[Day 1: You freshen yourself up and head to meet up with Ives. You knew from the previous simulation that the 10G was a trap set for you by the captain to get a free helper.]
[So you decided to shamelessly borrow some money from Ives and pay off the bill to get to an equal ground with Carlson before negotiating your terms. You also need to check out who the spy was.]
[Ives was doubtful about why you needed so much money. You decided to explain your situation, and also inform him about your conjunctures. Ives told you that he would help you out, but in return, he also wants to participate in your search.]
[You agree to his request, and went to meet Carlson together. Carlson was surprised to see that Ives tagged along with you, but went along with his plan. Ives looked at you with a faint smile and handed 10G to Carlson.]
[The room quieted down for a while, as you felt both of their trust towards you started to deteriorate for some reason. You decided to divert the topic and started talking about the methods to catch the spy.]
[Both of them also decided to think about it later on and started discussing the countermeasures for finding who the spy was.]
[Not finding any alternative, you decided to stick with what you had done in the previous simulation. However, you kept looking for those 3 suspects you had in the previous simulation, and focused on them.]
[Day 3: You found that the older woman of the three acted suspiciously during the late evenings right after the sky darkens. You wanted to get some support, but the rumors of you being the real spy started to circulate around the garrison and Ives also started to avoid you.]
[You followed the woman after sunset and reached a depilated house in the outskirts of the city. You found out that after entering that house, the woman was stayed in it for an hour and came out.]
[Seeing that the woman left for a while, you decided to take a look in that house. As soon as you enter, you find a woman bound to a bed by ropes struggling hard to untie herself.]
[You did not immediately rescue her. Instead, you looked around the small house to find any clues. Except for a few windows, and empty shelves, there weren't anything else in the house.]
[Out of options, you decided to untie the woman and take her as a proof for the spy. As soon as you untie the woman, she lunged onto you and bit you on your throat, right at the center. You died.]
[Simulation ends.]
"Although I found something from this woman, it might not be about the spy. She herself has a different problem."
Lyon couldn't help but lament at his current situation. He did not solve the problem at hand, and now another problem arose for him. However, this problem only occurred in the simulation.
But Lyon himself still wanted to help her, if it was needed. He has a simulator that will tell him whether his action is right or wrong, so he can do something after knowing the result.
"It was a helpful simulation, but I need to confirm if she is the spy or if she is an acquaintance."
Lyon made his way to a certain building. He did not go to meet Ives, nor did he go to meet Carlson. None of it matters for now. The simulation is the most important. More importantly, his brain started to ache from thinking more than his usual.
Lyon looked at the sign hung outside the building and made his way inside. The moment he stepped in, he felt a lot of gazes focusing on him. Sure enough, his clothes make him stand out in this place.
Lyon made his way to the receptionist and stated, "I want to register as an adventurer."
Although no one laughed at him, he can feel those gazes mocking him.
The receptionist, Passerby A, quickly asked him about himself, and gave him a form to fill up.
Lyon didn't take the form. He wanted to do something else, something that would reduce those gazes.
"Could you please fill it for me? Also, could you inform Ives that Lyon wants to talk to him about their meeting with the Knight Captain yesterday."
Lyon felt most of those gazes turn after he spoke. Although a few remained, he could no longer feel their mockery. Ives's reputation as the captain of a Silver Ranked party, and the relationship with the captain are very useful for present Lyon.
After getting his form filled, he took his adventure badge and made his way towards the tables on the second floor. Lyon ordered himself some breakfast and started to think about what else he could do in the next Simulation.
Just after his food arrived, Lyon started the simulation and looked at it while eating his food.
[Day 1: After having a hearty breakfast, you made Ives who just arrived, paid the bill and made your way towards the Garrison. You accepted Carlson's terms and started your interrogation again. However, you only looked for the woman, and asked some people about their identities just for covering up.]
[You found the woman leaving the garrison in the evening, and followed her. After you arrived near a depilated house, you waited for half an hour after the woman went in, and barged in to discover a shocking scene.]
[You saw the chef woman using a wet cloth to wipe the naked body of another woman. The other woman, after coming to her senses, leaped onto you in fury, and crushed your truth.]
[You died.]
"Well, this might be the shortest full simulation until now."
Lyon isn't depressed about it. He knows that he probably should have sneaked in properly, without making a sound. However, you have another way of solving it now.
Although it is a bit underhanded, he doesn't have any ill intentions. And he doesn't think that it is okay to commit crimes in the simulation since it isn't real.
[Day 1: You decided to meet Carlson and follow the same routine. You didn't think of asking Carlson for help, since you don't know about him.]
[You waited until evening for the woman to come out. You followed her until a depilated house and left after you confirmed the location. You rushed towards the garrison and met up with the woman's daughter.]
[You told her that mother was injured, and that she was fine for now, but she needed her help. The young girl immediately dragged you towards the medical unit and talked to the staff in charge.]
[Both of them asked you to lead the way, and you three went towards the depilated house. Shortly after you reached the house, before you could head in, the girl shouted loudly for her mother. The woman rushed out before you could go in and questioned what was happening.]
[The Staff in charge realized that you had lied and immediately arrested you. You could only tell the guy about what was in the house. Just after you finished speaking, you found that the person in front of you died, and you soon followed.]
[You died.]
"Time out"
Lyon couldn't help but lament about his weak strength. However, it wasn't time to think about it yet.
He started the next Simulation.
He knew that he could probably find out about them if he simulated multiple times, but he has another thing in his hand he needs to focus on.
[Day 1: After the mishap of the previous simulations, you decided to focus on searching for the spy. You are now somewhat certain that the woman is most likely not the spy, or the helper of the spy.]
[So, by the principle of elimination, the helper would be the spy. After visiting Carlson, you followed your previous steps and kept your eyes open for the helper. You found him doing his chores diligently, and he looked like a good kid.]
[After observing for a while, you moved away since you were quite inconspicuous in the kitchen. You plan to look around the whole kitchen and then request Carlson to get you a temporary job in the kitchen.]
[Day 2: After observing for a whole day, you figured out the pattern of the kitchen helper. The boy starts his work early in the morning and works until late at night in this world with little to none labor laws.]
[His job includes meal preparation and serving the entire building. He is very diligent and works meticulously making you wonder if you were back to square one. He often gets bullied by the trainee solders for his well maintained skin which got you curious.]
[When you asked Carlson about it, he told you the boy's story. Apparently, he is the last born of a lower noble on the other side of the Empire. Since he didn't have any inheritance rights, he aimed to become an adventurer. After repeated requests to his parents, he got into the Adventurer Guild and quickly got promoted with strong support.]
[He usually took quests posted by his own family. Two weeks prior, the boy took an escort quest for a change of pace, confident of his strength. Unfortunately, they were attacked by Stone Bears, a B rank monster on their way. The entire escort got wiped except for the boy and the merchant couple.]
[Fortunately, they were saved by an adventurer passing by, and escorted to their location, Tefler. The boy's family received the notice of his situation and made haste to this town. When he learned that all his strength was due to his family's manipulation, the boy was devastated and vowed to change his ways.]
[He rejected his family's call to return and strived to improve himself. He joined the garrison in hopes of learning combat and hone his character. After listening to his story, you were amazed by the boy's determination and will. But with this, you were back to square one.]
[Day 4: You started to get some weird looks. You knew that someone was spreading rumors about you again. Realizing the situation, you get a brilliant idea. You requested Carlson to confine you to prove your innocence, to which Carlson agrees. Because you requested imprisonment, you were confined to a well equipped room with good facilities.]
[Day 8: Carlson visited you in the morning and told you that you were clear of charges. Apparently, the spy was after the Intel stored in the Lord's mansion, along with some mysterious artifact.]
[Along with Carlson, you visited the Lord of the City. When you saw the face of the Lord, which looked like an inbred between a pig and a monkey, you thought of your previous simulation and knew what was going to happen next.]
[You bit your tongue and died.]
'. . .'
Hmm. . . This is quite troubling. Now I am down to nothing. My only clue would be to check on the woman or the boy and verify their stories.
Lyon didn't know what to do next. He could check the suspect's stories once again, but the simulator clearly stated their stories. He could check their authenticities, or he could look for other suspects.
But he has a strong feeling that these suspects could be the ones he was looking for. Whatever it might be, he can't do anything for now.
After a while, Lyon saw Ives walking towards him and waved his hand. When Ives sat down, Lyon called for the waitress and ordered their best dish for Ives. Ives smiled at this, quite pleased at his 'friend's' generosity.
While waiting for the food, Ives and Lyon chatted for a while starting with some polite greetings. After the food arrived and seeing that no one was paying attention towards them, they started to discuss the main issue.
"What do you think about this?" Lyon said while handing the note given by the soldier to Ives and started wolfing down the food that arrived.
After reading the note, Ives raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly while saying, "I think Carlson got you good with this one."
Lyon's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he made a gesture. I mean, can you do something about it?
Ives understood his meaning and shook his head slightly replying, "Carlson really wants you to work on this case from what I can imagine. It would be hard for me to convince him otherwise."
Lyon sighed heavily, "Alright, Alright. Could you pay for it?"
Ives retracted his smile and shook his head seriously. "I won't. It's better for you to work with Carlson on this one. And I don't want to strain my relations with Carlson for you."
"Oof~!. Harsh, but understandable. Man, I didn't expect such a thing from an honest Captain."
Ives looked at Lyon, puzzled, "What do you mean, honest? He is a good guy, but definitely not honest. Do you think he could climb to the position with honesty?"
Lyon is surprised, "He isn't?"
"No. He is a great guy, and is mostly honest, yes. But he always has benefits at the back of his mind. He would go out of his way to help others, but he also wants to develop his own strength. Why do you think he reacted so heavily when you accused his soldiers? Most of them relied on him to get the post."
What? Then why did I always assume he is honest? How did I even know he is honest? Isn't it obviously because of the simu-- . . . !!! No wonder something fell off from the beginning. There were always something different from the sims and reality, and it's mostly the ones I can't usually notice!!
When Lyon was deep in thought, he felt a vibration in his pocket. He took out his phone and looked at the screen.
[Tch~.]
Ives looked at Lyon looking at something he took out of his pocket, and although he couldn't hear or see it, he could feel the rage emanating from him.
Lyon felt Ives feeling uncomfortable not knowing what to say and calmed down slowly and said "I'm fine."
"You could share your problem if you want to. That's how our group stayed together. At the beginning, we quarreled many times because we couldn't understand each other. So we made a rule, no matter what, keep it in until we set up a campfire, and discuss it together with the group. It solved many of our problems."
". . . Thank you, really. But I am fine. That was just momentary."
Although he said so, Lyon still felt that he got cheated big time. What's the use of a simulator if the simulation is a lie. But that would mean Raj has breached the contract. Can he?
Lyon didn't know anything about transcendent powers, so he could only keep it in his mind for now and deal with the problem on his hand now.
Lyon suddenly looked up at Ives and said, "By the way, I'm broke so . . . The bill's on you."
After saying that, he got up and dashed towards the exit leaving the stunned Ives. Snapping out, Ives looked down at the table filled with clean plates, which if you didn't realize, you would think they are unused. More importantly, he didn't even take a single bite!!.
Shaking his head while smiling wryly, he got up and paid the bill, which came up to a single gold coin, enough for a family to spend for a month sparsely.
He walked out of the Guild tavern and met up with Lyon. Together, they went to meet Carlson.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I won't pay"
"Solve the case."
"Okay"
"Good"
The conversation with Carlson went quite smoothly contrary to Lyon's expectations. After exiting from Carlson's office, Lyon walked around the building while thinking about his situation.
. . . Maybe the stories of the suspects were wrong. Or maybe there weren't only two suspects. Heck, maybe everything could be a hoax for all I know . . . Hmm, probably not
While thinking, he went to look for the primary suspects. It could be wrong but it is the only lead he has.
The mother and daughter looked kind, but Lyon was not willing to approach them for no reason. The helper boy in the kitchen looked normal. After a conversation, Lyon could fell the suppressed arrogance in his tone, but he was doing great suppressing it.
Having found nothing, he walked back to Carlson's office. Lyon feels that he could start by looking into the Boy's case first, and then the woman's case. He walked into the office and asked Carlson about 10 people, 2 'suspects' included.
Although surprised by the speed of Lyon's investigation, Carlson ordered his deputy to answer. While listening to the stories, Lyon also looked at their expressions, and asked their opinions.
Carlson had no impression of the woman, while his deputy also vaguely answered him. Lyon understood that both of them didn't know much about her. When it comes to the boy though. Carlson looked serious, and he himself told you the story.
Lyon could feel the satire from Carlson's tone and couldn't help but be puzzled about it. Seeing his expression, Carlson just said, "You don't know nobles."
And that hit Lyon like a truck. Yes, although the story is fine, most nobles wouldn't grieve about the death of adventurers he met on a mission, much less change his ways or something. At most they would pay some money for them.
However, the boy really felt like he was adapting to his new life, and trying to be better. That's what made it hard for Carlson to understand. And although the boy was the most suspicious, he cannot be arrested without any proof because of his background.
But it also made Lyon understand something about the simulator. It's not that the simulator would lie. The one simulating is indeed Lyon, and the facts learned from the simulation are indeed true, but what Lyon perceives in the simulation is something Raj can control.
But with this, Lyon at least has a basic grasp of the simulation. The message on his phone saying [Ding-a-ling] is the proof of it. And what the future holds is up for his grab.