"Have you heard of Revendale?"
Edith, having finished filling out the paperwork, brought it up.
Edith was now the full-fledged vice president of the Iron Factory.
"No, though it sounds like I've heard it somewhere."
It was a place I knew well enough to answer right away at the mere mention of its name, but I answered as if I didn't know.
"It's a big city not far from Adeban, famous as an engineering city for a long time. It's also where most of the iron from our factory gets exported."
As Edith said, Revendale was the big city responsible for the surrounding cities' exports.
"About ten years ago, magitech engineering started to catch on, and the trade volume of mana stones started to explode."
"The pulse gun I got must be for the same reason, then."
"Something like that? I happened to get a mana stone from a dealer, got curious, and tried making one. Well, it's broken and useless now anyway."
The pulse gun I'd been using so well had left one glorious final shot in the last fight with Gloren and then been destroyed.
It was so completely broken that it couldn't even be restored, and the mana stone, its most important part, had crumbled under the power it couldn't withstand, so a new one couldn't be made either.
"...Take the cost of the damage out of the first settlement."
"Magic of that size would easily top 500,000 gold at the very least; is that all right?"
"If you want to try researching with a new mana stone, I don't mind."
I knew Edith wasn't going to fussily bill me for every little thing anyway.
After all, not content with bringing peace to Adeban, I'd just come from investing 80 percent of the funds gathered in the Iron Factory so far into the city's restoration projects.
Thanks to that, I didn't have the funds right now to splurge on anything much.
I'd become the full-fledged boss of a company, and all I'd gotten was more work to do.
Climbing to a high position really didn't make the work go away.
"Then you must have learned mechanic work in Revendale too, Miss Edith."
"A while back, when I was young, I went for about three years? Four, maybe, and lived tinkering with machines. After that I forgot about it and only remembered it now and then when I heard news. It's been a really long time since I've talked about it myself."
Holding her cup of coffee still as if recalling old memories, Edith didn't wear much of a smile.
"Judging by your expression, you don't seem to miss those days much."
"Pretty much. Studying machines was really fun, but everything else was nothing but stress. Especially my master."
When she said that word, the distaste on Edith's face came through plainly.
"Nagged me from the moment we first met, and then, when I finally left, did that to me and asked why I was running away.... Honestly, my master made no sense at all, you know?"
She was so irritated that Edith, who'd been enjoying her break, set down her coffee cup, leaned back against the sofa, and let out a hollow laugh.
"When did you say you first went to Revendale?"
"I went before I'd come of age, so probably about twelve years ago. What was so great that I went begging my master to take me in, with no luggage at all? Honestly, whenever I think about back then, I can't understand why I did it."
"Everyone tends to regret the things they did when they were young."
Edith was making a big show of being angry, but seeing that she still dutifully used honorifics for her master, it seemed it hadn't been all hardship.
After listening to her lament, I brought up another topic.
"Then is the person you'll introduce me to this master of yours?"
"No. The person I'm introducing is someone else. A friend I was close to back when I was studying engineering; she's good-natured, so if you mention me, she'll treat you well."
After finishing the conversation, Edith handed me a letter and a letter of recommendation.
"When you get to Revendale, go to District 4 and find the Agriche Repair Shop."
The Agriche Repair Shop in District 4, huh. I had a rough idea who she meant to introduce.
As soon as I took the items, the sound of wheels rolling came from outside, along with a knock.
"The carriage is here. Let's head out."
Edith and I, who'd been waiting for the carriage to arrive, got up from our seats.
Among my luggage headed for the carriage was a large case.
[Butcher's Genocide Alloy Blade]
[You have defeated its previous owner and gained the right to own the weapon.]
[The weapon cannot be used due to severe damage.]
[It can be restored by repairing the weapon.]
[Durability : 12%]
What was inside it was none other than the weapon Gloren had once used.
'Now that I'm its owner, even her name is gone from it.'
Unlike the other parts of her, most of which had been neutralized by my magic release in the last fight, it had been left relatively intact, so it had gone through Edith's hands and had its Durability repaired.
But all I could do was barely manage to ask Edith to repair a weapon on the verge of breaking.
'This is the first time I've seen such an intricately made weapon. The equipment in my workshop can't fully fix it, so go somewhere else and ask for repairs.'
Because it was a weapon made with a level of science that the equipment in Adeban right now couldn't even touch.
With my strong parts destroyed, it was the most useful thing I had, and even that was half-wrecked and needed restoring.
I planned to get the weapon repaired while heading to Revendale to find a new mechanic.
"If it's that heavy, couldn't you take it next time you go?"
"Since I'm going anyway, I plan to take everything I need to. I'm thinking of staying quite a while, and I might even travel farther."
"You might go even farther?"
"Yes. I might not be able to come back often."
Before Edith, whose face said she wondered why, could ask, I answered first.
"I still have business left, after all."
"Ah. Right, you did still have business left, Mr. Enon."
Edith quickly understood what I meant and fell silent.
I hadn't told her properly, but I still wasn't safe.
I needed a way to escape the clutches of Seren, who could show up to catch me at any time, and strong parts to stand against them.
I'd also seen the people around me get hurt in the process, so I intended to cause them as little harm as possible.
It was for the same reason that I'd handed Edith the vice president's seat.
There was no knowing when I'd have to run again, or whether I'd live or die.
"Then please give my regards to our comrades and the dolls."
"All right. Get in touch whenever you need something. And don't worry about things here."
Edith would surely be able to lead the dolls and the factory well.
I'd seen her abilities, which was all the more reason I'd decided to trust her with it.
Just as we'd exchanged farewells and I was about to board the carriage, Henriks came running toward us from far off, shouting.
"Thank goodness. I was worried you had already left."
"What's wrong, Mr. Henriks? I don't think you came just to say goodbye."
Catching his breath and straightening up, Henriks pointed in the direction he'd come from as he spoke.
"It is not that. The Revendale Police Bureau says it will conduct an inquiry into the truth of this incident, and none other than the Bureau's deputy commissioner has come. So I think the two of you will need to go and be questioned too."
...The police bureau's deputy commissioner came in person?
***
"You're the last. I have a lot to ask you."
When I entered the interrogation room of the city's police station, the deputy commissioner of the Revendale Police Bureau greeted me.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Kalian Durens, serving as Deputy Commissioner of the Revendale Police Bureau. Address me as Deputy Commissioner Kalian."
"Pleased to meet you, Deputy Commissioner Kalian."
Her attire, which felt more military than a police uniform, only let you infer she was police from the police cap on her head.
And she had such a perfect build that you could see how tall she was even while she was seated.
A strikingly good-looking face and a cigar in her mouth finished off that whole appearance.
It was a face I'd often seen in the game.
"Take a seat."
At Deputy Commissioner Kalian's instruction, I sat in the chair across from her and kept silent.
Anyone who looked at the atmosphere in the room, or at Durens's expressionless face, would feel they had to do the same.
"I've already heard most of the story regarding this incident. Your name is Enon. They say you're the agent who most recently joined the organization formed in Adeban called the Resistance."
"That's right."
"Before you joined the Resistance organization, did you already know it had been formed illegally?"
"I knew."
She'd have heard everything before and after every incident here from my other comrades anyway.
I decided to just answer honestly.
"Your reason for joining the organization of your own accord, despite knowing it was an illegal organization?"
"My goal and the organization's goal were the same."
"And that goal would be?"
"To take revenge on the Iron Factory."
"Revenge. Understood, for now. Let's move on to another question. According to earlier testimony, you escaped after doing forced labor at the Iron Factory. For what reason did you end up doing forced labor at the factory?"
I instinctively sensed that we were now getting to the heart of the matter.
"Regrettably, I can't answer that question."
"Why not?"
"Because I have no memory of how I came to be in the Iron Factory."
"No memory. Then what about your memories before that?"
"I'm sorry, but right now I can't remember most of my past."
"Is that an answer I can trust?"
"Yes. It is."
At my answer, Deputy Commissioner Kalian took a long breath in and out, adjusted her posture, moved the cigar from her mouth to her hand, and picked up the paper in front of her.
"In the earlier testimonies of the other Resistance agents, they all tended to hide things about you. That looks like your comrades deliberately trying to protect you."
At Deputy Commissioner Kalian's words, I was secretly moved by my comrades.
I hadn't even asked them not to talk about who I was, and yet they'd volunteered to keep information about me to themselves.
"A camaraderie rarely seen in an illegal organization. Be proud of having good comrades."
"May I ask a question?"
"Ask."
"Are you planning to punish me and my other Resistance comrades?"
"Thinking of your comrades even now? A gathering of good comrades, then."
Deputy Commissioner Kalian rested her cigar on the ashtray and answered.
"The Resistance organization is a kind of vigilante organization. Since it's been established that it acted to expose the Iron Factory's corruption, all punishment for its use of illegal weapons and various offenses until now will be waived. Above all, our Police Bureau bears great fault for failing to uncover the truth about the Iron Factory, which had been committing illegal acts all this time."
Words like that, coming from the mouth of a police bureau's deputy commissioner.
That alone told me what kind of person Kalian Durens was.
"To tell you the reason, one of the Police Bureau's high-ranking officials was taking bribes from the Iron Factory. Of course, once the truth came out, that official went to prison along with that man called Victor, so don't worry."
Apparently more had happened while I was unconscious than I'd thought.
I just hadn't heard or seen it; another storm had already passed through Adeban.
"There's one thing I want to know. Your identity, Enon. There was no identity matching yours in any of Revendale's records, or in any of the nearby cities, either. Did you make up the name Enon yourself, too?"
The name Enon was the name written there when I first opened my info window.
It wasn't something I'd chosen myself; most likely it was a name given by Seren, who'd created my body.
"No. I don't have any other memories, but I definitely remembered my name."
"I see.... It can't be helped. I'll keep searching for your identity, so if I learn anything, I'll send word."
"Thank you."
She probably wouldn't ever come to bring me that news.
Because the names of the dolls in the dolls' paradise weren't registered in the outside world's identity records.
"Then let me ask one last question."
"Go ahead."
"During the operation to neutralize the Iron Factory, there's something I want to ask about the one called Gloren you encountered at the end."
...Why did anyone bother testifying about that?
"According to the testimony of the dolls doing forced labor at the factory, this Gloren was tracking you. Can you tell me about that?"
I couldn't decide whether to tell her honestly or not.
***
The inquiry, which focused on the other citizens as well as the key Resistance agents, wrapped up very smoothly.
It was thanks to Deputy Commissioner Kalian admitting the Police Bureau's corruption and apologizing in front of the citizens, which had a big effect on the inquiry.
"The inquiry into the truth of the incident is now fully concluded, so everyone who took part in the questioning may go home."
At the instruction of the Revendale police, the residents of Adeban all dispersed in a bright mood.
"Hey, newbie. The cops didn't do anything weird, did they? Didn't dissect your body or anything?"
"...Do you think the police are some kind of mad scientists?"
I wondered if Ford was the one who'd told the deputy commissioner about Gloren.
Ford the carpenter doll kept pawing at my body, checking for anything abnormal.
"Mr. Ford, I'm planning to be in another city for a while, so please look after the other dolls."
"Wh-What!? Where are you going! Just live here with us!"
"Well, I'll see you later."
Only after Henriks grabbed Ford, who kept telling me not to go, and dragged him off did things quiet down.
"Phew, what a hectic half day."
"I didn't expect the deputy commissioner of the police bureau to come conduct the inquiry herself. That can't be common."
"I guess it's because a high-ranking official in the Police Bureau was corrupt. Still, maybe thanks to that, the inquiry ended faster?"
She was right.
Something that would take several days for an ordinary investigation had been handled entirely within half a day.
Work-handling ability to match her youthful looks, I suppose.
Catching her breath with me, Edith spoke as if she'd remembered something she'd forgotten.
"Oh, right. So you're leaving for Revendale right away now, right? You said you were planning to go as soon as possible."
"I should. If I put it off for no reason, Mr. Ford might start bothering me again."
"True, you're practically worshiped like a god among the dolls. Then take care. You remember everything I told you, right?"
"I remember. Well then...."
I was just about to pick up the luggage I'd left behind again and head for the carriage.
"If you're planning to head to Revendale, why not travel with me in my car?"
Deputy Commissioner Kalian's voice, approaching from somewhere without a sound of footsteps, startled my ears.
"...In your car, Deputy Commissioner?"
Living up to its nickname as the engineering city, Revendale had already developed modern vehicles.
But they weren't mass-produced yet, so unless you were high-ranking or wealthy, you didn't get many chances to ride one.
"I heard you were supposed to leave this morning. I took up your precious time, so I think I owe you appropriate compensation."
"I appreciate the thought, but...."
"If it's a burden, you can refuse. I didn't bring it up to force you. But if you go by carriage, it'll take a good five days. If you're on a tight schedule, riding in my car will be the better choice."
At Deputy Commissioner Kalian's words, Edith egged me on.
"Sounds like a good offer to me. By car it'll take less than two days, you know? And since you'll be riding in a Police Bureau car, you won't get stopped at any checkpoints either."
"And what if the deputy commissioner sees my things before then?"
"Well. I doubt she'll bother checking. Just put up with the comfortable ride."
Edith wasn't wrong about anything.
In the end, I took her advice and accepted Deputy Commissioner Kalian's offer.
"All right. Thank you for so generously looking out for me."
"Of course. You're the patriots who did the Police Bureau's job for it."
And so, seen off by Edith, I followed behind Deputy Commissioner Kalian.
"Get in."
Deputy Commissioner Kalian's own black modern Ford was far roomier and more refined than the usual ones.
Just one look showed it was the car of Revendale's deputy commissioner.
"Please give me your luggage."
Without checking my luggage, the driver personally put it straight into the car's trunk.
Deputy Commissioner Kalian, who'd gotten in first, called to me from the back seat, walled off by a mirror from the front seat where her personal driver sat.
"...Excuse me, then."
I climbed carefully into the car like a criminal with a guilty conscience.