Dream Life Vol 3 Chapter 5.2: “Interrogation”

(He is a simple man. Well, it can’t be helped if he’s upset. …But I didn’t know he was really working for Rawcliffe…) (Zack)

“I don’t know what you expect to find at Rawcliffe, but you guys are going to get obliterated. No doubt.” (Zack)

　Maddock is still upset, but seems to have managed to regain his composure, and has room for a smile.

“We aren’t paid. At best, we’ll be reduced to slavery. If we can stay alive, we can make it.” (Maddock)

　Despite his words, his eyes were swimming, and his forehead was sweating, not from the heat.

　I shook my head exaggeratedly and said, “You’re a lucky guy. Is that a decoration on your shoulder?” Pointing to his head.

　Whether Maddock has an easily angered personality, he immediately jumped on my provocation and tried to get closer with a spitting “Bastard!” However, he seems to have forgotten the existence of the rope, and he is pulled back by Brett holding the rope behind him, and the momentum causes him to fall to his buttocks.

“I’ll tell you so that even your hollow head can understand. You tried to assassinate my father, Lord Lockhart. Do you know what that means?” (Zack)

　Maddock snorted, then,

“We were just trying to steal some treasure from a country knight who might have some money.” (Maddock)

　I shake my head exaggeratedly once more and shrug.

“Your head really is a decoration. You only use it as a holder for your helmet, huh? Well, I’ll tell you what it’s like to turn Lockhart into an enemy…” (Zack)

　There, I deliberately cut off my words and looked for a response, but he really didn’t seem to understand.

“Some years ago, a Lux bishop picked a fight with the Lockharts. And what happened after that? …You’ve never even heard of that? Do you not even know what the Blacksmith’s Guild of Ars proclaimed to the world?” (Zack)

　The story of what the Blacksmith’s Guild announced to the whole world through all its branches at that time is well known. It was a popular topic of conversation in the bars, so even a lowlife would surely know about it.

　When I told him that much, Maddock finally seemed to realize the truth.

“You have made enemies of all the dwarves. Do you think anyone would be stupid enough to help a man like you?” (Zack)

　I exaggerated a little, but Maddock didn’t notice, just gave me a murderous look and didn’t say a word.

　I took a gamble here.

　Based on the reasoning I’d just come up with, I decided to draw Maddock in.

“You’re just mercenaries ruined–bandits, yes you are not. Do you really think that the big wig would go out of his way to help a mercenary getting ruined? You’re not so soft as to believe that, are you? Or what? Is there also a guarantee that the big wig will not betray you? There’s no such thing—right?”

　You react violently when I say, “mercenaries ruined” and “big wig.” It seems to me that they are the hired mercenary, and furthermore, there is no doubt that it was someone in power who gave them their orders.

　Maddock only snarls and says nothing in response to my point. But he seems to understand the predicament he is in.

“You were pawns from the start. Even if you had killed us, kidnapped someone in the carriage, and gone to Rawcliffe, the result would have been the same…” (Zack)

　Looking at Maddock’s expression, he looked up when I mentioned abducting the person in the carriage, but his reaction to the word “Rawcliffe” was dim. It seems that they were not planning to take him to Rawcliffe.

　He seemed to be completely tied the yarn I weave and responded to every word I said.

“Rawcliffe was the second-best place… I guess he told you to take them to some secluded place.” (Zack)

　At the mention of a secluded place, Maddock’s eyes widen.

“Well, either way, he would have been disposed of there as the perpetrators.” (Zack)

　Maddock looks down and mutters something in a snarl. He seems to be cursing someone in his mind, convinced that he was a pawn in my words.

(That’s right on the money, isn’t it? Still, he’s an easy guy to understand… If my theory is correct, the goal is to kidnap my mother and siblings, then pretend to negotiate with the kidnappers to get them back and ingratiate the Lockhart family. And somehow get distillation technology… I’m starting to understand little by little…) (Zack)

　This is what I thought.

　In this raid, they kill my father and kidnap my mother. They will retrieve the kidnapped mother and ingratiate themselves with the Lockhart family.

　Since my father, the head of the Lockhart family, is dead at that time, my brother Roderick, who is the legitimate heir, will be their negotiating partner.

　If they know my brother’s character to some extent, they know that he is a righteous character.

　The mastermind must be hoping that my brother will consider returning the favor for getting my mother back. And if the mastermind, appearing as a benefactor, opens up the subject of transferring distilling technology, it is not surprising that my brother would consider giving up the distillation technology.

　Typical of a confident fight. The are more likely to have succeeded, if they had valued our abilities a little higher, or if I did not have the magic of the [Dancing Black Butterfly – Spangle Waltz] or some other powerful magic to replace it, my father and I could have been killed.

　At that time, including me, eight people including my father and twelve people, Beatrice, Mel, and Dan, stood in the vanguard. Guy, Byron, and Beatrice are three influential people, but it’s not strange to think that they can be overwhelmed by a surprise attack with three times the force.

　Especially since we had to protect my father and the carriage, there was a good chance that we would be destroyed one by one. No matter how capable one is, it is extremely difficult to repel a superior enemy while defending oneself.

　It’s a matter of fact, but if they had an accurate grasp of the Zack Sextet’s strength, they would have increased their fighting strength even more.

　With two third-rank adventurers and four fourth-rank adventurers, plus rumors in Doctus, it was easy to see that our strength was comparable to a party of second-rank adventurers.

　Adventurers and mercenaries cannot be simply compared, but they do provide some indication. Looking at the strength of the bandits this time, the main force would probably be a sixth-rank mercenary class of around level 30.

　If there is someone who can calmly analyze the strength of the force, it would not be surprising if they use about five times the force against a party with second-class fighting strength, if they want to ensure victory with numbers.

　In other words, by simple calculation, we alone would need to have a force of about 30 men. Furthermore, Byron and Guy are equivalent to fourth-rank mercenaries, and my father and Enos are equivalent to fifth-rank mercenaries, so they would need to have at least 50 men to be on par with them. In other words, if they wanted to overwhelm us with their numbers, they would need a force of about 70 men, about twice as many as the bandits in this battle.

(When I think of it this way, my father’s analysis at the time of our departure that we could overwhelm them with three times as many men is surprisingly accurate. Since we have fifteen men, including Liddy, Sharon, and the vigilante archer Mark, we need at least five times as many, which means we need seventy-five men. …Even considering the ambush advantage, they needed a well-balanced force of about fifty men…) (Zack)

　I digress. The enemy is studying us to some extent, but they have not obtained accurate information. However, they have not obtained accurate information. In other words, they are not gathering information frequently on the Aurella Road that passes through Doctus.

　In that case, Aurella’s merchants can be eliminated from the candidates for the mastermind this time. If they attacked us to obtain the Distillation Technology, why not use easily available information from Doctus?