"P-P-Please forgive . I did not an to offend you. I-it was under orders-"
Shelly dragged the man back toward the dark part of the prison, and all that was heard for so ti was silence.
"Is that man... dead?"
Albus asked in a worried voice, but he did not dare go near Shelly to check on the unfortunate man’s fate. He was afraid of becoming her next victim.
"Stop... running... away from . So, who wants to be next?"
Shelly went after the next person she saw on the list. Unfortunately, that turned out to be Albus.
"Hey, Shelly, wait a minute! We can talk about it."
There was little Albus could do to fend Shelly off. Whatever was happening in the darkness was enough to make Rin not want to know what was going on.
"Looks like you’ll have to control your dog well."
Madam Yao teased, but her voice sounded so genuinely flat that it was hard to tell.
"Shelly, can you let Albus go and co out?"
Shelly was like a blur in the darkness. One second, she was scratching Albus, and the next, she ca out with a smile on her face.
"Rin, are you back now? Are we heading back? I don’t like this place."
Not once did Shelly address what she had done to Albus. Thankfully, he looked relatively unhard. The worst damage seed to be a few unnecessary scratch marks.
Rin wanted to ask if he was alright, but Shelly imdiately grabbed Rin’s arm to distract him.
"It was dark and gloomy here. These prisons are far worse than the ones back ho. Should we redesign ours-"
"I...am afraid we will have to stay here for a bit longer. But you won’t be separated from Rin, so that’s a plus, right?"
Madam Yao looked delighted as Shelly’s expression fell before she tried her best to keep it neutral.
"Hmm, we ca here in the first place because of you, right Madam Yao? Was this your plan to get rid of your competitors?"
Shelly shot back, but she showed no sign of physically attacking Madam Yao. Rin did not want to give himself credit, but perhaps his shoulder was comfortable enough that Shelly did not want to move away.
Madam Yao also understood when to cut her losses, so she let out a strained laugh and spoke.
"Alright, I get what you are saying. This is my fault. Anything else you want to admit? Or should we head to the eting?"
Rin stepped forward before another fight could break out. But he did notice that Alia was already treating Albus, so at least that issue was being handled.
"See, I told you that girl was trouble when we first t, but you chose to ignore . But perhaps you always knew she was trouble and chose not to do anything."
Serena’s accusations went unanswered by Rin and Shelly, and the topic was dropped.
...
"So, you’re finally back? Tsk, what’s that rancid sll?"
"Boss, that sll is from your old bottle of cola beside you. Are you still drunk? Should we co back later?"
Serena asked as she stepped into the office first. She was quickly followed by everyone else.
The old boss let out a frustrated sound at Serena’s bold remark.
"You dare say this to ? To ! I’ll have you thrown out. Not only that, but I’ll also have my people...just you wait-"
"I hear you, boss. We can do all that, but you should entertain your guests first. Didn’t you say you had sothing important to talk to them about?"
Serena asked, and the old lady imdiately made a face like she had no idea what Serena was talking about.
"Did I tell you about important clients? Don’t put words in my mouth. Hmm, but since they made it here, I guess they’re decent fighters. Now send them back."
The first impression of both sides was not great...or so he thought. But Madam Yao imdiately pulled out a bottle of wine.
"Boss, I’ve decided that I like you. Want to drink together? We can even share a toast to our newfound friendship."
Rin felt surprised at Madam Yao’s daring offer. But he was even more shocked when the old boss accepted the offer of wine within seconds.
"You brought the right thing if you wanted to win over. Now, I feel like I can hear you more clearly. There’s nothing better in life than alcohol and friends."
"That’s right. Friends and alcohol are great together. Here, have a little more."
"Surely, I will."
"Hahaha"
"Hey, why does it feel like we are intruding on sothing we have no business intruding on?"
Albus asked, speaking for everyone when he said those words. And the atmosphere now felt completely different from the threatening situation just monts ago.
"Ah, that feels nice. So, tell what you want. I feel like I can hear your request out."
The old boss spoke confidently, and Madam Yao wasted no ti voicing what she needed.
"In that case, I won’t hesitate this ti. I need the location of the thing that can turn a monster’s core into a guardian spirit."
"The old monster into what? Say sothing that makes sense. Just drink more."
Getting anything out of this old boss seed impossible. So Rin and the others had no choice but to wait for them to sober up a little before they could hear the much-needed information.
They watched as the first bottle drained out, and then the second. Eventually, they reached the third bottle before finally passing out.
Serena shook her head and imdiately went to grab her boss.
"Tsk, I’m sorry for the ss our boss caused you all. Anyway, if you want information, then our librarian might be a better option. Should I take you to her?"
Serena asked while hesitating. But Rin had to take advantage of her hesitation to get her cooperation.
"Please take us to your librarian. As proof of our trust, we’ll leave Madam Yao behind to show that we an no harm."
Serena gave them another searching look before she shook her head.
"There is no need to do that, but since you’re offering, I’ll gladly take you up on it."
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