“The boring truth.”
Miss Bellinger commented on my speech indifferently.
"Okay~~ It's boring because it's the truth."
"......you should rest earlier."
It seems that the other party is really planning to leave this time.
I also feel a little tired.
Logically speaking, now is the best time to end the conversation, but an idea suddenly entered my mind as if I was deliberately uncooperative.
"By the way, Miss Bellinger, do you know what 'yellow ashes' are?"
"The leader had a dog before, and his name was 'Yellow Ashes'."
A smooth-tongued old man.
...
After confirming each other's missions with the gang members, I took a day off and then proposed to Miss Beliner that we go shopping near Mr. Bradley's garden villa.
Miss Bellinger did not refuse, presumably she also felt that time was pressing.
Putting on the hat and the one-eyed patch, I thought I no longer needed any extra disguise. Not even Manda could recognize me now.
"let's go."
"Wait until I finish reading this page."
In Miss Bellinger's hands is a book that has sold well.
"How is this book?"
"It's so-so. It's a cliched plot, and the ending can be predicted without using your brain. The only advantage is probably that it can kill time."
"Even though we have so little time?"
"I'm killing all the time I don't need, so it's okay."
"High argument."
"let's go."
The other party closed the book.
...
"There are actually not many Hedara survivors in the 'White Prison', right?"
"Yes, it only accounts for less than 40%. How do you know?"
"My guess."
I breathed heavily and tried to keep myself close to Miss Belle.
"The things your leader did... are too conservative for the largest gang in Fulvos. The current series of plans are probably the result of a compromise between your leader and the 'majority'
?”
"..."
"That's all, even if you figure it out, it won't be of much help to me."
"...Is this your guess again?"
"certainly."
"That's good. I hope you won't hide any information from us, unless you are willing to lose another eye."
"well."
The hardly harmonious conversation stopped just like that.
...
Miss Bei Liner and I entered the "rich area" smoothly.
It's very quiet around here.
Now that spring has arrived, most people are starting to get busy. However, this group of rich guys don't seem to care about the change of seasons, and they all stay behind closed doors.
Their "world" is probably always winter.
A winter with plenty of supplies.
This environment reminds me of a fragment from the past.
At that time, I had just settled in Woolworth. With the purpose of adapting to life in a big city as soon as possible, I went to the largest theater in the central square and bought the first ticket... and the last one.
.
It was a critically acclaimed drama, and its promotional posters could be seen everywhere.
“You must check it out! It perfectly combines all the current popular elements with Fulworth’s ‘blade spirit’!”
——This is how the conductor introduced it to me.
I can’t remember its specific content. Maybe it’s just not worthy of its name in my eyes, otherwise I wouldn’t forget it so quickly.
The so-called "popular elements" are just a thin and fragile "coat" covered with an unchanging plot framework. In fact, there is no innovation. When I discovered this, I was at a loss.
Although I didn’t intend to leave, everything on the stage could no longer attract me, so I had to turn to observe other audience members: they were dressed in neat clothes, staring intently at the agile actors, and occasionally revealing a trace of their faces.
They smile knowingly, as if they are real actors.
On the stage, there was a lot of excitement, and off the stage, there was so much concentration. I was caught in the middle, and I was in a dilemma.
My mood at that time was roughly the same as now.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your memories, but we have to be more vigilant."
"......Um."
Another guy who can read minds.
...
Looking in through the fence, a few weeds in the garden villa are a bit dazzling. Fortunately, the overall layout still retains Mr. Bradley's style, and there is no snow. If you don't know, most people will think that the villa is
The master just took his servants on a trip.
There was nothing unusual around, and even Gale did not find anyone suspected of being a plainclothes police officer.
In view of the fact that Miss Bellinger and I were too inconspicuous on the deserted street, we left after not staying long. What's more, there may be police officers lurking in the house next to the garden villa.
We slowed down our pace and fell silent.
The information currently available is:
First, the police officers had most likely entered the garden villa and taken Robert away. Second, they blocked the relevant information.
One bad thing, one good thing.
...
"We're going to the pub next."
As soon as she escaped from the "rich area", Miss Bei Lin'er announced this.
"Which pub?"
"Old Chen's Tavern."
...
"Old Chen, now you and I owe nothing to each other."
In the tavern, I had a bad smile on my face, while the tavern owner opposite me, Lao Chen, looked at me in surprise.
Next to me, in addition to Ms. Bellinger, there were other gang members disguised as guests in twos and threes.
This is one of the gathering places for "white prisons".
Miss Bei Lin'er briefly described the situation of the garden villa to Lao Chen.
"Well...so, the police officer is not in the villa."
Lao Chen wiped his hands with a towel.
"And there is no way Mr Bradley could have escaped from Woolworths with Robert."
I joined their conversation.
"The army is currently hunting Mr. Bradley, and his situation is worse than mine. If he is caught, then Robert will become evidence of his collusion with me, and the army can easily convict him."
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"But, you lived in his villa in the past. In that case, the police officers could also find similar evidence in the villa, right?"
"Mr. Bradley would not be so careless as to run away without doing any 'cleaning up', even if it was on the spur of the moment."
"Why do you trust him?"
"If you had visited his garden villa like I did, you wouldn't have asked this question."
"... Robert knew exactly where he was kidnapped - if the police officers had found him, there was no way he would not have told his colleagues this detail."
"So what? At that time, Mr. Bradley only needs to insist that it was me and Xue who sneaked into his villa and took away Officer Robert... Then he can successfully become an 'unknown'
From beginning to end, Robert had never even seen Mr. Bradley's face a few times. Moreover, Mr. Bradley did not seem to be the kind of person who was willing to collude with criminals, so Robert had no reason to be too harsh on him.
Great suspicion."
I slowly explained my basis.
"Well, let's assume that the police officer is not with Bradley."
Lao Chen, who had been deep in thought for a while, interrupted the argument between me and Miss Bei Lin'er.
"However, our people did not find him anywhere near the police station or the officer's home. In other words, the police station deliberately concealed his existence?"
It seems that the gang's tracking level is as good as mine.
"I vote for Lao Chen."
At some point, Henrik sat on my right side.
"You'd better not get too close to me."
"Hey - I haven't settled the score with you yet, I'm sorry you dare to bring it up!"
"Tsk, don't you want your other eye too?"
"What did you say?!"
Henrik's gaze struck me, and I stared back unwilling to be outdone.
"Each of you has an eyepatch... just like a pair of one-eyed brothers."
"Miss Bei Lin'er, don't try to stay out of it. You have nothing to do with me becoming like this."
"Okay, okay, don't go off topic. What we should discuss now is the situation of the police officer."
Old Chen is trying to smooth things over.
So reliable.
Wait, it seems that he is also one of the culprits...
"Well, I agree with you. Most likely the police department hid the officer... After all, this is quite consistent with their previous style."
"Hey, I don't understand. Why do they do this?"
"Probably to avoid causing unnecessary panic. Recently, there has been almost no news related to the murder, which is unreasonable. It seems that the police department is happy to continue the stalemate with us."
"Old Chen, do you know their intentions?"
Facing Henrik's question, Lao Chen hesitated for a few seconds.
"No...but no matter what, we can't make them get what they want."
"That's natural! With me here, what are you afraid of?"
...
The night was getting darker, but we were still staying in the tavern, which made me impatient.
"Let me tell you, Miss Bellinger, should we go? You won't let me drink..."
"Well...it doesn't matter if I tell you. You'll have no time to run away anyway."
Miss Bellinger listened to the distant bells, her tone seemed different from usual.
"Yesterday, our leader met with several other gang leaders and forcefully "asked" them to hand over half of their weapons inventory and... in short, asked them for a lot
thing."
"They agreed?"
"How is that possible? No matter how courageous our leader is, he won't make other gangsters obey his orders, right?"
An annoyed expression appeared on Miss Belle's face for the first time.
"The leader just wants to make things difficult for them."
"Um...ah, you mean..."
It dawned on me.
"First make a request that they can't fulfill, then make another request that they can't refuse."
"correct."
"Hey! Your brain is quite useful sometimes."
Lao Chen and Henrik's approval made me a little embarrassed.
"I just suddenly remembered the plot of a certain book and made a casual guess."
"You guessed it right, so you don't need any further explanation from me, right?"
"Uh, your leader is meeting with other gangsters... What does this have to do with us just wasting time in the tavern?"
"..."
"...Oh, the money-losing man praised you just now. Is it really just a coincidence?"
"..."
"They are gangsters, not businessmen. Whoever offends them will have to suffer."
"Well, although this is inevitable, we can tentatively adjust the scope of the loss."
"..."
"We have spread the news that the leader's adopted son is in this tavern. I believe they will take the bait soon."
"Adopt, adopt a son?"
"That's me."
"you?"
Henrik is the adopted son of the leader of the "White Prison"? That's a lie.
"Those guys definitely want to capture me alive to blackmail the boss. They are despicable! I will not be their hostage!"
"...What are you going to do? Is it just to beat them up?"
"That's one of the purposes. The other purpose is to make it look like they killed the leader's adopted son."
"Oh - that's it. Then your leader will forgive them 'magnanimously' and say that the past things have been wiped out, and then logically make an 'unrejectable request'... The question is how to make them
Aren't you suspicious of your 'illusion'?"
"Isn't this simple?"
Unexpectedly, the first person to answer me was Henrik.
"I will drink Lao Chen's poisonous wine first, and then have a fight with those guys! When I return to the west, you guys will be responsible for retrieving my body in the chaos!"
"Hey, aren't you really dead?"
I was stunned, subconsciously thinking he was joking.
But when I looked at Lao Chen and Miss Bei Lin'er, I found that they both had calm faces, as if they had already known about this matter.
"Nonsense! I know best when Lao Chen's medicine will take effect."
"..."
I was speechless for a moment and stared at Henrik.
"Please be more agile in your movements later! If someone steps on me, I won't be able to spare you!"
"baffling......"
I wanted to ask him if it was worth it, but without warning, what Henrik said that night echoed in my mind:
"I am a subject of Emperor Hedara."
That's all, it has nothing to do with me anyway.
...
"Bang——! Wow——!"
The glass seems to be broken.
[The chance of being attacked by a Molotov cocktail on the left rear is 70%]
[The chance of being attacked by smoke bombs on the left and right sides is 88%]
"They're coming!"
"Get under the table!"
I followed Gale's reminder and used the table next to me as a cover.
A group of people broke in.
Members of the "White Lao" disguised as customers quickly blocked them.
"Pah——! Ah——! Damn...! Boom——!"
The sound of the door being kicked open, the sound of sticks clashing, screams, and explosions came one after another.
I saw Lao Chen hand Henrik a glass of wine. Henrik drank it without hesitation, then picked up the wooden chair nearby and joined the melee.
His cry was particularly harsh:
"Come on——! Idiots! Let me be excited again!"
At that moment, I suddenly realized:
These guys are all crazy.
This chapter has been completed!