Chapter 23 - Hidden Secrets

"Has Elsa woken up?" Ayanokouji's eyes narrowed slightly.

Elsa had previously been completely frozen by Emilia. Although Elsa had unique powers and wouldn't die from being frozen, it would still take time for ice to completely melt and for her to regain consciousness.

"When did Elsa wake up?" He asked.

He still had many important things to ask her. It was a question that was previously uncomfortable to ask on the dragon carriage.

"About an hour and a half ago." Ram said slowly.

"Ram, Rem, do you always guard the underground room?" Ayanokouji raised his head, his eyes focused on both of them.

"No, Ram and Rem have prepared breakfast and done housework." Ram and Rem said simultaneously.

After hearing their answers, Ayanokouji's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew very well that there were only two maids in Roswaal's mansion at the moment. Since Ram and Rem had just done housework, how could they know that Elsa, who was imprisoned underground, had woken up?

Considering the level of technology in this world, there was no such thing as surveillance cameras. The only explanation was that Ram and Rem had some kind of monitoring magic.

If such magic really existed, what was its scope? Were there limitations on its use? Could they monitor his actions?

Furthermore, Ayanokouji also speculated that room might be monitored by Ram and Rem, but he had made relevant preparations in his mind. Even when there was no one around, he would still be inside the mansion.

Although he was now considered a partner by Roswaal, he knew that he hadn't gained Roswaal's trust that quickly.

Emilia's character was very simple, so it was easy to trust her after the incident in the royal capital. However, Roswaal was also a politician who had been involved in the political world for a long time. Although he seemed unprepared to face him, he still kept his guard up internally, even now treating him as a spy.

Ayanokouji himself also wanted to know more about Roswaal.

"Roswaal-sama said that if the prisoner below wakes up, I should inform Ayanokouji-sama as soon as possible." Ram said, "Because this prisoner is very dangerous, Ram and I will accompany you, Ayanokouji-sama."

"Alright, let's go." Ayanokouji nodded. From the other party's words, he knew that the two of them were clearly not ordinary maids.

The scene changed. He had arrived in the underground room accompanied by Ram and Rem. Elsa was now bound by countless chains and couldn't move at all.

He slowly walked towards Elsa, but at the same time, he glanced at the two maids beside her with a vigilant gaze.

Rem and Ram were now standing on both sides of the underground room, about five meters away from him.

In his eyes, the two of them seemed more like they were here to watch him rather than as servants.

"Are they asking me to meet Elsa to gather information from me?"

Ayanokouji guessed this in his mind, but he still raised his head and focused his eyes on Elsa.

Elsa raised her head, with a smile on her face, completely unconcerned about her current situation: "You truly are a cold-blooded man, treating me like this when I have no fighting abilities."

Ayanokouji raised his head and met her gaze.

"I'm sorry, even though you're being controlled now, you're still a threat to us."

His tone was very calm, as if he didn't know that the woman in front of him was a famous killer.

"Because I'm very curious about what's inside the Half-Elf."

As Elsa spoke, she narrowed her eyes slightly and landed on Ayanokouji's stomach, "But now I'm more interested in your insides. What's your name?"

While speaking, Elsa stuck out her tongue and touched it to her smooth lips.

During the previous battle, she was attacked from the shadows by the other party – the arrows shot by the other party contained a large amount of poison, which was the direct reason for her defeat.

As an elite killer, Elsa had a very sharp intuition and could even sense the emotions of those around her, but she couldn't detect the presence of the man.

No emotions flowed out from the man, like an empty body. This also made Elsa very curious about him.

Could this person have no emotions?

"I'm sorry, I can't fulfill your request at the moment." Ayanokouji said lightly, "So besides the location you can see, we have also set traps near it, so you won't be able to escape."

When Rem brought the frozen Elsa to the underground room, he asked the other party to set more traps to prevent Elsa from escaping.

"So, why did you come to me now~" Elsa said with an ambiguous tone, looking very charming.

"Allow me to ask about the assassination organization." Ayanokouji asked, "If the assassination organization knows that your mission has failed, will they send another assassin to carry out the mission?"

Previously, while on the dragon carriage, he learned about the existence of the assassination organization from Elsa and was able to conclude that the person who hired Elsa to kill Emilia must have a lot of wealth.

"This is not something to be praised~" Elsa said, with a meaningful smile on her face.

"What about your activity patterns? Are you the only one doing these activities?"

"No apologies~"

Elsa's eyes contained a hint of pride, wanting to see a little disappointment on Ayanokouji's face.

However, Ayanokouji's face never showed any change in emotion. Elsa's answer didn't surprise him, but it was also part of his plan.

"Why are you interested in the insides?" Ayanokouji suddenly asked, changing the topic almost 180 degrees from before.

Elsa was slightly surprised by the sudden change of topic, but hearing such a topic piqued her interest.

"How interesting the insides are~ warm and soft..."

She immediately began to explain in an unusual way how much she loved and was obsessed with the insides.

Behind Ayanokouji, Ram and Rem listened to Elsa's lewd words, their brows slightly furrowed, and an unmistakable disgust in their eyes. There was no doubt that Elsa's sickness had penetrated deep into her bones.

But Ayanokouji's face still showed no change in expression, and he felt no emotion in response to her words.

The reason he asked such a question was to gather more information from her. Although it sounded useless, it could help Ayanokouji understand Elsa's character more easily.

He had been studying psychological profiles since he was young. He could assess a person's character from their behavior and words, and could even infer what someone may have experienced in the past.

From Elsa's obsession with the insides, her character was extreme and even deviant. People like this often experienced significant changes in the past, which was why their character became so twisted.

Although such people seemed very dangerous, if someone could give them what they wanted, it was very easy to control them.

Just like taming a tiger, although very dangerous, you could feed it and capture its loyalty, and it could become your own weapon.

And from the conversation, it was known that Elsa seemed to be disloyal to the assassination organization. The reason she took assassination missions was only because it satisfied her lewd hobby.

In addition to wanting to gather information from her, Ayanokouji also began to consider the possibility of making Elsa his subordinate. In this case, not only would his combat effectiveness skyrocket, but he would also naturally be able to obtain enough information about the assassination organization.

But it was too early to discuss this now. Moreover, there were two maids watching him behind him. If he took action to win Elsa's favor now, it was likely that the other party would think he was Elsa's accomplice. It would be dangerous if he acted alone and directed himself into the mansion.

So the most important thing for Ayanokouji at the moment was to first obtain information about the assassination organization from Elsa, so as not to be attacked by them during this period.

Considering that Elsa chose to attack Emilia in the slums, the assassination organization might not choose to attack Roswaal's mansion for some reason. Whether they were afraid of Roswaal's power, or they were afraid that even though there were fighting members in the mansion, Ayanokouji couldn't guarantee that the assassination organization wouldn't attack this area.

If he could obtain information about the assassination organization, he could make targeted preparations beforehand.

"By the way, your friend has been captured by us." Ayanokouji suddenly changed the topic to prevent the other party from preparing mentally beforehand.

"Huh?"

For a moment, traces of doubt and panic appeared in Elsa's eyes. Although most people wouldn't care, Ayanokouji noticed it. He had an expression to deduce what others were thinking.

From Elsa's expression at that moment, Ayanokouji could tell that Elsa definitely had an accomplice in this assassination mission, and from the panic that flashed in her eyes, although he didn't know how many people were her accomplices, there was no doubt that that person was somewhat important to Elsa.

"She has told us everything about you." Ayanokouji continued to add.

And at this moment, he realized the change in Elsa's expression, a smile appeared on her face, as if she already knew the lie he had told.

"Lying is wrong, and it's a very low lie." Elsa said meaningfully.

Ayanokouji's purpose of lying was to observe Elsa's reaction when she heard those words, so he could deceive her.

He slightly narrowed his eyes. Elsa went from doubt at the beginning to affirming that his words were lies.

'Is that it?'

Ayanokouji thought carefully. When he said the word 'she,' Elsa's expression changed. It seemed that Elsa's accomplice was a woman.

"Is that a woman?" Ayanokouji raised his head and asked, he needed further confirmation.

And at that moment, Elsa's expression changed slightly ugly in an instant, undoubtedly confirming his suspicion.

After their previous contact, Ayanokouji clearly understood that although Elsa had extraordinary killing skills and terrifying strength, she didn't have a sophisticated mind. This allowed her inner thoughts to be revealed in front of him.

He was like a sharp knife, cutting Elsa's thoughts one by one.

❀❀❀

"A terrifying man."

At Hyakkaou Private Academy, Suzui Ryota looked at Ayanokouji on the screen and felt a little scared.

Although it seemed like a normal conversation, Ayanokouji tried to understand Elsa from beginning to end, digging information from her bit by bit.

Furthermore, Ayanokouji had the ability to observe others' microexpressions to assess their thoughts, which was too frightening.

If at a gambling table, in his eyes, it would be like shining cards.

But beside Ryota, Yumeko always had a joyful smile on her charming and gentle face, and her cheeks were slightly flushed.

"I really want to gamble with Ayanokouji Kiyotaka! We must be a perfect match!"