Chapter 71: In Which… In Which… What The F*ck? Actually, You Should Explain This One To Me

"Let us keep things simple. My name is Evans. I have slain Miss Carrion. I'm getting you out of here." He -- Evans, I suppose -- smiled and bowed slightly.

I stared at him. Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait.

"Um... Evans? Can you give me a moment? I... what? Let me... rewind my brain so I can catch up."

Right. How did I get here?

I was alone in the cell.

The body I was in might not have it's full strength, but it was enough to move the furniture. I was still strong and fast, just not inconceivably so

I stared up at the little bars near the ceiling, and then picked up the bed with some effort, maneuvered it to lean against the wall, and climbed up it as it quaked beneath me, and peered through the bars-- a garden. A rather nice one, all things considered.

Miss Carrion calling it an "Underground facility" was technically true, sure, but I did feel she oversold it a little.

I fell back to the floor in a crouching position to break the impact of landing from a few feet in the air, but winced as the wounds on my back broke open anew.

She hadn't bothered to heal or clean them, and I...

Wait, could I cast magic?

...no.

She had left me without healing me or cleaning my wounds, and I couldn't do anything about it.

I laid on the bed on my belly and breasts as I tried not to inflame my wounds or to expose them to bacteria. It was a surprisingly soft and nice and clean bed... I'm sure she had crueler cells, too.

Maybe she'd let my wounds fester until I begged her to let me be hers.

Maybe she'd kill me even afterwards.

I closed my eyes and tried fruitlessly to rest as I waited.

I paced around the room as I waited.

I sang as I waited.

I heard footsteps, and immediately stopped singing, knelt down next to the bars and lowered my head. There was no reason to appear anything but perfectly obedient, after all.

"There is no need to kneel, my lady." A soft voice, on the verge of masculine.

I looked up and saw a catboy in simple black robes... catman...? Whatever age category he was, his hair was grey in places. He still had a bit of a twinkish look about him, but just a bit of wrinkles under his eyes, too.

I stood up, and he pulled a ring of keys off his belt and unlocked my cell door, and I tensed just for a moment. I could probably take him on... but what good would it do? If Miss Carrion was alerted, any little chance at having a life would be over.

He handed me a black robe, and I blinked.

"For wearing, my lady. You're naked."

Realizing he was right, my face heated, and I pulled the robe on over my head, inhaling sharply as the robes slid over my wounded back. "What are your orders?"

And that's how I got here. With Evans.

I stared at this rather non-descript man for a long moment. "That's... you can't just say things like that all of a sudden. What are you? How did you kill her?"

He inclined his head slightly. "I was a slave here. And, I was a slave here."

Even Eve hadn't had a shot at her, which meant... "...I don't believe you. This feels like a trick."

Evans stared at me for a long moment, his eyes gentle. "If it was a trick, Miss Carrion has decided to torture you regardless. My lady... were she still alive, you could be perfectly obedient, bend over backwards... and she'd still find a way to torture you. I've cleaned up the bodies for her... I've lost track of how often."

"And you just murdered her... somehow."

"When someone has ceased to see you as more than furniture, they leave a lot of openings. I heard her communicating with what I presume was one of Princess Adeline's other followers. She said that you had told her that the Pretender... my apologies, that Princess Asperia was planning on ending slavery. Is that true?" Evans hesitated for a moment, and then added calmly with the slightest smile, "Regardless of if it is, I seem to have thrown my lot in with you."

"Yes... that's true... so you just... you've been around her so long that she doesn't think of you as there?" I stared at him skeptically. "And that let you get her?"

"Miss Carrion relied a lot on her curse that lowered people to her level of strength, speed, and so forth." Evans stared at me patiently. "She also relied heavily on her threat assessment. She was correct I was no danger to her whatsover. Her miscalculation was letting me hear the other side -- our side, now -- was planning on ending slavery."

I nodded. "...so... now that Princess Adeline is aware of us specifically... her vision of the future is probably narrowing in on us."

"Yes, my lady." Evans' voice was smooth and calm. "Which is why I was trying not to explain everything."

I walked over to the wall of weapons and torture implements, and looked over to the necklace, which seemed out of place... might as well take it, though I didn't put it back on, I didn't really need more restrictions right now. Come to think of it, I suppose one could think of it as a weapon or torture implement, in a way.

I took down a sword I could hide under my cloak, and a couple daggers... all of them seemed far too flamboyant-looking to be practical, but they were at least a class of weapons I understood.

I glanced over at Evans. "Do you have a weapon?"

"My martial skills pale in comparison to yours."

I took a few quick steps, but they were just human-quick. "Unfortunately, that seems to be untrue at the moment...."

Evans looked a little uncertain. "My... your powers didn't come back. I didn't plan for this, my lady."

I took a deep breath, focused, and smiled, projecting confidence I one hundred percent did not have. "Don't worry about it. How long does her curse last?"

"Usually just when one is around her, from my understanding... she must have done something special with you." Evans paused. "Or lied about it. She did like to lie."

I bit my lip. "She isn't... immortal, right?"

Evans considered this. "Not in the 'can't be killed' sense... no. But if she's undead, all the more reason we should be out of here as quickly as possible."

"Okay..." I thought for a moment. "If I understand correctly, Princess Adeline relies on knowledge reaching her, so if we can get out of here without killing or alerting anyone else, perhaps... did you hide her body?" I shook my head a little.

Things felt so unreal. Miss Carrion had been here just a little bit ago, absurdly strong, I had utterly been at her mercy, and now she was just... dead?

"So slaying the guards isn't the ideal move." Evans was already moving on. "Perhaps, my lady, I could carry you out of here if you made a really good job of looking corpselike. Although then, of course, I'd have to return so as not to arouse suspicions."

I shook my head. "If she was undead, she'd be outside of Princess Adeline's power of prophecy... I don't think she'd use someone who she couldn't foresee like that. She doesn't seem like the sort who likes to take risks."

Evans nodded calmly. "I can't conjecture on Princess Adeline's nature-- this isn't the sort of place she likes to come to. I imagine seeing the futures of all the torture and pain is unpleasant for her."

"Evans... is there anyone else Miss Carrion is torturing down here?"

"No," responded Evans calmly as he looked me in the eyes. "She decided to empty the place so she could focus just on you, my lady."

"Servants?"

"A cook. Another butler like myself. Two cleaners. A torturer."

"Gather the servants, tell them their lady wishes to speak with them. The guards, too. Where did you put her body?"

Evans considered this for a moment. "Shall I show you before I gather them, my lady?"

Right. It's not like I knew the layout of the building.

I took a deep breath, then nodded. "Um... and I'll need a very nice dress... and I may need your help with one more thing there, too."

"Of course, my lady."

The servants and guards were all gathered in the garden when I strode out and flung the head of Miss Carrion down in front of them. A couple of the guards screamed... the servants seemed to have more hardened eyes than the guards, though, or maybe they were just too in shock.

I managed not to throw up. Hopefully I didn't look too queasy.

I clapped my hands twice. "Quiet, please."

A deathly chill settled over the guards and servants.

"As you may or may have not heard," I said calmly, "I let Miss Carrion think she had captured me. She ceased to be useful and entertaining, and we were technically enemies, so I... had to retire her. That is the term she liked to use, yes?" I forced a smile to my lips and looked down on the surrounding people.

A couple servants nodded.

It was uncomfortable being this tall, but this is probably why Mistress Eve kept this body at this height.

"So." I forced my smile a bit wider. "Now all of you have come to a point of contention. No, I suppose... a point of decision, yes?"

"You have four options."

"The first is to pull out your weapons-- or if you are missing a suitable one, I brought up a few from her wall." I tossed the weapons down on the ground in front of her. "And come at me. Now, previously, when I've taken down an estate, no one who chose to do that lived... but maybe you'll be the first. I'm only The Hero From Another World, after all. I'm sure all of you are quite proficient at your jobs."

I looked across the guards and servants, but no one wanted to meet my eyes, except Evans, who gave me a slight nod and smile. I guess I was pulling it off well enough? "No takers? The second is to stay here. When Miss Carrion's allies come, I'm sure you'll be punished brutally, maybe tortured to death. But maybe you'll survive. Maybe."

"The third is to run. You'll probably die if either side catches you, but well... I'm feeling merciful today. I'll let you run."

"The fourth is to kneel, and swear allegiance to me here and now. I am under Princess Asperia's banner, and she has vowed to end slavery within her reign. Ah... we do have someone in our group who is quite good at Mind Magic, however, so if you intend to betray us... well, you'd be better off running."

"That's all. I'll give you a minute."

I turned my back on them. "I would be disappointed if no one picked up a sword, but that's more of a personal thing, don't feel obliged... Miss Carrion died too quickly, you know?"

My heart beat rapidly. I had little doubt that Evans would tell me if anything happened, but... it was quite a trust fall.

After a handful more seconds, I turned back. All but one of the guards were gone-- a human guard with braided black hair was kneeling, though, her swordbelt on the ground clearly out of her reach in a gesture of surrender, and all of the servants were kneeling too.

"Rise." They rose.

"I'll get to know all of your names soon enough-- but time is of the essence if I'm to get you out of here safely. I'm more used to playing offense than defense, after all."

A short woman, some sort of canine girl with short brown hair approached, and inclined her head. "My lady, I hesitate to ask a favor, but..."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm feeling magnanimous. Go on."

"Can I burn this house to the ground, my lady? It'll only take a few minutes to start."

This was clearly a bad idea, and would only draw attention, but... I saw the fire in her eyes.

She utterly hated this place and wanted it to end forever.

I would too.

I should probably have just said no, but....

"I'll allow it."