Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The floor was not so big thus it didn't take time for Simon to arrive at the proxy prison where the intruders are.

Bea was standing there waiting for him.

"Welcome Master".

"What did you find?" Simon asked striding forward.

When he saw the condition the intruders were in, even he couldn't help but turn his gaze away. After all, it was all too gory for him with their hands and limbs missing like that and their bodies tied up and crucified.

While it was true that he was the one who had set Bea's character to be a sadist that enjoys inflicting pain on others and is extremely good at torturing and extracting information from others. At that time he was just creating a game and thought that the concept was fun. Who knew that he would be reincarnated in the world of Althaea with the system of the game he made?

"Fufu… I found out everything that you asked me about, on top of that they even told me who they are working for and where they came from" Bea stated proudly, hoping that Simon would praise her.

How could the twinkle in her eyes go unnoticed by Simon? He nodded his head and said "You did a good job".

When he saw that Bea didn't seem partiularly happy from his praise and was even a little dejected, he couldn't help but ask "What's wrong?".

"Eh?! Ah, it's nothing. I just thought that lord Simon would reward me after I completed the task" Bea replied looking at him with saddened eyes.

"Is that so? Alright, What do you want as a reward?" Simon asked gullibly falling for those eyes.

"Kiss…"

"What?"

"Pat... pat me on the head" Bea said looking all dejected and downtrodden.

"Oh! alright" Simon nodded, for a second there he thought that he heard something else. Shaking his head, he extended his hand and patted Bea's head as a reward for doing a good job.

"So who are these people and how do they know about the forest spring spirits" finished spoiling his subordinate, Simon turned serious and asked.

"It was as master expected, these people are from the same guild that attacked Princess Cecilia's village not too long ago. Their guild is apparently called Seven Swords guild and is located at a nearby city and is named after their guild master Morgress" Bea reported, with a pink flush on her cheeks.

The moment Simon heard that they belonged to the guild that was responsible for hunting down Cecilia's clan members, an unimaginable amount of anger rose within him. He wanted to incinerate and turn their bodies into ashes this instant, nevertheless, he suppressed his thoughts and continued asking questions.

"How many members are in their guild and how did they know about the forest spring spirits residing in this dungeon?".

Simon asked taking a deep breath. Even if he despised these people, he still needed them alive to get all the information out of them.

"I asked them about the number of their members but it seems like they had disbanded their guild not very long ago due to making an enemy out of a strong guild. The current members are only them… ah! Right, there was one more but it seems like he was killed by the lightning draconic serpent".

"It was that hateful assassin that tried to attack master. As for how they knew about the forest spring being brought inside this dungeon, it appears that one of their guild members at that time successfully managed to send a sound transmission to them before dying" Bea thought over the information she got from them before answering.

Simon nodded, he was not surprised that they had dissolved their guild after involving one of the top five guilds in their mess. He was not worried about the guy who was killed by one of his subordinates since he had enough people to investigate the information out of.

"Right master, there is something that I must tell you. It's about that guild that chased after master all the way from the capital of that kingdom. It appears that they are also involved in this" Bea reported, her tone contained killing intent when she mentioned 'that guild'.

From the time they became self aware, she and the other Valkyries were stuck in a void unable to move or do anything other than wait. The only salvation they had there was that they could see and experience what Simon was going through. Thus they knew about his grudge against that guild.

Simon who had maintained a composed face up until this moment, felt it crumbling at this moment at the mere mention of that guild. There was no way he would forget the feeling of helplessness and frustration he had felt at that moment.

He was utterly overwhelmed and falsely accused just because he was a demon. If not for the fact that he had a return transit stone in his hand at that time, his fate right now would have been very miserable.

Seeing her master's anguished face, Bea felt as if her heart was being crushed and couldn't help but get even angry at the prisoners who trembled from head to toe just from her gaze.

"Continue..." Simon said calming his nerves.

"Master it looks like they were here on orders from the guild master of sea god's trident who found them hiding in the northern outlaw forest. Although they say it was not them who revealed the secrets of forest spring spirits to that guild, I cannot trust them since they blame it on the guy who had already died" Bea looked at her master with a concerned face and reported.

As she had expected, the instant he heard the sea god's trident was behind all this, his face was masked with hatred and anger and at the same time, the fact that they knew about the forest spring spirits that resided here worried him.

From what he had experienced and saw with his own eyes about the guild, left him with the opinion that they were extremely biased and greedy. The incident this time also showed how poisonous and crafty they were.

If not for the fact that he had arrived in his dungeon in time, he did not know what consequences his dungeon and its inhabitants the forest spring spirits would have to suffer.

'Benny Beckerman, Sea god trident, Raven and Godwin… very good, you have truly managed to earn my ire. Now that things have reached this state, only of us can exist in this vast sky' Simon clenched his hands, his crimson eyes radiated his emotions.

"Did they sell this information to anyone else?" Simon asked.

"It was only the Sea god's trident it seems. I have tortured them till they were begging for death to confirm it from them" Bea said trying to release some of his worries. Nevertheless, it did not manage to have any effects as Simon's brows were still locked in a frown.

Even if he believed the words of these humans, the fact that the information of the forest spring spirits have reached one of the top five guilds of this kingdom was already concerning enough. He did not know much about the sea god's trident guild so he was not sure if they would spread this information to other guilds or if they would try to hoard this treasure for themselves.

Even if Simon did not see the spirits orbs of the forest spring spirits as a treasure, it wasn't true for others. Something as alluring on the level of forest spirit orbs would no doubt bring all the top and big guilds of this kingdom running over here to try to get their hands on it.

When he brought the forest spring spirits out of the territory of the ancient treants, he had promised Aldebaran that he would keep them safe and protect them from those trying to come after their clan. Thus it concerned him very much that this information was released.

HUFF…

Simon took a deep breath to calm himself. What was done was done, there was no point brooding over it. What matters right now was how he countered it.

"Master are you alright?" Bea asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Sorry to make you worry. You did a splendid job investigating them, you can now go to the forest spring village and enjoy the festival with your sisters" Simon said in a solemn voice.

"What about master?" Bea asked still a little concerned.

Simon smiled to relieve some of her worries before saying "I will stay here and take care of these guys . Don't worry, as soon as I'm done here, I will be coming there".

Bea nodded her head and teleported away from the floor.

Now left all alone, with these people whose condition could only be said to be extremely miserable, he entered their prison and glanced at them.

His eyes were cold and not at all sympathetic at their state. They were his enemies and there was no pity in his heart for his foes. It might be harsh but it is a fact that one shouldn't pity their enemies because they wouldn't if their positions were interchanged.

Simon who had survived in this extremely dangerous forest alone, wouldn't make such a novice mistake as to take pity on his enemies.

"P-Please save us… we will not do it again, we have already told you everything, please have mercy".

A man with both of his hands missing said. His body was so pale that it looked like he had no blood inside him. Other than that, his nails and teeth were missing too and the state he was in, could barely be called alive.

From what he could recall from the features of the man, he was one of the two mages among the group who was adept in flame magic.