"Because for Ram, Rem's death cannot be soothed with a few words. Sometimes comfort can be counterproductive. It's better to leave her alone."
Although Ayanokouji himself did not understand what is called feelings and emotions, he knew what actions were most appropriate in any given situation.
He had conducted extensive research in the field of psychology. He knew that comforting Ram now would have little effect, and that she could only process these emotions after some time.
"Really..." Emilia thought for a moment, then finally nodded, feeling that the words seemed reasonable.
"Did you just ask Elsa something?" Ayanokouji asked.
"No." Emilia shook her head.
"Then let me communicate with her again, maybe we can get some useful information." Ayanokouji said, then stood up to meet Elsa, who was imprisoned.
Through previous intelligence, he knew that a girl named Meili had scouted the village a month ago and overlapped with Elsa's actions. Her target was clearly the same as the person who wanted to kill Emilia, but she seemed to be Elsa's accomplice.
But what puzzled Ayanokouji was why Meili did not take action during the past month but chose to act yesterday.
Is it possible that Meili was Elsa's backup plan? If Elsa's assassination failed, Meili would take action.
If this is true, it means Meili and Elsa's targets are not just Emilia but the entire Emilia faction.
However, this is only speculation. It is not yet certain whether Meili is a member of the assassination organization, so Ayanokouji now wants to contact Elsa to verify this.
"Then let me go with you!" Emilia quickly said, "Even though she is restrained, Elsa is still too dangerous. I will go with you, Ayanokouji!"
"No need, Emilia, you should stay here. Roswaal is not here right now. If something unexpected happens, you will be needed to control the overall situation." Ayanokouji said.
"But Ayanokouji, you are more suited to control the overall situation than I am..." Emilia placed her hand on her chest with a bit of insecurity.
"Emilia, as a candidate for the throne, you must be more confident." Ayanokouji said, "And even though I want Ram to be alone now, if she needs anything, you can help her quickly. Besides, Felt and Rom have worked hard all day today; you can appropriately praise them now, and they should be very happy, perhaps they will be more loyal to you, Emilia."
While Ayanokouji was speaking, he raised his head and directed his gaze towards the two people sitting sleepily on chairs in the distance.
Rom and Felt had turned the entire village upside down according to his words. The workload was heavy, so both of them were basically exhausted now.
Ayanokouji was previously unsure of Meili's whereabouts, so he asked them to investigate the entire village. Even though he later confirmed that Meili had indeed escaped into the forest, he was not sure if there were any of Meili's accomplices in the village, so he did not let Felt and Rom stop their investigation mission. Even if the chances were very slim, at this critical moment, he would not overlook any possibilities.
Because Emilia needs support now, Emilia herself needs to make some changes. She lacks confidence and is hesitant. This is Ayanokouji's most intuitive assessment of Emilia. These shortcomings need to be corrected if she wants to be a worthy candidate for the throne.
Previously, Horikita also had the shortcomings of arrogance and distrust of others, but Ayanokouji used various methods to cover her shortcomings.
Of course, he did all this for them not out of goodwill, but only because these two people were valuable.
In a sense, this is called sharpening the sword before chopping the firewood.
And Ayanokouji also had another purpose in doing this, which was to divert Emilia's attention and have a private conversation with Elsa.
Felt and Rom were very tired now and ready to return to their rooms to rest. Emilia had to stay in the hall to prevent any accidents. Ram was now in grief and had no time to use her Clairvoyance to monitor, so Ayanokouji could ask Elsa more questions.
"Yes."
Emilia felt that the other party was right, so she nodded vigorously, trusting him more in her heart. In her eyes, Ayanokouji was her most important supporter.
Ayanokouji then walked to the basement and approached Elsa. He looked around and saw a birdcage placed on the table in the room.
"Is Ram using it for surveillance?"
He had previously used Ram's Clairvoyance ability. Knowing that the other party could obtain the vision of creatures with the same wavelength as hers, he judged that this bird was Ram's 'eye.'
Even though Ram might not intend to use her Clairvoyance to monitor him now, for safety's sake, Ayanokouji found a piece of cloth and covered the birdcage with it.
"What happened today~ You all seem very busy~" Elsa had a meaningful smile on her face, her eyes fixed on his face.
"The blue-haired maid was killed. The Half-Elf girl previously had a sad aura and asked some incomprehensible questions~"
After speaking, Elsa tilted her head slightly, squinted her eyes a bit, and walked around Ayanokouji's body: "You still have no emotions on your body. In fact, you don't care at all."
"Maybe it's just because I'm too confident in my abilities." Ayanokouji said calmly, "I've already captured your friend."
"Using the same trick twice in a row, you're really a boring man." Elsa said with a smile.
Ayanokouji continued calmly: "A teenage girl, that's right."
"I said such tricks are useless." Elsa always smiled, and this time she looked perfect. She knew that Ayanokouji knew she had a female friend, and he clearly wanted to deceive her by saying this.
"She can control Demon Beasts, right?" Ayanokouji continued as he saw her not responding.
"Is there such an ability in this world?" Elsa immediately said, "I've never heard of it."
Although her expression did not change much, she was slightly confused at this moment because Meili was her friend.
She and Meili had always been partners. She knew that the other party could use Demon Beasts to kill targets without anyone noticing, without having to take action personally. Using Meili's ability to kill was also a secret in the organization.
Ayanokouji accurately stated the fact that Meili was a teenage girl. This might just be a lie like last time, but he actually knew that Meili had the ability to control Demon Beasts. Given Meili's style of doing things, she would never reveal her ability.
Could it be that this man really captured Meili?
Elsa raised her head and realized that the person in front of her was a very dangerous existence, but her facial expression remained unchanged, as if she really knew nothing about it.
'Does she really not know, or is this still a disguise?' Ayanokouji thought in his mind, then continued, "The girl has been captured by us and is being tortured. The matter of killing that kid cannot be easily forgotten. Perhaps you could play with her intestines then; I'll pull out every one of her nails first..."
He described the cruel and bloody torture without any expression.
Elsa's expression twitched slightly for a moment. Although she usually appeared to always smile gently, in fact, when she was momentarily excited, she also found it difficult to hide her inner emotions.
Meili had once been adopted by her from the wild. Their relationship was very close. Of course, she did not want Meili to be hurt.
Precisely because of Ayanokouji's emotionless appearance, Elsa could not be sure whether what he said was true or false. For a moment, she unconsciously began to worry about Meili's safety, she also knew she had no way to save Meili now.
"Really? What does it have to do with me?" Elsa still had a calm smile on her face.
But even for a moment, Ayanokouji sharply captured Elsa's change in expression and immediately knew that his guess was correct. It seems that Elsa and Meili were indeed in a group, and for Elsa, Meili seemed to be a very important existence.
"Really? Let's kill her later." Ayanokouji said calmly, uttering murderous words without any killing intent.
"What a pity." Elsa immediately said while shaking her head as if she didn't care.
The two had a few more conversations about Meili, and after the conversation, Ayanokouji slightly narrowed his eyes.
Elsa responded smoothly, and the time she took to answer questions was relatively short, as if she had prepared a draft.
Moreover, Ayanokouji could feel that although Elsa seemed indifferent to Meili's life or death, she seemed to be trying to deceive him with her words.
For him, this was a good opportunity to further verify their relationship, so he also threw out words like smoke bombs: "Of course, we won't execute Meili right away, maybe it will take a night to torture her. If there are no results tonight, execute her tomorrow."
'If Elsa really cares about Meili, I'm afraid she will take action tonight.' Ayanokouji thought in his heart at the same time.
Elsa's face was always filled with a smile, and she looked indifferent.
The relationship between Meili and Elsa is still undecided, but now Ayanokouji had another question to ask, which is why he sent the others away.
"By the way, if you fail in your mission, won't you be punished?"
While Elsa was thinking, Ayanokouji suddenly asked, which made her pause for a moment.
"We've already fully received the client's money. Even if we fail, we won't return the money~ But if we're punished, we might get scolded by Mother. I quite like that.~" Elsa said with a smile.
'Mother?'
Ayanokouji heard her words and quickly guessed that the mother she referred to was not her biological mother, but rather a high-ranking figure in the assassination organization.
"Then how much would it cost if I were to hire you alone?" He asked.
"You're saying something outrageous~" Elsa squinted her eyes, but seeing that he wasn't joking at all, a smile reappeared on her face, "How much can you offer?"
"For someone like you, you don't care too much about money or such things." Ayanokouji said slowly, "What you desire is to kill."
In his eyes, Elsa seemed perverse and insane, but in reality, her inner thoughts were very simple. Based on her appearance and previous words, the motivation for all her actions was not from the assassination organization's instructions, but just to satisfy her inner desire for slaughter.
A person like this appears dangerous, but if he can provide what the other person desires, he can turn her into the most advantageous weapon.