Behind the door was a narrow and cramped room, dimly lit.
Rolando Stern sat alone in the center of the interrogation room on a hardwood chair, shackled, his hands fixed behind the backrest.
He appeared much more worn out than before, his eyes sunken, hair messy, head hanging low, yet there remained an unnatural relaxation on his face.
Inside the room, two Aurors were guarding this dangerous criminal, one standing against the wall with arms crossed, pretending to nap, while the other was organizing a stack of thick parchment.
The middle-aged officer leading the way knocked on the door and entered, whispered a few words to the two, and then the pretending-to-nap one left the interrogation room.
"Please come in, Miss Vanderbilt," the gray-haired Auror said in a low voice, "We'll be right outside—the guy is a vile Scourer, after all. Be careful."
"Yes, thank you."
Elise straightened her cloak and walked into the interrogation room.
Vid saw that the younger Auror inside initially intended to take all the documents from the table but was stopped by the officer grabbing his arm, hesitatingly leaving the documents behind.
"You probably have about half an hour for the meeting."
The middle-aged officer looked at his pocket watch and said with a smiling face, "During this period, no one will disturb your meeting."
As he was about to leave, he seemed to remember something and turned around:
"Oh, by the way, this guy has been drinking lots of Veritaserum lately, his mind's a bit confused, and he speaks incoherently… hope you're prepared for that."
The middle-aged officer left the interrogation room, and the Auror's gaze briefly paused on Vid, carrying a professional scrutiny.
Afterward, the door was gently closed.
Stern knew a stranger had entered the room; he forced himself to lift his head, seemingly trying to make out the person in front of him, but his muddy eyes were unfocused and dispersed.
Vid naturally had no interest in humiliating the enemy; he hadn't come to see Rolando Stern's miserable state.
Although he had been targeted by Scourer assassins before, Vid felt no hatred for them; it simply came down to differing stances.
To him, uprooting the Scourer organization was merely a necessity, nothing more.
Elise drew her magic wand and with a gentle tap toward the door, the transparent glass appeared as if covered with a light veil.
Now, even those outside wishing to sneak a peek couldn't discern what was happening inside.
She waved her wand again; not even sound could escape now.
Vid rapidly leafed through the interrogation documents on the table.
It was evident that the Aurors of the Magic Congress were impressively efficient; the interrogation records detailed, in minute detail, the Scourers' network, action plans, personnel lists, training base locations...
Unfortunately, most of the intelligence was outdated, yet those children still held at the training base, being brainwashed by the Scourer organization, could still have a chance for rescue.
Vid's fingers paused on a page of parchment.
He saw Carrel and Abigail's names.
Upon carefully reviewing those contents, Vid's eyes initially filled with coldness.
But after finishing it all, his taut expression gradually softened, and the anger in his eyes lessened.
After putting down the documents, Vid closed his eyes in silent contemplation, then looked at Stern.
"Rolando Stern," he said.
The man in the chair seemed to have triggered some reflex, involuntarily trembling.
Vid asked, "Why did you warn Abigail? Her beliefs in the Scourer organization are no longer pure; shouldn't she be beyond redemption by your standards?"
Stern's numb expression faltered, revealing a strong sense of confusion.
"Abigail… Abigail…" he muttered, "She's… she's different…"
Elise slightly surprised said, "What? Do you like her?"
She had stood beside Vid moments ago, roughly saw the interrogation document contents.
Now after questioning, Elise's gaze towards Stern was filled with deep disdain and disgust.
Liking someone isn't about slandering, defaming, doubting them; and when the person has no way out, ready to fall into the abyss, then extend a helping hand… Isn't this some kind of psychotic behavior?
But Stern vigorously shook his head, "Like? No, it's not like… I just… I just…"
He displayed a painful look, "She's a comrade. Though I doubted her loyalty, still…"
His breathing quickened, his gaze chaotic as if wrestling with intense turmoil.
"But… Scourers' ideals ought to be grand, pure! It should not be like that… shouldn't use such… inhuman ways…"
Elise looked at him with surprise, the interrogation room briefly plunged into silence, leaving only Stern's heavy and chaotic breaths.
At this moment, Vid had turned to the last page.
He suddenly realized, caring only about what the Scourers had done and were about to do, but not a single line attempted to understand why they did it.
As if in their view, criminals were just criminals, physically eliminating them was sufficient without needing to understand how he reached this point.
So Vid softly asked, "Stern, you yourself are a wizard. Why such hate towards wizards, even wanting to annihilate your kind?"
"Kind?!"
Stern sharply raised his head, overwhelmed by a sudden eruption of immense pain and mockery. Veritaserum stripped him of all pretenses and exposed his most unwilling scars.
"Haha, you know how I came here? You know what kind of person my father was? He was a wizard!"
The man gazed emptily at the ceiling, his voice became distant and numb as if narrating a tale unrelated to himself.
"She could've had a wonderful life…"
He murmured, mouth curling in an expression uglier than crying.
"My mother… a daughter from a normal family, beautiful, outstanding, accepted into Princeton University… bright future."
"Until that wizard appeared!"
A touch of icy hatred seeped into his voice.
"He fell for her, how 'romantic.' But him? Balding, ugly, a nobody in the Magic World. How could my mother possibly fancy him?"
"Thus, magic potion became his convenient tool… Love Potion."
Stern sneered, "He made the girl 'fall in love with' him, abandoning everything to elope with him!"
"And then, there was me."
His tone was terrifyingly flat.
"But years later, that wizard grew tired of the game, suddenly one day he just vanished… like discarding an old cloak, abandoning the deceived woman and their born child."
"Not long after, the Love Potion's effect wore off."
Stern's voice trembled slightly.
"When she fully awoke, realizing she'd been deceived, abducted, lost everything, bore a child with her enemy's bloodline… she couldn't bear such complete ruin…"
He paused for a long while, long enough for suffocation.
"…She committed suicide."
The last three words were nearly weightless.
"And you know what's the funniest part?"
Stern sharply raised his head; bloodshot eyes brimming with uncontainable resentment and anger.
"That wizard, the man I intended to kill with my hands when grown, died in a conflict against Dark Wizards!"
"In the Magic World's records, he's recorded as a 'hero' who died in service! A hero! Haha… hahaha…"
He began to laugh crazily, laughter echoing within the vast interrogation room.
"Why does he deserve the title of hero? What Confidentiality Law! What Magic Congress! When my mother was hurt, who stopped that bastard that should've been damned to Hell?!"
He halted the laughter, speaking in a tone of utter despair, complete coldness:
"Such a world, shouldn't it be cleansed? It's rotten to the core from the very root."