Now I just needed to clean up. I cast the tier-one spell Magic Missile, forming twenty bullets of mana. I unleashed them into the area, and each one struck a different bird down, familiars sent by someone. While I’d been fighting Chris, they’d kept a set distance from us, unnatural behavior coupled with the fact that they had too much mana for normal birds. It wasn’t likely that Chris was using familiars while we were fighting, so someone was watching him.
I touched down on the ground, carrying Chris, who was still unconscious. The armored soldiers were still surrounding the Guild.
“S-Sir…”
There was a massive hole in Chris’s plate armor, stained with the blood that had spilled out. The soldiers who had been watching the fight from the ground probably didn’t know exactly what had happened, but seeing him in that state likely told them the situation.
A few terrified soldiers attempted to run, but I put up an Impenetrable Defense barrier around them and the Guild.
“Wh-What the hell is with this wall of light?!” one shouted.
They started making a lot of noise, but there was no way they were going to break my Impenetrable Defense and escape. It could be used for this sort of thing too.
“You lot showed up here with Chris, meaning you’re accomplices in his crimes,” I announced. “I’m going to need you to tell me everything you know.”
I tied up the soldiers, then went back inside the Guild.
“Arius, you’re all right!” Jessica rushed over to me with tears in her eyes. “I figured you’d probably be able to handle things, but are you… You’re not even injured…”
“I’m fine, Jessica. Sorry for making you worry.”
Gale, Allen, and the others also gathered around me.
“It seemed a tough fight for you, Arius, but I’m glad you managed,” Gale said.
“There’s a reason for that. I’ll tell you all about it later. Hey, Master, I’m going to borrow a room to interrogate these guys.”
Still carrying Chris, I led the soldiers into the training room in the Guild’s basement, where a group of adventurers was hiding. I had a feeling of why they were there, but they didn’t need to hide anymore, so I kicked them out.
Once I was sure all the soldiers were in the training room, I cast Impenetrable Defense around the room. Now, I could let down the Impenetrable Defense around the Guild and let the other adventurers out.
I then sent a Message to Jessica saying, “It’s pretty late, and I bet you’re tired from dealing with Chris. You can go back to the inn. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”
She immediately replied. “No way! I’m waiting for you!”
Considering her personality, I thought she might say that. Guess I just needed to finish this up fast then.
I put the still unconscious Chris in a corner and cast Incapacitate on him. It’d be a pain if he woke up when I didn’t need him yet.
Next, I cast Sound Isolation around me and the soldiers.
“I cast a spell that makes it so Chris can’t hear anything we say. He won’t know anything you tell me, so talk,” I informed them.
I didn’t think the soldiers and Chris were in perfect solidarity. If I talked to them separately before they could get their story straight, then I’d know if they were lying.
“First, let’s make sure we all understand what the situation is,” I said. “You’re all guilty of violence at an Adventurers Guild. It’s actually pretty odd that no one died, and there are plenty of witnesses. That means, I won’t be guilty of anything if I kill you.”
The soldiers gulped. Adventurers Guilds were essentially autonomous from any government. Common sense would tell them what I just said was true.
“But that’s not all of it,” I continued. “You’re soldiers from the Ishtobal Kingdom, right? If a country were involved in this, then this is more than just a violent crime incident; it’s an international incident between Ishtobal and the Duchy of Crista, since Carnell is in Crista. On top of that, you came flying in here on an airship. Did you receive Crista’s permission for that? An armed military regiment invaded another country on an airship. That’s not just a violation of airspace; that’s a full-on act of war.”
The soldiers looked taken aback. They must not have expected an adventurer like me to start talking about international conflicts and politics.
“What do you mean? We have no connection to Ishtobal,” said a bearded soldier who looked like he might be the commanding officer. But it was bold of him to claim that.
“I’m the one who should be asking that. What do you mean? That is Chris Brad of the hero’s party, and the newly awakened hero is Prince Abel, the crown prince of Ishtobal. You were with Chris, so there’s no way you can claim you have no connection to Ishtobal.”
I’d been investigating the movements of the hero and demon king, so I, of course, knew about the hero’s party. Besides, Chris had a skill called “Heart of the Hero.” I was pretty sure he’d out himself if I put some pressure on him.
The soldiers went silent. Perhaps they hadn’t thought I’d know that much, and they didn’t want to say the wrong thing.
“If you want to play innocent, then go right ahead, but the people back in Ishtobal probably already know you screwed up. My fight with Chris was being watched by someone’s familiars. You have any idea who would’ve sent those?”
Evaluate had told me it wasn’t the soldiers who’d used the familiars, but the latter part of what I said was just to put on pressure. Still, their reactions told me they did have an idea about who sent them.
“You’re probably thinking that if you remain loyal to Ishtobal, they’ll pull some strings and save you, but really think about it: You guys screwed up. Do you honestly think you’re that valuable to them? It would be easier for Ishtobal to put all the blame on you and cut their losses.”
“We were just following orders to accompany Chris! We had no idea he was going to commit violence!”
“Yeah! We tried to stop him, but he just went off on a rampage… You fought him. You should know there was no way we could’ve stopped him.”
The soldiers started talking, trying to save themselves. The thing was, they’d had the Guild surrounded. In the end, they stood by and did nothing while Chris attacked people. Claiming they had nothing to do with it was just a little too convenient for them to be true.
“Hey, everyone,” voiced the commander I’d been talking to. He shot the rest of the soldiers a look, but they had no reason to follow his orders at this point, considering they didn’t even know how loyal he was going to stay to Ishtobal.
“I don’t have a grudge against any of you guys,” I said. “If you cooperate, I don’t mind having a chat with the other adventurers about letting you off easy. Everyone at the Guild here knows me.”