Chapter 93 - 89: Another Fragment?
"First, tell me your name. I want to know how to address you," Ryder inquired as he stopped 2 meters away from her.
"I'm the Royal Elvian Guard, Raphtalia. Who are you? Why did he address you like that? Are you a prince of a human kingdom? Wait, he doesn't look like a human! Have you disguised yourself as a human?" The woman answered him before she asked questions one after another.
"Sigh, Did I tell you that only I can ask you the questions? Please don't force me to have him teach you that lesson painfully. I'm not the enemy here, so please cooperate with me," Ryder told her as he sighed.
"Now, back to our topic. You must know quite a lot about the Royal Elvian City, right? How strong is your king, and how many members are in the Royal family? I want the details about all of them," Ryder said to her.
"You think I will betray my kingdom? Are you so stupid? I don't care about my life. You can kill me for all I care," Raphtalia replied as he snorted.
"I never expected it to be easy. Well, we can only try to get you to speak. There's no hurry. We have all the time in the world," Ryder said as he saw her stubborn expression.
"Rale, how about we hear the ideas on how to get her to talk. We can do them all at the end. You go first. What do you think we should do?" Ryder glanced at Rale as he asked.
"I can burn her body limb by limb until she starts speaking?" Rale replied.
Raphtalia's eyes opened wide as she heard the suggestion of Rale. She felt scared, but she didn't open her mouth.
"Interesting idea. Let me suggest one as well. Then we can ask Raphtalia about which one she likes more. We will try that first," Ryder told Rale.
"My idea is quite simple. I don't want it to end too fast, so I think we should start easy," Ryder said as he observed Raphtalia from top to bottom.
"W-what do you intend to do to me! Don't you dare touch me with your dirty hands!" Raphtalia said with a disgusted look on her face.
"I don't understand what you're thinking, but it's torture. Why would we listen to you? Anyway, You have beautiful blonde hair. I quite like your hair; they match your eyes quite well. How about we shave off your head? I can't help but imagine how you would look," Ryder said to her.
"My hair?" Raphtalia said with a weird expression on her face.
"It's not a bad punishment, Right? So pick your poison for the 1st stage of torture. Getting your limbs burned to ashes by Rale or going bald," Ryder said to her.
"You guys are crazy!" She let out loud as she glared at them.
"Alright. Let's try both then. I'll go first. Let's shave off your head," Ryder smilingly said as he brought out the Moon Scythe from his storage ring and used the transformation to turn it into a blade.
"Let's begin," He muttered as he extended his hand towards her head. Raphtalia was starting to look even more worried now.
"Stop!" Raphtalia bellowed before the blade could touch her head.
"So, are you ready to talk?" Ryder inquired.
"I'll tell you everything," She replied with a defeated look on her face.
"That's like a good girl," Ryder chuckled as he transformed the blade back to the Moon Scythe and placed it back.
"Now answer my first question," he said to her.
"I don't know how strong our King is. He is the strongest in our kingdom; that's all I know," She said.
"As for the Royal Family, there are only 4 people in the Royal Family. The King, the Queen, and their twin daughters," she further said.
"Alright. Next question. Have you heard about Nature Healing Crystal?" Ryder inquired.
"Nature Healing Crystal? Yeah, I have heard of it. It's the ancestral treasure of the Royal Elvian Clan passed down from generation to generation," She replied.
"Good. Where is it kept?" Ryder asked another question.
"Wait a minute? Are you here to steal the Nature Healing Crystal?!" Raphtalia exclaimed in shock.
"We're here to see it," Ryder told her.
"What see it? It's clear that you want to steal it!" Raphtalia said as she glared at Ryder.
"Alright. Put it that way if you like it. Just tell me where they keep it. If we had to search for it ourselves, you can't even imagine how many elves will die! Please trust me, I don't want to go down the path of slaughter unless it's absolutely necessary," Ryder replied in full seriousness.
Raphtalia looked in his eyes, and she could feel that he wasn't lying. She fell into deep thought.
'He is so mysterious. He has so many strong people calling him, his Highness. Who is he? Does he really have the power to cause so much chaos in our Elvian Kingdom? I can feel that his followers are even stronger than our Chief Royal Guard back at the Royal City. I can't even see through the strength of this guy called Rale. Why do I have a feeling that he's at least as strong as our King?' She thought as she glanced at Rale, who was still holding her.
"Alright. I'll tell you if you promise to not cause problems for our kingdom unnecessarily," She told Ryder.
"That's the plan," Ryder chuckled as he replied.
"The Nature Healing Crystal is kept in the ancestral temple, and it's only taken out on our Annual Establishment Festival in order to pay respect to our Ancestral God," She replied.
"You have an Ancestral God as well? Do all species in this world have an Ancestral God?" Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face.
'Can there be a crystal fragment of Bracelet of Immortality in the ancestral temple?' Ryder wondered as he remembered that he had found the first fragment in the ancestral place of the demon.