"H... How could this be..."
The brown-haired man's pupils shook violently.
"Hoo... You, what kind of drug did you slip me?"
There's no need to use polite language with a guy like this.
If I, who can hold my liquor, lost my mind after drinking only that much, there must be something more than just alcohol.
"Don't talk nonsense, just answer my question. Uh...?"
I tried to pull out the gun strapped to my right leg, but it was gone.
"Hey."
"..."
Keolkeok!
He suddenly pulled out my pistol and pointed it at me.
It's already been decocked, so pulling the trigger won't do anything.
"This... This fucking bitch, how the hell?!"
He trembled as he pointed the gun at me.
When I suddenly stood up, he was startled and grabbed the pistol with both hands, aiming it at me.
"W-What?! You wanna die?! Don't move!!"
"Bullshit, go ahead and shoot."
"W-What did you say?!"
His face turned bright red, and he pulled the trigger.
Tik! Tik!
But the gun, already decocked, wouldn't fire no matter how much he pulled the trigger.
"This shit..."
Peoeok!
I spun around and slammed my heel into his face.
"Ueok!"
He spun around and collapsed onto the floor.
"A guy who's not even a handful trying to act tough..."
I climbed on top of the guy who was sprawled out on the floor.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please! Please!"
Peoeok!
"Uwak!"
Peoeok!
"Please save me!"
Peoeok!
"Euaaaak!"
Peoeok!
I silently climbed on top of him and punched him in the face.
With each punch, a heavy sound echoed, and his face began to change strangely.
Blood splattered as I hit him, and my hand hurt, so I stopped for a moment.
"Eugeueooo..."
"I don't know if I'm hitting a person or a horny beast..."
I said the same words he had said to me.
"Heueuk! Eoeheuk!"
Suddenly, he started to sob.
"Crying? You're full of surprises."
With the mindset of hitting a crying child one more time, I slapped his face.
My hand hurt from punching, so this time I started hitting him with the hard part of my palm.
I hadn't hit him many times before he lost consciousness and fainted.
"Hoo..."
I sighed as I looked at him, passed out with his face covered in blood.
I searched the room, grabbed my saber and pistol, then cut the curtains into long strips and used them as rope to tie his hands and feet.
I rolled up a piece of curtain and stuffed it into his mouth as a gag.
I took the key and put it in my cleavage. I left the room, locked the door, and headed to where my friends were.
#
"See? I told you I was safe, right?"
"Hmm? What are you talking about?"
Suddenly, Lotos pointed at me and said something out of the blue.
What's with the sudden talk about being safe?
"Yes, certainly..."
Laurent nodded at Lotos's words.
"No, what are you two talking about right now?"
"Ah, Laurent was worried because you went to drink alone. So, I told him a bit about you."
"Lady Marie. I had no idea you were such an amazing person."
Laurent looked at me with eyes so sparkling it was almost overwhelming.
"Marie, did you have a good time drinking?"
"I did drink... but something not so good happened later. Or, well, was it good in the end?"
I pondered and spoke in response to Lotos's question.
I don't know if I should say it wasn't good because I happily drank drugged alcohol and passed out, getting messed with, or if I should say it was good because I caught a lead in the case.
"Anyway, you'll see if you follow me."
"Then let's do that. You and Laurent go first, and I'll bring Aramis."
"Alright, come to the floor with the lodgings later."
Lotos nodded at my words.
Lotos left to get Aramis, and I went up to the room where I had been taken earlier with Laurent.
"There are lodgings here too."
"I didn't even know there were lodgings here."
I stopped in front of the room where the brown-haired man had taken me, and I took the key out from between my breasts and opened the door.
"Th-That Young Lady, could you not do that?"
Laurent said to me, his face flushed.
"Why... this?"
"Eheum!"
Laurent cleared his throat when I took a silver coin out of my cleavage.
"Heueung... What a country bumpkin."
I patted Laurent on the back once and then went into the room.
"What's this? This smell of blood?"
As soon as I entered the room, the smell of blood from the guy I had beaten filled the room.
"There was a guy inside who tried to do something to me after drugging me, but I beat him up and he's tied up now."
"Yes?!"
Laurent asked, startled by my words.
"No, shouldn't you be saying that with less composure?"
"It's fine as long as I'm okay now."
I waved my hand as if it was nothing.
"Kkeueueu..."
The guy was groaning in his sleep, probably because it hurt to be beaten by me.
"Wow... his face is covered in blood..."
Laurent looked at his face once and then looked at me.
"No...! It's not like I did it on purpose... I just got angry and beat him up, and it turned out like that."
'A guilty person gives himself away,' Laurent didn't say anything, but I felt a pang of guilt and made excuses.
"No, you did well."
Laurent shook his head after hearing my excuses.
"These kinds of guys..."
Laurent stretched his leg back and then kicked the man's side hard.
Ppeoeok!
"Uueueuk!!!"
The man, who had been unconscious, struggled and screamed as a sharp pain surged in his side.
"It's not noisy because he's gagged."
Ppeoeok!
Laurent kicked the man's side again.
"Uueueuk! Uueuk! Uheueueueueuk!!"
The man, who had been screaming, soon began to sob.
"Crying when you're a man. How pathetic."
"Well, instead of confidently facing things head-on, you drug a woman, knock her unconscious, and then try to harass her? What a pathetic guy!"
"You disgrace to Elans!"
"A rat that tarnishes the honor of the nobility!"
Laurent and I took turns berating the crying man.
He couldn't refute because he was gagged, and he just sobbed at our repeated berating.
"But what did this guy do to you, Young Lady?"
At Laurent's question, my face suddenly felt hot.
There's no way I can tell him that this guy drugged me and messed with me while I was dazed.
"Eheum! Nothing happened, so don't ask."
"I understand."
Laurent didn't take away his suspicious gaze at my words, but he nodded obediently.
"Oh, right, Marie. I heard something happened from Lotos."
Not long after, Lotos and Aramis came into the room.
"I didn't tell you where I was, but you managed to find me?"
"The door was open, and I could hear voices, so I came here. By the way, who is this? He's been beaten up pretty badly."
"He's the guy who gave me drugged alcohol. I subdued him because I thought he might be related to this incident."
"Laurent, go and close the door."
Laurent closed the door at Aramis's words.
"Silence."
Aramis grabbed the door and cast a spell.
"Oh... magic."
"Aramis is from a priesthood, so he can use some magic or healing magic."
"A priest?"
Laurent looked at Aramis in surprise.
"Not all priests have to live as priests."
Aramis shrugged.
We tied the brown-haired man to a chair and removed the gag from his mouth.
"But when is this guy going to wake up?"
Lotos pointed to the brown-haired man who was slumped in the chair.
"We should wake him up now."
I brought a bucket of water and poured it on his face.
Chwaak
"Puhak!"
He coughed and lifted his head.
"Hey."
"Yes...! Yes, sir!!"
He nodded vigorously and answered my call.
"What did you give me?"
"..."
"Oh, your eyes are darting around?"
I took out my Mangosh and held the tip of the blade in front of his eyes.
"This room is soundproofed right now. No matter how much you scream, it won't be heard outside."
He swallowed hard and looked at me with trembling eyes.
"Name."
"Andre."
"How many people have you committed this crime against so far?"
"This is the first time."
Peoeok!
I kicked Andre in the chest.
"Ueok!"
"Where is this bastard lying?"
At my gesture, Laurent and Lotos stood him up again.
"How many people have you drugged?"
"Th... Three times."
Peok!
I kicked Andre again.
"How many people have you drugged?"
"Thirteen."
"Thirteen..."
"Thir! Teen! As many as! Drugging them!"
I hit Andre on the head.
"You bastard, where's the drug?"
"Th... It's in my inside pocket..."
At my glance, Aramis searched Andre's chest and took out a pouch.
Aramis poured the contents of the pouch onto the table.
Orange sugar-like granules poured onto the table, and Andre's face turned pale as he began to tremble.
"Who... who did you get this from?"
"Wh... Who the hell are you people?!"
"You don't need to know that, who did you get this from?"
I picked up a small amount of the granules that had been poured onto the table and approached him.
"I don't know who they are either! They just! They just said that if I gave them that drug, I could do whatever I wanted with the women...!"
"What's the name of this drug?"
"Orange Sapphire."
"So, what did you do?"
"Th...! So, after giving them the drug..."
Andre hesitated and trailed off.
"You bastard, can't you talk properly?!"
"After giving them the drug, I fucked them all the way I wanted to!!"
When I yelled at him, Andre cowered and started blurting everything out.
"You piece of trash."
Andre lowered his head at my words.
"Then I'll ask you one last thing."
"Yes! Please ask me anything!"
He showed a positive reaction as if I had said I would let him go, even though I had never said anything about letting him go.
"You're saying that after you gave the women this drug, they did everything you ordered them to do?"
"Yes, any shameful act, even self-harm."
"I see... Lotos."
"Please! Please let me go! Eoeheuk... I miss my mother!"
Andre started to sob, feeling relieved that he would finally be released as Lotos approached.
"Who said I'd let you go? Open that bastard's mouth."
"This is different from what you promised! Ugh! Eobeubeu!"
I scoffed at Andre, who was creating a non-existent promise on his own and firmly believing in it, and I put the drug in his mouth.
"Marie, do you know how much of this Orange Sapphire you need to put in for it to take effect?"
"I don't know either, I'm just going to give it to him and see."
I picked up another pinch from the table and put it in Andre's mouth.
"Ugeureok ubukweok ureolreok!"
As the drug started to take effect, Andre screamed and started shaking violently with foam in his mouth.
"Marie-ssi, isn't he going to die like that?"
"Maybe? I'm going to watch the situation and decide."
Whether he lived or died, I seemed to have found the drug that was circulating in the casino, so I didn't need that guy anymore.
"First, let's pour a bucket of water on him."
I filled a bucket with water and poured it on Andre's face again.
Andre, who had been convulsing for a while, stopped moving and slowly lifted his head.
"What's your name?"
"Andre."
"Last name?"
"I don't have one."
I asked him again about the contents of the Q&A I had with Andre when he was in his right mind.
Judging from the fact that his answers under the influence of the drug, doing as I ordered, matched the answers he gave when he was in his right mind, he seemed to have honestly responded to my interrogation.
"He answered more obediently than I thought. He's just a young kid who doesn't know how scary the world is, so there's no need to kill him."
I stroked my chin at Aramis's words.
"Hmm... If you say so..."
I approached Andre and untied his arms and legs.
"Andre, take off your clothes now."
"Yes."
Andre started taking off his clothes.
"It's small."
Everyone burst out laughing at my evaluation of Andre, who had taken off his underwear and become naked.
"Puhahat! This drug is really something."
Lotos clapped his knees and laughed, and Laurent turned his head away and shook his shoulders, holding back his laughter.
"It's unsightly. Tell him to put his clothes back on."
Aramis frowned at Andre's naked body.