"...Ingot?"

The word slipped out of my mouth as soon as I heard it.

"Hmm? Ingot. The metal slab-like thing," Betty explained, like she was talking to a three-year-old.

Thanks a lot, Betty.

"Yeah, I know that," I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. "What does a metal slab have to do with the late Duke?"

After all, that metal slab was the only item in this world that could catalyze the process to make an astral spine. It wasn’t just some random piece of metal.

"I don’t know..." Betty said casually. "All she said was she was going to look into it. Not that I care what she does. I just want to know more about my late father."

My mind raced.

The ingot was with Cass?

Selka must have brought it to her. That made sense... Selka was one of her generals. But why would Cass need my ingot? And why did her father fight to make them extinct? Who did her father even fight against?

Were there others who possessed that mysterious black slab?

"Hello? You there?" Betty’s voice broke through my spiraling thoughts.

"Yeah..." I managed to say, shaking my head slightly. "Yeah, I’m listening."

"I got an inmate for the first time in a year... and he turned out to be a monologue type. Wonderful," she said dryly. She probably rolled her eyes at the last part.

I sighed heavily.

Betty didn’t know much, and there was no point thinking about something I had pretty much no information on. I was just going in circles.

"I think I’m here because that ingot belonged to me," I said finally.

Since I planned to work with her anyway, there was no point hiding it.

"What..? Oh! That makes sense," she said easily.

She took it more easily than I expected, considering it involved her father.

"You must be part of her ’looking into it’ thing," Betty added.

Well... that was one way to put it.

"You’re probably right," I said, sighing as I sat back down on the bed...I mean, the elevated stone ridge.

Well, the positive side of all this was that I at least knew where the ingot was now.

"Shouldn’t you be worried?" Betty asked suddenly.

"Why?" I replied.

I mean, there were many reasons to be worried, like how this prison was specifically for people awaiting their execution, but I didn’t know which particular worry she was talking about.

"Like I said, she’s sensitive when it comes to our father," Betty explained, and I could hear the smirk in her voice. "That devil might plan to torture you to reveal the truth here."

She was clearly expecting me to get anxious.

Well done, Betty. You were good at what you did.

Now that I think about it, this was a one-stone-two-birds situation for Cass.

By imprisoning me, she got to manipulate SBV’s thinking to her liking, making it look like she was taking action against the vigilantes and turning blind eye to them, and also got the chance to learn more about the ingot from me directly.

Though I now assume she probably knows more about the ingot than I do at this point.

I just hope she won’t confuse my lack of information with being reluctant to answer her questions. That could get messy.

"Well done, Betty," I said aloud. "May success chase you, but may you always run faster."

Betty laughed, a genuine, surprised laugh. "That’s one way to curse someone."

Well, if push comes to shove, I still have an AP card anyaway.

If I use that, no force in this Ravencourt Imperium could stop me from walking out through the main gate.

I mean, it would be possible if the Beast King, Sword King, and Bella all decided to show up together and stop me. But the Beast King and Bella weren’t even from the Ravencourt Imperium anyway, so my point still stands.

I’d be fine.

Probably.

"You’re taking this surprisingly well," Betty observed.

"What’s the point in panicking?" I replied, leaning my head back against the cold stone wall. "Either she tortures me or she doesn’t. Either way, worrying about it now won’t change anything."

"Huh. You’re either really brave or really stupid."

"Maybe both," I admitted with a slight smile.

Betty was quiet for a moment. Then she spoke again, her tone more serious this time.

"For what it’s worth... I hope she doesn’t torture you. You seem... decent enough."

She doesn’t even know how I look or what I did and she still came to that conclusion? That must be what a year of solitude does to someone.

"High praise coming from someone who curses their own sister."

"That’s different," Betty said quickly, defensively. "She deserves it."

I didn’t respond to that. There was no point arguing about something she can’t yet understand.

***********

I opened my eyes again.

The dim golden glow in the cell was comforting to the eyes, soft, not too harsh.

I’d fallen asleep without even realizing it.

This body’s endurance, despite dumping all the stat points from Drane’s quest reward into it, still wasn’t enough to last long under toiling conditions. Not that I had much to do in this cell anyway.

Assuming Sera, Lydia, and Merin started at sunrise, they would only reach the capital by tomorrow afternoon. Larkshade wasn’t far from the capital, but it wasn’t close either. It takes about a day and a half to travel here via regular horse.

"Betty, you there?" I asked, yawning.

No response.

She must be sleeping.

I didn’t even know how long I’d slept. Could’ve been an hour, could’ve been five.

I stretched, my joints popping and cracking. My back especially felt stiff from the hard stone surface.

This lifestyle isn’t bad either.

Wait... the fuck was I even thinking?

I shook my head, trying to clear the drowsiness.

They hadn’t served lunch yet. That meant either I didn’t sleep long enough for it to be lunchtime yet, or they didn’t serve lunch in this place at all.

I really hoped it was the first one.

Clink, clang...

Sounds of iron being moved echoed through the corridor outside my cell.

Yeah, baby! It was the first one. This must be lunchtime.

I moved toward the thick iron door despite my waist being sore from sleeping on that damn rock. I leaned forward and tried to look through the thin slit, despite all my failed attempts in the past to see anything through it.

I could use my perception ability if not for this room being equipped with aura-insulating artifacts. There was no chance my intermediate output could overpower these artifacts.

Click.

Yes! They were unlocking my door.

The door creaked open slowly, the hinges groaning from the weight.

What greeted me was not a guard in shining armor or a beautiful maid with a plate of food in her hands.

It was a tiger.

An orange-skinned, black-striped beast.

Its long, sharp canines arched downward, saliva drooling from its mouth as its majestic fur rose in erection, syncing with its widened pupils as soon as it saw its meal.

Me.

It lurched forward toward me, its huge paw driving straight at my face.

My instincts flared, my body ready to dodge.

But the paw didn’t come close enough for me to dodge.

It was held back by a chain around its neck, and the beast jolted backward as fast as it had lunged forward.

"Now, now, Mendy. Behave," Kael’s voice came from the side.

She stepped into view, her hand gripping the tiger’s chain firmly.

"Kudos to you for not flinching," she said, genuinely impressed.

Fuck you, Kael!

Then Cass moved into view from beside her. Her hand rested gently on the tiger’s head, petting it through its thick fur. The tiger immediately wagged its tail at her touch, rubbing its massive face against her hand like an oversized house cat.

Aww... such a cute beast.

Who needs a hand? Imma pet it too.

"Good job making yourself at home in a prison," Ilya’s voice came as she walked into the frame from behind Cass.

Can’t these three women just walk in at once?

"You slept for nine straight hours like a rock," Ilya added, holding back a smirk. Her glasses reflected the dim golden light from the cell.

Nine hours? Guess they didn’t serve lunch here after all.