"Please... just... kill me..."
A hole, presumably its mouth, twitched faintly. I needed to know if this creature could understand me. A cuckoo bird that only begged for death was useless.
"You want to die? Nod if that's true."
"You demon..."
Eve muttered behind me, but I ignored her, focusing on the drugged-up criminal before me. He slowly nodded. Judging by his reaction, his hearing and judgment seemed intact. So, Karin had really skinned him alive. Was she a butcher in her past life?
"Please... I want... to die..."
"Where's your drug supply? Your hideout?"
Originally, the plan was to interrogate the drug dealers and strike a mutually beneficial deal. But since they were all in this state, there was no room for compromise. Unfortunately, the only option left was to enforce justice and restore order.
Eve rolled closer to me, still chained. When I glanced at her, she casually spread her bound hands, signaling she was harmless. The criminal hesitated, then spoke slowly.
"Peta Estate... mansion... back mountain... cave..."
So, the hideout was right under their noses—in the cave behind the mansion. I asked about their organization and other details, and the criminal spilled everything easily. Kingdom-trained interrogators were truly something. Even without torture, he trembled as if he were being tormented, confessing his crimes.
If it were me, I'd have killed him during interrogation. Now, with nothing left to extract, I planned to grant his wish.
I'm not a psychopath like Karin, after all.
But then I realized I'd forgotten my mace. I patted my waist and looked at Eve. She flinched when our eyes met and backed away slightly.
"Do you have a gun?"
"A gun? Oh, yeah. It's on my hip."
As Eve nodded, I stepped into her cell. I felt my waist and found a pistol holstered there. Eve glared at me, clearly annoyed I'd touched her.
"Don't grope me, you sick, murdering religious freak."
"You seem to dislike religion. That's not right."
"What the hell! It's not religion—I just hate you, you psycho bitch! And why are you suddenly being polite after talking casually before?"
Because it annoys you. I pulled the pistol from my hip and examined it. It was a simple firearm, the kind you'd see in a pirate movie set in the Caribbean. The gunpowder was loaded, ready to fire.
"It's loaded," Eve warned.
*Bang!*
I aimed at the drug dealer��s head and pulled the trigger. A small hole appeared, and his feeble twitching stopped. I looked around the dungeon, filled with torture marks. I'd wanted to make this place more comfortable, but it seemed hopeless.
I confiscated Eve's gun and called Robin. She demanded her weapon back, but I ignored her.
"Robin."
"Yes, my lord."
"Leave Eve in the basement and clean everything else—the blood, the bodies, all of it."
"Understood."
"And bring me a map. Meet me in the bath."
As Robin left to follow my orders, I headed to the bath, not to clean myself, but to meet Sellu. She lounged in a private tub, splashing water lazily. When she saw me, she smirked. For a murderous mermaid, Sellu was surprisingly sociable.
"You're here. What's on your mind? Me? My body? My preferences?"
"Tell me more about Evangelin."
"Evangelin?"
"Yeah. You said she proposed destroying the city, but you refused."
"Right, right."
"What does she look like?"
Evangelin's name never appeared in the game. It was a game where defeating the Demon King meant victory. Even the Demon King in the game never mentioned a name like Evangelin. He just screamed in frustration before dying.
Something was clearly different. I believed Evangelin was at the center of these changes. Though her identity was unknown, removing her was key to resolving the chaos.
"I don't know."
Sellu shook her head. Frustrated, I pressed her.
"You don't know?"
"She wore a mask. I only know she's a woman. But her species? No clue. She was covered head to toe in cloth."
"Her build?"
"Average human woman. Normal size."
"Her voice? If she's a woman, you must've heard it."
"Just a human voice. Want me to mimic it?"
"Mimic it?"
"Heh... I'm a mermaid. Mimicking voices is easy."
Sellu smirked, cleared her throat, and closed her eyes. But as she opened her mouth, her expression twisted, and she stopped. She tried again, but nothing changed.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't."
"What?"
Suddenly, Sellu mimicked my voice perfectly. She tilted her head, confused.
"Strange. You can, but I can't."
"Only Evangelin's voice?"
"Yeah. I can't explain it. It's like... I just can't."
"Any unique habits or speech patterns?"
"Um... I can't say."
"What?"
Sellu looked panicked, touching her lips. She tried to explain, her mouth moving like she was speaking underwater. She stretched her lips oddly, struggling to speak.
"So, Evangelin... I can't say. I can't talk about her. Why? She's a woman, average build, but I can't describe her?"
Sellu repeated, "I can't say," like a parrot. She wasn't mocking me. She tried drawing, gesturing, but failed. Her hand trembled, and whenever she neared a description, she'd stop, saying, "I can't say."
"This is strange. I tried to help, but why can't I speak?"
"Does Eve know Evangelin?"
I'd meant to ask Eve about Evangelin earlier but got distracted. Sellu nodded.
"Yeah. Eve was there when we talked. But Eve hated her."
That was enough. I left Sellu in the bath and headed out. Robin waited in the hall with the map.
"Are you done bathing?"
I'd told him to bring it to the bath, so he'd assumed I was bathing. I nodded, took the map, and pointed to the mansion's back mountain.
"Search this area with the guards and knights."
"Understood."
Robin left, and I returned to the cleaned dungeon. Eve lay in the cell, looking slightly more comfortable. The bloodstains were gone, leaving only a faint iron smell. She rolled on the bed, chained to the bars.
"Why are you back?"
"I have a question."
"About what?"
"Do you know Evangelin?"
"Evangelin? Oh..."
Eve frowned, then nodded.
"Who is she?"
"I don't know. She appeared on the island, claiming to be Evangelin. She talked to my mom, but it didn't go well."
"What does she look like?"
"She wore a mask and cloth. Once, she said she was hot and removed her hood. I saw her, but... I can't say."
Eve grimaced. I was certain now. Unless Sellu and Eve conspired, this was magic or a taboo hiding Evangelin's existence.