novelraw Chapter 172 : Chapter 172
Chapter 172 : Chapter 172
Chapter 172 - Cannot Go Back (3)
The key to interrogation by torture, that is, interrogation using pain as a means, is cross-verification.
To extract information using pain, and then to review the reliability of the acquired information by cross-verifying the collected information.
That would be the only way to distinguish whether the information obtained in the coercive act of information acquisition called torture is true or false.
And, Giovanni also understood that obvious fact perfectly.
‘He's just full of himself, but he's still a student. Torturing one person.’
Although he was momentarily overwhelmed by the fierce killing intent emanating from Rain Enlight earlier, Giovanni was also a formidable figure, ranked second highest in 『Ad Astra』.
It was an easy task to quickly organize his thoughts and decide on a future course of action.
“……Wha, what information do you want? I'll answer anything I know.”
“…….”
Reacting like that, the student in front of him, Rain Enlight, reached out towards Giovanni’s right hand, which he had stabbed and then pulled the knife out of.
Giovanni couldn't tell what intention that action had, but he would soon find out.
Soon, light began to emanate from his hand, and Giovanni’s own hand began to heal.
‘Healing magic……!’
The professor, who had been reduced to a pawn of the cabal, thought.
‘According to the information obtained at the school, there were rumors that he couldn't use many types of magic due to his unique magic power problem, so why is he using healing magic so skillfully?’
And there was only one answer to that question.
‘Was he hiding his skills?’
Giovanni swallowed hard. Recently, Rain Enlight was a person who was being watched with caution within Ad Astra, so he thought that if he brought this information, he could be of help to the cabal.
Of course, that hopeful optimism was based on the assumption that he could return.
“I will ask.”
Rain, who had healed the wound on Giovanni’s right hand a little with healing magic, asked in his characteristic eerie and cold voice.
“Where is the Knight Executioner, Grændal?”
A single question recited in such a voice.
That simple question turned Giovanni’s mind, which had been devising a way to break through the current situation, completely white.
Generally speaking, there was no reason to connect the Knight Executioner, Grændal, and himself.
The act of kidnapping a student and the act of killing a knight could only be seen as completely separate incidents when viewed from a distance.
Nevertheless, Rain was asking. Where is he now?
The meaning of the question Rain uttered was all too clear.
‘I know everything about Ad Astra.’
“……Ah?”
Such a dazed sound escaped from Giovanni’s mouth, who was in a state of momentary confusion.
Rain Enlight doesn't know much. Now that the basic premise has been shattered, shouldn't he revise all his previous courses of action?
But how? If he revised, in what direction? What should he do?
A single word that came out of a mixture of such momentary agonies.
Kwajik-!
As if not to miss the intention that leaked out from that single word, the sound of a blade roughly piercing flesh echoed again.
Was it that he could hear the sound of Giovanni's brain working, or that Rain, without any hesitation, took out a dagger from his pocket and plunged it into Giovanni's right hand.
“Kkeuaaaak!!!”
As a result, it was only natural that fresh blood would spurt out again from the wound that had barely been staunched with healing magic.
“I will ask again.”
The gushing stream of blood, the sensation of cutting flesh with a blade, the tearing scream.
As if he felt no emotion at all towards all those elements, the boy repeated the story again in a calm tone.
“Where is the Knight Executioner, Grændal?”
“Pant, heok……!”
Giovanni gasped for breath, and he could see that he had no more time to think.
He could tell that even if he said something like ‘I don't know’ here, it wouldn't work.
“……Yes, yes! I know, of course I know!”
Therefore, the only choice left for him was deception.
“So…… where, where he is is……”
As mentioned earlier, Rain had no means of cross-verification, so what would he know even if he told false information?
There is no way to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
Giovanni thought so.
For this reason, he was able to utter words of deception without hesitation.
However.
“The abandoned factory on the outskirts of Rivington City in the west, you say?”
“The west, the abandoned factory on the outskirts of Rivington City in the west! It’s disguised as an abandoned factory……”
What kind of harmony was this? A single word recited in a flat tone without emotion from Rain’s mouth.
It was to utter the deception that Giovanni was about to utter a beat earlier.
“Just now, what……”
Giovanni, who was in an unprecedented state of confusion, could only stutter in a daze, but…….
“That's a shame.”
Rain, who had taken out his dagger again, seemed as if he would not allow even that momentary confusion.
“As the price for your lie, I will take one of your fingers.”
Kwajik-!
Once again, the sound of flesh and bone being cut and a scream echoed in the basement.
***
Even before capturing Giovanni, I understood the blind spot of the interrogation I was attempting.
‘If Giovanni lies to me, how will I distinguish the lie?’
That's why I had to ponder this topic for a long time.
However, after a long period of contemplation, the only answer I could get was the fact that there was no clear solution.
The knowledge I had about
No matter how much I listened to his story, if he chose to deceive me, I couldn't tell the truth from the falsehood.
‘At least not in that place, that is.’
Therefore, the answer I chose was a very simple and clear solution.
“Is this the place?”
An abandoned factory in Rivington, a western city quite a distance from Endinium in the central part of the continent.
I headed there based on Giovanni’s testimony that Grændal was hiding there, and I was able to arrive.
He might actually be there, so I went with all preparations made.
And the result was.
Chwaak!
Blood splattered lightly in the air. It was because I had shaken off what was on my sword.
“A wild goose chase, huh.”
As that mutter implied, it was a wild goose chase.
There was definitely something in the abandoned factory. It seemed like something was being made, and accordingly, the security was quite tight.
But the target I originally wanted, Grændal, was not there.
‘I had a hunch from the moment I saw the factory teeming with personnel assigned here.’
Grændal was the type of person who was reluctant to cooperate with others and had a strong tendency to act alone as much as possible.
In other words, Giovanni's words were a lie, and I had been played for a fool by his deception.
It seemed like a rather desperate situation at first glance. I had been played for a fool, and it was hard for me to think of another channel to obtain that information.
But I didn't feel despair or anger. Why?
Seureung-
Because I had a way to break through all that deception and lies.
You'll lie ten times, a hundred times? Try me.
“……Ha.”
I looked at the sword I had drawn myself and let out a small, dry laugh. It was a laugh that leaned more towards self-deprecation.
How did things end up like this?
I've been targeted to have my life cut short, but is this the first time I've taken my own life?
Because such random thoughts came to mind.
Come to think of it, why haven't I taken my own life until now?
If I had done that, I could have gone a little more comfortably, a little better.
Was there some kind of pathetic resistance?
Well, I don't know anymore.
Tuhwak-!
[ System : You have overcome deaths. ]
So I was able to go back to before I encountered Giovanni again, and…….
“The abandoned factory on the outskirts of Rivington City in the west, you say?”
“The west, the abandoned factory on the outskirts of Rivington City in the west! It’s disguised as an abandoned factory… ah?”
Kwajik!
And after that, it was repeated several times.
Well, it didn't take that long.
***
Cunningly, he continued to give me false information several times after that.
I thought he would give up after repeating it a couple of times, but he was a pretty persistent guy.
Maybe he was just in a panic and not in his right mind.
Anyway.
“The location is certain, right?”
The location I was able to get this time was an abandoned bell tower in a location quite close to Endinium.
Even though I couldn't tell if it was the truth.
“Huh, heok…… heok……! Th, that's right……”
Giovanni answered so, gasping for breath in pain. I had heard that answer several times, but this time it felt quite plausible.
A voice that seemed to have given up, or to be afraid.
I'll have to go and see if it's a good sign.
“I see.”
I answered Giovanni's words calmly and slowly approached him.
Jeobeok.
“Then I will now… be led to the school?”
Giovanni used to say that after he got all the information.
At first, I thought he firmly believed that that would be his end, but now that I think about it, that might have been a slightly wrong judgment.
‘He's hoping it will turn out that way.’
He must be believing that Ad Astra, which is behind him, and the Crown Prince's faction will somehow take care of his mess.
And that would be true to some extent, not for Giovanni's sake, but to attack me and the princess.
Therefore.
Seureung-
I had no intention of letting him live.
“……Hey, there?”
He asked back in a daze, but I didn't bother to answer.
Come to think of it, there were many reasons why he had to die.
Judging from the presence I felt from the depths of the basement, it seemed that he hadn't handed over the students to Ad Astra yet… but if he had, quite a large number of students in this basement would have lost their lives.
Perhaps they would have met an end where death was a better option.
How do I know about that fact?
‘Yuna’s friend, so Shasha, ended up in that state in the original story.’
Shasha Cristy. A person who became one of Yuna’s closest friends after spending a year with her.
In the original
And later, she reappears as a test subject and stands in Yuna’s way.
In an indescribably miserable state.
I remember the description of that time vividly. And also the fact that Yuna’s spirit, who had tried to see the bright side of the world, was greatly broken in that scene.
Well, even if it wasn't for that case, the fact that he drove several students to their deaths did not change, and that might be the evidence that proved that Giovanni deserved to die.
But.
Jeobeok.
“……No, is this all just an excuse?”
I muttered so as I walked with my sword drawn.
And I slowly approached Giovanni and stopped in front of him.
“D, don't tell me……!”
He exclaimed, his face turning pale, as if he had just realized my intention.
“Why…… I told you everything-!”
Seogeok-!
That cry did not continue a second time. It was because he was no longer in a state to speak.