It wasn't just Hoshiguma, who had rushed to Jeanne's side, who was stunned; even Swire, who had just been about to fire a crossbow bolt from the observation room, was dumbfounded by the scene.
That Vouivre hadn't moved an inch since Jeanne uttered those two words. From the look in his eyes, it was clear he was utterly bewildered, having no idea what was happening to him.
"Officer Swire, you've seen more than us—given the situation, do we rush in to rescue them or just keep watching?" An officer nearby, unable to make sense of the situation, turned to ask Swire. It was the first time they had ever seen anything like this. Had the man been paralyzed by fear?
"Watch the situation for now. Ch'en and Hoshiguma are still inside confirming things; we have to wait for them to signal us."
Swire didn't understand the specifics either, but Ch'en—that Pink Sausage Dragon—seemed to have noticed something. She was signaling Swire not to act and to see what would happen next.
Unlike Hoshiguma, Ch'en had indeed detected something unusual the moment Jeanne spoke. She had been prepared to forcibly draw Chi Xiao, a blade she couldn't yet fully control, to strike. But the moment she heard Jeanne's voice, her own hand had experienced a momentary, involuntary pause.
She was certain it wasn't a conscious choice to stop; it was a strange power that made her body freeze against her will for a split second.
What is this? An Originium Art that forcibly controls behavior through speech? But they hadn't felt the ripple of an Art; it sounded like ordinary speech.
Looking at the Vouivre, he clearly no longer owned his own body. Ever since Jeanne issued the command, his eyes held nothing but pure terror.
"Sit back down. Stay there and behave."
Jeanne spoke to the Vouivre as if training a dog. The power of the "Dragon Witch" transformed her ordinary words into absolute commands—an authority the Vouivre race was biologically incapable of resisting.
The brute's mocking gaze vanished, replaced by a face full of horror. He didn't understand why she could control his movements with words. He had dared to be so insolent in the LGD because he knew they wouldn't cross certain lines; those "weaklings" hadn't even tried torture. As a man with special training, he figured he could hold out against their little games for a year.
But now, his body wouldn't even obey him. He was like a marionette in this woman's hands. He could only desperately hope that she couldn't make him speak.
Who is this brat? How is she controlling my body? Is she one of those Sarkaz from the storybooks who can destroy nations with a word?
He wanted to question her, but his teeth were chattering so hard from fear that he couldn't form a coherent sentence. At this point, even though he was unrestrained, his only wish was to flee the interrogation room or be killed by the police in a violent escape attempt.
Unfortunately, it was too late. If he had acted out and forced the LGD to kill him before Jeanne arrived, even she wouldn't have been able to get answers from a dead man.
"You startled me. I didn't know you had such a strange talent! No wonder you dared to walk right up to him." Hoshiguma slowly lowered her shield, Hannya, her heart finally settling back into her chest. It seemed she didn't need to worry about Jeanne's safety after all.
On closer inspection, it didn't look like the Vouivre's mind was being controlled, but rather that his body simply refused to follow his own orders. It was a fascinating phenomenon.
"Is that so? To be honest, I didn't expect the effect to be this good either. I thought it would just hinder his movements a little," Jeanne said with a look of genuine surprise, smiling at Hoshiguma. Whether the officers believed her "modesty" was another matter entirely.
Ch'en walked up to the man to observe his condition. She noted that when Hoshiguma had rushed forward earlier, she hadn't seemed affected by Jeanne's words. Does this power only work on specific races? Ch'en wondered. Unfortunately, having only seen it once, she couldn't confirm the details.
"Alright, Mr. Vouivre. Please, truthfully tell us everything you know!"
Jeanne stared into the brute's eyes, her gaze locked with his until she could see her own reflection in his pupils. As the man met her eyes, that strange sensation began to spread from his heart to his entire body once more.
Horror filled him as he realized his mouth was no longer under his control. At her command, it began to move on its own. It felt as if his body and mouth had seceded from his brain; he could only watch helplessly as his own voice began to recount his life story.
"My name is Tom Chris. I live in a detached villa at 47 Fenglin Road in the Lower City. The door code is 457862. There are two bank cards hidden behind the painting in the living room containing 400,000 Lungmen Dollars; the PIN is 477126..."
The man detailed everything—his secret funds, the locations of his safe houses—stopping just short of disclosing the color of his underwear.
Ch'en and Hoshiguma watched the Vouivre brute, who was drenched in a cold sweat of despair and panic. He looked like a helpless victim. He could do nothing but pray for death, hoping someone would cut out his tongue before he gave up the truly important information.
Outside, Swire immediately ordered officers on duty to investigate the villa. Reports soon came back: the code worked, and they were beginning a search. Swire hung up the phone, stunned. Jeanne had broken a man they couldn't crack for an entire day with just a few sentences.
"That ability is way too useful. If we had that, would we still have to work overtime every day interrogating suspects?" Swire looked at Jeanne with envy, clearly coveting an "Originium Art" that could skip so much trouble.
"Officer Swire, that kind of ability probably wouldn't be allowed in a standard interrogation. Besides, it doesn't look like an Art; you probably couldn't learn such a weird thing anyway," a junior officer whispered. Though, looking at his eyes, he was just as envious of a power that meant going home early.
"I know, but can't I just express my feelings?" Swire snapped. Watching that "bastard" who had called her a vase now trembling in fear gave her a great deal of satisfaction.
Inside the room, "Tom" was now confessing to tax evasion at his three bars and naming every other illegal shop he knew.
"Talk about the important things! Where did you come from? Who sent you? Who is your superior? Spill the important details now," Jeanne interrupted. She had no interest in hearing about watered-down booze or tax dodges. Those could be handled later. She wanted to know who ordered her assassination and where they were hiding in Lungmen.
"I am a thug taken in by Baron Chichikov of Ursus. I came here through a network hidden in Lungmen by an Ursus Duke. I usually carry out tasks assigned by the Baron..."
Wait. A Ursus Duke with a secret network in Lungmen?
That sounded suspiciously familiar.