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“Um, yes.”

The conversation that had gone off the rails for quite some time came to an end with Serena’s awkward, wide-eyed comment.

‘Who started this first, but she seems rather arrogant.’

It was Serena who had initially veered off the subject, and Ruby had merely chosen to willingly follow her down that detour.

What she needed more than anything was time. She had to find a way to stall until the secret leader arrived.

“Anyway, are you really okay? Is there something you absolutely have to do?”

“No, I’m fine. There’s nothing.”

However, Ruby’s decision began to trouble her like an unforeseen thorn.

Serena, with her remarkable ability to analyze people’s psychology and intentions, found Ruby’s mixed words and nodding suspicious.

And, no matter how calm Ruby seemed to be, she couldn’t hide her anxiety or the occasional trembling of her eyes.

Of course, these were small clues that ordinary people might overlook, but in Serena’s mind, those clues were converging to form a single conclusion.

‘…Is she reading me?’

Nonetheless, Ruby was no easy adversary.

‘She is the head of the Moonlight family and, according to the secret leader, the number one genius in the empire. A girl like her is interrogating me in person.’

Although she had suffered from unexpected events recently and suffered significant disadvantages today…

‘…Interesting.’

Her essence was undisputed.

[Stats]

Name: Ruby

Strength: Immeasurable

Mana: Immeasurable

Intelligence: ???

Mental Strength: 10

Passive Status: Blessing of the Demon God/Avatar Direct Link

Disposition: Demon King

Goodness Stat: -100

‘Quite intriguing.’

She was the Demon King who would drench the world in terror.

Even if Serena were to employ her genius strategies and tactics to manipulate the Demon King’s army, or Irina were to unleash overwhelming firepower to decimate the Demon King’s forces…

Even if Ferloche attacked her in a one-on-one using divine power and protection, or if Kania were to unleash the continent-covering dark magic all at once…

And even if Clana were to manifest the power of the sun, radiating energy comparable to the sun itself.

If Ruby were to step forward, it was obvious that all those efforts would become a futile struggle in an instant.

“Ah…”

“Ruby? What’s the matter?”

“Oh, no. It’s just that it’s getting late, and I yawned.”

That was why, although she was initially a little flustered, Ruby was already enjoying this situation.

It was an experience she had never encountered before due to her overwhelming power—being wounded, witnessing the failure of her plans, and being interrogated by a human. It was all too enjoyable for her.

‘Alright, then… How can I get out of this situation?’

However, she didn’t intend to enjoy herself indefinitely.

Ruby already had one stack accumulated, and she didn’t know who had figured out her true identity.

But if Serena figured it out, it was certain that her plan would begin to falter.

“…Should I attack her?”

While considering a way to get out of the situation with a smile on her face, Ruby started to think as she fiddled with her right hand.

WARNING [You cannot attack that person…]

“Sigh.”

As the red warning message appeared before her eyes, Ruby sighed and used a skill.

[Goodness Stat: 100]

“Serena, it seems like you’re quite lucky.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

After staring at the information window for a moment, Ruby spoke to Serena in a quiet voice.

“You happened to meet me after I escaped from the slave market. You wouldn’t have known that I was there.”

‘…If her goodness stats were just a bit lower, I would have attacked right away.’

Inwardly, Ruby was sizing up Serena as she thought that.

“Yes, I am lucky. I helped someone trembling in an alley, only to discover that they had escaped from the slave market.”

With a sweet voice, Serena asked Ruby,

“Are you a slave by any chance?”

“No, not that…”

“Then, were you going to buy a slave?”

Feeling the subtle edge hidden beneath her honeyed words., Ruby sighed and replied,

“Do you really need to know?”

“Yes, it’s very important. It would be really helpful if you could tell me what happened in the slave market.”

Upon receiving Serena’s suggestion, Ruby cleared her throat and was lost in thought for a moment.

‘If I can’t initiate an attack, I need to make her attack me first.’

The ‘system’, which had recently caused her quite a headache, could only be ignored if she encountered a human with low goodness stats or provoked a preemptive attack.

“Alright.”

After a brief moment of thought, Ruby made a decision.

“I’ll tell you everything.”

In order to overcome the constraints of the ‘system’ that restricted her, she had to somehow provoke an attack from Serena.

“Really? That’s unexpected. I thought you would try to hide as much as possible since you seem to be harboring many secrets.”

“I feel like if I tried to hide from you, I wouldn’t be able to escape your grasp.”

Ruby responded with determination, fixating her gaze on Serena, who continued to observe her intently.

“First of all, my identity is that of an inconspicuous slave who managed to escape from the slave revolt that occurred today.”

“…Is that so?”

As Ruby mentioned her fake identity and observed Serena’s reaction, she soon thought to herself with a smile,

‘She knows about the slave revolt.’

Reading emotions or intentions from someone’s words and expressions wasn’t solely Serena’s specialty.

Understanding muscle movements through extraordinary motor nerves or analyzing someone’s psychology based on their actions and expressions were merely basic abilities that Ruby could perform if she wanted to.

‘However, she seems suspicious about my identity. Why?’

Having completed her analysis of Serena with her abilities, Ruby waited for Serena’s response with a calm expression.

“How dare you mention being an ‘escaped slave’? You must know that I am a noble.”

“My specialty is being fast on my feet. If I managed to escape from the slave market, do you think I wouldn’t be able to escape from a place like this, with only you around?”

When Ruby spoke with a composed expression, Serena questioned her again with a suspicious look, “However, there’s no advantage in revealing your true identity. You could have easily lied, too.”

“…I revealed my identity to sell information to you, so it’s a bit disappointing to hear you say that.”

Despite Serena’s sharp questioning, Ruby smoothly retorted, and then began whispering, “One gold coin for one question. How about it?”

“…There are other sources from which I can gather information from, not just you. Isn’t this a losing deal for me?”

“It’s an opportunity to receive precise answers from someone who knows everything about this incident. Is it really a losing deal?”

“Hmm…”

As Serena frowned slightly at her words, Ruby pressed on, “And considering you brought me here instead of the slave market… either you’re pressed for time, or there’s a reason preventing you from going to the slave market. Isn’t that so?”

“…Heh.”

Hearing that, Serena smiled, “You’re quite smart, aren’t you? I like it.”

“I need to think hard in order to survive.”

As Ruby smiled back at Serena, a gold coin flew towards her, “First, did all the slaves manage to escape?”

“Yes, every single one of them escaped without exception.”

As Ruby spoke and closed her mouth, Serena sighed and began, “That answer hardly seems worth a gold coin, though.”

“…What else do you want to know then?”

“You’ll have to mix in information that only you know or hard-to-obtain information for me to continue giving you gold coins, right?”

As Serena spoke, Ruby responded with a bright smile, “Alright, then… every single one of them escaped without exception! We even captured a hostage!”

“…A hostage?”

Serena reacted sensitively to the word ‘hostage’.

“Yes! The arrogant, reckless nobleman who was purchasing all theslaves… Oh, right. A gold coin.”

As Ruby said that and paused, Serena’s expression darkened, ‘Serena, you love Frey so much, don’t you?’

As Ruby examined Serena, she began laughing inwardly, ‘The acting head of the family is proving quite useful in this situation. They’ve made it possible for me to exploit the weakness of a rather clever girl.’

“…Here, a gold coin.”

As Ruby thought that, Serena hurriedly handed her the gold coin, “Excuse me, but… this information is a bit valuable, you see?”

“Yes?”

“While those involved may already be aware, the status of the person we kidnapped is so high that there’s a high probability that the information will be concealed. So, one gold coin is…”

“I’ll give you three.”

As Serena quickly took out two more gold coins from her pocket, Ruby thought with a subtle smile, ‘As expected, she has no information on Frey.’

Earlier, when Ruby weaved in some traits of Frey as a ‘villain’ while discussing the hostage, Serena began to falter noticeably. In other words, she still hadn’t obtained any information on Frey.

“Thank you! I’m glad I followed you!”

“…Please tell me everything you know about the hostage, accurately.”

As Ruby spoke with a twinkle in her eyes, Serena urged her with an icy tone.

“Go on.”

Hiding her mouth with a fan, she maintained a cold expression.

“The hostage had white hair and white eyes, and appeared quite frail.”

“…..!”

“Despite their appearance, they treated the slaves roughly, committed assault, and bought up most of the escaping slaves, causing resentment.”

Reciting words that evoked memories of Frey, Ruby maintained a serious demeanor as Serena stood rigidly with her fan in hand.

“Oh, and they had a strange-looking staff as well…”

“…That person was taken hostage?”

As she heard what Ruby said, Serena quickly interrupted her.

“I suspected it might be someone I know… They should have had bodyguards, and even means of self-defense…”

‘Right, even if they were weakened by a penalty… It’s still suspicious for someone like Frey to be captured by slaves.’

As Serena inquired with a trembling, doubtful voice, Ruby began her answer as if she had anticipated it.

“Of course, there were people protecting them, but a strange fox monster appeared and attacked them!”

“…A-A fox demon?”

“Yes, that arrogant noble attempted to retaliate, but when the fox monster used a strange ability, they couldn’t fight back and ended up being taken down!”

Hearing that, Serena’s expression darkened.

“In any case, the fox demon has joined us, and now we have that self-important noble in our possession. So, was that information satisfactory?”

“………..”

As Ruby teased Serena, she fell into a deep silence.

“…By any chance, is there a leader among the slaves?”

Serena finally broke the silence with that question.

“Well, there is… but why are you suddenly asking?”

“I want to contact them personally. Is there a way to…”

– Ddilili! Ddililili!

As Serena swiftly responded to Ruby’s words, a ringing signal abruptly sounded from somewhere.

“Ah, excuse me for a moment. I’ll be back after taking this call. Please wait a moment.”

Jumping up from her seat, Ruby rummaged through her belongings and made her way to the bathroom.

“Even a genius girl, when she falls in love…”

Whispering quietly enough for only herself to hear.

“…becomes a fool, I suppose?”

A mocking smile adorned her face

.

.

.

.

– Squeak…!

“Here we are. Have a good day… Whoa!”

Frey, having escaped from the secret hideout and boarded a fast carriage, tossed gold coins at the coachman as soon as they arrived at the destination and leaped out.

“No matter how I think about it… I’m worried…”

Upon receiving the letter, Frey initially thought it was cute. However,as he got closer to the destination, the contents of the letter continued to bother him.

“…It was the first time Serena had written a letter so hastily. Why?”

Frey, contemplating the same question countless times during the carriage ride, hurriedly made his way to the café he had frequented before.

“Wh-What’s going on?”

Suddenly, he halted in his tracks as his eyes widened.

“…Irina?”

“………”

Right in front of the cafe, Irina stood, clutching dozens of torn magic scrolls.

“Frey.”

“Irina, why are you here… Huh?”

Frey, tilted his head in confusion at Irina’s unexpected presence—she was supposed to have bid him farewell and returned to her accommodations—and suddenly noticed something.

“…What!?”

His mouth gaped open as she stared ahead.

– Whoosh…

The cafe, which was supposed to be the rendezvous point with Serena, was on fire.