With a smile plastered on his face, Himo grabbed the lord's legs and pulled. He threw him on the floor. "He's unconscious." After attempting to wake him up with several slaps unsuccessfully, Himo could only take his storage ring. 

He turned to Phylia. "How did it go?" 

At that moment, she had already devoured clean all the remaining bodies. All that remained of the five shadows was a pool of blood on the ground, and if Himo didn't stop her, she seemed intentioned to clean that too. She walked up to him and gave five storage rings. Then, she opened her mouth. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.” Albeit monotonous, she managed to produce a soothing tone reminiscent of a soft breeze sweeping from afar. However, she seemed unable to utter different vowels.

Since the lord seemed unlikely to wake up soon, Himo spent the next hour teaching Phylia how to produce each sound. From A to Z, he taught her patiently until she could say the whole alphabet by herself.

"...X. Y. Z."

“Good.” Himo grinned. “I’ll teach you how to speak properly later.” He then glanced at the lord.

The man looked groggy, about to awaken. 

Left with a few seconds, he checked the inside of the five's storage rings. Inside them, he found only water, food, clothes, and weapons. Not giving up, he checked the lord’s storage ring. Unlike the others, it was filled with riches spanning from gold to treasures. And amidst all that, two items piqued Himo’s interest. An emblem and a letter.

The emblem presented the pattern of a dark shadow grabbed by a red hand. On it was carved a single word.

Arasura.

For some reason, Himo felt a bleak aura coming from it.

The emblem of a sect? But why would a sect attack me? He raised an eyebrow. It can’t be related to the remains—even if someone tried to follow me, the flying sword was way too fast. And they would have no reason to target my sister.

He then opened the letter, but the lord attacked him from behind with a knife. Himo snapped back and widened his eyes. From the floor, hundreds upon hundreds of green 'skewers' pierced through the lord's arms and legs, binding him. The man let out a scream.

Himo stroked Phylia’s head. “Good job!”

"Stop!" Even when going through the pain from the 'skewers', the lord's attention stood on the letter. He tried to move, but found himself completely bound—even trying to move would tear his muscles and break his bones.

“What, you don’t want me to read this?” Himo smirked. Ignoring the lord’s blood-curdling screams, he glanced at the paper and read it aloud. 

“On the twenty-seventh day of the fifth month, you… Wait a second.” Himo blinked and turned to the lord. “What day is today?”

The lord stared at him blankly, not expecting such a question.

Himo was speechless. System, do you know it?

[...The note is referring to two days ago.]

I see!

Nodding, Himo kept reading. “You are to provide a dwelling to the fifty disciples. They shall depart at dawn of the next day for the Arsia Capital.” He frowned. “If they went two days ago, would they be nearly there?” Turning toward the lord, he pointed at the paper. “What are they planning to do?”

His question was met with a burst of laughter.

“Is it related to the Valhanna family?”

The lord widened his eyes. “How do you—”

“Just answer me.”

“I refuse. No matter what you do, I won’t speak!”

“I see...” Himo shook his head. “Phylia, you can take his arms.”

At those words, the ‘skewers’ piercing the lord’s arms changed shape. Their surface turned corrosive, and they took the form of a small sphere. Soon, screams of agony resounded in the mansion, heard only by Himo, Phylia, and their source.

“Wait… please wait!” the lord screamed.

“Oh? Have you changed your mind?”

“Y-yes… but stop this…”

After thinking for a moment, Himo nodded. “Phylia, free him.”

The skewers retreated in the floor, then back to Phylia’s feet.

The lord, meanwhile, fell on the floor. He had lost any sensation from his blackened arms, but he didn’t dare to utter a word about it. After Himo’s signal, he opened his mouth. "We... we..." The lord wanted to lie. He could lie easily, but... when his eyes glanced at the slime, goosebumps covered his back. Gritting his teeth, he made up his mind. "In truth, we— AAH!" Before he could finish his sentence, Himo stabbed his shoulder with a kitchen knife.

The child smiled. "Did you think I wouldn't notice? Your eyes weren't looking directly at me and you raised your brows slightly. You're clearly lying to me. Speak the truth or we'll continue our previous game."

The lord stiffened. He wasn't going to lie!

[The user has watched too many detective shows.]

Realizing what the system hinted at, Himo blinked. 

Oops.

“So…” Himo pretended nothing wrong happened. “Are you going to tell the truth or not?”

The lord wanted to yell at the injustice but held back. “We of the Arasura sect signed a collaboration with the Valhanna Family of your kingdom. The reason we tried to kidnap you was to force the Shu Family to not intervene.”

“Intervene...? Are you planning a coup?”

After a second of hesitation, the lord nodded.

Himo thought of the crest he had seen when the ‘former he’ had been kidnapped. So the Valhanna’s wanted to start a fight back then? Did they plan to isolate and eliminate my family with the assistance of the sect? He fell in thought for a few seconds before he looked back at the lord. “Last question. Why does everyone here fear to mention you?”

“Eh?” The lord was taken aback by the question. His gaze fidgeted between the floor, Himo, and Phylia. Compared to when he had first met them, he looked like a different person. “Ehm… can you... promise me one thing?”

“What?”

“If… if I tell you, will you give me a quick, painless death?”

Did this guy take me for a sadist? Himo widened his eyes. I’m not doing it because I like it! Suppressing the urge to retort, he said, “Sure, as long as you give me an answer.”

The lord closed his eyes in resignation. “The cultivation method of the Arasura sect consists of absorbing the others’ Khenqi. While commoners have a really small amount of it, it is still sufficient for the first few phases. And therefore, I periodically called some to consume their Khenqi.” Opening an eye to look at the child, he only saw a flash before his head fell to the ground.

“Phylia, let’s go,” Himo said as he walked outside. These six were quite weak despite their cultivation realm. Could it be that their cultivation method is flawed?

While Himo was lost in thought, he and Phylia walked out of the village. Before departing, Himo spoke to a few random villagers, reminding them to reduce the lord’s body to ashes as to prevent the spread of diseases. He then added that anything they could find in the mansion was theirs. The villagers were thrilled—not for the riches but for the lord’s death. They set off to spread the news immediately.