Chapter 198: Little Red Riding Hood in a Cage

Good afternoon

—

“Wait, slow down—ouch!”

Roger was roughly thrown into a cell by a Banished Knight.

He felt as if parts were rattling inside his body.

His entire body ached as if he were a meatball that had been hammered a thousand times.

This pain reached its peak when he was flung into the cell and landed on several thigh bones that belonged to who-knows-who.

In the battle just now, some ribs were definitely broken.

But, it was fine.

Roger fumbled around his Soldier and pulled out a Sacred Flask of Tears.

Although he had been searched and all his weapons and items confiscated, what kind of mage would he be if he didn’t have some means of hiding things?

He bit open the cap with a grimace and took a large gulp of the sweet dew while no one was watching.

Miraculous power flowed through Roger’s body; he felt he would never tire of the sensation of his body being healed.

But the problem was that the prerequisite for healing oneself was getting hurt, and getting hurt really hurt.

When the footsteps of the soldiers sounded again, Roger hurriedly hid his little bottle.

This time it was Neffeli.

A soldier walked past Roger’s cell, opened the adjacent door, and threw the unconscious Neffeli inside.

Then he left just as before.

Leaving the two prisoners ignored.

A lingering, foul stench of decay hung in the cell. Rats hid in the shadows, their red eyes fixed intently on their next big meal.

Roger moved toward Neffeli in the next cell.

The cell was very small, not much larger than a double bed, and the only thing separating each cell was iron bars.

When looking toward the end of the corridor, it was like an infinite space that appears when two mirrors face each other.

Roger could easily reach the limp Neffeli. He pulled her head over, and while keeping a wary eye on his surroundings, he poured the Sacred Tears into her mouth.

He gave Neffeli more than he drank himself; Roger still kept a little back.

It’s only human nature.

Before long.

Neffeli sat up abruptly.

“Battle!”

The soldier guarding in the distance turned his head to look down the corridor.

“Shh—”

Through the iron bars, Roger covered Neffeli’s mouth.

“Are you crazy!”

Roger hissed.

“Mmph—mmph—”

A small sip of Sacred Tears could wake Neffeli up, but it clearly wasn’t enough to fully restore her.

Neffeli, who prided herself as a warrior, couldn’t even pull away from Roger’s hand for a moment.

“What are you doing!” she questioned him angrily when she finally shook Roger off.

“I should be asking you that!” Roger snapped back irritably.

He had been hiding perfectly fine, and not only did this woman lead the enemies to him, she was the culprit who got him caught.

Until now, Roger didn’t even know Neffeli’s name!

Yet he had already been screwed over by her once.

“You’d better figure out a way to get us out of here!” Roger felt his emotions were very unstable right now.

After suppressing the urge to swear, he was just short of grabbing Neffeli by the collar.

He didn’t want to end up stuck in this hellhole for some inexplicable reason.

A thin voice sounded from the cell on Roger’s other side.

“Are you two also here to be grafted?”

However, Roger and Neffeli, focused on their bickering, did not notice that thin voice.

“What? You want to fight?” Neffeli raised her fist in dissatisfaction.

“Are you kidding me? What’s in that head of yours? You’re the one who ruined me!”

Clearly, Roger was the more reasonable side.

After her brief anger subsided, Neffeli gradually sorted out the sequence of events.

“That was just a coincidence, how was I supposed to know where you were hiding?”

Neffeli retorted.

“Anyway, hurry up and think of something!” Roger looked extremely anxious.

He had come to Stormveil for his own purposes to begin with.

He had not the slightest interest in killing Godrick to seize the throne for himself; with his abilities, he could have investigated the information he wanted completely undetected.

Everything had been ruined by this woman who had fallen from the sky!

“If we don’t get out, we’re all going to die! Don’t you know how this castle treats the Tarnished?”

Godrick’s atrocities of Grafting were already famous far and wide.

Even Limgrave had lost its original name because of its ruler.

Limgrave, meaning the land of Grafting.

“It’s okay…”

That thin voice rang out once more.

“Hehe… hehe.”

The light, vacant laughter sent a chill down one’s spine.

Even Neffeli couldn’t help but swallow hard.

The two of them turned their heads.

In a nearby cell, a young girl dressed in white with a red cape was curled up in a corner, clutching her legs.

“Everyone has been grafted…” the girl’s soft voice spoke a terrifying truth: “Heads, hands, and feet were all cut off, becoming part of the spider…”

As if sensing the gazes of Roger and Neffeli, the girl lifted her head.

She flashed them a smile that lacked much rationality, as if she had been broken.

“Hehe… did you know? After being grafted onto the spider, people grow to look like chrysalids. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“…” Roger and Neffeli couldn’t help but exchange looks.

This child…

She must have suffered some kind of severe trauma.

“You’re a Tarnished too, aren’t you?” Roger asked, gripping the iron bars of the cell.

“Ugh—” The girl in the red hood trembled.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She shrank further into the corner of the already cramped cell. “I don’t have the courage. To have my hands and feet cut off… it’s too terrifying…”

She sobbed while murmuring to herself.

“Hey—” Roger didn’t know what to do.

The girl’s shoulders shook, and a few strands of golden hair slipped out from under her hood.

This caused a surge of pity to rise in Roger’s heart.

This girl was much better than that muscle-brained woman who had dropped from the sky.

“Are you alright?” Roger asked very gently.

Once upon a time, this face of his had caused countless young maidens to swoon.

Roger was confident he could cheer up the Little Red Riding Hood before him.

“Are you also going to become part of the spider, just like me?”

The girl looked up, tear stains still fresh on her face.

Even in the dim candlelight, her fair skin seemed to be shrouded in a layer of radiance.

Her azure pupils were like gemstones.

“What is your name?”

Roger asked.

“Roderika,” Roderika said softly.

Roger felt that voice was like a warm breeze emerging from the darkest abyss.

He held his breath, desperately reminding himself in his heart: ‘Roger! Your heart already belongs to someone else!’

“My name is Roger,” Roger replied.

“Hey. Hey,” Neffeli grabbed Roger’s shoulder from behind. “I’m Neffeli Lou.”

Roger looked back at her.

His gaze seemed to say,

‘Who asked you?’

“Huh?” Neffeli was clearly not the type to just accept being ignored; she immediately put Roger in a headlock.

*Ack*—what are you doing—*gurgle*—”

“Tit for tat.” Neffeli’s voice was strained with effort.

Hadn’t Roger covered her mouth earlier?

Roger felt that this reckless madwoman was really going to kill him!

His hands fumbled around on the ground.

He picked up the femur bone that had poked him earlier and whacked Neffeli on the forehead with a *thud*.

Neffeli let go in pain, and Roger rolled toward Roderika’s cell, away from Neffeli.

“You crazy woman!” Roger yelled loudly.

Two Guard poked their heads out from the end of the corridor.

Then they ducked back in.

Whether the prisoners lived or died was of no concern to them.

“Are you companions?” Roderika asked, blinking her eyes.

“No!”

Roger and Neffeli spoke in unison.

The two glared fiercely at each other, then turned away.

After a moment of silence, Roger spoke seriously to Roderika.

“Listen, Roderika, we have to escape.”

“Escape?” Roderika was stunned. “Why escape?”

“What kind of question is that?” Roger was taken aback by her words. “Do you want to stay here and wait for death?”

“No, I won’t leave.” Roderika shifted uneasily. “I… I’m just a little scared… I’m not trying to run away, I will definitely become like everyone else…”