Chapter 47: How Did You Figure It Out?

The treehouse was utterly silent.

The faint sounds of organs inside jars and bottles could be heard.

The beating of a heart, the蠕动 of a stomach, the trembling of an eye stalk, the breathing of gills… and the noise of a rattan chair rocking back and forth.

Creak, creak, creak—

That maddening sound stood out especially harshly in the quiet space, drilling into Svanje's ears beat by beat.

"……"

The aloof elf's eyes trembled slightly; for the first time she raised her gaze and looked squarely at the leisurely white-haired youth before her.

Beauty that in no way fell short compared to an elf's, pale grey eyes like pure crystal, pure-white hair as if blessed, a half-dry, faintly translucent silk sleeping robe.

Rather than a holy-order warden managing a prison, he looked more like a noble son one might run into at an aristocratic ball.

On top of that, the eerie, un-holy smile curling at the corner of his mouth added a rakish, unrestrained prefix to that "noble son."

The type who, at a glance, was clearly skilled at spinning around the dance floor with noble ladies, or being quietly pulled by a few Ladies into some secluded corner for a deeper exchange of feelings.

Honestly—was he really a holy knight?

Though the doubts in Svanje's heart were hard to resolve, compared with such a trivial little question, what truly changed her attitude was the exposure of her disguise.

Given his strength, he shouldn't have been able to see through her disguise.

Then which step exactly had gone wrong?

Although the matter had been exposed, Svanje's attitude didn't change much—no frantic denials, no losing her composure; her bearing remained as aloof as ever.

She nodded at Herbert and said, "You too have somewhat exceeded my expectations. How did you figure it out?"

"How should I put it—intuition?"

Herbert tilted his head, raised an eyebrow, and teased, "I just had a feeling that a beautiful woman like you would be very good at lying."

Svanje didn't laugh; instead she frowned and said, "Are you implying that all dark elves are liars skilled at deception?"

Herbert:?

"Uh, no, I didn't mean any racial discrimination—don't read too much into it."

He wiped the sweat that wasn't actually on his forehead, and added somewhat sheepishly, "What I meant was, I think you're really good-looking!"

No.

This is another world already—why are dark-skinned folks still so sensitive?

I'm not, I didn't!

I've never persecuted any of you!

"Is that so?"

Svanje's brow stirred slightly; she shook her head. "No, even if you really did think that, it doesn't matter."

"Dark elves are indeed a race extremely skilled at deception and trickery. That trait has always run in our blood, and in that regard… I am no exception."

"You're right—I am exactly that kind of person, truly very good at deceiving others."

The dark elf's utterly earnest attitude left Herbert somewhat speechless; he felt the conversation was getting a little hard to carry on.

What's up with this lady?

She's so bad at chatting.

No way—is she really that self-isolating?

"Ahem."

Herbert coughed once, forcibly skipping past the topic, taking charge of the situation and continuing, "Of course, intuition is one part of it. What truly let me make the judgment was your behavior."

The youth lifted his chin slightly, gesturing for her to look at the skull on the table that had completely lost its vitality.

"The biggest flaw is right here."

"Just now, when I handed it to you, you didn't take it, did you?"

He gazed at Svanje's thoughtful expression and said leisurely:

"It was clearly one of your kinsmen, clearly just a skull, yet you wouldn't even touch it… afraid?"

After speaking, Herbert's gaze slowly swept across the various grotesque organs in the room, and he smiled—a smile that spoke for itself.

You're afraid?

The one who ought to be afraid is me, right?

"Of course, there's another possibility—you have very severe mysophobia, unwilling to touch anything that an unclean person like me has touched."

"But compared with that rather odd possibility, I'd rather trust my own intuition—you aren't here. What stands in this place is nothing more than an extraordinarily lifelike illusion."

"And the facts have proven my guess correct."

"I bet right."

Herbert contentedly rolled his neck, finding a more comfortable position to recline in.

That posture, that look—he was all but writing "arrogant and smug" across his face.

Heh↑ heh↓

"Since I've already guessed it, there's no need for you to keep up the act, wouldn't you say?"

And Svanje, after listening to Herbert's explanation, fell silent for a moment, then slowly rose and nodded to him.

"You're right. In that case, Warden, please come with me. My true body is upstairs and can't leave at the moment."

Having said that, without waiting for Herbert's reply, she walked straight toward a wall that appeared to be completely empty.

The bark wall slowly split open as she approached, revealing a dark passage.

Herbert squinted, looking at the staircase paved with glowing vines, then at the darkness that stretched endlessly upward, and narrowed his eyes.

Go?

For now it could still be said he hadn't gone deep into the cell, only wandered around the outer railing. If he went further… there would genuinely be a certain amount of risk.

Swanie turned her head at the corridor entrance, said nothing, and gazed at him in silence.

Isn't this the true body you wanted to see?

Then, now, will you follow?

"Naturally, no problem." Herbert rose with a cheerful smile and followed along with light, easy steps.

Things had already come to this point — there was no sense in giving up halfway.

I want to see exactly what you're selling in that gourd of yours!

Seeing that he had followed, Swanie said nothing more, only gave a quiet nod, then led the way ahead.

The corridor was long and deep.

Not long after Herbert followed Swanie upstairs, Nie Nasha, who had been silent for quite a while, couldn't help but speak up:

【"Hey, how did you figure it out?"】

【"I clearly didn't tell you — I was waiting to see you laugh… waiting to see when you'd notice."】

?

Herbert squinted and quipped internally: "You said that on purpose halfway through, didn't you? You're picking a fight on purpose, aren't you?"

【"But of course~"】

Nie Nasha showed no shame at all, laughing as she said: 【"But I'm really curious how you noticed — the reason isn't just those things you explained to her, is it?"】

"Mm, besides the reasons I just mentioned, there's one more crucial point."

"Her reaction when she saw me was honestly too flat."

Herbert calmly laid out a reason that sounded rather narcissistic.

"According to what you said, every magical creature will develop an inexplicable fondness for me — even if not love, at least some goodwill."

"Yet she behaved far too calmly, even coldly in a way that didn't quite seem like a living person."

"Besides that, there's actually one more reason."

【"What is it?"】

"It's… the scent."

Nie Nasha:?

You — you're not quite right in the head, are you!

(End of chapter)