Going downhill.

[Randall's POV]

… I stared at her departing back. Recalling the conflicted expression she had after I spat out every bit of information she knew about me.

The whole summoning, my true rank… Well, former rank now, but I think you understand my point.

Anyway, there's also everything we went through. Even our night-time chats.

I couldn't afford to hold back too much information… I even told her about Earth and Sophia. You remember her, right?

Of course you do. You were there when we grew up, always ready to correct a mistake with the slash of a dull rapier. 

Either way, Jean should know enough by now… And her expression told me enough. While it's unlikely that she'll outright believe me, I did manage to plant a seed of doubt in her heart.

That's all that matters.

"I knew it. Now, we just have-"

"Oi, shut the fuck up! Haven't you gotten tired of talking to yourself already?! Because I sure as hell have!"

The old guard, nicknamed old man by "Rookie", yelled at me from the top of the staircase. His steps down the stairs accompanied his grumbly aura magnificently.

"Feed him another Hiltden? I mean, we can, but this guy's only been here for what? Three days? And we already had to feed him two of 'em?" sneered the old guard, as if replying to the younger one.

"We should, definitely… Besides, don't you find it strange?"

"What?"

"How he's managed to slip past the guard of an army of four Grade 1 adventurers, a few dozen Grade 2 individuals, and the elite forces of Fegendale's Ensemble. And that's without counting everyone else-"

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"I'll pretend you didn't ask that. So, pretend you didn't talk just now."

"... Eh?"

Rookie looked pretty confused, as far as my somewhat blurry vision could tell. 

I wonder if- Ah? Where did she…?

My limbs froze up. Coupling with the old guard's statement, my mind reached a pretty obvious conclusion…

'I-I think I'm losing it.'

I have to do something, for sure. If I stay here, keeping my sanity intact will be difficult. Or even borderline impossible.

… Meaning, I have to run away. The thing is, how?

I haven't seen a shed of sunlight in what? Was it 48 hours? Or 72? 

'Fuck, I don't even remember anymore… And it doesn't matter- wait, let's get back on track. And remain focused.'

Yes… So, fact review.

Firstly, I've been imprisoned in this underground place for some time. And the guards haven't let me leave the cell once, let alone actually going out. 

Secondly, the drink's effect is still active, so my body can't move properly. There's also the stuff they shoved down my throat, which helped greatly in suppressing my Ego… Of course, I'm pretty sure that's the reason why I can't summon it.

Thirdly… Up to this point, a few groups of people have taken the freedom of visiting me. Though, the guards almost always made sure to have one guard observing me. However, it's usually two guards.

… They've only left me completely alone two times. The two times that Jean came all the way here for a talk. And I'm pretty sure the only reason she got that to happen is due to her pulling some strings.

While recalling all of this, I ended up on the topic of the interrogations.

"Yeah, good idea."

A repeated knock on the cell's bars caught my attention. 

"Shut it," declared the old guard, with his deep and raspy voice.

… Annoying.

'eh, I should get started.'

Right.

First… The one with William and three other important-looking knights. They tried to extract information from me twice: Once when a red haired guard woke me up harshly, and again after waiting for thirty minutes.

In the first situation, William led the interrogation with threats. However, it led them nowhere. And that is to be expected, considering they were talking to someone who didn't know a thing.

In other words, me.

The second one didn't go much better. A blue haired woman led the charge, using honey-coated words as her main weapon. The patience in her voice almost surprised me, but…Yeah, not much to do.

The entire thing lasted a long time, possibly thirty minutes without counting the downtime between both instances. And both William and the woman looked rather muffled by the time we were done.

'Now, their main questions…'

They revolved mainly about my motives. And one that I found noteworthy, was the seventh. It had the intent of scouting my position regarding Violet as the Demon Queen, asked by the blue haired knight.

'Do you think negatively about the current Demon Queen, Violet Frun…'

That one really made me frown.

The upcoming sessions went in a similar manner, each ending in nothing.

And that was it. I found it difficult to keep myself in check most of the time, but it happened. 

'Fortunately, it's not the first time something like this happened.'

… Actually, it sort of is. But it's also not.

A laugh almost left my mouth.

'That small outing after the tournament was absolutely worth it. Even considering how those two locked me in my room for almost a week…'

Yeah.

It took me a few minutes to return back to reality, luckily. But when I did, I knew it was time to tackle the next topic. Jean's visit.

'... Today, I made some good progress with her.'

Fortunately, I managed to extract some information off of her. Nothing direct, sadly, as she doesn't seem to trust me yet…

'Which is fair. As far as I can tell, she's quite reasonable, so it'll be hard for that to sink in. But it'll happen, in due time.'

Who knows whether I'll be here by then.

'Whatever, back to the point.'

First, some of the stuff she talked about involved Ren and Violet.

Ren seems to be doing fine, for the most part. She stuck to her training routine, and practiced much more diligently ever since my "death" happened. 

… Violet, on the other hand, isn't doing well.

According to Jean's implicit statements, she isn't even capable of leaving my now former body alone. And even went as far as to neglect her duties back in Teutonia.

Quite concerning.

'... Her.'

As for Jean's condition, in both visits she looked like shit. 

I couldn't see much the first time, but this one?

A semi permanent aura of gloominess emanated from her. The unkept, long hair cascaded down like usual, but her eyes… They almost lacked a soul.

The two flower-shaped earrings that would usually hang on her ears were nowhere to be seen… Besides, she couldn't look at me directly. 

'... What am I going to do?'