As Rohan was lost in his thoughts, his ears caught a faint sound that sounded odd.
His brow furrowed and he looked around to find the source of the sound that he couldn't find. Rohan sharpened his hearing but no longer heard that strange sound.
Just when he thought the sound was just his imagination, it reappeared a little louder, making Rohan realize that it was the sound of a woman crying.
Rohan opened the balcony door behind him only to find the ship hallway was empty. He stood in the middle of the hallway, but the crying sound disappeared.
'Seems like it isn't from around here,'
With a questioning face, Rohan returned to the balcony. As he expected, he heard the thin sound again. After searching for a bit, he finally found the source of the sound.
It was a ventilation hole that was about two meters from the balcony he was standing on. Rohan couldn't reach it nor was he willing.
Curious, Adro decided to check where the real source of the sound. This mission was only limited to travelling between the planets Vaxer and Ogx so they didn't catch any captives on this mission.
Although faint, the cry sounded full of suffering, which never came out of the mouths of the villains. It must be a prisoner. Since there were no captives on this mission, Rohan was instantly reminded of the witch Helena whom he had saved and ended up forgetting.
What happened to the witch? Where was she locked up?
That question had just come to Rohan's mind now. Even though he had previously been so passionate about saving the witch, and made all the higher-ups furious, he didn't actually care about her.
The essence of the rescue itself was only because Rohan didn't like the principle of the higher-ups about throwing away people who had done a lot of work to gain huge profits for them.
And when Rohan had managed to save the witch and showed it to those damn higher-ups, he no longer had any sympathy for her because his goal had been accomplished.
Rohan didn't know where the venting duct was going. With that, he made a small iron marble ball and sent it into the ventilation hole.
As soon as the ball landed inside, Rohan went back inside the ship hallway. The iron marble rolled down the path of the duct. Since Rohan was in control of the ball, he could feel where it was going even though he could not see it.
Rohan paced following the iron ball which kept running above his head, behind the roof of the hallway. He passed several blocks of narrower, quieter and darker hallways until he stopped in front of a black-painted iron door at the end of a dead-end hallway.
Putting his ear to the door, Rohan heard the crying getting weaker. He couldn't believe that the sound that had now become this weak could echo out of the ventilation hole outside the ship.
When trying to open the door by touching the door sensor panel which was useful as a recipient of the message to open the door, he found the door locked. Then, he put his palm next to the panel. A second later, there was a bang sound from inside the door.
If it wasn't for the door being made of iron, Rohan would have been forced to break it open. But the commotion didn't happen as Rohan managed to slide the automatic door lock inside with ease.
The door slid open, revealing a medium-sized room that Rohan had never seen or even knew existed on this spaceship.
It was a room with iron floors and walls without any furniture. The room was cold and even your ears felt a little ringing when you walked into it.
But that was not what caught Rohan's attention now, but a naked woman lying sideways on the metal floor with thick chains warped her ankles.
It never once crossed Rohan's mind that the witch would end up like this. She looked terrible with many huge open wounds all over her body. Her melted skin also looked a lot worse than the last time he saw it.
Rohan didn't have to think anymore to know that this witch had been tortured.
The witch was crying and whining in pain. Her body was shaking violently and blood seemed to keep flowing out of her nostrils.
Rohan stepped towards the witch Helena with seriousness on his face. "Who did this to you?"
"T-them. The... villains. That lady…" Her answer stuttered in a voice that trembled badly.
"Do you mean Lady Jenzigh?"
The woman nodded weakly. "And.. her subordinates.."
Rohan sighed tiredly. Yes, of course. Why the hell he had to ask this again? Of all the people in the universe, he could easily guess who had the greatest grudge against this poor witch before him.
Jenzigh didn't hesitate to kill civilians or anyone just because they gave her a cynical gaze. Imagine if there was someone who made her have to endure shame in front of all her important colleagues and made her the same as having lost her proud son.
Actually, the questions Rohan just asked the witch were just for formality. He was not used to going up to a dying person and asking how she was.
"What can I do for you? You can say it. I'm not familiar with helping people… I mean, saving a dying person?" He muttered thoughtfully. Then he shook his head briefly. "Whatever. Just tell me quickly if you wish for life,"
"I was wrong.."
Rohan returned his gaze from the witch's naked body. He just realized that physically, a witch looked one hundred percent the same as a human, although he was not that sure because the condition of this witch was extremely pathetic.
"I believe you were wrong. I think we're on the same page right now. I also hate them to the bone." Rohan said with a thin and light smile. He said he hated someone but it didn't show on his facial expression.
Tears began to flow more profusely down Helena's cheeks. The thick white powder on her face had almost completely wiped off, revealing her face that looked exactly like a female human.
"I.. shouldn't.. believe a villain's words. Now.. I have betrayed my clan and I.. will soon face my death.." She stuttered.
"You are lucky that I am willing to help you stay alive. You just need to tell me how to help you. I'll take you if you want to try. But you know there's always a cost for all the help. We can talk about it later when you healed" Rohan smiled with his eyes.
But the witch shook her head. "You… are a villain, indeed. It's.. so confusing why.. you helped me earlier. However, I have… owed you my life,"
"Then, should I take that as a 'Yes'?" Rohan asked with thinning patience.
"My body.. has been destroyed inside. That woman.. has put so much bacteria into my body.. that I will die slowly as punishment for making you pity me. All… my internal organs can't be helped," Helena said.
Rohan clicked his tongue. His face turned unexcited. "Well, that's quite disappointing. Then why were you screaming for help and crying like an idiot? Were you trying to get attention or something?"
Nodding weakly, Helena replied, "You're right.. I did it to get your attention, my only hope. You are... the only person on this ship I can ask for last help," She coughed up more blood from her mouth and nose.
"What a pain in the ass," Rohan rolled his eyes. "This is the first time I've thought about granting someone's last wish. So, let me know first what it is,"
With her remaining strength, Helena woke up from her sleeping position to sit and leaned on the iron wall behind her. Then her hand went up to her eye. After taking a deep breath, she dug her fingers through every corner of her eye socket. She looked depressed with pain and she screamed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Rohan stared at her with severe confusion on his face.