Bernahl brought Zhao Si to the first floor, arranged a guest room for him, and handed him the key.
"I didn't expect things to go so smoothly for you." Bernahl shrugged. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have booked you a room at the inn."
Zhao Si smiled as he took the key. "If you'd known, you would've thrown me in jail sooner, right?"
"You know I didn't have much choice." Bernahl showed no remorse. "The Two Fingers only told me to bring you in. They didn't say anything else. The rest..."
"The rest was just your personal business, right?" Zhao Si didn't blame Bernahl either. "It didn't conflict with your work. Honestly, I envy people like you who can keep personal affairs and official business so clearly separated."
"Can't you tell them apart?" Bernahl asked.
"It's not that easy to separate the two, especially when you're caught between two big shots." Zhao Si sat on the bed. "Sooner or later, you have to pick a side."
Bernahl leaned against the wall. "And you've chosen the Two Fingers without wavering?"
"I've chosen myself without wavering." Zhao Si pointed at his own heart.
Bernahl sighed. "A Tarnished has no say whatsoever in his own fate."
With that, Bernahl closed the door behind him and left.
Across from Zhao Si's room was a sitting room, where Radahn's portrait hung. There was a painting in Zhao Si's room too, of the radiant Erdtree, but so much red paint had been used on the tree that it looked as though it were about to catch fire.
Zhao Si locked the door, then threw himself at the walls, tapping and knocking as he began searching for hidden passages. From Crepus's intelligence, he knew that Volcano Manor contained many secret doors, hidden passages, and concealed spaces.
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