I’m a Rookie, but I’m an Experienced Professional - Chapter 96

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 96

“This woman… was brainwashed?”

I thought something seemed off about her condition, but was it because she was brainwashed?

“No, more than that, how am I supposed to break the brainwashing?”

There’s no way I, just an architect, could do something like that!

“If you’re going to order me to do it, at least tell me how!”

It was then that I found myself shouting loudly without realizing it, out of frustration.

Clang-

I flinched at the ear-splitting metallic sound and turned my head. Anabella, who had been motionless, was now gripping the iron bars so tightly that her fingers had turned white.

“Who are you talking to?”

Her voice was low and eerie, like the sound of scraping metal.

Her unfocused eyes wandered aimlessly through the air before slowly turning toward me.

“What bastard is it. What bastard called you here? Answer me!”

The sound of her violently shaking the iron bars echoed loudly throughout the dark underground prison.

In her unfocused eyes, an indescribable madness was seething.

‘This is creepy.’

Just making eye contact felt like I would be devoured, so I hastily turned away.

From behind me came the sound of scratching at the iron bars and mumbling that I couldn’t tell if it was calling my name or cursing me.

That sound seemed to coil around my body like a snake.

Perhaps because of that. My head throbbed and strength gradually left my body, but I gritted my teeth and kept walking.

Fortunately, once I escaped the underground prison, my condition improved.

“Phew.”

I took a deep breath, trying to shake off the tension running down my spine, when a black shadow fell over me.

“…My Lord?”

It was Callix Crowbell.

“Why are you here?”

“I was curious about how it went. Did you find out anything?”

“No.”

I briefly considered whether to mention that Anabella had been consumed by madness and said strange things, but chose not to say anything.

If I said that, I felt like I’d have to say other things too.

“Is that so?”

Callix Crowbell let out a short sigh as if disappointed, then turned toward the underground prison.

“I understand, so go on now.”

“W-wait a moment!”

Anxious that Anabella, who wasn’t in her right mind, might spout some bizarre words to him, I hastily grabbed his arm.

Callix Crowbell raised one eyebrow and looked back at me.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Well… I don’t think it would be good to go in right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“That woman, she didn’t seem to be in her right mind. I tried provoking her and asking her various things, but she just wouldn’t communicate at all.”

“What?”

Instantly, deep wrinkles formed between his brows.

“No response. Don’t tell me that woman died or something?”

Callix Crowbell grabbed my arm firmly in return and asked.

“What? Oh, no! It’s absolutely not that.”

I hastily made excuses so he wouldn’t misunderstand in a strange direction.

“She just didn’t seem mentally sound. I suppose the shock of failing to kill me and being locked in the underground prison was too great.”

“…”

At my answer, he let out a deep sigh that seemed either relieved or disappointed, then released my arm that he had been holding.

And his gaze toward the underground prison was rippling with indescribably complex emotions.

“…Still, I have to interrogate her.”

Complex emotions were evident even in his quiet voice.

“I can’t leave her like that forever.”

“What will you do if that woman refuses to say anything until the end?”

“What would you want me to do?”

When an unexpected question came back, I pressed my lips tightly shut.

The moment I heard the question, there was one thought that crossed my mind, but I absolutely couldn’t voice it.

“Do you want that woman, Anabella Rizeren, to die?”

…Can this man read minds too?

The thought that I should deny it and the thought that I should be honest since it had come to this crossed paths.

“To be honest… yes, that’s right.”

When I recalled even Anabella’s mad appearance as she gripped the iron bars and screamed, I was able to make up my mind.

“If that woman is safely released, she’ll target my life again. So I hope she disappears forever with this opportunity.”

“Then…”

Instantly, Callix Crowbell’s gaze deepened. He leaned his upper body toward me and asked in a low, cool voice.

“Can you kill that woman with your own hands?”

“What, what?”

Although I had hoped for Anabella Rizeren to disappear, I had never thought about killing her directly with my own hands.

When I stepped back in surprise, Callix Crowbell chuckled.

“It’s a joke, so don’t worry about it.”

He lightly patted my shoulder as I stood there dumbfounded, then leisurely disappeared into the prison.

Was it really a joke?

No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like it, so I stared intently at his retreating figure.

* * *

I waited anxiously, wondering if Anabella might have said something strange, or if that man might have learned something after the interrogation.

But even after a full day passed, Callix Crowbell didn’t come looking for me.

Even when I subtly probed Noah Roheim, there was no particular story, so it was clear he hadn’t heard anything from that woman.

Only then did I feel relieved and stare intently at the Main Quest window.

[4-3. Please break Anabella Rizeren’s brainwashing.]

The fact that Anabella was brainwashed meant she was under someone’s control.

I didn’t know who it was, but it was certain that they wanted to kill me.

“She doesn’t seem much different from the ones who came before, so how has she lasted this long?”

Suddenly, words that Arke had casually thrown out flashed through my mind.

Those words meant that there were others who had passed through this place before me, and they had all met their deaths without lasting long.

“Could it be that the one who killed them is the same one who brainwashed Anabella?”

Given the circumstances, the possibility was very high, which gave me chills.

What I feared most was the identity of the opponent.

If the opponent was a divine being like Arke, there was no way I, an ordinary human, could withstand them.

The only thing I could rely on was the system…

“System.”

I hoped it would answer me this time, but as always, only indifferent silence returned.

Meanwhile, the Main Quest window floating before my eyes was extremely bothersome.

The quest content was vague and unhelpful.

“How exactly am I supposed to break the brainwashing?”

Until now, there had only been ordinary quests like architecture-related work that utilized my expertise, or meeting people.

But suddenly giving me such an absurd quest was very bewildering.

“Surely it’s not telling me to go find the temple with this.”

The one who brainwashed Anabella Rizeren might be in the temple or could even be the god they serve, but surely it wouldn’t order me to do something crazy like entering such a place.

As I pondered what to do, I opened the System Shop with a glimmer of hope.

On page 1, newly updated items were listed, and among them, I noticed something completely out of place that didn’t fit the atmosphere of this place at all.

[Anonymous Guide Letter – 1,000p]

“It seems like it’s telling me to buy this.”

Whenever I was at a loss, the system would put related hints like books or items in the shop and encourage me to purchase them.

Considering that track record, it was clear that this time too, it had put this up for me to buy.

Of course, it might not be the case, but since it was only a thousand points, I pressed the purchase button thinking it would be worth it even if I lost out.

Even though the system wasn’t responding, the delivery was still fast. I tore open the old envelope that had fallen in front of me.

Inside was a mission card that looked like something you’d see in a game.

『Create a miniature of the temple you told Sola about.』

『Warning: This symbol must be included on the temple floor.』

On the back of the card, six wings drew geometric curves forming a massive hexagram, and in the center was carved a symbol that seemed to mix the sun and flames.

『Warning. Never show this symbol to other people.』

After reading the red warning text below the strange symbol, I flinched and looked around even though I knew I was alone in the room.

Even after confirming once again that no one was there, the uneasiness didn’t disappear, so I unnecessarily moved far away from the door and windows.

“Anyway, I need to make a temple miniature and then carve this symbol on the floor, right?”

But what does that have to do with breaking Anabella’s brainwashing?

I stared intently at the contents written on the mission card, then let out a deep sigh and stood up.

“Let’s try making it first.”

Just sitting still wouldn’t give me any answers.

I had no choice but to try doing as instructed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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