Restart:Untalented Man

"Let's go and meet them."

Niden began to move through the corridors of the prison complex, heading towards the interrogation room.

The place was cold, clinical, and devoid of any semblance of comfort, designed to create an unsettled atmosphere to extract information. Only one light source illuminated the room, just barely enough to guide people to where a sturdy table and a set of chairs were.

Inside the interrogation room, Niden first took a seat before instructing the staff present to bring the prisoners.

"Bring these two men here," he said, opening the file and tapping his fingers on a particular page.

The staff took a quick glance at the designated page and nodded. "Yes, sir."

They promptly left the room to carry out Niden's orders.

....

Tang—

Tang—

Tang— The sharp, metallic sounds echoed through the prison cells as the staff forcefully struck their batons against the iron grilles.

"Wake up!"

The sudden and loud noise served as an effective alarm, jolting the man inside the cell awake.

His eyes snapped open.

Similarly, in the neighbouring cell, another staff repeated the wake-up routine, ensuring that the next-door prisoner woke up as well.

"Huh?!" the man inside the cell exclaimed, looking around with a mix of confusion and fear.

The loud sound and the urgency of the staff's actions left him disoriented for a moment.

After being thrown into this dark place, his mind still struggles to accept all the abrupt changes that happened.

Without providing any explanation, the staff swiftly opened the man's cell, grabbed him and pulled him out.

The abruptness left the man visibly terrified.

His eyes were wide with fear as he tried to comprehend the staff's action.

"W-where are you taking me?" he fearfully asked. "D-Don't tell me...y-you're going to execute me?"

The staff remained silent and proceed to handcuff the man's hands.

The two men, apprehensively led by the staff, were ushered into the interrogation room.

As the door creaked open, their eyes met the sight of Sir Niden, seated in a composed manner on a chair at the centre of the room.

Niden's presence adds to the dread in the room. His tall figure exuded an aura of confidence and control.

Dressed in a prison staff uniform that bore the insignia of his position, he conveyed an image of a man of authority. Though his expression was calm, there was an intensity in Niden's face that suggested of no-nonsense action. "Take a seat."

The two men followed Sir Niden's directive.

They moved cautiously towards the chairs in front of the sturdy table.

Sir Niden observed the two men with a keen gaze as they took their seats.

"You guys err...I'll just call you Driver 1 and Driver 2. Your name isn't worth for me remembering," said Niden as he pointed his finger to the man on his left and right respectively. Although both of the men felt angry, they chose to keep their emotions in check and shut their mouths.

Niden proceeded to provide a brief overview of the charges against them.

"You're charged with human trafficking, attempting to smuggle wanted criminals out of the kingdom, involvement in a criminal organization, and obstructing the authorities from doing their job."

"These are very serious crimes. Both of you should be executed right away. But...Sigh...Anything you guys want to deny?" he asked while shifting his gaze between the two men, inviting them to respond to the charges levelled against them.

Driver 1 opened his mouth, "First, we had nothing to do with the criminal organization. We were merely bound to them by temporary contract. We got paid for delivering their good. That's it. We are not involved in the process of picking the victims. Heck! We don't even know what method they used. Moreover, we don't work exclusively for that organization."

Driver 2 vigorously nods his head, agreeing to what his friend said.

They are facing four charges and the reasoning his friend gave could potentially help them avoid three. He is truly grateful that he followed Driver 1 to secretly accept a side job without the knowledge of their superior.

So, they had nothing to worry about if the authorities investigated them later.

"But here in the report, it said that there's an instance where you refer to the man in charge of the organization as 'boss'. How do you explain that?" Niden asked.

"Well...he's the one that paid us, right? Of course, we respectfully called him 'boss'. It's nothing and just a mere formality." Driver 1 replied.

"Then, why both of you run when soldiers told you to stop?"

"If a scary-looking men suddenly told me to stop, I would subconsciously run." Driver 2 replied.

The room remained tense as Niden searched for any inconsistencies or signs of culpability.

"So, you really don't know the content of your cargo?" Niden probed further.

Both of the drivers shook their heads in unison.

"Sir, it's common knowledge among the drivers not to pry into the details of the goods." Driver 2 interjected.

He assumed the interrogator in front of him didn't know about the work culture in their field.

"Is that so? If what you say is true, why do all the goods lack any marking or indicator that shows they belong to different owners? We also found no ledger or some sort of notes that could be used to keep track of goods, their recipients or their destination. How do you know which goods belong to whom or where they would be sent?"

Driver 1 calmly tapped his finger on his forehead, "Sir, we may not go to those public schools or universities but that doesn't mean we're stupid. We have been working in this field for years. Of course, our memories gradually become stronger to remember all the details in a short amount of time."

Sigh—

"I guess you're right," Niden said as he looked at them apologetically. "I'm sorry for looking down on you."

The drivers smiled, thinking they had dodged the bullet. "It's okay, sir. You're just doing your job."

"I know. For the sake of formality, I need your cooperation for the final bits of the interrogation. I promised the charges on both of you would be dropped after you passed this easy test."

"We gladly cooperate, sir." freew𝚎bn𝐨𝘃𝐞𝗹.𝗰𝚘𝗺

"Good. Very good." Niden nodded. "The supplies for every building on this island was delivered by ships and dropped at the docks. The goods had no markings on them either, just like in your case. I want you to simulate exactly the way you did your job."

"Huh?" Their brain suddenly stops.