Life didn't get easier, even in another world

199 You can’t lie!

It was an empty room with only a table and two chairs in it. There was nothing else in there. Not even a window, not even a cup of water. The walls were thick and the door was made out of metal. There was only the faint light of the lamp and the sounds of two people breathing.

In one of the chairs sat a man with dark hair and blue eyes, staring at the person who was sitting in front of him and looking around the room. He was dragged here by force but he didn’t seem that fazed.

“So, Mr. Steyton, shall we start our conversation if you are ready?”

“Yes.”

The commander smiled and placed his hands on the table, locking his fingers together.

“I’ll start with some easy questions.”

Kairen just nodded his head. It was his first time being interrogated like this so he was a little bit nervous, but somehow calm at the same time. If it wasn’t for the change in him after he activated that power, Kairen thought he would have multiple heart attacks by now and his soul would’ve left his body long ago.

“First, let’s set the rules here.”

The man smiled.

.....

“The rules?”

“That’s right. You know what you should do in our little chat?”

“Interrogation you mean?”

“Hm, right. That’s another way to address it. You know in an interrogation, you should always tell the truth! No lies are allowed.”

The commander raised one hand and snapped once with his fingers.

“Then, the rule in this room is that you will always tell the truth and only state the facts!”

Shhh

As he snapped, a faint blue aura suddenly appeared around his fingers before disappearing almost immediately.

“Ah?”

Kairen let out a subconscious gasp of surprise. He thought he even saw the man’s eyes glow for a small moment.

“...What was that?”

Kairen looked at the faint fog-like aura that spread around a little bit before disappearing.

“I set up the rules in this room!”

“....”

The edges of the man’s lips slightly curled up.

“The rule is that you can not lie here. That means just as it sounds. So first, try telling me a lie. Just a small, minor lie.”

“....”

He can’t lie here?

‘He said he set up a rule... Is this related to his power?’

Kairen had known that the commander had the power of Law, but he never knew how it works. He didn’t know much about that unique skill, to begin with. The people with that power were so rare it was a lifetime occasion to meet one.

Did he say tell a lie?

Kairen casually opened his mouth.

“I am a really rich man- Gasp!”

But he didn’t get the chance to finish his words. Kairen clutched his chest and took a deep breath.

“Gasp! What?”

As soon as those words left his mouth, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. As if a dagger was cutting his heart.

“You see!”

The commander smiled gently again.

“This is what will happen if you lie. The more you ignore the law, the bigger the punishment you will receive.”

“....”

The pain that had suddenly appeared in his heart vanished slowly in a few seconds. After the pain was gone, Kairen raised his head again while tapping his chest.

So this is how his power works? Set a lure however you want and anyone who doesn’t obey it will be punished? Isn’t this power completely different from the others, which are all aggressive? Can you even use such a thing in combat?

‘So he will know immediately if I lie...’

The pain wasn’t something that he could hide that easily.

‘And the bigger a lie, the more pain I’d have to go through...’

Not that he planned to tell any lies, but the thought of him being in pain for a slip of a tongue or something like that still scared him.

The commander waited for Kairen to calm himself down. After a few minutes, he started to talk again.

“So, Mr. Kairen Steyton. I’ve heard you have a strange and unknown power. Is that true?”

“...Yes, sir.”

“What is the nature of that power?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“How did you obtain it?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Hah!”

The commander scoffed.

“At this rate ‘I don’t know, sir.’ will be the only answer I’ll receive.”

“...”

The commander shook his head and then changed his questions.

“Do you have anything to do with Philomns?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you work for them?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you have any way of contacting them?”

“No, sir.”

“....”

The commander closed his mouth and lowered his head.

“Then, can you tell me more about the man with the soil attribute?”

“....”

“Do you know him?”

Kairen thought about that question for a few seconds.

Did he know him?

Not really. He just knew that he was from Earth, but that too wasn’t 100% confirmed either. Kairen shook his head.

“No, I don’t- Argh. Gasp!”

A sharp dagger stabbed his heart before he could finish his words.

“Argh! Gasp!”

Kairen grabbed the table as his body leaned forward due to pain. The pain was more intense than the last time.

“What? But I really don’t- Argh!”

The pain got even worse.

“Gasp! Gasp!”

“....”

The man only stared at Kairen in silence until he was done trembling in pain and raised his head again.

“Mind explaining?”

.....

Once he raised his head, he saw the cold eyes of the damn- esteemed commander.

“....”

Kairen thought about it again.

Did ‘knowing that he is not from this world’ count as knowing that man? In that case, what should his answer be?

“I just know that... he is from my hometown. But I don’t know his identity.”

Kairen tapped his chest. There was no pain this time.

‘Phew!’

The commander raised a brow.

“So where is your hometown?”

Kairen debated deeply before giving an answer. He had been thinking properly before giving an answer before, but now he decided to think twice or maybe even more before opening his mouth.

“It’s somewhere far away, sir.”

“Hmm...”

Tap Tap Tap

The commander tapped the table.

“So you don’t want to say where it exactly is, huh?”

“....”

Tap Tap Tap

“Then, can I assume that ‘hometown’ is where you’ve been living before you were found by our men 10 years ago?”

“Probably...”

The commander raised another brow.

“Probably?”

Kairen chose his words as carefully as he could.

“You know that I’ve lost my memories, sir. I don’t remember much about my past, so I can’t tell you anything for sure.”

“Hmm...”

The commander suddenly smiled.

“You can test it though.”

“Yes?”

The smile on the man’s face looked kinda scary to Kairen.

“Say ‘Yes, I lived there before.’. If that was the truth then you won’t feel pain but if that was not you will feel the pain and we will know the true answer.”

“....”

Kairen opened and closed his mouth as he blinked.

‘What?’

He looked at the commander with a pale face.

‘What is this man saying?’

Why would he suggest such a painful and vicious way?

Find out the answer by chance? See if he was in pain in not? Is this a joke? Where were human rights? Kairen wasn’t a test subject!

In addition to that, the commander was looking at him with expectation visible on his face as if he was waiting for Kairen to really do what he was told just now.

“Please move on to the next question, sir.”

“...”

The commander looked disappointed but he still nodded his head and asked something else.

“You don’t know that man, but he knows you, right?”

‘How am I supposed to answer this?’

First of all, did he have to answer the questions based on Kairen 1’s life or his own life... or both?

Well yes, that hometown was where he had been living before being thrown into this world. But he didn’t know about Kairen 1.

Wait.

If the soil dude was from Earth and he somehow knew Kairen, then did he know Kairen 1 or Kairen 2? Was he someone from his life or the previous dude’s life?

Kairen looked up at the commander. He thought about the words that he had heard just now but had brushed off of his thought as they were too scary.

Test it.

“He didn’t kill me after seeing my face, so he must know the me of now.”

Tap Tap

Kairen tapped his chest. There was no pain.

‘Phewww! So he knows me and not the previous Kairen?’

Kairen suddenly felt really glad for some reason.

“The you of now? What do you mean by that?”

Kairen smiled awkwardly.

“My personality... I’ve lost my memories so... I feel like a different person from before.”

The commander looked at him with pity.

“I see... I’ve heard about that unfortunate incident as well.”

Kairen smiled proudly in his mind.

He could somehow avoid answering that question.

‘Wait.’

Kairen tapped his chest once again.

‘There is no pain?’

But, didn’t he lie just now?

He was a different person, but he hadn’t lost his memories. He was thrown into someone else’s life so he didn’t have any memories of his life.

“Yeah. I’ve lost my memories of the past 10 years just a few months ago.”

Kairen repeated those words again.

Tap Tap

There was no pain.

‘What is going on?’

“Then, Mr. Steyton is a clueless person who somehow has a strange power. He doesn’t work for Philomns and doesn’t remember his past. Am I correct?”

“....”

Kairen bit his lips.

“Yes, sir.”

The commander lifted his hands from the table and leaned back on his sear, folding his arms.

“Then, what if I... ask for a favor from Mr. Steyton?”