Chapter 32 - The Elf Who Smeared Poison on His Little Mouth
Igor felt confused.
After asking him an incredibly stupid question, Ashe Heath had suddenly fallen into deep thought.
Of course Ashe wasn't an idiot, Igor would never admit defeat to an idiot.
"Have you already guessed the reason for Valcas's challenge?"
Ashe snapped back to reality and tentatively asked, "Because of that child?"
Igor nodded.
"I thought the same."
"Valcas was well-behaved in prison for five years, rarely challenging anyone. Just harvesting those who looked down on him was enough to live comfortably.
"This time he suddenly jumped out, besides because of that child, there is no other reason. Back then he dared to risk disgrace and imprisonment just to raise that child, which is enough to prove how much he valued that child."
"That child had already received education in foster care and could be accessed by many people. But the 'key person' who could connect that child, Valcas, and you, there is only one."
"That is Sylin Dole."
Meeting Igora's confident gaze, Ashe vaguely felt this was a name he should know.
But he just didn't know it!
"Who is Sylin?"
Igor stared into Ashe's eyes and suddenly said, "Don't move."
He stretched out his finger and poked Ashe's face. "Ask again."
"Who is Sylin?"
Igor froze for a moment and sighed, withdrawing his hand.
"Sylin Dole is a history professor at Caimon University, and also the chairman of the Elven Rights Association. He has many other titles, but they are irrelevant to you. The most relevant is that he is the advisor of the Ancient Artifacts Research Society at Caimon University."
The Ancient Artifacts Research Society?
Ashe blinked. He realized a possibility.
"I used to be a member of the Ancient Artifacts Research Society?"
"To be precise, you are still the chairman of the Ancient Artifacts Research Society. Although I have no evidence, Sylin must have had a relationship with you that went beyond an ordinary teacher-student one."
The Four Pillars heresy!
Could Ashe have single-handedly seduced so many heretics and relied on his personal charm and leadership to establish the Four Pillars, a criminal organization with qualities of organized crime?
It was possible, but more likely that Ashe had accepted gifts and help from others!
Sylin Dole was likely one of the helpers behind Ashe!
"I have shown my sincerity, so will you answer my question now? Although I already guessed the answer."
Igor interrupted Ashe's thoughts.
"If you already guessed it...go ahead and ask."
"How did you use your inner voice to deceive me? Last night in the arena, I foresaw the direction of your attack by listening to your inner voice. I've rarely seen this technique fail, because no one can deceive themselves."
Ashe was slightly surprised. "What, you can hear my inner voice?"
"Only in the arena, through your surging emotions, can I hear the whispers of your mind. "
Igor explained in a sentence. Normally he wouldn't say such revealing words. He even hoped others would be wary and fearful of him.
But for some reason, he felt that bluffing was useless against Ashe, so he didn't bother pretending.
"I didn't deceive you with my inner voice." Ashe scratched his head. "I just found out now that you can cheat like this. No wonder I couldn't land a single punch on you earlier."
"How could you think 'You're quite good-looking' while punching me in the face at the same time?"
"Saying you're good-looking and wanting to punch you are not contradictory!"
Igor had to add: "Generally speaking, I can hear people's deepest desires, so those superficial thoughts can't fool me. If you wanted to punch me, I would definitely hear the thought 'I want to punch your face' instead of hearing the compliment 'You're quite good-looking'."
"Oh, I think I understand what you mean."
Ashe tilted his head.
"I was probably spacing out at that time."
"Spacing out?"
"Yeah, when I space out I just let my mind wander and want to look at some lewd pictures to feast my eyes. So I sincerely thought you looked good."
"Then why did you suddenly punch me?"
"Because after spacing out I was raring to go, naturally swiftly entering work mode." Ashe shrugged. "Lewd pictures would only affect how fast I work."
It sounded reasonable, Igor heard the wrong inner voice because Ashe was spacing out - who would believe that!
One of the Four Pillars cult leaders, and a genius martial artist who can quickly improve during battle, would space out during a fight?
Plus earlier when talking about Sylin Dole, Ashe pretended not to know him at all. Igor was more willing to believe Ashe had mastered the technique of perfectly disguising himself!
"Impossible, even if you were spacing out I should still be able to hear your true inner voice!"
"Don't be so sure, maybe your abilities are limited..."
"Since you say so, let me test it! "
Igora touched Ashe's face. "Through the temperature changes on your face I can tell if you're lying. Say anything true or false!"
"If your abilities are limited, you certainly can't distinguish the truth of my words!"
Ashe blinked.
"What I'm saying now is false."
Igor froze.
Wait, was that sentence true or false? If it was true but he said it was false, then it was false. But if it was false, then the opposite was true...
The logical loop stirred up Igor's mind into a mess. He sat blankly in the stands like a broken doll, murmuring "true, false, true false".
Ashe spread his hands. He had encountered this kind of brain teaser many times during job interviews. It seems the children in this world hadn't seen these kinds of puzzles before.
Just then, a commotion sounded at the entrance of the Deathmatch Society.
"Oh, isn't this our elven lord?"
"Lord Uhl, this lowly beastman offers you his most precious blessings. Do you need me to lick your shoes?"
"Make way, don't dirty the young master's clothes. You inferior races are not fit to come within five steps of an elf!"
Although the chips prohibited inmates from malicious words against others, it was only for "malicious words." The chips were not yet smart enough to identify what constituted "innuendo."
Ashe was quite surprised that this group was working together to ostracize a particular target.
Not that he had high expectations for the intelligence or morals of death row inmates. But here you couldn't engage in physical conflicts or verbal bullying. You couldn't even touch a hair of your opponent. Innuendo was the limit.
But in the adult world, this level of bullying was like a girlfriend gently punching your chest. Trivial and meaningless. Ordinary people would quickly get tired of it.
Since they weren't tired of it, it could only mean...
"Thank you all for your concern." Valcas bowed deeply with perfect etiquette. "You all speak so nicely. You must have wiped your mouths clean after using the bathroom, right?"
"Valcas, are you saying we eat shit?"
"No, I just want to compliment those who wipe their mouths clean after eating shit. Why did you jump out? Do you eat shit too?"
"Va!l!cas!"
"Oh, your tone is a bit loud. It smells like urine. It seems your diet is quite broad."
"Va---l---cas---"
"Hey, why so excited? I'm not cursing you. Speaking of which, I remember a joke. I was taking out the trash and accidentally hit a dog downstairs. The dog must've barked right? So when you hear a dog bark after throwing trash, you must've hit it."
"Valcas---!"
"I didn't expect so many people to wipe their mouths after using the bathroom. I used to hear rumors that the prisoners in Shattered Lake eat shit. I'll be sure to clarify for you all that it's not a rumor."
Igor couldn't help but laugh.
"This kind of amazing verbal sparring can only be seen in Shattered Lake Prison."
Ashe nodded. He completely understood why Valcas could suppress more than ten people with his mouth alone. Because you couldn't curse, once you wanted to curse, the chip would automatically block your throat, keeping all your foul language simmering in your stomach. It was like being muted instantly.
So after shouting Valcas's name, those people couldn't speak anymore.
Then Valcas turned around at their call as if they were the ones provoking him. It was a live demonstration of what it meant to be impotent with rage.
No wonder these prisoners never got tired of innuendo. With a verbal expert like Valcas, the interactions they got were too intense. Lying in bed tonight, they would probably be thinking about how to retort.
"Ashe Heath?"
"Valcas Uhl?"
Valcas looked at Ashe from afar, his gaunt face regaining its coldness.
He pointed at the arena. "If there's no problem, let's start directly."
The gaze of the Deathmatch Society focused over. Some expectant, some mocking, some curious, some mad.
Igor glanced at Ashe.
Now Ashe knew Valcas was related to Professor Sylin. This deathmatch must have some agenda. If he was Ashe, he would definitely refuse this match. He never participated in fights he wasn't confident in winning.
"Swordswoman?"
Igor was slightly startled. He heard Ashe softly breathe out a name. But no one here was called Swordswoman. Ashe wasn't looking at anyone either.
"Feeling a bit lonely..."
Ashe murmured softly and turned to look at Valcas.
For some reason, Igor couldn't help saying, "Valcas is much stronger than me. He's not an opponent you can defeat with tricks. And the destructive power of swords is greater too. Victory might be decided in one blow."
"Thank you." Ashe smiled. "I don't plan on using tricks this time."
"Then what will you use?"
"My life. I'll bet my life he can't kill me in one blow."
Watching Valcas stride towards the arena, Ashe also stood up.
"As long as the first blow doesn't kill me, the second blow will be my chance."