Ch.206[Chapter 206] Truth and Lies

“I’m afraid you’ll have to come to the police station.”

Inspector Lupin said once more to Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic couldn’t understand the situation at all, but he asked Inspector Lupin to at least know the exact reason.

“I don’t understand at all. Why must I go to the police station?”

Dozens of villains flashed through Sir Dominic’s mind and disappeared.

Why should Sir Dominic be the only one going to the police station when those villains were living their normal lives?

“It’s nothing serious. No, perhaps it is serious.”

Inspector Lupin called out softly to Sir Dominic who was behind the door.

“Charges of cheating, data manipulation, fraud, embezzlement, and property damage.”

Sir Dominic tilted his head as he heard each charge.

Sir Dominic was a knight, and he prided himself on being quite law-abiding.

How could such a Sir Dominic have committed such criminal acts?

“What? For just that?”

Sir Dominica, who had approached from behind Sir Dominic to find out what was happening, muttered.

“It’s not just that.”

Inspector Lupin said from beyond the door.

“You said you were walking around town today, Sir Dominic? This matches the statements from the victims. Above all, we’ve secured CCTV footage. So please don’t add to your charges—”

Sir Dominic blinked in shock.

He was so surprised that he couldn’t hear what Inspector Lupin was saying beyond the door.

Sir Dominic’s mind went blank, as if floating through the vast universe.

However, Sir Dominic was a knight, and because he had such strong mental fortitude, he was soon able to return to his senses.

“—to prove these charges, Sir Dominic must come to the police station. You can refuse, but there may be disadvantages for Sir Dominic later.”

Inspector Lupin’s tone softened a bit.

Usually, there were two reasons people remained this quiet.

Either they were pretending not to know about the crime while preparing weapons inside for an attack, or they were literally contemplating the situation to understand it.

The former was a manifestation of violent tendencies from criminals, while the latter was more likely to lead to a non-violent situation.

Since there was no sound of Sir Dominic drawing his sword from beyond the door, the current situation was clearly the latter.

Inspector Lupin judged that Sir Dominic was likely to cooperate.

“…Very well. It seems I must defend myself.”

Sir Dominic opened the door.

He was still in his t-shirt and pajama pants as he had been resting in the living room until just now, but Sir Dominic stood proud.

“Let’s go now. I want to prove my innocence quickly.”

Sir Dominic said to Inspector Lupin as he stepped outside.

Sir Dominic wore no equipment except for the feather decoration on his head and an eye patch.

It was truly an act of proudly proving his innocence.

“…Thank you for your cooperation.”

Inspector Lupin, who had come to escort Sir Dominic, was rather taken aback by his confidence.

However, Inspector Lupin was also a veteran who had been around the block in Gacharland, so he naturally guided Sir Dominic to the police car.

“Master?”

Alice anxiously looked at Sir Dominic from beyond the door.

Even though she was young, she could tell something was wrong.

But Sir Dominic silently continued walking.

“I’ll be back soon. There seems to be a misunderstanding.”

He left those words for Alice.

“Please get in.”

Inspector Lupin opened the back door.

Sir Dominic sat in the back seat and looked around.

The driver’s seat completely blocked by thick walls.

Windows that prevented seeing outside from inside, so he couldn’t tell where they were going.

Above all, concerned about escape attempts, the doors could only be opened from the outside.

“Thank you again for your cooperation. Now, we’ll depart.”

Inspector Lupin’s voice came from the blocked driver’s seat, suggesting he had taken the wheel.

Sir Dominic silently looked ahead.

Although he could see nothing but thick metal walls, this was actually better for organizing his thoughts in the shaking car interior.

…

Secret base in Mountain Bridge Marsh.

“This is working.”

“Yeah, it really is.”

A magician in fancy silk clothes and an archer with emoticons floating above their heads snickered.

In front of the magician were crystal balls, not just one, but hundreds, thousands of them.

Although only one of the crystal balls was actually lit up, the magician and archer paid no attention to the others and just stared at the illuminated one.

“The others are so stupid. They can’t even do something this simple.”

“I know. They spend money and waste time for nothing.”

“Wiping out the special forces secretly mass-produced in Mountain Bridge Marsh—”

“Aiming for the vehicle and the murder realm but instead creating new value for both—”

“Well. That one has an IQ of 15, not 150. Worse than a dolphin.”

“And that king too. Isn’t he ashamed? If it were me, I’d find begging on the street less embarrassing.”

When the magician badmouthed one person, the archer badmouthed another.

They were truly arrogant and insolent, but they had earned that right.

They were among the executives of Mountain Bridge Marsh, after all.

“What’s this? Plotting something without me?”

While the magician and archer were gossiping, the door opened and a swordsman carrying a large sword entered.

He was a subtly handsome man wearing elaborate armor engraved with the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger, and carrying a large sword.

“Nothing much. We were just talking about Sir Dominic.”

“And about the others who made such simple tasks so difficult.”

The magician and archer said to the swordsman with snickers.

“If you want to use force directly, you should target the surroundings.”

“And if you want to cause indirect damage, you just need to give money to powerful people like this.”

The magician and elf confirmed once again that they were on the same wavelength and gave each other a high five.

The swordsman, who had been watching them calmly, pulled up a chair and sat down.

“While it’s fortunate that things are going well…”

With an “oof,” the swordsman sat upright in the chair and began opening a box he had brought.

“We’re dealing with Sir Dominic. One wrong move and we could be in trouble too.”

The swordsman took something shining out of the box.

It was… a useless Enhancement Material 1.

It could be used to enhance rings given by Mountain Bridge Marsh, but it was an illegal equipment enhancement material that couldn’t receive system protection.

“That’s not possible.”

“Well, even if we mess up, we can just switch to another game. Expulsion is just entertainment for us.”

The elf and magician continued to laugh as if there was no problem.

True to being executives of Mountain Bridge Marsh who had no qualms about illegal activities, they had already planned assuming they would get caught.

They weren’t laughing because they didn’t understand the current situation.

They were laughing because they had already assumed the worst, so things couldn’t get any worse.

The swordsman looked at the magician and archer for a moment.

Then, holding the enhancement material in his hand, he muttered.

“Right. It can’t get any worse.”

The swordsman said as he threw the enhancement material into the trash.

The worst possible enhancement material that could only be obtained with the worst luck.

…

Sir Dominic instinctively knew they had arrived at their destination, the police station.

It was because the car had stopped moving.

As if to confirm Sir Dominic’s deduction, the door opened and Inspector Lupin spoke.

“Let’s get out.”

Sir Dominic calmly exited the vehicle.

Outside the door was a building brighter than any other, illuminated from all directions as if it were glowing by itself.

Sir Dominic, coming from darkness into light, squinted.

The momentary glare temporarily blocked his vision.

Fortunately, after blinking a few times, his vision returned to normal.

“Sir Dominic.”

Someone was approaching Sir Dominic.

It was Senator Muscleman.

“I heard what happened. That you got caught up in this affair.”

Senator Muscleman said that rumors had already spread throughout Gacharland.

Sir Dominic tilted his head at Senator Muscleman’s words.

This was news to Sir Dominic and those around him.

“For now, I’ve volunteered as your defense attorney. I believe Sir Dominic would never do such things—”

“I apologize for interrupting.”

Sir Dominic asked Senator Muscleman, who had a serious expression.

“What exactly is this situation?”

Senator Muscleman’s expression hardened at Sir Dominic’s words.

“…You mean you haven’t heard about the case?”

“That’s right.”

Sir Dominic nodded at Senator Muscleman’s words.

Senator Muscleman silently cursed the police.

They had clearly forgotten to explain something important.

After cursing internally for a while, Senator Muscleman returned to a solemn expression and said to Sir Dominic:

“…It’s a murder case. To be precise, you’ve been indicted for a murder case and about 17 other charges.”

“Murder case? Indicted?”

Sir Dominic couldn’t understand Senator Muscleman’s words.