“What was your question again?”

Morgan was sitting on the couch while crossing her arms, and making a disinterested expression. Despite the fact that she was actually cornered, she looked really calm on the outside, while a slight of sadness appeared on her face from time to time. Her appearance and demeanor faintly reflected the hardships she had been going through. It even made Diana, the Guild Master who was responsible for interrogating Morgan, frown and re-evaluate her judgment.

“... I was asking, what happened?”

Instead of giving any proper answer, Morgan stared directly at Diana’s eyes and threw a question back to her.

“Before that, may I ask something?”

“... What is it?”

Let’s see… What I really need now is information. With all the adventurers in this guild fixing their eyes on me now, I should just act innocent until they get bored and leave me alone. And for this Diana girl…

Without wasting any more time, Morgan, along with her wicked thoughts, brandished her venomous fangs, ready to bite her poor prey.

“How did you guys know I killed someone?”

A simple question came out from Morgan’s mouth, indicating that she was clueless about the predicament she was in, while in fact, she kinda knew that it had something to do with the crystal ball from earlier. Dumbfounded, Diana made a really stupid look on her face. Although she had assured herself that she was prepared for anything, Morgan’s question was enough to make her shaken. Diana slammed the table in frustration.

“Are you retarded or wh━”

Just before she could finish her words, her gaze was suddenly fixed to the bracelet-like tattoo on Morgan’s left arm. She immediately recalled who she was dealing with and calmed herself down. She took a deep breath and began to explain slowly.

“Do you remember the crystal ball that you touched earlier?”

Morgan only nodded innocently, as she clearly found out the way on how to deal with Diana.

“It was a magic tool to appraise new adventurers. It is used to identify someone’s criminal records, no matter how small the crime they’ve done…”

Diana moved her hands around while explaining, and it was easy to understand she was just that dedicated to her work. But for Morgan, it was a good sign.

Talent is cheap, but dedication is expensive. Just the same as the old saying from Earth, huh? But as for how expensive it is… It will cost your life, little girl…

“The darker the crystal ball is glowing, the heavier the crime you’ve done. Yours was dark red, showing that your crime was definitely a murder.”

“I see… I have nothing else to say then…”

Morgan closed her eyes and raised her hands in the air, as if she was making a sign that she gave up, deliberately.

“So you really…”

Diana squinted her eyes, sharpening her fixated gaze on Morgan.

“Yes. I killed someone. He was my caretaker, but I have my reason to do so…”

Morgan opened her eyes and looked at Diana, whose expression was that of a hungry lioness, ready to leap on its weak prey.

“What is your reason?”

Oh, she didn’t ask about Alfred nor Herman’s name… That’s quite strange for someone who’s interrogating a suspect… Is it safe to assume that she knew one of them? Should I stir up the pace a little bit?

With a lot of possibilities and schemes going on inside her head, Morgan opened her mouth in a cold manner.

“I was imprisoned inside a small iron cage and as you probably knew already, I’m a slave.”

Morgan extended her left arm, showing the bracelet-like tattoo on it to catch Diana’s attention, and it was successful, as Diana focused her eyes on the tattoo. Realizing that Diana was at least listening to her story, Morgan then continued.

“3 days ago, as usual, I was starving since that guy didn’t give me enough food to eat, and I tried to ask him to give me the bread on the table near him.”

Morgan threw a glance to Diana’s direction, and she could clearly see Diana’s expression, as it became a little saddened. Just by seeing her reaction, Morgan already realized that the girl she was telling the story to was somewhat soft hearted, but at the same time, a hot-headed fool with an unbelievably high sense of justice. A really suitable prey for someone who had their mouth as their main weapon.

“But then, it happened…”

Morgan lowered her head and covered her mouth with her palms.

“He told me some things like a slave shouldn’t behave like that, or when you ask something you should beg for it, and so on. I was really hungry so I did what he told me to, but instead of giving me the bread, he just… Ugh…”

Morgan’s act really penetrated deeply into Diana’s heart, as she clenched her fists and tried her best to hold her anger. Her high sense of justice, along with the fact that the one in front of her was a poor slave girl who was almost getting raped, amped up her rage to the point she stood up and quickly approached Morgan.

This is it… If I’m not mistaken, she’ll…

Diana placed her hand on Morgan’s shoulder gently and uttered in a much softer voice than before.

“I’m sorry. You’ve been through that kind of hardship. If you don’t want to tell the rest of it, don’t force━”

“No! I have to prove my innocence!”

Morgan quickly raised her head and stared directly at Diana's blue pupils, while making an almost crying face. Diana was perplexed after seeing that, not expecting that the slave girl in front of her was that mentally strong. Her heart felt like it was crumbling, and by all means, she foolishly decided to believe every word Morgan was saying, ignoring the fact that she should be doing her job as a Guild Master.

“Okay, but I’m not forcing you to tell. Just tell me whenever you’re ready, alright?”

This girl… Is she fucking stupid or what!? Who would believe a stranger’s words that easily!? Ugh… Now I feel so stupid for being overly cautious.

It was thanks to her acting that her internal conflict didn’t get reflected through her face, as Morgan started to let out a sigh and uttered.

“I’ll continue…”

“... Alright. Just take your time, Morgan.”

Morgan nodded and began to spout blatant lies that normally wouldn’t be that believable.

“That guy opened the cage and pulled my hair, and as I was crying in pain, he pulled the rope I was tying my clothes with…”

Morgan meekly touched the rope that was wrapping around her hips. It was a rope she found in the abandoned hangar, though.

“He then pulled my clothes away and pushed me down… Ugh…”

Again, Morgan covered her mouth with her palms and acted like she was about to vomit. Seeing that, Diana slammed her fist on the table.

Starting from now on, I’ll call this girl ‘the Slammer’... Can’t she just be calm and listen to my made up story? Seriously…

“I wasn’t able to do anything since I was starving and didn’t have the power… He even threatened me using his fire magic. He said he would burn my face with it if I refused.”

In contrast to what she was telling, Morgan smiled slightly and raised her face a bit. She also closed her eyes and tried her best to make a serene and sadly smiley expression.

“I thought it was over for me, as I was passing out. But faintly, I saw that one of his friends came in and stopped that guy. They quarreled after that and suddenly they decided to put me in a dirty sack. Everything went black right after…”

Morgan waited for Diana’s response.

“It’s just as Lennon said…”

“Hmm? Did you say something?”

“No, I was talking to myself. Continue with your story.”

She was clearly saying a name, though… Lennon, was it? I’d better remember that name.

“The first thing I could see when I woke up was quite disturbing… Do you still wish to hear it?”

Hearing Morgan’s question, Diana nodded and focused on what Morgan was about to say.

“When I woke up, I was inside a hangar near the docks. And in front of me, a man wearing black cloak and robe was tying up the two guys. Those two guys were my caretaker and his friend from before. And somehow, my body and clothes were wet. I could hardly guess what they had done to me…”

Morgan stopped for a brief moment, put her feet up on the couch, and began to hug them.

“At first, I was scared. I thought the man in black would do the same to me, but until he left, he didn’t even lay a finger on me. That man just interrogated the two guys and left after saying, ‘Do whatever you want to them.’ I was confused at his words, but the next moment I saw him throw a dagger around my feet. I don’t know what I was thinking at that time, but I took the knife and…”

Morgan lowered her head and placed her forehead on her knees.

“I killed the two of them. I know I did the wrong thing but what could I do? The caretaker always tortured me, while his friend didn’t even give a shit about that! Hey, did I really do the wrong thing? Tell me! Was I in th━”

Before she could finish her words, Diana leaped and hugged Morgan tightly. Morgan’s face was buried in Diana’s ample bosom, and she could smell a faint floral perfume from Diana’s clothes.

“You did the right thing. Those guys are the real criminals. Quite the contrary, I can’t thank you enough for telling me this.”

This girl… She’s a nice girl… But her stupidity is beyond saving.

Morgan smirked slyly and cried sobbingly at the same time, showing a duality in her personality that didn’t fit her age and appearance.

“I didn’t know it was that hard for you. I’m sorry, Morgan. It’s enough for now. But before that, let me ask you one thing.”

Diana caressed Morgan’s dirty hair gently.

“Can you tell me what the mysterious man looked like? Anything is okay.”

Here it comes. I know you’re gonna ask for that.

Morgan, who was still pretending to sob from time to time, uttered, while wiping off her fake tears calmly.

“He was wearing a mask so I couldn’t see his face.”

“A mask, huh? Is there anything else?”

“Ah! On his back, there was a symbol.”

Diana widened her eyes after hearing Morgan’s words. She then grabbed Morgan by her shoulders and shook her.

“What kind of symbol? Can you describe it?”

While still sobbing for a bit, Morgan softly opened her mouth.

“It was gold colored…”

“O-Okay? That’s all?”

“It was an upside down sword on top of a shield…”

Diana’s expression turned pale, almost instantly, as she recognized that symbol, or to be precise, that insignia. She stepped several times backwards while holding her temples and rubbed them.

Ah, she knew about it. Girl, you should start working on your poker face once you fall into this field of work.

“Diana…? Is anything wrong?”

Innocently, Morgan tried to call her. Ignoring Morgan’s call, Diana just straight up ran towards the door and opened it, leaving Morgan alone in her office.

Huh? What the… Huh?

Morgan leaked a weird sound, internally.

“I really thought she was dancing on my palm… I guess I was wrong.”

Morgan got up from the couch she was sitting on and began to look around.