Free Web NovelThe dim prison was lit only by the weak yellow glow of the lamps hanging from the walls.
The iron-forged cell doors were pitch-black, and several jailers patrolled the corridors back and forth. Even though not everyone in the Glenfiddy family had been involved in those monstrous deeds, and even though they hadn’t arrested the innocent, uninformed members, the cells were still packed full.
Vieya had left the Magic Academy and followed Hua Shiyu to the underground prison where the criminals were held.
Rorina followed behind them, but kept her head lowered the entire way, not daring to look up.
Though she hated her family—hated it deeply—she had lived here for more than ten years. It was impossible to say she felt nothing.
And among those imprisoned here, many faces were familiar to her. Some had bullied her. Some had insulted her. Yet some had cared for her...
They all deserve this. Even if I hadn’t reported them, they wouldn’t have escaped judgment anyway...
Rorina tried to comfort herself. She had imagined that she would feel happy when this day arrived—but now she didn’t feel even a trace of happiness.
“You actually didn’t need to come. Whatever you want to ask the clan head, I can ask for you.” Vieya spoke softly. Regardless of whether Rorina wanted it or not, the Glenfiddy family’s clan head wouldn’t escape interrogation.
And Vieya could more or less guess what Rorina wanted to ask.
Ninety percent chance it had to do with her parents. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
“It’s fine, Benefactor Sister. There are things I still want to ask personally.” Rorina answered in a whisper.
“Really didn’t expect someone like you to enjoy taking care of kids.” Hua Shiyu suddenly interrupted from ahead, her tone odd. “Back then, before you left the Arbitration Bureau in Deerhorn City, when you asked me to help you track someone down, that person was probably your daughter, right?” fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
“Yes.” Vieya said. There was nothing to hide.
“Speaking of which, I haven’t met your daughter yet.” Hua Shiyu clasped her hands behind her back, her pace unhurried, her tone light. “Got time to let us meet?”
“Do whatever you want.” Vieya replied coolly.
“Aiya, Little White, you’re so cold.” Hua Shiyu sighed. “You’re so warm to everyone else.”
“That can’t be helped. My first impression of you was terrible.” Vieya said without remorse. “A pink-haired perverted loli-con copper brat. Mm, I think it’s better if you don’t meet my daughter.”
“...Even I can get angry when slandered to this degree!” Hua Shiyu clenched her teeth. She only liked pretty girls shorter than herself—what was wrong with that?
“Whether it’s slander or not, you know the answer.” Vieya said calmly.
“I do NOT!!” Hua Shiyu snapped.
Silence fell.
Walking behind them, Rorina was still wrapped in her tangled emotions—only to be startled into holding her breath by the sudden quarrel between the two seniors.
They walked another ten minutes or so.
At the end of the corridor appeared the final cell. It was larger than the others, but the usable space inside wasn’t much different—dense with chains.
In the center of the chains crouched a disheveled man, looking around forty or fifty, eyes dull and sunken. Like Rorina and the others, he had pink hair. The thin white shirt he wore was covered in dried, mottled blood.
Two jailers bowed slightly when they saw Hua Shiyu and Vieya, then stepped aside to give them room.
“Do you want us to leave?” Vieya asked, looking toward Rorina.
Rorina shook her head. She stepped forward, stopped at the iron bars, and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking softly:
“Uncle... was the death of my father and mother related to you?”
“...”
The man inside paused, then slowly raised his eyelids and glanced at Rorina—only for his gaze to pass over her almost immediately, shifting to the two people behind her.
“Don’t waste your time. I have nothing to say to any of you. No matter what I say, I won’t escape the Tribunal, will I?”
“Uncle...”
“Don’t call me uncle. Your mother was just a lowly bastard child. You’re just as low as she was.”
“...”
The man did not spare Rorina even a moment’s regard. Instead, he stared at Vieya.
“Heh... you’re strong. If ‘Youze’ were still alive, you would never have found us. A gamble’s a gamble. We lost. Nothing to say.”
After Youze’s failure to ascend and subsequent death in Talin, the Ghost organization’s power across the southern region had rapidly collapsed. The Arbitration knights and the Church forces never stopped, hunting them like hyenas.
Because of a few specific reasons, Fengxiang Town had suffered the heaviest purges. Now, aside from them, only a few core squads in winter dormancy remained untouched.
If Youze were still alive, they would not have fallen this fast. But ever since his death, the southern remnants had become headless and were quickly wiped out.
“Even if you lost your gamble, you’re now facing a question from someone of your own blood. You’re really not going to say anything?” Hua Shiyu spoke suddenly.
“And who are you supposed to be?”
The man stared at Hua Shiyu’s hair and eyes, sneering. “There’s no one like you in our clan. Or... are you just another bastard our family seeded outside?”
“Sorry, I have nothing to do with you.” Hua Shiyu replied lightly. “I simply want to eliminate all of you who colluded with monsters. You can relax—I’ll represent the Alliance and promise you this: the remaining Ghost members will join you in hell very soon.”
“Represent the Alliance?”
The man tried to move his limbs, but the chains held him immobile. He said coldly:
“The rulers of your Alliance are nothing but treacherous usurpers. Once we’re done in hell, it will be your turn.”
“Is that so?” Hua Shiyu glanced at Rorina, who kept her head down, saying nothing. “You really don’t want to answer her question? She’s your blood relative—surely you can show at least a crumb of decency before you die?”
“What’s it to you?”
The man laughed icily and turned toward Rorina, who trembled in silence.
“Well, since you want to know the cause of your parents’ deaths, I’ll tell you. Your mother was also a member of Ghost. And she was a key researcher in the human–monster fusion experiments.”
“You know those fusion experiments, yes? Those low-grade monsters with intelligence that appear all over the world—those are the byproducts.”
“And you were born because of that experiment. You thought you had your parents’ love? No—those were part of the experiment. Otherwise, do you think you’d still be alive after your mother defected?”
“You were priceless experimental data. Hahaha!”
He laughed wildly. “Your mother actually threatened me—threatened to destroy you, that precious experimental product, and expose everything. Pathetic! So I strangled her with my own hands.”
“Well? Dear niece, are you satisfied with the truth? Shouldn’t you thank your uncle for saving your life from your mother?”
“No... I don’t believe you!”
After a brief stunned moment, Rorina reflexively shouted back, her voice trembling more and more. “My father and mother loved me the most! You’re the bad one... yes, all of you are bad!”
Rorina suddenly pulled out the apprentice’s wand hidden in her sleeve. Her ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) voice cracked hollowly from agitation:
“Uncle—I’m going to kill you!”
