Epic Of The Demonic Sage

"Arkaves is mostly a non-violent mercenary group, Young Lord." June replied. "Most of us simply focus on gathering information and avoid conflict where we can."

"I see." Lucius eyed the woman and took note of her words. It was easy to make the assumption that they were incapable of conflict or weaker than other mercenary groups.

But that was not the case.

It simply meant that they had capable members who could probably go toe in toe with other mercenaries, but mostly chose to not engage in combat.

"So there is still some combat proficiency among members of your group, but it's comparatively less than say other mercenaries." Lucius said.

"Y-yes, Young Lord!" June rushed to assure him. "When I was sent here, I did not mean to fight with anyone throughout the mission."

"Is that so?"

"I was explicitly told by my superiors to avoid any conflict." June explained. "I had every intention to work properly as a nurse and am actually familiar with the tasks involved in it, Young Lord."

Lucius listened to her words without batting an eye. And June immediately took it as a sign to explain the situation more to appease him.

"The original condition for my mission was for the army of Inanis to have lost the battle or retreat. It was only then would I be able to work properly without there being a lot of people and the people left alive would be focused solely on getting treated, Young Lord… but as you know very well, Inanis won."

"And you still went for the mission despite that?" Lucius was mildly impressed.

"I had confidence that I would still be able to perform my mission without any problems, Young Lord." June explained meekly. "On top of that, I was not asked to put a mark on you or the Count, only that I needed to mark soldiers that showed exemplary work. Hence why I observed the entire battle."

It was at those words that Lucius blinked momentarily and furrowed his brows. He was actually sure that there was no one within a kilometer radius of the battlefield.

If they were actually within that scope of the battlefield, the Lost who he had stationed in various parts and were hidden away would have probably found her during the fight.

"How were you able to observe the entire battle? I am positive that no one was around within a kilometer of the battle."

"That is because of a special artifact that I had with me, Young Lord." June said. "The mission was of high importance that I was given the chance to use it, and it allowed me to observe everything from afar."

"And you do not have it with you right now, do you?" Lucius said.

If it was with her, then the Lost would have already placed it on one of the other tables for him to inspect but that was not the case.

June shook her head.

"No, Young Lord. It was too precious for me to carry around, and it would have been too strange if a nurse had it. It's hidden away along with the rest of my supplies, far from the battlefield. I had been around the area for over two days to not arouse suspicion."

"I see. Well then, that's an invitation to retrieve it." Lucius muttered to himself before he sends some hell energy toward some of the Lost.

He gave them clear instructions to look for the cache of hidden supplies and artifact and to retrieve everything that could be intact.

June ended up seeing some of the Masked Legion quickly disperse out from the laboratory and the sight sent chills down her spine.

The monster she had seen in the Veil of Terror was the most frightening, but there was something also so inhuman with how the Masked Legion operated that was just inherently wrong for her.

Actually, it made sense to June that the monster of nightmares she had seen, was also accompanied by others of its kind and that was nearly enough to make her soil herself again.

"Alright, let's continue." Lucius said, glancing back at June after he was satisfied with the commands he sent with the Lost.

"W-what else would you like to hear, Young Lord? I will answer them to the best of my abilities." June nervously said. She tried not to twitch every now and then, but there was still an uneasiness that seeped within her.

It also didn't help that her wrist still throbbed and ached, but she ignored it all in lieu of answering his questions.

"Very well then." Lucius clasped his hands together and looked down at the woman. "This time, I would like to hear more about the people in your group. Inform me of every detail, their identities, their whereabouts, missions and gifts."

"Do you mean the entire Arkaves, Young Lord?" June asked, cold beads of sweat sliding down her forehead.

"Yes." Lucius said.

A sliver of lucidity crept back into June's mind.

If she revealed these things, then it wasn't only her life in danger, but she would also be putting everyone else at risk as well.

June already knew that there was no hope for herself, that she was trapped in here and every fiber of her being already feared the Young Lord before her.

However, now it wasn't only her own life that was at stake. June knew that the Inanis Family probably had enough resources to search and capture the other people.

"I-I'm afraid that I do not know everyone that well…" June weakly said, avoiding his gaze. "We do not normally interact with one another, Young Lord."

"Do you think I will believe that?" Lucius raised a brow. "You've said it yourself that Arkaves is a mercenary group that specializes in infiltration and spying. It makes a lot of sense for each member to gather information amongst themselves, especially those who truly are in this line of work."

"T-that is…" June stuttered.

"Do not make me repeat myself." Lucius coldly said.