Chapter 77

“Simple. Your first attack lacked any killing intent. That lightning spell—it was flashy, but designed for incapacitation, not death.”

She’s not wrong.
Cursed Lightning was, by nature, a suppression spell. It was meant to paralyze, not kill. Of course, in practice, I usually used it to immobilize enemies before delivering the final blow.

My silence must’ve been confirmation enough for her, as her smile widened further.

“My guess is this: You killed those other fools to intimidate us, to avoid a prolonged battle. But once the fight started, you had no choice but to incapacitate me and bring me here for questioning. Am I right?”

“…”

I stared at her, momentarily speechless at her confidence. She met my gaze with unwavering certainty, as though her deduction was too obvious to be wrong.

“What do you guys think?” I asked, turning to my team.

“She’s trying to be clever but completely missed the mark,” Derek said with a smirk.

“She’s got no real talent for deduction,” Ethan added.

“Confident, but totally wrong. And that’s annoying,” Rachel muttered, crossing her arms.

The mage’s smug demeanor finally faltered.
“…Wait, what?”

“Yeah, you got everything wrong.” I couldn’t help but grin. “Sure, the lightning spell is meant for incapacitation, but I’ve never actually used it just for that. Usually, I paralyze my targets, then kill them while they’re down. Honestly, I half-expected you to die from the fall.”

Her eyes widened, the first sign of genuine fear breaking through her composure.

“And as for the others?” I continued, my voice dropping into something colder. “They’re dead. You’re the only one who survived—and even that was an accident. Since you were alive, I figured I’d get some information about your settlement before killing you.”

The flicker of confidence in her gaze wavered. For the first time, uncertainty crept into her expression as she processed my words.

“Now, let’s get to the point. I’m going to ask you some questions. Normally, this is where I’d torture you for answers—but I don’t like doing things that way.”

The truth was, even if I didn’t mind, the bigger problem was what it would do to the people around me. Once cruelty became normalized, it would spread like a rot through the entire settlement.

No, if things were going to turn brutal, I’d rather it be necessary. And for now, this wasn’t worth the risk.

“So here’s the deal,” I said, my tone level. “I’ll ask questions. You’re free to refuse if you want. I get it—you might have friends or family back at your settlement. You don’t want to betray them.”

Her jaw tightened.

“I understand. So if you refuse to answer…”

“…What happens if I refuse?”

“I won’t torture or threaten you. I’ll just kill you—quickly and cleanly. No pain, no suffering. What do you think?”

She stared at me, her jaw clenched tight. For a moment, I thought she might try to hold her ground. But then, she straightened her back, her voice clear and strong.

“Ask me anything. I’ll answer every question.” She drew in a breath, eyes burning with determination. “Just… please, let me live.”

“…”

The interrogation went far smoother than expected—thanks to the captive’s surprisingly cooperative attitude.

The female mage, who introduced herself as Jessica, showed no trace of resentment over the death of her comrades.

When I pointed out how odd that was, she simply shrugged.
“I wasn’t exactly part of their group. I transferred over recently. I barely knew their faces—hard to feel attached, don’t you think?”

“Transferred?”

“Yeah. There was another settlement on the opposite side of ours. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like your setup is similar.”

I nodded. Just as I’d suspected, their settlements mirrored each other, set up in opposing positions. The recent dungeon exploration quests must have finally opened the door for multiple settlements to start interacting.

I hadn’t confirmed it yet, but I figured the pioneers in other settlements were probably in similar situations.

Another safeguard from the system, maybe.

If settlements had been able to interact freely from the start, chaos would have erupted. Territories would have merged and collapsed before anyone had a chance to establish real power. Entire groups could’ve been wiped out without ever standing a chance.

The system likely restricted early contact to prevent that from happening—ensuring that winners and losers weren’t decided by mere luck or outside interference.

Now that we’ve had time to adapt, the system must’ve lifted those restrictions. Perfect timing, really.

By now, the pioneers had tasted power, understood the need for taxes, labor, and leadership. No one would willingly surrender their position to another settlement now. If the system’s goal was competition, then the design was flawless.

“Honestly, I regret transferring,” Jessica admitted. “The people there were unbearable—especially the way they kept harassing me.”

“…Harassing? Was there a swordsman with a shield involved?”

“Yeah, that guy was the worst. How did you know?”

Easy. He lost his mind trying to kill me after you fell.

I had no doubt that, from his perspective, his obsession was genuine affection. But judging by her disgusted expression, she clearly didn’t share those feelings. Poor bastard.

“Why’d you transfer, then?”

“The leadership and the Young men back there were driving me crazy. The Young men constantly demanded things, and the leader gave in every time. It was exhausting.”

So even their settlement couldn’t escape the inevitable tension between pioneers and Young men. Though, from what she described, it seemed their leader was trying to balance things fairly—granting small concessions while keeping order intact.

Apparently, their pioneers worked diligently on labor quests, and the leader promised future tax reductions once their settlement stabilized.

But no matter how good the intentions were, it didn’t change the fact that pioneers like Jessica were losing out in the short term. She eventually got sick of the endless resource grinding and left.

“At first, transferring was great. No taxes, no needy Young men, and I could smack anyone who annoyed me. But…” she sighed. “I realized quickly how much I hated it there.”

“Why?”

“Like I said, the harassment got worse. The whole place felt… off. People were too aggressive, and the atmosphere was toxic.”

Her face twisted in disgust just thinking about it. I could imagine the overall moral decay—probably a result of a lack of order, with nobody keeping the worst instincts of people in check.

“Where is that settlement located?”

“I don’t know exactly. I was unconscious the whole time you brought me here.”