Chapter 220: Information Gathering
“Oh, is that so? Then you can sit down.”
“Thank you.”
With that, the questioning of the brazen Vampire Woman began as she settled into her seat. When prompted for an introduction, she identified herself as Elvirinos Jewels, a member of the Vampire Clan. Despite being bound by the Collar of Subjugation, her responses flowed easily.
She had been auctioned off as a product in the Commercial City and purchased by a noble from an earl’s household. However, it seemed this vampire possessed a skill known as Subjugation Resistance, which rendered the collar ineffective during the auction.
“So that’s why you were able to charm me…”
“I would have done it to anyone who looked wealthy.”
In other words, it could have been any human present at that venue.
It appeared she had been caught rummaging through the earl’s treasury. Coincidentally, she had crossed paths with an assassin from another branch of the Assassins’ Guild who was targeting the earl himself. What a remarkable coincidence; it felt like they could have been eliminated together, but apparently, she had been taken in by the Assassins’ Guild because they had helped her out about twenty years ago.
“Twenty years… How old are you?”
I couldn’t help but ask, as Elvirinos looked to be in her teens.
“Who knows? I’m… 286 years old. Tch.”
Though she seemed unable to resist the collar’s influence, that was quite a long life. It must be a trait of the Vampire Clan.
“The Thieves’ Guild gave up. They said just following you was too difficult. So the job fell to the stalkers from the Assassins’ Guild, but even they gave up.”
She shrugged, adding, “That’s when the job came to me.”
It turned out that the incident Phonia witnessed had also been a request passed down from the Assassins’ Guild to the Thieves’ Guild.
“The place where I took that girl you mentioned is one of our hideouts, but I don’t know where the Assassins’ Guild’s headquarters is.”
“I see… The reason we’re being targeted is likely because they want to eliminate any witnesses. But they’re more persistent than I expected. We don’t even know anything about the victim…”
“Hmph. They wouldn’t just accept that and back off.”
“Right?”
It seemed that Rio was targeted because she realized I had failed to charm her at the auction. Capturing a strong individual would be advantageous for them, and it would also serve as a two-for-one deal to extract information about the victim who had been witnessed.
As I finished listening to the gist of her story, I heard a soft sobbing from beside me.
“Euh… sniff… It’s my fault that my sister was taken away…?”
“What are you talking about? That’s not true at all.”
“That’s right, Phonia-chan. The ones at fault are the Thieves’ Guild and the Assassins’ Guild. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“But… I saw something I shouldn’t have…”
Rio gently embraced the sobbing Phonia.
“Phonia isn’t at fault. Don’t worry about it.”
“Wafuun.”
Nil also licked Phonia’s face in a comforting manner.
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m sorry, big sister.”
Tears streamed down Phonia’s face as she clung to Rio. It seemed we had no choice but to crush the Assassins’ Guild. There would be no mercy. We would extract information from everyone marked by the Thieves’ Guild and find out who had contacted the Assassins’ Guild, leading us to the rest.
“Hmph. I’ve told you everything now. Do whatever you want with me—torture me or sell me, it’s up to you.”
Since she was a runaway slave sold as a criminal slave, I figured reporting her to the slave trader would lead to her being dealt with. However, that Subjugation Resistance was a tricky factor. While it seemed the collar Rio had placed on her was ineffective, I had no idea what would happen after she was handed over.
“Indeed… But you know, your profession is supposedly that of a maid.”
Rio paused there, a smile creeping onto her lips. Elvirinos furrowed her brow in suspicion at the sight.
“Why don’t you try serving us wholeheartedly?”
““…Huh?””
“No way… Are you serious?”
Elvirinos and I spoke in unison, while Ivan stared at Rio in disbelief.
“After all, you’ll be with us for a while until you develop your resistance to charm. We might as well make effective use of you.”
Now that I thought about it, we had indeed discussed that. I hadn’t considered what we would do with her aside from developing that resistance.
“Huh? Charm resistance?”
Elvirinos glared at us, as if she had something to say, but with the Collar of Subjugation on her, she had no authority to object.
“…If you have something to say, feel free to speak up.”
Perhaps she decided it was better to voice her grievances than to bottle them up.
“How long do you think it will take to develop that resistance?!”
“Oh, that’s fine. We learn quickly.”
“That doesn’t… Ugh, either way, I have no choice in the matter, do I?”
Whether it was the collar’s effect or her realization that arguing was futile, Elvirinos let out a heavy sigh.
“It was over the moment my Subjugation Resistance proved ineffective.”
And with that, words of resignation slipped from her lips.
Thus, for the time being, Elvirinos would be accompanying us. At least until she developed her resistance to charm.
“Well then, I suppose that wraps up our information sharing.”
“That took longer than I expected…”
I noticed the sun was beginning to set, and Phonia was dozing off in Rio’s arms.
“Let’s start moving for real tomorrow.”
“Agreed.”
“Yeah.”
Ivan slammed his right fist into his left palm, brimming with motivation.