Sitting back in his chair Marcus patiently waited to see how the lich and his companions would react.
It was quite possible that they could begin attacking him if they believed that a threat was already imminent.
"Vira, where are you going?" Alyna asked when the zombie empress stood up.
"We may not be able to touch the girl that escaped or the man named Boreas, but the guild master is within our reach. I will go and bring her back here so that we can wipe her memories."
However, before she took a single step the lich held up his hand and motioned for her to stop.
"There is no need to go after the guild master right now. If what he said is true, then we have already been soundly defeated."
The lich then turned towards Alyna and she nodded her head.
"I see, so one of you can detect lies." Marcus said seeing this interaction.
He had wondered why they were taking everything he said at face value and not questioning him at all, and this was the most likely explanation he could come up with.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtOf course, he was not absolutely sure, and he was making a confident assertion on the matter in order to fish for information.
"Yes, Alyna has a unique skill that can detect lies." The lich said his voice having become a low growl.
He then slammed his hand into the table and created a large dent in its metal surface.
The others seeing this were confused and concerned, but Marcus had an idea as to why.
"You know who Boreas is, don't you?"
His fist clenched and a clear look of distress on his face the lich nodded his head.
"Yes, I have observed him before through my surveillance network that you discovered." The lich said, fear in his eyes.
He knew how powerful Boreas was, and that he and the other undead here would stand no chance against him if he intervened.
"I should have seen it earlier even if you have changed your hair colors. You are Marcus Ferrous and the woman who was with you is Mrazivý Borealia."
This time it was Marcus' turn to be shocked by the information network the lich had.
Frankly he did not expect him to connect the dots so easily and figure out who he was.
"That is correct. Though I am a bit surprised that you have heard of me."
"Spare me. You must know that I can obtain information from almost anywhere. There are plenty of high-ranking officials in Borealia that are my eyes and ears. Your wedding was not long ago and was talked about all throughout an entire kingdom. Even if not extensively, I know who you are."
His identity discovered Marcus felt his advantage slip away ever so slightly. Now if he made an enemy of these undead, they knew who he was and he would need to be careful of retaliation against those he cared about.
"I think that is enough about me. I have answered your questions, so now it is my turn to ask one." Marcus said, a serious glint in his eyes.
"Very well, you have answered everything I asked truthfully. Go ahead and ask you question."
"I do have many things I want to ask all of you, but there is really only one that matters. What is your goal? What is it you plan to accomplish by infecting so many people with a nearly undetectable surveillance device? Depending on your answer, I may have to deal with you all as threats to the entire world."
With his gaze fixed on the lich Marcus waited for a response.
His body was incredibly tense as he awaited an answer, and he could image being attack again as the lich and his compassion moved to silence him.
Luckily none of the undead present directed anymore hostility towards him and instead all had somber expression on their faces.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Our objective is simple. We only want two things. To free ourselves from these islands and to return to being human again."
After hearing this, Marcus' serious look turned to one of bewilderment.
'They want to become human again. So, did they not turn themselves into undead to begin with? And what about being freed from these islands. Are they somehow stuck here?'
Numerous questions began flooding into Marcus' mind as he tried to figure out exactly what the lich's answer meant.
But when he went to voice his questions, the lich did not answer.
"You said I would only need to answer one of your questions. Now it is time for another of mine. Would you be willing to help us?"
There was obvious desperation in the lich's eyes as he asked this, and Marcus could easily tell that the other undead felt the same.
"I cannot promise anything until I hear the full story. You say that you want to be human again and escape from these islands, but I have no clue what is going on here. Explain yourselves and then I will come to a decision."
Nodding his head, the lich agreed. He could tell that he had been backed into a corner already and that his only real hope was to win Marcus over.
"All of us have been alive on this world for over four hundred years now. Well I am not sure that we can really call what we have life, but we exist. It happened similarly to each of us and many more. We were abducted and brought here to be experimented on."
A visible grimace came over the lich's face, and it was plain to see that remembering what had happened brought him an immense amount of pain.
"Daniel, if it is too much for you, I can explain instead." Alyna said, a look of concern in her glowing yellow eyes.
"No, I will do it." The lich affirmed. "I just need a minute to gather my memoires and steel myself."