Published: September 9, 2025
This is Satou. When I hear “interrogation,” I think of spy movies. It seems that interrogation methods have trends too—ranging from violence and torture to verbal persuasion and drug-induced confessions, changing with the times.
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As I approached the effeminate man’s detached room, moans of intertwined men and women reached my ears.
It would be rude to interrupt their sports festival of love, but for the sake of public welfare, they’ll have to make a sacrifice.
I kicked open the entrance to the detached room, and the moans stopped immediately. I heard the sounds of them hurriedly preparing to flee into the night.
Passing through the entrance, I entered the bedroom at the back, where a naked beautiful girl greeted me with a sultry smile.
If this were Japan, messing with someone this young would probably get me caught under youth protection laws.
“If he’s here, he’s already escaped. If you want to chase him, it’s that way. Or do you want to play with me? One gold coin for the whole night.”
I tossed a piece of cloth that had fallen at her feet to the girl to cover her nakedness.
She didn’t seem shy, but she wasn’t a flasher either.
“Tell me what you know about him.”
“He’s a scumbag man who’s a fallen noble’s son, clinging to the favor his father sold long ago and shamelessly squatting in this house. Will that do?”
She revealed the information rather easily, but it seemed that anything beyond this required payment.
Her fingers gestured for money, so I pulled out several gold coins from my storage and tossed them onto the bed.
“...What did he do this time?”
The amount was so large that it seemed to raise her suspicions.
Better not hide anything; I’ll coax her to talk for her own safety.
“He’s guilty of rebellion. You’re not his mistress or accomplice, right? If you tell me everything you know, I’ll spare you from punishment as a benevolent informant.”
“Alright... just promise me you won’t harm my mother or little sister...”
Rebellion seems to be a heavier crime than I thought.
I told the girl clinging desperately to me, “That depends on the information you provide,” and pushed her back.
Exploiting the girl’s concern for her family, I admit, makes me a real villain.
“He’d been obsessed with a group called the ‘Winds of Freedom’ for a while. After his father was shut out of high society, he started saying ‘The world’s wrong because I’m not accepted’ and began associating with strange foreigners.”
“Do you know which country they’re from?”
“I think it’s the Parion Divine Kingdom. He said, ‘The country of gods that brought hero summoning is the home of the Demon King followers.’”
—Demon King followers? Ah, a breeding ground.
Those dissatisfied with the occult club were apparently lured into evil by people from the Parion Divine Kingdom.
“Also, beastmen merchants often came by. Probably from the weasel tribe.”
“Do you know which trading company?”
“I can’t recognize their faces, but judging by their fine clothes, there were about three merchants coming and going. They used to throw transaction papers into that shelf; maybe you can find out by looking at those.”
This girl turned out to be quite a good source of info.
I retrieved the documents from the shelf and identified the names of the weasel tribe merchants.
One of them, Usan, delivered platinum to the Echigoya Trading Company.
Judging from the papers, he probably only handled transportation.
The “Rebirth Pills” that had appeared earlier between the green demon race and the effeminate man were apparently taken out by the effeminate man; none remained in this detached room.
Well, I’ve gotten what I needed to hear.
“Put on clothes and leave this mansion. Don’t come here again.”
“Y-yeah. So—”
“I’ll arrange so the charge of rebellion won’t apply to you, so leave with peace of mind.”
“Okay, thank you.”
The girl dashed off still half-dressed, and I looked away, collecting all the items in the detached room into my storage.