Vol 3 Chapter 8 – Interrogation  (【The Exonerator of the Maritime Nation】Arc)

The four of them left the inn, heading toward the cave rumored to contain the “Well of Whispers.”

Mid-September in Hokkaido.

The time was 2:22 PM.

The town’s temperature display read a comfortable 22 degrees Celsius.

“It’s so refreshing out here. This kind of weather is perfect for me.”

“Agreed. I like this coolness too.”

They chatted idly as they strolled through the town.

“…Hmm?”

Suddenly, Sakata’s phone rang, breaking the tranquility. The screen displayed the name “Hirata.”

“Hello?”

“Boss, sorry to bother you. Is now a good time?”

“One moment. I’ll call you back.”

Sakata ended the call and glanced at the three walking alongside him. His gaze caught the attention of Kuzuryuu and Satsuki.

“Saito-san, who was that?” Kuzuryuu asked.

“It was Hirata. This might take a while, so would you mind heading to the cave ahead of me? I’ll catch up using the shared location data.”

The two exchanged looks and nodded.

“Understood. We’ll go ahead, then.”

“Got it! Call us if anything comes up.”

“We’ll wait for you. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

With that, the three of them parted ways with Sakata and continued toward the cave. Watching them leave, Sakata turned into a deserted alley.

“…Haah.”

A heavy sigh escaped him.

It had been an exhausting series of events. Kuroda, whom he’d met recently, was half-dead when Satsuki found her. The culprit behind the attack on her was highly likely to be their current target. To top it off, Kuroda bore an uncanny resemblance to the girl from his dream.

The sheer volume of information he’d received from Kuroda was overwhelming.

And a well filled with corpses? That’s the last thing he wanted to see.

Sakata reluctantly pulled out his phone.

Using the excuse of Hirata’s call, he managed to break away for now, but he couldn’t avoid the mission forever. With a resigned expression, he dialed Hirata’s number.

The call connected after just one ring.

That was fast.

“Hello, Hirata?”

“Yes, Boss. My apologies for disturbing you earlier.”

“No problem. What’s going on?”

Since she’d gone out of her way to call, there had to be something urgent.

“I don’t have any issues on my end. I called to check on your current situation.”

“I see. Thanks for reaching out.”

What was this, a work ethic check? Was she making sure he wasn’t slacking off?

Well, jokes on her. He was just about to slack off. She might as well be psychic.

“Boss? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. You wanted an update on the situation, right?”

How much should he say?

If Kuzuryuu was already informed, it should be fine to tell Hirata too.

“There’s been a… ‘complication,’ and I’m currently addressing it.”

“A complication?”

Even over the phone, the sudden chill in Hirata’s voice was palpable.

“Yes. Have Kuzuryuu or Satsuki mentioned anything to you?”

“No, I haven’t heard from them. Did something happen to those two?”

She genuinely seemed unaware.

Well, it made sense. Hirata and Kuzuryuu weren’t particularly close, and Satsuki wasn’t the type to keep people updated.

This kind of disconnection wasn’t great for an organization, but then again, a well-organized crime group would be far scarier. Leaving things as they were might be for the best.

“No, nothing like that.”

“I see. That’s a relief.”

“However…”

“However?”

Sakata paused, carefully choosing his words so as not to irritate Hirata further.

“Satsuki picked up a girl… and we’re currently protecting her.”

“…What?”

Her voice noticeably rose in pitch, and he could sense her growing irritation.

Scary. She was definitely mad.

“To summarize, Satsuki found a girl near death in an alley. Upon investigation, we discovered she’s connected to our target, so we decided to protect her.”

“I see… This is a sudden development, but I understand the situation now.”

He was relieved that neither Hirata nor Arisu were present. If they had been, Kuroda would likely have been killed on the spot. Knowing them, they wouldn’t have even asked questions first.

His decision to exclude them this time was absolutely the right call.

“Boss, you mentioned this girl is connected to our target. Are we any closer to finding them?”

“Yes. This morning, we visited the address we had for them, but the place was empty. We’re now heading to a more likely location.”

———————————————  

Flashback to the Morning

Before Satsuki had picked up Kuroda, the three of them had gone to the address Hirata had provided.

“This is the place…?”

“Looks like an ordinary apartment building.”

The building matched the address but appeared to be nothing more than an older apartment complex. It lacked an auto-lock system, making it a little outdated and not very secure.

This worked in their favor, though. They could approach the target’s door without drawing suspicion.

Not that they were planning a robbery or anything, of course.

“Room 303. This is it.”

In front of us was a door with a small plaque that read “303.”

If we rang the doorbell, surely our target, Kinjou Honoka, would appear.

Kuzuryuu, standing beside me, pressed the intercom. The chime echoed on our side.

“…”

About thirty seconds passed, and I started to feel uneasy.

“They’re not coming out…”

Indeed, there was no response to the intercom. Normally, anyone at home would answer when someone visited. Could it be that the intercom was broken and they didn’t hear it?

No, that wasn’t possible. I clearly heard the chime. It wasn’t broken.

Besides, there was no way they couldn’t have seen us standing here.

“Is anyone there?” Kuzuryuu called out a few times, but there was still no response.

Feeling puzzled, we decided to step away, not wanting to arouse suspicion by lingering.

But then—

“Oh, it opened.”

Satsuki had absentmindedly turned the doorknob, which gave a dull click and swung open. The door was unlocked.

We exchanged glances, nodded silently, and readied ourselves for anything as we stepped inside.

Even after entering the entryway, there was no sign of anyone inside.

However, judging by the state of the place, it didn’t seem like someone had just stepped out.

In fact, there was no sense of life here at all.

It felt less like a home and more like a staged room—completely devoid of personal touches.

Wait. Isn’t this breaking and entering?

Suddenly, panic gripped me.

Breaking and entering was a serious crime. If someone reported us to the police, there would be no talking our way out of it.

“Let’s stop here. This is enough,” I suggested to the two of them, trying to keep my voice steady.

“Huh? But we haven’t found anything yet. Can’t we stay a bit longer?” Satsuki asked, clearly displeased.

“I agree with Satsuki. There’s a high chance we’ll find some clue about the target here,” Kuzuryuu added.

Their willingness to persist in illegal activity was giving me a headache.

Oh, right. These two may be adults, but they’re also crime syndicate leaders. How could I forget?

“There’s no sign of anyone living here. Staying longer would be pointless. Instead, we should ask around town and gather information about her,” I argued, hoping to persuade them.

“Well, it doesn’t look like there’s much here at first glance. Fine by me,” Satsuki relented.

“Fair enough. We can always come back if the target returns,” Kuzuryuu agreed reluctantly.

Thank goodness. They actually listened.

I let out a silent sigh of relief. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about getting arrested by the residents here.

Just as I began to feel at ease, I noticed Kuzuryuu fiddling with something near an electrical outlet. He looked utterly focused.

“Kuzuryuu, what are you doing?” I asked, suspicion creeping into my voice.

“A bug,” he replied nonchalantly. “If the target returns, we’ll be able to gather information from their conversations.”

“…I see. Just make sure it doesn’t get discovered,” I said, resigning myself to the situation.

“Of course.”

Though it wasn’t me who would get caught if this got exposed, watching someone commit a blatant crime right in front of me left an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“All done.”

Lost in thought, I barely noticed Kuzuryuu finish setting up the device. His movements were so practiced—he must have done this countless times before.

I shot him a quick look of disdain as we left the room.

Back in the present, I was jolted back to reality as I recalled this morning’s events during my conversation with Hirata.

I wonder… Did that bug end up being useful?

“Boss? Can you hear me?” Hirata’s voice suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts.

Damn it. I hadn’t been paying attention at all.

“Sorry. I was just lost in thought. What’s the matter?” I answered honestly, deciding it was better than fumbling with a lie.

Hirata paused briefly before responding.

“What do you mean by ‘a place where the target is likely to be’?”

“Ah, that’s… a seaside cave. According to the girl we rescued, she was attacked by the target there. Additionally, there seems to be something strange in the cave, so we decided to investigate it ourselves.”

I answered honestly. I hadn’t said anything wrong—at least I didn’t think so.

“And what exactly is this ‘something strange’?” Hirata asked.

Of course, she’d want more details. I hesitated for a moment before responding.

“A well stuffed with corpses.”

“What?” Hirata’s voice was laced with disgust. “That’s… revolting.”

Her reaction reassured me somewhat. Even she found this situation unsettling.

“Judging by the girl’s story, our target might be an extremely dangerous individual,” I added.

“I see… Apologies for not uncovering this sooner,” Hirata said, her tone oddly apologetic.

Was it just me, or did she sound annoyed?

“Not at all. It’s thanks to your intel that we’ve gotten this far. You’ve done nothing wrong,” I said quickly, attempting to reassure her.

Coming up with the right words in moments like this wasn’t my strong suit.

“Thank you for your kind words. I’ll strive to do better,” Hirata replied. Her voice returned to its usual tone—or perhaps even a bit brighter.

Moments like these were straightforward with her, which was a relief.

“That’s about everything on my end. Anything else on your side?” I asked.

“No, I’ve got everything I need. Nothing else for now.”

Good. If she’d pressed further, I wouldn’t have had much to say. I hadn’t exactly been productive. Not that I’d admit that outright.

“Well then, I’d better not keep them waiting. I’m heading to the cave now.”

“Understood. Please take care. Let me know if anything happens.”

“You as well. Keep me updated.”

“Got it!”

With that, our conversation ended. Hanging up, I couldn’t shake the sense of relief. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Stretching my arms, I set off for the seaside cave where the others were waiting.

———————————————  

Hirata’s Perspective

After ending the call with the boss, I let out a deep breath.

“…I’m so glad he sounded well.”

Hearing his voice for the first time in two days was enough to ease the ache in my chest. Even just a short conversation left me feeling content.

“Still, I was surprised when he said Satsuki picked up a girl…”

Satsuki, who never showed even a hint of kindness to others, had rescued a girl. Not only that, she let the girl live.

Even with Kuzuryuu present, this was unprecedented behavior from her, leaving me perplexed.

And that girl just happened to be deeply connected to our target? Could it really be a coincidence?

Or perhaps the boss had realized something and decided to protect her deliberately.

Well, there was no use overthinking it.

I shook off my thoughts and glanced at the notifications on my phone.

“…Heh. I knew sending ‘her’ was the right choice.”

A faint smile crept across my lips as I read a message from a certain person.

The sender’s name was displayed on my phone: “Meido Arisu.”