“As I thought…”
The disappointed sigh startled the girl into silence.
Ryumiō wore an expression of “I knew it all along.” The girl’s answer was exactly what he had predicted, as it matched the conclusion he had drawn from the start.
So it was wrong.
“Why?” The girl snapped back to reality, biting her lip lightly. The faint puff of her cheeks showed her displeasure.
She wasn’t satisfied with her own answer, and yet it was outright denied!
If Ryumiō’s evidence was insufficient to hold up his claim, the girl wouldn’t do anything to her master, but venting her frustration by mercilessly slaughtering other living beings was certainly within her capability.
“Ryumiō-dono, please forgive my dullness.”
The girl bowed respectfully. Her proudest answer was rejected, and she wouldn’t humiliate herself by proposing those less likely possibilities.
Since that was the case, admitting her own ignorance and letting Ryumiō reveal the answer was not difficult.
She wanted to know what Ryumiō’s answer was, and how he would deny her “correct” conclusion!
At this moment, the girl truly looked forward to it with eager anticipation.
“Oh, giving up? No more guessing?”
“Yes, Ryumiō-dono, I am indeed that foolish. Please reveal the correct answer now.”
“I see…” Ryumiō rubbed his temple. He thought the girl lacked perseverance, giving up her stance so easily.
However, the fact that she kept demanding a correct answer, in a way, showed how confident she was in her conclusion, only willing to abandon it when presented with sufficiently convincing evidence.
If his answer failed to satisfy her, she would probably be very displeased. Thinking this, Ryumiō suddenly chuckled.
—Very well, I shall satisfy you.
—Since you want to know.
—You are wrong. Dead wrong.
“The moment Baiya Ifeil Krolorm lost consciousness was right after she said that sentence.”
Ryumiō used Clairvoyance magic to observe the entire meeting between the girl and Baiya. To both parties who fully understood the situation, whether Baiya lost consciousness before or after a certain statement was an acceptable answer to pinpoint the moment exactly.
Recalling Baiya’s words again, Ryumiō couldn’t help but praise her. That slave was truly astonishing.
Her posture at that moment was so convincing she even fooled the girl present there. Even the Third Prince of the Amidarl Empire, renowned for his wisdom, nearly fell for it.
She was an incredible person. For no reason at all, Ryumiō felt keeping her alive would bring him more amusement.
“My name, Baiya, or rather Baiya Ifeil Krolorm—either is fine, it doesn’t matter.” Ryumiō smiled mysteriously, repeating the words Baiya had once said.
He raised his index finger to his lips and spoke with great pleasure: “At that time, she had already lost consciousness, utterly and completely.”
“Please forgive me, but I cannot agree.” The girl’s eyelashes trembled, and her voice involuntarily rose. “Pardon my disrespect, but I believe Ryumiō-dono’s answer is wrong.”
“Of course.” Ryumiō had long expected the girl’s reaction, even guessing eight or nine out of ten of her forthcoming rebuttals.
“That’s impossible. Baiya Ifeil Krolorm could not have lost consciousness at that moment.”
“That’s impossible! Baiya Ifeil Krolorm could not have lost consciousness at that moment!”
“Eh.”
“Eh?!”
“Ryumiō-dono, please don’t imitate me.”
“Ryumiō-dono! Please don’t imitate me!”
The girl opened her mouth to retort but thought better of it and chose to remain silent. The room fell into a suffocating silence, made even more terrifying by the presence of countless girls’ corpses besides the two living beings.
“I wasn’t imitating you,” Ryumiō broke the silence. “I spoke before you opened your mouth. I wasn’t acting like a follower. So, in fact, the one imitating me is you.”
“…” The girl understood the crucial point and the lingering frustration in her heart made her keep quiet.
“Since you say I’m imitating you, then I’ll imitate completely. From now on, my personality transforms into the slave girl [Life-and-Death Controller], Rinne Amaki.”
Ryumiō lifted one hand to pinch his throat and emitted a sharp, delicate voice indistinguishable from a girl’s.
“My name is Rinne Amaki, slave girl codename [Life-and-Death Controller]. I desire… freedom.”
“Ryumiō-dono, please stop…”
Before the girl’s expression completely darkened, Ryumiō quickly changed the subject.
“I believe the moment Baiya Ifeil Krolorm lost consciousness was right after she spoke her last words, because she made no further movements afterward.”
“That is wrong.” (Here Ryumiō switched back to his own voice.)
“But—but I can’t believe that Ryumiō-dono’s correct answer would be something so easily dismissed without even looking at it. Is Ryumiō-dono an idiot?”
“I would never call Ryumiō-dono an idiot…” The girl bowed her head, quietly defending him.
“An idiot, then! Surely an idiot! Such a baffling answer. So I must be right. Ah, foolish Ryumiō-dono! Why are you so stupid? You turn a blind eye to the truth right before your eyes! Ah! Ah! Pitiful! Miserable!”
“…” The girl no longer wished to argue. Ryumiō’s words were the kind she would say if her darkest inner thoughts were magnified by dozens of times.
“I never said my answer was wrong.” Ryumiō suddenly switched back to his own voice.
“As long as I can shatter the basis of your reasoning, that will suffice. Now, Rinne Amaki, listen to my reasoning.”