Hello there!

"Hello there!"

"Oh my, it's been such a long time since we last met. Did you miss me?"

Herbert walked up to the sphere of water with the ease of an old friend and invited the Sea Monster lady hiding inside to chat.

Come on!

Talk to me!

"Hmm? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you shy?"

"Didn't we have a lovely chat yesterday? Have you already forgotten the wonderful time we spent together?"

"Or are you asleep?"

"Oh, come on, look at the time! Get up already!"

How can you sleep at your age?

Three or four hundred is the prime of your life. You should be hustling.

Get up and party with me!

*???*

Freime was furious inside the water.

"I'm ignoring you this obviously. Can't you take a hint?"

This princess has made her feelings perfectly clear! How can you still not get it?

Gurgle, gurgle.

A few bubbles rose inside the sphere to express her protest. Then she simply turned her back on him and changed the sphere's appearance, giving the water a frosted texture that left only a vague silhouette visible within.

Herbert kept up his nonstop chatter while studying the sphere of water where Freime hid.

Hiding, are you?

You think you can stay hidden?

He removed the sword at his waist and, without drawing it, poked the sphere with its scabbard.

The sphere appeared fluid, but a thin membrane covered its surface. No matter how he prodded it, it refused to break, and a deflecting force rebounded from it to neutralize his strength.

Receive, deflect, but never strike back.

Herbert hadn't intended to drag her out of her hiding place by force anyway. He wasn't strong enough for that yet.

But he didn't need strength right now.

In this situation, he only needed to be annoying enough.

For example, was there a huge difference in strength between a mosquito and a human?

An enormous one.

They were on completely different scales. In theory, there was no comparison at all.

And yet a mosquito, so weak to a human that a single finger could crush it, possessed an infuriating ability to annoy.

It could drive humans to breakdowns and fits of madness, make them howl and roar in the night, and reduce them to tears.

I, Herbert, am now one enormous mosquito.

An expert at sticking people with needles.

He poked the sphere's surface with his scabbard over and over, never tiring of it.

Poke.

Poke, poke!

Poke, poke, poke, poke...

As he poked, his mouth never stopped moving, repeatedly inviting the mermaid princess to chat.

At last, under Herbert's relentless harassment, Freime held out for ten minutes before finally admitting defeat.

"Enough!"

Splash.

Freime emerged from the sphere, seething. She glared at him with her eerily beautiful eyes and bared her teeth, abandoning all dignity. "Are you ever going to stop?"

"Talk, talk, talk! You just won't shut up, will you?"

"Poke, poke, poke! You just won't stop, will you?"

"Is this fun for you?!"

Watching Herbert smile and nod without the slightest shame, she felt the already taut string in her mind finally snap.

Snap!

"Aaaaaah-"

Unable to contain herself any longer, she clutched her head and let out a piercing shriek that sent fine ripples across the sphere's surface.

But just as the sound waves were about to reach a certain threshold, the piercing shriek vanished entirely, and the whole space plunged into absolute silence.

Splash-

The sphere floating in midair fell to the floor. Like a water balloon dropped from a great height, it burst the instant it hit the ground, sending water surging in every direction.

The Sea Monster hiding inside was no exception. She slammed onto the floor like a dead fish.

Thud!

"..."

Freime glared at Herbert, her mouth opening and closing without producing a sound.

She tried to get up, but the moment she propped herself up, she collapsed weakly again. Her magnificent tail dried out at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The prison was absorbing magic at an astonishing rate.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before she began to suffer real harm!

*!!!*

Freime realized it too and gritted her teeth as she stared at the young man standing a short distance away with his head lowered.

A legendary Sea Monster should never have been reduced to such a pitiful state. Even without water, she could control the water elements and magic in the air to keep herself afloat.

But this was a prison tailored to each nonhuman inmate.

When it detected magical fluctuations exceeding the prescribed limit, it activated the Sealing Formation embedded within the prison.

Yes.

In a sense, the inmates held in the Foreign Races' Prison could also be considered sealed objects.

They were powerful and dangerous. Any one of them alone would have given another monastery more than it could handle. Only the Misty Monastery dared to place them together so casually.

They dared do so partly because the Archbishop was there to keep order, confident that the inmates couldn't cause much trouble, and partly because of the Sealing Formation.

When the Prison Warden's post was vacant, the arrays operated independently at their lowest setting and interfered little with the inmates.

But when a new Prison Warden took office, control of the arrays naturally passed into his hands.

"..."

Time slowly passed in the soundless space, and Freime's condition steadily worsened. Even her magnificent long hair began to dry out.

But she made no attempt to beg for mercy. She simply lay sprawled on the floor in an undignified pose, staring expressionlessly at Herbert.

She had her pride. She wouldn't bow her proud head over this little bit of torment.

Herbert showed no reaction either. He watched silently from beginning to end, the smile on his face never changing.

After a few brief days of contact, Herbert had gained some understanding of these inmates.

Although Valentina displayed a poor attitude and had a tongue full of creative insults, she was actually cold on the outside and warm within, openly scolding him while subtly trying to dissuade him.

She showed him kindness, so Herbert chose to treat her kindly too.

He fed her to win her affection and used warmth to become her friend.

But Freime was different.

Although she had been extremely friendly when they first met, appearing to be an easygoing older sister, it had all been an act.

Murderous intent lurked beneath her falsely sweet smile, and her enchanting voice brimmed with malice. She hadn't even bothered wasting words to deceive him; she had tried to drown him right from the start.

She showed him malice, so Herbert chose to respond with malice.

This was a small punishment.

Just as Freime thought the array would remain active a while longer and prepared to expend her own essence to keep resisting, Herbert raised his right hand. The Holy Mark on its back shone with brilliant golden light.

Crack-

With an illusory sound like shattering crystal, sound returned to the space. Magic rushed in, filling the depleted void.

The instant she sensed the magic, Freime cast off her half-dead appearance. She waved a hand, gathering a great mass of water elements, and recreated her floating sphere within a few breaths.

She submerged her lower body in the sphere, leaving her upper body above the surface, and narrowed her eyes at the still-smiling Prison Warden. "...Heh."

"...Heh."

After a moment, Freime laughed and nodded at Herbert.

"You. You're good."

She drew a breath and forced the words through gritted teeth:

"Really... good!"

In response to her sarcasm, Herbert bowed slightly and smiled as he offered a courteous greeting.

"Thank you for the compliment. I think I'm pretty good too."