Our maid noticed my attention and poked the woman with her weapon. “Be a good girl and answer any questions my ladies have.”

I nodded approvingly and started asking: “Who are you? Who do you work for?”

I stared at the silent captive. I would have judged her to be in her thirties. There was a small scar on her right cheek. Her eyes were filled with defiance. I did not want to torture her. What options did we have to get some information?

“Do we torture her now? Can I? Can I?” Shani pleaded.

“No, that feels a bit extreme…” I said.

“She tried to kill you! Let’s just zap her a bit. Or a lot!” The elemental grinned and started playing with some electricity in her hand.

“Well, she was not very good at it.” Not the best argument, I had to admit, but I felt a certain amount of pity. The assassin never got a single blow to connect and now she was lying there, bleeding. Torturing her would just be wrong.

“My ladies, I could charm her into talking.” Lilastheria offered.

Mind manipulation was a slippery slope. But it would give us some answers without permanent harm. I looked at Lucy, she nodded.

“Ok, do it.” I said.

The captives' eyes widened. She did not react when we discussed torture but suddenly there was fear visable on her face. She tried to stand up but Lilasthera put her foot on her back and smashed her into the ground.

“Nooooooo please, no.” The assassin started sobbing.

I was confused. Why would she be so afraid of being charmed? Did she think it was permanent? That would make sense. I just saw it as mentally nudging her to answer our questions. If the woman feared a more permanent mind control… maybe we could use that.

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“You can always start talking…” I said.

“I am Minerva, I was ordered to kill you!”

“We kind of noticed the attempt. We are more interested in why. And who ordered it.”

“The Empire, it was the Empire!”

“Now we are getting somewhere. So they hired you? Who exactly? Or are you part of the army? Inquisition?”

“I… I am from the inquisition.”

“Interesting. So probably not sanctioned by the Emperor. I assume someone wanted payback for Elias.” I theorised.

“Isn’t she a bit too weak?” Lucy said. “Who would expect her to avenge a high inquisitor? And her gear seems a bit… cheap.”

“If they still thought I am a regular sorceress, a surprise attack from up close could work. She did have a sword ability. I guess she is all about delivering one strong blow and then running.”

“My ladies, please let me charm her to ensure the authenticity of her story.” Lilastheria said.

“I am not lying! Please, do not do this!” Minerva pleaded.

Was she truly that afraid? Or was she feeding us false information and wanted to stop us from hearing the truth? Would charming her be that bad? I thought about it for a while and made my decision.

“Do it.” I said.

Lilastheria grabbed the captive by her hair and started whispering in her ear. I was not sure how the power of succubus worked but I did not expect the screaming.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Minerva was no longer pleading but seemed to be in pain.

Our maid stopped and frowned. “My ladies, there is something fighting me. I think the woman is already being controlled by someone.”

I approached the captive and looked at her. There was now blood running from her eyes. I quickly used my low level healing magic. It was only for simple wounds but I hoped it would be enough. After the soothing magic flowed into her the bleeding stopped. She was alive but unconscious.

“I deeply apologise for not noticing it earlier, my blunder almost killed the captive.” Lilastheria said with a bow.

“Not your fault.” I said reassuringly. “None of us noticed.”

“Can we figure out who controls her?” Lucy asked.

“I don’t know.” I answered. “Mind control is not really my speciality. I can try to break the magic. The question is, will she remember who did this? Or we could try to track the spell…”

“But they might notice and kill her.” Lucy finished my thought. “Please break it, she might be innocent. We should not risk her.”

I nodded, having similar thoughts. Now, how would I break the spell? I had no idea what magic was at work. But bigger level spells were more resistant to dispel magic. So I decided to use my trump card, devour magic. Black smoke enveloped Minerva’s body. It lingered for a while, then it seemed to seep into her body. She remained unconscious but started shaking. I used my heal spell once more.

“Is she going to make it?” Lucy asked.

The shaking stopped and Minerva was still breathing. “I think so. We won’t know anything about her mind until she wakes up though.”