Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

"So, Rudy. I will take you to Ryan. Please make him confess at least something," John said to Rudy.

"Wait a minute, what was that about Rudy collaring his sister?" the woman asked curiously.

"Uhh… when I met him the last time, he had tied a pet collar on his sister's neck."

"Step-sister," Rudy corrected.

"Doesn't make a difference. I don't know what weird activity you two are engaged in, but—"

"I remember mentioning that it was for her cat. Now, mister John, if you speak any more words, there will be consequences," Rudy uttered solemnly.

"Why so serious all of a sudden? I was just joking around like we were a while ago."

"There are a few topics you shouldn't joke about. Especially when it concerns someone who is not present here. You can joke about me as much as you want, but don't bring someone else into this."

"You are right," John nodded. "That was my fault. I apologize."

The woman focused her gaze on Rudy and thought, 'Where… where have I seen him before? I didn't recognize him by his name or face, but his serious voice just now… I have heard it somewhere.'

"Hey… Rudy…" The woman called out to him and asked, "My name is Cassandra."

"Okay?"

"Does it ring a bell from somewhere?"

"Nope. Why should it?"

"Hmm." Cassandra hummed and muttered, "I don't know. Maybe it was just my imagination."

"...?"

John took Rudy to Ryan's— the bank manager's— cell and said, "We would have taken him to the interrogation room, but he refused to respond to any of us."

"Don't worry. I will take care of this. Just give me a minute."

Rudy walked into his cell and stood behind Ryan.

"Yo, manager. Remember me?"

The manager turned out with a surprised look on his face and said, "You are here!"

"It feels weird to see an old man getting happy after seeing me. It's honestly creepy, so wipe that smile from your face."

"Please help me!" Ryan dropped to his knees and shouted, "You have to help me!"

"..."

"You are responsible for everything! Only if you hadn't interfered, they would have robbed the bank and returned my family to me! Now you have to free my family from them!" he lamented.

Rudy softened his glare and muttered, "They are dead."

"Huh?"

"The gang killed them."

"Wha…t?" Ryan bit his lips so hard that they began to bleed. "It's all your fault! You killed them!"

"They had killed your family even before they approached you with the offer. They had no intention of freeing them from the start. They simply used you, and if you might not have realized, the robbers planned to kill everyone in the building after robbing the bank.

You were only used as a tool. Don't blame me for your incompetence. You couldn't save your family. You should have kept them safe. They were your responsibility. It's your fault for trusting the robbers without any proof. Had they robbed the bank, hundreds of others would have with you.

If anything, I saved all their lives. You were ready to kill the innocents to save your family, who you didn't even know were alive or dead. If anyone, you are to blame. You sold everything to get something that never existed. Not to mention, you were ready to kill yourself."

"You… you are lying!" Ryan yelled at the top of his lungs. "You are lying! You are lying! You are lying!"

Rudy's glare sharpened as he continued, "What do you think human life is? What's its value to you? Someone like you, who was ready to die and kill hundreds with you, wouldn't understand the meaning of human life.

They are so fragile. They work hard all their lives and eventually die, but that's life. Do you know what it feels when someone has worked hard and never gets to achieve their dreams?

Thousands of people die every day, and thousands more are born. Their families are sad and happy. That's the law of the universe. They all die in different ways and are born in different ways.

Natural deaths, death from sickness, an accident, murder, suicide— Did they choose to die like that? Did they not have their dreams? How do you think their families feel?

Some are born completely fine, but some are born disabled. Mute, deaf, blind, and many other diseases and disorders. What about them? They are just newborns. Did they choose to be born like that?"

Rudy gritted his teeth and uttered, "I will ask again, what do you think a human life is?"

"...."

"However, there are ways to save those we can. So tell me everything you know about the robbers. Their leader, the true mastermind. I will avenge the death of your family. I will take your revenge."

"I don't know! I don't know anything!"

"How did they contact you?"

"Through a message."

"What message? Do you remember the number?"

"I don't." Ryan shook his head and said, "I tried calling it back again and again, but the call never went through. It was a fake number."

"Where is your phone? Under confiscation?"

"Yes."

"Well done."

After that, Rudy walked out of the cell and looked at John.

"Where is his phone?"

"Follow me."

John took Rudy to the back storage, where all the confiscated and lost items were stored for a certain period of time. He turned on the lights from outside and walked into the room.

"This place is as unorganized as ever," he sighed. "Let me look through the shelves. It should be in sight as it was in the recent case."

John looked through the shelves and found Ryan's phone, but unfortunately, it was out of battery.

"Let me bring a charger." John rushed out of the room to get the charger.

"..."

Rudy looked at the phone and charged it using his powers. He turned it on, but unfortunately, it was locked. However, unlocking passwords was a child's play to Rudy.

He unlocked the phone by hacking into it and looked through the messages to find the threat message.

"Here it is."

Rudy hacked into the signal and reverse-engineered the source to track where the message was sent from.

"Heh!" Rudy scoffed wryly as his gaze turned into a glare. He had successfully managed to track where the message was sent from.

"Under…world."