Chương 191: Chapter 188 - Bad Ryan, Bad Clara

You couldn't just torture information out of a prepared fanatic. That was Trial adventuring 101. Okay, maybe that was something like adventuring 301. The stuff you learned when you wanted to subvert the royal bosses' controls in the Trials. That was where you learned that when you were up against someone like King Theskar, you couldn't just kidnap his most trusted confidant and torture answers out of them.

At best you'd get no answers, at worst you'd get fake answers designed to alert the boss that something had gone wrong. A [Witch] was arguably worse, someone from the Witch's Coven had to be prepared to get caught. Undoubtedly this eighth realm [Witch] had a massive web of intricate lies to entrap anyone that tried to torture her out of information. So, the real method wasn't just to threaten them… but to try and be friendly.

Pinkie already had her bleeding and tied to a chair, Mirelda no doubt understood her situation. The point was to give Mirelda some level of hope and mutual cooperation. The only real problem with adventuring 301 was that… Mirelda was an adventurer as well. Ryan turned to Pinkie, trying to get more information as they walked towards the basement.

"Mirelda's in the eighth realm and she isn't one of their higher ups?"

"No. She's just an apprentice."

"Then why are you so certain she'll know anything?"

"Because this coven follows the Witch Tyrant. She also ate a part of me." Apparently that was all that needed to be said to be an answer. Ryan didn't like it but he sort of understood what Pinkie was saying. The Witch Tyrant was a bit of a blabbermouth to the people she could talk down to and there was no doubt the rest of the coven would work the same way.

"Has she tried to lie to you?"" Yes. She told me it's just a simple trace spell. It's a lie." Pinkie said that last bit with a furious hiss, as if someone lying to her was some sort of grievous sin.

"Are you sure?"

"I know what hexes feel like. This one is different. Also she's a terrible liar."

"Could be a trick. She's a [Witch]."

"She's an apprentice, not one of the matrons. She isn't half as competent as her mentor." The conversation was painting a different picture in his mind than he had been expecting. It wasn't that he doubted Pinkie's understanding of the Witch's Coven, it just didn't quite make sense to him." An eighth realm apprentice, and you think she's incompetent?" Ryan shook his head with disbelief.

"And they have six matrons at the dragonslayer level?"

"One of them isn't a Trialist. But all of them can threaten dragonslayers by themselves."

"Is [Witch] Grettfield one of them?" Pinkie's eyes flicked towards him.

"Not anymore, or I would have attacked her first." Ryan groaned, this whole thing was turning into a nightmare of epic proportions. He turned to the silent girl in a pink ski mask walking alongside them.

"See Clara, I told you we should have gotten out of here immediately." Clara rolled her eyes, it made her pink ski mask slide down a little. She adjusted it back so it would fit properly on her face but didn't say anything in response.

"You okay, Clara?"

"I'm fine." Pinkie grumbled, annoyed by the weak civilian next to them." Why is she even here?"

"Because I'm better at people than either of you okay?" Pinkie glanced at Clara but didn't threaten her for her attitude. His friend was definitely nervous about being around Pinkie but was trying hard not to show it. Funnily enough, that was probably something the dragonslayer might respect… as long as you couldn't actually pose a threat to her of course. Dragons were weird like that, and he was getting the feeling Pinkie was more dragon than human.

Before they entered the room, Ryan paused to ask Pinkie for a recording device. Pinkie just gave him her phone. He raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure this isn't bugged?" Pinkie shrugged.

"Ella gave it to me. It's probably bugged but she's the only one that'll have access." Ryan sighed, but accepted it anyway. His phone had been destroyed after Pinkie doused him with whatever that waking fluid was. He turned on the recording app and put it in the pocket of his bathrobe. Then they entered the room, Clara freezing as she saw the chained figure in the middle. In her defence it wasn't a pretty picture.

The fairly thin figure wore gray robes that had blood splatters all over her right side, where she only had a stump of an arm. Her left arm and legs were chained down with runic metal that was shutting down her mana entirely. The head covered by a brown sack turned towards them.

"Please. Miss Pinkie, m-may I have some water?" Her voice was weak, frail and scared. Clara turned to Ryan with her eyes wide open but he just shook his head.

"Eighth realm." Ryan mouthed. It had to be a ploy. Even in the fifth realm he wouldn't flinch at being deprived of water for a couple days.

"Could I ask who is with you?" Ryan walked over and kneeled down next to Mirelda and took off the sack off her head. She looked worse than he had expected. Her eyes were puffy with dried mascara running down her face. She also had some electrical burns running down on the right side. Ryan moved to cover her from Clara's view, but knew he had been a little too slow. His friend was like a deer in the headlights, trying to take in the sudden level of brutality that could happen in an adventurer's world.

He turned and glared at Pinkie. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"You call this not torturing?" The [Shapeshifter] was unrepentant.

"If she didn't try so hard to run away, she wouldn't have gotten hurt." Ryan shook his head and turned back to the [Witch].

"Hi, can I ask what your name is?"

"M-Mirelda, Mirelda Cowens." She spoke nervously, then she stared at his left arm. The [Arm of the Arcane Saboteur] made her initially flinch, then blink in focus. It was the same fascinated gaze that Grettfield had when she saw his arm. Mirelda was lost in her own world for a good ten seconds until she finally snapped out of it. Then she was looking at his face with eyes wide open. Ryan was just staring at the completely ordinary sack that he could see through and sighed.

"You know who I am, and you saw my face earlier." He had a feeling she had been awake when Pinkie had woken him up in front of her. Not only that, she recognized his arm. That was one too many things for him to be comfortable with. As if sensing his emotions, Mirelda squeaked.

"D-don't kill me please! I–I know you're Artigan. Don't worry I can never betray that secret." It had been a momentary idea, to consider killing Mirelda so that his secret would stay safe. An intrusive thought and Mirelda had immediately picked up on it. While that was frustrating, Ryan was more angry that Pinkie had magical damned ski masks but didn't think to use a proper sack cloth to obscure her hostage's vision.

"Damnit Pinkie, you didn't think to cover an eighth realm with an enchanted bag?" Ryan threw off his ski mask and threw it at Pinkie. The shapeshifter caught the mask with her finger and twirled it, not caring about his identity getting leaked or the fact that it put him in a worse position for the interrogation.

"I have no need to cover my face. She knows who I am. I just did it because it made her more scared." Ryan ran his fingers through his hair, trying not to shout at the incredibly careless dragonslayer. His frustrations aside, the important thing was to figure out what Mirelda knew, his voice taking a slower cadence as he tried to use the knowledge to his advantage. Since she knew Artigan, well he would give her Artigan.

"Well now I have a vested interest in making sure you don't talk about me to anyone else." That threat was enough to make Mirelda's unchained stump of a right arm flail about, her other arm rattling the chains that was attached to her.

"Your secret's safe! I would never betray such things. Not even with my life!" That answer wasn't quite what Ryan wanted either. Mirelda being so steadfast about keeping his secret meant that she would likely never talk about her coven's secrets.

"How do you even know I'm Artigan?"

"I, uhm… I know your story. I know how you got that arm."

"Can you elaborate further?" Mirelda shook her head. Ryan of course knew from Pinkie that the coven shared stories at the table like a pack of adventurers meeting up in the wild. It was likely that the Witch Tyrant told his story to them as gossip. While he could connect the dots, the main point was to get Mirelda to share the information. He decided to go with a tried and true tactic, insult the person you worshipped. Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Damned Witch Tyrant. Telling other peoples' secrets like that. So much for trusting in a [Witch]'s bargain." It was super effective against fanatic worshippers. Mirelda naturally came to her idol's defense.

"That's not fair! The Witch Tyrant didn't say anything about you having another identity on Earth! Nor would I ever dare to tell anyone such things."

"Then how do you know I'm Artigan?"

"I… uh…" Her eyes flickered over to Pinkie, then flicked back down when the dragonslayer's slitted eyes dilated at her. Ryan squatted down so he was looking directly into her eyes. She looked so afraid and lost, with cracked dry lips and burn marks on her face. She was either the world's best actor or… this scared lost girl act wasn't really an act.

"Pinkie can you go get some water?" Surprisingly, the dragon obliged and phased out of the room. Her complete compliance at his orders confirmed that Pinkie was used to the bad [Rogue], good [Mage] routine. Not that it would be so easy, with the way Mirelda was staring so intently at his face, she was definitely reading his emotions. She could probably tell that he was playing an angle. At least that confirms that reading emotions isn't magical in nature. Still, maybe I can use the [Saboteur's] concepts against it.

"Okay, Mirelda, I have to admit that I'm at a loss considering you know more about me than I do about you. Is there anything you want to tell me about you or your coven?"

"I can't, I'm sorry." Pinkie came back with a glass of water. Mirelda stared at it like she hadn't drunk anything in a couple weeks… which she really might not have. Ryan reached his hand out and Pinkie tossed the glass of water at him. He caught it, then held it in front of Mirelda. She looked at it daringly, then turned away, as if knowing that he wasn't going to give it to her without something in return.

"It's okay, you don't need to tell me how the Witch's Coven works. Pinkie's already told me all about it. Six Matrons, seven if you're including the Witch Tyrant. All of you enjoy snacks and gossip about what the Witch Tyrant has done lately." Mirelda's jaw dropped at the revelation that an outsider dared to know about her coven's dealings. Then she turned to glare at Pinkie, showing a bit of fire that every eighth realm had to have.

"How dare you betray our secrets! You made an oath!" Ryan could have told her that Pinkie did not care about any sort of oath to anyone. Though what did surprise him was that Pinkie was incredibly pissed off." HOW DARE YOU EAT AND HEX ME?!" Clara clapped her hands over her ears, Ryan looked sternly at the dragonslayer, calling out her name. Under the furious gaze of a dragonslayer in the peak, Mirelda lost all of that fire of an eighth realm.

"I'm sorry!"

"What was the hex?! I know you know!"

"It was just a simple tracing hex! Like I said!"

"YOU LIE."

"PINKIE!" Ryan shouted.

"Outside! Now!" Pinkie growled at him but actually complied once more. It probably indicated that her anger wasn't quite that uncontrolled. Likely still following routine. Fucking psychopath. This is exactly what Pinkie and Ella tried to do with me. He shook his head, trying to focus.

"Well, the Witch Tyrant shouldn't be sharing other peoples' secrets to a bunch of gossiping [Witches] but I guess that's a tyrant for you. She does as she pleases without caring about who she stomps out of the way." Mirelda was now ignoring the water.

"It's a sacred tradition! Not one of us would ever dare to betray the stories shared by the Witch Tyrant!" Ryan's raised an eyebrow, he turned to Clara to see that she too looked like she was raising an eyebrow as well. While it was true that Pinkie told them a lot about the coven, they didn't know that the stories they shared were a sacred tradition. Mirelda was volunteering information because she was flustered and defensive, sharing stuff while assuming they knew all of the details.

"What about [Witch] Grettfield?" Ryan prodded. Mirelda's teeth clacked shut, her eyes going wide. She tried to lick her lips, and swallowed dryly.

"What has, uhm, Matron Grettfield said?"

"She just made it very clear that she's going to be defending her home from fellow [Witches]. Sounds to me like she's had a falling out with your coven. Does that not count as having betrayed tradition?" Mirelda didn't have words to defend her coven.

"She, uhm…"

"Are the rest of your coven planning on attacking her because of tradition as well?"

"No! I came here to seek her aid! We would do nothing of the sort…" Mirelda's voice trailed off as there were clear doubts to her words.

"At least me and my mentor wouldn't." Which implied that the other [Witches] of the coven might. Ryan nodded along.

"Pinkie mentioned she was planning on using you as bait against your mentor. Seems to me like you were the one that was actually abandoned and used as bait. That, plus how nice Grettfield seems to be, it sounds like this Witch's Coven isn't all that it's cracked up to be." Mirelda was crestfallen as Ryan had seemingly hit the mark. She swallowed dryly.

"There was… a discourse, that is all. Matron Grettfield will come back and all will be better, you will see." It sounded like Mirelda was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince him. It reminded him of how conflicted Tar'el had been when he was trying to figure out whether to prioritize killing Ryan or saving the Unwanted. Despite finding out that the Witch Tyrant had yet another layer to her powerbase, at least this one seemed to have issues coming apart at the seams.

Though Ryan wasn't sure how to exploit that just yet. He turned to Clara while Mirelda was staring at the ground. He gave her a wink.

"From what I can tell, the Witch's Coven listens to the Tyrant's every word and hexes anyone that dares to talk shit about her. You're just basically a very basic toxic fanclub." Clara nodded, playing along.

"Yup, sounds like one of those cliques at school where you have a leader and everyone just follows along and bullies whoever that person tells you to. Except you know, this one's like all implied and stuff that you target those that the leader doesn't like. And here I used to think the Witch Tyrant was like a cool as heck auntie that just liked to prank people. Turns out she needs other people to do her dirty work."

"H-how dare you! The Witch Tyrant is no schoolyard bully that needs us to do her bidding. We are independent followers inspired by the Witch Tyrant's intelligence and grace. The Witch's Coven are the Fallen Angels that uphold her honor across both worlds!" Both Clara and Ryan turned to each other, then they both burst out laughing. Mirelda started to blush furiously, realizing what she had just said out loud. Ryan was glad he was recording the entire thing. Now that was going to be some great blackmail material.