“W, waaaaaaaaaah!”

The underground prison beneath the Agavert outpost echoed with Jihyra’s shrill screams behind the tightly shut wooden door.

“Help me! P, please, somebody save me!”

Listening to the cries, Tie turned around with a solemn expression.

“I think it’s working really well!”

The moment she cheerfully declared that, Raul and Enzo smiled awkwardly.

The other squad members also nodded hesitantly, their faces pale with fear.

The only one beaming brightly was Ribia.

“As expected of our young lady. How did you even come up with such a fresh interrogation method?”

Meanwhile, voices rang out from inside again.

[Because of you, I died such an unfair death! You said we’d go to the Northern Continent together, but instead of freedom, I ended up chained forever in the afterlife!]

Merkon’s voice boomed like thunder during a storm.

Jihyra burst into sobs.

“U, ugh... I really didn’t know, Merkon! I never imagined they’d kill you!”

[Then who were they? Answer me!]

“Aaaah!”

[I’ll never forgive them! Because of them, my eyes became like this, and arrows pierced my entire body!]

“I, I’ll tell you!”

Jihyra screamed.

As the door cracked open slightly, her face appeared in the gap, utterly distraught.

“I, I’ll tell you everything, just get that face away from me! Ugh, damn it, who would’ve thought real vengeful spirits actually existed...!”

Watching the scene unfold, Bale looked toward Tie.

Tie met his gaze and nodded.

Lowering her eyes, she saw the bluish energy extending from her hand branching in two directions.

One stream led toward Merkon’s vengeful spirit inside the room.

And the other—

[Grrrr...]

Toward Merkon’s corpse floating in the air, vivid blue flames pouring from its eyes.

“......Kkyut!”

Beside her, Pupu pressed its face against Tie’s cheek.

Swallowing hard, Tie answered softly,

“Mhm, it’s okay, Pupu. Mama isn’t scared at all.”

But despite her words, her heart was pounding like crazy.

Tie let out a small sigh and recalled what had happened earlier.

Right after they arrived at the base and locked Jihyra inside the subspace—

“What is there to think about?! Drag her into the basement right now! I’ll personally peel the flesh off her bones piece by piece!”

“......Ribia.”

“No, only we get to torment Bale! We’re the only ones allowed to beat that bastard and curse him out! But some nameless trash dared lay hands on that idiot’s younger brothers! Allerik, aren’t you furious too?!”

Ribia practically boiled with rage.

Tie awkwardly looked around at the dark atmosphere spreading among the squad members.

“Let’s interrogate her ourselves first and hand her over to the Imperial Army afterward, Commander! Huh?!”

“No! We should squeeze the information out of her and bury her alive afterward! Even if we hand her over to the Imperial Army, all they’ll do is rot her in prison!”

“The family Jihyra killed was from our hometown! Lady Ribia has to make an example of her...!”

Tie shook her head.

“Ehehe... they say when there are too many thoughts, even a ship starts climbing mountains...”

One person said they should interrogate Jihyra.

Another said she should pay with her life.

Someone else even suggested stripping the flesh from her bones... the opinions were horrifying all around.

Tie darted her eyes around helplessly when suddenly—

“Little one.”

The base door opened, and someone stepped inside.

The moment Tie saw the familiar faces, she lit up.

“Grandpa! Uncles!”

“How are you doing, King of the Dead?”

Edmund strode over and lifted her into his arms in one smooth motion.

Leonardo and Alexander also patted Tie on the head.

Clinging tightly around her eldest uncle’s neck, Tie answered,

“Mhm!”

But almost immediately, her brows drooped.

“But I’m worried... everybody keeps disagreeing...”

“Disagreeing? About what?”

“Well... everyone keeps saying different things about how to interrogate Jihyra...”

The three young masters exchanged glances.

Valentis stepped forward.

“That’s actually why we came, little one.”

After Edmund set Tie back down, Valentis took the child by the hand and led her to a chair beside the kitchen.

Then he placed several documents on the table.

“Here. Take a look.”

Seeing the papers spread before her, Tie’s eyes widened.

“Crime number... Jihyra?”

The files Valentis brought contained information about Jihyra.

Records of her movements and behavioral tendencies after committing her crimes and escaping prison.

“Look here.”

Valentis pointed at one line with his finger.

“Suicid...? Suicide attempt!”

The moment she read the words, Tie covered her mouth with both hands.

Even though she was only four years old, she understood what it meant.

Valentis spoke quietly.

“Ordinary interrogation or torture might not work on her. She doesn’t seem like the type who breaks easily.”

Valentis was right.

Jihyra had planned to flee to the Northern Continent.

The reason was obvious.

She wanted to escape the status of wanted criminal and start a new life.

‘But then Kkamani caught her, and she ended up a rat drowning in a pile of shit...!’

Someone with nothing left to lose could do anything.

Tie’s little brows drooped sadly.

“Then what do we do?”

“What else is there to do, young lady?!”

Ribia cut in.

“If a person hurts badly enough, thoughts of dying disappear on their own! Just leave it to me—”

“Ribia. Come here.”

“Aaaah! Let go! Damn it, Allerik, let me go already?!”

Tie watched gloomily as Ribia was practically dragged away.

Valentis also silently stared at the documents, clearly deep in thought.

And then—

“......Huh?”

Suddenly, Tie noticed something.

The storage corner of the kitchen.

Something was flickering from Merkon’s body, which had been left there simply because there was nowhere else to put it.

Tie tilted her head.

“Big Brother Bale, did you see that?”

Bale followed her gaze and frowned.

“See what?”

“Light’s coming out of the coachman uncle!”

Bale fell silent.

First he looked at Tie, then he quickly walked over to Merkon’s body.

After examining it, he said,

“There’s nothing here. What light are you talking about?”

Tie immediately jumped to her feet.

“No! It’s still...!”

Unlike Bale, Tie could see it clearly.

A soft blue glow rising from the corpse.

Tie hurried over to Merkon.

“Look! Right here, blue smoke is floating up like this...!”

[Buri... ed...]

At that moment, a faint whisper seemed to brush against her ear.

Tie flinched and opened her eyes wide.

When she concentrated, the whisper became much clearer.

[I... must die... Jihyra... definitely...]

“Uncle Merkon is talking!”

When Tie turned around, everyone nearby had frozen stiff.

Even Bale, standing beside her, jerked backward.

But Tie could [N O V E L I G H T] hear everything perfectly clearly.

[Let me... speak... my final words...]

The wavering energy began stretching from the corpse toward Tie.

To Tie’s eyes, it looked as though someone was desperately reaching out, begging her to take their hand.

“Tie. What are you talking about? What do you mean Merkon is talking?”

Instead of answering Basto’s question, Tie drew in a deep breath.

Then she squeezed her eyes shut tightly and focused.

The energy rising inside her reached toward Merkon.

And the instant the two forces touched in midair—

Merkon’s closed eyes snapped open, and his body began floating upward.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

“C, Commander, aaah!”

Several squad members seeing such a thing for the first time screamed and clung to each other.

Even Ribia, Allerik, and Victor stared at Merkon’s body with widened eyes.

[Haa...]

White icy vapor spilled from dead Merkon’s mouth.

Then his neck twisted grotesquely as he stared directly at Tie.

[Ruler of the afterlife... Jihyra... must... deliver... I must deliver...]

“D, damn.”

Ribia cursed under her breath.

Out of all the stunned squad members, Tie was the only one who didn’t look frightened.

Blinking several times, Tie murmured,

“......Ohhh, I see!”

Everyone turned to stare at her.

Tie looked back at them with an unexpectedly serious expression.

“I think Uncle Merkon wants to talk to Jihyra!”

Bale slowly turned toward her like a wooden doll.

“L, little brat. What the hell does that even mean...”

“I think Tie can do it!”

First her skeletal friends, then the undead servants.

After becoming the King of the Dead, she had spent all this time refining this power, and now she could use it even with her eyes closed.

Tie poured more power into the magic flowing from her fingertips.

The glow bursting from Merkon’s eyes grew even brighter.

Then a bluish soul separated itself from the corpse.

The spirit, still bearing the appearance of the moment of death, slowly rose upright into the air.

[Jihyra. I need to find Jihyra.]

Now the spirit’s voice rang out far more clearly as it shot between the squad members.