Surprisingly, the first person before me was Isolde.
I did not believe that she was part of those who had betrayed me. However, just like I had mentioned beforehand, I would ask the same question to everyone. There wouldn’t be any exceptions.
“Have you contacted Alexandra ever since you entered this place?” I asked with a slight smirk, wondering what would be coming out of her mouth.
I did truly hope that she would tell the truth.
Isolde was one of the most talented students in the class, without a doubt, especially as an archer; she was truly gifted. I still remember when she had attempted to go through the parkour when I did her curriculum. Without a doubt, it had been pretty impressive all around.
“I did not.”
Then, she just didn’t move, waiting for me to either discard her or announce to everyone that she was the culprit.
I could see it from where I was standing that she was very nervous. However, the reason was most likely because of the overall atmosphere not because of what she did, and when I tested her answer with my skill, it returned as the truth.
She wasn’t the one.
“Next.”
Isolde released a loud sigh as she ran past me, happy to have been freed from all this stress.
“Don’t be happy just yet. I will say the same thing to everyone. After all, there could be a lot of people involved in this matter, and all of them will receive the same punishment.”
“A-And what will that punishment be?” One of my students in the back asked. I didn’t quite recall his name, which meant that he was neither a troublemaker nor was he a top talent in this class. Probably one of the most average students I had.
“I still haven’t decided. It will depend on many different factors. However, no matter what punishment I decide, it will be a pretty bad one. So, be prepared for the absolute worst.”
I made sure to act as if something extremely bad would happen to the culprits. After all, I wanted them to admit on their own. This whole thing wasn’t what I truly wanted. I wanted the culprits or the culprit to admit to his fault on his own, just like any person would.
Another student came before me, and I asked the same question once again.
“Have you contacted Alexandra ever since you entered this place?”
“No.”
It was the truth once again.
Then, once more, a student stepped up.
“Have you contacted Alexandra ever since you entered this place?”
“No.”
The truth.
I did this over and over again until there was only one student remaining, Jackson.
Everyone who had passed before had told the truth, so I already knew that he was the culprit of this whole thing, and I had a small idea why. After all, he was bound to somewhat hate me because of how much I ridiculed him in the early days. However, it was only deserved for what he had tried to do to me.
Insulting me with all kinds of names.
“Jackson. Anything to say to your defense?” I asked, for the very first time, changing the question I asked.
Jackson instantly frowned. “Why aren’t you asking me the same question as the others?”
I just smirked as I placed my hand against his shoulder very softly and bent forward toward his right ear, whispering, “I suggest you tell the truth.”
Jackson felt shivers run all across his body in an instant simply by hearing the icy tone of my voice. He even walked back without even realizing it because of how scared he was.
“I-I…”
I could see the hesitation written all over his face. He did not know what choice to make.
Whether to tell the truth or to lie.
Depending on his choice, I would adjust his punishment.
“I did not do anything! I didn’t contact Alexandra at all!” He suddenly declared.
I could only sigh because of his pathetic answer and willpower. I had given him a chance to come clean. He knew that I knew about what he had done, and even then, he had decided to lie.
“Who do you fear more, the Empire or me?”
“T-The Empire!” He replied right away, stuttering as he walked back, scared out of his mind. “You would never be able to defeat the Empire on your own.”
I shrugged. I had never wanted to, but maybe one day it would be my goal. However, I would not do it without a clear reason in my mind. If they had done nothing wrong, I wouldn’t do anything against them.
“Finally, you tell the truth. Interesting.”
I turned toward the rest of my students who were standing before me, still worried that they might be deemed as the culprit of this whole charade.
Even some of the tribe members looked in my direction, wondering what was happening to cause so much noise and to grab my attention away from their fights.
“Maybe some of you knew about it, and if you did, then you would be just as bad as this traitor.”
“I had no idea!” A few of them shouted, and it all turned out that they were telling the truth, meaning that the odds of Jackson acting alone might very well be the truth.
Well, it was easy to figure this out.
“Did you act alone?”
“No, Ariel helped me!” He shouted.
However, I didn’t even need to ask Ariel as it turned out to be a lie without much surprise. Jackson was trying to conserve some of his pride, but the more he spoke, the worse it got. I could see through all the lies he muttered.
“Stop lying. It will only get worse if you do. Anyway, why did you inform Alexandra about my location and the tribe?”
Jackson gulped. “I-I wanted to take revenge on you for everything that you did to me!”
“But you were the one who was an ass to me first. Anyway, the punishment won’t be given to you. Your parents will be the ones to receive it as soon as I am back in the empire. Your gracious and prestigious family might disappear if you continue to act this way.”
Jackson’s eyes widened. “Destroying the Evergreen family?! That’s impossible!”
I just smirked. “Nothing is impossible.”
