<”So, can you explain in detail? What do you mean by ‘murderer’?”>

  【Killing sentient beings—other than monsters—grants status points. Even taking the life of an ordinary villager yields at least one point. The stronger the opponent, the greater the reward. However, given her history, she likely did not fight countless powerful enemies. Instead, this suggests she killed a large number of people who were either weaker or of similar strength to herself.】

  My breath hitched.

  <”... So your conclusion is that she massacred villagers?”>

  【That is one possibility.】

  <”What are the others?”>

  【She killed many people driven by emotion.】

  <”Emotion? What do you mean?”>

  【When someone kills another non-monster, the amount of status points they receive can increase or decrease based on the emotions they feel at the time of the kill.】

  Aza’s voice remained eerily neutral, but I could already tell where this was going.

  【There are two emotions that amplify status gains.】

  【Either she killed people she held dearest...】

  【…or she killed people she hated the most.】

  I felt something inside me freeze.

  【Given that she is an elf, and she has been a slave for the past 20 years, the latter scenario is the most probable.】

  My mind refused to move forward. It didn’t want to connect the dots.

  I didn't want to understand.

  <”Why does her race matter?”>

  【Based on history, 20 years ago, the Herrschaft Empire launched a surprise attack on the Rosenwood Kingdom, home of the elves. It was a one-sided slaughter before war was even declared, catching the elves completely off guard. Given the timeline, she was likely captured during that event and subsequently sold into slavery.】

  【Since no other major wars occurred in that period, this is the most probable event that led to her enslavement.】

  My throat tightened.

  <”And you’re saying… she massacred humans?”>

  【There are two primary possibilities.】

  【One: She was forced to fight against her own people, the elves.】

  【Two: Her master perished on the battlefield, and she went on a rampage, single-handedly slaughtering the empire’s soldiers before being recaptured and enslaved once more.】

  I shut my eyes.

  <”... And you think the second option is more likely?”>

  【Yes. Because she was able to fake her status.】

  【If she had posed as an ordinary villager, no commander in their right mind would have brought her to the battlefield. An elf with no combat capability would have been nothing but a burden.】

  The pieces clicked together, forming a picture so horrifying I wanted to rip it apart.

  【Yes. Because she was able to fake her status.】

  <”But why did you assume her master died when she was on the battlefield? Couldn’t she have been in her master’s residence?”>

  【Because no historical records mention a massacre using wind or heat magic in any imperial towns or cities in the last 20 years.】

  【However, if she had gone berserk on the battlefield, it would not be recorded separately from the war casualties.】

  【But it is also possible on the third possibility that she massacred a town within 4 years before she joined the adventurer. I don’t know about the situation of the empire in the past 6 years, so I could only make a guess.】

  【However, that possibility is small if we're assumed that she massacred people with the emotion of hatred.】

  <”Ah, I see. It’s weird if she hates unrelated people so much, right?”>

  【Correct.】

  I exhaled shakily.

  <”Alright, assuming the second probability had a higher chance, why would her master take her to the battlefield at all, despite being an ordinary villager?”>

  【There are two possibilities.】

  【One: She was used as a hostage to pressure the elves.】

  【This is unlikely unless she was a high elf or of royal blood.】

  <”Right… no commander would risk sacrificing their entire army just to save a single ordinary elf slave.”>

  That was reality—not some fantasy novel where the hero miraculously saves everyone.

  But the second possibility...

  I wasn’t ready for it.

  <”And the second possibility?”>

  Aza’s voice turned colder.

  【To raise the morale of the soldiers.】

  <”What? What’s the connection between an elf slave and—”>

  I stopped.

  My breath caught in my throat.

  My eyes widened.

  A sickening realization hit me like a blade to the stomach.

  <”No… you don’t mean—”>

  【Correct.】

  【She was used as a toy for the soldiers.】

  Something inside me shattered.

  My hands shot up, clutching my head.

  <”That’s—That’s insane—”>

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  【Not really. This is war. And in war, soldiers are granted ‘rewards’ to keep their morale high.】

  【She was likely used by hundreds, possibly thousands of men.】

  【It also aligns with our discussion on how she killed the lives of those she despises the most, in this case, soldiers.】

  <”Crazy…..”>

  I felt sick.

  I wanted to throw up.

  I wanted to scream.

  I wanted to erase this reality from existence.

  But I couldn’t.

  Because it happened.

  Because she lived through it.

  Because she survived it.

  How? How the hell is she still alive?

  How… How could she still smile like that?

  How could she still wear a fake happy expression after all that!?

  If I had endured even a fraction of that, I would have broken beyond repair.

  I thought she endured torture since she alluded to torment when we were discussing in the room before.

  But it was far more terrifying than I could ever imagine.

  The mistreatment surpassed the cruelty she experienced from her current master.

  <”...How many soldiers did she kill?”>

  【It depends on how adeptly she managed her emotions during those killings. She could secure at least 5 points for each soldier. Or a maximum of 10 points for each soldier if not only did she maintain her emotions, but her emotions reached their peak as well.】

  【Based on the 11,000 points, she must have slain at least 1,100 soldiers before succumbing to exhaustion.】

  I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my skin.

  I pressed my forehead against my hands.

  The room felt smaller, like the walls were closing in.

  For fifteen minutes, I sat there, shaking.

  Even now, my hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

  But I decided to progress to the next topic.

  I forced myself to move on.

  <“Aza… What about the Heat element?”>

  【It’s a fusion of Fire and Wind elements. It can manifest wind magic as scorching as fire, or fire magic as refreshing as the wind.】

  <”Fire? But she doesn’t have Fire.”>

  【That means she acquired Heat through fulfilling a specific condition. I can only offer a speculative analysis.】

  I heard it’s almost non-existent for native people here to obtain a new element.

  But, who would have known that the very person who succeeded in acquiring it was nearby.

  【One way to obtain Fire is by surpassing an extreme anger threshold.】

  【However, in her case, her Wind magic fused with that rage, creating a hybrid element instead of Fire.】

  I swallowed.

  Anger threshold…

  It’s a way that I had dismissed from my thoughts before as there is no way that my peaceful life here could trigger it.

  Yet, Sis Esta did it.

  <”So, it happened by accident?”>

  【Correct.】

  I thought of the moment she unleashed her anger—all of it—on the battlefield.

  Her wind, once cold and sharp, ignited into a blazing storm of death.

  The threshold should be significantly higher than mine.

  …How much rage did she unleash to breach that threshold?

  <“But why didn’t she get the fire?”>

  【If it were only her anger reaching the threshold, she would have acquired the fire element instead of Heat.】

  【But what if she was intensely angry during a massacre, specifically when using her wind magic, which necessitates a mental image for activation?】

  <”...The image in her mind used to activate wind magic may have unintentionally fused with her anger-filled thoughts.”>

  【Correct. Rather than gaining the fire element, her wind element blended with the fire element. Thus, she obtained the Heat element.】

  It's akin to the parallel thinking skill often depicted in fantasy anime, albeit an unsuccessful one.

  What occurs when you attempt to hold two distinct thoughts with a single mind?

  Unintentional merging might transpire.

  For instance, if I contemplate desiring curry for lunch while simultaneously harboring thoughts of wanting to cry due to bullying by classmates.

  My thoughts might inadvertently converge into something like ‘I want to have curry while crying’.

  In her case, it would be akin to ‘I want to unleash wind magic fueled by my anger’.

  <”So, why is it locked?”>

  【Because she skipped a crucial step. She obtained Heat without first acquiring Fire, resulting in a half-failure combined element.】

  【There are two ways to unlock it.】

  【To permanently unlock it, she must obtain the fire element.】

  【To temporarily unlock it, she must reach the anger threshold again.】

  【However, if it’s the latter, the threshold should lower, perhaps similar to Master’s threshold.】

  <”In either case, it appears unattainable now.”>

  【There’s a possibility for you to aid her.】

  <”Huh?”>

  【The exact method is unclear, but since Master’s Status Manipulation can unveil an element hidden by her, unlocking it through Status Manipulation should be viable.】

  【I'm in the process of analyzing all conceivable variables. Please be patient. Given case rarity, it might take longer than usual.】

  I patiently await her analysis.

  Meanwhile, my thoughts linger on Sis Esta.

  How deep is the pain she conceals in her heart?

  Loneliness must shroud her.

  Having experienced the agony of unshared pain.

  Cries only heard by the moonlight.

  Silent screams resonating from an unheard heart.

  A mind consumed by thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

  I had experienced such thoughts in my past life.

  I knew how hard it was to survive through that.

  Unbeknownst to me, tears flow from my eyes.

  I yearn to assist her, to hear the silent screams of her heart.

  I desire to alleviate her pain and wipe away her tears that couldn’t be seen by others.

  Without realizing it, ten minutes passed and Aza’s voice resonated in my mind once more.

  【Completed.】

  【You could manually unlock her Heat element using 10,000 of her status points.】

  【Or, you could grant her Fire using 1,000 status points, which would automatically unlock Heat as well.】

  【If it’s the former, she won’t obtain the fire element. The latter, although typically impossible, becomes viable since she already has the Heat element.】

  The choice is evident. Opting for the latter is wiser.

  【However, for you to alter her status, she must have a high level of trust in you. So-】

  <”There’s one more reason for me to level up the appraisal skill to the maximum level… so I can check her Trust level.”>

  【Correct.】

  【By the way, the reason why she has B-Rank status is probably due to the massacre as well. It must have been a gruesome battle for her. Her status before that was likely around C-Rank.】

  <”She obtained that much status from a single battle?”>

  【It’s plausible that the fight was exceptionally intense. Moreover, she must have forced herself to keep fighting despite exhaustion. She surpassed her capabilities.】

  I nodded.

  It’s expected.

  When someone is clouded in anger, they can do anything.

  I slowly wiped my eyes.

  Without realizing it, I had started crying.

  I don’t know if I could say that I understand her level of pain.

  The pain of being alone.

  The agony of carrying a past no one else can comprehend.

  The torment of having no one to share it with.

  Even if it took years…

  Even if it took decades…

  I would become the one person who could hear her silent screams.