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Chapter 11
“What’s all this commotion?”
On his way to work, Travis stopped in his tracks when he heard the disturbance coming from the interrogation room and headed there instead of his office.
The interrogation room was built so that one could see inside from the outside through iron bars, but those inside could not see out.
Inside, Haren was sitting face-to-face with Sebastian, whom they had arrested the day before.
“Why is Haren handling the interrogation?”
Normally, this kind of work was done by an assigned investigator, not by the vice-commander himself.
“Ah, well… he insisted on doing it personally.”
“Because of that Lady from the Leon family yesterday?”
“Yes. Apparently they’ve been close since childhood.”
Travis recalled Espin, whom he had seen the day before.
A woman crying with a completely clueless expression.
On the surface, she looked like an innocent noble lady who knew nothing.
To others, she might seem like a victim being harassed by a strange stalker, but to Travis, something about her felt off.
She had been crying, yet he hadn’t sensed even a trace of fear from her.
“I’ll prepare for the morning meeting.”
“Wait. Let’s proceed with the meeting after watching this interrogation.”
Travis took a position in front of the bars and focused on what was happening inside.
“Please, listen to me. I really didn’t do it. I truly don’t know anything about this.”
“Start by telling me your name.”
Haren looked at Sebastian with open disdain.
Sebastian had no evidence at all—only repeated claims that he was being wronged.
“I’m really innocent. I’m the one who got swindled out of money.”
“Hah. Say something that actually makes sense.”
“I’m telling the truth! That woman definitely planned everything to steal my money.”
“Fine. Go on. I’ll tell you exactly where your story starts and ends with lies.”
“Espin and I were seeing each other. We planned to run away from the Leon family together.”
“Espin has liked dependable, handsome, prince-like men since she was little. You’re not that kind of person at all, are you?”
“Hah. To Espin, I probably looked like a prince. At a glance, I look pretty princely myself!”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
At Haren’s words, Sebastian bit his lip hard. Realizing that silence wouldn’t help him, he continued.
“Anyway, we needed money to escape the Leon household. So Espin said she’d bring Count Leon’s seal and asked me for money.”
“Oh really? Espin needed money just to go get the seal?”
“Yes. She said she needed money to use the gate and took my money. I shouldn’t be the one here—it should be that woman.”
“Ah, I see. The Leon family already has a contract with the terminal, so they don’t need to pay gate fees. So Espin tried to pay twice. She just took gate money from you.”
At Haren’s deliberately provocative tone, Tom, the knight listening beside Travis, shuddered.
“The vice-commander is probably number one in the empire when it comes to getting under people’s skin.”
Travis silently nodded. He knew very well how irritating Haren could be, despite acting like a gentleman in public.
“Gate fees…”
Travis recalled the time he had seen Espin at the gate terminal.
She had been standing there alone, without guards or maids.
He never did find out where she was headed.
“Hah, just gate fees? The money I gave her to use however she wanted was fifty thousand ritas. Fifty thousand! Do you know what that money meant to me?”
“Fifty thousand ritas?”
Haren’s eyes gleamed as he looked Sebastian up and down. His clothes clearly showed an effort to imitate noble fashion, but on closer inspection, they lacked any real refinement.
“How did you even have that kind of money? You must be quite wealthy.”
“I had a fair amount of money saved.”
“Fine. Let’s assume everything you said is true. Then why is it that no one in the Leon household remembers you? Not even the woman you told us to call.”
“Hah, that’s because…”
Sebastian thumped his chest in frustration.
“Because what?”
Despite Haren kindly prompting him again, Sebastian couldn’t answer.
“Any proof that you met Espin? None. Any proof you lent Espin fifty thousand ritas? None. But proof that you followed Espin around? That exists. Someone who saw you loitering around the Leon estate? That was me.”
“I’m really being wronged. That money was mine.”
“Really? Then prove it was your money by telling us your name.”
“Th-that is…”
“Among the people who come in here, there are only two kinds who can’t state their names properly. First, those who’ve committed a crime. Second, those already wanted for crimes.”
“……”
As if by magic, Sebastian’s mouth shut tight.
“Judging by your silence, are you both?”
Haren’s eyes shone sharply.
Watching from outside, Travis gave an order to the knight beside him.
“Search for him among the wanted criminals. And we’ll need to have a conversation with Miss Espin Leon as well.”
Travis frowned uneasily. His instincts told him that the seemingly innocent lady was hiding something.
“Miss, is this really the place?”
When they arrived at their destination, the maid who had ridden in the carriage with her had trembling eyes.
A very secluded alley beside the shopping district.
Unlike the bustling streets nearby, this place was dark and desolate even during the day, with not a single person in sight and not one intact building.
Among them, the carriage stopped in front of a shop of unknown nature.
“Yes. This is it.”
“Why here…?”
The maid glanced outside with shaking eyes, clearly frightened by the atmosphere.
‘If only you knew how safe this place actually is.’
It looked like a place where thugs might jump out shouting, “Hand over everything you’ve got!” at any moment, but in reality, this area was safe precisely because of this shop.
Thanks to the owner’s obsession with security, hardly anyone even passed through here.
“I’ll go alone. You can stay here. The coachman’s in front, so don’t be scared.”
“Yes.”
“Huh…?”
In situations like this, one would usually say, “No, I can’t let you go alone into such a dangerous place,” and follow along.
But my maid firmly nodded and sat back down.
“Please be careful.”
“Uh… right. I’ll be back.”
Her unexpectedly decisive response left me feeling oddly flustered as I stepped out of the carriage.
The building in front of me—this was my destination.
So dark that it was impossible to tell whether the lights were on or anyone was inside, the building had a large sign reading Pawnshop, with the words We buy anything written beneath it.
Contrary to its appearance, the door opened smoothly, showing how many people had come and gone from this place.
“What brings you here?”
‘Wow, I didn’t realize there was another door.’
When I entered, a man with a body as massive as a giant door blocked my path.
“I’m here to see the owner of this shop.”
The man looked me up and down. After checking my obviously expensive dress and jewelry, he nodded.
“You can go inside.”
“No, not the fake owner. I want the real one.”
At the words real owner, the man’s expression turned sharply menacing. His face alone was enough to intimidate people.
Not wanting to be overwhelmed, I frowned back.
“Hm… do you have an appointment…?”
The man’s voice trembled slightly at my expression.
‘What, did he seriously get intimidated just because I frowned?’
No way. A man built like that wouldn’t be scared of someone as fragile-looking as me.
“I don’t have an appointment, but I’m here to buy the most expensive thing in the world.”
In truth, this place was an information broker disguised as a general store.
Information was money, and in a world as closed-off as this one, its value was extraordinary. So “the most expensive thing in the world” meant information.
“How do you know that…?”
The man’s eyes shook violently at my unexpected words. Despite his fierce appearance, he wasn’t very good at hiding his emotions.
“Does it matter how I know? Now, please show me the way.”
To the greatest information broker in the empire.
