For a few seconds nothing happened, but then the troll’s eyes flew wide open, blood began pouring from them, and an instant later it let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

The troll head’s scream echoed powerfully throughout the camp.

"Quiet!" Mark ordered firmly.

But the head paid no attention and kept screaming.

"I said quiet!"

Nothing.

Mark was about to try something else when Ely appeared at his side and gave the head a sharp smack with the back of her hand.

The head, after receiving the blow, fell to the ground and rolled until it hit a piece of charred wood, and then stopped screaming.

"When the Master tells you something, you obey," Ely said, looking at the head with an expression of annoyance.

"Thank you... Ely," Mark said with a sigh.

"Don’t mention it, Master."

Mark walked toward where the head had rolled and picked it up with one hand, gripping it from the back of the skull.

The troll’s yellowish eyes looked up at him with an expression that was hard to read on such an inhuman face, but that looked a lot like terror.

"Listen to me," Mark said, looking directly at it with a serious expression. "I’m going to ask you some questions and you’re going to answer them."

"O-okay," the head said in a clumsy, deep voice, dragging out the syllables as if speaking were a considerable effort.

Mark looked around until he found a sort of broken post that was still standing.

He walked over and carefully placed the head on top of the post so it was at chest height.

The head wobbled a little but stayed in place.

Mark crossed his arms and looked at it fixedly.

"Who or what did all of this?" Mark asked, nodding toward the destroyed camp around him.

The troll’s eyes moved from side to side, as if reliving something it didn’t want to remember.

"Was soft-skin..." the head said in a trembling tone. "Soft-skin with burning club."

"Soft-skin? What do you mean by that?" Mark asked, frowning.

"Soft-skin," the troll repeated. "Like you."

"You mean a human?" Mark asked, confused.

"Not know," the head replied. "Soft-skin, no scales, no fur, no horns."

"And this ’soft-skin’, did it have pointed ears? A tail? Horns? Anything distinctive?"

"Not know..." the head repeated in a lower tone. "Only know was soft-skin."

Mark went quiet for a moment and then continued.

"What did it look like?"

The head thought for a couple of seconds, its eyes moving upward as if searching through a very limited memory.

"White clothes..." it said finally.

"White clothes?"

"Yes. Soft-skin with pretty white clothes. Shiny."

"I see... and where did it go after doing all this?"

"Me not know," the troll replied. "Not know, not know. Me die before see where it go."

"Could you identify its weapon if I described it to you?"

"Not know..." the head repeated. "Only know big club. Very big. Burned everything it touched."

"Do you have any idea how much time has passed since the attack?"

"Not know."

"...Can you remember anything else?"

"No..." the head said. "Everything very fast. Soft-skin come, burn everything, cut heads. We not able to do anything."

"I see..."

Mark looked at the head for a few more seconds before sighing heavily.

The troll’s mind was too intellectually limited to remember more specific details, and the fact that it had died during the attack meant it had no way of knowing where the attacker had gone afterward.

’Soft-skin, white clothes, big weapon that burned things... the more I think about it the less sense it makes,’ Mark thought, turning toward Alice.

"Alice, take care of it, I’ve gotten all the useful information out of it."

"As you command, my lord."

Alice walked toward the troll head, raised her hand, and placed it on top.

"Wha—" the troll said, looking up at her.

But before the head could say anything more, Alice closed her fist, crushing the skull as if it were nothing, and let the remains trickle between her fingers.

Mark turned toward the others, who had been watching the interrogation from a few meters back.

"What do you all make of what it said?" he asked.

Rose was the first to speak.

"If we take what it said at face value, the most likely explanation is that whoever did this was a particularly powerful demi-human," Rose replied, crossing her arms.

"Personally I wouldn’t trust a troll’s word," Aria said, tilting her head. "They’re too stupid in general, not to mention that for them anything without scales or horns is basically the same thing."

"Aria’s right," Ely continued, nodding. "Trolls aren’t exactly the most reliable witnesses."

Mark listened carefully to each of their opinions.

"And what do you think?" he asked, looking at Alice.

"Honestly I have no idea, my lord," she replied, shaking her head. "The description is too vague to draw any conclusions from."

Mark nodded and then turned toward Zilu.

"And you, Zilu? What do you thi—?"

Mark stopped mid-sentence, seeing how Zilu was standing a few meters away, completely still.

Her golden eyes were wide open and fixed on Mark, her rabbit ears were flat against her head, and her whole body was trembling slightly.

’...Damn, I forgot she didn’t know I’m a necromancer,’ Mark thought, taking in the situation. ’Better to talk to her and clear this up as soon as possible.’

Mark quickly turned toward the others.

"Alright, we’ll be staying here for the night," Mark said, raising his voice slightly. "So I need you to prepare an area where we can rest."

"Understood, Master!" Ely and Aria said at the same time.

"As you command, my lord," Alice replied.

"As you say, Master," Rose followed.

But before Yuki could say anything, Mark spoke to her.

"Yuki, I need you to watch the surroundings and warn us if you see anything out of place. Understood?"

"Understood," Yuki replied simply before vanishing.

Then Mark watched as the remaining four set themselves in motion, each heading to a different part of the camp to begin clearing the bodies and making an area where they could rest.

Mark watched them go and then walked toward where Zilu was.

"Zilu..." Mark said in a soft tone. "Can we talk for a second?"

Zilu’s ears moved slightly at hearing him.

"...Y-yes," she said quietly.