As people who had agreed to go on what was pretty much a ‘suicide mission’ with very little chance of returning alive, the loyalty of these captured soldiers towards the commonwealth was initially quite extreme.
Faced with not only complete abandonment, but also betrayal, however, quickly caused their convictions to waver. And when Emilia proposed ‘rescuing’ their families, a few finally couldn’t help but start confessing.
Of course, they weren’t stupid enough to just admit everything without considering the consequences.
If they really let this empress know what they were considering doing to her had they captured her alive, wouldn’t she have them skinned on the spot?
Emilia’s expression didn’t fluctuate from the beginning to the end during their ‘confessions’, nor did she seem to care for the few who still remained silent. “Separate the ones who confessed and give me a list of their names after verifying all their statements… unless there is any inaccuracy.”
A few of the ‘prisoners’ panicked almost immediately, but the soldiers of Blue Dawn didn’t even give them the chance to protest before they were gagged.
Ignoring their muffled pleas, Emilia hopped over to Dixie and took her arm with a mischievous grin. “Let’s go see what Crystal is up to, shall we?”
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The blonde heroine blinked in surprise. “Y-You want me to secretly go check up on each of the soldiers one by one?”
Emilia nodded. “Mmhmm… Don’t worry, they won’t even know you’re there, and we’ll be right by your side.”
Crystal coughed in embarrassment. “I-It’s not that I’m worried or anything… I’m just thinking… why not let me stay and check them earlier?”
The crimson-haired girl tilted her head with a grin. “Can’t my angel use her ability to figure it out?”
Looking at Dixie or Michelle for help was obviously useless, as the two of them only blinked back at her in confusion.
Crystal could only pout helplessly, feeling both embarrassed and speechless. “F-Forget it, I’ll just do as you say!”
There was no way she was going to admit that all she got was ‘my angel is so cute when she’s embarrassed’ by using her ability on Emilia, could she?
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After the captured soldiers were escorted to their individual cells, they were chained to a fixed chair, and then left completely alone.
These weren’t standard jail cells, obviously. Not only was there no way for the prisoners to see what was outside, there was even a hidden one-way mirror at the top third of the room from which people outside could observe them.
Of course, this wasn’t something they were made aware of, though a few assumed they were being watched anyway. Even if that wasn’t so, however, they wouldn’t have any fancy thoughts of escaping.
After all, even if they could somehow make it out of here alive with their damaged bodies, what would happen to their families?
Even if the promise of the empress could hardly be considered reliable, it was the last strand of hope that they couldn’t help but cling on to in desperation.
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Crystal tapped her chin thoughtfully after observing the ‘prisoner’ through the glass window for almost ten minutes.
At times, her expression darkened to the point where Emilia couldn’t help but be concerned, and she even motioned Michelle to watch out just in case. While she didn’t want to disturb the girl, Emilia couldn’t have Crystal lunging forward to break the glass and hurting herself, after all.
Seeing her expression twist again and again, however, the crimson-haired girl finally couldn’t help but leave Dixie and jump onto the blonde girl, kissing her on the cheek. “What’s taking you so long? Anything interesting?”
The blonde girl was clearly startled out of her thoughts by Emilia, but she quickly schooled her expression into a practiced smile. “H-He’s been all over the place. Sometimes he’s concerned about his family back at home, sometimes he’s worried that you won’t ‘honor your promise’, and sometimes he wonders if he should have told you more.”
Emilia hummed playfully against the heroine’s ears, watching them turn red in satisfaction. “Did he skip out anything interesting?”
Crystal gulped. “… N-No.”
All of three of them could tell that the blonde wasn’t telling them something on purpose. But given how disgusted she had looked earlier, Emilia decided to just let her keep this ‘secret’ for now.
If Crystal felt it was important, she would definitely have mentioned it already, right?
Cynthia was obviously quite dissatisfied with Emilia’s implicit trust in the heroine deep down, but given how much her partner had been hurt before, she didn’t want to mention it and reopen her wounds needlessly.
Anyway, with how obsessed the heroine was with Emilia, she should never be able to betray her, right?
Unaware of her partner’s conflicting thoughts, Emilia flicked her hair back with a careless smile. “Well, don’t worry too much about it then. We can check up on the rest and see which ones are gloating about pulling a fast one on me, see if we can find something valuable, and then we can go back and reunite with the others, what do you think?”
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The crimson-haired girl’s objective in observing the prisoners after their ‘confessions’ was simple.
She had allowed them to confess and noted their words, but they were naturally not to be trusted at face value. After all, regardless of their current motivations, these were people who had set out to kill her from the start.
Moreover, no matter what their current situation was, Emilia was the one who was keeping them imprisoned, and their treatment had obviously not been very pleasant. How could they not bear a grudge against her?
Whether it was misleading her with some nefarious scheme or untrue statements, or omitting something crucial… wouldn’t they at least gloat or think about it in their hearts afterward?
As long as she had Crystal observe them for a while, even if she couldn’t figure out the complete ins and outs of their thoughts, she should still be able to get a rough idea with her ability!
Of course, Crystal was well aware of Emilia’s thoughts on the matter. But the longer she observed them, the more she found herself coming back to the same question. ‘Should I tell Dixie about it too, or just let Michelle handle everything? I’m not sure which one will lead to the ‘best results’…’
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