Zarek's brain kicked into overdrive, his eyes darting as he tried to find a path out. He couldn't help but curse himself at the same time. Although he couldn't have known, the fact that he was taking so long to reply now, when he had replied almost instantly every other time, was bound to be suspicious.
Right now, Zarek couldn't just pretend as though he hadn't said what he had said. Dream Godsfall Tears were far more sophisticated than that. Because he had already interacted with the man, the words he'd spoken would definitely be remembered by him and influence everything else.
If he just pretended as though he hadn't said anything, that would trigger something from the time that kept this place in its loop, and he would lose nonetheless.
He had to find an answer that was acceptable for the system without trying to treat the man as though he was some sort of NPC he could steamroll.
'Son of a bitch.'
Though Zarek was cursing, he found this to be another hugely consequential piece of information.
If he couldn't just pretend to be from elsewhere, it was safe to say that the scope of Adastra was on a much larger scale than he knew. It was likely almost impossible to travel from somewhere else to here, or this was the entire scope of the world they were in to begin with—maybe an empire that covered an entire planet or continent.
There was also one other explanation, and that was that Adastra was so powerful in this world that the idea of someone from elsewhere not knowing of it, or coming here in ignorance of its practices, was ridiculous.
This last possibility was likely the strongest. The average strength here was exceptionally high, and this was a C Class Godsfall Tear, which meant the odds that there were stories of higher Class strengths elsewhere were minimal at best.
Meaning, even if Adastra was limited in scope, just the power they held was on another level.
'But this is an interesting tidbit too. They use Matrices just fine, which means they're not opposed to Godsfall in general, at least not when used through that lens. But "magic" is a no-go.'
"… Why are you suddenly questioning me, old man?" Zarek replied, as though put off.
"… You're the one who—"
"Forget what I said!"
"… Listen, kid, I get that you're flustered. But any information you have, especially about a place where… magic is allowed, would be hugely beneficial. A lot of us just don't have a place to go. So what if we escape Adastra? We'll just be hunted down for the rest of our lives. There's nowhere to go where we'd be safe from their clutches. There's no sky the Adastra can't palm."
Zarek's eyes narrowed. That last sentence…
'It's worth a shot.'
"… I don't know, alright? All I know is that one of the Adastra helped."
"… Princess Sona?!—"
'There it is.'
Zarek finally got a name.
He had made a bet the moment he heard the old man use Adastra as a name rather than the title of an empire. If there really was someone important that he had to decide either to save or destroy, it would almost certainly come from that family.
Of course, that wasn't a 100% certainty, but given the assuredness of the man's answer, it seemed Zarek had hit paydirt.
The question now was if he should be saving this Princess Sona or killing her. That would decide everything.
Right now, everything was leaning toward saving her, but that was just Zarek's own personal bias at play. He wouldn't be able to tell whether to save or kill her until he personally laid eyes on her, and that would more than likely have to wait for the execution date.
Something told Zarek that she would be there.
But… should he leave it up to chance like this? There was still a small possibility that their target wasn't him. And if he lay rotting in a cell all this time while the others were scrambling to try and find him, that might lead to a problem as well.
Priya could defend herself. But… this was still a world with Crux and Belladoll in it. There was only so much experience Zarek could instill in them in such a short time. They could be easily outmaneuvered by the duo's knowledge.
'It looks like I'll still have to try and find a way out of here.'
"—No! No! No! We told her not to get involved!"
The rest of the man's words echoed in Zarek's ears, and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. So they had already had interactions with this woman.
"Her heart is too big. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! And for a useless, ungrateful brat like you! How could you get yourself caught after all the effort she put into—!"
The man's voice came to an abrupt stop, and the rumbling of a gate and the jangling of chains reached them.
'Someone outside the cages…'
That was the only way sound would travel so easily in this place.
There was the rhythmic cadence of boots almost gliding along the stone. It was either this person was too obese to lift their feet, or… well, that was still the best explanation Zarek could think of.
Lo and behold, a man with a gut as large as a wok appeared in Zarek's line of sight, looking him up and down while his cheeks practically glistened with bacon fat.
Even so… Zarek could feel strong fluctuations coming off of him in waves.
C Class.
This man's Strength was off the charts. This was just a gut feeling on Zarek's part. For now, he didn't dare to use his Scouting Skill, not on C Classes in this situation.
That was right. The system was cruel, but not to the point of leaving you without any options. It was just a question of when the opportunity would come.
Ultimately, the system had its own rules to follow.
If Zarek was plopped into this world, he could be given a useless identity or a strong identity depending on the priority he received in entering. That was the advantage of entering early.
But he would be unlikely to receive a negative identity. Even if he was a prisoner… there should be something of use here he could use.
At first, he thought it was the man he could talk to and gain information from. All things considered, he had gained information far more quickly here than he would have in the outside world. He hadn't even been here for ten minutes, but he knew pretty much everything.
However, it seemed that there might be a more dangerous opportunity lurking here.
Zarek looked down at his arms still pulsing with vascularity. The pain hadn't subsided. In fact, it was still just increasing. But he was going to need his body to cooperate very soon.