Chapter 443 – Investigation and Interrogation

000

Inside the bright tent, on the politely set table is a large piece of soft-looking bread, well-fried eggs and bacon.

And, along with a glass of ice-filled water, a napkin is politely placed as if to be used if necessary.

“Now, tell me if the amount is insufficient.”

Smiling, the woman sitting on one side of the table is Atis, the owner of the tent and the leader of the investigation team.

A huge pile of papers was piled up in front of her seat her, but no food was prepared.

And, across from her, Volforth, who seemed to be wondering what this was all about with a puzzled expression, sat down and gulped down his saliva.

His gaze her first turned to Artis- then to Cleon, who was standing next to Artis with his hands behind his back.

Yesterday’s wounds had n’t healed yet, but thanks to Quon, who had been cast a healing spell at Artis’ request, no more pain remained in his body.

The restraints were kept to a minimum, to the extent that they were allowed to move inside the cage as long as they did not scream to be let out.

When he thought about what he had done, he naturally thought that more revenge would come, but he was surprised that it did not happen, and he came to breakfast like this.

“…Now, is there even a confession agent in it?”

When Volforth says so, Artis is fah-ha-ha! And burst out laughing

“We don’t do that. Even if you don’t use it, Volforth you will tell us the information we want.”

“…Sah, you know people as fools…”

At these words of Volforth, Artis laughed, rummaged through his pockets, took out a lollipop from him, and put it in his mouth.

It was her routine to eat candy if she didn’t smoke.

“That’s right. I think he’s an idiot. If he’s not an idiot, who wears mithril armor without a helmet? Well. Thanks to that, we were able to capture it easily, but…”

“Kuh…”

Volforth drool at the words of Artis, who stabbed the sore spot that he couldn’t refute.

However, his body, which had not eaten anything since lunch yesterday, wanted nutrients from the food in front of him.

The hand that was temporarily freed was moving as it was, consuming the food on the table.

“I wish I could tell you while eating… The ones behind you must be ‘regressors’ for now, right?”

“…”

When Ball Force, who was tearing bread with his hands, stops moving, he looks at Artis.

“They say it will kill her mother her in her hometown her.”

“Oh yeah.”

Artis replies briefly, as if he is not interested in what he is saying.

Then, she took out some of her papers she had piled up beside her and spoke while skimming them.

“Your mother’s name must be… Haina… Is it Haina? She raised you alone without knowing who your father was.”

“…How even my mother’s name.”

As the hand that was taking Volforth’s food stopped, his expression her was colored with surprise.

“Ever since I was first beaten by you, I thoroughly researched my enemies. Where you were born, what you grew up doing. What you like and what you dislike. What you are good at and what you are not good at. Family, Relatives. , Friend. 37 years Chi- I researched all the information that could be recorded on you. It took time and money. But I was able to get a lot of interesting information. Volfors.”

“Hey, you’re a woman with a bad mood… “

When Volfors heard Artis say that he had investigated him like that, he turned his eyes to the papers beside her, bewildered.

“Ah. Yes. That’s right. This is all research data about you. Would you believe it if I told you something like a woman’s history? My first love was when I was 7-“

“That, stop! Enough! Damn it…! Crazy bitch…!”

Volforth’s mouth tightens in embarrassment, but Cleon, who was standing next to him, quietly sighs inwardly.

‘You look more like an investigator than Merca. Is she really an archeology professor?’

If Merca is the type to solve cases with her intuition and logical investigations based on that intuition, She-Artis investigates everything she wants to investigate until she is satisfied, and predicts what will happen next. She was the type to

‘I guess it’s not something I researched like this.’

Volforth alone, the leader of the field bandits, produced such a large amount of data, how much data would come out if Cleon was investigated similarly.

Seeing Volforth staring at him like a monster, Artis leaned back against the back of the chair, lifted the front leg of the chair, and shook her body like a rocking chair.

“So. You mean you can’t tell the name of the gang behind you in order to protect your mother? That’s a tearful story. Why did such a filial son fight in the neighborhood until he was 30?”

“Kuh…”

In a voice that seemed to make fun of people while treating them as fools, Volforth applied force to the fork he was holding in his hand.

Then, the handle part became brittle and broke.

“Well. Then I’ll tell you right here. Volforth. There’s nothing more you can do for her.”

“…What do you mean?”

At what Artis said right after, Ballforth looked at her with her eyes wide open, as if he had a bad feeling about her.

Artis pushes the lollipop from his mouth into one of his cheeks and then goes through one of the papers as he talks.

“Mr. Heina died two years ago. The cause of death was death from overwork. Even after you were away from home, it seems that you led the body of an old man and did this and that to earn money for the treatment of those you half killed in the fight. Fortunately, the funeral was held properly. …In short form.”

Artis, who spoke the truth calmly, did not waver in the slightest, as if she were reading a page in a history textbook.

The moment he heard that, Volforth got up from his seat and slammed the table with a bang.

“Bah, don’t say stupid things…! My mother was still working !? If I became their subordinate her and took care of the dirty work, I would pay for the treatment instead… It was such a contract!”

“Ah-yes yes. I figured it would be roughly. I don’t have the face to see her mother her, and she’s never been back to her hometown her, so I don’t think the promise was actually fulfilled. Yeah.”

Artis waved his hand as if he was not interested in what he said, and circled or underlined the parts of the paper with his pen to organize them.

“Kuh… You damn bitch!!!’

As if he couldn’t stand it any longer, Volforth tried to run towards Attis-

Kwajik!

With a cheerful sound, like a walnut or peanut being peeled, his face fell to the floor.

Cleon grabbed Volforth’s head with one hand. As it was, it was slammed down on the table, and the table shattered, crashing into the ground.

“I told you it’s better to handcuff.”

“I said I didn’t need it.”

At Cleon’s words, Artis quietly replied, ‘Because you are here’, and then looked at Volforth, who had fallen on the ground, while talking.

“Here, Volforth. I know very well that I am not a weak man who fainted with this now. The mother I should protect has already passed away. If you continue to protect the person who will keep your promise, no, the person who did not keep your promise will not come back. It’s a-nothing. Let’s have a good time and shake it all off. Who is behind you, what organization is it, and exactly what orders it gave you.”

Her eyes her shine as she adjusts her glasses with her fingers.

Those wise eyes, since she now grasped everything about the opponent she had to defeat, she already knew what his weakness was her.

It was effective, but also quite brutal.

Cleon didn’t sympathize with Volforth, but he couldn’t quite like Attis’ way.

“Laplace… That bastard… !”

With Volforth lying face down on the ground, he howled.

Then, only then did Artis lean forward as if he had waited.

“Laplace…? Laplace? Is it Laplace Platunis? Former member of the Kingdom’s science department. Alchemist Laplace. Is that right?”

With a chuckle, Artis took out one of the names that had been organized in his head and tossed it to Ball Force.

However, as if his head was confused by pain, sadness, and dizziness, he screamed while holding his head with both hands.

“I don’t know! He just introduced himself as Laplace! I’m sure I’m a man! And he always had strange animals…!”

“Ah. That alone is a very big hint. Volforth. His major is life science. He was a true psychopath specializing in animal experiments… Haha!”

Artis laughed involuntarily, perhaps feeling the joy of the puzzle pieces being prepared in his head.

Then, leaving Attis behind, Cleon would ask Volfors.

“…Is that guy a regressor?”

“Yes, yes… I will not hand over the relics and ruins to the merchants…”

Cleon then nodded to his words her, then stood up as he fell away from Volforth.

“I guess you already know about a man named Laplace.”

“I’ve only seen his face once before. He looks like an ordinary old man, but there is no ‘morality’ for him as a researcher. The only criteria are his own curiosity and intellectual desire for him.”

She looks at Cleon with her hands in her pockets.

“But then, is he commanding all the regressors in the East?”

At Cleon, who looked at herself and questioned her, Artis shut her mouth for a moment.

“Yeah- Well, but. At least, the influence must be quite large. From there, we just have to investigate from now on.”

Cleon nods his head, then lowers his gaze to Ball Forth, who has now collapsed in his seat – out of business.

“…What is this guy going to do?”

“I’m going to hand it over to the government forces along with my subordinates. They said they’d pick it up sometime today. Congratulations, Cleon. The reward for subjugating the field bandits belongs to your party.”

While smiling, Artis brought his mouth back to Cleon’s face as if giving him a reward.

This time, Cleon is the chin. And she blocked it with a piece of paper with information related to Volforth next to it.

“Town…”

Artis, who suddenly kissed the paper, pe, pe. After she wipes her mouth, Cleon talks while looking at her.

“I’m sorry, but I already have an owner.”

“I don’t mean it that way, so it doesn’t matter, right?

As Artis puffed out his cheeks, Cleon, who did not accept his expressions of affection her (?), Glanced at him savagely.

“If you know, please be considerate.”

“Cheet.”

Cleon’s determined attitude.

However, as if that attitude had caught fire, Artis pledged, ‘I’ll succeed next time’, clenching his fists.

In the meantime, if Cleon approaches the fallen Volforth and tries to restrain him again.

Volforth quietly talks to Cleon.

“…One more thing… I have something to tell you.”

“…What?”

And- as Volforth said something, Cleon and Artis’ eyes widened.

As soon as Cleon finished speaking, he ran out of the tent.

001

“Sasha, can you find any traces?”

The place where Cleon hurriedly rode along with Sasha was in the thick forest right next to the wilderness.

The gap between the trees was so dense, there were many trees, and the view was not clear enough, so Cleon and Sasha, who did not feel the need to force themselves to ride their horses, entered the forest while stopping at the entrance. Was in a state

With the imprint of a hunter shining in gold in Sasha’s eyes, she uses all her five senses to follow the trail of ‘it’as Cleon said, with her ears pricked and her tail wagging.

“Uh, uh… No. I don’t think I’ve come anywhere near here. But I can feel the fear of the animals…”

Sasha, holding a bow in her hand, felt the eyes of the animals around her.

I could see that they were frightened and very nervous about the appearance of something.

Cleon also felt something similar to Sasha’s her, but it was difficult for her to exercise her sensitive senses her as much as Sasha, who was using the hunter’s seal.

Cleon was also able to bring the power of the hunter’s mark to her eyes by borrowing Sasha’s power her through the imprint of control, but-

As a result of trying it, it was found that the power of the magic eye of fascination overlaid on it interfered with it.

Thanks to that, Cleon’s hunter’s mark was like a seal.

“…Before that guy fully wakes up and goes on a rampage, he needs to do something.”

“…So, is it dangerous?”

Cleon nods at Sasha’s question.

“I’ve received a request to exterminate him once before. It was before I joined Quon and Alvein, though.”

Thanks to three days of non-sleep tracking, I found him and fought to the death.

I was able to knock him down, rolling over and over again, falling to the ground, and being torn apart by his sharp claws.

At that time, Cleon thought he had grown enough to finally be able to play the role of one person, but-

He still remembered being shocked that what he had defeated was nothing more than the ‘fluid’ of that species.

Hearing that even Cleon was extremely wary, Sasha swallowed in a gulp.

She wonders if she can really help Cleon.

However, if you shake your head and focus your senses so that you can find the trace as soon as possible-

[Sasha. I smell blood from over there. It’s pretty dark.]

Ruben’s voice came from within her.

Certainly, as she said, the smell of blood was wafting from the west.

It was a sign he wanted – but it didn’t mean so well.

“… Mr. Cleon, it smells like blood.”

“… Shit, did it already happen…!”

Cleon clicked his tongue and pulled out the Carly Burn from his waist.

[Sasha, hang up your arrows too. …As Cleon-nim said, if ‘that’ was released in this forest… Already, this place is that guy’s kingdom.]

“…Ss–!”

Cleon and Sasha slowly, slowly, in an extremely tense position. Walk forward

[Cleon~ I have something to talk to you about~]

At that time, Caliburn’s voice heard in Cleon’s ears her.

A soft light radiated from her body held in her hand her, and rustles from the surrounding bushes! And hear something moving.

“…Sorry, Caliburn. I’m in trouble right now.”

[Is that so…]

As the sounds of the animals moving everywhere accelerated, Cleon held his breath and slowed down his pace.

And when he managed to walk near the corpse that Ruben and Sasha had detected while breaking out in a cold sweat, an amazing sight unfolded before his eyes.

“…!”

With Sasha unknowingly covering her mouth with one hand, she checks her garrison her, which was used by someone inside the forest.

There, ‘things that were people’ were split from two to three and were scattered on the ground.

Blood and viscera were scattered everywhere, and some had traces of being eaten by something sharp, so the two could tell that they were ‘hunted’.

The whole area was dyed red, to the point where I felt dizzy, but what stood out most of all was—

It was a cage for beasts, with the wooden part of the ceiling being forcibly pierced through.

Inside, the neglected meat was placed as if it were food for the guy inside.

“…The barrier stone… It’s destroyed.”

Cleon checks the cheap barrier stone lying next to the bonfire that seems to have been put out not long ago.

Even a barrier stone like this must have the power to block the entry of wild beasts.

If you’re setting up camp in the woods, you’ll definitely need one.

If your bed is attacked by nocturnal animals, it will be difficult for even a human to deal with.

“Ha, but. Can animals destroy barrier stones?”

“I don’t think the barrier stone was destroyed directly. The barrier was destroyed by a strong force, and it was broken by the recoil. Either from the outside or from the inside.”

Cleon said that, and he put down the barrier stone he was looking at and frowned as he looked at the rotating corpses around him.

“…If we don’t do something with these corpses. The beasts that live here will have a taste for people. Maybe they will go down to the surrounding villages.”

“Yeah, that kind of thing needs to be stopped.”

Cleon also nodded as if agreeing with Sasha’s words.

If it were Lila, I would say ‘let’s burn it’, but unfortunately, this is a thick forest.

If he used flame magic without any countermeasures, he could have burned the forest completely.

[Hey, can I talk now?]

At that time, Caliburn’s voice rang once again.

Cleon looked down at his sword and then nodded.

“Since then, why are you doing that?”

[No~ I was wondering if the one you are looking for is up there in the sky~]

At Caliburn’s words, if Cleon’s body momentarily stiffens-

[Ah, coming down~]

“Sasha!”

Cleon immediately threw his body her, pushing Sasha away and rolling on the ground.

And right after that, something huge rushed towards the place where Sasha was standing and fell to the ground, creating dust with a great impact.

“Coke…! Coke!”

Sasha covers her mouth and coughs, embarrassed by the sudden event.

What the hell happened? Did a bomb drop?

It was so shocking that I couldn’t help but think that way.

Cleon also raises Sasha, holding his breath in preparation for the situation where the enemy will appear anytime, anywhere.

But- the enemy hides in the dust and raids.

I don’t use such ‘bad numbers’.

The next moment, wrath! And a great and mighty wind arose.

The two knew immediately that it was caused by the ‘flap of wings’.

And, as the sand is blown away by the wind, the whole picture of ‘it’ standing majestically in front of Cleon and Sasha is revealed.

The first thing that caught my eye was the head of a ‘bird’ with white fur and a yellow beak.

It would have been strange to say that the bird’s head was larger than a human’s.

And, on the body descending from the bird’s head, a dazzling golden mane. Plus a feathered body with huge wings half like an eagle-

The further you go to the hip, the body becomes like that of a lion. The tail is like a whip, boom, boom. It shakes.

Its four legs are the claws of an eagle. And the hind feet are the feet of a lion.

It was like a mixture of ‘Lord of the Sky’ and ‘Lord of the Earth’, and was the ruler of all the raw things of the earth and the raw things of the sky that existed in this world.

As a living being, if you exclude dragons, they are legendary beasts of the highest rank.

Previously, if Cleon treated ‘fluid’, this is ‘adult’ fully grown.

“This-“

“…Okay.”

Cleonon and Sasha also take up arms to protect themselves when the king stars at them.

And- quietly. It was called that name.

“It’s a griffon.”