The conversation regarding the cipher had ended, but the case was far from over.
‘There’s still too much I don’t know.’
According to the letter, the Herbert Clan hadn’t targeted the traitor, Utu, but rather his wife, Posha.
Exactly why? For what reason did they target her?
And why did the culprit, who was after Madam Posha, kill Utu instead?
‘Normally, I should interrogate Renner, but…’
Unfortunately, Renner was currently unconscious.
Excluding the culprit, Renner, there was only one person who could resolve these questions. I glanced at Madam Posha but quickly looked away.
‘No, it’s better not to bother Madam Posha.’
She was a wife who had just lost her husband and was weeping uncontrollably.
If I tried to interrogate her now, I might just cause the fragile woman to collapse instead of gaining any useful information.
Perhaps he was thinking the same thing as me.
Walter spoke tentatively.
“It’s probably best to wait until the culprit wakes up.”
But right then.
“Shall I help you?”
An unexpected person spoke unexpected words.
“If you want to interrogate that bastard, I can help.”
It was Madam Posha.
She walked slowly, but steadily, toward the head of the culprit.
Then, she kicked him squarely in the head.
“W-What are you doing?”
Is this revenge?
‘Honestly, considering what the culprit did, kicking him a few more times seems fine, but…’
I wondered if I should stop Madam Posha if she tried to do something worse, but she lightly shook her head.
“I don’t intend to harm him. I’m just checking to see if he’s really unconscious. …Ah, just as I thought.”
Madam Posha flashed a cold smile.
“His breathing is normal even when I turn his head forward. His eyes are following me. He isn’t unconscious.”
“What? Really?”
“So that guy is just pretending to be out?”
“No. He seems to be in a groggy state. This is usually what happens when someone collapses after a strong impact to the head. It’s hard to wake an unconscious person, but in this case…”
*Crunch!*
She ground her heel into the back of Renner’s hand.
“Ugh…!”
Renner let out a groan and opened his eyes.
“See? You can wake them up quickly just by stimulating the peripheral nerves like this.”
“He really opened his eyes…”
It was certainly surprising that Renner had woken up, but my gaze kept drifting back to Madam Posha.
Where did she get such knowledge?
Was she a medical professional?
No. Based on the information gathered about the case so far, her identity might be…
“You’re thinking correctly.”
She gave a meaningful smile.
“I also belonged to the Herbert Clan. Just like my husband, Utu.”
Her eyes were bloodshot. Her pale lips quirked upward.
She smiled with eyes that seemed somewhat unhinged.
“I wasn’t just a member. I was a top aide to Herbert—the boss of the Herbert Clan.”
With tear stains still visible on her face, her broad smile was more grotesque than beautiful.
“Now, you have two people to interrogate. Since there are two detectives here, I can save you some time. Ask me anything. I’ll know far more than that stupid chess piece.”
“But…”
“Aren’t you curious about many things? For instance, why the Herbert Clan was so desperate to kill me that they even killed Utu?”
I hesitated for a moment due to her unsettling state, but it was information I couldn’t ignore.
I began my questions slowly, trying my best not to provoke her.
***
Posha had been one of the core members of the Herbert Clan.
She was primarily responsible for intelligence operations, recruitment of high-ranking officials, and various other espionage activities.
She was the finest operative because she was rarely suspected.
“As you can see, I’m pretty. I look innocent, too. So, even if I was caught at a crime scene, I’d just blink a few times and spout some nonsense like, ‘I was following a hungry-looking cat and ended up here,’ or, ‘I didn’t know this was a restricted area.’ Everyone would drop their suspicion immediately.”
Posha knew how to exploit prejudices against fragile women. She was an exceptionally talented asset.
The organization made great use of her, and she was treated well. She had no complaints about her life, nor any sense of guilt.
After all, everyone born and raised in the back alleys lived similar lives.
“I thought I was lucky. I didn’t have to do physically taxing work, and I never had to worry about my next meal.”
But then, Posha met Utu.
“Utu. Utu Sha. My lovely idiot.”
He was a man so naive it was almost foolish.
He was a man who had farmed in his hometown all his life until coming to the Imperial Capital. He was a fool who was ignorant of the city’s filthy scams and was always penniless.
He was a low-ranking clan member who had been scammed by a hometown friend and forced to join the clan after falling into heavy debt.
“I looked down on him. I always called him an idiot and made him run all sorts of errands.”
But as she grew closer to him, she realized the truth.
Utu was someone who believed in human kindness and didn’t easily doubt others. He was loyal and steadfast.
This complicated city didn’t suit him.
He was the owner of a simple soul who belonged in a quiet farmhouse, tending to sheep.
Utu was that kind of person.
“He was a type of person hard to find in the back alleys of the Imperial Capital. I was drawn to that unfamiliarity.”
The two soon developed a romantic relationship.
However, clan life didn’t suit Utu at all. He grew weary of a life filled with nothing but violence and anger.
“On the day he finally paid off his debt, Utu held my hand tightly and spoke. He asked me to leave with him.”
Utu whispered about a life she had never even imagined.
A life where the two of them would grow old together in a small village in a quiet forest, growing mushrooms.
A life where the only violence was catching a neighbor’s escaped goat, and the only intelligence was gossip about a village girl’s secret crush.
“It was tempting, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but hesitate. I knew my situation.”
In Utu’s case, he was recognized for his monstrous strength and had several subordinates, but that was it.
If he left, the organization would be disappointed, but they wouldn’t go to great lengths to catch him.
But her case was different.
Posha was at the heart of the Herbert Clan and had conducted numerous classified operations.
All important information passed through her hands, and the clan’s sensitive secrets were at her fingertips.
There was no way the clan would let Posha go.
“I knew. I knew everything, but Utu held my fingertips so carefully with those large hands of his, looking up at me with those deer-like eyes and pleading. How could I possibly resist?”
Posha had been completely swayed by that hulking man’s charms.
Ultimately, the two of them went on the run.
“I knew Herbert would send pursuers soon.”
Posha remained hyper-vigilant, but Utu felt her worries were excessive.
“Utu believed it would be fine as long as we minimized contact with the outside world. He said that since we finally escaped the organization, we didn’t need to live the same way we did there.”
Her plan to build an information network within the village by enticing innocent children had failed.
However, she couldn’t give up on bringing her loyal subordinate, Nelissa, whom she had planted before their escape.
Posha brought Nelissa into their home, even lying that she was a local from the area.
It was all to protect Utu.
“But it was all in vain. In the end, I failed to protect Utu. Haha, isn’t it funny? I clearly expected this outcome. Why did I even try, only to fail in the end…?”
***
Thus, Posha’s story ended.
She looked calm. Or perhaps she had lost her mind.
“It would have been better if we had never started. Running away was impossible from the beginning. But what can I do now that it’s come to this?”
The way she lightly whispered a story that couldn’t possibly be light made her feel like someone who no longer belonged on this earth.
Her mind was already elsewhere.
“This time, I’m going to run away to a place where the clan can never follow me.”
Posha grinned.
“Utu will be waiting for me there.”
“Madam Posha…”
“It’s alright. I’ve been prepared for death since the day I left with Utu. I’ll be reunited with him soon.”
It was chilling and pitiful.
It was only right to comfort and soothe her.
Just as I had for the Chairman who lost his son, and for the girl betrayed by the sister she trusted.
But for some reason, a surge of irritation welled up from within me.
Without realizing it, I snapped at her sharply.
“That’s not being prepared for death. That’s using death as a means of escape.”
“W-What did you say?!”
Posha was flustered, and soon, she grew angry.
“What do you know!”
“I know that you’re a coward, Madam Posha. Why are you only thinking of running away instead of seeking revenge?”
“Ha! If I kill the culprit over there, it’s you detectives who will be in trouble. Is that what you want?”
“The culprit? Renner? Weren’t you the one who called him a chess piece, Madam Posha?”
Posha faltered.
“He’s already been caught and will face the judgment of the law. But what about the ones who sent him?”
Will they face the judgment of the law too?
Posha would know the answer to that better than anyone.
Since she herself had been one of the highest-ranking members of the clan.
“…They’ll slip away. Just like they always have.”
“Yes. And they’ll be delighted. They’ll think that by sending an assassin, all their worries have vanished, and that killing your husband was the right answer since they couldn’t get to you. Is that really what you want?”
Posha flared up.
“Then what do you want me to do! The Herbert Clan isn’t an opponent an individual can face! Even if I fight back, it’ll just be a pointless death!”
“Is committing suicide any less pointless?”
Facing the fight even if it’s a pointless death—that was what it meant to be prepared for death.
If you tried to escape through death because you were simply afraid and overwhelmed by the prospect of facing them, that was an escape.
‘There might be situations where one has no choice but to escape, but escaping into death is not the answer.’
Besides, this didn’t feel like a situation where she had no choice but to flee. There was definitely a way.
“Facing the Herbert Clan might not be as hopeless as you think, Madam Posha. At the very least, I guarantee you won’t have to face them alone.”
As I stepped aside, Walter, who had already finished interrogating Renner, stepped forward as if he had been waiting.
“So you were the famous Balthazar, Madam Posha.”
“…! How do you know that code name?”
“I’ve been chasing the Herbert Clan for a long time. But even though the person I’ve been pursuing was right in front of me, I didn’t recognize her until now. I suppose the reputation of the ghost, Balthazar, wasn’t for nothing.”
“…I’m no longer Balthazar.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. Isn’t that name too valuable to retire so soon?”
Walter spoke with a sly grin.
“The cipher that Hayes solved just now. Wasn’t that a cipher you came up with, Balthazar?”
“That… yes. I created it.”
“I speculated that most of the organization’s ciphers passed through your hands. Was I wrong?”
“…But since I left, they must have replaced them with different methods. The knowledge I have shouldn’t be of much use.”
“Ha! How many of those guys actually know how to use their heads for anything other than headbutting?”
Walter snorted.
“Even if they changed the ciphers, they probably kept the framework you built and just swapped out a few codes. Would they have even dared to touch it? A cipher created by Balthazar? Madam Posha, you’re a talent far too good for a lowly organization like that. Herbert is afraid of you.”
“I wouldn’t go that far…”
“If that weren’t the case, why would the clan have chased you so desperately?”
Walter answered without waiting for Posha’s response.
“It’s obviously because you’re a threat. They’re afraid of what will happen when the organization’s most lethal blade is turned back against them.”
“You’re saying that I… am a threat to the clan?”
“Of course. You’re the only one who doesn’t know that.”
Walter lowered his eyebrows as if he felt sorry for her.
“You’re still young, Madam Posha. You must have been even younger when you first joined the clan. So, it’s not strange that the clan feels like an impenetrable iron wall, but that isn’t actually the case.”
In other words, she was an elephant tied by a chain.
“You are capable, Madam Posha. The reason I’m trying so hard to persuade you is that I’m certain that with you, we can crush the Herbert Clan.”
Walter asked with a serious expression.
“What do you say, Madam Posha? Don’t you want to bring down Herbert with me and make them regret it? Don’t you want to make them weep tears of blood for realizing they should never have killed your husband?”
Posha bit her lip and looked back at Nelissa. Code name Nelissa shrugged her shoulders.
“You know me. I’ll always follow you, my lady. My savior isn’t Herbert; it’s you.”
Finally, Posha nodded.
“Fine. I’ll join you.”
Warmth returned to her lips, which had been as pale as a corpse.
Her blood-red lips whispered of revenge.
“I’ll show them exactly how far Balthazar can go.”
“Good choice! You won’t regret it.”
The two shook hands.
I didn’t possess exceptional deductive skills or sharp intuition like Walter, but at that moment, I had a premonition.
A premonition that the day of the Herbert Clan’s downfall was not far off.
Someday, they would bitterly regret it.
They would regret murdering that quiet, simple foreign man who only wanted to live hidden away in that remote northern village.