“Who… is this?”

As Alice entered the room and fell into silence, Mia Crowfield asked in a somewhat anxious voice. To be more precise, it seemed she couldn’t grasp the current situation.

But I didn’t answer her question. Neither did Alice.

I simply walked slowly forward, looking down at the man’s face.

The man was staring blankly at the floor.

What should I do?

It was quite an ambiguous situation.

It was true that this man had beaten me. He probably didn’t intend to kill me. I had lost consciousness, but I woke up shortly after.

Since Claire was able to escape alive in the original story, it must have been a literal “processing” of me that left me in such a state. If he were going to sell me to a necrophiliac, it would have been better to kill me right there and take me away than to keep me alive and hand me over fresh after killing me.

Should I grab his hair and lift his head?

After seriously contemplating, I decided against it. Doing so while squatting like this would mean that the inside of my skirt would be completely visible to him. Moreover, Alice and Mia Crowfield, who were standing, would also see... But then again, these two weren’t in school uniforms, so maybe it wouldn’t matter.

Hah.

Am I really so shallow that I’d have such thoughts in front of a man I had given up looking for?

“...”

Well, one thing is certain.

That night, if it hadn’t been me, another girl would have suffered the same fate. There were orphanages other than the one we were in.

“About ten years ago.”

As I sorted through my thoughts, I finally spoke.

“There was an orphanage that burned down. Do you remember it?”

“...”

The man didn’t answer for a while.

Just as I thought he had no intention of responding, he answered in a rough voice.

“I remember.”

He was speaking formally.

He might not know who we were or why we were here. But he couldn’t possibly miss the emblem of the royal family, a griffin, clearly depicted on the armor of the knights who burst into this building. Even commoners from neighboring countries would recognize such a symbol.

It was a seldom-seen emblem, but here it was, in such proximity.

“Were you nearby?”

“Yes.”

Does he know why I’m asking this? Perhaps he just thinks that refusing to answer correctly in this situation would be far worse for him.

“Back then… there was a woman beside you. Do you know where she went?”

At a glance, she seemed like a noblewoman, but upon closer inspection, it appeared she was dressed overly extravagantly. While it was this man’s job to process and select the children, she must have played a significant role and likely was nearby.

“...The last time I saw her, she was at the institute.”

“...”

I shut my mouth and quietly stared at the back of the man’s head.

His hair was thick. It looked like someone who had never truly suffered. Well, considering the role he played in life, he must have “really” suffered at some point, but at least he lived proudly off money that was less than honorable.

I slowly raised my body and glanced around.

As soon as I entered the room, my gaze had been fixed on the man, preventing me from taking in the surroundings.

I didn’t recognize the place.

It felt quite different from when I had last been here. Of course, it would be. To decorate it so lavishly, they must have at least repainted the wallpaper. Ten years had passed, and the wallpaper in that house back then… must have been stained with opium smoke and bodily fluids.

“Is this house yours?”

I asked as I walked slowly around the room. Everyone in the room was holding their breath. Mia Crowfield was naturally anxious, but even Alice, who had been assertive when bringing me here, and the knight pressing down on the man were silent.

“...Yes.”

“It seems you’ve worked hard.”

It would be difficult to buy even a single room in such a house with a regular wage. It wasn’t just a matter of expensive land or housing costs. The wages paid to workers were ridiculously low.

Ah, the good old days, the Belle Époque.

An era pushing the extremes of capitalism. Anyone who worked could earn money, and with the hard-earned cash, they lived with dignity.

And even the one paying the wages could adjust the amount to their liking.

There were no laws to protect tenants. To pay rent, one had to work fourteen hours a day, and if you worked late into the night, you’d inevitably feel sleepy.

If you dozed off, your hand might get caught in the press. If you lose a hand, you lose your job. Then the worker would scrape together what little money they had to go to an opium den or drink themselves into oblivion, cutting reality out of their lives. They’d wander the alleys, begging for money, smoking opium, drinking, until finally, their stomach and liver couldn’t take it anymore, and their already fragile life was snuffed out. In the great homeland of the Azerian Empire.

On the streets of the empire.

And this man must have worked hard to cut away that life. Using children who were far too young—too young even by this world’s standards—as material.

“...”

The man was silent.

“You sold fantasies so that the weary workers could find comfort.”

Through opium.

“...”

“You gave value to children who would have otherwise frozen to death on the streets and provided them a chance to contract with suitable employers.”

A chance to sell their bodies.

Whether they wanted it or not.

It was far too young to even think about such things.

“...”

The man had no answer.

Or could he not answer? Did he understand the meaning behind my words?

“Isn’t it something to be proud of? The one who sheds light on the dark sides of the great empire is someone like you, isn’t it?”

Before I knew it, I had walked a full circle around the room and stood in front of the man again.

The man’s back remained visible.

The wallpaper in the room was definitely not of cheap quality. The solid wood of the shelves and desk, and the mana stone lights on the desk.

The curtains, the mattress, the leather-bound books filling the bookshelf, the silk curtains, and the expensive shirts hanging on the coat rack, along with the wristwatch and pocket watch neatly placed on the desk.

Not a single item was cheap.

In this cramped room, those expensive items created an appearance that seemed modest and warm at first glance, but if you looked closely, you could tell how extravagantly this person had lived.

Now that I think about it, it was the same back then.

The fur on the coat he wore. The cane he held.

None of it looked cheap.

I could easily guess what he had sold to earn such money.

“How did you purchase this mansion?”

“...”

“Who introduced you?”

I heard Mia Crowfield gasp, but I didn’t turn around.

My gaze remained fixed on the back of the man’s head.

“Did you have any connections with anyone in this land?”

“The em—”

As I spoke, Mia Crowfield took a step forward and made a loud sound, but it seemed Alice stopped her. The sentence was cut off midway. It seemed that reason had fled when Alice grabbed her shoulder.

“...”

The man didn’t answer.

Bang!

A loud sound erupted. A small scream came from behind. At that moment, the knight, who had been pressing down on the man’s arm, looked up at me. Through the slit of his helmet, I could see his surprised eyes wide open.

The man’s head slammed against the floor, making a loud noise before bouncing back up.

The well-kept hair on the back of his head became disheveled. Thankfully, it hadn’t broken.

Was that a good thing? It could break and be put back together.

What happened to the man’s face? Had he smashed his nose into the floor?

I heard a small groan. His head wasn’t hanging low, so he didn’t seem to have fainted.

I slowly looked down at the floor again and asked quietly.

“Answer me.”

“...”

I decided to count to five in my mind.

5, 4, 3—

“You’re being unreasonable.”

With two seconds left, the man spoke.

His voice, which had been normal just a moment ago, now sounded rough as if it were ground into the earth. Moreover, it seemed to seep out through clenched teeth.

“Unreasonable?”

When I asked back, the man continued.

“...Wasn’t the imperial family already aware of this?”

“...”

The room fell silent.

I shifted my gaze back to the knight’s face.

Just as I had seen when I swung my foot earlier, his eyes were wide open.

“Could you please tie this man up and step outside for a moment?”

When I spoke in a calm tone, the knight nodded.

“We’ll continue the conversation once he’s gone.”

“...”

The man remained silent.