Chapter 57

Late at night, I confirmed that everyone had stopped moving in their rooms using my presence detection, then I took out the black rider suit from my item box and changed into it. Although the moon is out tonight, I shouldn't stand out too much if I'm fully dressed in black.

During dinner, Kaede was eating with Yuki.

After dinner, she usually came to my room with Yuki, but this time she didn't, and it seemed she was alone in her room.

Of course, after what happened, it might be natural in a way.

There's even a possibility that she might have developed a fear of men.

But I think the reason Kaede did this is that she's afraid of me.

The "Intimidation" skill I used to save Kaede is a skill that leaders, royalty, emperors, and even heroes like Rindou excel at.

They can use it to affect a wide or narrow area, or even a single target, but I'm not good at it, so I can't control the range well.

So, at that time, the aftereffects of the "Intimidation" skill probably kept affecting Kaede.

While it might not have made her fear me as much as that man, it could have left some fear of me.

...Well, there's nothing I can do about that.

I can't apologize for being bad at handling the skill.

Feeling a bit of loneliness and self-mockery, I put on the full-face helmet.

For now, there's no need to think about such unnecessary things.

I jumped out of the window and landed outside.

+++++

The building where the guy who was watching the police station was located was a small commercial building. A wagon was parked right in front of the entrance, blocking the stairs.

This way, it can prevent zombies from entering to some extent.

I leaped to the second floor and reached through the already broken window to unlock it and enter the room.

This long, six-story building was originally a massage parlor.

The room was divided by curtains at regular intervals, with massage beds lined up.

There was no presence reaction on the floor, but several zombie corpses were scattered on the floor.

All of their heads were split open, probably done by the guys watching from above.

I moved to the emergency stairs and climbed up as quietly as possible.

I didn't encounter any moving zombies during this time.

I reached the top floor, the sixth floor, and sensed the presence of living beings in one of the rooms.

There were two reactions.

I moved quietly to the door, gripped the crowbar in my hand, and listened at the door.

"That guy is useless, isn't he?"

"Really. If we knew their plans, we wouldn't have to stay here for so long."

"But, you know, even if the boss has a grudge, he doesn't have to be so fixated on this place."

Grudge, huh.

The dark-skinned man didn't mention this, so there's a lot I need to find out.

I slowly turned the doorknob and opened the metal door with a "Platinum No. 1" sign.

The door was unlocked and creaked as it opened.

"Who's there!"

The men inside immediately reacted and turned to face me.

A bald, authoritative-looking man and a young man with blonde hair.

The bald man was pointing an automatic pistol at me, with something attached to the end, probably a silencer.

Seeing this, I stopped and raised my hands.

"...What? You?"

"Are you a new recruit...?"

The bald man asked me while still aiming, and before I could answer, the blonde man approached with an iron pipe and circled around me.

"Ugh."

He swung the iron pipe at my legs with all his might.

I let out a small groan of pain, dropped the crowbar, and fell to the floor.

The blonde man then repeatedly swung the iron pipe at my back while I was down.

"Since you don't have the password, you're not a new recruit, are you?"

"...Yeah. What is this guy? Hey, take off his helmet and split his head open."

"Got it."

The blonde man reached for my helmet, which I had fallen and stopped moving.

I grabbed his hand.

"This guy is still...?"

I pulled him to the floor with a strong force and immediately stood up, "tearing" off the blonde man's arm.

"Ah!?"

"You...!"

The iron pipe's blows didn't affect me.

I just wanted to see how far they would go.

I didn't expect them to try to kill me so easily.

The blonde man screamed and bled profusely from his torn shoulder, and the bald man aimed his pistol at me again, but I immediately used the "Intimidation" skill.

"What...?"

"Ah, ah..."

The bald man's movements stopped, and the blonde man, who had lost an arm and was lying on the floor, let out a pitiful scream.

"‘Don't make a loud noise. It's good that you tried to kill me right away. I can do the same without holding back.’”

I said this calmly, then slowly approached the bald man, gently took the pistol from him.

That's right, since they have hostility, I should have done this from the beginning.

If I had, Kaede wouldn't have had to go through that.

Who are they to call Rindou soft?

What have I been doing?

"‘From here on, it's interrogation time. If you don't want to suffer, answer honestly.’”

I put my hand on the bald man's shoulder, who was shrinking in fear, and said this.