Chapter 18 – Death Only Eats Apples
After meeting the hero, I returned the way I came.
Unlike the hero imprisoned at the far end of the third floor, the other three were imprisoned crossing the room one by one in a zigzag pattern, thanks to which they could check each other’s life and death through the bars.
The sage was still drawing on the floor, and the priest was still looking at the wall and praying, so I was able to reach the warrior’s tabernacle without being disturbed by anyone.
After being imprisoned in the dungeon, the warrior inside urged me as my blonde hair, which had lost its original brilliant color due to not being able to eat or wash properly, was disheveled.
“Kaldrash! What did you do to the warrior inside! Answer me!”
Unlike the hero who did not know the fate of his other colleagues, she seemed to know that the hero was imprisoned here as well.
‘Well, then the story becomes easier.’
If the conversation doesn’t go well, you can mention the hero when you have a chance.
I said to the frenzied warrior alone.
“I didn’t do anything special. Just talking about the old days? Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything like what you think.”
Then the warrior gritted his teeth and warned me.
“I will never forgive you if you touch even a hair on the warrior.”
I still can’t seem to figure out the subject.
“Whoah, calm down. Being so excited won’t solve anything.”
But I took a step back, pretending to be scared.
From now on, I have to share her honest story with her.
I tapped on the grate and said.
“I’m here to make you an offer today.”
“Hmph! He must be doing something mean again.”
“That’s right. This is a secret deal between me and you.”
As I said that, I glanced at Camilla next to me.
She tried to keep her place until the end, but when I gave the order to celebrate, she eventually left my side with a reluctant expression.
However, since the hallway is so quiet and the voices echo, as long as you are on the same floor, no matter how far away you are, you will be able to hear all the conversations between me and the warrior.
I expected that, so I took out what I had prepared in advance.
It was a small cylinder with a piece of paper about an inch long inside.
I hid it from Camilla and Vanessa, threw it over the bars, and raised my voice as if to hear it out loud.
“Rachel. You must be the eldest daughter of the Marshal of Hamburg, who is in charge of the Eastern Front.”
While saying that, I gestured as if to read the contents inside.
Then Rachel looked at me and her barrel with a bewildered expression, then she seemed to realize what was going on, and she immediately started her act.
“It’s reckless! Whose name do you dare to put in that filthy mouth!”
While shouting, she took out a piece of paper from the box and unfolded it.
Inside the paper were the letters I had written before coming here.
「Rachel, I deliberately pretended to betray the party in order to find a way to attack the Demon Castle, which is said to be impregnable. And now that you’ve found the secret passage to the Devil’s Castle, it’s time to write a letter to your father and let the kingdom know about it. If you write a letter to your father, the Marshal of Hamburg asking for help, I will deliver it.”
I intimidated her outside her grate, keeping her poker face.
“Hamburg is an invincible fortress that has never been captured by demons since the days of the Man-Human War. But as the daughter of the Margrave, you probably know at least one or two back roads or secret passages to get there. Tell me about it. I will save you.”
“Kuu! Affair! You think you’re going to sell the lives of soldiers and subjects because you’re only wasting one life!”
Rachel shouted out a reasonably plausible statement, and quickly began writing sentences with the other paper and pen in her box.
The time given was not very long.
Rachel scribbled down her letter, almost scrawled, in case Vanessa or Camilla might come to look inside the prison if they noticed something strange in our conversation.
“Even a dumb animal knows that its life is precious. Or do you intend to spend your whole life in this dungeon until you die?”
Judging from the fact that the letters are not greatly crushed even in the midst of a rush, it seems that the family has been trained in quick brush strokes.
Eventually, as if she had finished writing her letter, Rachel put the paper and pen back into her cylinder and closed the lid.
“Before I am a woman, I am a warrior! I will never do anything against my beliefs!”
“The language doesn’t work. They say that if the head is stupid, the body suffers.”
Now all I have to do is hand her the cylinder again, but Rachel, shackled in her shackles, can’t come toward her grate, and that doesn’t mean the two of them will think it’s strange if I bend down to pick up the cylinder on the floor.
So, I lightly operated the mana in my body.
Then, the cylinder placed on the floor of the prison rises into the air.
I reached over the bar and quickly snatched it up, then exchanged meaningful glances with Rachel.
“I can’t help it if I don’t like it. You will regret your choice now.”
“I can’t do it all my life right now!
After giving thanks with a wink to Rachel for doing her best until the end, I returned to the side of Vanessa and Camilla who were waiting at the entrance.
Asked Vanessa, who was sitting in a chair with her arms crossed and a dull sign.
“So what happened?”
I smiled bitterly and shook my head.
“No income.”
Then Vanessa nodded her head as if sympathizing with my feelings.
“I thought so. Hero, it’s not an ordinary venom. He didn’t even groan when the torturer cut the tendons from his limbs with a saw.”
As I was talking to Vanessa, I looked at Camilla, who still looked suspicious.
“Why are you looking so fat?”
Then Camilla lowered her eyes slightly and answered honestly.
“I was worried because Kaldrash-nim kept doing suspicious things. Maybe this is an advanced psychological warfare.”
When I heard that, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Who would betray so openly in this day and age?”
Camilla then frankly admitted.
“I see. I must have been too sensitive.”
I told Camilla not to beat herself up too much because she could do that, then looked at Vanessa, who patiently waited for our conversation to end.
“Let’s go up now.”
Then Vanessa nodded his head in his right hand and began to lead him up the stairs.
I followed her up her stairs and looked down at her gently.
“…”
I couldn’t guarantee when I would come back here again.
But if the day comes when I see their faces again, then many things in the world will have already changed.
I had a vague feeling about it.
***
After leaving the dungeon, we broke up halfway with Vanessa, who said she would return to patrol, and we decided to go back to the village below the castle to participate in a small party held by the villagers, as promised with Violet earlier in the day.
We spent quite a bit of time in the dungeon, so by the time we get to the village, the sun will have completely set and it will be a dark night.
I grabbed the reins of the bicorn with one hand and took out the contents of the cylinder from my chest.
It was none other than a handwritten letter from Rachel herself.
I opened a small piece of paper the size of a span and began to read the words written inside.
“To my father in my hometown.
I can’t even remember the last time I saw my father.
I was completely isolated in a distant foreign land.
While trying to find a way to survive with his colleagues, he accidentally discovered a secret passage leading to the castle.
I wrote a letter to inform this fact, but there was no proper way to deliver it, so the wizard of our party decided to deliver it instead.
He is a trustworthy person, so please, father, trust the contents of this letter.
If my father raises an army and captures the castle, it will put an end to this long fight.
Before going to bed, I will always wish my father victory.
My father’s beloved daughter, Rachel von Hamburg.”
“Kuk.”
When I finished reading Rachel’s letter, I couldn’t help but laugh involuntarily.
At first glance, it seemed like I wrote what I wanted, but what I need to pay attention to here is the excessive cursive writing.
If you connect unnaturally shaped letters in sequence…
“To my father in my hometown.
I Don’tI can’t even remember the last time I saw my father.
I was completely isolated in a distant foreign land.
A room to surviveLawWhile researching with my colleagues to find the , I accidentally found out the secret passage leading to the Devil Castle.
This FourI wrote a letter myself to inform the thread, but there was no proper way to deliver it, so our party’s wizardGoInstead of ShipI decided to give it a month.
He is a trustworthy person, so my father please GodPlease trust me.
If my father raises an army and captures the castle, it will put an end to this long fight.
NowI will always pray for my father’s victory.
My father’s beloved daughter, Rachel von Hamburg.”
‘Sorcerers are Traitors‘, One word is complete.
Didn’t you commit a rather cunning thing to the warrior subject?
I nervously crumpled the letter in my hand.
