Of the thirty assassins, six were captured. The captives included five men immobilized by the serious leg injuries they’d sustained in the initial long-range attack and one woman who surrendered.
Then there was Natalia, who’d been frozen.
When Ryo brought her over, Shoken, the leader of the delegation’s adventures, nodded in admiration.
“To think she was targeting us from a distance...” he said.
“I thought it was strange that she was the only one away from the group. She’s a senior member of the Sect of Assassins.”
Commotion rippled through the entire delegation.
“You know, I had an idea that’s who these guys were with...”
“No wonder they were so strong...”
“A woman in the top brass...”
The female adventurers stared daggers at the last adventurer. They’d immediately picked up on the man’s implication. Never underestimate a woman’s intuition!
Ice Wall Package.
Ryo surrounded the six prisoners in his special Ice Wall. They were assassins, after all, and any explosives hidden among them could’ve caused quite a disaster.
“Abel, I put up the barrier just in case,” he whispered. Communicate, contact, consult—the three Cs were vital.
“Roger,” Abel said with a nod, then looked at Ignus. “What should we do with them?”
Even though Ignus, as the emissary, was the highest-ranking person in the delegation, he was a fish out of water in combat situations. Plus, he had relatively little information about their attackers.
“Abel, I’m sorry, but I know absolutely nothing about them. Even if we were to interrogate them, I doubt I’d know how to proceed from there. However, if everyone else here agrees, I’d like you to take care of that, considering your rank.”
“I concur,” Shoken said.
“I also think Abel’s the best person for the job,” said Dontan, the company commander of the knights. Zach and Scotty nodded behind him.
With the core delegation members’ approval, Abel prepared to interrogate them. To no one’s surprise, Ryo joined him.
Just before they started, Abel leaned toward the water magician. “Ryo, what’s her name?” he asked in a low voice.
“Natalia. The previous Sect leader said as much. Apparently, she killed him because an executive in the organization named ‘Black’ had convinced her to.”
“No way...” Abel shook his head in shock.
Their hushed conversation continued for a few more minutes, then Abel turned back to the six captives.
“I know we’re calling this an interrogation, but I don’t actually expect any of you to answer honestly. So, how about I talk and you listen?”
The other members of the delegation glanced at each other in surprise but didn’t say a word. They were dealing with assassins, after all, so Abel might’ve been right about their unwillingness to talk.
“First of all, we know that you’re members of the Sect of Assassins.”
The five men’s faces remained impassive. However, the expression of the woman who had surrendered wavered ever so slightly.
“Ryo, can you isolate her too?” Abel muttered.
“I most certainly can,” Ryo replied.
Then an unseen Ice Wall surrounded the female assassin. Since she seemed like the weakest link, they worried the five men might try to stop her from leaking information during the course of the interrogation, even at the risk of their own lives. A likely development, considering what Ryo and Abel knew of the Sect.
“Second, we know this frozen woman is Natalia, one of the Sect’s top brass.”
The five men flinched. How could an outsider, the enemy, have known something like that? They were aware that Abel was an A-rank adventurer, but it was still odd for him to know the name of a senior member of the Sect.
“Oh, yeah, I just remembered. Your headquarters was in the Kingdom, right? The village that was frozen and destroyed. Isn’t that where your leader died too?”
All six listened, their expressions growing more tense by the second.
“Did you know that it was Natalia who killed him?”
Their prisoners’ eyes widened. They couldn’t feign indifference anymore.
“Liar!” one of the men shouted.
“I’m not lying. She killed him for ‘Black.’”
The prisoners paled. How did the man in front of them know about Black?! It should’ve been impossible, but he did. The woman was white as a ghost, almost in tears.
“Another thing—you guys have tattoos on your chests, right? A double-headed eagle transfixed by a sword.”
Abel almost had them right where he wanted. Just a little more, and they would break. They knew he knew everything, so it was becoming more and more pointless to hide now.
“Does that tattoo still work even after the leader’s death?”
The prisoners blinked, confused. “Huh?”
“By work, I mean the stone spear that pierces your heart if you try to remove the tattoo. Does it still do that?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” one of the men muttered unthinkingly.
Abel knew of this function because Sherfi, one of the Sect’s former leaders, had told them about it, and a spear had actually appeared when Ryo removed the tattoo from his chest. However, their captives’ baffled reactions suggested they’d never actually witnessed the sight before.
“You didn’t know? That’s how the tattoo works, apparently, thanks to alchemy. But ya know...I’ve been wondering what happens now that your leader is dead.”
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. This man knew more about the Sect—about their own bodies—than they did, and they were members. How? Why? They didn’t know. But like it or not, they were convinced that they’d found an opponent they couldn’t defeat.
“Now, let’s discuss your goal—”
“Abel,” Ryo interjected. Then he leaned and muttered into the swordsman’s ear. “I know the answer to that, so please don’t bring it up here.”
“Hmm...”
Natalia’s attack had tipped Ryo off. Under the cover of her comrades’ assault, she’d loosed a stone spear that flew straight for an adventurer’s heart. That meant she hadn’t been attacking at random—she’d been trying to kill someone specific... Even though Ryo knew at least one reason the assassins had targeted the delegation, he chose to keep that to himself for now. After all, Natalia’s intended victim hadn’t spoken up yet, which only made Ryo more curious. He decided he’d ask her about it in private instead.
“Hey, correct me if I’m wrong, but you guys have a dark magician, dontcha?” Abel asked the captives.
The female assassin flinched, obviously agitated.
“Ah,” Abel said with a smile that oozed confidence. “There you are.”
She gave him a weak nod.
In the next instant, steel flashed in the hands of two of the men. Two shapes blurred through the air, racing toward the captive, and then—
Klink, klink.
—Ryo’s Ice Wall deflected both throwing knives.
Abel grinned. A rift between the assassins was exactly what he’d hoped for.
“Daaamn, what a bunch of scary bastards,” he said. “Lady, your buddies didn’t even hesitate to try to kill you. You gonna let them get away with that?”
The female assassin stared at the men who were supposed to be her comrades. Her eyes went wide, her jaw tightening. Anger, fear, and frustration warred across her face, her emotions too tangled to describe.
At that moment, Abel knew she’d defected.
“So, dark magician,” he said. “What’s your name?”
“Rosalia,” she answered, her response signaling the moment she left the Sect of Assassins.
With the initial interrogation finished, the delegation’s leaders discussed the next steps.
In the meantime, Ryo approached a short brunette magician among the adventurers escorting the royal entourage. She was the woman Natalia had abandoned her subordinates to target. As Ryo drew close, the woman bowed her head.
“Ryo, thank you very much for what you did earlier.”
“It was nothing, honestly. Anyone would protect their allies in that situation. Your name is Myu, isn’t it?”
At the banquet in Acray, Ryo had memorized the names of all the adventurers. Valkyrie, the party Myu belonged to, was a C-rank team from the royal capital.
“Provided you feel comfortable talking to me about it,” Ryo said, “I was wondering why you were targeted...”
“Well...” she began. Before she finished, the rest of her party approached. Myu glanced at the ground, then back at her peers.
“Maybe you’d like to speak in private?” Ryo offered, wondering if the information was sensitive.
“It’s all right. They know.” Myu nodded firmly. “I’m not positive, but I think I was targeted because of my background. More specifically, my family.”
Ryo listened quietly while Myu’s companions, standing behind her, gently placed their hands on her shoulders. That single action made it clear that they were all close. The sight warmed his heart.
“My grandfather’s name is Cyrus Theo Santayana. He is the current Archduke of Twilightland.”
At this point, it seemed like this world was practically overrun with royalty—princes on one side, archdukes and their descendants on the other...