After being arrested, Ryu asked Golant a few questions. He told him that Viscount Gitt was likely the mastermind, but upon hearing this, Golant frowned and looked troubled.

It seemed that it was difficult to take action against a noble, especially one who was a lord of a neighboring territory, and also related to the Duke's family.

In this world, even if nobles committed crimes, they were rarely punished severely if the victim was a commoner.

Even if they got a confession from the captured criminals, it could be dismissed as a lie.

Humans could easily be made to lie under pressure, so confessions alone weren't considered concrete evidence. Without forensic science, securing concrete evidence was difficult in this world.

Therefore, while it was possible to arrest the perpetrators in the act, proving the mastermind's guilt was challenging. Some people lied and died, threatened by the possibility of their families being killed or promised that their families would be protected.

Conversely, "This is a conspiracy. A rival noble is forcing these criminals to lie to frame me," could be a valid claim. (Apparently, this actually happened quite often.)

Ultimately, whether a confession was deemed truthful depended on the power dynamic between the accuser and the noble accused.

And the accused was a member of the Duke's family, even if he had been disinherited. He may have been a low-ranking noble, but the Lord of Mimul wasn't powerful enough to condemn him, considering his lineage.

Apparently, the Lord of Mimul was a rather pragmatic person, primarily motivated by personal gain. He likely wouldn't bother with such a nuisance as accusing Viscount Gitt over a kidnapping case involving commoners.

(Scene Change)

However, that was none of Ryu's business.

Ryu wasn't motivated by a sense of justice, driven by a desire to eradicate crime. He didn't want to save the world.

He also had no interest in getting involved in the messy power games between nobles.

He had simply taken on a request to arrest criminals as an adventurer and completed it. He would hand the criminals over to the guard, and that would be the end of it.

Ryu had memories of his past life in Japan. Since those memories resurfaced, they had influenced his personality more than the life he had lived in this world.

But because he knew a different world, he was acutely aware that rules and values changed from world to world. Ryu had no intention of imposing his Earthly values on this world.

He would fight if he was directly affected, but he wasn't going to interfere excessively with the rules and values of this world if they didn't involve him, that was Ryu's stance.

However, it seemed that Viscount Gitt was interested in Ryu and had sent Baron Toppo to bring him in. Unfortunately, it seemed likely that Ryu would get involved with Viscount Gitt in the future. If he did get involved, Ryu had no intention of showing mercy.

And that moment arrived sooner than expected.

The day after Ryu arrested the kidnappers, Baron Toppo showed up at Ryu's apartment.

(Scene Change)

Toppo: "Ryujiin, Viscount Gitt requests your presence. Come at once."

Ryu: "You again. Stop barging in without considering my schedule. I have other plans today. Go away."

Toppo: "Your schedule doesn't matter. If a noble requests your presence, you should obey immediately, no matter what. It's the duty of a commoner."

Ryu: "I understand if the Lord of this city calls me, but what kind of obligation do I have to obey the call of the Lord of a neighboring city?"

Toppo: "Of course you do. Viscount Gitt is related to the Duke's family. The Lord of this city wouldn't dare disagree with him."

It was true. Golant had said yesterday that the Lord of this city wouldn't likely protect Ryu. Remembering that, Ryu shrugged.

Toppo: "Now that you understand, hurry up. You're going to meet with a noble, so leave your weapons behind."

Ryu: "I still refuse."

Toppo: "You fool! You should just obey. If you refuse, you'll be arrested and brought in by force."

Baron Toppo had brought many knights with him.

This was foolish of him to get involved like this. Those who attempted to capture Ryu needed to be crushed.

Ryu would normally have retaliated and defeated all of them, but...

For some reason, Ryu decided to quietly accept his arrest. He thought it might be fun to just go to Viscount Gitt.

There was nothing wrong with Ryu defeating Toppo and his knights and then going to Gitt himself. But the reason he didn't do that was simple: it was just a whim.

Ryu was taken into the carriage, hands bound in shackles, wearing only what he had on.

Toppo: "Don't even think about resisting. Those shackles have a magic-sealing enchantment. If you had just obeyed, you wouldn't have had to wear this."

The shackles not only blocked magic but also absorbed magic and drained the strength of whoever wore them. It was a very burdensome item for those who relied on magic to enhance their physical abilities. Baron Toppo knew this and used them, but it didn't matter to Ryu because he had zero magic, so he kept a cool expression. Toppo looked a bit confused as he watched.

It was unclear if Ryu could use space-time magic with these shackles. He thought he could probably tear them off with his strength if he couldn't use magic. Ryu's strength wasn't enhanced by magic but purely from the force generated by his muscles. Draconian muscles were fundamentally different from human muscles.

However, he was a little curious to see if he could really use magic, so he tried to teleport with the shackles. He teleported Toppo, who was about to enter the carriage.

The result... Success.

It seemed that magic-sealing shackles wouldn't block Ryu's abilities.

Toppo, who had been about to enter the carriage, was teleported a few inches back, causing him to miss his step, and he face-planted onto the floor of the carriage.

Toppo: "What's wrong? I'm suddenly dizzy..."

Ryu couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Baron Toppo bleeding from his nose. Toppo, seeing this, frowned and glared at Ryu.

(Scene Change)

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(Text: Ryu and Sophie meet Viscount Gitt. Don't miss it!)