"Praise the light of truth~"
"The feet of the revered master are the pure land!"
A noisy chorus surrounded her ears. Moriyama Yasurou felt as if her head was about to explode, her consciousness gradually gathering; a strange sensation arose, and she felt a chill on her chest, with a vague premonition of something ominous.
The first thing she recalled was that she had been kidnapped, and the abductors had anesthetized her...
Moriyama Yasurou did not immediately open her eyes; instead, she planned to continue feigning unconsciousness, squinting to observe the situation.
However, before she could make out anything in the darkness, a gentle male voice spoke in front of her: "You’re awake."
Moriyama Yasurou remained silent, continuing to feign sleep. She could feel her collar was open, and something metallic seemed to be stuck to her chest, with a strong possibility that the other party planned to do something untoward while she was unconscious...
"Stop pretending," the voice continued, "It’s obvious, I can tell."
Now that he had said this much, Moriyama Yasurou cursed inwardly, reluctantly opening her eyes and looking around.
She found herself in a cramped little room, with a small lamp on the table as the only light source. Opposite her sat a stranger, his figure hidden in the shadows.
Moriyama Yasurou was very familiar with this kind of setup.
This was an interrogation room.
And not just any interrogation room. Moriyama Yasurou had metal plates stuck to her body, a helmet on her head, and her hands were tied to armrests, forced to hold a pair of metal rods—the ends connected to wires—and beside her stood a sophisticated human monitoring device.
She had seen such equipment before in military interrogation rooms, used to monitor various human parameters to achieve a lie detector effect, generally used to deal with traitors or foreign spies.
What the hell, how did the kidnappers have access to this stuff?
Moriyama Yasurou thought to herself that if they dared to kidnap even the Kujo Family’s heiress, they must have some serious backing. But the question was, why weren’t the kidnappers interrogating Minamoto Tamako, and why was she tied to the chair instead?
Did they have the wrong person?
She thought it was highly possible, since anyone unfamiliar with Minamoto Tamako, who looked like a high school student, would probably mistake her for a bystander.
She tried to speak but was suddenly hit by a sharp pain in her throat as the metal plate released an electric current.
"You may only speak when I allow it," the stranger said.
Moriyama Yasurou’s body shook briefly as the pain gradually subsided, and she came to her senses, instinctively wanting to curse, but was soon jolted again by another electric shock, a metallic aftertaste lingering in her throat.
"Cough... cough, cough..."
What the hell is this?!
Panic mingled with anger in her heart, and she glared at the stranger with increasing hostility. Seeing that she had finally pursed her lips, he nodded in satisfaction:
"Good, maintain that."
Putting on headphones, the man adjusted the instrument before him. Once everything was ready, he placed a piece of paper flat in front of Moriyama Yasurou and commanded:
Moriyama Yasurou took a glance but did not speak. The man did not rush her, just sat there monitoring her physiological conditions through his headset and instruments.
Half an hour passed...
Moriyama Yasurou found the silent standoff increasingly unbearable. She had lost all sense of time; in the small dark room, time seemed to stand still, and it felt to her like she had been sitting for over three hours.
Before she could finish the sentence, another electric current hit. This time it shocked her upper arm, causing her body to tremble while she gritted her teeth, letting out a muffled groan.
"You are only allowed to read what’s on this sheet." the man repeated.
Moriyama Yasurou took a deep breath, looked down briefly, and began to read aloud: "Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world..."
"Very good," nodded the man, "Continue."
Moriyama Yasurou had no idea what exactly they wanted, but the situation was overwhelming, and she could only comply for now:
"No one will atone for my sins, only I can bear them."
"My sins will remain with me."
"I am grateful to be captured, my feet of corruption halted in time by those who have suffered greatly."
"All I can do is apologize, and this is all I have now..."
After finishing, she seized the chance to speak, "I need to use the restroom!"
This time there was no electric shock, and Moriyama Yasurou let out a slight sigh of relief.
The man stared at the instrument’s parameters and said, "I’m afraid that’s not your sincere words, please read it again."
He paused and continued, "Plus, please stop playing such little tricks, it will only add to your sins... Until you truly feel remorse, you cannot leave here."
Moriyama Yasurou thought to herself that this man was crazy, that these kidnappers were out of their minds, capturing her just to make her sincerely apologize? She couldn’t understand this inexplicable behavior!
"But what about eating, drinking, and using the bathroom—"
Before she could finish, another electric shock surged, this time to her lower abdomen, almost causing her to lose control. She instinctively clenched her legs tightly and let out a heavy gasp.
"Continue." The man remained unmoved.
Moriyama Yasurou felt her face flush with heat; she really needed to use the restroom. The man in front of her gave no semblance of human rights, and she could only grit her teeth and continue reading:
"No one will atone for my sins, only I can bear them."
"My sins will remain with me..."
"I’m afraid that’s not your sincere words, please read it again."
"No one will atone for my sins, only I can bear them."
"My sins will remain with me..."
"I’m afraid that’s not your sincere words, please read it again."
"No one will atone for my sins, only I can bear them..." Moriyama Yasurou couldn’t take it anymore: "Enough, how many times do I have to read this?!"
"Until you genuinely and sincerely feel remorse." the man said gently.
"Why should I feel remorse?" Moriyama Yasurou felt baffled.
"For everything," the man said, "You were born into sin."
Moriyama Yasurou took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and pleaded, "I feel sorry... I’m really sorry, please let me use the bathroom..."
The man was silent for a few seconds.
Then, he mechanically said, "I’m afraid that’s not your sincere words, please read it again."
Moriyama Yasurou felt an inexplicable despair.
Firmly bound to the chair, she could only repeat these meaningless phrases over and over, until either her personality was destroyed, or her body completely broke down.
"No one will atone for my sins, only I can bear them..." she continued reading with a quiver in her voice.
"Good," the man encouraged, "There’s progress, but it’s still not enough, please continue."