Nightspawn (Second Update)

The hulking captive took two steps back when he saw lightning crackling around Qin Ran's hand. Fear spread across his face.

A whimper escaped his mouth. It sounded similar to the common language spoken in this world, but not quite the same.

"An accent?"

Qin Ran considered it, then asked tentatively, "Can you understand me?"

The hulking captive nodded, then shook his head.

The ambiguous answer made Qin Ran frown.

Just then, Herbert stepped forward.

"If you don't mind, let me try."

The scholar offered to help.

"Of course."

Qin Ran nodded and stepped aside, keeping his eyes fixed on the captive. If the man tried anything, Qin Ran would act at once.

To Qin Ran's surprise, the captive, who had been struggling all this time, quieted down when Herbert approached him with a smile.

"What?"

Qin Ran looked at Herbert in astonishment.

The scholar was speaking to the captive very slowly.

"Calm down. Don't worry. No one here will hurt you."

"O-okay."

"Tell me your name."

"Don't... I don't have a name..."

"I see."

"Then where did you come from?"

"I... I don't know."

As their conversation continued, Qin Ran finally understood what the captive was saying.

It was no accent at all. He was speaking the common language.

Something was wrong with his vocal cords or tongue, making his words sound like whimpers.

More importantly, Qin Ran realized that the man seemed to have limited intelligence.

Is he pretending? Or...?

Qin Ran remained suspicious.

But when Herbert removed the captive's chains and the man obediently followed behind him, Qin Ran let go of his doubts.

At the same time, a chill ran through him.

He thought back to the "setup" in Anzi's room yesterday.

That trap was carefully chosen!

*And this Big Guy was carefully chosen as