Luo Jiuge fell silent for a moment, then looked up and said, “I did see a woman. She gave me a route to save them.”
“I used that route to find Herwin and Alvin.”
“But she didn't tell me her name, and I don't know where she came from.”
Vevran's voice was calm. “What did she look like?”
Luo Jiuge remembered some details, but what she remembered was highly limited.
The lighting in the Lamp-Lighting Room had been dim, the situation chaotic, and the other party had deliberately concealed her identity.
She could only be certain that she was a young woman with ordinary features who spoke coldly.
Other than that, she really couldn't say how much she had actually seen clearly.
“I didn't get a clear look.”
Vevran stared at her.
Luo Jiuge immediately added, “It's not that I'm refusing to tell you, I really didn't see clearly. It was so dark in the Lamp-Lighting Room, and there were patrol monks everywhere outside. She just gave me the route and left. After that, I was too busy trying to save people. How would I have time to study what her face looked like?”
Vevran: “What weapon did she use?”
“I don't know.”
“What about her class?”
“I don't know.”
“Did she enter the Quiet Bone Prayer Room?”
Luo Jiuge spread her hands. “I didn't see.”
Vevran's gaze grew even colder.
Luo Jiuge quickly said, “Officer, I'm not playing with you. I'm only telling you what I'm sure of.”
“I did meet her, and she gave me the route to save them. She helped me, so I wanted to come back and help her too. But I didn't see her steal the Mooncrown Lock, nor did I see her empty the storehouse.”
She paused, her tone turning more serious. “If you want me to point out who stole the Mooncrown Lock, I can't do it. I can't just make things up without evidence.”
In fact, Luo Jiuge wanted to say: Stop clinging to her, why don't you go investigate the corpses underground with their hearts hollowed out?
But judging by their current conversation, they might all be on the same side.
Whether those things were done by her compatriot or not, at least she didn't think it was a bad thing.
Vevran looked at her and changed direction, continuing to question her: “How did you infiltrate the Grey Dove Monastery?”
Luo Jiuge blanked for a moment.
This question was actually easy to answer.
Since she was already in prison anyway, there was nothing left to hide.
She relaxed slightly, acting cooperative: “A week ago, I met a wandering merchant.”
Vevran's eyes flickered. “A wandering merchant?”
“Yes.”
Luo Jiuge nodded. “He dressed in flashy clothes, wore a smiling mask, and sold things at ridiculously high prices. At a glance, he looked exactly like the kind of merchant in games who specifically spawns to sell hidden items.”
Vevran muttered in a low voice, “A smiling face... the Third Wandering Merchant. Could the disappearance of the unicorn's remains be related to him...”
She looked up and gestured for Luo Jiuge to continue.
Luo Jiuge: “I bought some skill scrolls from him and traded for some information while I was at it. He said there was treasure near the Grey Dove Monastery, and that there was an old rift on the northwest side of the magical defense array where patrols were lightest during heavy snowstorms.”
“So you went in?”
“Of course,” Luo Jiuge said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “I'm a Descender. I paid good money for that information, and I knew where the entrance was. Do you think I could just ignore it?”
Vevran looked at her. “And then you snuck in, met the mysterious woman, and saved Herwin?”
Luo Jiuge: “Those monks had tortured them half to death. Although I love looting treasure chests, my profession doesn't allow me to just stand by and watch when I see living people being tortured.”
Her profession doesn't allow it?
Vevran instinctively assumed Luo Jiuge was referring to her class as a Holy Swordsman.
The Holy Swordsman class did indeed emphasize holy radiance, protection, and righteous judgment.
But Vevran had seen too many people wrapped in the cloak of holiness, shouting about justice while their swords were anything but clean.
Thus, when these words came out of Luo Jiuge's mouth, it actually made her look at the girl in a slightly different light.
She focused her attention back on the interrogation.
She observed that Luo Jiuge spoke very naturally when mentioning the wandering merchant, the entrance, and the infiltration route.
There was no obvious hesitation when she spoke of saving the prisoners either.
When she spoke of the mysterious woman, her gaze was entirely candid.
Vevran did not press her further.
She didn't have any decisive evidence to prove that Luo Jiuge had a direct connection to the person who stole the Mooncrown Lock.
And that mysterious woman was merely the prime suspect at the moment.
Just as the atmosphere in the cell grew increasingly tense, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the corridor outside.
An armored knight strode over quickly, stopping outside the cell door and dropping to one knee.
“Commander Vevran, an urgent letter from the royal capital.”
Vevran raised her hand, and the knight immediately handed over a tightly sealed letter.
Luo Jiuge quietly peeked at it.
The wax seal on the envelope was gold, with a design resembling a crown pierced by a slender silver cross, surrounded by a ring of vine patterns.
A letter from the royal capital?
An even worse premonition instantly surged in her heart.
Vevran opened the letter, her eyes quickly scanning the contents.
Then, Vevran folded the letter.
A cluster of dark red flame suddenly ignited in her palm.
The paper burned silently in her hand, quickly turning to ash.
Luo Jiuge stared at the flame, her eyes twitching slightly.
There it is again. How on earth do you learn this flame enchantment?
Vevran looked up at her.
“You are very lucky.”
“How so?”
“The royal capital has spared you from the death penalty.”
Luo Jiuge's eyes lit up, and she almost leaped up from her straw mat.
“Then does that mean I can be released with all charges dropped?”
Vevran looked at her expressionlessly.
Luo Jiuge's face slowly froze.
She suddenly realized she had celebrated too early.
Sure enough, Vevran spoke calmly:
“The capital only spared your life. They didn't say anything about giving you back your freedom.”
Luo Jiuge took a slow breath. “Is there a big difference between the two?”
Vevran handed the clipboard to her adjutant behind her and stood up from the chair. Her shadow loomed over Luo Jiuge as she announced:
“Starting tomorrow, you will be assigned to a mining squad to dig for froststone beneath the snowy mountains.”
Luo Jiuge suspected she had misheard.
Luo Jiuge: “Dig for what?”
Vevran: “Froststone.”
Luo Jiuge: “Me?”
Vevran: “You.”
Luo Jiuge: “Why do I have to go dig rocks?”
Vevran: “To be precise, you are performing penal labor.”
Luo Jiuge froze in place, slowly breaking down inside.
She had gone from a hidden quest errand girl to a prime suspect, and now she had happily unlocked the status of a convict.
This game's career path was truly becoming more and more inspirational. She was really about to play prison survival.
But at least she was alive.
Yet at the thought of digging rocks, Luo Jiuge clutched the iron bars and wailed to the heavens, venting her frustration at this world.
She suddenly felt she was incredibly unlucky, and regretted not running faster when the knights had first arrived.
Still, digging rocks meant she could go outside. As long as she could get out, she could find an opportunity to escape.
Vevran walked to the doorway, suddenly paused, and turned to say to her:
“Oh, right. You'd better not think about escaping.”
With that, she looked down at the iron bands on Luo Jiuge's ankles.
“Although we won't restrict your running, the ankle cuffs are imbued with the White Tower Iron Guard's Tracking-Binding Spell. It can seal your mana circuit, and something terrible will happen if you leave the supervision area.”
“I suggest you don't test it lightly.”
Luo Jiuge felt a wave of helplessness from being completely read.
No wonder she couldn't use her skills or summon her system panel.
It turned out she had been blacklisted by the administrator.
Vevran turned and walked out, clearly having no intention of wasting more words on her.
Luo Jiuge clung to the cell door and shouted:
“Admin! No... Officer! I've confessed everything! Just let me go, I swear I won't say a word about what I saw that day!”
The noise behind her continued. Walking to the end of the corridor, Vevran instructed the guard beside her:
“Keep a close eye on her. Don't let her die, understand?”
“Yes, Commander!”
“Also, send the transcript of this interrogation back to the capital.”
“Yes, Commander!”
Having settled this, Vevran glanced at the falling snow outside the window and walked forward:
“The weather has been getting cold lately. It's time to enjoy a three-day hot spring vacation.”
Silence returned to the dungeon.
Luo Jiuge leaned against the iron bars in despair, when she suddenly heard a soft, shuffling sound of footsteps outside the cell.
Looking up, she found that the monkey had poked its furry head out from a corner again at some point.
One human and one monkey stared at each other through the cell door.
Then, Kaka asked in a whisper:
“Where is the Mooncrown Lock?”
Luo Jiuge's anger erupted. She grabbed her straw mat and hurled it at him.
“Get the hell out of here—!”
Rate on N.U.
