Chapter 50: Interrogation "How are you feeling?"
"They say there are no major issues. You didn't really need to go this far for me, but thanks to you, I'm being treated like royalty. Thank you."
Somi gave a wry smile as she looked around the VIP room I had secured for her.
She spoke humbly, but she was the GOAT of the Mary Poppins-level nanny world; she deserved to be treated well.
"It's because of us that you got hurt, Somi. I'm sorry."
"I failed to protect the child I was with… I'm the one who should be sorry. I was supposed to keep Haruna safe."
"It's not like your job description included being a bodyguard. I'll find someone to handle the protection side of things from now on. You did great."
I'd heard her face had been scraped up because of the bastard who kicked her from behind, but fortunately, Somi's appearance looked perfectly fine now.
It was a relief that the excellence of healing magic surpassed the medicine of my previous life.
The doctor said she was fully recovered and could be discharged after three or four days of observation for stability.
After letting her know that Haruna would be coming to visit tomorrow and sharing some small talk, I stepped out of the hospital room.
"Seo Yeon-woo. You've delayed long enough."
The agent waiting outside the room spoke stiffly.
Perhaps because I'd caused such a scene, even the government wanted to investigate me.
They claimed they were calling me in as a witness related to the mission, but I hadn't received the mission from Derek; I'd moved independently.
The fact that they only called me and left Yukina out was likely for the purpose of the investigation.
After driving for quite a while, a massive building reminiscent of a castle appeared in the distance.
Is that the institution Akito will work for in the second game?
I stared up blankly at the majestic building of the group that served as the game's practical military force, filled with Black Agents.
Between the city's outer walls and this place, you guys really love your walls, don't you? Is a giant going to invade or something?
The high walls surrounding the building looked like they would definitely interfere with the sunlight of the nearby area.
Don't the residents around here protest or anything?
Lost in thought, I got out of the car and followed the agent, who led me into a bleak room.
…Yep, this is definitely an interrogation.
Two chairs facing each other, a table, and a single light shining down from above—no matter how you looked at it, it was an interrogation room.
As I was staring at the magic mirror that took up one wall, a woman with long brown hair tied back entered.
"Don't block the way. Sit."
"Wasn't I brought here as a witness? You're being awfully coercive."
The woman smirked at my words and immediately kicked me.
I went flying, smashing the table and hitting the wall. The woman dragged the remaining chair over to me, sat down, and looked down at me.
"Don't take the government lightly."
"I never did. That's why I asked such great people to take down the Union."
"That wasn't a request; it was coercion."
What, are protests not allowed in this world?
Kicking someone just for a little protest—that's way too strict.
Anyway, since the chair I was supposed to sit in was smashed from the kick, I just sat cross-legged on the floor in front of her.
What? You going to tell me not to sit at all?
The woman looked down at me with displeasure, sighed, and tapped on the tablet she had brought.
"Seo Yeon-woo. First-year student at Yggdrasil."
"Yes, that's right. Agent? Is it correct to call you Agent? What is your name?"
"You don't need to know. Just answer the questions."
"Hey now, that's not right. Shouldn't I at least know the name of the person investigating me for a smooth conversation?"
"…Do you want to die?"
"Did I do something wrong to be brought here? I heard I came as a witness. Wouldn't it be a problem if you killed me?"
I wasn't wrong.
However, it seemed the woman didn't agree, as I saw strength gathering in her foot.
I thought I was about to get kicked again, but the door to the interrogation room swung open, and a man with squinty eyes walked in.
"I'll take it from here. Get out."
"But I…"
"Someone from the government shouldn't be kicking a witness."
Exactly! You should be grateful I'm not filing a formal complaint!
The woman glared at me with a face full of dissatisfaction before leaving the room.
The man gave me the intact chair and sat on the one with a broken leg, balancing it perfectly without a wobble. He looked at me and smiled.
"I'm sorry. I'll apologize on her behalf, Yeon-woo. Melissa is a bit hot-headed."
"She definitely seems more suited for interrogating criminals than witnesses."
"Yes, she is. That's why she was sent in."
Look at this guy.
He's acting kind, but he's subtly telling me he's going to interrogate me.
In games or manga, people with squinty eyes are one of two things: an innocent, well-endowed married woman, or a guy who's going to betray you later.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Randall Rodrigo. I work in the 4th Division."
Randall, with his white hair and squinty eyes, was naturally a character who would betray everyone later—a man associated with demons.
He was a fairly important figure from the first game through the second; I didn't expect to meet him here.
"Yes, nice to meet you. Since you said I'm not a witness, I hope you'll go easy on me."
"That depends on you, doesn't it, Yeon-woo?"
Randall gave a gentle smile.
Damn, this won't be easy.
In the room next to the interrogation room, agents stood watching the interrogation through the magic mirror.
Yeon-woo didn't know it, but the government was quite wary of him.
Yeon-woo thought the government was only paying attention because his appearance had changed when he entered Yggdrasil, but in reality, the government had been investigating him even before that.
It started with the incident where he trespassed on private property and caused a ruckus.
To find the Doll of Ambition that changes one's appearance, Yeon-woo had trespassed on private land, and his face had been fully reported through the police.
A prospective Yggdrasil student committing criminal acts?
Students who might later work for the government are required to have high moral standards and maintain their reputation.
Yggdrasil, realizing he was a prospective student through his description, met with him.
However, the person claiming to be Seo Yeon-woo was completely different from the data they had.
Yet, his mana traces proved he was Seo Yeon-woo, and the investigators had to return without being able to say a single word about the trespassing.
Come to think of it, during the trespass, he hadn't used any magic, so no mana traces were left behind.
"Either the intruder really wasn't Seo Yeon-woo, or he's incredibly meticulous."
The truth was that Yeon-woo didn't know a single spell at the time, so no mana traces could have been left, but the idea of a mage committing such an act without using a single spell was outside their common sense.
When the investigator's report came in, the government's suspicion deepened. He had done so many things before enrollment that he was now a target of surveillance.
The magical tools he was pouring into the auction house as if he were a factory were too numerous for an individual to handle.
They judged that a massive, unknown organization was behind him and investigated, but failed.
He easily befriended and formed cooperative relationships with wealthy and powerful people, including the Chairman of Moai Technology.
They judged there was some ulterior motive and investigated, but failed.
According to secretly intercepted information, he had searched for things like "How beginners can use magic easily" and "What is magic?"—things one would learn in elementary education. These were not the search records of someone who had entered Yggdrasil.
Judging that he was using it as a means of communication, they analyzed the codes hidden in the videos from various angles, but failed to decipher them.
Every time he did something, the agents investigated with suspicion, but nothing came up, and they only wasted time and manpower.
So, did the suspicion clear up once he entered Yggdrasil?
He suddenly contacted Greyhound, crushed the Geukryu Society, and this time, he even incited a protest.
The justification was to punish the delinquent group known as the Union, but the scale—the information posted on the internet, the trucks heading to City Hall—could only be seen as an organized maneuver.
Although he was being protected by Principal Erin Blair and Rank 2 Black Agent Derek at Yggdrasil, other agencies still watched him with suspicious eyes.
The agents looked through the information on their tablets and focused on the conversation between Randall and Yeon-woo.
"His personality is too different from what was known in the past. Could he have been swapped out entirely?"
"The mana traces say it's him. It's impossible."
"What if there's magic that can mimic mana traces?"
"No, I'm telling you, it's impossible. To use magic that mimics mana traces, you'd have to leave your own mana traces while changing them, which would result in at least one more mana trace that doesn't match, even if it's faint."
There was a reason mana traces were used instead of fingerprints.
The questioning agent knew this fact well, but he was just venting his frustration because no matter how much they investigated, nothing came up.
A rookie who had only recently been assigned to the 4th Division watched the serious seniors and tentatively raised her hand.
"Could it be… the Doll of Ambition?"
"… …"
At the rookie's words, the agents stared at her blankly before bursting into laughter.
"Bwahaha! The Doll of Ambition? You believe in urban legends like that?"
"Wow! This rookie has quite the imagination. Is the HR department hiring people with their eyes closed?"
"Don't believe the nonsense floating around on the internet."
Various reactions came out, mocking or comforting her, but they didn't know.
The rookie they were laughing at had just spoken the truth.
"I see. So that's why you sent the trucks?"
"Yes, exactly! When Haruna was kidnapped and I was just stomping my feet, not knowing what to do, I saw all these crimes by the Union being posted on the internet."
"Heh—that's quite the convenient timing."
"Heaven helped us."
Just as Yeon-woo thought Randall wouldn't be easy, Randall also clicked his tongue inwardly at the difficult opponent.
Whether this was his true personality or not, Yeon-woo was playing the role of a naive young man while piling up excuses.
However, all those excuses were things that couldn't be verified as true or false.
'It would be nice if at least something didn't click, but because it's so perfect, it's even more suspicious.'
Randall shrugged at Yeon-woo's thoroughness, as he slipped through every lead, bluff, and trap.
"The protest using trucks was good. It caused quite a stir upstairs."
"Oh… you must be having a hard time."
"Yes, thanks to you, many agents are running themselves ragged."
"But isn't it a good thing that you're catching all the criminals who were tormenting the citizens?"
"True. Although it's wasting agents who should be handling outer defenses or responding to monsters and demons."
"Dear me—it seems the labor shortage is severe."
Randall tried a bit of sarcasm, but Yeon-woo brushed it off effortlessly.
Having roughly grasped his personality and intelligence, Randall shrugged.
His words and actions were light in front of people, but everything was calculated.
The fact that this type of person caused an incident meant he had already prepared all countermeasures before moving.
As if to prove it, there was only circumstantial evidence; there was no proof he had done anything other than the receipts for renting the trucks and drivers.
Since anyone can protest, such receipts were nothing more than scraps of paper to Randall.
More than that, he had a mountain of things he wanted to press him on: How did he get information on the Union? Did he hack smartphones? Who is behind him? But continuing to interrogate this man, who was firmly prepared and playing dumb, would yield nothing.
Randall decided it was a waste of time and gave up on the interrogation.
"Alright, let's stop here. Thank you for your efforts for the citizens and for saving a child."
"No, I'm the one who should thank Yggdrasil and the government. Thanks to you, Haruna returned safely to Yukina's arms."
The two men looked at each other and smiled.
Yeon-woo was wary of Randall, who had been stabbing at him with sharp questions, and Randall was wary of Yeon-woo, a tough nut who slipped away no matter how he attacked.
Despite their mutual wariness, the two men, showing smiles to each other, stood up from their seats.
"Ah, and there's one more thing I should tell you. An investigator will be dispatched to your side for a while."
"An investigator?"
"Yes. After all, it's a bit strange to arrest people based only on posts floating around the internet, isn't it? Even trash should be given a chance to defend themselves. Think of them as a secretary who will stay in touch with you and act as a constant contact regarding the Union."
"I don't know much about the Union, though? Other than the information I saw on the internet…"
"Of course. But right now, we'd appreciate any help, no matter how small."
"Hmm… is there a need for someone to be attached to me constantly for that? I heard there's a labor shortage."
"No matter how short-handed we are, we must assign personnel to important areas."
Yeon-woo and Randall looked at each other and smiled once more.
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