After suspicions arose that it was a supernatural crime, the interrogators switched to colleagues from the Tribunal.
There were no doubts about the incident. The chain of evidence was clear and mutually corroborated. Moreover, Ashley used her status as a “trainee agent” as an excuse to reasonably explain her motives.
The investigation team found her blameless and even meritorious. She had made the right judgment and acted decisively, so she deserved commendation.
Although the hostage had died, the hostage had stubbornly stood at the center of the battlefield even after clearly knowing the killer was a supernatural ability user. It was like pitching a tent next to the toilet—not far from shit.
The only flaw in the whole affair for Ashley was keeping a ferocious pet without a license.
Sasha was out of luck. It was locked in a cage welded from steel bars, awaiting its fate. It might be euthanized or sold to a qualified owner.
After sending the investigation team away, Ashley felt no relief at all. She knew she still had one last hurdle to clear.
The agents bowed to the tall woman wearing a jazz hat at the door and left the ward one after another.
Ashley pulled up the sheet to cover her eyes. Her pure, bright pupils flickered with an innocent glow. Her little finger tightly clutched the edge of the blanket, as if afraid someone would snatch it away. The sheet gave her a sense of security like an AT force field.
“Hmph!”
Amber poked her little head out from behind the woman, her face serious in a cute way, staring at her with eyes full of suspicion.
“Let’s talk about those things you did.”
Letisia sat down elegantly, casually crossing her long legs. She wore Tiffany-colored nine-tenths pants, revealing just enough of her enviably slender, straight ankle, paired with a pair of white-glazed Chelsea boots. The crease in her pants was sharply ironed.
“Is… is it about how I defeated evil and comforted the spirits of the victims in heaven? If you want to hear it, you’d better brew a cup of tea, because it’ll take a while.” Ashley’s voice turned especially sweet and melodious.
“Ew, talking in that squeaky voice is so gross. She’s guilty for sure,” Amber said disdainfully.
Letisia actually went and poured a cup of water. She sat back down holding the cup that swayed gently, bringing it to her lips for a sip.
“Amber.” After drinking, she called softly.
Let Amber out!
Whoosh!
The black-haired loli jumped out from behind her, tilting her head. Her fingers twisted behind her back like she was playing red light, green light, hopping over to the bedside one jump at a time.
Then, her little fingers wiggled as she unbuttoned her ivory sweater with two fuzzy pom-poms one by one, took it off, and tossed it to the foot of the bed. Underneath was a fine cotton shirt with a blue background and white floral patterns, paired with white silk pantyhose. She circled around and slipped under the covers from the other side.
The loli weapon directly breached the sheet AT force field!
Oh no, oh no. Ashley felt something warm nudging over. Her eyes widened roundly as she exclaimed in shock, “Hey! What are you doing?!”
“It’s interrogation!” Amber huffed.
“I-interrogation?” Ashley had a bad premonition and immediately shouted, “I demand to see a lawyer! I want to exercise my rights under the Sixth Constitutional Amendment!”
“You’re a Tribunal agent now. Everything is handled internally. We could even just kill you outright!”
As she spoke, Amber grinned fiercely, revealing her sharp little tiger teeth. Two fingers pressed against Ashley’s neck, while her other hand gripped Ashley’s wrist, her fingertip monitoring blood pressure and pulse.
Ashley reacted instantly. This was a simple lie-detection method, and Amber had gotten under the covers to prevent her from faking illness as an excuse.
Sandwiched between the big sister and the little loli from front and back, a “danger” sign seemed to pop up on Ashley’s forehead.
Ashley’s little face flushed slightly. She pretended to be shy and stammered, “Amber, y-you’re too close.”
“That’s exactly how I have to grab you! Otherwise, you’ll slip away at the first chance, like a sly little snake.” Amber was starting to become immune to her fake coyness.
A leg swung over. Ashley felt the taut elastic touch of the pantyhose and the weight of the little leg softly pressing down.
The loli restraint was locked on!
“You dug that hole, didn’t you?” Letisia cut straight to the point.
Of course, Ashley wouldn’t admit it. She shook her head vigorously, taking the chance to shake off Amber’s fingers that were feeling her neck for blood pressure changes.
“We interrogated the juvenile delinquent who first found the hole. He said the hole was already there from the beginning.”
“He’s lying. Or maybe it was a natural collapse from soil erosion. Karst topography is like that. Last year, there were fourteen similar sinkholes in the city, including one where an entire street collapsed.” Ashley’s defense flowed smoothly.
“Don’t you get it?” Letisia looked at her with a half-smile. “This isn’t an interrogation. It’s internal Tribunal handling. It’s not me proving your guilt—it’s you proving your innocence.”
She’d boarded the pirate ship, huh?
“Hmph, what good would digging a hole do me? I didn’t profit from it. Even if I did dig it, I was planting trees. I didn’t expect one shovel to cause a collapse. Are you going to execute me for that? Blah blah blah…”
“You little rascal, is that how you talk to your teacher?” Amber scolded.
“You gonna bite me?” Ashley played the rogue.
“You!”
Amber was furious. She zeroed in on the little ear peeking from Ashley’s soft hair, licked her lips, and suddenly chomped down!
“Bite you!”
“Ow!”
Now, with her wrist, thigh, and ear pinned at three points, Ashley was firmly clamped and couldn’t move.
“You’re a smart kid. You must know about the ‘broken windows theory,’ right?”
Letisia’s voice was low and husky, her oppressive presence surging. Ashley always felt she had a bit of a smoker’s rasp.
“Just one small graffiti on the wall, and soon the whole wall is covered. Throw one paper ball outside the trash bin, and soon the area around it is littered. You must have thought that way: make one hole, and those juvenile delinquents would burrow in like moles, scurrying everywhere causing chaos. Then you could fish in troubled waters and achieve your goal.”
Ashley jolted. The Trial Judge big sister was too sharp—she’d guessed her intent right away. It felt like a cat toying with a mouse.
“I wouldn’t bother with something so boring,” she argued weakly.
“Teacher, she’s lying!”
Amber sniffed at Ashley’s neck, her little nose twitching. “It’s the smell of lying!”
“Teacher, Amber’s framing me!”
“H-how did you become Teacher’s disciple?”
“Get on the bus first, pay the fare later!”
“Bite!”
Amber chomped her ear again, her little teeth grinding.
Ashley let out a whimper, her face troubled. She felt a strange shiver crawl up her spine, and an unprecedented sensation rose in her head.
“You’re right. Digging a hole is a small matter, not even a misdemeanor. Even if you intended to exploit the broken windows effect, it’s just suspicion.” Letisia surprisingly nodded in agreement, placing her hands on her knees, leaning back, her tone lightening as if letting her off the hook.
Ashley couldn’t help but show a smug smile.
“Teacher! She’s smirking sneakily!” Amber released her tender lips, furious. “So hateful! Punish her! Punish her harshly!”
Letisia smiled, always in control of the interrogation. She changed tack:
“Have you heard of the human twin stars, Elvaldorina and Ascligoya?”
Ashley’s heart sank. Oh no, how does big sister know everything?
She shrank her neck and shook her head as if trembling.
“I heard your culture project scores are mostly excellent, except for history, which is poor. Looks like you need to brush up on your history basics.”
Letisia switched her crossed legs, elegantly sipped from her cup, and began to recount leisurely:
“Our branch of humanity migrated from the ‘Lost Vibhayas.’ On the second dawn, our ancestors dug through the pitch-black underground, paying a huge price and making great sacrifices to finally reach the surface. They worked together with clear divisions of labor. The most arduous task, with the greatest sacrifices, fell to the vanguard team of human heroes responsible for pioneering the path. To find a safe route to the surface, they not only explored dangerous and complex strata but also battled those ancient beings known as the ‘Lord of Insects.’ The [Nether King]—an insurmountable mountain blocking the Vibhayas expeditionary force. Its massive body shuttled through the underground like a speeding train. Any matter hit by its deathly black light would be annihilated. Those terrifying tunnels still exist deep beneath Fountain City. In one battle, the twin stars used the S-Rank Relic ‘Virtual Spirit Veil’ to enter the [Nether King]’s body, intending to destroy the brain in the first fleshly carriage. But its giant eye on the forehead suddenly swiveled, shining its death ray into the internal flesh corridor, incinerating most of its organs and severely wounding the twin stars. Though the human heroes joined forces to slay the [Nether King], the twin stars’ injuries were too grave to heal. At the site of the [Nether King]’s fall, people dug through a shallow layer of soil with their hands, and dawn’s light shone into the underground. But the twin stars chose not to ascend to the dawn; they slumbered eternally in the ‘Underground Sanctuary.’ The [Nether King]’s remains were crafted by humans into Cadavers, which became the Hades Train uniting the small city-states.”
