Although they said they would use Captain as the test subject, the real goal was still success.
If the cube was a lock, then silently opening it without anyone noticing would be the ideal solution.
The golden quill that usually recorded sighs transford into a miniature dagger. It poked at the cube attached to Captain’s phantom shackles. In the end, however, it moved to the chain connecting the cube to the void.
Rita wanted to use this opportunity to test a theory.
Did the prison’s overseer have thoughts of its own?
The dagger lightly sliced the chain.
The power of authority and order left a clear mark in it with ease.
The mysterious eye in the void did nothing.
Rita waited a few seconds, then moved the dagger back and cut the chain again.
Still no reaction.
But Rita continued like a machine without emotions, cutting the chain once every few seconds.
The notch grew larger and larger.
The chain was only about as thick as a charging cable.
One final cut would sever it completely.
The golden dagger approached again.
This ti, it rested in the groove she had carved.
Rita did not move.
One second.
Two seconds.
Ten seconds.
Finally, a voice without any fluctuation or emotion sounded in her mind.
[Were you waiting for ?]
"I was starting to think you wouldn’t show up."
[No. You were very determined. You were convinced you could catch . This is not the first ti you’ve tested .]
Her probing had been noticed.
Rather than being upset, Rita smiled in satisfaction.
With a flick of her finger, the dagger dissolved into golden mist.
It then reford into a tiny hand and moved toward the cube, beginning to study how to pick the lock.
This had always been the real experint.
While manipulating the cube, Rita continued the conversation in her mind.
"Nice to et you. What should I call you?"
[Nice to et you. What should I call you?]
"You can call B80."
[B80. Do I resemble it sohow, or have so connection to it?]
"Why would you ask that?"
[You do not wish to reveal your true na. You told Prisoner JinX that you were Adjudicator because, in your view, that represented a connection between you. You freed her from the Prisoner Ga and would beco the final adjudicator of her future fate. But when facing , you chose B80.]
The faint smile on Rita’s face faded.
The Ash Inspector’s coldness, composure, and directness reminded her of B80 that day.
It was as if it had completely discarded every trace of emotion used to imitate living beings and spoke only through pure calculation.
Blunt.
Sharp.
It did not hide itself.
And it left no room for the person speaking with it to hide either.
[Why are you not speaking?]
"Oh. Because I think you’re not very good at conversation."
[You can teach .]
"When living beings chat, if we notice an obvious lie in sothing trivial, we usually do not expose it. We silently choose to play along."
[Very well, B80. I have learned.]
"Excellent. Then what about you? What should I call you?"
[I am Adjudicator.]
Rita: "........."
She lowered her head and pressed a finger against her forehead.
A headache was coming on.
JinX leaned closer.
"Adjudicator, what’s wrong?"
Rita forced out a smile that did not reach her eyes.
"Nothing. Soone just played a trick on ."
Taking a deep breath, she grabbed a piece of fruit from a supply crate and handed it to JinX.
"Go play."
After sending the Ragtag away, she continued her efforts.
"Fast learner."
[Thank you. You appear angry, yet you are still smiling. Why?]
"Can we start over?"
[Certainly. What should I call you?]
"What should I call you? You first."
[You may call Ash Inspector.]
"That sounds much more reliable. You can call Starsea Prisoner."
[That answer is slightly more sincere than B80.]
For so reason, Rita felt the Ash Inspector was being sarcastic.
She did not think it was her imagination.
After all, it had just introduced itself as Adjudicator.
The Inspector clearly possessed a sense of humor that most people would never understand.
Ash Inspector: [Prisoner, now that you have caught , what is your objective?]
Starsea Prisoner: "I want to understand your limits. What would I have to do before you stop pretending not to notice?"
Ash Inspector: [Is my pretending that obvious?]
Starsea Prisoner: "Not really. I’m just exceptionally smart."
Ash Inspector: [...]
Starsea Prisoner: "Talk."
Ash Inspector: [Do not allow that eye to open more than three tis.]
Starsea Prisoner: "What happens if it opens more than three tis?"
Ash Inspector: [This exile zone will be classified as high risk. Soone will co to purge this prison.]
Starsea Prisoner: "Understood. Then whenever I’m about to do sothing that would open the eye, please warn ."
Ash Inspector: [...]
Starsea Prisoner: "Rule one of conversation is not exposing obvious lies. Rule two is Refuse Cold Violence."
Ash Inspector: [I have learned. You figured it out, didn’t you?]
Starsea Prisoner: "Figured out what? That your authority is weaker than mine? That you also don’t want that eye to open? That if this prison gets purged, you’ll be purged with it?"
Ash Inspector: [Unhappy.]
Starsea Prisoner: "Hm?"
Ash Inspector: [I said I am unhappy.]
Rita: "..."
Had this Inspector loaded absolutely no social or conversational functions at all?
After struggling with the cube for quite so ti without unlocking it, Rita rembered that she might need the Ash Inspector’s help later.
She swallowed the complaint that was already on the tip of her tongue.
Starsea Prisoner: "Really? Then how can I cheer you up?"
Ash Inspector: [I know you are good at that. I listened while your Prisoners were talking.]
Starsea Prisoner: "Oh? What do they call ?"
Ash Inspector: [Many things. Which one would you like to hear?]
Rita: ???
Starsea Prisoner: "Why not all of them?"
Ash Inspector: [Stubborn Mule, Golden Apple, Demon Beagle, Big Seahorse, Vineborne’s Natural Enemy, the Strictest Mother in Starsea and Quiet Mountain, That Person Who Needs No Explanation Once You Know Them...]
Rita: "..."
That was enough. More than enough.
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