Ch.6767. Lies

Martial law had been declared.

Not as a metaphor or something similar to martial law, but actual martial law had been declared in this Labyrinth city.

The justification was to search for and arrest anti-state forces.

And.

“Explorer Adel. I’ll ask you once more. Are you a member of the anti-state organization ‘Team Kimchi’?”

What kind of ridiculous name is that for a group?

“…I’ve never even heard of such an organization.”

“Then how do you explain your abnormally rapid growth?”

In response to the investigator’s question, I simply stared at the mark on the table.

It was an indentation in the shape of a fist.

This table looks expensive.

‘Hmm.’

It had been several hours since I was captured by the Imperial Knights.

I was tied to a chair being interrogated.

-BANG!

The investigator who kept asking if I was part of ‘Team Kimchi’ would occasionally slam the table.

As a result, the wooden table was gradually sinking in.

“Where are you looking at…?”

As I stared blankly at the mark, the investigator followed my gaze.

The clear indentation left there.

“…Look me in the eyes. Staying silent will only make your situation worse.”

He’s flustered.

‘I’m a bit flustered too.’

I ignored the investigator’s continued words and fell into thought.

This was the imperial interrogation room.

Basically a place where they torture criminals and force them to confess.

The reason I was brought here was for allegedly participating in anti-state forces trying to overthrow the empire.

So I was scared at first.

“If you talk now, you won’t face beheading. According to all evidence gathered by the Imperial Investigation Team, you don’t seem deeply involved with the organization yet. However, if you continue to keep your mouth shut, I can’t guarantee your future.”

After hours of this WWE-style interrogation, my tension gradually eased.

‘Is it my turn now?’

I stretched my neck a bit and launched into a lengthy explanation.

“I am truly innocent. I was just lucky to obtain many Sources, and occasionally got caught up in unknown elements of the Labyrinth. Originally, I worked with Deputy Commander Kyle of the Imperial Second Guard during the previous purification operation.”

Though the exact details weren’t publicly known, I had become quite famous among explorers after the last purification operation.

Deputy Commander Kyle could probably vouch for my innocence if he were here.

“Even if you say that, we can’t believe you.”

“…”

But Deputy Commander Kyle never showed up.

I considered asking them to call him, but after thinking about it, it seemed pointless.

‘He’s the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Second Guard.’

Asking them to call him would just look like I was making excuses.

“Haah…”

The WWE-style interrogation continued for several more hours, and the investigator finally left when night fell.

***

Soft moonlight filtered through the iron bars.

Dawn in the interrogation room was quiet.

‘What do I do now?’

Nothing serious had happened so far, but I was afraid of what might come next.

I wasn’t confident I could survive if the Imperial family decided to come after me.

‘Shiro must have been captured too.’

Above all, I was worried about Shiro.

Just because nothing had happened to me didn’t mean the same was true for her.

‘I hope nothing happened to her.’

As I was praying deeply in my heart.

-Creeeeak!

Someone opened the door and entered.

‘Is it the investigator again?’

I wondered why they would come at this hour.

Standing before me was a man wearing purple armor.

An alloy of adamantium and mythril.

“…It’s been a while, Deputy Commander Kyle.”

“Yes, Adel. It has been a while.”

Kyle responded in a cold tone.

His attitude was clearly different from when I last saw him in the Labyrinth.

Looking up at him while being restrained made my heart race, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“May I ask why you’re here?”

I mustered the courage to speak.

Since I had saved his and the princess’s lives before, I thought he might treat me a little better.

“…I’ll release your restraints for now. Follow me.”

Without answering my question, he untied me from the chair.

“Please follow me.”

I followed behind him, not knowing what was happening.

‘What’s going on?’

Kyle was clearly the princess’s subordinate.

Since she had taken him in, he would likely be on her side unless something major happened.

‘But the princess…’

…was recruiting private soldiers before.

She showed signs of wanting to overthrow the country when she spoke to me.

Could the private army she was forming be this ‘Team Kimchi’ that the Imperial family was investigating?

‘….’

Hmm.

Probably not.

Even if the princess was a Possessor, I didn’t think she would name a group something so ridiculous.

“You can enter here.”

Lost in thought, I realized we had arrived in front of a room.

The door looked sacred somehow, despite being made of ordinary wood.

“What is this place…?”

“It’s a prayer room. Usually, death row inmates receive prayers from priests before their execution.”

“…What?”

I froze and stared at him.

His face was hidden by his helmet, so I couldn’t see his expression, but he seemed to show no particular emotion.

‘This is really unsettling.’

Now I genuinely felt terrified.

With the power of the Imperial family, it wouldn’t be difficult to dispose of several people.

They could execute someone without even holding a trial.

“…?”

Seeing me frozen, he thought carefully about something, then seemed to realize something.

“I think I may have been unclear. Adel, you won’t receive any punishment.”

Then he brought his face close to my ear.

“The princess is intervening. You’ll be released by tomorrow morning. If you have any questions, you can ask inside the prayer room.”

“…”

The princess is intervening?

‘It seems I’ve gotten involved in something huge.’

Despite my fear, I opened the door.

The interior was narrow. There was a table pressed against the wall, and in front of it was a bench that could barely seat four people.

And on that bench sat a woman with golden hair and blue eyes.

“Hello, Adel.”

Deneb Westia was sitting there.

“What brings you here…?”

I was so surprised that I could barely speak.

The person who had been collapsed when we returned from the Labyrinth, why was she here?

“I’m sorry for meeting you like this at dawn, and I’m truly sorry for getting you involved in this situation. But that’s precisely why I felt I needed to tell you the truth.”

Deneb acted as if all of this was her fault.

“…Is my involvement in this situation related to you, Deneb?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“…”

My head hurt.

I calmed my confused mind and sat down next to Deneb.

“Let me try to speak calmly… I have more than a few questions.”

“Yes, please ask anything.”

I decided to ask about the confusing points from the Labyrinth onwards.

“Is the organization that the pursuers who targeted us belong to the same as the anti-state forces the Imperial family is looking for?”

“Well… they can be considered the same, but ultimately they’re a bit different.”

Deneb exhaled as if her head hurt.

“What the Imperial family is really trying to capture is probably the organization formed by our side.”

“What?”

To think the reason I was captured was really because of this person?

“…Deneb.”

“Yes, Adel.”

“Were you perhaps aiming to overthrow the state?”

“…What?”

***

There was a brief commotion.

The misunderstanding that Deneb was trying to overthrow the state arose because things were moving too quickly.

“To explain simply, Team Kimchi is an organization formed by Possessors.”

“You don’t need to tell me that.”

It was obvious from the name.

“Is that so? Anyway, Team Kimchi originally aimed to overthrow the state.”

Overthrowing the state.

It sounds grand when you hear it, but honestly, there couldn’t be a more absurd idea.

“Then how would you maintain the protection surrounding the Labyrinth city?”

“…”

She remained silent with a solemn expression for a moment.

“There’s a traitor among those who inherited the Imperial bloodline.”

She revealed a shocking fact.

Could it be the princess?

As reasonable suspicion arose.

“We believe it’s the First Prince’s doing.”

Deneb met my eyes.

‘My head hurts.’

The information came in such a jumble that everything I’d heard so far was confusing.

“To be honest, I don’t understand any of this conversation right now.”

It was all too sudden and complicated.

“Ah… I’m sorry, Adel. This is indeed difficult to explain by answering questions one by one.”

She calmly closed her eyes and exhaled.

Then she looked at me again.

“Then from now on, I’ll tell you all the truth that the Polaris Guild knows.”

Deneb opened her mouth.

“The Imperial family is deliberately preventing the conquest of the Labyrinth.”

And.

“The reason humanity hid in the Labyrinth city is not because the Demon King died and scattered demonic energy.”

“…”

“The Demon King never died from the beginning. We simply hid in this city to escape from the Demon King.”

I learned a shocking truth.