Chapter 28 : Interrogation – 1

Why’s that guy here?

Too deliberate to be a coincidence—he was clearly targeting us.
Chills mixed with creeping unease as I approached him.

Even seeing me near, he didn’t flee—instead, he stood firm, smirking unpleasantly.
I glared at him, cutting straight to the point.

“What’s your game?”

“Hm?
Approaching me outta nowhere with that tone?”

“Don’t play dumb.
You’ve been staring at us this whole time.”

“Haha.
Just checking out what I wanted to see—that a problem?
Curious about the hot new rookie, but now I see you’re just a snot-nosed kid.”

His blatant provocation stirred murderous intent as I warned him lowly.

“Wanna die to this snot-nosed kid?”

“Not enough to kill our teammate, now you’ll kill me too?”

“Wouldn’t be hard.
Trash like you?
That’s nothing.”

A tense standoff followed.
In the end, he backed off first.
Stepping back, he raised both hands like a white flag, gesturing dramatically.

“Well, you’re no pushover.
No wonder you’re Red Dog’s new star.
I’m shaking in my boots—so scared, I’ll scramble off today.
Next time?
Who knows?
Heh.”

Then, he sauntered off casually.

My urge was to grab his hair and put a bullet in his head, but in the busy market, without justification, I couldn’t act.
Nor did I want to commit murder over this petty squabble.

Still, it felt wrong.
Especially his cryptic parting words, lingering in my mind.

“Dangerous guy.
Best to steer clear of his kind.”

Marco, approaching from the side, frowned, warning me.

“Yeah, I know.”

He probably provoked me on purpose.
If I’d snapped and lashed out, it’d give him leverage.

Lycan had swallowed his pride, apologizing to them for the team.
I couldn’t undo that sacrifice with reckless actions—that’d just cause trouble.

As Marco said, ignoring and avoiding them was the smartest move.

Pushing aside lingering unease, I bid Marco farewell and headed to the bar.

And then.

“Greetings.
Please cooperate with our investigation.”

I ran into police at the bar.

“Sigh…
Another bust today.”

A month into the investigation, and still no real progress.
Witnessing Rat Town’s dark underbelly daily, with the investigation stalling, Reina, ever upright, grew weary.

This case was unlike any typical ones she’d handled.
Clues were scarce, as if someone had deliberately erased them.
Likely due to Rat Town’s unique nature.

But she couldn’t half-ass it.
The case’s gravity meant constant pressure to catch the culprit, no matter what.

That’s why Reina couldn’t* fathom it.

“Why aren’t they assigning more manpower for this major investigation?”

For a month, she and her senior, Eric, had toiled alone.
Enduring* thugs’ harassment was routine, along with countless indignities.
She now understood why Eric loathed this place.

To Reina’s question, Eric replied indifferently.

“When have cops ever investigated zealously?
It’s obvious.
They pretend to cooperate, waiting for someone else to dig the well.
Getting too involved?
That’s just trouble.”

“So we’re the ones busting our asses for their half-hearted act.”

The longer she worked as a sheriff, the less pride she felt in her organization, only doubt.
Would she eventually become like Eric, half-assing everything?

What frustrated her more?
They were juggling two cases at once.

One:
The whereabouts of Ikazuchi Stone fragments.
The other:
The disappearance of Ikazuchi’s Inspector General.

Coincidentally, both were tied to Ikazuchi, with Rat Town as the likely crime scene, so they got stuck with both.
As Eric put it, they’d drawn the short straw.

The result?
A month of dead ends, exhausting body and mind.
Today, too, with no gains, shoulders slumped, they trudged out of Rat Town.

“W-Wait…!”

Someone stopped them.

A shabby man, cloaked in a dusty poncho, looked far from decent.
His face, partly visible in the shadows, was gravely damaged—his speech so *slurred it evoked pity.

His appearance sparked a recent memory.
Reina recalled him—a man being harassed during one of her first Rat Town visits.

Normally, she’d ignore and leave, but curious about how he’d ended up like this, Reina stopped, asking him.

“What’s the matter?”

Seeing her respond, Geum Taeyang pleaded in a desperate tone.

“Y-You’re cops, right?
Sheriffs!
Arrest that damn b*tch!
She did this to me!
After this, my merc crew ditched me as useless…
f*ck.
All ’cause of that damn whore!!”

His venomous, unrestrained tirade made Reina frown.
Eric, deeming it pointless, was already turning to leave.

“Let’s go.
Don’t waste time on this.”

“…”

A month ago, she might’ve helped, but now, worn out by Rat Town’s stench, she lacked the drive to step in.

Besides, this man didn’t seem innocent.
Just typical lowlifes clashing—one wins, the other loses.
In this place, that’s everyday life.

Sensing Reina’s indifference, Geum Taeyang clung to her ankle, whining.

“S-She killed my friend too!
She committed murder!!”

“Then let me ask one thing.
Have you never committed a single crime living here?
Can you boldly ask me for help with a clear conscience?”

“…”

“No, right?
You’re just another criminal, aren’t you?
Am I wrong?”

“Rookie, don’t bother—just ignore him.
The more you engage, the tireder you’ll get.”

As they turned to leave, a mutter they couldn’t ignore reached them.

“f*ck…
What am I supposed to do?
That b*tch suddenly shows up with a Stone, joining Red Dog overnight—does that make sense…?”

“Hold on.
What did you say?”

“Your appearance matches the description.
Are you the recent Red Dog recruit?”

Calm down.

“Greetings.
I’m Reina, Special Sheriff of the Neotopia Police Department.
Please cooperate with our investigation.”

A blonde woman in uniform, her sharp eyes scanning me.
It’s her—the woman from the VR room last time.

My heart pounded wildly, but I forced myself to ask calmly.

“What’s this about?”

“We got a tip.
Just verifying some facts with a few questions.
Nothing* major, so no need to tense up.”

Bullshit.
If it was that simple, cops wouldn’t bother coming here.

“First off, are you a direct Power Stone user?”

Direct Power Stone user—in other words, a Stoner.

Denying it was pointless.
My Stoner status was already widely rumored.
A quick check would expose any lie, only raising suspicion.

“Yeah, so?”

“Could you show us your Stone briefly?”

No way around this either.
They’d already noticed the ring on my hand.
Hiding it now would scream ‘I’m suspicious!’

But why the Stone?
Can looking at it reveal a criminal?
A sudden doubt sparked unease, prompting me to ask back.

“Why?
Shouldn’t you explain the reason first?”

“There’s been a report of a stolen Stone recently.
It was a highly valuable crystal.”

Her words triggered a memory of Marco’s past comment.
He’d mentioned smuggling fragments of Ikazuchi’s industrial Stone and processing them.
Is that why the cops are here?

My mind raced.
As I panicked over what to do, someone interrupted from behind.

“That criminal?
I might know who it is.”

It was Karen.