Chapter 361: Chapter 361

A few hours before Zero and his party woke up.

“…That’s how I managed to escape.”

Dolores let out a small sigh and took a sip of tea. The endless investigation was tiring, but repeating the same statement over and over was even more draining.

This was already her fourth testimony, including the current one.

Dolores lowered her teacup and glanced upward.

A man was transcribing her statement onto paper.

His face was covered in scars and grotesque remnants of torture, his gaze chilling.

At first, even making eye contact with him had been terrifying, but not anymore.

Just the fact that he had seated her in a bright and warm place with plenty of sunlight showed his thoughtfulness.

The repeated questioning was annoying, but he hadn’t yelled, treated her roughly, or pressured her.

The man had introduced himself as ‘Caron.’ He was a better person than she expected.

She thought, if he were thirty… no, even just twenty years younger, he wouldn’t be bad at all.

‘Maybe I’ve always liked older men.’

Dolores smiled to herself in secret.

She must truly have survived. The fact she could entertain such silly thoughts made it clear.

“Check this, and if everything looks fine, sign it.”

Dolores reviewed the statement, which had detailed her testimony.

There was no major difference from what she had said previously. However, one thing had been bothering her for a while now.

“If there’s something you want to say, feel free to speak. If I make you uncomfortable, I’ll call Rodelin.”

“Ah… no, it’s not that. It’s just… something in here doesn’t match what I think.”

“The Dark Beast Squad. I don’t think I ever spoke badly about them.”

Dolores pointed at one particular sentence.

‘Deranged individuals obsessed with playing heroes. Seem to be heavily involved in this case.’

“I didn’t say anything like that, did I?”

“I ask for your understanding on that part. It’s my job to secure information on suspicious individuals.”

“They may be a bit unusual, but from what I saw, they were good people. Not only did they escape with skill, they also helped our side… They didn’t seem related to this case at all.”

“We don’t plan to punish them. In fact, we should reward them. But to do that, we need to secure their identities.”

“What if they resist?”

“Then they’ll receive both reward and punishment. I’ll say it again—we don’t intend to treat them harshly. As you said, they might be a well-meaning group dreaming of becoming heroes.”

Caron’s words were clearly reasonable and logical.

But Dolores could feel it instinctively.

That the process wouldn’t be gentle at all.

“How about just leaving them alone?”

“Because they’re suspicious.”

Caron looked toward the portraits laid out on the desk.

They were portraits of the Dark Beast Squad, compiled from the testimonies of Dolores, Rodelin, Lowell, Bickerd, and Redington.

‘Snake mask. Estimated to be an 8-Star Knight…’

Someone with that level of power going around playing hero?

There were only two possibilities in such a case.

Either a group gathered with a specific purpose, or a bunch of crazy people playing heroes in their old age.

Either way, they were dangerous.

‘No, wait. The latter is even more terrifying. Why would someone that old do something like that?’

Even Caron, who feared little, felt cold sweat at the thought.

If it were just Snake Mask alone, Caron wouldn’t have raised his guard this much.

‘Cat Mask and Rabbit Mask. They must be on par with Snake Mask.’

Three unknown knights of estimated 7 or 8-Star strength roaming the Empire?

It wouldn’t be strange if one or two fortresses fell overnight.

And Caron had more to worry about than just that.

‘Their numbers could grow.’

They could become a future threat to the Empire.

So it was only natural for Caron to pursue them.

Caron looked at Dolores. Dolores was looking back at him, bristling like a hedgehog.

In truth, it wasn’t ideal to communicate directly with someone who had recently been held hostage.

‘They can’t make rational judgments.’

When someone saves you in a life-threatening situation, it’s natural to feel gratitude.

There are even cases where people fall in love with their captors.

‘The horror of psychological stress.’

Caron thought the same applied to the Dolores in front of him.

“You may return now. If you remember anything new or have something to say, feel free to speak up anytime. I’ll even assign you an instructor for a while, so rest easy.”

“Hmph! Like I’d leave? I’m never signing such a bogus statement!”

“You already did. What are you talking about?”

“What kind of nonsense is that… I did?”

Dolores’ eyes widened. The fourth statement was already signed. It was clearly her handwriting.

‘Technically, I did sign it myself.’

To Caron, this kind of forgery was nothing. If he saw something once, he could copy it exactly—and this was the third time?

It was no different than asking him to forge it.

“This… this can’t be happening.”

“You must be exhausted. What you went through was tough—I understand. I recommend getting some rest.”

“Ugh! So you really are going to go after them?”

“But you’re so unromantic. Disqualified! You’re disqualified from being my groom candidate!”

Definitely some mental instability. And quite a lot of it, too.

But it was fine. He had brought someone who could offer her some emotional stability.

“They were very worried.”

“Go on. They’ve been waiting for a while now.” Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs noᴠelfire.net

Someone had been waiting for her?

“If you think something is going to make me cave, you’re mistaken. I don’t know who it is, but I’ll send them right back. I’m not moving a single step from here!”

Dolores flung the door open with force.

Standing a short distance away was a woman.

Dirty clothes, messy hair that hadn’t been washed, white strands peeking through the tangles, sunken cheeks from not eating properly.

Her face was stained with dried tears, a clear sign of how much she’d cried.

She was a woman in a pitiful state.

And Dolores knew exactly who this woman was—more than anyone else.

Her mom, who was always so neat. Who had always said a person’s appearance reflected their character and should always be tidy.

Who would re-iron clothes if they had even a single wrinkle.

Even after roughhousing every day, her mom was always put together—it had been amazing.

And now, that same mom looked . It was unbelievable.

The reason wasn’t hard to figure out.

‘It’s because of me.’

To her mother, she had meant that much.

In just five days, she had been enough to completely break her.

Even if she had been the one kidnapped, her mom now looked even more disheveled.

She hadn’t taken care of herself at all. Not like a fool, right?

Dolores burst out of the room.

She ran straight into her mother’s arms and hugged her tightly. Her mother hugged her just as tightly in return.

Tears streamed endlessly down Dolores’s cheeks.

“I always believed in you. Of course I did. You’re my daughter. There’s no way you’d leave me behind.”

Dolores wiped her tears.

Had her mother’s face always had this many fine wrinkles?

“What… How did you get so old in just a few days?”

Was it the worry over her that aged her?

No—maybe it was the truth she had been avoiding all along.

Her mother, whom she thought she’d spend her whole life with.

But that wasn’t true. They were bound to part someday.

And now she knew—maybe that day could even be tomorrow.

This incident had made her realize it clearly.

“Mom, I’m sorry. I’ll be good. I’ll really be good from now on. I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life!”

“There’s no need for that. Just get married quickly and move out. Though, honestly, who’d want to marry someone who’s so sloppy?”

“Mom, you’re an idiot! You big dummy!”

Even in a moment , she was nagging about appearance. Her mom was really something else.

“Of course, until then, won’t you stay with me?”

Dolores nodded like crazy. Her throat was tight, and she couldn’t speak properly.

“Let’s go home. You need to eat.”

Mother and daughter left, holding hands tightly. Caron watched them go until the very end.

It was one of the few moments of fulfillment that came with this job.

Of course, Caron wasn’t given time to enjoy that feeling for long.

“Still as good at forgery as ever. You got me once too, remember?”

“It was three times, not once.”

“Let the past go already. That’s why even a kid like her resents you.”

“Did she say anything wrong?”

A swivel chair in the room creaked and turned 180 degrees.

A young girl was sitting in the chair. She barely looked old enough to be in the academy.

Yes, it was ‘Mad Lion’ Lowell.

“I wouldn’t know. I got involved halfway through, not from the beginning. Rodelin’s testimony is probably more accurate than mine.”

Caron recalled the testimony he’d heard from Rodelin before questioning Dolores.

Time, structure, summary, and even her personal opinion at the end.

It was like a textbook example of a perfect statement, making it easy to grasp the overall flow of the incident.

‘The part about chasing the Dark Beast Squad alone and in pajamas was a definite fail, though.’

As Caron looked over the statement again, he spoke.

“The Dark Beast Squad… you said you fought directly with the one wearing the Snake Mask. What do you think about him being an 8-Star Knight?”

“It’s true. Thinking back, his aura seemed a bit small, but… considering how perfectly controlled it was without a single flicker, I’d say he deliberately reduced the amount.”

Controlling aura wasn’t something easily done.

Lowell wasn’t someone who’d misjudge these things, so it was clear the ‘snake’ was indeed an 8-Star Knight.

As Caron jotted something into his notebook, Lowell curled her lips in amusement.

“Looks is a group even you didn’t know about. For the great Caron to not know someone… now that’s interesting.”

Caron’s brow twitched slightly, realizing his own mistake.

Small build and youthful face. A girl he had once taught—he had let his guard down.

‘I still have a long way to go.’

Well, it wasn’t a bad thing. Lowell was an unwavering ally of the imperial family.

The fact that Lowell was growing stronger was good news.

“That’s right. I’ve never seen them before. Which is why your intel is crucial—I hope you’ll be honest and tell me everything you know.”

“Give me three pieces of information I want, and I’ll do it.”

“Fine. This is why I like you—you’re good at negotiating.”

From the start, Lowell knew that two was the limit.

The value of the information Caron possessed couldn’t be measured in mere money.

And Caron also fully understood what Lowell was aiming for.

Handing over two pieces of desired information would be a major loss, but in a way, not necessarily.

Depending on what the desired information was, he could control the amount and quality of what he gave.

‘Depending on what she asks for, I can also get a glimpse into what Lowell is doing and what her goals are.’

While giving information to the other party, he simultaneously gathered information about them.

It was the basic stance of a rat, and the reason one had to be cautious when trading with rats.

“I get two, you get one, so I should get my info first, right? We’ll take turns.”

“If your information is useless, you’d better be prepared.”

“Don’t worry. As if I’d do something like that? I’ve got a mountain of intel to receive from you. And more than anything, I don’t want to be chased by the rats.”

Lowell gave a visible shiver.

She had once tried to mess with Caron for fun and had gotten thoroughly wrecked.

“Why the hell did you count the number of grains of rice I ate? I don’t even know if you got it right or not, but it seriously gave me chills.”

“Is that the information you want? Well, the rice grain count was accurate. And the reason is—”

“No! This isn’t the kind of info I want! Stop right now!”

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