Chapter 484: Information Search

“… An Archpriest-rank Midnight Syndicate member?”

“Yes,” I replied to Old Man Leng, who was staring at me with a raised eyebrow. In his hand was some parts of a disassembled gun, as per usual. “Do you know where we can find one?”

After being denied entry to Fragment, we had came to Old Man Leng’s shop, hoping that he may have some information. But alas…

“Cheh. What makes ya think I’d have info on this? I don’t even know how their rankin’ system works.”

“I see…” I muttered, sighing deeply. “Well, thanks nonetheless. Just wondering if you overheard anything last night from inside your shop, that’s all.”

“Nope.” Old Man Leng shook his head helplessly. “However… I can help point ya in the right direction.”

“Hm…?” I stopped and turned back around to face him, right before we were about to leave.

“I may have not overheard anythin’, but I did see them come from the tight alleyways between buildin’s. If yer gonna search for info, why not get it directly from them?”

“Well, we would, but… I’m pretty sure all of them are scattered after what happened tonight,” Feng Mian said uncomfortably.

“And that’s if there are even any survivors amongst them at all,” Yu An Yan added, folding her arms beneath her generous chest. “This method could work, but… it’ll take god knows how long to search this entire city for a few individuals in hiding.”

“Actually… this reminded me of something,” Amane suddenly said after some short hesitation. “I’m sorry I didn’t remember this earlier, but… there are a few Midnight Syndicate members my clan has held captive in our temple. Their treatment has been harsh, though, and I don’t know how many of them have committed suicide to avoid interrogation…”

“Huh? Suicide?” Qing Yue pursed her lips. “But do they really have that sense of loyalty? I mean, that old man we caught earlier practically handed us information on a silver platter, didn’t he?”

“Indeed,” Obsidia agreed with a nod. “These vermin, much like many other humans, are terribly afraid of death. In the face of imminent nonexistence, they are willing to do anything to survive and prolong their pitiful lives.”

“Then let’s go,” I said, boldly striding out the door. “There’s no time to waste. We’ll be back later, Old Man Leng. Don’t close up before we get back—we need to access the portal.”

“Boy, you trippin’ if ya think I’m gonna stay here and wait for yo slow asses to get back,” Old Man Leng said with a snort, then fumbled out a spare key from his back pocket and tossed it over at me. It was so sudden that I didn’t have time to react, but Lorelei appeared in her fox form out of nowhere and caught it in her mouth for me.

Glancing down at the silver key in my hand, I gave a shrug.

“Well, this works too, I suppose. Later.”

“Get outta ‘ere already. A young man standing around with his ten girlfriends ain’t a good customer attracter at all,” Old Man Leng chuckled and waved as if shooing us away. “Just the girls would be fine advertisin’, though, so I don’t mind if they stay.”

“Er… we would rather not be models for your shop,” Feng Mian said awkwardly. “Appreciate the offer, though.”

“Yeah, yeah… just kiddin’. See ya, kids.”

With that, we parted, and the girls and I headed for Amane’s place to do some interrogation.

*****

– 15 Minutes Later –

It didn’t take long for us to arrive at the cathuman temple. Once there, Amane led us to the underground floor, where all the dungeon cells were. On the way there, the residents of the temple eyed us with caution, some fear, but none were friendly. I worried that was going to have an effect on their impression of Amane as well, but she was going to be leaving here with us soon anyway, so it didn’t matter all too much, I suppose.

“Here we are,” Amane said quietly, pushing open the wooden double doors that led to the prison.

On the other side, a single stone hallway ran straight before coming to a stop after about 50 meters. Along it were cubicle cells on either side, surrounded by metal bars and enforced with magic enchantments. Only a few actually had prisoners in them, and each cell that did have a prisoner inside was guarded by two soldiers.

“Matriarch,” they chanted collectively upon seeing us, and knelt down on one knee to show their loyalty.

“Rise,” Amane said in a voice worthy of an empress, and the soldiers rose obediently.

“Is there anything you need us to do, matriarch?” The one in front asked, gaze solemn.

Amane glanced at the prisoners in their cells, all unconscious, and sighed.

“Wake them up—I have some questions I want answered. If they’re dead, dispose of them.”

The soldiers bowed. “Understood.”

Quickly, they went to work, kicking the prisoners’ bodies to wake them up. Seeing this scene, Lan Xiao Su inhaled sharply and cowered behind me, as if unable to bear this extravagantly brutal method of waking them up. Me? I would much prefer getting beaten conscious over being splashed by a bucket of cold water. Besides, it seems the soldiers were taking careful care not to use too much force, since these prisoners were already weak, just barely clinging onto life.

“Line them up,” Amane ordered, and the soldiers dragged the ones who were still alive and capable of talking out from their cells, then forced them to kneel on the stone ground in front of us. Their faces were bruised, shallow, as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks, and their eyes were empty, lifeless. Their white prisoner clothes were dirty, ripped, but the unmistakable mark of the Midnight Syndicate was etched onto their skin beneath like a tattoo.

Of the nine prisoners, only five were still alive, it would seem.

Once the prisoners were all lined up, wrists shackled by heavy magic-restricting handcuffs, Amane turned to me and gave a nod, signaling for me to take over from here. I smiled in return and stepped forward, then crouched down so my eyes were approximately at the same altitude as theirs.

“Now then… we have a few questions for you. You all look like you’ve already given up hope, but let me tell you… if you tell us what we want to know, we’ll give you food, water, clean you up, then let you go free. Hell, we’ll even throw in a generous sum of money—enough to last you a lifetime. What do you say? Prisoner to carefree, poor to rich. So long as you answer these few questions of ours, you’ll go from dying men to wealthy barons.”

At this, the five prisoner’s eyes immediately lit up. I had struck a chord with them.

“Yes, yes… imagine all the benefits you could enjoy. Far better than being here, or even serving the Midnight Syndicate, no?”

The prisoners gulped and exchanged glances, then nodded.

“We’ll… answer your questions,” the one in the middle breathed, voice raspy and weak. I smiled in response.

“Very good.”

Then, turning to the soldiers, I issued an order.

“Go. Bring me five glasses of water, along with five slices of bread. High-quality ones.”

“This…” the soldiers hesitated at whether or not to follow my order, and Amane frowned.

“Did you not hear him? Do as he says,” she growled, folding her arms. “In this temple, his word is the same as mine. Understand?”

“A-Ah, yes, matriarch!”

The soldiers scurried away, not needing to be told another time. Soon, they returned with the items I requested, and I pointed my chin towards the five prisoners, signaling that the soldiers should set the items in front of them. They did as ordered, and the prisoners immediately began eagerly devouring the food and water, satisfying their aching hunger and thirst. Once they were done, they wiped their mouths and sat up straight.

“… What do you want to know?” The leader asked, voice now in a much better shape than before. I grinned innocently.

“Not much. I just want to know where I can find an Archpriest of your organization.”

“An Archpriest… leads a division of Midnight Syndicate members like us,” the representative of the five prisoners said. “Our group’s boss was one. I can’t be certain where he is now, but… he mentioned plans about going to attack a sacred shrine on Mount Kita in Japan before we were captured. If you’re going to look for him, I’d suggest starting there.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Japan… land of the Demihumans,” Feng Mian murmured. “That’s quite a hassle, to go all the way there… aren’t there any in Human Territory, or better yet, right here in the Fortress?”

“You can try looking… but we are good at hiding,” another prisoner added. “If you search every inch of this entire city, you may eventually come across one, but who knows how long that will take? Just take our advice.”

“And if you are lying?” I asked, just to bait them. But in response, the prisoners only laughed.

“You’re free to believe what you want. We told you what we know, when we couldn’t be sure whether you were lying or not. So… believe what you will.”