Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Chapter 357 The Mastermind

”That is…?” The chief, the officers, and the rest of the people present there had the same question in their minds.

Who is the mastermind?

”Eh? What will be left for you to do if I tell you everything? Isnʼt it your job to find that out? I am just a normal citizen, who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Rudy responded with a shrug.

”....”

Two officers handcuffed the guard and the staff member and took them outside the bank to interrogate them. And it turned out they both were husband and wife.

The chief then ordered all the males present to stand to the side and allowed all the females to go without any inspection.

However, even upon inspecting the males, there was no guarantee that they would catch the culprit. After all, he was the mastermind behind the heist and wouldnʼt be as stupid as the others.

Not only that but there was no real way to catch him unless he could confess everything himself.

The inspection continued for half an hour, and Rudy was getting bored of watching the cops do their job.

SIGH!

ʼI am getting late too.ʼ Rudy looked at the clock on the wall and let out an even bigger sigh.

It was nearly 6PM.

He glanced at Maria, who was, for some reason, getting her account open from the accountant.

Rudy shook his head and muttered, ”Goddamn. She is fearless. Are all mafias so brazen and nonchalant? Probably not. But still, if she wasnʼt here, things might have gone south. Well, if she wasnʼt here, then I wouldnʼt be here either, and the robbery would have happened as it was supposed to.

Hmm~” Rudy hummed in wonder and thought, ʼIsnʼt that fortunate for everyone here? They were lucky, but I was unlucky. This is a live example of the world treating me unfairly. I want justice!ʼ

Said the guy who had a harem full of beautiful girls that were completely head over heels for him.

Rudy walked to the chief and handed him the fake gun he had snatched from the guard earlier.

”Here, officer. This is a piece of evidence of the crime, am I right? It should be in your possession, I believe.”

The chief gritted his teeth and put the gun in a plastic bag.

”And I am the chief, so stop calling me officer!” he said with a forceful smile on his face that didnʼt look so friendly.

”You donʼt have a badge or anything indicating that, though.” Rudy casually stood beside him and said, ”So. How is the investigation going? Any leads?”

”....” The chief stayed quiet and didnʼt answer Rudyʼs question.

”Well, whatever. I will leave as soon anyway.”

”Uh uh. You are not leaving until the mastermind is caught.”

”Why not?”

”You can be the mastermind too, you know?”

”Why would I purposely get myself caught if it was me?”

”Maybe you wanted us to think like that? Whatever you may be, you are under the radar now, mister… err. What is your name?”

”Itʼs John Doe.”

”Thatʼs the meaning of an anonymous party or a hypothetical average man. There is no way thatʼs your name.”

”Oh? You know about it?”​

The chief exhaled sharply and said, ”We have personal lives too, you know?

”Yeah…”

”What are you going to do about the stolen money?” Rudy uttered to no one. But then he turned to the manager and asked, ”Hmm, manager?”

”We will have to report it to the FRS to devalue the money notes stolen,” the manager replied.

”That was obvious. I was asking, what will you do with that money?”

”What do you… mean? I donʼt understand.”

”Why would you steal the money?”

”Wha—!” The managerʼs face turned pale after hearing that.

”Wait… the manager is behind all this?” The chief and the officers pointed their guns at the manager without even confirming Zachʼs doubt.

”No, no. I am not! He is lying! I am the manager of this bank. What would I gain from doing that?!”

”If thatʼs the case, why are you hiding your hands behind your back?” Rudy asked with a chuckle and a knowing look on his face.

”There is nothing.”

”Show your hands then,” the chief said.

The manager brought his right hand forward and showed it to them.

”See?”

”What about your left hand?”

He moved his right hand back and showed his left hand to them.

”THatʼs enough! Show both of your hands without playing any games.”

The manager slowly moved his hands forward and showed them to them.

Rudy furrowed his eyes and uttered, ”Turn around.”

”What?”

”Turn around.”

The manager frowned his face and took out the remote he was hiding behind his back.

”Stay back! Or I will press the switch and take you all down with me!”

”Calm down, manager. If you press that switch, you will die too.”

”I donʼt care! I have nothing to lose anyway! If you donʼt let me go, I will press this switch and blow this place up!”

”We can negotiate. So calm down. What are your demands? Why are you doing all this? How about we first start by asking each other names? What is your name? My name is John.”

”...” Rudy shot a suspicious glance at the chief, but his name was truly John.

”My name is Ryan,” the manager said.

”Thatʼs a good name. Now, Ryan, how about we first start with you giving me that remote to the bombs?” John asked calmly.

Ryan slowly moved his trembling hand to hand the remote to John, but he pulled his hand back and said, ”I wonʼt!”

The rest of the officers had their fingers on the triggers, and if Ryan even placed his thumb on the chief, they were going to shoot him from all sides.

That, of course, wasnʼt a bad situation. But there was no guarantee that Ryan wouldnʼt press the switch even after getting shot. Thatʼs why negotiating with him was the best option John had.

Rudy, however, had enough of that and let out an exhausting sigh.