After descending the corridor, what they encountered
gradually began to exceed the trio’s expectations.
The dungeon beneath the warden’s mansion was not quite what Ronald had imagined—it wasn’t as dark, damp, and dilapidated as a typical prison.
But it was only after actually making their way down did he realize this was not the case.
The stairs heading downward, in addition to their earthen structure, were covered with a layer of wooden planks, with tal components wrapped around the edges to stabilize the staircase.
At the sa ti, along both sides of the path, neat lighting fixtures were hung, providing appropriate illumination for this place untouched by sunlight.
Continuing roughly five ters down,
the staircase beneath their feet was also about to reach its end.
It was just then, Swift, following behind Ronald and Nicole, whispered:
"There are people below, one five ters to the left, another six ters to the right."
Hearing the detective’s hint, Nicole nodded with her usual composed expression:
"It’s still best left to ."
While speaking, the investigator girl again took out a seed from her pocket, lightly inscribed a rune on it with her fingertip, and tossed it forward along the stairs.
Clatter—
The small seed landed on the ground, hardly making any sound.
It kept rolling down the stairs, moving forward until it disappeared from the view of the three.
The next second.
Nicole’s spell once again had the desired effect.
As the trio stood on the stairs, although they couldn’t directly see what was happening inside the dungeon, the lighting within still cast a partial view of the scene through shadows.
The tiny seed that had hit the ground suddenly began to exhibit the vitality of plant life.
The shadow cast on the ground, from a small dot the size of a button, quickly swelled and grew.
Brand new root systems penetrated the ground, and suddenly sprouting branches and vines spread like the tentacles of a North Sea leviathan.
The dungeon guards didn’t even have ti to put up a decent resistance before being completely enveloped by the sudden vegetation, promptly losing all capacity to fight back.
"..."
Facing such an outco, Nicole skeptically scratched her head.
Turning back to look at her companions, she quietly asked with a puzzled expression:
"Could it be that we’ve missed sothing?"
"Just..."
"It’s dealt with, just like that?"
Confronted with the incredulity on the investigator girl’s face,
Swift shrugged his shoulders, speaking calmly:
"At least according to my spell’s reaction, they’ve indeed lost all ability to act."
As if to verify that his spell couldn’t be wrong, the detective was the first to take the initiative to go down.
Until reaching the end of the stairway steps and confirming the situation inside the dungeon with his own eyes, he then gestured back to Ronald and Nicole:
"It’s really fine now, co on down."
"Actually, it’s not so hard to understand."
"The strongest person in this house is not here at the mont, and ordinary people from the mystical side, how could they be a match for you, an elite investigator?"
Upon hearing the detective’s opinion,
Nicole looked a bit awkward, yet she still nodded in acknowledgnt:
"Put that way, it isn’t wrong."
"..."
After a brief exchange, Ronald and Nicole also followed down the staircase.
Standing at the end of this tunnel, everything in the dungeon was suddenly clear.
Its structure here was, relatively speaking, quite simple.
A table was set up in the entrance hall, and on the walls hung so necessary items for the dungeon guards.
Farther ahead, three passages branched off directly into the depths of the dungeon, with independent cells excavated on both sides of each corridor.
Of course, the most eye-catching thing in this space at the mont
was the spell that Nicole had just used.
Tree branches and vines crazily growing from the ground had tightly locked two middle-aged n in white clothing next to the central table in the hall, also covering their eyes.
Under such exaggerated restraint, the two guards were practically immobilized as if they were in straitjackets.
Looking at her own results, the investigator girl nodded slightly.
Then, she turned her gaze to Swift standing beside her:
"How about it, do you need to run a polygraph?"
Mr. Detective shook his head:
"That kind of simple task is better left to ."
With that, he strode over to the bound man in front of him, then pinched his voice to ask in a sowhat shrill tone:
"Where were those two priests before?"
Hearing soone approaching, the controlled guard, even though he couldn’t see who was in front of him, still instinctively raised the alarm:
"Who are you, do you know where this is..."
Smack smack—
Swift didn’t even wait for the other party to answer before knocking the two n unconscious.
Turning to look at Ronald and Nicole, he then said:
"Those two priests are around here, let’s split up and look."
Ronald nodded:
"I’ll take the passage on the left."
Nicole imdiately followed, saying:
"Then I’ll take the one in the middle."
At this mont, the dungeon guards had been thoroughly subdued by Nicole and were also knocked out into the vines’ embrace by Swift.
—Ti was precious.
With no one overseeing, the three of them each entered the passages they had chosen to begin inspecting the situation.
However, reality again deviated from expectations.
Taking Ronald’s actual observation for example, there was no abnormal and grisly scene here.
In the warden’s dungeon, the prisoners’ conditions were actually just above a passing grade.
Although the inevitable filth and disarray were present, the prisoners’ bodies did not exhibit any significant disfigurent, nor were their ntal states on the verge of hysterical insanity.
To so extent, one could even mistake these cells for a slightly unkempt storage room.
The discrepancy with one’s imagination was too great...
With such thoughts in mind, Ronald reached the end of the passage.
He was responsible for only five prisoners on this side.
And the figures of those two priests did not appear in the cells of this corridor either.
Shaking his head, Ronald then turned and left.
When he returned to the hall, Swift happened to appear there as well.
The two exchanged a glance, and Mr. Detective took the initiative to say:
"There were only five prisoners on my side, and I didn’t see those priests."
Ronald shrugged:
"Sa here."
The situation was now straightforward.
Neither of the passages they were responsible for revealed any sign of the priests, so they had to be on Nicole’s side.
It was at this mont that the investigator girl’s voice ca from the last corridor:
"They’re both here with , co over and give a hand."
Hearing her voice, Ronald and Swift imdiately entered.
Nicole’s passage also housed five prisoners.
However, at the very end, two priests lay unconscious in a cell, with Nicole currently pulling one up to his feet, preparing to move him outside.
Seeing the scene in front of him.
Swift didn’t hesitate to step forward and also hoisted the other priest up.
It was then.
Still standing at the entrance of the cell, Ronald vaguely felt that sothing was amiss.
Rooted in place, he pondered over the troubling details, speaking in a slightly perplexed tone:
"Wait a minute."
"I think sothing is not right!"
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