Chapter 7: The Nightinshade

Following the map, Maria and, were standing in front of a very big gate. It was in the middle of the Languin forest. It's a forest where mostly dangerous animals and plants live. "Maria, you are my trusted maid, aren't you?" "Yes, Your Majesty," she replied with no hesitation. Wow! She is a very great liar. Of course... loyal to her master, Kelsin, isn't it? Let's see how much longer you can keep this. I smiled, "Good. So, I believe you will help me in cleaning this place." "Yes, Your Majesty." I smirked, "You asked me a question that time, didn't you? Well then, perhaps I should answer it now. You know the group called 'Nightinshade,' Right? At least, you must have heard about it." The expression on her face changed. Most of the time, Maria keeps an uninterested expression. Like she doesn't care about anything. But to appear normal, she sometimes fakes her emotions. Right now, while her face was blank, her eyes held a cold glint. "Maria has ventured many times, hasn't she?" She didn't say anything but just looked at me. I continued, "Most of the time, you have helped me in my business. While in those times, I couldn't help but notice that your expression always changed whenever the term 'slavery' was mentioned. In your eyes, there was always an unprecedented anger." "How did you...?" Maria trailed her words. It seems my words have completely shocked her. What I said, just no, was complete bullshit. But my work is done. She would think that my observation was indeed true. If I press this more than, it may backfire on me. "You are my maid. I do ignore your matters most of the time, but I trust you and care for you." I placed my hand on her arm. Damn! She is almost 5 inches taller than me. "If you don't want then—" "I want to!" Maria flinched in horror, "I am sorry, Your Majesty. I—" "It's fine. You are very excited about this. Do you have some personal grudge against them?" Clenching her jaw, she nodded with some difficulty. My objective is fulfilled. So, no need to press it anymore. "Break the door, Maria." She conjured a bow and arrow in her hand and then aimed at the door. She looked at me for permission to fire. I nodded my head in affirmation. Getting my permission, she fired the arrow, destroying that large door completely. It would have caused a huge noise if I hadn't used my magic to block the noise. I entered the dungeon with Maria following me. As we walked deeper into the dungeon, I noticed the walls were made up of black marble and black rocks, which gave it a haunted look. There were also some strange markings inscribed on the walls. Just as I was going to inspect the markings, I heard some noises. Giving it a last look, I headed in the direction of the noise. I didn't look at Maria to know if she was following me or not. She was much more motivated than me. While Kenshin faked that he took revenge for her, I allowed her to extract revenge by herself. Nothing tastes sweeter than revenge, but I, one person, get my revenge with my own hands... it just amplifies the sweetness by n-number of times. As we walked further, the intensity increased. The metallic door in front of us was the thing that separated us from the activities behind the door. Without any further ado, I opened the gate. What I saw... shocked me to my very core. A musky and burnt flesh entered my nose. Broken chairs, chains, and ropes were scattered everywhere. The view in front of me completely horrified me. Children around 5-10 years of age were being... raped and hurt, indescribably. Men and women... were both performing those atrocious cruelties upon the children. Crime has no face or gender. And the abominable sight in front of me proves this.