The Return of the God Level Assassin

LUO YAN stared at the female NPC crying like the whole world had wronged her.  He was expecting that she would finally come clean to them, but she just continued to shake her head.  He was truly expecting that after that much stimulation, this NPC would definitely start talking and tell them everything they needed to know.  But it seemed that wasn't the case.

Or perhaps, there was something stopping her from telling them everything.

So, to confirm that, Luo Yan asked, "Is it possible that there's something preventing you from talking about what happened to Finnea?"

The female NPC was startled but slowly nodded.

As expected, Luo Yan's guess was correct.  If she could nod as an answer to a question related to Finnea, that meant that even though she couldn't talk about what happened to her, she could still answer this way.  And that was more than enough.

"Then I will be asking you questions possibly related to what happened to Finnea.  You only have to nod or shake your head."

The NPC was obviously surprised by his suggestion.  But through her sobs and tears, she still nodded.

"Okay.  But first, can you tell me your name?" Luo Yan asked.

It's probably not that important but he believed that he could establish rapport with her that way.  Thus, making it easier for her to answer all his questions honestly.

The NPC seemed to hesitate, but at the end, she still said, "A-Alicia.  Alicia is my name."

Luo Yan nodded.  "Good.  Now, Alicia, did you ask Finnea to go on a mission with you which led to her being cursed?"

Unexpectedly, Alicia shook her head.

Luo Yan stared at her.  She was still crying but she was no longer bawling her eyes out unlike earlier.  He was wondering if she's lying.  Because he really thought she was the one who asked Finnea to do that mission with her.  But logically speaking, someone so distraught as her over the mention of the possible danger that the son of a dead friend could encounter if she didn't talk wouldn't really lie at this critical moment.  So, he decided to work on the assumption that she was telling the truth.

"Then the one who asked for Finnea's help, were they also a member of Crimson Corps?"

Alicia nodded.

"Are they a man?"

There was a complicated look on Alicia's face, as if she was not sure how to answer that.  Luo Yan thought of why she would be showing that expression.  Then he quickly understood that this person was probably of different race.  If she nodded to that question, he might misunderstand it and think that she was referring to a human male.  Which could only mean that this person was an important key to what happened back then.

"Are they a male from another race?" he asked again.

This time, Alicia nodded profusely.

There were a bunch of races here in Arcadia.  So, he could only start with the three most basic aside from the human race.  "Is he a beastkin?"

Alicia shook her head.

"An elf?"

This time, she nodded.  Well, that was easy enough.

"Is he still a member of Crimson Corps?"

Alicia shook her head once again.

"Did he leave the Corps soon after what happened to Finnea?"

A nod.

Luo Yan fell into a deep thought, carefully analyzing things.  A male elf who was a former member of Crimson Corps.  He was the one who asked Finnea to join him for this mission and then left soon after what happened.  Considering that Alicia couldn't directly talk about him, it was clear that he was the one who made that possible.

But just to be sure, he still asked, "Did he put some spell on you that's why you couldn't talk about what happened back then?"

Alicia nodded quite enthusiastically with anger in her eyes.  Showing just how much she wanted to tell someone about this but really couldn't.  This spell probably restricted Alicia from talking about it or even writing about it.  Or more accurately speaking, he prevented her from ever talking or writing about him and the matters that led to Finnea being cursed.  There's a huge possibility that Finnea's curse was directly related to him.

"Did he also ask you to join this mission, just like with Finnea?"

Alicia shook her head.

"Then, Finnea was the one who asked you?"

She shook her head again.

"You volunteered on your own?"

Finally, she nodded.

"Did you volunteer because you had a feeling that Finnea would be in danger if she went alone with that elf?"

Alicia nodded quite enthusiastically again.  It seemed that she does that whenever she had a strong emotional respond towards a question.  He thought, was this elf held a grudge or just simply antagonistic towards Finnea for Alicia to react that way?  But he immediately rejected that idea.  If he was either of those, then Finnea wouldn't have agreed to go on a mission with her.  So, there's only one possibility left.

"Did this elf have romantic feelings for Finnea?"

Alicia gave him one of her enthusiastic nods.

"And you were worried that he might do something unspeakable to Finnea once they were alone," Luo Yan said more of a statement rather than a question, but Alicia still nodded.  "Did Finnea know of his feelings for her?"

Alicia shook her head.

She didn't?  "Did others beside you know?"

Alicia nodded.  So, basically, it's because Finnea was apparently the type who's oblivious when it came to romantic feelings of others towards her.

"Was the mission the three of you did related to the Tower of Edia?"

What answered him was another enthusiastic nod.

"Did you go inside the Tower?"  Another nod.  "Was Finnea cursed there?"

Alicia nodded again.

"Was the one who cursed Finnea a person from the Tower?"

Alicia showed a complicated expression, as if she didn't know how to answer that.

"Do you not know who cursed her?"

A pained and guilty expression crossed her face.  She shook her head, her every gesture exuding sadness and anger.  A sign that she was angry at herself for not even knowing who cursed her friend.  There's a possibility that in her mind, it was the elf who did it.  But because she didn't have any proof, she couldn't just tell Luo Yan that the elf was the culprit.  Which meant that she probably didn't witness Finnea being cursed.

Finnea was cursed inside the Tower of Edia and the elf was most probably related to that. That's probably the extent of the information he could get from her.

To know more, they needed to find that elf.