Anna hesitated for a moment and then slowly walked up to Fisher. She lifted her head and opened her mouth to show him, lying quietly on her pink tongue, a ring of black markings. At the same time, she explained,
"The ’Life and Death Bell’... My life is bound to a relic hidden in the Blake Vault. Do you see this seal? My entire life is now in the hands of that man, and he could kill me at any moment. If testifying for you means sacrificing my life, I’d rather not cooperate with you. I’ve said my piece. I can help you, but only after I regain my freedom..."
After she spoke, she closed her little mouth and quietly waited for Fisher’s response.
But Fisher just gazed at her beautiful and serene face, then suddenly asked,
"Do you hate Captain Blake?"
Anna was slightly taken aback, then she laughed sarcastically,
"Hate? Hate is an understatement. I wish I could chop off his skin, his muscles, his innards and feed them all to the Lulu Pigs—wish his soul would fall to Hell and never find salvation!"
The way Anna described the pigs was peculiar. Fisher had heard the term before during his travels on the South Continent with the Dragon-man Species, when Lar mentioned that her mother raised Lulu Pigs in the tribe.
"Are you from the South Continent?"
Anna glanced at Fisher, then straightened her clothes indifferently and said,
"I am a Human from the South Continent, the ’natives’ in the eyes of you arrogant West Continent people. Satisfied? Are you going to cooperate with me or not?"
"...Why choose to cooperate with me?"
"Choose you? More accurately, I chose to cooperate with Princess Elizabeth behind you..."
Anna sat down in a chair, looking in the direction of the church, her eyes revealing a gentle reminiscence,
"I once saw the Princess at Full Moon Church when she came here as a guest for some event. I had wanted to run away, but she encouraged me to stay and listen to the teachings of the Mother Goddess... Ha, it was only after that day that I realized there is still light in this world, and then I decided to escape from that scum’s grasp."
"Princess Elizabeth’s status is very high, and she couldn’t possibly be associated with Pink Hall. She’s the one I truly want to cooperate with. But since I can’t meet the Princess directly, I can only convey my wishes through you, someone who seems to have a good relationship with her."
Fisher’s questions were very detailed. Although he could deduce that this Anna was likely an insider--a traitor within Pink Hall--with genuine hatred for the people behind it, knowing more about her thoughts ensured no loose ends would be left.
Seeing Fisher still considering, Anna decided to reveal more about why she took an interest in Fisher, recounting their first meeting,
"Ha, I knew you weren’t really a Schwali the very first time you came to Pink Hall pretending to be one... My nose is quite sensitive, so that night I immediately knew you were Fisher Benavides. The Schwali Perfume you used was lighter than what other Schwali people used, that’s how I recognized your true scent."
"At the time, I suspected you were looking for the Witch Kachina. Or did you think I would let her go out to contact and deal with you? If it weren’t for your dealings with her, which brought protection to the Schwali Delegation, there would have been casualties there, and the seriousness of the situation today would have been more than just this..."
Well, Fisher had indeed not expected that.
He had sprayed the Schwali Perfume Elizabeth had given him when entering Pink Hall, probably because she thought the real Schwali Perfume was too... beastly, so she gave him a lighter-scented one to use. As a result, it became the flaw that Anna discovered. No wonder Kachina’s communications with him had been so smooth—it was her doing behind the scenes.
"As long as you can get into Blake’s Vault and help me destroy the relic that controls my life and death, I will testify for you and expose all the things he’s done..."
Fisher tapped the edge of the chair and after a second or two, nodded and said,
"Fine, I agree to cooperate with you. Tell me everything you know."
Seeing Fisher’s willingness to cooperate, Anna showed a fleeting moment of joy, but a second later, she tentatively asked Fisher,
"You will tell Princess Elizabeth about our cooperation, right? Without her help, I’m afraid..."
Fisher nodded with a wry smile, as if the task of retrieving the relic was not his but Elizabeth’s. However, he didn’t mind such technicalities,
"I will inform the Princess about this."
Anna still appeared slightly wary, concerned that the man before her might deceive her. She hesitated whether to tell Fisher the information right then. Since meeting Princess Elizabeth directly was out of the question, she ultimately chose to trust Fisher,
"Alright, I’ll tell you everything I know... Under that scum Blake’s command are two working workshops: one is Pink Hall, which I’m in charge of, and the other is the Healing Room under Kachina’s management. Our responsibilities differ; I primarily handle ’material’ collection, essentially living beings such as humans or demi-humans."