Chapter 38 : Interrogation (2/2)

I was so pissed.

Even worse, these people had forgotten that they attacked us.

How do you forget something that just happened?

When I asked why they attacked us, they yelled at me, saying they never did anything like that and asked why we were doing this.

Some threatened to report us, and others even started swinging their fists.

Seriously, the methods they used to resist were bizarre. I felt like I aged ten years from just interrogating them.

And then—

“I’ll call someone to take these people in. Just wait a moment.”

Bliss had left halfway through, saying she was going to call for backup.

Well, it’s not exactly “running away.” To conduct a more thorough interrogation, we’d need to take these people to the church, and handling so many on our own wasn’t feasible.

I knew that, but still, it felt like she’d abandoned us. It was exhausting doing this alone!

Anyway, after a long struggle, I realized I had finished the interrogation, and there was absolutely nothing useful to take away from it.

A deep sigh escaped me.

This cult, or whatever they were called, they were all too elusive, and the investigation process was nothing but bizarre experiences.

I couldn’t help but feel bitter.

I looked up at the sky.

It was a clear blue. Not a cloud in sight, and it was so bright.

I lowered my gaze to look around.

The area here was dark. The shadows of the buildings blocked the sunlight, casting a heavy gloom.

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

The shadow under this bright sky felt like the one I’d been hiding in the cult, constantly worried about being discovered.

And that’s why I smiled bitterly.

I stared blankly ahead.

“Ruina! I see Bliss over there!”

Reina’s voice came from beside me.

It seemed like Bliss had returned with some people.

Now, we could hand them over and continue our investigation somewhere else.

I shook my head, pushing away my thoughts.

Then, suddenly, my face turned hot with embarrassment.

What was I thinking just now?

Under that bright sky? What kind of middle schooler thought that way?

Ugh… I don’t know what’s going on with me lately. Maybe it’s because nothing’s going right?

I fanned my face, trying to cool off, and walked down the alley towards the end.

As I walked, I made a vow to forget what just crossed my mind.

“Dane, I just came up with a brilliant way to solve this situation. Want to hear it?”

“Huh? What is it?”

I glanced over at Agnes, who was looking unusually serious.

“How about we get captured on purpose?”

“What?”

I couldn’t hide my disbelief.

“Let’s get captured on purpose.”

“Wait… wait a second.”

I stopped walking, processing what she had just said. I was trying to figure out the meaning behind her words.

After a moment of thinking, I looked at her and said, confirming my thoughts.

“So, you’re saying we should get captured by the people who attacked us and infiltrate their base?”

“Exactly.”

“Isn’t that too dangerous?”

“It’s true that we have no other options.”

She had a point. The investigation hadn’t been progressing at all.

Since the ambush, we had continued to investigate. While there had been some notable events, we still didn’t have enough evidence to make any conclusions about the slums.

So, we pressed on with the investigation.

Here’s the translation of the provided text:

We were attacked with the same ambush again.

The ambushes occurred sporadically. While walking down the street, suddenly dozens of people would gather and attack us.

It wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it was something better, something that could be called a good thing.

Compared to the time when we couldn’t see anything, this was a tremendous improvement.

They were easy to repel. The gap in strength between us and them was significant.

So, it was puzzling. We couldn’t understand why they kept attacking us.

It was clear they were trying to do something to us, but… we had no idea what exactly they wanted to do.

Even after being repelled, they kept attacking us. After being knocked down once, they’d stay quiet for a while, but eventually, they’d form another group and attack us again.

It wasn’t even the same people coming at us each time. Every time we were attacked, the faces of the people changed. It seemed like they were sending different people after us each time.

Looking at all this, it seemed like there was a group targeting us, but the problem was that we couldn’t find any clues to identify who they were.

We captured a few of the attackers and interrogated them, but obtaining useful information was a long shot. We couldn’t even get anything from them. Most of them couldn’t even answer our questions.

This, too, was a mystery. Instead of responding to our questions, they just groaned and moaned. Wondering if they had lost their minds, I slapped them hard, but there was no meaningful reaction.

They seemed like people who had lost their sanity.

In the end, we got nothing.

Our investigation had once again hit a dead end.

Given the situation, her suggestion was quite appealing. If it worked, our questions could be resolved all at once.

But…

“That’s true… but what if something goes wrong?”

“You and me? Are you serious? You’re joking, right?”

Ugh, now that you mention it, I really have no argument against that.

“Then how do you plan on being kidnapped? It’s not like we’re going to be kidnapped in this state.”

If they were even a little bit smart, there’s no way they wouldn’t be suspicious.

“We’ll have to disguise ourselves. Make ourselves look like normal people.”

“Then we’ll have to disarm, won’t we?”

A reasonable reason to disarm; with that, she couldn’t really argue…

“We can carry daggers inside our clothes.”

Oh, right.

“What about the holy sword?”

I pointed to the holy sword strapped to my waist. She frowned slightly before answering.

“Ah, the length of the holy sword can be adjusted, you know. Did you think I wouldn’t know that?”

As she said, the holy sword had a feature that allowed its length to be changed.

How does she know that? Did I ever tell her?

Damn… now I have nothing to argue.

“Sigh… fine, let’s give it a try. Do we just change clothes then?”

In the end, I agreed to her suggestion.

“Do you really think they’ll come?”

I asked, in a voice just loud enough for Agnes, who was walking beside me, to hear.

“They will come, for sure.”

Her confident answer made me look ahead with a doubtful expression.

We were currently in disguise.

Our disguise was simple. We just changed our clothes.

We chose the cheapest clothes we could find in the market, instead of wearing our usual attire, following the idea that we should look ordinary. Other than that, we didn’t change anything else. We didn’t even bother with dyeing our hair, which is typically necessary for infiltrating.

‘I’m really nervous about this…’

I touched the position of the holy sword inside my clothes.

It was hidden inside my outer garment. I had made the holy sword about the length of a dagger and tied it vertically around my waist. Because of that, it wasn’t that noticeable from a distance.

Agnes didn’t look much different from me. After all, we both disguised ourselves the same way.

“Wait patiently, they’ll definitely come. Don’t waste time thinking about unnecessary things—focus on how to act naturally.”

“Yes, understood…”

I began to think about how I should act, following her advice. Many possible scenarios flashed in my mind and faded away.

‘Hmm… how can I look like I’m scared without overdoing it? Should I just scream out loud? Or maybe try talking more, to drag it out?’

Since I wanted to do it right, I carefully considered my options. It was rare for me to be so serious about something.

But unfortunately, my inner turmoil didn’t seem like it would last for long.

“Dane, they’re here.”

Suddenly, I heard Agnes’s voice, and I immediately looked around.

Just as she said, there were people surrounding us, though I couldn’t tell when they had appeared.

The distance wasn’t that close, but it seemed like it was just a matter of time before they closed in. They were slowly approaching from a distance.

I quickly checked my surroundings. All the paths were blocked.

They had surrounded us.

At that moment, Agnes spoke.

“Alright, let’s start acting.”

She leaned into my arm and quickly began walking.

I was momentarily startled by her sudden action, but I followed her without saying a word.

While walking, she held onto my arm and kept looking around restlessly. Her face was filled with anxiety.

Her hand gripping my arm was trembling slightly.

‘It really looks like she’s scared.’

I was shocked by the change in her. She looked just like a frightened girl.

‘I can’t lose to this.’

I silently stoked the fire of determination inside me. She was trying so hard, I couldn’t just do nothing.

I decided to put my earlier thoughts into action.

I straightened my back and…

I began turning my head every second.

When people feel fear or anxiety, they instinctively look around a lot.

So, if I look around often in a short time, I’m sure it will make the others think I’m frightened.

I kept turning my head, hoping to impress Agnes with my acting skills.

How’s that! She’ll surely be amazed by my excellent performance.

I looked at Agnes, eager to see her reaction.

But…

“Dane? What on earth are you doing…?”

She was staring at me with a bewildered expression. There was no sign of admiration in her eyes.

What? Is this really happening? It seems like my acting wasn’t enough for her.

Then, I had another idea.

I gathered strength in my throat, and as I turned my head again…

“Ahhhhhhh!”

I screamed as loud as I could.

“Ahhhhhhh! I’m scared! Ahhhhhhh! I’m scared! What should we do!!! Ahhhhhhh! There’s someone over there!!! Are they going to attack us???”

Each time I turned my head, I screamed, filling the air with my terrified voice.

Now, they’ll definitely see me as someone completely terrified.

It was perfect! Agnes will surely recognize my acting skills now!

“Yeah, I should have known, I was the fool for trusting you…”

But for some reason, she sighed deeply.

Why?

“Well, it’s a relief. They’ve surrounded us after seeing this, so it’s fine.”

As she said, they had already surrounded us. We were now at a point where they could rush at us any moment.

“Then, Dane.”

Agnes, judging that there was no need to keep pretending, let go of my arm.

“Let’s meet again on the inside.”

And just as she finished speaking…

They pounced on us.