Chapter 88: Charming

The Charm effect was working, slowly eroding Corvus’s resistance. But it wasn’t fast enough. The guards were getting restless, their weapons still raised, their eyes darting between their employer and the impossible creature holding him.

"Master Corvus," one of them said, his voice tight. "Should we—"

"Stand down." The words came out hoarse, forced. Corvus’s face was flushed, his breathing uneven. "Everyone stand down."

The guards hesitated, clearly uncertain.

"That’s an order."

Slowly, reluctantly, they lowered their weapons. But they didn’t sheathe them, and their eyes never left Nacho’s tentacle.

[Target’s receptivity: 47%.]

"Good," Nacho said. "Now. The Hollows. Tell me about it."

Corvus’s jaw clenched, the muscles in his neck standing out like cords. He was fighting it, fighting the warmth spreading through his body and the fog settling over his thoughts. But the battle was already lost.

"It’s... it’s in the mountains. Three days north of here, through the Thornpass." The words came out slow and reluctant, dragged from somewhere he didn’t want to go. "An old fortress, built into the rock. Used to be a mining operation until the veins ran dry."

"Security?"

"Thirty guards, maybe more. Rotation changes every eight hours. The main entrance is guarded around the clock, but there’s a secondary access point on the eastern face. An old mining shaft that’s supposed to be collapsed."

[Target’s receptivity: 61%.]

"Supposed to be?"

"They cleared it. Use it for emergencies. Only the senior staff know about it."

Nacho glanced at Sera, who was listening intently, her expression unreadable.

"What about prisoners? Who’s being held there?"

Corvus’s face twisted, a fresh wave of resistance rising up before the Charm effect suppressed it.

"I don’t... I don’t have access to that information. I just handle logistics. Moving supplies in, moving..." He swallowed hard. "Moving people out."

"Moving people out to where?"

"Buyers. All over the Empire. Sometimes further." His voice had gone hollow, empty of emotion. "They break them at the Hollows. Make them compliant. Then ship them to whoever’s willing to pay."

[Target’s receptivity: 78%.]

Nacho felt something cold settle in his chest. He’d known, intellectually, what these people were doing. But hearing it described so matter-of-factly, without shame or regret, brought a clarity that theoretical knowledge never could.

They were selling people. Breaking them down like horses and selling them to the highest bidder.

And somewhere in that fortress, Vael might be waiting. Might already be broken. Might already be gone.

"How do we get in without being detected?"

"The mining shaft. Enter at night, during the shift change. There’s a fifteen-minute window where the guards are distracted. After that..."

He trailed off, his eyes glazing slightly.

[Target’s receptivity: 89%.]

"After that, you’re on your own. The interior changes based on current operations. I don’t have detailed maps."

"That’s enough." Sera stepped forward, her voice cutting through the haze that had settled over the room. "We have what we need."

Nacho nodded and released Corvus, who stumbled backward against his desk, gasping like a man who’d just surfaced from deep water. The guards surged forward, surrounding their employer, but Corvus waved them off.

"Don’t." His voice was barely a whisper. "Just... don’t."

"What did you do to me?" He looked at Nacho with something approaching terror. "What was that?"

"I told you. Aggressive negotiation."

[Talent Stolen: Logistics Network (Rare)]

[Talent Stolen: Trade Instinct (Uncommon)]

The notifications flashed across Nacho’s vision, but he barely registered them. His mind was already racing ahead, planning routes and contingencies and backup plans.

Three days north. Through the Thornpass. An old fortress built into the mountains.

That’s where they’d find Vael. That’s where they’d end this.

"We’re leaving now," Sera said, already moving toward the door. "I suggest you don’t try to warn anyone. If we arrive at the Hollows and find them waiting for us, we’ll know who to blame."

Corvus didn’t respond. He just stared at them with those storm-cloud eyes, his face pale and drawn, his hands trembling against his desk.

The guards parted to let them pass, their expressions a mixture of fear and confusion. None of them tried to stop the two strangers who’d just walked into their boss’s office and torn his secrets out of his head like pulling teeth.

They made it back to the street without incident, losing themselves in the morning crowds before anyone could think to follow. Nacho kept his senses extended, monitoring for pursuit, but the Corvus guards seemed content to let them go.

"That was effective," Sera said as they walked. "Brutal, but effective."

"You sound surprised."

"I’m not surprised. I’m..." She paused, searching for the right word. "Concerned. About how easy it was for you."

Nacho didn’t have a good answer for that, so he stayed quiet.

They found an inn on the outskirts of the merchant district, a modest establishment that asked no questions and accepted coins without checking their origin. The room was small but clean, with a single window overlooking the street below.

Sera spread a map across the bed, one she’d acquired from a shop they’d passed on their way. Her fingers traced the roads leading north from Thornwick, pausing at a narrow gap in the mountain range.

"The Thornpass. It’s the only route through the mountains for fifty miles in either direction. If Corvus warned anyone, that’s where they’d set an ambush."

"He won’t warn anyone."

"You sound certain."

"I am." Nacho sat down on the room’s single chair, his body finally registering the exhaustion he’d been ignoring. "The Charm effect does more than just make people compliant. It creates a kind of... attachment. He’s going to spend the next few days feeling confused and slightly violated, but he won’t betray us. Some part of him doesn’t want to."

Sera looked up from the map, her expression complicated.

"That’s disturbing."

"It’s useful."

"Those aren’t mutually exclusive." She returned her attention to the map. "Three days through the pass, then another day to reach the fortress. We’ll need supplies for at least a week, possibly longer if things go wrong."