"Answer my questions truthfully and I will let you go"
Within the darkness, I juggled the pebbles I had thrown in my hand.
With my other hand, I fixed a green brooch that had been given to me as payment for a request a while back. The girl behind me knotted to my back with a wire.
The brooch I had pinned on my old attire was an artifact that distorted 'everything' about me, to make one feel true terror and pressure from my voice and mere presence.
Not only a useful artifact, but also a national treasure that didn't require much maintenance to work flawlessly.
Though, due to the effects, it is quite burdensome to use for long periods of time.
'Did they not hear me?'
I frowned when no response came, even though I asked politely.
"Are both of you deaf? I said I'd let you go if you answer my questions with honesty"
"Hi-Hieeekk!!!!"
A man with dark-blue hair screamed in fear, the face of the other one dropped to the floor paled considerably when I spoke.
To me, my voice sounded the same, but I couldn't know how exactly I sounded to them.
It was awkward hearing them scream at my voice when I sounded no different than before.
But I couldn't waste time hearing them scream for very long.
"Have you two perhaps....given up on life? And that is why you do not respond?"
""..!""
Both of them stood for attention, the one with brown hair who had been crouched on the floor spoke.
"Wh-What is it yo-you want to-o ask!"
Stuttering the words out, I pondered which question to ask first and foremost.
'The opening question always matters'
Holding those thoughts, I voiced my first question as if I were reading a script.
"Which floor is this?"
Without knowing this, the map couldn't be used effectively, because, well look. I am no monster who knows the layout of a base through sheer instinct or because the particles here smelled like it was that floor. I'm human damn it!
"B-B5!"
'Oh? Guess I was right?'
Being right just through guessing was always a pleasant surprise, whatever the time and era.
"Then....where is your boss right now?"
"I-In his room!"
Crap...
Bringing a hand to my temples and massaging them, I winced.
'Confrontation with an 8th circle mage is impossible to avoid then'
Looking at the map in the darkness, which I could still very well see in. I had long realised why the secret path was in the farthest room which were the chambers of the boss.
'In case things went south, he built the secret path as far away from the entrance to at the least get a chance of escape'
And, the room furthest away from the entrance.
'Is his room'
Ruffling through my hair, I could feel my spell running dry and flickering.
Shifting the girl in a more comfortable position, I silently went away.
"Wh-Where is he?!"
"How should I know! Ah fuck, we are going to die from a damn demon!"
Hearing their screams, I turned my head.
'Is that how I sound to them?'
I kept going and going with no stop sign ever coming in sight.
Each time I came across a light source, I always destroyed it with either a pebble or something smaller than or larger than that.
The darkness needed to stay at all costs, running around with lights still on is like sprinting naked in a crowded area.
'While the Assassins of Layla aren't going to be really affected from this, it could still be useful when needed'
Against low level thugs or just to inconvenience the assassins.
Tak!
Having my spell run to its outer limit, I fell from the ceiling and continued walking, my steps so soft that it wouldn't even echo on the walls.
'I won't lie, out every assassin they could have hired, the ones of Layla are by far the most surprising bunch to see here'
They weren't exactly rare to see in the underworld, but seeing them in a completely different continent from the one they used to operate in was certainly a stunning surprise.
'I don't think they are martial artists though'
They didn't use anything that resembled anything like it, so it was unlikely they were from 'that' independent branch. It would've made slightly a lot more sense if it were though, the previous head researcher seemed very unlikely to happen.
I still wondered how they were even able to meet him.
'So it is safe to assume that they are from the main branch and not the one outwards'
Gliding my hand across the dry wall, I stopped at an arched doorway.
The soft breaths of the girl I held kept lightly twisting the paper bag I had placed over her head.
I raised my leg swiftly from the ground, and flexibly.
CRASH—!
Shattered the mahogany wood that stood in my way.
The door clapped open, instantly. A pungent smell hit my nostrils, one full of disgusting lust for short pleasure.
'The aphrodisiac?'
Guess they at least weren't like the companies that promote a product so badly, even though they themselves never use it.
'Still, for a dark organisation, they sure are lenient'
I have gone through the underworld on occasion, either for information or to find requests under a different name.
The mere crimes they committed...made this look like a child's play.
"I do not believe I asked for another woman?"
Within the giant curtains drawn over the massive bed that could at the very least hold 5 people, a man's voice rang out.
His silhouette laid on a lap of another silhouette feeding him grapes.
A finger pointed at the woman I had on my back.
"Still, why is there a paper bag over her head? I believe I've said I am not into that sort of thing, just keep bringing women to feed me grapes like the past decade"
"...."
'What....'
He kidnaps women, to feed him grapes?
"Quite the quirky personality"
I muttered under my breath, he didn't hear.
'So he used the aphrodisiac to make them more obedient? and make them want to fawn over him?'
Placing conjectures after conjectures to the man before me, I remained stoic silent at everything flowing out his voice.
"Actually, how the hell did you get past all my detection spells? Not to mention my sheer ability to sense mana from even insects miles away from me"
Don't know, maybe because of the ring? Not giving it to you in order to check though.
"Well, that doesn't matter much now, right?"
"Boss"
I pursed my lips together, my saliva softened my dry lips slightly.
And I could feel his gaze steadily placed over me.