Half an hour later.
Faced with the account and intelligence his subordinates had swiftly compiled.
The Mind Flayer Elder, looking rather angry and bewildered, used telepathy to confirm with his subordinate once more:
"So, the prime suspects in this incident are merely a few hundred slaves?"
His words were full of doubt.
Clearly, he deeply questioned the authenticity of this information.
Faced with his superior's undisguised suspicion.
The Mind Flayer being questioned could only answer helplessly:
"Yes. According to our understanding and investigation, among those fugitive slaves, the Githyanki named Fredos should be the most suspicious individual."
This time, upon hearing that answer.
The Mind Flayer Elder did not voice any further doubts. Instead, he found Fredos's information among the submitted documents and fell into brief silence as he looked at the deliberately marked words: native-born local slave.
After quite a while, he drew back his curtains with Psionics and looked out at the outer defenses of the underground city, where a big hole had been forcibly blasted open, before continuing to ask:
"Then how did the leader of a group of slaves who grew up here freely—the one called Fredos—cause such destruction?"
His subordinate answered respectfully:
"According to the investigation, they should have planted some kind of special explosive there in advance, then used some sort of spell to interfere with the detection and defensive effects of the surrounding Defensive Barrier."
Hearing those words.
A vicious gleam immediately surfaced in the Mind Flayer Elder's round eyes as he demanded in a low voice:
"Spells?"
"Explosives?"
"I don't recall allowing such things to circulate among the slaves..."
As the being who ruled the entire underground city.
Starting several centuries ago.
He had forcibly confiscated all cultural inheritances from the slaves.
And deliberately isolated them from one another.
Giving them little