Chapter 42: The Death of Snake (Please Keep Reading)

"A transaction?"

Katherine's overly formal words broke the young man's heart. He had truly thought the two of them were already friends.

Ron's face twisted with heartbreak and disappointment; he shook his head and turned to walk out the door.

He certainly didn't have the money to do business with the maid.

Since they were not considered friends, Ron no longer planned to take her along.

After all, he had heard that some members of the royal family were rather perverted, especially fond of training their personal maids.

It wasn't that Ron looked down on the maid for suffering such a fate.

Rather, the maid looked entirely too accustomed to this place; chances were, with a constitution that secretly enjoyed being disciplined, she had already fallen in love with Aleq, the man who beat her black and blue.

Bringing her along would introduce uncontrollable risks to his escape plan.

"Hey, don't leave!"

Seeing Ron turn around and walk away without a single word, Katherine panicked. She hurriedly shouted:

"If you don't like transactions, we can negotiate!"

"I know you aren't a cultist here. Cultists don't practice the Holy Light!"

"How about this—I'll offer you gold lions, and you take me with you, alright?"

"I'll offer ten thousand, twenty thousand, one hundred thousand!"

Hearing this, Ron's passionate heart felt even more wounded.

He had arrived bearing immense goodwill to rescue the maid, something that could never be measured by mere money.

What kind of person did she take him, Ron Griffith, for?!

Seeing that the young man had no intention of stopping, Katherine ground out through her teeth:

"I'll tell you the escape route right now."

Now that was more like it!

The maid's sudden awakening greatly comforted Ron's soul.

True friends should be like this—giving to each other without expecting a reward. Talking about transactions was far too distant.

The youth pivoted on his heel, quickly returned to Katherine's side, and helped her onto the cold chair.

This guy...

Katherine gritted her teeth, realizing that the young man before her was not easily fooled at all; in fact, he was quite slick and cunning.

Those deep eyes seemed capable of seeing right through her soul.

She had originally intended to use Ron to escape this godforsaken place.

Yet she hadn't expected this fellow to be entirely unwilling to suffer even the slightest loss.

"Hmph, aren't you afraid I'll report you right now?"

Looking at the young man supporting her, Katherine smiled faintly, testing him.

Immediately afterward, however, she saw Ron's expression turn erratic, as if he were contemplating the most efficient way to eliminate her right on the spot.

Hey, stop running wild with your imagination!

"S-Sorry, I was just joking!" Katherine apologized in a hurry.

Upon hearing the apology, Ron merely nodded indifferently.

The maid was thoroughly untrustworthy, constantly trying to use him; she wasn't even worth a single hair on Mr. Snake's leg.

The blonde youth intensely disliked such behavior, naturally refusing to offer her a pleasant look.

"Speak. Where is the path?"

The princess pressed her lips together. Faced with the slick and cunning Ron, she ultimately chose to spill the truth.

Trapped as she was here, she possessed no other bargaining chips.

"The back mountain. There's a spot in this canyon that connects to the back mountain. Once you get out, you'll reach the banks of the Cahir River, which is only ten kilometers away from the royal capital!"

That was precisely where she had been ambushed; all her accompanying attendants had been slaughtered, and her magical equipment had been suppressed by the "divine miracle," preventing her from escaping in time.

So that was how it was...

After inquiring in detail about several more particulars, Ron nodded thoughtfully.

Then he stood up, walked over to the interrogation room door, gave Katherine a thumbs-up, and offered her hope and encouragement.

"Stay strong!"

"You'll make it out!"

Before Katherine could react, Ron slammed the interrogation room door shut.

---

The sun slanted toward the horizon, and the glaring sunlight pierced through the clouds, beating down on Snake, who was pacing back and forth just a few hundred meters away from the interrogation room.

He sighed heavily, walking in circles as if weighed down by some urgent matter.

After all, asking a junior to pull strings for him still made him feel somewhat embarrassed.

"Snake, Lord Aleq is calling for you."

Lord Aleq is calling for me?!

Snake's expression lit up with joy.

Could it be that Lord Aleq had been silently watching over him all along, and seeing that he hadn't slackened off in his evil deeds lately, had decided to promote him?

No sooner had the thought flashed through his mind than Snake hurried off in the footsteps of the messenger guard.

Once he made his comeback, the first thing he would do was eliminate Gandalf, who had also been receiving favorable attention!

Radiating excitement and completely oblivious to what awaited him, the cultist gentleman arrived at a secluded chamber.

"Lord Aleq, you called for me?"

Snake asked respectfully.

The chamber was dead silent. Aleq waved a hand, gazing appreciatively at the instruments of torture displayed on the racks.

"Snake, how many years have you been with me?"

"Uh, Lord Aleq, it's been six years."

Aleq, clad in a bloody military uniform, sighed with apparent emotion. "Six years, huh..."

"Snake, do you know your crime?"

My crime?

What did I do wrong?

Though he thought this to himself, he wouldn't dare voice it before this lord.

"I know I was wrong, my lord."

Even if he hadn't done anything wrong, he would forcefully invent a fault.

At this, the scar running from Aleq's temple to the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Then tell me, what are you guilty of?"

Was this... a test of my loyalty?

A heartened Snake rejoiced inwardly, speaking in rapid succession:

"Lord Aleq, I—I am guilty of being deceived by the Holy Church and capturing a fake princess."

"I am guilty of failing to uphold the Matriarch's teachings, letting my fine reputation spread too far."

"I am guilty of..."

"Enough!"

Listening to Snake rack his brains for a litany of sins gave Aleq a headache. He barked:

"Snake, who bribed you to be a spy for the cult, hmm?!"

A spy!

Me?

The cultist gentleman froze, pointing at himself with a completely blank expression.

In his heart, he felt that this unmerited scapegoating scene looked somewhat familiar.

The last time had been in the cafeteria when someone had inexplicably slapped the grand label of "good person" on him.

Who on earth was framing him?!

Seeing Snake's exceptionally realistic acting performance, Aleq casually picked up a leather whip from the rack and sneered:

"Hmph, Snake, I truly underestimated you."

"Speak! Was it the Holy Church that bribed you to pass along fake news about the princess?"

"Why is it that right after you went to make contact, you brought back a rookie?"

"'Gandalf' went to see the fake princess just today, and you followed right behind him. What vital intelligence are you two trying to transmit?"

"Is it worth such an elaborate scheme? Could it possibly be for the 'Matriarch's' divine miracle?"

Lord Aleq, what are you talking about?

I don't understand a single word of this!

Snake's lean face turned the color of a pig's liver; he felt utterly and profoundly wronged.

Just as he opened his mouth to defend himself, he suddenly felt all sensation vanish from his right hand, which Aleq had torn right off with brute physical force!

The cultist gentleman let out a shriek of agony, rolling on the floor and begging for mercy.

"Ahhh!!!"

"Lord Aleq, I don't know! I really don't know anything!"

You don't know?

"Your tongue is quite stiff!"

The "Throat of Agony" wore a ferocious grin, as if torturing people filled him with boundless pleasure.

Smack, smack, smack!

Wielding the metal-barbed leather whip in his hand, he lashed it rapidly across the thrashing form of Snake.

Flesh, blood, and bone fragments flew in all directions, driving Snake past his threshold of endurance into a weak, whimpering plea:

"I am... I really am... Lord Aleq, stop hitting me!"

"I am, I'm the one!"

"Good." Aleq smiled, his tone turning chillingly indifferent the next moment:

"Confess your accomplices, the Holy Church's objective, and your method of communication with them!"

"..."

Snake's vision blurred, and hearing Aleq's words made his sight go entirely black. He looked as though he were about to burst into tears as he gasped:

"I—I really don't know..."

Smack, smack, smack!

Ten minutes later—

The floor of the chamber was evenly coated with a layer of fresh flesh and blood. Aleq stood holding the leather whip, sinking into a moment of self-doubt.

He was all too familiar with Snake's cowardly and life-preservation-oriented nature.

Yet this time, he had underestimated the fellow!

"Even if I beat you to death with my bare hands, you refuse to leak a single piece of information?"

Just as the "Throat of Agony" felt a stir of sentiment, the voice of a guard echoed from outside the chamber door.

"Lord Aleq, Gandalf and the new recruit you ordered to be kept under close surveillance are heading toward the back mountain."

"Mm, I know."

Aleq nodded, the corners of his mouth curling upward into a faint smile.

Now this was getting interesting!

It was worth the effort he had put in.