Chapter 51: Sincerity for Sincerity? (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

From the very beginning, the relationship between Herbert and the prisoners was fundamentally unequal.

The monster maidens might be immensely powerful, hold lofty statuses in the outside world, or possess boundless wealth...

Yet, when facing him, their sole identity was that of a prisoner.

And he was the warden, wielding absolute authority over everything within the prison.

The prison of the outlanders had remained tranquil for far too long. Though the prisoners said nothing on the surface, inwardly, they were all yearning for change.

It did not even matter whether this change turned out to be good or bad.

As long as there was change, that was enough.

Herbert dared to approach and interact with them with such a frivolous, almost overly confident attitude precisely because he understood this very point.

Ah.

Pure, unadulterated workplace harassment.

Moreover, much of the time, rather than flirting with them, he was testing their bottom lines.

Through playful banter and teasing, he repeatedly probed to find out where the limits of their patience truly lay.

And of this, he believed that aside from Valentina, who was genuinely oblivious, everyone else could vaguely perceive it.

"Everyone is simply playing along with each other."

There was a tacit understanding among them all, and everyone chose not to expose the facade.

"Trading sincerity for sincerity? No, trading black hearts for black hearts is more like it."

Herbert chuckled softly. He did not feel overly optimistic about the current situation, nor was he in despair.

[“Then...”]

"It will just have to take time."

"I have no wish to harm them, nor do I have any reason to do so. Sooner or later, they will come to realize this."

"I treat them with genuine sincerity. As for how much sincerity I can get in return in the end, that will depend on how we get along in the future."

"I actually have quite a bit of confidence in myself. What about you?"

[“I...”]

The Evil God fell silent for a moment, and then let out a soft laugh.

[“I have always believed in you~”]

"Heh, liar."

[“Mhm, I am indeed lying~”]

***

The Tree House.

After Herbert departed, Stephanie maintained the exact posture she had held before he left, gazing quietly at the luminescent forest.

After a long while, she shook her head with a hint of emotion, unable to resist muttering, "What a strange fellow..."

"He doesn't feel like a man of the cloth at all."

Then, a second voice picked up her thread and continued, "This time, did he see through it as well?"

The exact same timbre, the exact same flat, inflectionless tone.

Right there inside the tree house, a second Stephanie appeared!

The newly appeared Stephanie was not some initial illusory projection; she looked no different from the previous "true body."

She picked up the skull that Herbert had left behind and inspected it, shaking her head with considerable disdain.

"Utterly worthless, and already defiled by Him."

When she loosened her grip, that skull turned into fine powder, scattering and being swallowed by the floor.

This was a physical entity as well!

How could a master of manipulating flesh and blood fail to fashion a physical avatar?

Both Stephanies moved simultaneously, dividing their attention to continue the research they had previously paused.

"A confident, bold paladin who refuses to be constrained by religious doctrines..."

"Should I cooperate with him?"

They asked and answered each other, just like two actual people holding a conversation.

"Indeed, the experimental materials I have hidden away are almost running out."

"We do need some fresh flesh and blood from other races."

"But there is no rush. Let's wait a little longer."

"Until the next time he takes the initiative to seek me out..."

And even as the two Stephanies conversed, the mound of flesh and blood on the top floor of the tree house was slowly changing.

The wooden walls writhed, splitting open wide mouths to swallow and absorb all that flesh and blood.

Before long, the once bizarre space became pristine and spotless, showing no trace whatsoever of the flesh and blood left behind.

And once everything had returned to tranquility,

A third Stephanie appeared. She stood in the exact spot where Herbert had previously lingered and gently took a sniff.

"But what I want most of all..."

"Is actually his flesh and blood, you know."

Stephanie frowned slightly, tilting her head in a puzzled manner as she inhaled the lingering scent once again.

"Ha..."

"Just what is it about him that attracts me so?"

She licked her lips, her gaze flickering with a dangerous light.

"Is it his bloodline? Or perhaps..."

***

"Well, after all that trouble, the path to the fourth sector still hasn't been opened."

On his way back, Herbert curled his lip in speechlessness and muttered a silent curse.

He had forgotten!

So many unexpected events had occurred when he faced Stephanie that he had focused entirely on making her betray her faction and thrown this matter to the back of his mind.

Go back now and bring it up?

Well, that would be a bit too strange...

However, the biggest crisis had already been resolved by the big fish brother; with no one else staring at his hook, there was no need to be in such a rush anymore.

As he passed by the black iron coffin, a muffled voice came from inside: "Hey! Paladin!"

"You still owe me ten drops of blood! We agreed on this beforehand, no backing out!"

A pair of crimson eyes peered through the gap in the coffin lid, a gaze tinged with suppressed desire locked tightly onto Herbert, occasionally darting toward the back of his hand as if wondering what he was thinking.

Herbert: ?

He did not reply, tilting his head to look at the vampire who had been stuffed into a coffin and forced to survive in the narrow crevices, involuntarily recalling what he had seen and heard in the tree house earlier.

Though the dark elf grand mage's dwelling could not be called luxurious, it was undeniably quite comfortable—if one ignored the flesh-and-blood den on the top floor.

And look at you.

You're both slumming it in the Prison of the Abyss; how come she gets to live in a grand villa, while you can only lie in a coffin home?

How did you even end up like this?

It's utterly disgraceful!

Looking at Elisa, he could not help but shake his head and let out a long sigh: "Sigh..."

Elisa: ?

She was completely bewildered by this sudden reaction, having no idea what he meant.

"Mhm? What is the meaning of your sudden sigh? Could it be... you're trying to renege on your debt!?"

Elisa grew anxious.

Hey!

I gave you my items first, you can't just pretend you don't owe me anything now!

Hearing this, Herbert raised an eyebrow, swallowing back the words that had already reached the tip of his tongue.

He smiled faintly at Elisa, nodded politely, and then turned and strode away without a single word.

Leaving her with a suave and dashing silhouette.

???

"You! You can't do this!"

The poor vampire finally panicked completely, shouting endlessly at his retreating back:

"Hey! Paladin! Aren't you a paladin!!?"

"You disgrace to all paladins—"

Listening to the desperate curses of the vampire behind him, Herbert, who had already walked some distance away, took a deep breath and remarked, "Her reactions are truly amusing!"

She was far too easily teased; why did she get so flustered all of a sudden?

[“Are you certain you're treating them with sincerity?”]

"Of course."

Herbert chuckled, replying as a matter of course: "I sincerely tease her, and in return, I get her sincere curses. Isn't this the very definition of trading sincerity for sincerity?"

Folks,

This is as sincere as it gets.

***

Yet, what the happily-teasing-idiots Herbert did not know at this moment was...

It would soon be his turn to stop smiling.

Right at this very moment, Bishop Rusty Nail was standing before the alien prison, frowning as he gazed at the residual slime on the ground.

"That fallen one ended up hiding in here?"