6 Tell me first.

When they got off the mountain and returned to their country, the bandits they had captured were imprisoned in the barracks.

Afterwards, we were supposed to celebrate, but we politely declined.

I hadn't slept well since I came to this other world. The second time I was carried up the mountain, I was not so tired, but the last time I slept was less than an hour before I was woken up by Mr. Ilias.

When I complained about this with a serious face, one of the grandfather knights offered me free use of the bunk in the barracks, so after wiping me down, I borrowed some clothes and went to sleep.

It was a pleasant noon.

I could have slept well in the prison, but the quality of the bedding was different. My physical condition was perfect, except for the muscle aches that I couldn't shake.

But then, a nagging feeling in his stomach told him that he was hungry.

I've got to get something to eat. ......

You get out of bed and leave the bedroom.

As he wandered about, he met one of the grandfather knights.

He is a spearman,......, I think his name is.

He briefly introduced himself to me, but I honestly don't remember.

If it was a Japanese name, I might have barely remembered it, but my memory is not good enough to remember nearly ten names with horizontal letters in one introduction.

"Oh, it's you. You've been sleeping well.

"Yes, I did. What's your name again?

Karagyuglesta-Dmitry Kovkon.

Hmm, I'm not sure I can remember even one of them. The rest of the grandfathers had long names, too.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!　I get that a lot. You could call me Grandpa Kara.

"Thank you for your help. ...... Grandfather Kara, could you give us some food?　I've only been eating nuts for the past few days. ......

Oh, that's not good. I still have some leftover food from yesterday if you want it.

Honestly, I don't care what it is.

I went to the cafeteria as he led me there, and sure enough, there was a lot of food left on the plates.

All the food looked wild, which is good for junk food lovers.

Do you want me to reheat the soup?

I don't mind as long as it fills me up.

You eat the soup with the meat.

The taste that would normally make me feel sad is now more than enough for me.

It's the first time I've tasted the cuisine of this world, but it's not so bad that it's unpalatable.

There are some peculiar herbs that are used. It has a strong aroma, but it seems to disguise the fishy smell of the meat well.

The soup is a simple stew of ingredients with some herbs.

No salt was used in any of the dishes. As the country is surrounded by mountains and forests, salt from the sea may be a precious commodity, or it may not be widely available.

The taste is too light for modern people, but it is much better than eating nuts.

When I had eaten until I was satisfied with my meal, Grandpa Kara, who had disappeared somewhere, fetched me a wooden mug of water.

I would have liked a drink, but the Iliad seemed to be in trouble. Would you mind showing him around afterwards?

"Yes, of course. But first, why don't we get this over with?

"Oh, yes, thank you.

He wrapped his arms around himself and went to the dishes.

Then, while chatting with Grandpa Kara, he visited the resting room next to the prison where Ilias was.

According to him, this barracks was a garrison for the gatekeepers who guarded the castle gates and the knights who guarded the castle perimeter.

Originally, Grandpa Kara and Mr. Ilias were in charge of patrolling the castle town and other police-like duties, but this time, Mr. Ilias was specially assigned to exterminate the bandits.

Oh yeah, this country is called Taze.

"Oh, Iliad. I've brought the boy.

"Oh, I see.

Ilias is sitting in his chair, somewhat absent-mindedly thinking.

He doesn't seem to be talking at all, does he?

Yeah, I left it to someone better at it, but that didn't work. He told me that he would die if I made it any harder.

That's some crazy shit.

What's he talking about?　Are you interrogating the bandits?

Yeah, we rounded up a bunch of bandits yesterday, but there are other bandits nesting here in Taze. I'm sure there are other bandits nesting in this taze, but there was no fighting among them, so I assumed there would be some sort of exchange of information. ......

I see, it's not like a bandit gang of that size is dealing with a whole country.

There's not much I know about it. Can I ask you about the current situation?

Yes, of course.

It all started when the king of the neighboring country, Garnets, was replaced.

The new Ghanaian king did a great job of strengthening the country and restricting the activities of the criminals.

The criminals left Ghanaian and fled to neighboring countries. One of these countries is Taiz.

The territory of Taize is as large as that of Ghane, but it is full of forests and mountains, and bandits saw it as a good place to establish their base.

And in recent years, there has been a lot of looting. The knights began to take action to stop them.

However, the bandits avoided fighting the knights, and cleverly exploited the gaps to repeatedly loot.

I see. I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

"We've had knights in the back of carts, merchants in disguise, to no avail. They use detection magic.

"They use detection magic," he said, "a magic that allows you to perceive a certain amount of magic around you, along with its height, even if you are not within sight.

I'm not sure what to make of this.

I guess it's a magical version of a thermosensor that detects heat sources. That sounds really useful.

I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what's going on.

"There was a time when we were trapped. But they're watching from the woods. As soon as he's caught by the detection spell, he can run deeper.

That's what you said yesterday. You said yesterday that if a spell is used, the target will know it's been used. 　

With that kind of speed, I'm sure they could chase us while using detection magic.

Of course. Of course not. But he's going to scatter the Demon Stone as he flees.

Hexenbiest?

You don't know anything about that? Where are you from, kid?

Here.

He showed me a transparent stone with a faint yellow-green tinge.

It was about the size of a marble and did not appear to have been altered in any way.

It looked more like a glass stone than a gemstone.

This stone is proportional to its size and is surrounded by a certain magical power. When magic touches it, the stone reacts, breaking down the magic construct and dispersing it as magic power. It is, as the saying goes, a stone that seals magic.

What a fantasy killer. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

"By the way, is this stone valuable?

"This is about as much as a child could buy with their allowance.

Oh, that level?

So wizards are almost powerless in battle?

You mean a warrior who specializes in magic?　Yes. If you're a good magician, you can use magic to send rocks flying and avoid the effects of the magic seal stone, but if you just shoot the magic seal stone at close range, you'll be powerless. In the event of a war, bringing in a huge magic seal stone will often render the entire battlefield incapable of using magic.

I'm curious, if you have something like this, can't you use detection magic?

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure you'll be able to do it.

"Yes, if you use it in all directions. That's why you have to use it in a specific direction. If there is a companion with a magic seal near you, cut off the detection range in the direction of that companion. It's not a difficult skill to learn. If you are familiar with the technique, you can use magic while wearing a magic seal. The size is limited, though.

So you're good with it?

Yes, with practice. But since it's not always easy to know which size someone else has and where they are, it will be difficult to use magic in actual combat.

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will help you. You can use it to detect your surroundings if you avoid the direction of that room.

Hmm, a stone that can adjust its neutralization range depending on its size.

It's also reasonably priced, so it's disposable.

If you throw it away while fleeing, you can effectively interfere with your pursuers' detection spells.

So what if the merchants have it?

No. If they have a way to cancel the detection spell, they will be judged as having some means of resistance and will still be able to hide.

On the other hand, would it be harder for the bandits to attack if I let them have it?

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that works for you.

"It's true that the initial detection spell can be neutralized. But if the location is identified to a certain extent and avoided, detection magic can be used again.

What about large quantities or large sizes?

Disabling the detection spell will work temporarily. But then they'll start attacking the merchants at the drop of a hat. If we mix in a decoy, we might get a prize at some point, but it'll cost us a lot of lives. It's hard to get everyone to accept that offer.

Well, not many merchants are willing to take the risk of unavoidable sacrifice.

If we don't cut off the source of the problem, the bandits will find a new way and we'll be stuck with them.

They will search for the enemy and attack only those they can.

On the other hand, if they are spotted, they will use the magic seal to escape.

They are very troublesome bandits.

It was fortuitous that the bandits' stronghold was discovered by a person from another world who had little inherent magic power and was not considered to be human-level by detection magic, and that he leaked the information.

No wonder he was so excited.

You mean we have to take them down after all, right?

Yeah, but I thought I had the tail end of it, but I can't seem to get any ...... information out.

And that finally brings us back to our current problem.

If we don't make use of the information from the bandits we captured, we've only reduced the damage rate a little bit.

No, the damage will remain the same if other bandits become more active, happy that they have increased their share.

Is there any magic that can be used to brainwash or manipulate?

"Yes, there is. But you need to put a spell on the head to do that. And these guys have a small magic seal embedded in their heads. If you try to take it out, you'll just die.

That's thorough. If they had surgical skills, it would be possible, but considering the level of this world, it would be difficult. It would be possible to remove it precisely with magic, but if the stone that nullifies the magic is implanted in the first place, there's nothing we can do.

I'm surprised that the bandits didn't give in to the interrogation of these gorilla knights.

Do they have a strong sense of camaraderie, or did they destroy almost all the bandits they captured yesterday?

I wonder if he values the information of other bandits more than his own life, let alone his own relatives.

I was wondering, can I be your interrogator?

"What?

Both Ilias and Kara looked at me with a curious expression.

Then I brought the bandit to the interrogation room, and here we are.

I have no intention of torturing him, so we sit in chairs across the desk from each other like a cop drama.

"What?　What the f*ck?

New interrogator.

What, next to a knight, you're a bean sprout?　Tarz is of low quality.

You don't need muscles for interrogation. I'm not even comfortable doing anything painful.

You're not only a sprout, you're a coward. Just kill him. I got nothing to give you.

They're threatening me, I'm afraid.

They're hating on us.

He's already been interrogated and tortured by the knight. You can see many new scars on his body.

But I've seen more monsters than that, so I'm feeling more confident.

"Then tell me why you can't talk?

"What?

We're doing everything we can to get information about you. I'm trying to get information on you and you're not telling me, and I want to know why.

"Are you nuts?　Why should I talk to the enemy?

I've talked to the people in charge of this case, and they say that you will not be executed. You've taken the lives of many people and there's nothing you can do about it.

"Of course there is. So kill him now.

That's what's bothering me. I was wondering why you stubbornly refuse to do so when all you want to do is die. Even if you spit out information, you will eventually die. The only people who will suffer are the bandits who aren't your business rivals. Normally, you'd rather be tortured to death than have to give up your information and die a comfortable death, right?

"......

It seems to me that, at least for you, selling information about other bandits is more frightening than dying. That's what I want to know.

What's the point of telling me that?

It makes sense to me.

What?

"If I can convince you why I can't give you the information, there's no need to interrogate me. Not so bad for both of us, don't you think?

......

I'm not asking you to sell your friends. I'm suggesting that you tell us why you can't sell them so that you can die comfortably. If there's a reason why you can't even talk about it, then there's nothing we can do. I'll leave the rest to the efforts of the knights.

Well, that last part seemed like a threat, and I think it was a negative thing, but I let it slip.

I hope it works.

"...... doesn't care what happens after death, he can give us eternal fear.

Oh, you're talking.

You can't talk about it in detail, can you?

No.

Well, if you have the means to do something, then you're selling information.

That narrows down the direction a lot. I got something worthwhile out of it.

This bandit said "he".

That means there's a very real threat to this bandit crew.

He is probably making similar threats to the other bandits.

If so, the bandits based in Taze may be cooperating or obeying him.

Secondly, there is a way to make him regret his actions even after his death.

The first thing that comes to mind is killing his family.

But the bandits in front of him are already dead. It's hard to imagine him holding his wife hostage like a warlord.

And it's not an eternal fear. Rather, it is the word "eternal fear" that we should be concerned about.

There are a few candidates that come to mind, but they are all just guesses based on fantasy delusions.

There's no point in worrying about it here, I'll ask an expert.

"Okay, okay. That's enough, thank you.

I said, and got up to move.