Chapter 97: An Academic Question

Chapter 97: An Academic Question

As Elaine spoke, her eyes tilted slightly upward, as though she had sunk into her memories.

“At first, I resold steel and coal shipped from the western coast of the Intersea to Feynapotter, then brought back local specialties such as tobacco, coffee, and cocoa to Intis. That was a coastal route. It was relatively safe, but competition was fierce. To escape my predicament as soon as possible, I saved capital while also working hard to raise my Sequence, hoping to enter colonial trade.

“Unfortunately, I had only just become familiar with the shipping route and earned some money. On my second trip to West Balam, I encountered Tracy’s plunder. At the time, she was still the Maiden of Sickness, not yet Vice Admiral Ailment. She had only one ship, but she herself was very strong. My partners and I resisted desperately, but there was no reversing it.

“She did not have a habit of indiscriminate slaughter. She only took the cargo, and… me…”

As expected of an anomaly among Demonesses… Klein listened quietly, using his Clown ability to suppress his awkwardness. Expressionlessly, he asked, “How far did things develop between you?”

“No!” Elaine instinctively denied it. “It was all forced by her! I—I did not want to die. I could only, only choose to endure it. And, and she is a woman!”

Madam, there is no need to react so intensely. If I had asked whether you two had already gone beyond friendship, would you not have jumped out of this carriage on the spot? It is because I am kind enough to consider your shame that I did not ask so directly… Sigh. Beneath the mask of the mad Gehrman Sparrow lies the gentlemanly me… This is the truest version of myself… Klein’s expression did not change. He moved to another question.

“What cuisine do you prefer? Are there any dishes you especially like? Do you prefer sweet, salty, or somewhere in between?

“What foods do you dislike? What are you allergic to?

“Do you have any habitual phrases? If so, what are they?

“…”

Question after question made Elaine feel as though she had entered a dream. It did not feel real enough.

She had never imagined the other party would ask such things. It was almost like a suitor asking about the preferences of the person he admired.

No, no suitor would ask like this! Those things are always drawn out indirectly through repeated conversations, or learned through other channels! No woman would enjoy being interrogated this way! This—this is more like the questionnaire invented by Emperor Roselle… What exactly does he want? He is asking these questions without a trace of expression. I am terrified… Elaine fell silent for several seconds. Under Klein’s cold, unwavering gaze, she answered them one by one.

Klein kept his forward-leaning posture unchanged and continued asking, “How do you usually sit? Do you have any habitual gestures…”

The more Elaine answered, the more fearful and uneasy she became. For no clear reason, she felt as though she might vanish because of this.

By the time this incomprehensible and frightening “questionnaire” ended, her heart had grown heavy. She kept suspecting that some unfortunate end awaited her.

Should I gamble and jump from the carriage while he is not paying attention? Elaine seriously considered the possibility.

However, the other party showed no sign of attacking her, so she remained unable to make up her mind, believing that there was still hope for a peaceful resolution.

After grasping Elaine’s personality, habits, and preferences, Klein returned the topic to Vice Admiral Ailment.

“What do you know about Tracy?”

Elaine fell silent. Her lips moved several times, but she could not speak.

The carriage traveled for quite a while before she finally gave a bitter smile.

“She has outstanding combat ability. She excels at stealth and curses, and can turn invisible and make herself lighter.

“She has mastered mirror and wand substitution techniques. She commands black flames and frost. She can make enemies within a certain range suddenly fall sick, including colds, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, and so on. The longer one fights her, the more severe the disease becomes. Some Beyonders have even suddenly died from heart attacks.

“She also—also can create invisible threads to control enemies. Her understanding of the human body, the human body is very deep. She can very easily, through touch, bring people pleasure. That—pleasure in that aspect.

“She has active charm abilities. Many pirates have even given up resisting just to get close to her.

“She is usually, usually rather friendly. But toward enemies, she is very cruel. She likes destroying the beautiful things they want to protect, making them suffer in extreme mental pain…”

Elaine did not specify how Tracy destroyed others’ beautiful things. There were many cruel stories and also absurd accidents involved. This Maiden of Sickness had once driven an enemy’s father and son to kill each other. She had also incited the wife of an enemy to betray him, then let him personally walk in on the scene.

She really is a Demoness. Sequence 5 Demoness of Despair, one level higher than Pleasure… Klein roughly grasped Tracy’s combat style and asked again with calm composure, “Does she possess any mystical items?”

“…Yes. A diamond-inlaid bracelet. As long as Tracy wears it, she becomes very difficult to harm.” After some hesitation, Elaine still revealed Vice Admiral Ailment’s secret.

Klein asked a few more detailed questions, then straightened his forward-leaning body slightly.

“Is Tracy helping the Demoness Sect traffic people?”

This was a question that had bothered him ever since he heard it from Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina.

The Demoness Sect had cooperated with Ince Zangwill, had connections to the royal family, and involved an underground ruin whose location remained unknown.

Tracy was helping them traffic people.

Baron, identified by The Hanged Man as the person behind many slave disappearance cases and the sudden evaporation of primitive tribes in the Southern Continent, had appeared in the upper level of that underground ruin.

The Beyonder guards around Capim, Backlund’s largest human trafficker, belonged to the Arbiter pathway, and that pathway was controlled by the Loen royal family, the Feynapotter royal family, and the militaries of the two nations…

These matters Klein knew formed a line, but what it would ultimately reveal remained unclear. Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy was a breakthrough point.

“What Demoness Sect?” Elaine asked in confusion.

“You do not need to know,” Klein replied coolly.

If you understood what a Demoness is and began suspecting that the charming Vice Admiral Ailment who brought you pleasure had once been a filthy, barbaric man, I fear you might lose control on the spot… No need to thank me. I am a good person… Klein silently roasted inwardly.

Suppressing her confusion, Elaine recalled carefully and said, “Over the past year, she has indeed helped transport several ships of slaves. The other party in the deal was ‘Mad Captain’ Connors Victor. It is said he has deep cooperation with many human traffickers and slave merchants in Loen.”

Mad Captain Connors Victor… Klein memorized the nickname and the name.

He nodded. His voice was no longer so low and deep, becoming instead rather gentle.

“Have you ever participated in such matters? Have you ever worked part-time as a pirate?”

That polite, friendly tone inexplicably made Danitz, who was driving the carriage, shiver. He felt that Gehrman Sparrow in this state was even more terrifying than when he was cold and expressionless.

“No.” Elaine shook her head. “The blood of the Sauron family flows in me. I will not disgrace my family. Besides—besides, Tracy always said she would not let me be stained by blood or see the darkness. She would face all of it herself.”

She has read too many romance novels, has she not… Klein took out a gold coin and made it roll and flip between his fingers as if dancing.

Right in front of Elaine, without avoiding her, he performed a divination to determine whether she had lied.

The answer was that she was relatively honest.

That is also because I did not ask specifically about the emotional entanglement between her and Tracy. Otherwise, there is no way she would be so frank… Klein sighed inwardly and put away the gold coin.

By then, the carriage had circled to the harbor, but it was no longer at the spot where Elaine’s reserved ship lay.

Klein glanced at the scenery outside, took out a small metal bottle, and handed it to Elaine.

“Use the liquid inside to remove the makeup on your face.”

“Why?” Elaine asked instinctively.

“That is not a question you should ask.” Klein leaned forward again, his face expressionless.

Elaine felt wronged and furious, but she did not want to intensify conflict with the other party at this crucial moment. She could only unscrew the cap, sniff the smell, and test whether it was poisonous.

“Use it directly?” she asked.

Klein gave a simple “Mm.”

Elaine took out a white handkerchief, poured the liquid from the small metal bottle onto it, and began wiping her face. Her previous disguise quickly came away.

The androgynous beauty vanished. Her facial lines softened, and Elaine’s original appearance appeared before Klein’s eyes.

After carefully observing her for a while, Klein said evenly, “Remove your hat and let down your hair.”

Elaine’s brows immediately furrowed. She felt that the next command might be something she could not accept, such as taking off her clothes.

She inhaled, removed her top hat, and let down the coiled red hair. Her appearance instantly became exceedingly soft and feminine.

Klein straightened his body and leaned back against the carriage wall, giving an instruction in a normal tone.

“You may redo the disguise from earlier.”

Is he insane? After tormenting me for so long, we are going back to the beginning? Elaine was angry but did not dare speak. Worried that the other party might make a worse demand, she hurriedly opened her suitcase, took out a mirror, and looked at herself.

It came off this cleanly… She froze for a second, then quickly applied makeup and coiled up her hair.

By the time the carriage stopped, she had returned to the appearance of a handsome young man.

Klein nodded almost imperceptibly, turned his head to glance outside the window, and slowly withdrew his gaze.

“One final question.”

“What?” Elaine asked nervously.

Klein’s gaze lifted slightly. The muscles in his face shifted.

“What is your true bust size?”

“…” Elaine first froze, then her face flushed red.

This was not the flush of shyness, but the kind of flush that came from wanting to punch someone in the jaw.

Klein’s gaze did not dodge. He calmly added, “This is an academic question.”

“…” Seeing that there was no lust in the other party’s eyes, Elaine inhaled, closed her eyes, and answered the question.

Klein quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He took out a ship ticket and a stack of papers.

“New identification documents. A ticket to Tiana Harbor.

“Once you arrive there, buy another ticket to Pritz Harbor.”

Elaine looked at him warily, accepted the ticket and documents, picked up her suitcase, and carefully stepped down from the carriage. There, she saw the ship she would be taking.