Interrogation

"Why are you after that green-haired girl?" Souta asked the hooded people in a cold tone.

"N-No...!!" One of the hooded people shouted.

Suddenly, a red line appeared in the center of his body. Slowly, his body split into two. He had a surprised expression as he drew his last breath.

The whole place turned quiet once again. All the people looked at their comrades with a mixed expression.

Souta looked at them with cold eyes. He could see none of them died when Bryan saved the girl. Bryan was an honest and straightforward man. Souta doesn't think that Bryan would intentionally kill someone, so he has to clean up this mess as these people saw Bryan's face and Yuko.

"I'll ask once again. Why are you chasing after the girl?" Souta repeated his question.

The people only lowered their heads and looked at the ground. After a few moments, one of them opened his mouth and said, "Our boss will kill us if we tell you..."

Souta frowned and he once again waved his sword.

Putchi!

This time he killed two people at the same time. Their heads shot up in the air and landed on the ground, spewing blood all over the place.

"Me too..." Souta said and he turned his head to the remaining hooded people.

He approached them as he tightened his grip on his sword. He then slowly raised it and swung it.

Putchi!

Putchi!

Putchi!

This time he didn't kill them. He just sliced their limbs apart so that they wouldn't think of escaping here. Also, the [Shadow Bind] spell was going to disappear soon.

"Argh!!"

"It hurts!!"

"Help me!!"

They groaned as they tried to move their body. They felt all kinds of pain but still, their lips were tightly shut. They didn't tell Souta anything no matter how many times he asked.

Souta looked in the sky and said, "Okay, we're running out of time." He then smiled at them. "Do you know what that means?"

Souta charged towards them with a cold grin on his face.

Putchi!

Putchi!

Putchi!

...

"Still not giving up?" Souta muttered while looking at the piled of corpses around him. He slowly turned his head and looked at the remaining two people.

The two people wanted to run away when they saw him look at them. Their faces contorted due to what they just saw. They don't think that they will survive this time.

Souta deliberately left the two of them alive. It was because he wanted to extract information by torturing them.

He lifted up his feet and walked towards one of them.

The hooded man struggled to move his body.

"Ahh!! Don't come here!"

Souta lifted up his sword and stabbed the man's body. It was an ordinary stab. He didn't use the skill [Stab] as it could kill the man in front of him. He also deliberately missed the man's vital parts.

"Argh!!" The man screamed at the top of his lungs. The pain he felt was extreme to the point that he just wanted to die.

Souta stabbed and twisted his sword in the man's body causing a loud scream to escape out of the man's mouth.

After a few minutes, Souta stopped. He turned his head to the other one and asked, "Do you want to tell me? I can let you live if you tell me what you know."

"I-I know that you will still kill me even if I tell you," The man replied while stuttering.

"Hmm? I see, then how about this." Souta paused for a moment before he grinned and asked, "Do you want me to torture you or not? I will bring you to my house and will torture you every day until you collapse, then heal you before I repeated it."

The man was terrified by what he heard. "Y-You're a monster!!"

Souta smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm a monster. I mean it, literally."

"..." The man opened his mouth widely. He couldn't process what Souta just said.

In the end, the man submitted to Souta. He opened his mouth and said, "Okay, I will do what you want."

"Good," Souta nodded and he swung his sword to kill the other man alive. He doesn't need to keep the other man alive anymore.

Souta then placed his sword back in the scabbard before he focused on the remaining hooded person.

"Why are you after that girl?"

"Um... I don't know many things as the boss hid a lot of things from us."

"I understand," Souta nodded.

"That girl's name is Cluster. She came from one of the Three Great Countries, the True God's Holy Kingdom," The man paused when he saw Souta contemplate.

'True God's Holy Kingdom...?' Souta rubbed his chin.

He didn't think that he would make contact with one of the Three Great Countries this early. The Three Great Countries was one of the reasons why the Gods from the Gods Continent haven't invaded the Giza continent. The Pope of the True God's Holy Kingdom, the Emperor of the Red Crystal Empire, and the Leader of the Purple Cloud Dynasty were powerful enough to match Zeus, Odin, Susanoo, Shiva, Lugh, Ra, etc. from the Gods Continent. The Three Great Countries were the pillar of the whole Giza Continent and in the future, the Mechanic Country would join their ranks.

To think that girl came from one of the most powerful countries on the whole continent. She must be hiding some sort of secret of the True God's Holy Kingdom. That must be why these people were after her.

Souta nodded and said, "You can continue."

"The boss said that he wants something from her. Cluster is hiding something the boss wants but I don't know what it is," the man said while looking on the ground.

"What's your boss's name?" Souta asked.

He tried to recall the organization against the True God's Holy Kingdom. There were many organizations that were trying to put down the Three Great Countries, but if he knew the leader then he would be able to know the power of the organization that was after the girl.

"Curdova, that's the name of our leader," the man replied.

"Curdova? Are you sure that it's Curdova?" Souta asked.

"Yeah," the man nodded.

Souta was surprised as he doesn't recall any NPC that has the name Curdova back in the game. It means that it's not that powerful an organization.

No, this was not a game anymore. There were many unknown factors that he didn't know in this world.

"What's your aim?" Souta asked.

"The boss wanted to bring down the True God's Holy Kingdom," the man replied.

Souta already guessed their motives so it's not that surprising. Nonetheless, to bring down the True God's Holy Kingdom was not something that could easily be achieved. Supposedly, they have a plan and the girl called Cluster was connected to that plan.

Really... This must be a hidden quest and Souta must trigger it no matter what happens.

"I will ask one last question," Souta said. "Tell me the formation and secret of your organization."

"Our base is hidden in the mountain between the Melosa Country and the Barbarian Kingdom. We have our boss and our seven executives as the core of our group. Our boss and the seven executives are powerful individuals," the man explained the details of their organization to Souta.

Souta listened to the man without saying anything. He finally understood the power of their organization. Their organization wasn't that powerful as it was only a small size group. They only have a hundred people in their group but their ambition was so high. They think that they could bring down one of the Three Great Countries with only a hundred people. Souta guessed the reason why they have such confidence was because of the girl.

Although they were only a small size organization, Souta guessed that the boss and the seven executives were powerful enough to go against the True God's Holy Kingdom.

"Okay, I understand you can rest now," Souta paused for a moment and asked, "Do you have any last words?"

"Huh...? Last words..." The man looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. He then took out something from his robe and gave it to Souta.

Souta received the item and saw that it was an ordinary necklace. The necklace has a pendant with a picture within it. The man, a woman, and a girl were smiling in the picture.

"This...?" Souta looked at the man with a questioning gaze.

"Find the girl in the picture and give her the necklace. She's my good daughter. Tell her that I love her," the man said.

Souta stopped for a moment as he heard a familiar sound in his mind.

*Ding!*

[Quest Triggered!!]

[Finding]: Find the girl in the picture and give her the necklace. Rewards: 20,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points.

'Oi oi, 3 skill points for this quest!' Souta was surprised. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

He looked at the man and asked, "Okay, I've decided that I will not kill you. I'm in a good mood today."

"No, I already told you the secret of our organization so the curse is already spreading in my body," the man shook his head.

"I see..." Souta nodded in understanding.

The man had a curse in his body. Once he tells someone the secret of their organizations the curse will spread in his body and kill him.

"Can you tell me where your daughter is?" Souta asked.

The man shook his head and said, "I don't know where she is. My family suffered from the suppression of the True God's Holy Kingdom. My wife died and my daughter disappeared. I don't know if she's still alive but I have a feeling that she's really alive."

"I see... Don't worry about it, your daughter is alive. I will find her," Souta said as he placed the necklace inside his pocket.

Since he received the quest to find his daughter, his daughter was still alive.

"Kill me now," the man said. His face was already pale due to the curse.

"I understand," Souta nodded and he raised his sword above him before he swung it down.

"I hope you don't forget your promise," the man said as the sword separated his head from his body.

Putchi!!

"Hais... This ending really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I shouldn't have asked about that," Souta sighed and looked at the sky.