Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 235

 The interior seemed to be constructed in a spiral pattern, with several twists and turns leading us deeper inside. Finally, we arrived at the innermost area, which housed six cells.

Here, unlike the rest of the journey, there were soldiers stationed to monitor the prisoners. This indicated that the cells were occupied.

"Good work. There are four individuals held here."

After greeting the soldier, I peered into the first cell. Inside, a man was chained to the wall, his wrists bound with shackles, and he was slumped over in exhaustion.

"He looks quite worn out... Were the interrogations that severe?"

Liesel asked Jozef about the state of the interrogations, and I shared the same curiosity. Although his clothes were slightly bloodstained, they were not torn, and he didn’t appear to have been tortured. He had only been here for two days.

Hearing our conversation, he groaned. How could he be in this state already?

Jozef pointed to the ceiling and began to explain.

"It's that. The light is on all day from morning till night. Coupled with the interrogations, he probably hasn't been able to sleep. Even if he manages to adapt, we wake him every hour, so he never gets proper rest. This place mostly houses foreign nobility, and some receive visitors. Even if they’re awaiting execution, we can't let them appear too battered."

"I see..."

With the constant brightness, it would indeed be impossible to sleep. A few years ago, those caught in illegal familiar dealings were similarly worn out after a few days. So, this was the reason...

"It's convenient, saves us some trouble. I wonder if it would be useful to have something like this at our place..."

"Well... it's a bit early for that, don't you think? Fortunately, we don't have any foreign detainees that would require such measures."

"True..."

At most, we deal with guards from merchant caravans who start fights. There's no need for such elaborate facilities.

As I thought about this and looked inside the cell, the man noticed us and lifted his head. Though he had served within the castle, he was an unfamiliar face to me.

"…Ugh..."

He looked dazed, likely due to exhaustion and sleep deprivation. In this state, talking to him wouldn’t be productive. There would be no point in coming here.

I instructed the soldier nearby to bang on the iron bars. The loud noise should be enough to get the man’s attention.

"Seriana Riselia Riana. You seem to have been put through the wringer. I’ve read the details of your interrogation."

The report mentioned that he was coaxed into participating by senior soldiers in his unit who promised him money. Unlucky, but foolish. He should have reported it to his superior immediately.

"Your answer wasn’t what I wanted."

With that, I started to move on to the next cell, but he struggled to sit up and approached us.

"…⁉ W-wait! I need to t-…ugh⁉"

He tried to speak but was silenced by the butt of a spear. Despite his continued yelling, we had no further use for him.

Noticing this commotion, the other three prisoners grabbed the bars and peered at us. Though they remained silent, their eyes were pleading.

"Do you want to speak with them?"

Liesel spoke loudly enough for them to hear, despite having read the report. She was surprisingly mean-spirited.

"I hate lies."

The first man had confessed truthfully, but the other three had tried to cover things up. Despite being the ones who initially approached the first man, they had misled him. Apparently, after some beatings, they had also confessed to having female companions since spring.

"Oh, by the way, which one of them harmed Seria?"

I came here to see the attackers' faces, but I had another purpose as well.

"The one in the rightmost cell. His name is…"

"His name doesn’t matter."

I interrupted Jozef and walked to the end, looking through the bars. The man had bruises, likely from being hit during interrogation, but otherwise was an unremarkable-looking fellow.

"Ah... um... heh heh..."

He averted his gaze and let out a servile laugh.

"Hah... I don’t even feel like yelling."

Despite being abandoned, they had involved these lowlifes in their assassination plot. It was exasperating. I let out a sigh.

We had no more business here, so it was time to leave. But, one more thing...

"Cut off this man's arms."

I mustn’t forget to convey this to the person involved.

"Right... I should inform all of you as well. I don’t know what you’ve been told during interrogation, but there will be no pardon. You are all scheduled to be executed during next year’s commemorative festival. Until then, you will serve as subjects for torture experiments... Pray that you’re lucky enough to die from untreated injuries."

Upon hearing this, their faces turned pale. They were too shocked to speak. How satisfying.