Chapter 28
Chapter 28
[Sudden Mission]
Goal: Illegally escape from arrest.
Why are they twisting escape like this?
Reward: Unlock Bad Ending Route and restore normal mission window
Obviously.
New ID and items confiscated by the police (new)
Oh, great deal.
Skill Points 10
Crazy!
Notoriety Points 1,000,000
Craaaazy!!! This is more than enough to make up for all the losses so far?
Failure Penalty: Survival by own means
Obviously.
This is the only penalty. They have some conscience, at least. But…
♡ Raven Hunt's player favorability will change depending on the success and failure scenarios. ♡
What is this now? Even with disgusting hearts. I wouldn't accept this even if it were given for free.
This mission was unique in that it followed a quest-based approach.
<Quest 1: Be careful when picking up soap>
There are more quests below, but they are locked by a padlock, so I couldn't see their content. It seems they will unlock one by one as Quest 1 is completed.
There is no time limit. However, the deadline is before going to prison. And there was only one attempt.
'It seems loose, but it's tight.'
Anyway, from the day the sudden mission appeared, I was obsessed with tackling Quest 1.
Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.
I was standing in front of the sink, scraping soap with the wooden spoon that came with the ice cream Hunt bought last time.
[Natural Meeting Pursuers are targeting you.]
This again?
Other organizations haven't sent messages in a long time. It's about time they lost interest in me.
But why only here, and why the same message every time? Is it a bug?
Scrape.
I tried to ignore the message and resume my work, but I stopped. Faint sounds of footsteps in dress shoes could be heard from outside the door.
'They're coming this way?'
I quickly hid what I was holding in my Inventory.
'I need to hide the evidence too!'
As I turned on the water to wash the powder that had fallen into the sink down the drain, someone knocked on the door from behind.
"Yes, please come in."
The person who opened the door and entered was Hunt.
"You answer as if it's your own home."
"You knocked like it was someone else's home this time. By the way, why are you here, the one who said you wouldn't come again?"
After that day, Hunt indeed didn't come back as he said. Until then, only other investigators and a psychiatrist had visited me.
'A psychiatrist? You think I'm crazy, don't you?'
I pretended to wash my hands, casually dried my wet hands, and sat at the table, asking,
"Did that doctor say, 'This crazy woman is normal'? Did you not like the result, so you brought another doctor?"
I said this to the middle-aged man in a white coat who followed Hunt, but the man was not a psychiatrist.
"This is Dr. Aineid Grant. He is the head of the Scientific Investigation Division at the Police Bureau."
Just as the doctor extended his hand to shake mine,
[Natural Meeting Pursuers are targeting you.]
Seriously, this buggy, broken game.
'Block Natural Meeting Pursuers message.'
[From now on, messages from Natural Meeting Pursuers will not be displayed until you unblock them.]
Yeah, yeah, I got it.
I closed the message and listened intently to Dr. Grant, who sat opposite me.
"I am very pleased to meet you. You wouldn't know how many times I've requested Inspector Hunt for an interview with the Thieving Crow."
As if to prove his words, the doctor stared at me with wide, excited eyes. Then, as he looked around the detention cell, his gaze softened.
"Oh dear… there's no window…"
Well, it's underground. Is his expression dark because he pities me, trapped underground?
"But why did the head of the Scientific Investigation Division want to meet me?"
"It's because of this."
What the doctor took out of a long evidence bag was my Levitation Umbrella, with its ribs broken.
'It's even more of a mess than when I last saw it.'
It was cut and broken in various places, and the way it was arranged suggested it had been studied.
"You possess many items that are beyond the realm of modern science. Among them, I am so curious about the principle of this umbrella that I cannot sleep."
"Unfortunately, I can't help you either. As you said, it's an item beyond the realm of science. This is Demonic Technology. Of course, I'm not saying this because I'm crazy."
I said this loud enough for Hunt, who was leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed, to hear, but he just watched expressionlessly.
"Anyway, I don't know much about it either."
"Then can you at least tell me how it was made?"
He seemed very desperate. Since he kept prying, I answered as much as I could. It was only about what ingredients were needed and how much.
"You gather all those things, and then poof! It appears."
Of course, that poof only happens when you press the button in the Item Crafting Window.
"I don't know about that poof! This is quite…."
Dr. Grant, who seemed to be leaving with no real clues solved, looked very disappointed.
"If I had more budget, I might have figured it out."
This isn't the laboratory of a wealthy villain.
The Police Bureau, whose purpose is to protect citizens with taxpayer money, would never allocate budget for the Scientific Investigation Division to satisfy an individual's curiosity.
"Anyway, thank you. I'll be going now."
As the doctor left after finishing his business, Hunt, who had been standing there like a decoration, finally approached. I thought he was about to state his own business, but what he took out was…
'A paint box, brushes, and paper?'
I had asked the guard on duty in the morning if I could have them to draw something because I was bored.
'But why are you bringing them?'
And then he placed them next to me, even though I didn't ask for them…
'Painkillers?'
As I looked up at him with bewildered eyes, Hunt avoided my gaze and said,
"It's good for ligament damage and muscle pain."
Ah, is he bringing this because my waist and arm ligaments were strained when I caught him last time? What, why is he being so nice?
I blinked blankly, then narrowed my eyes.
'There must be some ulterior motive.'
As soon as I thought he was suddenly being nice because he had a purpose, Hunt turned and walked out. Without mentioning his business at all.
'What is it? Is he really being nice without any intention? No, maybe it's a calculated move to make me think that?'
Even so, he won't get anything from me.
"Inspector."
When I called out to him, Hunt turned back. He must have been hoping I would call him. But what follows won't be what he expects?
If he thinks he can get something from me and tries to use me, I'll use him too.
If he keeps being nice, the Thieving Crow will eventually reveal the location where the Scarlet Queen's Heart is hidden.
He'll fall into the delusion that he's getting what he wants, fulfilling my requests one by one. But when he snaps out of it, I'll already be long gone from here.
"What is it?"
"Thank you for the painkillers."
Perhaps my thanks were unexpected, as Hunt paused slightly before replying.
"It's nothing. Please let me know anytime if you need anything else."
"Then…."
I asked, trying to maintain an expression devoid of any calculation,
"What about the cats?"
"The Scarlet Queen's Heart?"
Hunt, as if he had nothing else to say if it wasn't that, gave me a look that said 'stop playing games' and left.
Who's playing games?
Bang!
I shouted at the closed door again.
"I didn't steal it!"
"Captain, what happened with the interrogation of the Thieving Crow?"
Raven shook his head at Sergeant Wesson's question.
"I wasn't going to interrogate her."
"I thought you were attempting to negotiate when you personally delivered the items the suspect requested."
"That was the intention."
Raven recalled the image of that fox-like woman noticing his intentions and scheming. Why did she show no signs of anxiety when she should have been?
The woman who was elusive in capture was also elusive in her state of mind.
"It seems it will take more time."
He, who was under pressure from all sides, was most lacking in time.
"But I don't understand why she's like this."
"Yes? What do you mean?"
He was speaking to himself, unable to shake off the thought that his fundamental assumption was wrong, even amidst his lack of time.
"She admits to stealing all the other jewels, so why does she deny stealing the Scarlet Queen's Heart?"
