"It's not cool! I'm getting up now." Bell sprang to her feet, then bowed respectfully to Iri. After all, she didn't want to experience the slow freezing torture again.
"Hmph!" Iri snorted, then walked away directly, seemingly not intending to ask those questions right away.
This made Bell anxious. After all, she had already decided to confront Clementine. However, the other person had directly killed her. As an assassin, Bell could understand the act of silencing her.
But why did she revive her? Bell was the only one in Theocracy who knew Clementine's background, so naturally, killing her to silence her was the optimal choice. If it were Bell, she would definitely silence her too.
"Wait for me, Clementine!" Bell immediately put on her usual fake silly smile and followed, planning to quietly discuss her sister's matter with Clementine, and why she wanted to betray Theocracy.
However, Clementine looked uninterested and walked out of the alley. Bell, following beside her, felt it was awkward to speak and even more inappropriate not to.
Then Clementine turned to who-knows-where again, almost aimlessly wandering, maintaining a smiling expression the whole time. But this smile, in Bell's eyes, was more terrifying than anything.
After several turns, Clementine kicked open the door of a small tavern and walked straight in. Bell wanted to pull her back, but as she reached out her hand and the words to stop her were on her lips, she remembered the freezing torture from before. Bell immediately chickened out and could only follow her in reluctantly.
Although Clementine always wore her casual clothes whenever she went out, looking like a wealthy Adventurer.
But Bell was different; she was still wearing her miko attire. Running into a small tavern in formal wear would be troublesome if her superiors found out.
When Clementine kicked open the door, the commotion was quite loud. The entire lively-looking tavern instantly fell silent, everyone's gaze turning to the two uninvited guests.
It's important to know that Theocracy did not have an Adventurer system, so there was no Adventurer's Guild for quest commissions.
Usually, small requests were written down and sent to the chapel. So… contacts for Black Worker and assassin jobs, earning illicit money, almost all took place in taverns.
However, the small tavern Clementine had just barged into was the most notorious tavern in Theocracy.
Hiring people for murder, hiring thugs, all sorts of things happened there. But at this moment, two seemingly rich and arrogant children suddenly appeared. Those who frequently came here to accept commissions naturally became wary.
However, Clementine completely ignored the hostility directed at her from the entire tavern. She walked straight to a table, sat down, and loudly demanded drinks! She declared she was underage and couldn't drink alcohol! She then childishly insisted on getting drinks.
Bell also awkwardly sat down with Clementine, completely unsure what she was doing here.
Then, when the server actually brought two glasses of juice, Clementine picked up a glass and chugged it down heartily, then finally said:
"Disgusting!"
Bell cautiously took a small sip. It wasn't disgusting… wasn't it just ordinary freshly squeezed juice?
It was almost the same as the juice she made for Clementine when she was taking care of her. The key was that Clementine had said it very loudly. Uh… the boss, who was mixing drinks for customers at the bar, glared at them with a super sharp gaze.
"Bell, you've been wanting to talk to me about your sister, haven't you? And the reason you wanted to betray Theocracy is also because of your sister, isn't it?" Clementine suddenly asked this question.
"Ah… yes, yes," Bell replied softly, probably out of guilt or something. And how did Clementine know that her reason for betraying Theocracy was to avenge her sister?
"Heh heh! You're very curious why I know these things, aren't you, Bell…?" Clementine asked, again showing that unsettling smile.
"Cu… curious…" Bell could only nod quickly in response.
"That's because… my unique ability isn't just a True Magic Eye… after certain conditions are met, I can even read people's thoughts!" Clementine said with a smile.
She can even read people's thoughts… that ability is too outrageous!
Clementine probably relied on her ability to see through lies and read people's thoughts, which is why she subjugated the Dragon Queen of the Dragon Kingdom so quickly!
Bell was instantly bluffed.
"And there's more! I put a collar on you." Clementine said with a smile, something that made Bell's heart pound. Bell instinctively touched her neck after hearing it, but there was nothing there?
"Heh heh! Just look in a mirror!" Clementine laughed happily.
Bell quickly pulled out her pocket mirror and looked. There was indeed a faint black circular mark on her neck.
"This is my self-created magic, Curse Sealing. Its effect is to transform a magic that can only be activated into a curse, sealed within a person's body. It can be activated when necessary. Bell, do you want to know what magic I sealed for you?" Clementine said.
Bell shook her head vigorously, indicating she didn't want to know. One must know that this Great Demon-like person in front of her was someone who could take on six members of the Black Scripture at once, and the magic she used was something Bell had never seen before. Coupled with the previous freezing, it had indeed left Bell with psychological trauma, so she was decisively bluffed by Iri again.
However, Iri didn't know such a thing. The black circle on Bell's neck was just something Iri had drawn with special magic while Bell was being revived and hadn't woken up yet. Anyway, Bell would surely believe whatever Iri said now, so she just used this to bluff her and make her work for her.
There was no need for a Doppelganger to replace her. Bell's intelligence-gathering ability was decent, so she would spare her life and have her serve Nazarick. It wasn't because of any soft-heartedness, oh!
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!