Chapter 37

I’m sitting on a chair.

Unusually, the chair is made of iron, has shackles that can be attached to the arms and legs as an option, and is fixed to the floor with nails.

‘Aren’t you supposed to give me some time to rest as a human being?’

To summarize the current situation further, where I am currently at is the interrogation room, located in the basement of the Adventurers’ Guild.

Across the table sits the investigator.

His age is somewhere around the mid-thirties, and he’s got a high-pitched tone of voice that’s often related to obesity.

“I’m Cordo Biermann, the investigator in charge of this case. I’ll be asking you some questions, so I hope you respond cooperatively.”

“Investigation? Why don’t you first tell me why you arrested me?”

I ask impatiently.

I’m not even asking about the principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but this much should at least be a reasonable right for a defendant in this age.

Thud–!

The cunt of an investigator kicks me in the shin.

His mouth rips into a sly smirk.

“Rule one, you only answer what I ask. Understand?”

“… I get it.”

“Hey, if you properly follow the rules, you won’t get hurt anymore, rest assured.”

You really think you hurt me just now?

Compared to what I’ve suffered inside the labyrinth, being kicked in the shin tickles at most.

This bastard must have some kind of a fetish regarding his profession.

“Anyway, to answer your question… Bjorn Yandel. You have been arrested for pillaging inside the labyrinth.”

“… A pillaging charge?”

What kind of a bullshit rip-off is this, I can’t help but wonder.

The investigator bastard picks up my backpack and upends it, spilling the contents on the floor.

“Whew, that’s a lot.”

Exploration items such as torches and sleeping bags.

A special item obtained from the Blood Citadel.

From the rest, food and other miscellaneous items, the investigator takes out only the equipment and puts them on the table.

Mostly stuff from the party of four who’d ambushed us in the Land of the Dead.

“If you hadn’t pillaged, where did this come from? A barbarian wouldn’t use a bow.”

“That… They belong to those who tried to kill me first.”

“Evidence?”

Evidence?

There’s no such thing, but there’s no reason for me to be meek.

So I retort.

“Then do you have any proof that I’m lying?”

“Well, I’ll have to investigate that from now on.”

“So you’re arresting people and investigating them without any proof?”

This is the part I can’t understand the most.

This is different from the usual habits of the Adventurers’ Guild.

It’s the unwritten rule of this city to not ask anything without evidence, no matter what the adventurers bring out in the labyrinth.

Therefore, the guild never proactively searches for pillagers unless reports or testimonies come in.

But…

“The guild’s internal rules changed a few days ago.”

Since he says that, I have nothing to respond with.

This isn’t a game, but a fully realized, fleshed-out world with innumerable people.

“The official guideline is to start with level nine adventurers, to deter pillaging.”

In a nutshell, it means to test out the doctrine from the weaklings.

Wherever you go, if you have low status, you will suffer.

I can roughly guess the criteria to be investigated.

Did you collect a lot of mana stones, or do you have equipment that appears to belong to someone else in your backpack? Something like that, it must be.

So I got two strikes from the start?

“Well then, tell me. Where did you get all this?”

Anyway, the initial attitude was probably just to kill my fighting spirit, and after that, the investigator bastard continues the investigation normally.

So, I try to be as open and cooperative about what I’d experienced as possible.

Oh, of course, I leave out the psychopath I’d met.

If I talk about her, I also have to talk about the oath, and a barbarian who breaks an oath will be considered strange wherever he goes.

It’s far more dangerous to be hunted down by that demoness than to be framed for murder. Especially in the aspect that there’s no room for excuses.

‘If I report her for no reason, I might get quietly butchered by that woman without tipping off even a mouse or a bird.’

Therefore, I only briefly state about meeting a four-man pillager group, falling into a state of ‘suppression’ and then killing them in a dramatic reversal.

However, the investigator bastard doesn’t buy any of it.

“What? Can you survive being stabbed in the neck? You’re telling lies that even a child won’t believe.”

“I’m only telling the truth.”

“Then where did the scar on your neck go? According to what you said, it should have left a mark, right?”

I unconsciously touch my neck.

It’s smooth, with not even a scab.

There’s no reason why it would stay.

After eating the vampire essence, my natural regeneration increased so much that even the scar got healed.

‘… Why are things like this again?’

I don’t like it, but in the end I have to spill my guts about the rift.

The only problem is that the investigator bastard doesn’t even listen to me to the end.

“Pfft! Hahaha! Rift? And a vampire came out? Because you’re a barbarian, there’s no logic in your words!”

“I swear upon my honour, everything I’ve said is true.”

Perhaps he’s finally hardened his heart, because even my oath as a warrior, which worked every time like a cheat, is useless this time.

“What honour can a pillager have?”

I, too, am fed up by now.

“Then, call a wizard! Shouldn’t it be verified through magic?”

In fact, there was no need for such a long conversation.

Just one magic technique can reveal the truth.

However, the investigator bastard only grins back.

“It’s possible to make a formal verification request to the guild – from level seven or higher.”

Damn, when did this change again?

They aren’t treating level nine adventurers like human beings atll.

“Even if I pay the fee?”

“It’s money that’d be returned to the state when you die. We can’t waste it on meaningless things.”

Shit, it’s probably because I don’t have enough money to spend.

“Come on, just admit your crime.”

It seems that it’ll take a while to prove my innocence.

As if announcing the end of the fortnight spent inside the labyrinth, the dazzling noon sunlight wrapped around her body.

Erwen stood still for a moment, as if to bask in that warmth.

Fragments of memories were interspersed in her head, perhaps because of the sudden stark shift in environment.

‘I didn’t know the third floor would be so hard…’

The third floor that she’d entered with her sister.

For the first time in her life, she’d experienced the might of level seven monsters.

Even though it was her sister who’d almost fought alone, even the sixth-grade monster they’d met by chance at the end.

Truly, this was her first journey that’d actually felt like an expedition.

Well, my first time in the labyrinth with uncle wasn’t bad either… But I was just in a hurry to survive then, so it was a different experience.

‘Would he be very surprised if I told him?’

She wanted to run to him and tell him about what she’d experienced in the labyrinth. And she also wanted to ask him, how was his trip this time?

Just thinking about it made her tired body feel refreshed.

‘If I tell him that I got a new essence, would it again be like last time? … ?’

That was a bit worrisome, but…

For some reason, her steps felt lighter than usual.

Erwen quickly headed to the money changer for level nine adventurers.

‘Is it different this time? I can’t see him anywhere… ‘

“It’s 184,100 stones.”

“Wow…”

“Isn’t that a lot of money for a level nine adventurer?”

“I went with my sister!”

“May I know her name?”

“Daria Wittember di Tersia.”

“Yes, it’s been confirmed. You may go.”

After exchanging the mana stones, meeting her sister outside, unpacking at the inn, washing herself and changing into new clothes (that took three hours), she finally headed straight to Bjorn’s inn.

But how could this happen?

“Ah, you’re the fairy girl who came every day. But what’s this? The guy at room 302 hasn’t come back yet.”

“Um, is that so?”

Bjorn was not at the inn.

How could this happen?

It seemed that the room had been paid for in advance, and there was other luggage left in the room…

“Are you going to keep waiting?”

“Yes! He should be back soon!”

“Tch.”

The owner of the inn, who was usually kind, clicked his tongue, expressing some kind of displeasure.

How long had it been since then?

The sun had gone down. That too, a few hours ago.

“Hey, why are you taking things out of his room?”

“Tch, annoying. Hey, lady, do you have any paperwork?”

“P-, paperwork?”

“You don’t? A certificate stating that you, young lady, are an associate of that barbarian, or that he’s agreed to hand his keepsakes over to you, or something like that.”

“There’s no such thing… no! What’s this about keepsakes!”

“The labyrinth is closed and it’s been this long, why do you think he hasn’t come back yet? Because he’s dead meat now, dead inside the labyrinth!”

Finally, the innkeeper kicked her out semi-forcibly.

Erwen helplessly squatted down in front of the inn.

‘He can’t be dead… ‘

It was ridiculous.

No matter how common it was for an adventurer to die in the labyrinth, it was impossible to imagine his death.

So she sat down and waited.

Then it became morning, then night, and then morning again.

“There you are.”

Her sister finally came.

She didn’t complain about staying out for two days, nor did she ask any other questions.

She just put her hand forward.

“… Let’s go eat first.”

Erwen took her hand and stood up, thinking.

She didn’t know the exact reason, but –

Even though it had nothing to do with anything, but –

“Sister, I want to be strong.”

She just kind of felt that way.

More intensely than ever.

I was trapped inside a cage with thick iron bars.

All my luggage had been taken away, and I was wearing only a piece of cloth rolled up below my waist.

I stood slumped against the wall.

It was the second day.

‘Motherfucker… ‘

After the first day, the situation got worse and worse.

In response to my repeated denials and verification requests, the investigator had no choice but to call a wizard…

「The character’s mind stat is over 90.」

「You have resisted spirit magic with anti-magic correction.」

The magic of a level nine wizard who worked as a guild employee, didn’t work on me.

“His mental barrier is too thick. It seems like we should call somebody from the Magic Tower.”

The situation got worse.

Even from the guild’s point of view, the help of a high-level wizard was too much a waste to close my case.

“It doesn’t make sense to call them for a level nine adventurer’s case.”

From then on, the investigator threw all kinds of bullshit at me to get my confession.

He must’ve thought that’d be easier.

But there was no way I’d be afraid enough of this bastard to make a false confession.

I even tried to name the sixth-grade wizard Arua Raven as well as the dwarf, but this frustrating investigator bastard didn’t even listen.

It was such a long and tedious case.

“Hahaha! Bjorn Yandel, apparently this isn’t your first time pillaging?”

A completely new charge was made, unrelated to previous investigations.

“What do you mean?”

“I discovered this while investigating you.”

It was nothing other than the message stone that the investigator held out with triumphant eyes.

“Message stones have a unique serial number, so the owner can always be found. I looked up what was in your backpack, and I found it. It belongs to a dead adventurer.”

By the way, the owner had been called Artoa Serdin, apparently.

“He belonged to a clan, so I inquired there, and they told me everything about what you’d done. It wasn’t enough to run away after injuring this Hearth Young, you even killed the people pursuing you, right?”

This bastard thought he was the main character of a detective story, and he was too fond of the sound of his own voice.

“So what happens now?”

Being naïve, I’d gone directly to the point.

After all, this bastard who was only dreaming of dealing with me wouldn’t listen to anything I said anyhow.

“Since the circumstances, testimony, and evidence have all been clarified, this guild has decided to reject your request for verification, and will perform your sentencing.”

This shitty guild…

So they’d turned down my request.

“… So what will I get?”

“You are saying something strange. Rafdonia’s royal law has never tolerated pillagers. Oh, are my words too complex for a barbarian?”

The investigator bastard had continued with a grin.

“It means, the death penalty.”

This was what had happened last night.

By the way, this morning, the jailer had come to visit and inform me of the date of my execution, and asked if there was any food I wanted to eat.

At that moment, I’d realized.

“…”

If I stayed still, this would be the end of me.

That meant I shouldn’t stay still.

The stage of resolution through dialogue had already passed.

But if I broke this iron cage and left, I’d be nothing but an escaped pillager.

‘I might be able to lose myself in the city, but I’ll soon become a wanted criminal.’

I thought about it for a while, but in the end there was only one way to survive.

To prove my innocence somehow.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.

You can tell the forest by looking at the trees, and looking at this young investigator bastard, communicating with them wasn’t worth it.

‘It doesn’t matter if I’m guilty or not, the Adventurers’ Guild will judge that the easier and quieter way is for me to disappear.’

With such a premise, I could make some headway into devising a plan, and a path began to come into focus.

First of all, the key was to create a situation where the Adventurers’ Guild could not silence me.

There was a possible method that came to mind.

Of course, I’d have to go through a lot of troublesome things in return…

Crack– bang –.

Recalling the investigator’s smug face again, I raised my motivation.

I’d been a rude child since I was young, who never turned the other cheek whenever somebody said something to him.

‘No matter how much I think about it, saving my own life won’t be an easy trade.’

I’d surely have to pay a commensurate price.

「The character has cast [flesh explosion].」

But that was fine.