Chapter 196: Part-time Lawyer

‘I’ll probably be sentenced to death by hanging…’

‘I finally found a stable job and someone I like… How did it come to this…?’

‘The Captain and Furen will be so sad when they find out…’

‘Later, I have to ask Aryan not to tell the Captain about this…’

‘It’s better if I just die quietly…’

In a dark, cramped corner of the jail cell, Bai Ya, currently Heitai Town’s only “prisoner,” was curled up on a pile of dry straw, hugging her knees and staring blankly into space.

Her dress was stained red with large patches of blood, and her face was unwashed. She looked disheveled, like some evil witch studying Blood Magic or a Priestess who worshipped an Evil God.

But for someone about to die, her appearance didn’t really seem to matter anymore.

Bai Ya didn’t regret what she had done.

She was just sad.

After all, she had been so happy this past month and thought things would only get better from here on out.

She never expected it to end so soon.

Huh?

Suddenly, at that moment, she snapped her head up, as if she had faintly heard something.

Staring dazedly at the tunnel behind the iron bars, Bai Ya finally confirmed after a moment that it was Lu Wei’s voice.

The next second, she scrambled to her feet and gripped the iron bars tightly, peering toward the other end of the tunnel.

Soon, three figures—two in the front and one behind—appeared in her line of sight.

The ones walking in front were none other than Lu Wei and Reck!

“Captain, it’s really the Captain!”

Bai Ya bit her lip hard, her eyes instantly welling up.

Although she had just been thinking about “dying quietly” without letting Lu Wei know, her heart couldn’t help but start to race when he actually appeared. A torrent of complex emotions flooded her.

There was grievance, guilt, gratitude, and pain.

And a sliver of hope.

After all, no one was truly unafraid of death.

If possible, Bai Ya of course hoped she could live a little longer.

‘Is the Captain here to save me…?’

‘He must be…’

‘But I killed someone…’

Watching Lu Wei get closer and closer, Bai Ya grew more and more anxious, even biting her lip until a faint white mark appeared.

Of course, Lu Wei also saw her at this point.

But unlike Bai Ya, his expression didn’t change in the slightest.

He merely glanced at her, then turned back to Reck with a cheerful smile.

“Uncle Reck, the ventilation in this dungeon is pretty good. Not musty at all.”

“…”

Bai Ya: ???

…

…

“A dual-flow ventilation design? A Dwarf must have built this, right?”

“They’re certainly good at this kind of work.”

“Oh, right, that just reminded me of a Dwarf joke…”

A dozen or so seconds later, Lu Wei’s group of three stopped outside the cell door, less than half a meter from Bai Ya, separated only by the iron bars.

But even so, he was still going on and on with Reck about the “dungeon’s ventilation design.”

This left Bai Ya completely dumbfounded.

“Brother Lu Wei…”

After a moment, Aryan couldn’t take it anymore and gently tugged on the corner of his shirt.

But Lu Wei remained unfazed, telling a classic Dwarf joke that made Reck roar with laughter—

Human: “Our troop casualties are too high.”

Goblin: “What are troops?”

Undead: “What are casualties?”

Dwarf: “What is high?”

?

‘That’s Furen’s joke!’

Behind the iron bars, Bai Ya’s eyes widened. She was all too familiar with that joke.

Just then, Aryan also moved closer and asked in a soft, concerned voice:

“Sister Bai Ya, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“…Ah, no.”

Bai Ya snapped back to her senses, her gaze shifting away from Lu Wei as she shook her head, looking aggrieved.

“I’m fine…”

“Whew, that’s good.”

Aryan let out a sigh of relief, then glanced at Lu Wei and explained, “Just now, Uncle Reck came looking for me. Brother Lu Wei happened to be at the clinic, so we came together.”

“Oh, so that’s what happened… Hmm? Why was the Captain at your place?”

“Uh, Brother Lu Wei went to visit Teacher. You know how the two of them have a lot to talk about.”

“Oh, oh, I thought…”

“No, are you seriously still worried about that kind of thing at a time like this?”

Suddenly, Lu Wei’s icy voice cut Bai Ya off.

“While bravely fighting back against robbers who were trying to break into your home is commendable, you really don’t have your priorities straight!”

“Hurry up, Uncle Reck is a busy man. Aren’t you going to quickly tell him exactly what happened from start to finish?!”

Staring at Bai Ya, Lu Wei’s tone was completely admonishing, while also trying his best to hint at how she should “recant her testimony.”

However, considering Bai Ya’s reaction speed, the probability of her understanding his meaning was very low.

So, he would have to guide her appropriately next.

“Th-they came to find me around noon.”

A moment later, under the gazes of Lu Wei and Reck, Bai Ya shrank back and recalled in a small voice:

“They said they were out of money and wanted to borrow some from me, but I didn’t agree…”

“Why didn’t you agree?” Lu Wei interrupted suddenly.

“Huh? Don’t you already know?” Bai Ya looked over, bewildered.

‘Dammit, my idiot-phobia is acting up again…’

“Of course I know, but Uncle Reck doesn’t.”

Lu Wei reminded her through gritted teeth, “You have to explain the whole cause and effect to Uncle Reck.”

“Oh, oh, okay.”

Bai Ya nodded, only half-understanding, and quickly recounted the story of how she had been tricked into the forest by Silas and the others to be used as bait.

After she finished speaking, a flicker of change appeared in Reck’s expression.

“To think something like that happened. What a bunch of scumbags, the three of them.”

“Exactly! People like that are the dregs of society!”

Lu Wei chimed in fiercely, urging Bai Ya to strike while the iron was hot.

“And then? What happened after you refused them?”

“Then they said I had no choice but to lend it to them.”

Bai Ya lowered her head. “And they tried to force their way into my house.”

“You mean they were planning to rob you, right?” Lu Wei guided her again.

“I guess so…”

“What do you mean, ‘I guess so’? They must have drawn their Weapons, right?!”

“They did…”

“And they threatened you, right?!”

“They did…”

“And they threatened to kill you if you didn’t hand over the money!”

“Well, they didn’t really…”

“Exactly!”

Seeing that Bai Ya was about to say something stupid again, Lu Wei immediately cut in, “So it’s confirmed they were planning to rob you. Go on, tell us in detail how you fought back.”

“Oh, then Hess jumped on Silas’s face…”

Although her eyes were still a bit vacant, Bai Ya seemed to have finally understood his meaning now.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to describe things in a way that would be favorable to her, so she could only recall the events truthfully:

“I got the Sword, and then, while he was still on the ground, I chopped off his arm.”

“Wait a minute.”

Reck frowned. “Who is Hess?”

Bai Ya answered in a small voice, “He’s my pet, a Fur Ball.”

“I see. No wonder there was a tuft of fur in the corpse’s hand.”

Reck nodded, then stared at Bai Ya and asked the most crucial question:

“Then why did you kill Silas afterward?”

“…”

Her shoulders trembled, and Bai Ya lowered her head, not answering immediately.

“He must have still been able to fight back then, right? You were worried he would hurt you, so you accidentally struck him a few extra times.”

Seeing this, Lu Wei was getting anxious. He didn’t care if he was being too obvious and just blurted out the “standard answer.”

But who would have thought that after a moment of silence, Bai Ya would shake her head? Even at a life-or-death moment, she still wouldn’t lie.

“That’s not it.”

“It’s because I mistook him for a Kobold.”

“‘A despicable Kobold, disguised as a human.'”

“That’s what I was thinking at the time…”