Chapter 52: 51 Heart for Heart (Please Read On)

From the very beginning, Herbert's status and the prisoners' status were never equal.

The monster girls might be powerful, might be of high standing in the outside world, might be fabulously wealthy…

But when facing him, their only identity was simply that of a prisoner.

And he was the Warden, in charge of everything within the prison.

The Foreign Race Prison had been peaceful for far, far too long. Though these prisoners said nothing on the surface, in their hearts they all longed for some kind of change.

Regardless of whether that change was good or bad.

As long as there was change, that was enough.

And Herbert dared to approach and engage them with that flippant, even somewhat overconfident attitude precisely because he understood this point.

Mm.

Pure, outright abuse of authority.

Moreover, much of the time, rather than flirting with them, he was testing their limits.

Through playful banter, testing again and again just where their tolerance lay.

And regarding this point, he believed that aside from Valentina truly being oblivious, the others could all vaguely sense it.

"Everyone is merely going through the motions, that's all."

Everyone shared this tacit understanding and chose not to expose it.

"Heart for heart? No, black heart for black heart would be more like it."

Herbert chuckled lightly, not finding the situation before him particularly optimistic, nor particularly hopeless.

【"Then……"】

"We can only take it slow."

"I don't want to harm them, and I have no reason to harm them. They'll realize this sooner or later."

"I'll treat them with a sincere heart. As for how much sincerity I get back in the end, that will depend on how we all get along in the future."

"I'm actually quite confident in myself. What about you?"

【"I……"】

Miss Xie Shen was silent for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.

【"I've always believed in you~"】

"Heh, liar."

【"Mm, that is a lie~"】

Treehouse.

After Herbert left, Swanee had remained in the same posture as before his departure, quietly gazing at the luminescent forest.

After a long while, she sighed and shook her head, unable to help remarking, "What a strange fellow…"

"He doesn't look like a holy professional at all."

Then, another voice picked up her words and continued, "This time, did he see through it again?"

The same timbre, the same flat, unvarying tone.

Right there in the treehouse, a second Swanee appeared!

The newly appeared Swanee was not the original illusory avatar; she looked no different from the previous "main body."

She picked up the skull Herbert had not taken with him and examined it for a moment, shaking her head with clear disdain.

"Completely worthless, and it's already been defiled by Him."

When she released her grip, the skull had already crumbled into powder and scattered, swallowed by the floor.

This one was also a physical body!

A master of flesh and blood manipulation—how could she fail to mold a flesh-and-blood clone?

Both Swanees moved at once, splitting their attention to resume the research they had paused earlier.

"A confident, bold holy knight who isn't bound by the scriptures…"

"Should I cooperate with him?"

They asked and answered in turn, as if two real people were conversing.

"Indeed, the experimental materials I've hidden away are nearly used up."

"I also need some fresh flesh from other races."

"But there's no rush. Let's wait a bit longer."

"Until the next time he comes looking for me of his own accord…"

And while the two Swanees were conversing, the flesh-and-blood charnel ground on the top floor of the treehouse was also slowly changing.

The wooden walls writhed, splitting open into gaping maws that swallowed and absorbed all that flesh.

Before long, the once grotesque space had become spotlessly clean, with no trace of flesh remaining.

And after everything had settled back into calm—

A third Swanee appeared. She stood at the spot Herbert had occupied earlier and gently sniffed.

"But what I want most…"

"Is actually his flesh and blood."

Swanee furrowed her brow slightly, tilted her head in some puzzlement, and drew in the lingering scent once more.

"Ha…"

"What on him is drawing me in?"

She licked her lips, a dangerous gleam flickering in her eyes.

"Is it his bloodline? Or is it…"

"After all that fuss, the road to the fourth area still hasn't been opened."

On the way back, Herbert pursed his lips in exasperation and cursed under his breath.

I forgot!

Too many unexpected things happened when he was facing Swinie—he was so focused on negotiating her betrayal that he pushed this matter to the back of his mind.

Should he go back now and bring it up?

Mmm, that would be a little too strange…

But the biggest crisis had already been resolved by Brother Grass Carp, and no one was watching his hook anymore, so there was no need to rush.

When he passed by the black iron coffin, a muffled voice came from inside: "Hey! Holy Knight!"

"You still owe me ten drops of blood! We agreed before—no welching!"

A pair of crimson eyes peeked through the crack in the coffin lid, their gaze—tinged with longing—fixed tightly on Herbert, occasionally darting toward the back of his hand, no one knew what she was thinking.

Herbert:?

He didn't reply, tilted his head to glance at the vampire who had been stuffed into a coffin and could only survive in the cracks, and couldn't help but think of what he'd seen and heard in the treehouse before.

The dark elf archmage's dwelling, while not exactly magnificent, was certainly quite comfortable—apart from the flesh-and-blood nest on the top floor.

Now look at you.

We're both mixing it up in the Prison of No Light—how come she gets a big villa, and you can only lie in a coffin room?

How do you even survive out there!

Truly shameful!

He looked at Elisha, couldn't help but shake his head, and let out a long sigh: "Sigh…"

Elisha:?

She was bewildered by this sudden reaction, not knowing what he meant.

"Hmm? What do you mean by suddenly sighing? Don't tell me… you're going to welch on the deal!?"

Elisha panicked.

Hey!

I gave you the stuff first, you can't just not honor the deal, right!?

Herbert's brow twitched at those words, and the words that had already reached his lips were swallowed back.

He gave Elisha a slight smile, nodded politely, then turned and strode away without a word.

Leaving her with a dashing view of his back.

???

"You! You can't do this!"

The poor vampire was now thoroughly panicked, shouting at his retreating back:

"Hey! Holy Knight! Aren't you a Holy Knight!?"

"You shame of Holy Knights—"

Listening to the vampire's broken cursing behind him, Herbert, already far away, took a deep breath and remarked with feeling: "Her reactions are really something!"

She's way too easy to tease—how did she get so worked up all at once?

【"Are you sure you're being sincere with them?"】

"Of course."

Herbert chuckled, answering as if it were the most natural thing: "I sincerely tease her, and in return she sincerely curses me out—how is that not a form of sincerity exchanged for sincerity?"

Folks.

This one's real true.

And Herbert, who was currently happily teasing the fool, didn't yet know…

Soon it would be his turn to be unable to laugh.

At this very moment, Bishop Rusty Nail was standing before the alien prison, frowning at the slime left on the ground.

"That degenerate hid in here in the end?"

Scheduled update tomorrow at 6 PM!

I have to push the update deadline back!!!

……

Please follow along, wah wah wah—drop more comments, folks, this matters a lot to me.

If there are no comments, watashi—

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(End of this chapter)