Raul stared in terror at the pincers in War Axe’s hand, which were bigger than his own head, and immediately felt a phantom pain.

’They’re not really going to use those on me, are they?’

War Axe excitedly snapped the pincers, producing a sharp KLAK KLAK sound. He flashed a grin with his eight large, yellow teeth, his smile both friendly and cheerful.

"Alright, stop scaring him. If you frighten him to death, where are we going to find another good actor?" Zog spoke up, putting a stop to the farce.

Zog had found it strange the moment Mira opened her eyes. One could argue her lack of fear upon seeing a Dragon and a Beastman—such monstrous creatures—was due to inexperience, like a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger. But her non-reaction to seeing Raul was simply unjustifiable.

To be sure, Zog asked Mira about every detail described in that news report. Without exception, all her answers passed the Truth-Telling Technique’s test.

’She’s six years old?’

’Did she pass the test because of her high Perception?’

’An Innate Priest with a Druid Holy Body, is that it?’

So, he turned to the Priest and asked, "Don’t you think it would be a bit... immoral for us to torture a child?"

The Priest nodded frantically.

"Then what do we do?"

"Actually, passing a Truth-Telling Technique test doesn’t necessarily mean something truly happened," the Priest offered his opinion. "As long as the subject believes it happened, what they say will pass the test."

"There’s a theory like that? Then test me."

"No need, Boss. Your Perception really is too high."

"Fine. In that case, it’s also possible that Mira’s memories have been altered or she’s been brainwashed."

That would also explain why she had no reaction to seeing the "great villain" Raul. The memories were implanted; although she "remembered" them, her feelings toward them were like those of a bystander.

"Then are there any methods for reading memories?"

"No, I only know Soul Search," the Priest said, shaking his head.

Soul Search could also read memories, and was even more effective than other Reading Spells, but it came with severe side effects. In the mildest cases, the target suffered from chronic headaches. In the worst, they were left with immediate dementia.

"Forget it. Raul, can you walk on your own?"

"I think so." The healing had almost fully taken effect. Although Raul was still a bit sore, he could move on his own.

"Good. War Axe, carry Mira."

"Ah? We’re not going to silence her, are we? War Axe doesn’t use violence against children..."

"Silence her my ass!" Zog swatted War Axe on the head with a claw, making his skull buzz. "Carry her. We’re going to find Soron. He definitely knows how to read memories."

「One hour later, at Soron Mage Tower.」

Top-floor bedroom.

On the large, four-meter-square bed, Soron was sunk into a soft velvet mattress, wriggling happily as he snored.

He would mumble sleep-talk from time to time: "Hehehe, Zog, you piece-of-shit Ancient Red Dragon, you’ve fallen into my hands now, haven’t you? Can’t beat me, can you? Go on, try breathing fire again!

"Hah, a shield! Can’t hit me! If I see you in Twin Tower City, I’ll definitely rip your Dragon Horns right off..."

He rolled over, and his hand seemed to touch something coarse. ’Did the osprey I’m raising get out?’ He felt it more carefully. ’Hiss... these claws don’t feel like an osprey’s claws, do they?’

He snapped awake. In the pitch-black room, two large, fiery eyeballs were shining brightly.

"Zog?"

"Good morning. I’ve come to invite you to watch the four a.m. sunrise in Twin Tower City."

"Are you nuts?!" Soron snapped his fingers, lighting up the room. Seeing that there were other people present, he quickly waved his hand and changed into a slightly more formal set of clothes.

But Zog had gotten a clear look. The pajamas Soron had been wearing were in the style of the Magic Council’s First Elder. Zog had fought that old man before. Soron, however, was supposed to be the Third, maybe Fourth Elder.

"What about all the Defense Magic in my tower?" Soron asked as he got out of bed and poured himself a glass of water.

"Waded right through them."

"What do you mean, ’waded right through them’? Couldn’t you have just asked me to come down and get you? Now I have to set them all up again!" Soron quickly conjured two ice cubes into his water to lower his blood pressure.

"I was going to call you, but I triggered the first one as soon as I reached the tower gate. I figured since I’d already set one off, I might as well test their strength for you."

"Oh, I’m so honored. What are you here for?"

"I need to check someone’s memories."

"Oh?" Soron’s interest was immediately piqued. He gave a twisted smile. "I love looking into other people’s memories. Who is it? Where are they?"

The bald, weird-looking man with a face full of wrinkles and a creepy smile finally made Mira feel fear for the first time that night. Tears began to well up in her big eyes.

"You’re scaring the kid."

"Her? Oh, what a letdown." Upon seeing Mira, Soron’s enthusiasm dwindled by more than half. Still, he took her, lifted her up high, and performed a couple of little magic tricks—a quick combo that successfully cheered her up.

He placed her on a chair and, for once, actually took out a Magic Wand. He chanted a Spell, and a cloud of gray mist appeared above Mira’s head. The mist changed shape, coalescing into an image.

"I thought you were going to use your wand to pull out her memories, throw them in a basin, and then dunk your head in to watch."

"Huh? What kind of crude method is that?"

The thread of memory rewound quickly. Raul did indeed appear and commit the evil deeds, but while the Raul in the memory looked the same, his accent was all wrong. It was as if something was impersonating him.

Now they could be completely certain that Raul was innocent. This would make things easy to explain to the Guard Corps; they had the evidence.

Going back a little further, Mira’s parents appeared. She called them "Papa, Mama."

This was strange. The report had called Mira an orphan, which was why no one had stood up for her, and she herself had confirmed this. What could make her so firmly believe she had no parents?

The images contained no information about the two of them dying later.

Soon, the memories provided the answer.

Her "father" was always drinking. He would often take the spare change she and her older siblings had earned from odd jobs, go out, and come back empty-handed. He’d curse his bad luck, then whip her with a belt, forcing her to work as a child laborer in a Factory.

Her "father" would sometimes bring other men home. Those men would give her "father" money, then go into a room with her "mother," and soon her "mother’s" cries would be heard.

Her "mother" was always praying to a strange statue. One day, she even took a small knife to her little brother, squeezing his blood onto the statue. Mira had no choice but to flee the house with her brother, but they were caught and brought back.

Later, her "father" and "mother" decided that this child who kept trying to run away was too much trouble. They found a strange person in a purple robe and sold her for thirty Silver Coins...

The image from the memory gradually blurred.

"Those two fucking animals!" Zog was stunned by Mira’s memories.

Even among monsters, few could stoop to this level.

It was completely understandable why she was so convinced she was an orphan. What he was seeing was worse than being an orphan.

"Things like this do happen," Soron said from the side, a hint of helplessness in his voice. "Among the lowest class of commoners, it’s even considered common. This is..."

Soron held back the last half of his sentence for a long time before finally letting it out with a sigh: "This is the Kingdom’s tragedy, and also the Kingdom’s mistake."

"I don’t care whose mistake it is!" The molten rock in Zog’s eyes churned violently. "I’ve seen it, so now I have to get involved!"

The objective was much clearer now. It was simply a matter of finding those two animals, and the purple-robed person who bought her.

However, the information about the purple-robed person was too vague to identify them. They would have to start with the other targets first.

"Find them. Bring the children back. There’s no need to leave the two adults alive. Soul Search them on the spot and then dispose of them."

Zog commanded.