Uncle Hunter’s Login Life 561

Chapter 561 – Investigation

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‘Cosmos, have you checked the core of the planetary barrier?’

〈Yes, I confirmed it.〉

I told Cosmos the location of the planetary barrier core and told him to take a look.

Cosmos was managing the Great Devil Castle and space battleship with my permission.

The space battleship was better than the Great Devil Castle in terms of mobility, and the space battleship was asked to move to inspect the planetary barrier core.

Zephyria didn’t say anything as long as we didn’t stray towards other arch-devils, and there were no restrictions on moving the space battleship.

The core of the planetary barrier was located near the South Pole of the planet Zephyria.

‘What do you think?’

〈 I don’t think it will be easy. 〉

‘… It’s not easy?’

〈It’s too hard. Liliana says it’s much stronger than the other side of the barrier? I think it’s because it’s a place where all the connections of the planetary barrier intersect… 〉

‘What do you think? Do you think I can break it?’

Cosmos manages the system that can be said to be the core of my abilities. I wondered if she would judge my abilities more objectively than I did.

〈Terra, as you said, I don’t think it would be impossible to destroy it with your abilities.〉

‘Then isn’t that enough?’

〈 It’s not that easy. You will probably have to exert most of your strength to break the planetary barrier.〉

‘… What do you mean?’

〈In that situation, is there any guarantee that Hellion will gently let you go? 〉

I think I heard something similar from Terra.

What Cosmos means is that I might face Hellion with a significant loss of strength.

I thought about the power of the planet, which was briefly discussed in Demon King’s Castle. Even if it was only for a moment, the enormous power that moved according to my will…

“…”

It didn’t seem like it would be an easy fight.

But there you fight, using all your strength to break the planetary barrier?

‘Tell Liliana and Verna to find out if there is another way.’

〈Already doing so.〉

It is a barrier created by the goddess Pantera. It will be an interesting research topic for them.

Secretly leaking information about the planet’s barrier core to the Zephyria military seemed like a viable option.

We are guiding them to break the planetary barrier instead of us.

‘The problem is that I have to take responsibility for it…’

It is not a choice worth making impulsively.

I thought that the core side of the planetary barrier was the last option for return and decided to think more leisurely.

[Master, suspicious people are looking for you.]

As I was organizing my thoughts about the planetary barrier, Sunni gave me an urgent report.

Suni was inside me now.

It is a secret that she came to the sealed off Selby.

Since Suni can control the hotel’s security system to some extent, there was no danger under normal circumstances, but since an unstable variable called Gregory was created, he was hiding for the time being in preparation for an unexpected situation.

‘Suspicious human?’

[Looking for the owner in the lobby.]

Is there anyone worth visiting from Selvi, which has even been blocked?

Of course not.

The only thing I can guess is what I expected before.

Not long after hearing Suni’s story, I was visited by two men in sharp suits.

The two men were shocked when they saw me, but they soon calmly opened their mouths.

“Mr. Bark, is that correct? My name is Investigator Bernstein of the Selby Police Department.”

My face now is different from the face registered in Zephyria’s archive.

If the face is the same as the avatar used in Panthera, it will be detected immediately, because Sunni did some manipulation.

However, the two self-proclaimed investigators were completely unaware of that fact.

Human memory is not accurate. And unless the face was too unique, it would not have been possible to create the illusion that they were the same person if the power of deception was used.

By the way, it’s the Selby Public Safety Office…

“… I understand that you played a virtual reality game called Pantera.”

From Bernstein’s words, I was convinced that it was a lie that they came from the police department.

Still, there is a high possibility that the investigator’s ID card is real. For Zephyria Army, it would not be a problem to proudly receive a police investigation officer ID card.

It would have been a pain if Gregory had come to visit in person, but the possibility of that happening was slim.

If you think about it a little, you will understand.

There is no way that a soldier at the bottom of the military could hold such an important position as the devil.

Of course, it would be at least officer level.

This is not the time to conduct such an investigation.

“Pantera…? I did it recently… But why…”

“I want to talk about that game called Panthera.”

“What does that have to do with the National Security Agency?”

“Oh, that’s because a significant number of users who play the game called Pantera have recently filed complaints and reported that they suffered damages.”

What I just said is probably true.

It is quite likely that users who were angry that the avatar was not restored as announced would file a complaint or file a complaint.

These guys are using that as an excuse to investigate Panthera users.

‘That’s shameless.’

I hid my true feelings and spoke to Bernstein.

“Ah… I haven’t suffered any particular damage.”

“Oh, is that so. Still, I’d like to hear about that game… Would it be okay for a moment?”

I ask you politely, but I know that I have no right to refuse this request. There was no reason to act stiffly and arouse suspicion.

“I don’t think I have anything special to tell you… But if you still want to hear it…”

“Thank you, Mr. Bark.”

“I would like to take you to my room, but I think it would be a disruption to the children’s studies. I would like to take you to a café. Would that be okay?”

I didn’t want to bring strangers into the room.

There was a high possibility that I had already done some light research on what I was doing.

If so, they would know that Chaos and Veronica are in the room, so it is not a point for them to be suspicious.

“Haha, of course. Mr. Bark, please speak at your convenience.”

Bernstein seemed to like my cooperative attitude and readily accepted my request.

I moved with them to the café next to the hotel lobby.

“… As I said, quite a few complaints have been filed against Pantera’s management company. People like us don’t know much about virtual reality games. It’s important to hear the stories of people like Mr. Bark, so we’re asking for your cooperation.”

“I understand.”

It was more gentlemanly than I thought.

There didn’t seem to be any intention to just arrest them and interrogate them.

What… Is this normal?

Their gentlemanly attitude also meant that they found nothing particularly suspicious about me during the preliminary investigation.

I answered their questions as I had prepared in advance.

“… So you’re saying you haven’t logged in since then?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why… Do you even need a reason for that?”

Showing an overly cooperative attitude can be viewed as strange, so it is necessary to nudge them at least once.

“Ah, I heard from other people that there was a perfect event going on in the game.”

“Well… I also tried to participate in that event. But on the way to Crea, I had the misfortune to meet a Paladin of Terraism… As the character I had raised for quite a long time died, I felt a sense of emptiness and quit the game. This is how I ended up. I might do it again when things get better, but I don’t feel like it yet.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

Bernstein nodded his head without any doubt at my answer.
In fact, it was also because I had maintained a weak power of deception from the time I met them until now.

They are not questioning me as a criminal.

If that were the case, things would have been quite difficult.

What if I were a strong suspect and I just sent them back with my power of deception?

Their behavior must have seemed very strange to my superiors, and it would have led to suspicions about me.

But fortunately, investigator Bernstein was interrogating one of the many suspects.

For them, it was enough to use a light ‘deception’ that would not make them doubt my answer.

“Mr. Bark, thank you for your cooperation with the investigation.”

Bernstein asked me various questions and then stood up as if he had nothing more to say.

There was no trace of doubt about me on their faces as they left.

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First, the police investigation was completed safely.

There’s a slim chance they’ll come back to me again until they’ve rounded up the suspects.

After solving the urgent problem, I begin to worry about how I can escape from this city that seems to have no intention of lifting the blockade.

I want to do some research on Helena, but I haven’t made any progress since she’s stuck in Selby.
They say Celestia sends her incarnation… But is her incarnation enough?
She has a dark outlook on the world, and somehow she feels unreliable when she is alone.

It is not difficult to escape from Selby.

The problem was that it was an unofficial method.

First, we came here through an official route as part of the Zepia Academy club activities.

In such a situation, if we disappear from this city, it wouldn’t be surprising if we were wanted.

What I wanted was to officially lift the blockade of Selby.

[Master. Shall I try to break Selby’s blockade?]

‘Sunni… You?’