Tia’s heart skipped a beat.
Mephia looked like she had asked the question out of curiosity, but Tia could not help but overthink.
She felt like this was a test.
Mephia was testing to see if there was any connection between her and the Witch Nightingale.
“A— a Witch? How could I not care?”
She forced herself to calm down and smiled as she answered Mephia.
Mephia did not respond immediately, instead choosing to watch her quietly.
Those indifferent eyes placed an immense amount of pressure on Tia.
Fortunately, Zane, who was standing beside them, did not want to let the atmosphere grow cold.
“It’s true. In this day and age, Witches are rare. When a topic like this comes up, even I am curious, let alone Young Lady Tia.”
His words broke the eerie atmosphere between Tia and Mephia.
It also caused the latter to turn her gaze toward him, allowing Tia to breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Good job, Zane!’
‘When you die, I’ll leave your corpse intact!’
Giving Zane a silent thumbs-up in her heart, Tia resumed her act of being a well-behaved girl and stopped speaking.
Mephia frowned and responded to Zane.
“Commander Zane, if I may be blunt, the threat posed to Hela City by Witch Hunters is likely no less than that of the Witches themselves. After all, those hunters are almost all lunatics. Inviting them into Hela City is like inviting wolves into our home.”
Zane stroked his beard, seemingly dismissive of Mephia’s concerns.
“Miss Mephia has a point. Their reputation is indeed poor. But then again, a short period of intense pain is better than a long, lingering ache. As long as we can pull out this thorn known as Nightingale, wouldn’t Hela City finally be at peace?”
“Besides, those hunters always chase after Witches. Once their goal is achieved, they will naturally leave Hela City to hunt their next prey. Trading a brief moment of chaos for long-term peace… I’d say that’s a fair bargain.”
Tia said nothing.
She merely glanced at a certain someone, her gaze cold enough to suggest she was looking at a dead man.
Mephia slowly shook her head, rejecting him.
“There is no need. Catching Witches is the duty of the Inquisition. Leave it to us. Thank you for your kind intentions, Commander.”
Zane waved his hand with a smile, appearing completely unbothered.
“Miss Mephia is as rigorous as expected. My apologies for being forward. I only wished to share Hela City’s burdens… since the Inquisition is confident, then that is for the best.”
The rest of the conversation revolved around trivial matters like city defense, supplies, and logistics.
Zane’s answers remained direct, and he seemed well-prepared, leaving no flaws in his words.
Time passed quietly during their talk.
Finally, Mephia gave Tia a look.
Tia understood.
She stood up gracefully, smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles on her skirt, and put on an impeccable parting smile.
After saying their goodbyes to Zane, they were diligently escorted to the gates of the military camp.
It was only after they boarded the carriage for the return trip and pulled the curtains shut that they vanished from Zane’s sight.
Inside the carriage, accompanied by the sound of the wheels, Tia finally broke the silence.
“You investigated for so long. Have you reached a conclusion?”
Mephia did not answer immediately.
She slowly raised her eyes and fixed them on Tia’s face.
Her gaze was deep, as if she were evaluating her or perhaps guiding her.
“What do you think?”
Tia tilted her head slightly, allowing a few strands of hair to slide down her cheek.
‘I think he likely has a connection to one of those organizations you mentioned.’
“Why?”
Tia’s brows furrowed slightly, as if she were recalling the uncomfortable details of the day.
“Because those soldiers don’t look like people. They look more like… machines.”
“They don’t seem to have any individual emotions. No matter how they train, the expressions on their faces never change. It’s like they’re all wearing identical masks.”
Her voice held a hint of confusion.
“The most important thing is that every time I tried to talk to a soldier, an officer would happen to step in and stop me. Once is a coincidence, but when it happens every single time, it’s very strange.”
Hearing this, the light in Mephia’s eyes grew even deeper.
“You are actually quite smart.”
“Of course I am!”
Tia subconsciously lifted her chin and gave a proud smile.
However, she suddenly realized what was said, her eyes widening and her cheeks puffing out as she glared at Mephia reproachfully.
“Wait! What do you mean ‘actually’ smart? I’ve always been smart!”
In that moment, she looked like a cat that had been happily receiving pets only to have its tail pulled— arrogant yet cute.
It was exactly the reaction a pampered noble girl should have when being underestimated.
The corners of Mephia’s lips seemed to twitch upward ever so slightly, so fast it might have been an illusion.
Afterward, she continued to guide the conversation.
“Then tell me, what should we do next?”
“We—”
Tia was about to speak, but then she seemed to realize something.
She huffed softly and said, “I’ll listen to you.”
For some reason, she felt like Mephia was constantly testing her.
Mephia gave her a deep look and said:
“During the investigation today, I noticed that the officers, including Zane himself, intentionally or unintentionally avoided that building on the west side of the camp. If I’m not mistaken, that should be the Records Room where they store years of documents and transfer logs.”
“Tonight, once the camp is completely quiet, we will go there and investigate.”
Tia had no reason to object to Mephia’s suggestion.
—
And so, under the cover of a dark and windy night, they secretly sneaked into the West Military Camp of the City Guard.
With Mephia’s skills, avoiding the patrolling soldiers was easy, even with Tia in tow.
They reached the Records Room without any obstacles.
Immediately, Tia and Mephia smelled a strange medicinal scent in the air, as if the place had been specially disinfected.
Without overthinking it, they began flipping through the archives.
However, most of the records were mundane, so Tia focused her attention on the locked filing cabinets.
She didn’t need to use her Eros Energy for this.
With Mephia there, a simple Unlocking Magic was enough to open a large number of locked cabinets.
After leafing through several documents in a locked cabinet, Tia’s gaze finally stopped on a piece of paper marked with a Snake Eye pattern.
The edges of the paper had dark brown stains, and it felt brittle and hard to the touch, like dried blood.
The ink was of varying ages; the first few pages were neat and rigorous, but they became increasingly scribbled as they went on.
The content recorded on it looked like experimental notes, though many parts were already blurred…
**February 14, Overcast**
*Their skin has started to ooze a transparent mucus… They vomited up all of their dinner… wriggling, tiny black threadworms.*
**March 7, Sunny**
*Growth has stopped. Subject 7’s chest is no longer rising… His eyelids… opened. His pupils are solid, ink-black…*
**May 23, Overcast**
*A success… He snapped the Magic Shackles with ease… The spine pierced through the shoulder blades and grew out of the body, forming a white crown of bone… It is breathtakingly beautiful.*
*…kneeling on the ground in tears, and so am I… We were right. Humanity is about to welcome a bright future!*
**July 5, Light Rain**
*A bit of a surprise… They can no longer read… A waste… The next batch of subjects…*
*Only left for tonight… There seem to be many standing in the shadows of the corridor…*
The ink on the final entry was heavily smudged, and the pen tip had punctured the paper multiple times.
It was clear that the situation had been dire, and there hadn’t even been time to write the date.
*They…*
*They…*
*They don’t need light to see us!*
*Why was the supervisor’s white coat inside Cage 13 today?!*
*They opened the chains themselves!!*
As she read, Tia’s fingertips froze on the final line of the conclusion:
*NO NO NO!!*
*We are the ones…*
*WE ARE THE TEST SUBJECTS!*
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