Chapter 32 - The Ex-Mayor Filed a Protest to the Prison Warden Concerning the Refusal of His Female Prisoner Neighbor to Help Him Extract His Man’s Milk. Parita observed the crowd and crossed her arms. Somehow, everybody ignored her opinion. She wondered if she should start running away from this city and live alone in a secluded place. She asked the system for advice. ’Can I just bail out of this mess?’ [Actually, let’s stick around for a bit longer. Something fun will happen soon.] [Also, here’s a new event quest.] [Mission Objective: Cooperate with the official and enter the trial.] [Rewards: Increase your livestream system level by 1. Idol Hammer Microphone.] The upgrade was not particularly enticing, as it was worth only 100 idol points. However, the "hammer" reward was something new and weird. It piqued her curiosity. ’A hammer? A microphone? Which is it? What’s it like?’ [It’s a hammer-shaped microphone equipped with auto-tune features. It has infinite durability, so you can bonk people and Hungers without fearing that it will break. Be aware that the microphone could pick up the bonking sound.] ’Uuuuuu! Sounds nice. Hammering ASMR, I see.’ Parita was tempted by the system weapon. She accepted the quest and waited for the crowd to finish their argument. Meanwhile, Neutrophils and H5N8 stared at each other. "How will you prove the wench’s crime?" H5N8 asked Neutrophils. The paladin turned to Parita, gestured to Parita and explained. "We quarantine her for a week. If she turns, we’ll kill her. If not, you must compensate her for the false accusation." "What?! Compensation? Why should I?! I’m the lord here, and she’s just a peasant! I own this land!! She should be the one compensating me for staying in my city!" Soldiers and adventurers gave H5N8 a judgmental frown. No one agreed with that statement. Everybody was not stupid. If Parita, the hero who defeated the Starve alone, had faced such treatment, the same would happen to them later on. Neutrophils were disgusted by the proclamation. He argued. "By that logic, you’re also within the domain of the Founding Goddess Ikol since the goddess created the land and its people. Throughout my life, the H5 family has never provided anything in response to the church’s requests. Why haven’t you contributed anything to the owner of this land, hmm?" "Ha! Bullshit! That’s just a myth! The goddess doesn’t exist-" ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝕟𝕖𝕥 Neutrophils had had enough. He raised his index finger to the sky, and a golden lightning bolt descended. It struck the ground next to H5N8 as though it were a warning shot. H5N8 yelped and fell to his butt. He peed his pants in fright. "H-Holy bolt?! Y-You... HOW DARE YOU!" Neutrophils scoffed. "A paladin like me can’t summon holy bolts. Only the saintess and the pope can. This is just the will of Heaven... Mister nobleman. Now, will you comply with OUR request, or will you challenge the goddess’ authority?!" The adventurer crowd laughed and raised their index fingers, mocking H5N8. Parita, as oblivious as ever, turned to Parrot and asked her. "Say, I’ve been seeing this gesture for a while. Why the index finger? Why not the middle?" Parita was confused about why everybody in town usually insulted people by raising their index finger and pointing at the sky. Parrot smirked and mimicked the gesture. She explained. "Legends say that the goddess is looking after us. If anyone goes astray, we can invoke the goddess with this action, and divine retribution will befall them. But these days, this gesture is a warning and an insult whenever people do something foolish since the goddess rarely strikes down evil crooks." Without warning, a golden lightning bolt emerged from Parita’s system screen and landed next to her feet. She raised a foot and flinched. "HOLY FUQ!" Both Parrot and Parita squealed in unison. No one noticed the source since they didn’t pay attention. Everybody looked at the sky, but they saw only the cloudless dark sky full of stars. Neutrophils frowned and glanced at Parita. He was also confused since he had only called for one holy bolt, not two. He wondered if they had gotten a stray by accident. He resumed his business. "Anyway, we will lock up the pink elf and the mayor for a week. The adventurers and the militia shall supervise the dungeon. Is there any other question?" No adventurer or soldier dared make another noise. However, Parita raised her hand. "Say, if you get bitten by a Hunger, you turn into a monster, right?" Parrot and Sparrow rolled their eyes since the answer was common knowledge. However, Parita didn’t forget the previous incidents a few days prior. Since she had to be locked up in a prison, she wouldn’t allow someone who had clearly been injured by a Hunger to roam around. "A few days back, a barbarian and his friend got injured after spotting a Hunger. Have anybody investigated if they were also bitten?" All eyes turned to Rubella and Lupus, who had handled the matter. Rubella’s face turned white since she hadn’t confirmed the information. That day, she rushed out to investigate while leaving Tetanus and Sars to the local healers. Lupus frowned deeply. He shifted his gaze to the surrounding adventurers. "Why haven’t I heard of this?" One of the adventurers explained. "We healed Sars and sent Tetanus to the emergency clinic. We thought that their party member or Sars would deal with him." "Their party members are all dead! That buffoon didn’t do his job! Dammit!" Lupus was furious. He kicked the ground and leaped over the east wall. He would search the city to find Tetanus and Sars before it was too late. Because of Parita’s reminder, the atmosphere turned awkward. Neutrophils sighed and waved his hand. He called Parita over. "Come here, pink elf." Parita walked closer. Neutrophils pretended to check on the iron choker. While leaning closer to her ear, he whispered. "Where is the vulture? Didn’t he follow you?" Parita raised an eyebrow and recalled the white-haired vampire. She also didn’t know how the person had died. Fortunately, the mocap suit took over her voice. She spoke for Parita. A smirk crept onto Neutrophil’s face. He lightly smacked Parita’s back. "Sorry about this. Endure it for a week. I’ll distort the freak for you... as long as you make it through." Neutrophils snickered and pulled Parita’s choker chain, pulling her after him. She followed the paladin into the city as everyone looked on. The prison was an underground dungeon, not far from the military zone. The prison stood at the northeast corner, next to the citadel of H5N9. Parita stopped in front of a single cell surrounded by a magic formation. The bars were made of normal iron, but the magic circle underneath continuously enhanced the metal’s strength. Neutrophils unlocked the cage and guided her inside. However, he left the shackles on for safety. "As I said, be patient and endure it. You will be compensated." Parita shrugged and asked. "Will I get food and water?" Parita flinched. She figured out the underlying tone. "Does that mean prisoners normally don’t get food?" "It’s common sense, no?" Parita finally understood why Neutrophils kept telling her to endure. This imprisonment was similar to a death sentence by starvation or dehydration. She turned to inspect the interior of the cell. There was nothing. No bed. No toilet. It was merely a damp earthen floor. Neutrophils left. The guards who had been following after him were also gone. As they left the underground level, they slammed the metal door shut. The underground prison became pitch black. Parita almost cursed out loud. She sat cross-legged and contemplated her life choices. "I should have fled. DAMMIT!!" [You have completed the event quest.] [Your livestream level has increased by 1.] [The Idol Hammer Microphone has been deposited into your system inventory.] Fortunately, the system was with her. Although its behavior was suspicious, its existence gave her comfort. She read the log to kill time. She also talked to the system. "I guess it was the right decision to save up the idol-meeting magic. At least, I can skip taking a dump." [You will still need to use a toilet, though.] [You will get kidney stones.] "The idol-meeting magic will solve that, won’t it?" [...You’re right. It’s going to be torture holding it in though.] "Just don’t drink too much water." "Idol-meeting magic?" "Heh. You didn’t think this through when you gave me that skill, right?" Parita recast night vision on herself and opened her system inventory, checking her belongings. Upon spotting the cooking utensils, tools, and the precious Hunger’s meat, she salivated. "I guess I’ll survive." Hours later, the metal door on the ground floor was opened and let out a screeching noise. A dozen soldiers and Neutrophils walked down the stairs and dragged two more prisoners to the isolation sector. Neutrophils moved the torch in his hand and moved it closer to Parita’s cage. She was already asleep. However, she was lying on a makeshift bed made of a stack of clothes. Her expression was hopeful, as though this imprisonment had nothing to do with her. One of the new prisoners, Sars, dragged his feet and yelled at Neutrophils. "Hey! I told you that I was not bitten! It was only a scratch!" Neutrophils and the soldiers behind him disagreed. They shoved Sars into a cage two cells away from Parita. However, Neutrophils connected Sars’ restraints to the cuffs on the wall and forced the barbarian to stand while being imprisoned. "I SAID I WAS NOT BITTEN!" Sars kept yelling. Neutrophils ignored the Highlander. He exited the cell and locked it behind him. In the meantime, the soldiers locked H5N9 in the cell across from Parita. They let him enjoy the mayor’s privilege by releasing his cuffs and shackles. After being uncuffed, H5N9 looked around. Because the place was damp and dark, he shouted. "Hey, can I get a lantern and the perfume artifact from my mansion? This place smells like shit!" Nobody answered the nobleman’s request. However, the soldiers put a torch in a socket by the wall to illuminate the light for their lord. Neutrophils and everybody retreated quietly. H5N9 hated it. Although he had only one arm, he reached out to grab the torch, but he couldn’t reach it. He quickly gave up and inspected the surroundings. As soon as H5N9 spotted Parita, who was in casual clothes and sleeping soundly, he drooled. Not caring about his predicament, he pulled his pants down and showed his thing. "ELF! HEY, YOU HARLOT! WHO TOLD YOU TO SLEEP BEFORE I DO!? GET UP AND FREE ME, AND I’LL TAKE YOUR VIRGINITY!" Parita, annoyed by the loud noises, sat up. She paused for a moment to think and fetched a kitchen knife from her inventory. As soon as Parita condensed a sword aura around her knife, the magic circle underneath the cell glowed. The aura fluctuated. The mocap suit took over instantly. The sword aura intensified. Parita ignored the partial takeover and swung her kitchen knife down, firing a sword slash energy through the cell’s gaps. A sharp crescent light traveled across two cells and sliced H5N9’s body, and a small chunk of meat fell to the floor. Blood splashed.