TCWGRF 24

There was a weakness in everyone, and Samuel knew clearly that it was his job to perform torture to find that weakness, and that it was important to obtain accurate information as a result.

Therefore, this form of interrogation could be called new.

A prisoner, who had probably fallen asleep on the bare floor using his own foul vomit as a bed, just one door away.

A mysterious young man whom Samuel had bitten into by mistake, but his intuition told him he shouldn’t rashly swallow or kill him, so he had decided to keep him alive until he was satisfied.

Now that he even knew who he was trying to find in the place where old records were piled up, there was really nothing more he wanted to know.

It was annoying that he had audaciously asked the Chief Commissioner to grant a favor, and he was just curious how desperate he was. The way he endured better than expected wasn’t bad.

The sight of him panting, yet holding onto the person standing before him to endure, of him acting submissive but unable to hide his desire to run away, was ridiculous, but not to the point of killing his excitement.

The sight of him grimacing and shedding tears profusely, trying somehow to swallow the bodily fluid, was quite a sight to see.

The person who had started as a variable, then continued as a whim, whom he had found boring and wanted to forget or kill, finally felt fresh.

The fact that a being he could treat as he pleased was close at hand tickled the corner of Samuel’s lips as he lay sideways on the bed, staring at the firmly closed door of the small room.

Since there was no word, yes or no, from his opponent, it was uncertain whether his demand had been accepted, but. In the end, it seemed clear that Isaac had gained a small amount of freedom.

What this meant was that the shackle on his ankle, which had only allowed him to move around the small room, had its pivot point changed so that he could not only go to the bathroom but also get on the Chief Commissioner’s bed if he so desired.

Early in the morning, with the unpleasant texture and salty aftertaste left in his mouth from the previous day still lingering, the sound of a hammer and nails striking the wall echoed—thump, thump—and the footsteps of people moving busily could be heard.

Before long, Isaac was able to find out the reason. The Chief Commissioner’s adjutant came into the room, undid the shackle connected to the post, and moved it to a new ring embedded in the wall.

Although he felt that such a change was closer to a dark future that he should tremble at in foreboding rather than a freedom he could cheer for, Isaac had no choice. He could only comply, stand still, and listen to the new rules being poured out at him.

Guesswork was useless. The results always deviated from his expectations, and he could not get a single thing right. Even the deal he had risked his life for was unclear, so he could not even guess his opponent’s true intentions.

“…You may use the bathroom over there. Don’t touch anything else, and be sure to only use what I’ve instructed you to. Cleaning will be done twice, right after the Chief Commissioner leaves for work and right before he returns, so if you want to wash up, it would be best to do it in between, right?”

“Um, why…”

Knowing that such questions were useless here, Isaac couldn’t hide his question in front of the adjutant, Walter, who had come to reinstall the shackle and, while at it, inform him of the things to observe in the residence.

He seemed surprised that the person who had been silently bowing his head could speak, as he cleared his throat in embarrassment and hastily averted his gaze.

“Ahem, I don’t have the authority to tell you that much. In any case, I hope you won’t do anything to displease the Chief Commissioner ‘while you are here.’”

“Ah…”

His words made him realize that his life in shackles would not be long, that the end, which would likely be a tragedy, was already decided.

“Understood?”

Walter wagged his index finger in front of Isaac’s face, who had lowered his gaze without answering, pretending to give a stern warning, but because the gesture was clumsy, it felt no threat at all. When Isaac nodded his head in a daze, Walter smiled in satisfaction.

“Good. Ah, if you have any problems or need anything, please tell me from now on. I’ll be coming here once a day to check on the residence anyway.”

This man had more humanity than Sarah or Samuel. Unlike the people of the Public Security Bureau who were meticulous and cold, his speech and impression seemed to contain an exceptional kindness that brought a sense of relief.

Still, it was difficult to rashly trust him or to hastily conclude whether he was someone who could really help. One never knew when he might change his tune and drag him to the basement. Perhaps it was this man who had brought him here and put the shackle on him in the first place.

Walter, with a smiling face toward the docile prisoner, finished giving the rest of the explanations, and then left the room with a cheerful step, saying, “See you tomorrow.”

“Oh, wait!”

Walter, who had reached the entrance, clapped his palms together in mid-air—clap—and then hurried back to stand in front of Isaac. It seemed he had forgotten something.

He took out a notepad and a pen from his pocket, and then asked the prisoner with a serious face.

“Please describe the appearance of the ‘friend’ you wanted to find to me.”

He was so flustered that he rambled, so it was questionable whether he had explained it properly, but Walter nodded his head slowly, closed the notepad, and disappeared quickly.

“…That should be enough. Well then, I’ll really see you tomorrow.”

Isaac, left alone, was dumbfounded. He had not expected them to look for the person so quickly.

His resolve or deal had clearly worked. Of course, he did not know what the Chief Commissioner would take from what he had offered and how, but he understood for certain that he would accept his side of the demand. He just had to pay the price in the form of whatever he wanted.

‘I never thought it would actually work….’

The day before, Isaac had asked the Chief Commissioner to find a friend for him. He was desperate enough to risk his life, but he had consistently responded with ridicule, as if it were quite amusing.

‘Will that person really find him for me?’

Even in the basement, Isaac had not breathed a word about Asel.

A crime for which he could be branded a rebel and have his head fly off. No, just the act of infiltrating the city from the outside with a disguised identity was a grave crime punishable by summary execution. If by some chance he was alive, he would not be able to avoid punishment, and if he were already dead, he should consider it a relief.

If he truly cared for that child, it was better not to even mention him, especially in this situation. Isaac knew that better than anyone.

‘I’ll know if I watch.’

The die was cast. The part after this was a domain he could not control no matter how hard he tried.

When he recognized that the consequences of the words he had spoken were being thrust before his eyes, his heart pounded violently, and an indescribable sense of fear made the hair on his whole body stand on end.

As he stood there blankly, staring at the entrance where Walter had disappeared, Isaac recalled that the key to unlock the shackle had been hanging from the key ring dangling from his waist, and that its shape was peculiar.

While adding thoughts like, if only he could see it up close a few more times, or if he had the right tools, he might be able to make a similar shape.

Wheeeeeeeng. Along with the ear-piercing alarm, silence fell.

People dressed in black rushed into the room, cleaned the already clean place even more thoroughly, checked if things were in their proper places, and then disappeared in an orderly fashion. It meant that the Chief Commissioner’s return from work was not far off.

The official residence prepared for the young Chief Commissioner did not have a separate bedroom or living room; as soon as one opened the door connected to the corridor, a bed and a sofa placed sparsely in a large room came into view at a glance.

There were a few more doors, but seeing as they were locked with large padlocks, it seemed they were not currently in use.

On the side opposite the entrance were what could be called Isaac’s room—a room that would normally have been used to store things or to shove away secret things one did not want to reveal—and a bathroom.

The strangely excessive cleanliness was superimposed on the large space, creating a cold sense of alienation that felt as if he could never get used to it.

As he vaguely stared at the polished and wiped-clean empty space, feeling as if he had become the only foreign object buried there, Isaac headed to the bathroom with awkward steps.

However, wondering if he could carelessly enter the space used by the Chief Commissioner, he just hovered around, washed his face lightly and brushed his teeth at the nearby sink, and eventually returned to the small room.

He carefully closed the door, which no longer closed completely because the chain was caught in the gap, as far as it would go, and then plopped down, drawing his knees up.

Still, having spent a few days here, he felt a little relieved as he leaned his body against the corner wall and looked at the small window just below the ceiling and the plain wall.

What would happen when the real owner of this room returned? Would he have to put his thing in his mouth and swallow it again? Would he want more than that?

Soon, Isaac recalled Asel, who was on all fours like a dog in the darkness with an ecstatic face, and the movements of the disgusting man who was breathing heavily behind him.

Not wanting to think about it any further, he squeezed his eyes shut, and the viewpoint of the terrible event that was engraved deep in his retinas and not easily forgotten shifted from a witness to the protagonist.

Isaac was given the role of the despicable men. Perhaps he too had wanted to do things similar to what the others had done to Asel. Although they had named their relationship as brother, as friend, he had felt that something was gradually changing as they grew up.

‘Isaac.’

The child looks at him with a blush on his face. He reaches out and moves closer, but hesitates, not knowing how to treat him, so Asel gets angry, leaves the tent, and does not return.

If he just leaves him, he might secretly run away to the city again. So he was about to follow him right away, but he cannot go outside because of someone huge blocking the front of the tent.

‘Who….’

A familiar, but not clearly identifiable, blond-haired man who slowly stretches the corners of his mouth into a smile enters. For some reason, Isaac’s body, as if under a spell, gets on all fours on its own, raises its hips high, and imitates Asel.

The man speaks.

‘Looks like you were waiting for me.’

Isaac’s head moves not from side to side, but up and down, against his own intentions.

‘Ahaha, I knew it.’

Ziiip, the sound of a zipper being pulled down, and flap, the sound of clothes falling to the floor are heard. The man standing behind him, paying no mind to his opponent who is rigid with fear, thrust his member straight into the hole located between his buttocks.

Just as he was trying to sharpen his dull senses to discern whether it was pain or pleasure, the hard touch of a shoe kicking him—thump, thump—pressed down on his chest, urging him to open his eyes.

Soon, he felt a chill on his lower back and a tingling sensation in the knuckles of his clasped fingers.

It seemed he had dozed off while leaning against the wall with his knees hugged. Thinking it was a relief that it was a dream, Isaac let out a small sigh without realizing it.

“Looks like you were waiting. For me.”

A faint ray of light passing through the window reflected off his opponent’s hair, shattering the complete darkness and silence into small pieces.

The explanation that he had not been waiting, that he had just fallen asleep while sitting, flashed through his mind, but he could not talk back to the Chief Commissioner. Silence and affirmation, only those two could be the right answers.

“I granted your request, so you have to pay the price. Hmm?”

Where he lifted his head to look, there was the man from his dream.

A man who, despite having an annoyed look in his eyes, had a hint of anticipation and interest on his lips. A man who seemed as if he had just been pulled out of an imagination, with no trace of reality.