I-an fell asleep just like that.
A faint disappointment flickered in Neoris’s eyes as she confirmed that fact. After a long time, the fire had ignited, but it was an unexpectedly dull conclusion.
With a nonchalant expression, Neoris withdrew her aura from the surroundings. As she did so, the sensations embedded throughout the entire space were blocked one by one, and the dim surroundings brightened.
Several daggers were embedded in the ceiling. In fact, Neoris’s aura ability was simple.
When she spread her magical energy, she could perceive the details of objects within that space. Of course, this applied to humans as well, and additionally, it was possible to scatter her senses regarding living beings.
This could be applied to create a few tricks.
Pretending to be indifferent, she could embed several daggers into the ceiling and drop them whenever she needed.
For just a moment, it was possible to scatter her senses. When she dropped the daggers, all she had to do was throw another dagger.
Of course, an agent of the Imperial Intelligence Department would not leak such information.
Her skills, abilities, and even her very identity were filled with lies. Neoris also had many hidden secrets.
She shifted her light green eyes towards I-an.
She was about to begin the interrogation now.
She had to find out who had leaked the information. There was no way a mere second son of a rural baron could decipher the identity; the Imperial Intelligence Department was not an easy place to handle.
Of course, the Academy branch was not an official branch, and thus, the intelligence agents belonging to it were merely untrained interns.
In the first place, the official branches of the Imperial Intelligence Department moved their headquarters and signs periodically. It was impossible to disguise it as a club with a history and tradition spanning hundreds of years.
However, no matter how it was, the Imperial Intelligence Department was still the Intelligence Department.
Even if it was established for the purpose of recruiting the talents of the Academy, its confidentiality was thorough. If information was leaked, it was natural to trace it back to its source.
Otherwise, Neoris’s bright future might go awry.
Sighing deeply, Neoris exhaled.
It seemed like she would have to apply even harsher torture. The charge was disturbing her mood.
It wasn’t bad. Listening to the pleas of a conceited noble was one of Neoris’s secret hobbies.
Neoris’s eyes widened at that moment.
Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.
This shouldn’t be happening. She sensed a presence behind her, staggering and rising.
No way.
Her magical energy had been restricted. The anesthetic poison her subordinates used was a powerful poison that could take down even a mammoth from the Northern Region within seconds.
Her distrustful gaze slowly turned towards the man.
Indifferent golden eyes were looking at her.
The moment her eyes met his, Neoris’s body froze. It was instinctive.
It was as if he had transformed.
The man leisurely pulled out the dagger embedded in his thigh.
And then, with a cold sound of collision, the dagger rolled on the ground as his mouth opened.
“…Neoris Pindlestone.”
It was a shocking blow, like a lightning strike. Neoris’s body trembled for a moment.
Commoners aren’t given surnames. Therefore, it should be normal that Neoris had no surname.
But in truth, she had a surname. It was a name she had discarded a long time ago.
It was information that could only be known to those deeply entrenched within the Imperial Court.
How could he possibly know? With a blank mind, Neoris immediately revealed her hostility and tightened her grip on the dagger.
“Who did you hear that name from?”
The man let out a sigh. In his blurry gaze, a cold chill lingered.
“I was just listening quietly, and various things came out… It would have been nice if you were a bit tighter-lipped.”
“…I’m asking who you heard it from!”
As she shouted, the hand gripping the dagger trembled with intensity. Neoris’s eyes began to reflect a fear with no clear source.
It was a secret that no one should know. Naturally, he shouldn’t have known either.
Neoris’s sharp mind immediately came to a conclusion.
She had to subdue him again now.
She could not sense any traces of magical energy from the man. This meant the poison was still affecting him.
Even if the anesthesia wore off, if he couldn’t use magic, he wouldn’t be her opponent.
With this conclusion in mind, Neoris’s body plunged straight down into the ground.
With a thud, a small tremor echoed, and Neoris’s form shot out like an arrow.
The time it took for her to reach the man was nothing short of instantaneous.
Without magical energy, he couldn’t even react to her speed; just as Neoris had anticipated, the man stood still without moving.
This was it. In terms of magical energy, she was still overwhelmingly superior.
Confident in her victory, just as Neoris was about to stab the dagger.
Her eyes widened again.
An unbelievable sight entered her vision.
The void was bleeding.
Magical energy twisted like blood, carving out a pathway. Along that route, a peculiar pattern was being drawn.
It was a complex-shaped script.
If it weren’t for Neoris, it might have been impossible to recognize its identity immediately.
However, Neoris couldn’t help but realize it upon seeing it. The identity of the script being etched into the void.
Any agent belonging to the Imperial Court would know it. That secret script was akin to the authority of the Emperor himself.
In the slow passage of time, the blood-red script formed into its complete shape.
With a crackle, flames erupted around that pattern, swirling fiercely.
What was about to happen next was obvious. Neoris wanted desperately to pull her body away, but she could not retract her body, which had already reached the point of swinging the dagger.
A bleak despair flashed in Neoris’s eyes. It was immediately after this that her body was sent flying.
A loud explosion echoed.
Flames engulfed the room. Documents burned, scattering as they blazed. Furniture was half-destroyed around the epicenter, and Neoris was thrown back, crashing against the wall.
With a dull impact, Neoris gasped, the shock was relatively insignificantly painful.
Flames wrapped around her body.
The searing pain felt on her skin. Though she still had some magical energy to resist, it was clear her skin would soon melt away from the heat.
The fear of being burned to death made a scream escape Neoris’s lips.
“Gya, gyaaaaah! Pl, please save me!”
Yet, amidst the chaos of the room, the only one maintaining his composure was the man, who continued to walk leisurely.
In her desperate struggle to evolve while rolling on the floor, a glimmer of hope appeared in Neoris’s eyes.
No matter what, he wouldn’t mean to burn her alive. Crucifixion was a punishment imposed only on the most heinous of criminals.
Because it inflicted the most horrendous pain.
Neoris believed that the man would hold a smidgen of mercy. And in response to that expectation, the man pulled out a flask from his waist.
He opened the lid and prepared to pour water.
The brief moment when the flames brushed against her was fleeting. Still, the room was already ablaze with raging flames.
In such a situation, what could he possibly do with mere water from a flask? But in the blazing inferno, Neoris had long since lost the ability to judge.
The man tilted the flask as Neoris wished.
Strange smells wafted from the droplets that fell. Even amid the flames, Neoris’s sensitive sense of smell picked up on that scent.
The smell of alcohol?
Neoris’s eyes went momentarily blank. And the next moment, the flames engulfing her intensified even more.
“Gya, gyaaaaah! S, stop! P, please stop!”
Neoris’s struggles grew fiercer. The man merely sighed and then kicked Neoris.
Her body, instantly bouncing off, rolled out beyond the department head’s office. It was right after that when the man picked up the bucket of water that was placed with the mop.
With a splat, the water from the bucket splashed out, and steam rose.
The momentum of the flames that engulfed Neoris was momentarily diminished. She huddled her body and trembled, as the humidity rising around extinguished the flames completely.
A foul odor permeated the air.
Naturally, this was the result of dousing her with filthy water. Neoris slowly lowered her arms that had been shielding her head, and with eyes soaking in fear, she looked up at I-an.
This man was trying to kill Neoris.
The act of pouring alcohol on a woman on the verge of burning alive was the conclusive evidence. There was no way a sane person would do such a thing.
A cold-blooded killer among cold-blooded killers, yet Neoris thought to herself that it might be plausible.
After all, he was a man who came from the deepest depths of the Imperial Court, a place akin to a den of evil.
Shivering, Neoris staggered and knelt on the ground.
With a trembling voice, she asked.
“…W, where do you come from?”
The man briefly shifted his indifferent gaze to the side. He seemed to be in thought for a moment.
Then he spoke in a subdued tone.
“Neoris Pindlestone… I’ll tell you one thing to keep in mind when dealing with me from now on.”
Neoris bowed her head like a drowning rat. It was the proper courtesy to show towards an agent of the Emperor.
However, a faint trace of suspicion still lingered in her eyes.
It was such a sudden reversal of fortune. No matter how quick-witted she was, it was a situation that would leave anyone bewildered.
Neoris’s gaze flickered upward, attempting to read the man’s expression.
But the next moment.
A crunch sounded, the sound of cartilage breaking echoed. Neoris’s eyes blankly turned toward her shoulder.
It was an axe.
Already bewildered, Neoris had no choice but to let out another shrill scream.
“Ugh, gya, gyaaaaaah!”
However, soon Neoris’s scream ceased.
Because the man had grasped her hair and forced her to meet his gaze.
The moment her cold golden eyes met his, Neoris closed her mouth tightly. Her eyes began to quiver violently.
She couldn’t read his eyes. He only ever seemed to appear sincere.
It was then that the man issued a low warning.
“…Don’t question me.”
Neoris had no choice but to nod her head desperately.
Unaware that tears were streaming down her face.
*
I-an thought about pouring the liquid in the flask.
Ah, that’s right. This was alcohol.
