Blood God Reborn as the Mudblood Heir

Inside, the captured Rank Four knight was chained to a metal chair fixed into the floor. His armor had been removed. His wrists were locked in rune cuffs. His chest and arms carried cuts, burns, and bruises, but his eyes were still clear. He looked tired, not broken.

Robi stood beside him with his metal hand resting on the back of another chair.

Another man stood near a table of tools. He was thin, middle-aged, and calm in a way that made him more unpleasant than a cruel man. He wore a clean gray coat, and his gloves were stained dark at the fingertips. His hair was combed back neatly. His face looked like it had forgotten how to smile.

Celia spoke first. "Uncle."

Robi turned. "You brought him."

Lucard looked at the knight. "He is still alive."

"For now," Robi said.

The thin man bowed slightly. "Young Master Vardros."

Lucard looked at him.

Robi said, "This is Varen. He handles difficult questions for our branch."

Varen gave another small bow. "I ask. Others answer. That is the simple version."

Lucard’s eyes moved to the tools on the table. "And the complicated version?"

Varen’s expression did not change. "They answer slowly."

The knight spat blood onto the floor. "I answered nothing."

Robi’s metal fingers tapped the chair.

"Yes. That is the problem."

Lucard walked around the knight once.

Halvek followed him with his eyes but did not speak. His breathing was controlled. The pain had touched him, but he had placed it somewhere behind his pride. There was no begging in him. No loose panic. No foolish anger either. A normal man could be pushed with fear. This one had already chosen silence.

Lucard stopped in front of him.

"Who ordered you to hide with Garran?"

Halvek stared at him.

Lucard waited.

No answer came.

Robi smiled coldly. "We tried that."

Lucard looked at the knight’s eyes. "Who is the escaped Fifth Circle mage?"

Still nothing.

"Who else knows about the Vardros survivors?"

Halvek’s jaw tightened very slightly.

Lucard noticed.

Celia noticed Lucard noticing.

Robi’s eyes sharpened.

Lucard leaned closer. "So that question matters."

Halvek looked away.

Robi stepped forward. "You see why I want to kill him."

Celia’s face tightened. "Uncle."

Robi ignored her. "He is strong, stubborn, and expensive to keep. Velkhur will try to retrieve him or kill him before we use him. If he will not talk, his body can still become a statement."

Varen said calmly, "His silence is not ordinary. Pain works on him, but not enough. Threats do not move him. Family threats also failed. He either has very strong discipline, or he knows speaking will cost more than dying."

Lucard touched one of the rune cuffs, then looked at Halvek’s throat.

"There may be a vow."

Robi nodded. "We considered it."

"Not only a magical oath," Lucard said. "A layered command. Pride outside. Fear under that. Perhaps a spell deeper. He may not know how much he cannot say until he tries."

Halvek’s eyes moved back to him.

Lucard smiled faintly. "You reacted again."

The knight’s face became stone.

Robi watched Lucard carefully. "Can you break it?"

"Not today."

Robi raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like tomorrow."

"Yes."

Celia looked at him. "What do you need?"

"Preparation."

"That is not an answer."

"It is the answer you are getting."

Robi chuckled. "I almost missed hearing him irritate other people."

Celia looked at him. "Uncle."

Lucard looked at Robi. "Do not kill him."

Robi’s smile faded slightly. "Give me a reason."

"He knows something important."

"We already know that."

"If you kill him, you get a corpse and satisfaction. If you wait until tomorrow, I may get his silence to speak even if his mouth does not."

Varen’s calm eyes changed for the first time. "Interesting."

Halvek’s face remained stiff, but Lucard heard the small change in his breathing. The knight did not understand what Lucard meant. That frightened him more than ordinary torture.

Robi looked from Lucard to the prisoner.

"What are you planning?"

Lucard answered, "A method that needs him alive."

Robi tapped his metal fingers against the chair once more. "You enjoy giving half answers."

"They are safer than full ones."

"For you."

"Yes."

Robi laughed quietly. "Honest as always."

Then he waved one hand toward Varen. "Stop for today. Keep him bound. Increase guard rotations. No one enters alone. No food without testing. No healer except ours. If Velkhur tries to silence him, I want the assassin alive if possible and in pieces if necessary."

Varen bowed. "Understood."

Halvek finally spoke, his voice rough. "You will get nothing."

Lucard looked at him. "From you, perhaps."

The knight’s eyes narrowed.

Lucard turned away.

Celia followed him out of the room. Robi came after them, closing the heavy door behind him. The hallway felt colder after leaving the interrogation room, though the air was the same.

Robi did not speak until they reached a smaller chamber near the stairs.

"There is another matter."

Lucard looked at him.

"An order came from the royal palace."

Celia’s face changed. "The royal palace?"

Robi nodded. "Not a public decree. A sealed notice through imperial channels. Someone from the capital is coming to Gravehold."

Lucard’s eyes became still.

"Who?"

"I do not know," Robi said. "The notice only says an imperial representative is on the way to observe the disorder and speak with involved houses."

Celia frowned. "That is too vague."

"Yes," Robi said. "Which means the real reason is not written."

Lucard looked at the stone wall for a moment.

Imperial attention had arrived faster than expected. That meant either the capital had good information networks, or this matter had touched something the throne already watched.

Perhaps both.

"When?" Lucard asked.

"Maybe tomorrow," Robi said. "Maybe the day after, depending on travel speed. But the message came ahead of them, so they are not far."

Celia looked uneasy. "Velkhur will also hear."

"Of course," Robi said. "The whole city will behave better for one day and lie harder for three."

Lucard looked back toward the prison door.

"Keep the knight alive until then."

Robi smiled faintly. "Now he is even more valuable?"

"Yes."

"Because an imperial representative may ask questions?"

"Because everyone will become more careful once the palace arrives. Tomorrow may be the last clean chance to break him before politics puts silk over every blade."

Robi’s smile deepened. "You think like a criminal minister."

Lucard looked at him. "Ministers are just criminals with chairs."

Celia stared at him. "Please do not say that in front of the imperial representative."

Lucard walked toward the stairs. "Then make sure they do not bore me."

Robi laughed, but Celia looked even more worried.

Behind them, in the deepest room of the Marovain prison, the silent Rank Four knight sat chained under blue lamps.

He had survived pain. He had survived threats.

Tomorrow, Lucard would return prepared.