Free Web NovelChapter 334: Chapter 334: Biting One’s Tongue to Commit Suicide_1
After being forced to answer a question, Sophie immediately began to ask in return, "Tell me the whereabouts of the Goddess of Conspiracy!"
Veronica heard the same command in her mind, but the answer that ultimately came was, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Damn it!" Sophie cursed inwardly after understanding Aiden’s approach.
The rules of the "Wordless Code" would take effect on both parties, forcing her to divulge information while making herself unable to withhold anything.
So he simply sent someone who was clueless about the confidential information to interrogate her, either he was now hiding somewhere with the "Wordless Code," or he had lent it directly to the female prison guard before her.
Sophie hadn’t expected the other party to go to such lengths, forsaking dignity just to pry intelligence from her, even at the risk of offending the information network of the Smiling Balance.
Meanwhile, Veronica had no clue about the questions Aiden had written on paper, nor the questions posed by the other party.
All she was instructed to do was to ask according to procedure, jot down all answers, and relay them verbatim to Aiden.
The piece of paper Aiden gave her was a tree diagram of various questions, which roughly covered possible answers and the order in which to ask them.
After hearing the answer to the first question, Veronica continued down the list and posed the second question, "When and where did he purchase information from you, and what was it?"
"Two years ago in the Empire’s White Horse City, he inquired about the whereabouts of the ’Hand of Oblivion,’" Sophie was again compelled to answer.
Veronica glanced at the record on the paper and continued to ask, "The answer you gave him—"
"Ugh!!" Sophie suddenly bit down hard on her own tongue, the severe pain causing her to convulse.
Under the influence of the "Wordless Code" she was still forced to respond to the question, but with her tongue injured, she could only produce some indistinct sounds. The taste of rust spread in her mouth, blood mixed with saliva leaking from the corners of her lips.
"Hey!" Veronica’s eyes widened slightly at the sight.
But she soon calmed down, remembering that Aiden had told her to suspend questioning if the other party unexpectedly responded in such an extreme way.
She immediately took out the "Wordless Code" and crossed out the rule that forced responses to questions.
"Alright, I won’t ask any more! Open your mouth now, let me see the injury!" she signaled for the other to calm down.
Sophie glared at her for a good while before finally opening her mouth—her tongue was not severed, but appeared to be lacerated down to the muscles, with the wound continuously seeping blood. The injury seemed unlikely to be fatal, but such a wound... it would be difficult to heal properly without a skilled healer.
Veronica sighed, "Go and get treated first."
An hour later, in the infirmary.
"...Can you speak normally now?" Aiden asked Sophie after she had received treatment and was lying on a couch.
After a long silence, Sophie spoke expressionlessly, "Quite impressive medical skills indeed, a tongue almost bitten to shreds has healed so quickly... although the treatment process was a bit bizarre, to say the least."
Aiden turned to look at Meiruki servant standing by and said, "Thank you for your efforts."
"It’s no trouble at all, just a minor wound that can mostly heal with a little use of a beast-shaping elixir," Meiruki servant replied with a polite smile.
Aiden gestured for a prison guard to take Meiruki servant out, then indicated for Veronica to bring Sophie into an inner room.
Once inside, Aiden had Sophie sit down face to face with him, "You really don’t hold back on yourself, do you? If your tongue had been severed, our great singer wouldn’t be able to articulate a single lyric."
"It’s not like you had to resort to these methods all of a sudden..." Sophie’s tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction, "I thought a warden like you would have at least some sense of decency."
"Decency doesn’t put food on the table, and this information is very important to me. I really can’t afford the price you’re asking," Aiden shrugged.
"So you decided to eat the king’s meal by using this method?"
"If we had to settle every account clearly, then actually, it was you who caused me trouble first," Aiden spread his hands.
"I really didn’t expect you would go to such lengths..." Sophie sighed.
"I didn’t expect you would go to such lengths either," Aiden replied.
"You actually trust someone else with your sole authority, what exactly is your relationship?" Sophie looked back and forth between Aiden and Veronica, who stood behind him, "Companions? Lovers?"
"Eh?" Veronica instinctively showed a surprised and happy expression.
"A trustworthy superior and subordinate," Aiden, not having seen Veronica’s expression, gave an exceedingly practical response.
Veronica suddenly pouted slightly in displeasure.
Sophie took another look at the two: "Alright, I kind of understand now."
A relationship that could be seen at a glance, but regardless, there must be a level of trust beyond self-interest for one party to confidently entrust the sole authority to the other.
Trust... Sophie couldn’t help but think again of the maid who had once been by her side.
"You said Mr. Red Jacket had asked you about the location of ’The Hand of Annihilation’, which means you know about it?" Aiden asked Sophie.
"You’re still asking?" Sophie frowned.
"Since the information has already been leaked, might as well tell it all," Aiden began coaxing the other party, "You’ve also seen what I’m capable of..."
"Then you’ve also seen what I am capable of... Please don’t push me too hard," Sophie answered with a dark expression, "The information you are asking for concerns the sole authority’s important intelligence..."
"Honestly, I don’t quite understand. Is information that can be bought with money really so important that it needs to be guarded to the extent of biting off one’s own tongue?" Aiden asked, "A big star like you shouldn’t be so short on cash, right?"
"Keeping information secure is the iron rule of the organization, everything I have is given by the organization," Sophie responded.
"Bound by the organization’s money-making rules? I thought someone as wealthy as you would be a bit more free," Aiden remarked.
Sophie was taken aback.
"Well, today has been quite fruitful anyway, let’s leave it at that," Aiden briskly put aside further questioning, "Since you’re injured, no need for you to work this afternoon. Rest in your cell."
Aiden waved his hand, signaling Veronica to take Sophie back to her cell.
The Hand of Annihilation—Aiden had heard Qiqimora mention this name before.
Mr. Red Jacket, like Qiqimora, was also in pursuit of the ’Void’s’ sole authority. freewebnovel.cσ๓
In other words, this was likely the method Mr. Red Jacket had found, a way to decipher Melissa’s resurrection method, and to completely erase the existence of "Aiden Galahad".
