CHAPTER 10 - PART 3 & 4

Part 3

After killing time chatting with Dust and eating dinner, I turned in for the night.

— I didn't know how long I slept.

Hearing an explosion from far away, I felt a slight tremor shortly after and woke up suddenly. At the same time, I heard a soft voice.

"… Ka… Kazuma! Hey, Kazuma, wake up!"

The moonlight shone in through the iron bars covering the windows.

It was probably late in the night.

"Hey, Kazuma, can you hear me? Kazuma—"

The soft voice coming from outside the window sounds familiar.

I looked around me, confirming that no one was around aside from Dust who was snoring.

This cell was situated in the deepest part of the police station, they probably thought that there was no need for anyone to guard it.

The window that was installed with iron bars was at a place much taller than I am.

I walked towards the bottom of the window, and could hear Aqua's voice clearly this time.

"Aqua! What do you want, dammit!"

"I'm here to save you of course! Megumin and Darkness are creating a diversion right now to attract the attention of the guards. Megumin probably set off her explosion magic somewhere near town, drawing the police away. Darkness should be fleeing the scene with Megumin who depleted her mana in tow."

So the tremor I felt in my dreams was from the explosion magic.

"Anyway, why are you guys thinking of saving me now? If you wanted to help, you should have supported me during the day."

"If we did that, we will be spending our time in prison together! We didn't do this out of fear of what Kazuma will do to us after he gets out, definitely not."

Hearing the latter half of her sentence, I had a rough idea of why they came to rescue me.

But—

"But would it be fine to run away like this? Won't it make matters worse?"

"What nonsense are you saying, subversion of the nation is punishable by death. I heard from Darkness that the landlord is a despicable and petty person. For a nobody adventurer like Kazuma, he will use his influence to twist the facts and kill you off."

As expected of an alternate world with a middle age level civilization.

Lives were treated like trash.

"… I will break out of prison then, but how do I leave this place, cut the iron bars in the window?"

Aqua laughed confidently upon hearing me say that, and threw something through the gap between the iron bars to my side.

Dropping onto the ground with a slight metallic sound was a piece of steel wire.

What should I do with this. Was that girl telling me to…

"First, use that wire to open the lock of your cell, just like a manga. You can then use your 'hide' skills to escape the police station! After that, return to the mansion and prepare to run away in the night! That's it then, I will wait for you at the front of the police station!"

Aqua left after saying these words.

I picked up the wire and looked at the lock of the prison cell.

… It's an 8 digit number lock.

"… I will just continue to sleep."

I covered myself with the blanket once again.

Part 4

"Get up! Come with me. Time for your interrogation!"

I was still wrapped in my blanket when Sena barged into the cell and woke me up.

"What is it, it's still early…"

"It's almost noon! How do you spend your time normally?!"

Under the watchful eyes of the guards, I was brought before a certain room.

"Alright, get in. I will listen to what you have to say, then decide if I am going to prosecute you. You better think carefully before you speak!"

After hearing Sena's threatening words, I cautiously walked into the room. At the center was a table and two chairs.

There was a small table and chair near the exit.

This set up was just like the police interrogation room you see in movies.

One of the knights who escorted me over sat in the chair at the entrance silently and placed a piece of paper on the table.

This action is known as taking a statement right?

The other knight hurried me to the seat in the middle of the room.

He then stood quietly behind me, probably standing by to subdue me if I turn violent.

Two knights in full armor are in this small room. As I was feeling tense from the pressure, Sena sat down on the other side of the table and placed a small bell on the table.

"Do you know what this is? This is a magic item that can see through lies, used in court and places like this. This bell is synchronized with the magic cast in this room, and will ring when lies are uttered. Please remember this… Well then, I will begin my questioning now."

After Sena said that, her face turned serious and the interrogation begun in this heavy atmosphere.

She tapped her index fingers on the table too, trying to exert pressure on me.

"Satou Kazuma. Age sixteen, working as an adventurer. Your job is also an adventurer… So, state your place of birth, and what you were doing before you started adventuring."

A sudden high difficulty question.

Where did I come from, and what did I do, how should I explain that.

She said that bell will ring if I tell a lie—

"I am from Japan, and I was a student."

— Ring.

My words made that bell ring… Hey, I didn't lie okay.

Sena who was tapping the table stopped and frowned.

"… Write this down, falsifying place of birth and job history…"

The knight in charge of taking minutes started writing.

"Wait! I didn't lie!"

— Ring. What is with that! Why is it ringing!

I am from Japan and was a student…! Was… a student….

"… I am from Japan. I spent everyday in my house, living a depraved life."

After I answered once again and Sena stared at that bell.

I also stared at the bell closely.

— It didn't ring this time.

"… Why are you so vain, lying about being a student?"

"I am not being vain… Ugh… Forget it…"

Damn, I hate that magic item—!

"I have never heard of a place called Japan before… But nevermind. Next, state the reason why you want to be an adventurer."

"In order to save the citizens that is being terrorized by the demon king army and…"

— Ring.

"..."

"… Because being an adventurer seemed to be cool, and it felt like it would be easy to make big money. I want to be popular with beautiful girls too."

"… Ve, very well. Next question. Do you bear any grudge against the landlord? I heard that you had been complaining about your debts."

"Actually, that is because the huge payout from successfully taking down Dullahan wasn't enough to pay the reparation fees of the damage done to the town, that's why it became a debt. It was done to protect the town, but it would be meaningless if the town gets destroyed in the process. I am fine with this outcome."

—Ring.

"..."

"To be frank, I used words like this to convince my angry comrades. But honestly, for him to treat the heroes who saved the town like this, it makes me want to kill him."

"I, I see. Then next…"

"Excuse me… can I say something?"

I interrupted Sena who wanted to continue the questioning even though she didn't like it, and said:

"Would you like to just get straight to the point? Like 'Are you working for the demon king army?', or 'Did you give that order because you had a grudge against the landlord?'. I have said this many times, I only asked someone to perform a random teleport, I am not targeting the landlord; I never thought that things would turn out this way. I gave that order because I wanted to save the town. I am telling the truth."

Sena kept her eyes on the bell as she listened to me.

— And of course, the bell didn't ring.

After confirming this, Sena sighed heavily.

"… I seem to have been mistaken. Everything I heard about you had been bad rumours, that's why… I am very sorry…"

Sena changed her attitude, becoming more humble and polite as she bowed to me.

I think her earlier tone was meant for criminals, this is her usual manner of speech.

Since I had been cleared of any suspicion, I decided this is a good chance and said:

"Really, listening to rumors without investigating it first, do you know how to do your job, prosecutor?"

"Ugh… Sorry, I apologize…"

As Sena lowered her head in apology, I continued:

"Do you know what my achievements are? I am not just the one who contributed the most in the subjugation of demon army boss Beldia, I am also the one in charge of directing the fight against the destroyer. My stellar performance broke the mobile fortress no one else could defeat! And you didn't even offer a word of thanks, just endless accusations!"

I leaned so far back that the chair is creaking. Fueled by my grudge of being detained overnight, I started pushing my weight around Sena.

"I, I apologize, this is because of my job…! I know what Kazuma-san had done for the town, but…"

"But? But what? Anyway, now my suspicion had been cleared, why aren't you serving me tea? What is with this police station! Bringing out a Katsudon is fine too!"

"Pork cutlet rice? Sorry, we don't have that here… I will serve you some tea immediately…"

Sena left in a hurry, and returned with a cup of brewed tea.

I took a sip…!

"It's too warm! Don't the prosecutor here know how to brew tea! And with your fierce attitude you probably don't have a boyfriend right? Since there is a magic item here, it's my turn to ask the question. Do you have any man you are close with?"

"No."

Sena looked at me expressionlessly and said firmly:

"No. Yes, because of my personality, I never had a boyfriend even after living until this age. Are you happy now? I advise you not to go too far."

"Sorry."

Looking at the bell that didn't ring, I apologized fearfully.

"Anyway, what are the bad rumours you heard about me? Just those that were brought up by the adventurers yesterday?"

"Erm, well… apart from those, I heard you stripped the panties off a young girl adventuring with you in public, forced a crusader living in the same house as you to wash your back in the shower. You think your party's priest is troublesome and want to abandon her in a dungeon, all these rumours made you a suspicious character—"

...

Seeing me turning stiff, Sena looked at me with suspicious eyes.

"… Are they just rumours?"

"Just rumours."

— Ring.

Sena turned back into her cold poker face and said:

"… That's just problems within your party, so I won't make any comments. But do you know what the people call you in the streets? Kazujerk, Kazutrash—"

"How, how mean! Who is the one who gave me that sort of nickname!"

But I knew about the things she brought up, I can't deny it!

Seeing me like this, Sena sighed and…

"Really. To be safe, I will ask you again. You have no relations to anyone in the demon king army, right? Like an acquaintance of a demon king army boss, anything of this sort…"

"No such thing, do I look that great—"

—Ring.

I didn't finish saying 'of a man to you'.

I realized I made a big mistake.

Listening to the echo of the bell reverberating in the interrogation room.

I remembered that Wiz was a demon king army boss.