud!

I kicked Andre again.

“How many people did you drug?”

“T-thirteen.”

“T-thirteen…”

“Thirteen! Thirteen at a time! You drugged them all at once!”

I slapped Andre’s head.

“Where are the drugs?”

“I-it’s in my pocket…”

At my signal, Aramis rummaged through Andre’s pockets and pulled out a bag.

Aramis emptied the contents of the bag onto the table.

Orange sugar-like pellets spilled out onto the table, and upon seeing them, Andre’s face turned pale and he began to tremble.

“Who did you get this from?”

“W-who are you people?!”

“You don’t need to know that. Who did you get this from?”

I picked up a few pellets from the table and approached him.

“I-I don’t know! I was just told that if I feed them this drug, I can have my way with women!”

“What’s the name of this drug?”

“Orange Sapphire.”

“So, what did you do?”

“A-after drugging them, I did whatever I wanted…”

Andre hesitated, stumbling over his words.

“This bastard can’t even speak properly?!”

“After drugging them, I did whatever I wanted with them!”

I slapped Andre, causing him to hunch his shoulders.

“Trash.”

Andre hung his head low at my words.

“Let me ask you one last thing.”

“Y-yes! Ask me anything!”

Even though I never promised to let him go, he responded as if I had promised to release him.

“After you drugged the women, they did everything you commanded, right?”

“Y-yes, even shameful acts, even self-harm.”

“Is that so… Rotus.”

“Please! Please let me go! I-I want to see my mother!”

As Rotus approached, Andre began to sob in relief at the thought of finally being freed.

“Who sent you? Open your mouth, you bastard.”

“This is different from what we promised! I-I didn’t agree to this!”

Creating a nonexistent promise and firmly believing in it, I laughed at Andre’s foolishness and shoved the drug into his mouth.

“Do you know how many Orange Sapphires you need to take for the drug to take effect?”

“I don’t know, let’s just feed him and see.”

I picked up another pellet from the table and put it in Andre’s mouth.

“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”

As the drug took effect, Andre screamed and foamed at the mouth, shaking violently.

“Sir, isn’t he going to die like this?”

“Is that so? I’ll make a judgment based on the situation first.”

Whether he lives or dies, since he seems to have found drugs floating around in the gambling den, that guy was no longer needed.

“First, let’s at least sprinkle some water.”

After filling a bucket with water, I sprinkled it on Andre’s face again.

After convulsing for a while, Andre stopped moving and slowly raised his head.

“What’s your name?”

“Andre.”

“Last name?”

“I don’t have one.”

I asked him the same questions I had asked while he was in his right mind.

Surprisingly, his answers, given under the influence of the drug and following my orders, matched the ones he had given when he was in his right mind, showing an unexpected sincerity in complying with my interrogation.

“You answered surprisingly obediently. The kid didn’t know how scary the world is and flew around, but there’s no need to kill him, right?”

I rubbed my chin at Aramis’s words.

“Well… if you say so…”

I approached Andre and untied his bound arms and legs.

“Andre, take off your clothes now.”

“Yes.”

Andre began to undress.

“Such a small one.”

Everyone burst into laughter at my assessment after seeing Andre stripped down to his natural state.

“Hahaha! This drug is really something.”

Rotus laughed while slapping his knee, and Laurent turned his head and stifled his laughter, shoulders shaking.

“It’s unsightly. Tell him to put his clothes back on.”

Aramis wrinkled his brow as he looked at Andre’s naked body.