Even a Seventh-Tier Sage finds it difficult to meet them? Isn’t that something only an Eighth-Tier Councilor can achieve? Could an Eighth-Tier Councilor truly be hidden within Saint Ciel?
Many possibilities flashed through Lena’s mind at once. However, she knew Betty wouldn’t divulge any more secrets related to this, so she didn’t press further.
Instead, she shook her head and said, “I still can’t believe Sir Joiy would do such a thing.”
Her stubbornness ignited a flicker of annoyance in Betty. It was as if nothing she said would convince the woman before her.
‘Joiy’s brainwashing ability is truly formidable!’
Marvelling silently, Betty found herself too exasperated to explain further to Lena. She turned her head, meticulously sifting through each item on the bookshelf, determined to unearth some evidence.
The rustling of pages became the sole sound in the study. After searching through more than half the shelves, Betty’s brows furrowed deeply.
“That’s strange, why can’t I find it? Could it be that he didn’t keep it here?”
She muttered to herself, feeling increasingly certain her conjecture was correct. How could something involving demons possibly be kept in a study?
It would be easily spotted by servants during their daily cleaning. Thus, finding nothing here seemed perfectly normal.
‘Where else could it be hidden?’
She thought of Joiy’s bedroom. It wasn’t impossible for Joiy to carry such items with him, but if that were the case, the difficulty of the search would increase dramatically.
It might even exceed her capabilities. After all, Joiy was a Sixth-Tier powerhouse; she was no match for him, let alone stealing evidence from him without his knowledge.
Feeling a twinge of difficulty, she clicked her tongue, returning the book in her hand to the shelf. She then decided to leave the study immediately and escape the villa.
The search for evidence would require a more long-term strategy.
Just as she was about to turn, a cold, familiar voice echoed from the study doorway. Her heart seized with fright, and her back instantly became drenched in sweat.
“It’s perfectly normal for you not to find it. After all, how can something that doesn’t exist appear out of thin air?”
“Joiy?!”
She spun around in a panic. Upon seeing the figure in the doorway, she instinctively blurted out his name.
Joiy, at this moment, had shed his usual noble attire, opting for more comfortable clothes that made him appear less imposing than during the day. Yet, his gaze remained sharp, making Betty’s heart pound with unease.
“Does the Adventurers’ Guild intend to completely sever ties with me? How dare they send someone to infiltrate my mansion in the middle of the night to search my study?”
He scoffed, taking two steps forward. His accusatory tone made Betty involuntarily swallow, her feet retreating uncontrollably as she leaned against the bookshelf.
In her view, the old Joiy hadn’t known an adventurer was searching his study. So, while he had a conflict with the Adventurers’ Guild, they hadn’t completely broken ties.
Now that she had been caught red-handed, the relationship between Joiy and the Guild would undoubtedly deteriorate rapidly. He might even be forced to completely ban the sale of weapons and potions to adventurers.
At that point, the Guild would certainly not fare well either. Many terrible futures flashed through Betty’s mind, increasing her sense of guilt.
She silently glanced at the study window, then explained, “Recently, there have been definite reports, Sir Viscount. As adventurers, we must take special measures to ensure Saint Ciel’s safety.”
“Definite reports? From where?” Joiy pressed on, his steps unrelenting. Betty continued to retreat until her back hit the study wall.
“No comment,” she replied.
“Then I have reason to doubt the Guild’s motives. Are you truly concerned for Saint Ciel’s safety? Or is this merely an act to suppress me?”
Joiy wielded considerable influence in Saint Ciel, and many families who disliked him constantly sought ways to undermine him. His suspicion, therefore, was quite reasonable.
However, these words sounded utterly absurd to Betty. How could the Adventurers’ Guild do such a thing? They had always fought for Saint Ciel.
“I have nothing more to say to you.”
With that, she suddenly took a step, positioning herself in front of the study window, ready to climb out and escape. Joiy, however, showed no urgency. Instead, he chuckled.
“Is my mansion a place you can enter and leave as you please?”
“With Sir Joiy’s strength, you can’t possibly keep me here, can you?”
Joiy’s composure filled Betty with an ominous premonition. Normally, a Viscount with only Sixth-Tier power couldn’t possibly hold a Fifth-Tier adventurer.
“Hmm, indeed.” Joiy readily admitted, his smile unwavering. However, his tone abruptly shifted.
“But when did I ever say *I* was the one keeping you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at your wrist.”
Following Joiy’s gaze, Betty hastily lowered her head. She gasped, discovering a bracelet like a thorny vine encircling her wrist, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
The bracelet looked beautiful, adorned with one or two white flower buds. Yet, at some point, the thorns on those buds had pierced her skin and burrowed into her body.
At this very moment, she had lost all connection to her magic. No matter how she chanted spells or tried to summon her power, she received no response.
Cold sweat trickled from her forehead, down her cheek, and dripped onto the floor. Without her magic, Betty was now little different from a young girl.
Terror flared in her eyes. She had no idea when her wrist had been ensnared by the thorns. She and Joiy had only just met, and she hadn’t detected any magical fluctuations during their encounter.
‘Why did this happen?’
As she struggled to comprehend, Joiy shed his arrogant demeanor. He respectfully addressed the woman Betty had gradually overlooked.
“Madam, how shall we deal with this adventurer?”
“What? Madam?!”
Betty’s brain felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer. She stared blankly at the smiling Lena, a tempest raging in her heart.
‘Viscount Joiy, usually so high and mighty, is actually this respectful to someone else?’
‘You’re not the new maid, are you?!’
Her voice trembled slightly, and she vaguely guessed the origin of the thorny bracelet on her wrist. “When did I ever say I was a maid?”
Lena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her expression a mix of innocence and bewilderment. Just as she said, she had never once admitted to being the new maid.
“So, you’re the real mastermind?!”
Betty stared at Lena, her gaze filled with horror and disbelief, as if she had uncovered an earth-shattering secret. Her previous understanding of the world was completely overturned.
She had been deceived, and not just her. The maid she had dismissed as insignificant was, in fact, the true mistress of this mansion. Even Joiy had to obey her.
From the moment she entered the mansion, everything had been exposed. Lena had kept her in her sights, not immediately capturing her, likely to extract information.
‘I was careless.’
“Mastermind? You’re thinking too much. I merely…”
Lena, unaware of Betty’s tumultuous thoughts, turned to Joiy. “Is there anywhere here we can hold her? If she’s under our control, the Guild will be somewhat hesitant to act.”
With Betty as their hostage, the Adventurers’ Guild’s actions would be significantly curtailed.
“Coincidentally, there’s a dungeon right here. Locking her up there will ensure she can’t escape. And if other adventurers come to rescue her, it will be easy to capture them all in one fell swoop.”
‘Coincidentally? A dungeon? Capture them all in one fell swoop?!’
Hearing these words from Joiy, Betty felt a chill deep in her bones. Her limbs seemed to lose all sensation, becoming soft and weak.
‘What normal manor has a dungeon? Its purpose, from the very beginning, was likely to imprison those who knew his secrets.’
She knew all too well the miserable fate that awaited those captured by demons. Such a dungeon, to her, was a place of utter despair.
‘Joiy, you are truly indispensable!’
The thought of such a terrifying place being used on her made her vision darken, and she nearly fainted. Her future, she knew, would be nothing but bleak.
In stark contrast to Betty, Joiy was delighted. A smirk played on his lips as he pulled out a magical shackle. After fastening it to Betty’s powerless wrists, he gave a forceful tug and led her out of the study, heading towards the dungeon.
Lena quietly followed behind him, always maintaining her position.
As they exited the villa, the patrolling servants in the manor saw the disheveled Betty. Upon noticing the shackles on her hands, they exchanged curious glances but remained silent.
However, as they moved further away, Lena could hear their faint whispers. Betty had fallen so low as to be branded a thief in their mouths.
Joiy murmured a spell, and the row of stone tablets in the garden slowly shifted, revealing a dark staircase leading to the dungeon. As if sensing their arrival, the oil lamps on the walls flickered to life, their weak flames illuminating the deep staircase.
However, this only made Betty’s heart grow more anxious. No matter how she looked at it, this dungeon was a terrifying place.
Following the stairs down to a flat landing, Lena found herself before a series of cells. They seemed to have been unused for a long time, shrouded in cobwebs. Occasionally, the distant sound of dripping water could be heard.
To Betty’s relief, she found no bones here; otherwise, her panic would have been even greater. Joiy produced a key and opened the door to a cell near the stairs. He unceremoniously shoved Betty inside.
Annoyed by his rough handling, Betty turned back and snorted, “Just you wait! My companions will surely expose you traitors to humanity!”
“Traitors to humanity? That’s a hat I can’t quite wear,” Joiy casually retorted. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a whip of black iron from seemingly nowhere. The whip was covered in fine barbs; a single strike would undoubtedly tear away large swathes of flesh.
Lena’s eyebrows subtly furrowed at the sight, while Betty’s face instantly turned ashen. She immediately cowered in the corner of the cell, her delicate body trembling uncontrollably.
‘No escape.’
She knew that once caught, torture was inevitable. “Name, identity, origin.”
Joiy spoke, gripping the whip in his hand, a devilish grin spreading across his face. Betty, momentarily failing to grasp his meaning, stammered, “What… what for?”
“Hm?”
“Crack!”
The sound of the whip cutting through the air echoed in the cell. Joiy’s first strike didn’t land on Betty but served as a simple warning: if she didn’t answer his questions, there would be no more warnings next time.
“After all, a weak person’s self-healing ability is generally decent. A few whips won’t cause any real problems.”
“A Fifth-Tier Adventurer. I infiltrated here on a Guild commission.”
“Who issued the commission?”
“…I can’t say.”
“Heh.”
Her refusal elicited a cold laugh from Joiy. He raised the whip high again, preparing to strike Betty fiercely. “You said you knew. It’s none other than the Guild Master. But as a prisoner, you refuse to answer my questions…”
“My companions, they will avenge me!”
“Avenge you? Perhaps in a few days, they’ll be locked up with you too.”
Betty curled up in the corner, closing her eyes and clenching her teeth. Her heart was filled with terror. She didn’t know what it felt like to be struck by such a whip, but it would surely be more painful than an ordinary one.
Her lips and cheeks lost all color as she silently awaited the whip’s descent. The agonizing suspense made her head spin, and her soft legs left her unable to stand steadily.
However, the brutal lashing never came. Instead, a gentle voice resonated through the dungeon.
“It’s getting late tonight. Let the adventurer rest properly. It won’t be too late to interrogate her tomorrow.”
“…Is that Lena’s voice?”
She opened one eye, seeing Joiy still holding the whip high. The silver-haired woman stood in front of him, blocking his swing. “Madam is right.”
Joiy lowered the whip. Obediently, he took two steps back and exited the cell. Relieved from the threat of the whip, Betty let out a heavy sigh.
She collapsed onto the ground, her eyes fixed on Lena. She could tell who the real authority here was. Although she was temporarily spared the pain of the lashings, the memory of being deceived earlier filled her with a sense of frustration.
“Tch, who needs your假惺惺’s false kindness…”
“What did you say?”
Her low mutter was caught by Joiy. Realizing her dissatisfaction was directed at Lena, he narrowed his eyes, and the whip that had vanished instantly reappeared in his hand.
“Alright, let’s interrogate her tomorrow.”
Lena pushed Joiy, who had re-entered the cell, back out, once again preventing him from whipping Betty. This caused Betty to turn her head away, remaining silent.
‘Joiy is a demon, so he naturally wouldn’t hold back against humans. But Lena isn’t. The adventurer before her could even be considered her junior.’
She had to look out for Joiy to some extent. “I advise you to be honest and not have any other ideas. You can’t escape this place.”
With that warning, Joiy gave Betty a cold glance before following Lena out of the dungeon, leaving Betty alone in the corner of her cell, hugging herself and letting out a soft hum.