Chapter 104 - Chapter 20: "Tonight, the Fishing Is Excellent."
Good day to you. I am Violia Nico Fortesia.
I am currently heading toward the dungeon.
...Of course, I am not walking there to be thrown into the slammer myself.
It is to secretly meet the Pin-Hane Girl who is currently in custody.
We are heading to the dungeon as the safe and secure Cathedral party: myself, Doran, and Carol. Even if we are accidentally discovered, as long as Carol is there, we can make any number of excuses.
...So, with Carol in the lead, we proceeded through the dungeon for a few minutes.
Naturally, there were guards.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Carol bowed slightly as she passed by.
"Eh? Ah, oh, hello."
The soldier seemed to have a look of 'Huh?' but decided to watch as the Saint, accompanied by two Holy Knights, passed through boldly.
Guarding the dungeon at night is usually a chore for low-ranking underlings. And for underlings, you can deceive them just by having someone of a certain status act boldly. Ohohoho.
Now then.
We successfully infiltrated the dungeon and finally arrived in front of the Pin-Hane Girl's cell.
There was a guard there too, so Carol personally asked him, "Could you please step away for a moment?" and had him leave.
Well, with two Holy Knights present, there is trust. It's a reasonable judgment for an underling.
...And so, finally, only the three of us were in front of the Pin-Hane Girl's cell, facing the Pin-Hane Girl inside.
The problem with the Pin-Hane Girl right now is that she has no choice but to live entirely on lies and bluffs.
Naturally, she has almost no information about me. Since the time she sold me out at the Guild, she shouldn't have been able to obtain any information.
Therefore, she currently has nothing to tell the King! Even if she's told to provide information about Violia Nico Fortesia, she really has nothing she can provide!
...However, even if she said that honestly, there's no way she'd be believed. The King probably thinks, 'There's no way she has nothing.' ...In the first place, if it's found that she truly has no information, the Pin-Hane Girl's next destination will be the execution block.
Therefore, the Pin-Hane Girl 'cannot say she has no information' even though she 'has nothing she can say.'
Thus, her optimal solution is to say, 'I have some information, but I won't talk.'
...But.
What if she 'has something she can talk about'?
If the Pin-Hane Girl truly gains a bargaining chip.
If she escapes the state of 'having nothing to say.'
I think she will break the current situation, which is nothing more than 'prolonging her life until either torture or execution,' and start feeding information to the royal family.
The Pin-Hane Girl herself must realize that she cannot maintain her silence forever.
Therefore, if she obtains information, the Pin-Hane Girl will surely talk.
...By utilizing the above mechanism, we can feed information to the royal family that the 'Cathedral' could not have known!
A small light moving through the dungeon.
The modest light from a small lamp illuminated the pitch-black ceiling of the dungeon as it advanced little by little, and the shadows cast by the iron bars moved slowly along with it... It's a somewhat surreal sight.
A light moving through the darkness stands out greatly in the dark. And so do the footsteps of three people treading on the stone pavement, and the heavy sound of two sets of armor rubbing together.
...The Pin-Hane Girl, who was probably asleep, must have realized that someone was approaching.
"...Amavire-rent-san. Are you awake?"
By the time Carol spoke in a small voice, the Pin-Hane Girl was already awake and in front of the iron bars.
"Ohhh? Isn't it the Lady Sainttt? What's the matterrr? Where's the Kinggg?"
"I came here secretly from His Majesty the King."
As planned, Carol did not hide the fact that she came secretly from the King and told the Pin-Hane Girl.
'Sharing a secret.' This has the effect of making it easier for both parties to trust each other. Well, we don't particularly care if this secret is leaked, so we're essentially gaining the Pin-Hane Girl's empathy for free. Ohohohoho.
"Secretlyyy? What's your businessss? Oh, could it be you're going to let me out of hereee?"
"I would like to do so, but..."
Carol gave a vaguely troubled smile, gently setting aside what the Pin-Hane Girl said half-jokingly and half-seriously... and quickly got to the main point.
"I have come to have you tell me the information you have about Violia Nico Fortesia-san."
"...I said so at noon tooo, but I'm innocent and don't know anythinggg, so I have nothing I can talk abouttt."
While saying so, the Pin-Hane Girl is carefully observing Carol.
That's only natural. This is the big moment for the Pin-Hane Girl. If it's known by the pure and innocent Lady Saint that she truly knows nothing, she might be reported to the King and end up on the execution block.
While acting as if she were being pretentious, the Pin-Hane Girl said that... and glanced at Carol.
"Or rather, did you come secretly from the King because there's somethinggg?"
In short, if there's information, bring it out first. Saying so, the Pin-Hane Girl is waiting for Carol's reaction. Receiving that, Carol also quietly surveyed the surroundings... and after nodding with Doran and me who were waiting behind her, she whispered softly to the Pin-Hane Girl.
"Violia Nico Fortesia-san is trying to start a war. ...Is that not so?"
After Carol whispered that, several seconds passed.
Nodding pretentiously, the Pin-Hane Girl said.
"...I thought there might be someone who knewww."
Ah, we did it! She's hooked!
We did it! She's hooked! The Pin-Hane Girl went along with the lie!
Honestly! It's not 'I thought there might be someone who knewww'! You know-it-all! There is no one in this world who knows such a story! Where on earth is there someone who knows a story that shouldn't exist! She really comes out with this kind of attitude so casually!
This reaction from the Pin-Hane Girl was expected, so it's actually helpful... but separately from that, it is infuriating!
"Ah, as I thought...! Why would she do such a thing...!"
"That's why I told her she should stoppp, but..."
While Carol covered her mouth with her hand and lamented, the Pin-Hane Girl also had a somewhat gloomy expression. Yes. She matched her expression to the story.
"A war... if such a thing happens, many people will be sacrificed!"
Carol raised a pained voice and faced the Pin-Hane Girl.
"I want to stop the war. Will you not tell me the information you know?"
And then, she threw out the words that would trouble the Pin-Hane Girl the most right now.
"Eeeh, what should I dooo?"
The Pin-Hane Girl must be walking a tightrope inside. Since she knows nothing, she's in a big pinch.
But if she plays it well, she can obtain information from Carol. From the Pin-Hane Girl's perspective, this is also a great chance.
Well, that chance is just something I've attached to the end of a fishing rod and am dangling.
"Please tell me! Amavire-san!"
"Eeeh, buttt, what do I gain by telling youuu?"
"That's... please, will you not cooperate? If you tell me what you know, many lives might be saved!"
Even though Carol raised such a pained voice, the Pin-Hane Girl remained silent. Well, she has nothing she can talk about.
...And so the stalemate continued for a little over a minute.
The one to break first was, naturally, Carol.
"...If you say you cannot talk, then will you at least tell me if the information I have is correct? I will not ask for much."
"If that's the case... well, I guess it's okayyy."
Look! She's hooked again! The fishing is excellent tonight! It's all-you-can-fish! Ohohohoho!