“Nice to meet you, Mr. Siede.” Zich shook Condel’s hand a couple of times. “Yes, Mr. Zich. What did you want to see me for?”
“Nothing much. We just needed to ask you some things about the kidnapping incidents.”
“I don’t know what you want to ask about, but I will cooperate to the best of my abilities since you are working for the city.” Condel spoke politely, but because of his scary face, it sounded like he was talking sarcastically or trying to intimidate his addressee. It was to the point that Elena, who didn’t have much worldly experience, gulped.
Yet, Zich continued calmly. “I know that you have a deep connection with the underworld.”
Maybe it was a sensitive question, but Condel stared at Zich with his wide eyes. Zich didn’t turn away though.
In the end, Condel said after hesitating, “Yes, it is as you say.”
“You are admitting it so easily.”
“It’s an open secret. Also, I know how important the city is considering these kidnapping cases. It won’t do me any good by lying carelessly.” Then, Condel smiled—or at least, that was what he looked to be doing. His canine teeth shone brightly between the small gap of his opened mouth. If he smiled just two more times, he could have killed a couple of children with that smile.
“Good judgement, sir. Then, let me continue my question.” Zich checked each of the descriptions on Condel’s profile with him.
When he was done, Zich thought, ‘There’s no problem with the profile.’
Zich pushed the content of the profile into the back corner of his mind.
“Then, can I ask where you were at the time of this incident?”
Condel’s eyes shot from Zich to his companion. Then, after it made a full circle, his gaze returned to Zich.
“…I know it’s a bit late to ask this, but can I ask if I am being interrogated as a possible suspect?”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Siede. You are not the most likely suspect.”
“I don’t think you mentioned that to assure me.”
However, Condel maintained his composure. The greatness of the boss of an underworld organization came to light at this moment.
He continued, “Could you tell me the date and time of this incident?”
Zich told him the details.
“Unfortunately, I was home alone at the time.”
“Fortunately for you, Mr. Siede, and to our misfortune, many people don’t have an alibi for that time. You won’t have to worry about that.”
“Is that so? Unlike what you said before, it does lessen my worries a bit.”
“Then, this is the final question. Mr. Siede, do you have someone you can call a lover or someone who you used to? It doesn’t matter if you were married to that person either.”
“No.” Condel’s voice sounded firm.
“Was there not even one person who could possibly become your lover?”
“No. Even if you ask the people around me, you will get the same answer. What I want is not useless things like playing love games—only money.” Condel made his chilling smile again.
“So, is it alright for me to think that you’ve never loved anyone before?”
“I don’t think there’ll be any problems if you do that.” Condel was firm in his reply again. His cold eyes didn’t even hold an ounce of warmth.
Zich nodded. He had asked everything he needed to ask. “Thank you for your collaboration, Mr. Siede.”
“Then, please catch the criminal as fast as possible. These incidents have been negatively impacting our casino.”
“I will do my best.” After their farewells, Zich and his companions came out of the room. The guard who guided Zich and his companions to the room was waiting for them in front of the door and led them outside of the casino.
“Have a safe trip back, ladies and gentlemen,” the guard sent them off politely and closed the door. Still, unlike how he behaved, the guard probably hoped that Zich and his companions would never come back again. They were sure of this.
Lyla asked Zich, “Did you get anything from that?”
“No.”
“Okay, let’s find the next person then.”
She was used to their endeavors ending up fruitless by now, so Lyla immediately turned her attention to the next person. Zich also took out the papers of the different profiles, but then he turned around. He saw the casino’s display of its fancy and big exterior.
‘I should back off for now.’
Zich still had his suspicions. If something happened later on, he was prepared to tear his suspects apart immediately. However, without evidence, none of them were the culprits yet.
‘If it was like before the regression, I would have tortured each of them to find out who it was.’ Besides, it wouldn’t have even mattered if they failed to catch the culprit. After all, he would have killed all the suspects, and there was a high chance that the culprit was among them. Since Zich was no longer walking the path of the Demon Lord, this was all impossible to do. Thus, Zich took his companions and left the casino’s vicinity.
* * *
From the window, Condel watched as Zich and his companions went far away. When he could no longer see them, Condel turned around. He went across the empty room and approached a desk.
Drr!
He opened its drawers. Inside, there was a small frame flipped upside down. Condel took it out carefully. In the frame, there was a portrait of a pretty woman smiling.
“….Lola.”
Condel swiped his fingers down the frame as if he adored it. Right now, there wasn’t a trace of the cold appearance he had shown to Zich just a moment before. As if he had forgotten the passage of time, he swiped his hands across the frame for a long time.
Some indefinite time later, Condel finally took his eyes off the picture. His eyes which had showered the portrait with love turned back to their usual, cold state.
‘…I heard that I was taken off the list of the most likely suspects, so I didn’t expect them to come so soon.’ Condel recalled the encounter with Zich. ‘Now that I think about it, I heard that the lord from another estate formed his own, separate team. Those guys must have been them.’
This wasn’t good. Although it seemed like they hadn’t begun officially suspecting him, it was bound to happen any time now.
‘As I thought, I have to rush the plan a bit faster from now on. And…’ Condel’s eyes turned dark. ‘I should gift a small present to those people for working so hard.’
* * *
A couple of days after they met Condel Siede at the casino, Zich met Joachim by coincidence on his way to an investigation.
“Have you had any success?”
Joachim shook his head at Zich’s question. “No. To be exact, I’ve had no success with the kidnapping cases.”
“Then, did you succeed in other areas?”
“While we were conducting our investigation, we uncovered the crimes of one of our most likely suspects. He killed his lover for cheating on him and buried her.” While investigating their culprit’s dead lovers, Joachim and his team had coincidentally discovered a hidden murder.
Even though it was a serious matter and a significant achievement, Joachim felt disappointed that they weren’t able to track down the culprit behind the serial kidnapping cases. Joachim let out a frustrated sigh.
“First of all, that guy wouldn’t be the culprit. He’s not jealous of other lovers. No, would he actually be even more jealous?”
“Well, we’re investigating more about this matter first, but I don’t think he’s the culprit. Regardless of what happens, he’ll definitely receive punishment.”
“If we continue working hard on our investigation, I’m sure we’ll find a clue.”
“Yes, I hope that’s true.”
Zich consoled Joachim and was about to go on his way, but stopped. “Ah, now that I think about it, I think I’ll be a bit late today. Please go forward with the meeting with Lady Rouge and Mr. Zenard without me.”
“Mr. Zich, is there something you need to do?”
“One of the suspects has been sneakily avoiding me. Even if I’m a bit late to the meeting today, I’m going to end this matter tonight.”
“Alright, I understand. I’ll explain it to the others.”
Zich and Joachim separated. Time flew by and night approached, but the usual stars and moon that let out their subtle light after the sun disappeared were nowhere to be seen. The dense clouds covered the sky. Due to the kidnapping cases, the streets were more deserted than usual, and it was very chilly outside. Zich and his companions were walking through these streets.
“That damned bastard! He looks like a mass murderer, yet he’s a complete coward!” Zich’s complaint rang out in the streets. His piercing words seemed to dampen the chill.
“He’s being suspected as the culprit. If you’re scared, you can be like that.” Lyla spoke up for the guy she was looking for today, but Zich snorted.
“Yeah, it’s understandable if normal folks do it, but these are guys that beat up people in the underworld!” Then, Zich began his speech about what true villains should be like.
Of course, no one paid close attention to his words, and Lyla soon cut him off. Like this, Zich and his companions exchanged small talk and walked back to their lodging. Zich was in the very front, and he suddenly stopped. Hans and Snoc were walking a bit slower than Zich, and they stopped too.
“What’s the matter?” Elena was startled and asked Snoc.
However, Lyla had spent a long time with Zich, so showed a different reaction. She immediately raised her staff. “Elena, hold up your staff.”
“Ye-yes! Teacher!” Elena hurriedly raised her staff.
Zich and Hans had already taken out their swords, and Snoc also took out mithril from his magic box. Contrary to his usual image, Nowem also growled from Snoc’s shoulder.
Lyla asked, “Is it the culprit?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Zich ran towards the roof of a nearby building. He turned his head side to side and gauged their surroundings; then, he started running.
“Everyone follow me! Snoc! You carry Elena!”
“Yes, sir!” With Zich’s command, Snoc transformed Nowem into his giant beast form. Nowem grew big enough for two people to easily ride on top of him.
After Snoc got on top of Nowem’s back, he put out his hand towards Elena. “Grab my hand!”
While Elena clumsily got on top of Nowem’s back, she asked nervously, “I-is this really all right?”
“Don’t worry. He’ll never let you fall. Right, Nowem?”
Koooo! Unlike his cute cries when he was small, Nowem’s cries were very low and loud. However, that deep voice felt very trustworthy right now.
“…Then, please take care of me.” Elena tightly hugged Snoc’s waist.
“Let’s go, Nowem.”
Koo!
Thud!
Nowem ran towards Zich’s direction. Zich and Hans ran on rooftops, Snoc and Elena were riding on top of Nowem, and Lyla flew in the air. Thanks to their extraordinary transportation methods, they were able to quickly reach their destination.
‘It’s over there.’
Zich licked his lips after seeing the scene in front of him. A man had collapsed in an alleyway. He was not dead; he had merely lost consciousness. In a place not far away, a wriggling shadow was crouched over his unconscious body; thin arms stretched out from the front, but that only lasted for a moment. The shadow’s arms were sucked in as if it was being sucked into a deep swamp.
Tap!
Zich landed on the ground. ‘There’s no one to interrupt me this time, right?’
Zich could still clearly remember how Glen had interrupted him last time. He sharpened his senses and explored his surroundings. ‘He’s not here.’
Zich tightly clutched Windur and said to his companions, “Surround that shadow! We’re not going to let him go this time!”
Hans and Snoc landed on opposite sides of Zich with the shadow in the center. Lyla and Elena stayed on top of a roof and directed their staff towards the shadow.
‘Good!’ They successfully surrounded the shadow.
Zich ran towards the shadow, but when he was about to swing Windur towards it, he withdrew as quickly as he had run forward.
Thud! Something hit the place where Zich used to be and made a loud sound. In the darkness, he saw that a small crater had formed on the ground; it was caused by the shock a second ago.
‘What the hell is this?’ Zich stared at the being that just rushed towards him. A black figure wriggled disgustingly in front of him.
“…Shadow?” The shadow looked the same as the other shadow that just swallowed one person. As soon as Zich realized this, numerous shadows hidden in the darkness began crawling towards them.