Chapter 57: Interrogation

Rikan said to me,

“You’re good at this sort of thing, aren’t you?”

He clapped my shoulder and walked away, leaving it to me. I let out a sigh instead of an answer and looked down at the floor.

There was Marche, tied up like a roll of straw matting.

Her clothes weren’t disheveled. She had no wounds. It looked like they hadn’t tried the “rough” methods yet.

That was the right call, I thought.

She was still giving me that thin smile, as always, looking straight at me. The kind of person who, no matter what you did to her, probably wouldn’t speak. Somehow, I had that feeling.

This was going to be a pain.

Apparently, I had to interrogate her.

Not that I was particularly skilled at it or anything.

Ox Unit brought over a chair. It was strangely warm. He must have made it himself. Using construction materials, he’d cobbled together something like a folding chair. I had a bad feeling about this.

“I don’t need an interrogation set, you know?”

The Monoz, who had been tinkering with something in the corner, froze when I shot them that warning—don’t waste building materials. A moment later, they gnawed apart whatever half-finished “something” they had made, breaking it back down into lumber and dirt. So that’s what they’d been up to.

“Well then…”

I sat down in the chair and looked at Marche.

I reached out and pressed her calf. Soft. No muscle. Not a soldier.

“Oh? Is that the sort of questioning you’ll be doing?”

“No, not at all.”

I answered while examining her hands. Not that it told me much—

“Your marriage line looks faint, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, I see. You intend to wound me emotionally, is that it?”

“…That wouldn’t hurt you, would it?”

You’re the type who has no interest in marriage anyway.

As I spoke, I took the liberty of lifting her clothing a little to check her spine. Her artificial spinal cord was properly in place. That much I could tell.

I thought for a moment.

I gripped the bone necklace, started the timer. Three minutes.

Then I sneezed. My train of thought scattered. Well, whatever. I decided to stop thinking. But until the timer went off, I would at least pretend to be thinking.

“Spy, merchant. Somewhere around there?”

“May I ask on what grounds you say that?”

“You’re not a soldier. You don’t look like a technician. But you don’t look like an ordinary civilian either. My sense is, even if I question you, you won’t give me an answer. But whether that’s because of training or something innate, I can’t tell. So I just listed the professions that seemed most likely in this situation.”

“I’m a cake shop owner.”

“Is that an old dream? I hear patissiers actually build up a fair bit of arm muscle. Let’s see—”

Just in case, I pressed her upper arm. Squishy.

“Oh my, too bad, I’ve been found out. Still, I’d like to ask, why merchant?”

“You were awfully fast in procuring that sniper rifle for me. I thought maybe you had stock on hand.”

That was all it was, just a thought.

Even if she were a spy, she had far too little muscle.

“A good deduction.”

“So I was right?”

“Yes. Congratulations,” Marche said.

Hmm. So, merchant, huh. Whether it’s true or not, she offered information. And if she offered it—

“Bring another chair.”

I had the Monoz make one, and sat Marche, still bound up, onto it.

“Oh? My situation has improved, I see?”

“Well, you said you were a merchant.”

“And what would that have to do with it?”

“Why, it’s obvious. It would be awfully hard to conduct business negotiations in that posture, wouldn’t it?”

Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know. But she gave me that piece of information. If she gave it, then she’s going to have to play the part.

***

We will hold a conversation.

If contradictions appear, then the merchant is lying.

If no contradictions appear, then she is a merchant.

If she is not a merchant but convinces me she is, then I lose.

“Do you deal in weapons?”

“We also handle weapons. Anything related to combat, broadly speaking.”

“For example?”

“Centipedes, Monoz bodies, blueprints, information, ah, we also deal in mercenaries.”

“Mercenaries?”

“The Black Heaven Knights who are stationed here are one of our products.”

Huh? This might actually be true.

There’s no need to name other people here, especially not many. The more people you name, the greater the chance of information leaks. Not smart.

The terminal is left on a continuous call. Rikan and the others outside will move. We can verify things. I’ll leave that to them.

So I must keep thinking.

Imagine the Black Heaven Knights were not involved at all. What benefit would there be? There must be some benefit. Think. Think. I thought. …No good. I don’t know. I give up.

“You said you also handle Monoz bodies. Do you have a brochure or pamphlet?”

“Here.”

A short-range transmission using a crystal came through with the data. I forwarded it to Rat Unit and told them to check for viruses; if it’s clean, have everyone look through it for anything we want.

“Next, about the mercenaries—are they already contracted? Ah… I don’t mean their current status of being employed by the Leone clan. I mean in the sense of your intended plan.”

“No, not yet. The sales pitch was scheduled for later.”

“For later?”

“Soon, there will be a war—ah, by war I mean a tribal clash between Tooth factions. That was when we planned to pitch them.”

“How?”

“That is a trade secret.”

“…This Tooth-on-Tooth war, is it safe to assume it means the Leone clan and someone else?”

“Yes. Precisely.”

“The opponent?”

“That is a trade secret.”

I punched her in the face.

“The opponent?”

I asked again, same tone, unchanged.

“That is a trade secret.”

“I see.”

Even with blood dripping from her nose, her voice never wavered. I gave up. I wasn’t used to hitting people, and because I’d gone all in, my hand hurt. Badly. I hid it behind my back.

“Earlier, you said information counts as merchandise. Can we buy it?”

“That was a poor choice of words. We are not information brokers, so we do not sell. Rather, we provide it as a service, included alongside purchases.”

“I see. Then one last thing, why did you seek me out?”

“For procurement, yes. Ratchet—no, Touji-sama—you will fetch a high price.”

“My evaluation seems to be high, then?”

“Oh yes, very.”

I see. That’s how it is. Then business can be done.

I let out a breath and turned to the Monoz.

“Was there anything you wanted?”

—Beep!

Rabbit Unit stepped forward. The others didn’t seem to need anything. Very well.

“One Rabbit Unit body. Also, thirty Monoz bodies, and a few Centipedes. Will that be enough to get information on our opponent?”

At those words, Marche smiled at me, blood still running from her nose. It was a dazzling smile.

“Thank you for your purchase.”

“…”

That smile sent a chill down my spine.

I was certain then: merchants are probably stronger than heroes.