The Madam’s Quest

"You two, you didn't read the report, did you?" the man in chains said with a piercing gaze at the red-haired man and the man with X scar on his back. He was annoyed by their ignorance and lack of professionalism.

The two froze when he said it and one replied nervously, "Co–mmander… it's not like that. You see, Derb took his time picking his underwear." The red-haired man tried to blame the man with X scar on his back. He hoped that the commander would not be too angry with them.

Derb, simply answered casually, "Heh, says the one who asked me which color he should pick." He did not seem to care about the commander's reprimand.

The commander, the man in chains, explained to them patiently. "Anyway, even if you saw the spy's profile you wouldn't know what to look for, apparently the man matches most of the qualities the Madam was looking for. An individual who can survive his misfortunes." He revealed the reason why the lady was in charge of the mission.

"Misfortunes? Sir, don't we all have that? Look at that naked man scratching his balls, pitiful." Derb said.

The naked man was getting annoyed by the constant mockery and said, "Are you picking a fight with me, you've been taunting me for a while now. Do you want to die?" He glared at Derb and clenched his fists. He was ready to punch him if he continued to insult him.

The commander, who was listening to their conversation, continued to explain. "Well, I don't know the exact details either, but there's this legend, said to have happened in a mystical time, when a hero, the fortunate one emerged whenever there was a calamity." He shared his knowledge of the ancient lore that he had learned from the warden.

"A hero who had the power comparable to a mid-class god, and could even transcend without limit. But, to make that possible, unfortunate individuals had to exist as well." He added more information about the legend. He said that there was a balance between fortune and misfortune in the world.

"Well, unfortunate individuals usually died early or were killed so easily that it was unclear if that kind of individual really existed. After all, the difference between the death of a normal person and an unfortunate one was very similar." He pointed out the difficulty of identifying an unfortunate one. He said that they were rare and hard to distinguish from ordinary people.

"The Madam believed that an unfortunate one who could survive his misfortunes would have the highest chance to survive even facing the Almighty Ra." He finished his explanation with the Madam's hypothesis. He said that she wanted to find an unfortunate one who had overcome many challenges and hardships in life. She thought that such a person would be able to resist destiny.

The red-haired man, who was now sitting next to the commander, asked with a curious tone, "Ra? You mean the supreme god who rules over all the other gods and has the power to create and destroy anything he wants?"

"Yes, apparently. The Rank 1 of all 100 gods that are worshipped by different races and kingdoms." the commander answered with a serious expression on his face.

"Why does the Madam want such a guy? To date him or something?" Derb asked with a smirk on his lips.

"Pfftt, date? Who would want to date a poor guy who has nothing but bad luck and misfortune?" the naked man replied. Derb just looked at him with disdain and disgust.

"Who knows, even the warden didn't know. Besides, her idea of changing the torture system into what she called filtering bias or something like that, was very effective. So, the warden wouldn't dare to ask her anything, considering also her many exploits that benefitted the fortress." the commander said with admiration in his voice.

He went on to say, "Everyone likes the new heater in their quarters. It makes the cold nights more bearable. With the increased budget and the intel we got from our prisoners, our life here became so much better."

"Yeah, I heard the last one we interrogated has a family now in the kingdom, and doesn't want to go back to Seiren." the naked man said, who was grateful that the prison cell had a heater.

"The one who wore girls' clothes? For real? Whenever I see the girls' outfits in the dressing room, I feel my skin crawl. I tell you, that guy is a pervert." the red-haired man said with a disgusted look on his face.

"Professor, court mage, farmer, businessman, and few casual men." Derb said, listing the occupations of their previous captives who had now a fulfilled life in the kingdom.

"See. They should have all died for all I care, but their fate changed just because we became actors." the commander said with great pride.

"Guess we did good. But why did we only interrogate men? How come?" Derb asked, who was curious about the gender selection of their captives.

"What? You want women to go through this procedure? Shame on you!" the naked man scolded Derb. He was angry that Derb would even suggest such a thing.

"What did you say!!!" Derb yelled back at him. He was offended by the naked man's accusation.

"Shush, forget it. The Madam was the one who interrogated women. I tell you that's much worse. We only scratch fear here, there, it was unimaginable." the naked man said, lowering his voice. He had seen some of the Madam's methods and they were horrifying.

For some reason Derb gulped. He wondered what kind of horrors the lady inflicted on women. He decided not to ask any more questions. He felt a chill run down his spine.

Suddenly, the chain that held the commander captive loosened and the sound of approaching footsteps was heard from outside.

The soldier and the officer entered. The captain who posed as a soldier quickly explained the change of scene and further development to the others.