When Arethia placed her hand on his shoulder, Mina's vision dimmed for a second then returned. He found himself in a vast hall, with Arethia seated on a high throne, looking at him with a cold stare that made Mina's body shiver.
"Who are you and what is your purpose?"
When Mina heard, he swallowed and replied, "My name is Mina and I am hum."
"Do you think I'm foolish or something?"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb now."
"I truly don't understand what you mean."
"Then let me tell you, when someone with my power allows a group of weak soldiers to capture him, and then gets a golden opportunity to escape but doesn't, there must be a reason or a goal preventing him from escaping. So tell me, what is the reason?"
"No, I have no goal or reason to stay here."
"Are you insisting on lying?"
"I'm not lying."
"Prove it."
Mina stood silent, not knowing how to defend himself, as it seemed no matter what he said, she wouldn't believe him. But then he remembered the one who interrogated him and said: "There's someone who interrogated me, he has an ability to detect lies. Bring him here to see if I'm truthful or lying."
"You mean William? He didn't succeed."
"Why?"
"Because of the power difference between you and him, so his ability didn't work on you."
"Isn't there any other way?"
"There is."
Arethia waved her hands and a rolled paper appeared in her hand: "This is a contract. Each person sets the conditions they want the other to fulfill, and they must be fulfilled. I want you to tell the truth, so what do you want?"
"I want my freedom and not to be treated as a prisoner."
"Alright then, if you agree to the contract, sign it."
Arethia drafted the contract and sent it to Mina. Mina took the contract and read it but didn't know what to do, so he asked: "How do I sign?"
"Say, 'I agree to the contract.'"
"I agree to the contract."
The contract glowed in Mina's hand. While Mina was agreeing, Arethia was thinking: Is this person telling the truth or is this all an act? But if it's an act, why would he agree to the contract? Doesn't he realize that whoever breaks the contract will be punished or die, or that he has something in the system's storage that cancels the contract? But if he had such a thing, shouldn't he bring it out? Yet I don't feel any strange aura coming from him.
"So now, what is the reason or goal for not escaping when an opportunity appeared before you?"
"I tried to escape by breaking the cell wall, but no matter how much force I used, it didn't work. And when Richard took me out of the cell, I decided to escape while being taken back to the cell."
"If you wanted to escape, why didn't you escape when you were in the forest with Richard?"
"Because I was scared."
"What?"
"Because I was scared that Richard would kill me, even when I took action, I didn't imagine it would succeed."
Arethia was astonished as she didn't expect this answer: someone with my power is scared of Richard!
"Don't you use the Detection skill?"
"Detection skill?"
When Mina said "Detection," words appeared above Arethia's head:
[Elf Queen Arethia]
[Level: 800]
When Mina saw these words, he was stunned.
"From your expression, it seems you truly don't know about the Detection skill. If you wanted to escape, why did you allow the soldiers to capture you in the first place?"
"Because I was scared of the forest, as it was strangely quiet."
After hearing the answer, Arethia remained silent, not knowing what to say.