Suspicious quests (2) - Rescuing yourself

-About 45 minutes ago-

“Alright, I’m listening,” he said, feeling slightly uneasy as he noticed the amount of pleading in Aria’s green eyes. Any more than that and she’d be groveling on her knees.

“It’s about... ‘that' place. My superiors have been pushing me to close the case. Even though I’ve pleaded again and again, they don’t want to listen to me. But they did eventually give me an ultimatum: if I can get testimony from you, they will listen.”

“…I see. But didn’t you say the case was buried?”

“I’m fighting for it again,” Aria replied, a glint of valiance stemming from the way she frowned. “I can’t, and I won’t let go of something like this. I don’t care what they say, that thing was… unnatural, and extremely dangerous. What if it happens to someone else? What if it already did?”

“Alright, I get as much. So, you want me to testify?”

“Listen, I-I… I know it’s a lot to ask of you… but r-right now, you’re my only hope.”

“…” ‘Huh… as much as I’d like to help… going back in there would set me back, not to say that I’ll likely run into some unfriendly people…’ he thought, reminding himself of Chris. That man… he didn’t like Travis from the first moment, and that only appeared to become magnified after Penalty Zone. 'I want to get away from Isolde, but going to Silvana is not a great idea...'

“I-I know that you hunt around here. I promise this won’t take long. We’ll take the teleport gate, and I promise to escort you back here. A-And… I’ll do my best to repay your help.”

[*Ting!*]

[You have received a new quest!]

[To battle with authorities! (2)]

“…shit…” Travis mumbled under his breath as he got a hand to the bridge of his nose and turned away from Aria for a moment. No, he turned away from the notification.

“...I’m sorry. I-If that’s t-too painful a memory, t-then don’t--”

“I’ll do it,” he cut her off, having read through the quest’s contents.

“…? R-Really?!” Aria raised her voice a little in disbelief.

“Yeah. Sorry if it came out… ****.”

“T-Thank you, thank you!” she cried out, seemingly wanting to hug the man on the spot. A relieved smile entered her face. Her cheeks flushed with pink which created a neat contrast with her white hair.

“But there is a problem I will need your help with."

"Of course, what is it?"

"So, uh... I kind of don't have a MID on me."

"...what?" Aria appeared stupefied, having heard his words.

"Yeah..." Travis nodded, his tone discomfited as he brushed through his hair. "It just happened that I never got a new one."

"...no..." the white-haired Mage shook her head frantically. "You... you're joking, right? I mean... you wouldn't have broken in to Lodiz... would you?"

Travis didn't even need to answer - his awkward expression said it all.

Aria sighed deeply before speaking, "Travis, you CAN'T be serious. You've been running around Forna for a month without an MID? That AND you broke into Lodiz, for... what exactly? I-- Seriously, there are at least 3 paragraphs that say I should just arrest you this instant," she growled lowly as she got a hand to her forehead. A long, heavy intake of air filled her lungs before being released. "A repeated offense to the law, refusal to visit an office to get a new MID, breaking into a city (at least twice, at it)... I can't even think of the sentence. This might just be jail for life. Gods, what were you thinking?!" her tone raised slightly as her face contorted with a mix of concern and anger.

"I... I just didn't have time."

"Didn't have time? Losing a few hours to losing the rest of your life, and you 'didn't have time'? That's your excuse? Gods, what am I even to do with you now?"

"...can you please help me out, Aria?"

<I owe him as much. I should help him.>

"I...*Sigh*," she looked to her side momentarily, visibly contemplating her options. "I-I'll try to figure something out. Meet me here in 40 minutes."

-Currently-

Aria guided Travis through Lodiz, her hand resting on his shoulder as they moved swiftly toward their destination. They took a southern route from the marketplace. Soon after that, they turned west until they reached a cluster of small buildings near the city walls. Passing by them, they entered a vast elliptical space, about 25 meters on the shorter side and 40 meters on the longer one. The stony path was immaculately ordered, unlike the rest of the city. The ground beyond the path was covered with a lush green carpet of grass, with small bushes and trees planted in uniform formations that resembled Forna's national emblem - two swords piercing a griffon - when viewed from above.

Travis and Aria carefully followed a perfectly even strand of bricks that led to the center of the grassy ellipse. There, they found a large circular platform, elevated from the ground and accessible via two large steps. The surface of the platform was almost perfectly even.

However, this level of care in putting a structure like this together was not something that the city would be willing to pay for. This place was no doubt created with huge amounts of money. Instead of the city, this place was funded by the Forna's Church. The purpose? Quick and easy transport between important cities in the kingdom. This was where the teleport gate was situated.

Near the circular structure, a small counter was standing, protected with a tiled roof and supported with strong, wooden beams. Behind the counter, a man was sitting, wearing a simple, gray robe and fiddling with some papers in his hands. In front of the structure, a few guards were standing, each one of them clad in silvery armor and armed with either a long sword or a pointy spear. Unlike the normal Guard class that would be outfitted with third-rate weaponry and armor, these ones got the best treatment. Travis could imagine that their levels had to be 90 at minimum.

As Aria let go of his shoulder, two of the guards immediately came forth, taking a stand behind him, ready to catch him the moment he tried to escape. In the meantime, she approached the counter and began speaking with the robed man behind it.

Travis felt cold stares on his neck. The guards, while wearing visors, were expressive enough in how they stood. Their postures were stiff, but he immediately noticed a reaction to even the most minute movement of his. Travis imagined that they must've felt a bit of surprise as well. After all, despite having his hands cuffed, the man's sword and daggers were affixed on his hips.

As a few seconds passed, Aria suddenly came from between the guards, accompanied by the man from the counter. She instantly signaled Travis to move to the center of the whole construct. Still feeling an uneasy feeling in the back of his mind, the man obeyed. Within seconds, they were on the upper level.

Travis took note of the multiple engravings on the stone beneath their feet. Their intrinsic structure made them appear random. However, as he took a moment, he could remember seeing some of those in the past. ‘Runes…’ he thought with a bit of awe. Perhaps it was the flood of memories from when he worked in a library, but… as he could never figure out what runes were for what before, now he could feel the information press itself into his cranium. An indescribable feeling overcame him, telling him that he could recreate those complicated structures in a heartbeat if he only wished to.

Aside from the runes themselves, there was a large arch made of mithril in the middle of the circle, its ends connecting through the floor. With a height of nearly 3 meters and a width of almost 5, it was imposing and powerful, with both its legs almost 25 cm thick. The silver metal surface of the metal was covered in similar engravings, but unlike those on the stones, those on the arch were filled with some shiny metal. Although it looked like gold, it had a more yellowish color than the noble metal and wasn’t as shiny.

The man in a robe who was standing ahead of them held a book in his hand. As he quickly browsed the pages, his feet were walking around, guiding him to the next runes. Finally, he knelt by one of them and began infusing it with mana.

A few seconds later, he got up and searched the pages of the book again. Walking to another rune, he proceeded to feed it mana as well. The process was repeated a few more times.

While waiting for him to finish, Travis focused his attention on the arch itself. After a short while of staring, a notification sprung forth.

[Teleport gate

Durability: 2577/2577

A large construct capable of creating rifts in space-time to allow for instantaneous travel over long distances. Its main core is made of adamantine, granting it excellent mana conductivity, and its outer shell is made of mithril, making it extremely resilient to physical damage.

Weight: 8.28 tons]

'Hmm. RALS, how do teleport gates work?'

[Every teleport gate must be supplied with a set of correct runes to work. Depending on what runes are activated and what amount of mana is granted, the gate will connect to different locations and for varying times.

However, if the origin gate is attuned to connect to another one, it will do so regardless of the amount of mana or sigils activated. This type of connection works two-way and can be blocked on either side until it expires. Attunement is automatically created if the set coordinates of the origin gate are close to the destination gate, and it persists until manually broken by either side.]

‘…that’s something to remember. Though… how many runes are there in a set? In here, I can see nearly two dozen… is that many even necessary to operate one?’

[Normally, a gate can operate properly with as little as seven runes. Six of the runes are responsible for movement in the cardinal directions as well as up and down. The seventh is the activation rune. The most basic teleport gate should also consist of additional 2: the rune that ensures the safety of landing, and the rune that monitors the stability of the connection.

However, when the distance grows, so does the mana requirement. To alleviate the need for huge amounts of resources, some runes can be modified to become more or less sensitive to mana, allowing for farther or shorter transport for the same amount of mana, respectively. The cost of engraving them changes proportionally to how sensitive they are.]

'So... more runes mean that the gate can be used for greater distances. A second thing to remember.' he shifted his attention to one of the inscriptions nearby.

[Runic inscription

A rune made with special materials. It is immune to the effects of natural withering and elemental magic. Sensitive to raw mana. Works in conjunction with the gate it is attuned to.

Rune: Sempras

Rune effect: Shift the destination’s coordinates toward the north.

*Level of sensitivity to mana: 2

Current mana: 0

Effective distance shift: 0]

‘…I wonder… Leaf said she was transporting runic chalk. Would that be a good material to make an inscription with?’ he pondered for a moment but decided against asking RALS. However, his thoughts were cut short as the man in a robe approached the gate and touched a rune on its side. A notification sprung forth in front of Travis’ nose.

[The teleport gate is dialing to the set coordinates…]

The mithril gate began to emit a soft whirring sound. The runes that were used to activate it started glowing with a faint golden light. The volume of the sound increased as time went on, reaching its peak after a couple of seconds. It sounded about as loud as normal talk would. The two individuals standing in front of the arch began to feel a strange **** pulling them inward, and they could see the inside of the gate stretching out endlessly, one centimeter becoming two, then five, and then even more. The gate appeared to be folding reality within itself, and the whirring sound grew louder while the metal structure started to vibrate slightly.

And then… a black surface appeared on its inside edges and quickly converged in a spiral pattern toward the middle. The vibrations stopped like they were lies. Only a low hum-like sound remained, and a very slight current, a gravitating feeling faintly pulling everything toward the center.

[Connection is established.

Connection integrity: 100%]

Both Travis and Aria let out a sigh of relief neither of them knew they were holding. The man in a robe quickly walked over to another rune and touched it. His focused gaze was fixated on the inscription below his hand for a moment. However, as a second or so passed, his expression relaxed. He nodded to the Mage lightly, to which she formed a tiny smile before pulling Travis by his arm.

They approached the arch. Although it was only barely perceptible, the blackness inside was slowly swirling in a clockwise direction.

“I can never get over how those are formed,” she said quietly. Aria raised her hand slowly. She dipped her fingers in the absolute darkness and then took them out. “Let’s go.” she pulled Travis in with herself.

It was… a strange feeling. The moment his hands touched the black expanse, he felt an eerie chill travel through his body. The fluid surface, while most definitely cold, was also strangely… energized. Like a bolt of mana, almost.

Then, the sensation spread throughout his entire body as he entered. In an instant, Travis felt... detached, in quite a literal sense. For the briefest of moments, he could not feel his body, only his consciousness hanging in the infinite blackness. Aria disappeared alongside the entire world, all the sounds, smells, and sensations becoming distant in an instant. In that brief amount of time, Travis felt... perfectly calm. Like there was nothing to worry about. Memories of his current problems flashed, but his mind barely reacted to any of them. They were all insignificant right now.

When was the last time he felt like this...?

He had no time to ponder on such matters. The world suddenly rematerialized itself in front of him as he felt the weight of his body again. A sense of momentary dizziness overcame him. Travis attempted to move his legs, but the sense of momentum was only now reaching him as he fell limply to the ground.

A quiet groan escaped his mouth as he took in the scent of the wet dirt underneath him. He started forcing his body to work anew almost immediately.

Suddenly, he heard quick footsteps just next to him. For a brief moment, he heard them go away--

"Bleurgh!" the sound of regurgitation occurred not too far from him.

Speeding up his movements, he bent his knees and **** his body up as quickly as he could with his hands bound. As he slowly rose to his knees, his eyes shot around.

They were at the edge of a forest, a multitude of trees behind him as he looked ahead to see the walls of Silvana in the distance. The fields of grass nearby were vividly dancing to the wind as if welcoming their arrival. Small globes of water could be seen on their blades, reflecting the sunlight in a beautiful spectacle. Travis remembered seeing the city from this perspective just a couple of days ago; they were not too far away from Cecilia's tent.

*Cough cough*

His eyes wandered to his left, searching for the source of the coughing and spitting he was hearing right now. Immediately, he noticed Aria, her back turned to him, standing a few meters away. She leaned on a tree trunk with one hand, her body arched downward a little as she had just freshly returned the contents of her stomach. A few seconds passed as the woman huffed and puffed before grunting and spitting again. She straightened her back and made a quick step backward.

"Are you alright?" he asked whilst standing up and coming closer.

"...yeah," Aria answered, taking a deeper breath in and slowly fixing her attire. "Gods, teleportation really is worse than horse riding..."

Her face bore signs of uneasiness. Aria took out a small tissue from her pocket and wiped her mouth diligently. Her small lips slowly curved to form a smile as her emerald eyes sparkled, looking to her side.

"But we have arrived," a tiny sigh escaped her mouth. "Now, it's only a little walk and we're there."

"Seems like it," he nodded. "Hopefully this won't take too long."

"Only a little while. I promise to escort you back to Lodiz right after, alright?"

"You don't have to. I won't be going back there anyway. Hearing that a vampire is lurking around, yeah, I'm not going to tempt fate."

"...I'm glad," Aria let out a relieved sigh.

...

The walk wasn't very eventful. The road under their feet was somewhat wet, indicating that it had rained sometime before their arrival. The air was fresh and clean. The grass was of a vibrant green color, indicating that the soil under it was healthy and perfect for crop yielding, should anyone decide to plow the land. Some insects could be heard from beneath the green carpet, giving the plains an even more lively atmosphere. The sounds of chirping birds, while dying off behind Travis and Aria, could still be heard, their melodies echoing in between the trees.

A sigh escaped the man's mouth as he noticed the guards in front of the gate they were approaching. Just gauging from the distance, Chris was not around, and he was thankful for that. However, with his hands bound, there would, no doubt, still be stares aimed at him.

And boy was he right. The moment they approached, one of the guards walked up front. A quick exchange of words was all it took for Aria to get Travis inside the city, but he still felt quite a few heads turned in his direction.

The streets of Silvana were far less lively than those of Lodiz. Some people were walking around, but aside from the commoners of the city, there was hardly a merchant in sight. A guard or two strode here and there, but nothing more was happening.

'Such is the fate of a low-level city.' he mused, breathing out with a quiet puff. 'The guildhall in Silvana is no larger than a small office. The biggest institution around is the Forna's church.'

But his thoughts were abruptly ended when Aria stopped, pulling his arm a little.

They both looked at the tall doors leading to the Militia Offices. The expansive, brown surfaces lodged in the gray walls made of stones. The only line that separated all of the authoritarian power of the city from the civilian world. And now...

"Ready?" she turned to him, a questioning gaze scanning him over.

"I guess. It would've been less awkward without these," he chuckled weakly, raising his hands a little. The jittering of chains could be heard momentarily.

"Would've been much easier, had you had a MID," she riposted with a tiny grin. "Don't worry, you'll be free of them soon."

"...thanks."

Aria walked up to the door and got her hand on the handle. Despite the woman's small size and strength, the construct moved with incredible ease, allowing her to push one wing with little effort. She nodded her head a little, signaling the man to walk in.

The moment he did, he immediately noticed a man sitting behind the counter. Combing through his memories, this one appeared to be the same one that he saw when he was standing in this room with Chris, waiting for Aria to see him off over a month ago.

'...a month... huh. Now that I think about it, the time did fly quickly when I traveled. In no time at all, I'll be heading to Holia for this year's anniversary.'

"Sergeant Beler," Aria spoke up as she trekked through the room. "Do you happen to know if Captain Nimmel is present right now?"

"Oh, Officer Brinn, hello," the man answered with a slightly raised corner of his mouth; he appeared to be pleasantly surprised with seeing Aria here. "Yes, she is in her office."

"Alright, thank you. Come on, Travis," Aria looked at the man behind her and walked into a corridor.

Without a word of complaint, he quickly followed. Exchanging a quick gaze with the guard, he could notice a bit of question in his hazelnut eyes.

Travis and Aria walked for a short while in the corridors of the building until they reached the stairs.

"Just before we go there, I want to warn you of Captain Nimmel. She is... a little specific."

"... do you mean 'in a bad way' or...?"

"More like annoying. She is a person who just never seems happy. Some of our guys say that she has a broomstick up her... butt," the white-haired Mage answered him a little quietly. "You'll understand what I mean when you meet her. Just... be polite to her, alright?"

"Will be," he nodded in response.

Within a minute or so, the two of them were standing in front of a door like many others. It was brown, made of wood, on metal hinges... just a door. What made it stand out just a little bit was a small parchment glued to its surface, hidden behind a piece of glass.

=Captain R. Nimmel=

This meant that this was the correct door. Aria got hold of Travis's hands and undid the cuffs on his hands. Then, she knocked on the door softly before looking at the man.

"It'll be fine," she said reassuringly, a tiny smile making its way on her face before they heard a muffled response from behind the door. The Mage opened the door slightly and stuck her head inside. "Captain Nimmel, this is Officer Brinn. I came here about the case of my report."

"...right," Travis heard a woman's voice sound. "Come in."

"Close the door," Aria quickly said to Travis as they entered.

He quickly obeyed the instructions given to him and then turned his attention to Nimmel. She appeared to be a mature woman in her late forties, with a tightly-knitted suit akin to Aria's that covered her modest chest. Dark brown hair of roughly elbow length fell onto her work outfit. The one difference in the attire that the man could see between the two was that Nimmel had two small lines of silver strapped on her shoulders.

Her dark face had a slightly sunken appearance, with faint wrinkles on her forehead. Despite her sharp gaze, Nimmel seemed more tired than interested, as evidenced by how slowly she blinked. Her plump lips and slightly chubby cheeks were out of place with her otherwise lean appearance. Her medium-sized, long ears suggested an elven heritage, although their somewhat blunt ends showed that she wasn't a pure-blood.

'She's a half-elf. Not just any kind, either, but a half-dark elf. She must be over a hundred if she looks like this.' a thought appeared in his mind. Although not super rare, half-kins were not a common sight. Half-elves were some of the more easily met kin. Their ears were not as pointy as a full elf's, and their height was usually a little higher (thanks to their human side). Most half-elves were rather proficient in magic (courtesy of their elven heritage), albeit with boosted physical attributes.

Nimmel slowly got up from her seat, looking down at the two in front of her with a discerning gaze in her silver eyes. She boasted an impressive height for a woman. She wasn't as tall as Chris but had to be roughly 185 cm at least.

"Officer Brinn, who is that man?" she asked, her voice stern yet calm. Though she didn't even appear to try, she emanated an aura of elegance and authority incomparable to that of Aria. Perhaps it was her level doing the speaking.

"This is Travis Salliv. I wrote about him in my report."

"...If I recall correctly, the report you are speaking of is about your disappearance a month ago?"

"That is correct. This man was with me on that night, and he can testify."

"...very well... mister Salliv," Nimmel gazed at him. Her gaze appeared to emanate curiosity and tiredness in equal measure.

"Yes?" he focused his gaze on the woman.

"Before we begin, let me ask you a few questions. As a confirmation of who you are," Nimmel frowned slightly. "How long have you been living in Silvana?"

"About 12 years."

"Please, list your latest three teachers of classes, if you had that many."

"...Storm Rogue, teacher of the 'Rogue' class. Rumal Unak, teacher of the 'Lumberjack' class. Jocelyn Mina, teacher of the 'Librarian' class."

"Hmm... I see. Thank you for answering."

Suddenly, a notification sprung in front of the man.

[The piercing gaze of resolution has confirmed your words to be true.]

...

'That was a skill... She has a skill that works akin to Orb of Truth. I guess that's why she didn't ask for the item or my MID... and why the quest said that truth is good...' he frowned slightly, feeling a slight shiver travel down his spine. 'So... is this why these quests were like this? First, I had to see how Violet would go about it, and now I have to repeat that?'

His eyes glanced toward Aria standing next to him. Though her look toward Captain Nimmel betrayed some surprise she no doubt felt, she did not speak a word of complaint about either the questions asked or her reaction to the answer. Nimmel, meanwhile, slowly sat down in her seat. As she put her dark hands on the desk, she tucked up her sleeves a tiny bit. Then, her fingers traced across the wooden surface, seemingly searching for something. After a short while, she appeared to have a moment of epiphany as her hands darted to a drawer under the desk.

She pulled out a small cube of a dull gray color. Travis raised an eyebrow slightly, to which Nimmel responded, "This is an artifact known as Box of Rehearsal. It will record the contents of our talk. The contents will be confidential, and nobody outside of this room will have access to them. Do you consent to the use of it, Mister Salliv?"

"Yes," 'So... I should pick my words carefully. As if her skill wasn't enough an incentive... she probably doesn't speak openly of it.'

"Then, mister Salliv, I'd like to ask you: do you happen to remember what happened on the 17th of March this year?" Nimmel asked whilst activating the device and putting it on the desk. Its edges appeared to glow with a faint blue color, signaling that mana was coursing through it.

"Clear as yesterday."

"Then, I'd like to ask you to describe what happened near midnight on that day. In detail, if possible."

...

With little choice left, Travis's mouth parted, and slowly, he began talking about the events he was asked about. Studying Nimmel's expression in the meantime, he could notice how her eyes widened nearly immediately. The gray orbs first appeared to bear some ridicule at first, which swiftly switched to a gaze full of disbelief.

-15 minutes later-

He did his best to describe the Penalty Zone in detail. Of course, he spoke not a word of RALS or that he knew why they were sent in there. With meticulous detail, Travis described the weird boar monkeys, huge avians, and reptiles that lurked in within the incredibly dense forest and river flowing therein. He gave exhausting elucidations as to how the air felt, how the monsters appeared more and more often as time went on, how he went about saving Aria, and the following events that ended in them landing back in the interrogation room.

As he finished the lengthy response, his gaze escaped to Aria. The white-haired woman was nearly constantly looking at him. He saw a look full of hope and weird... worry. Like she was enthralled by the story yet concerned about the calm with which he was speaking. 'I suppose I never told her what I've been through to save her from that plant...' he conceded in his thoughts. The room's atmosphere was quiet like there was not a person in there. Two standing humans slowly turned their gazes toward the half-dark elf behind the desk.

Nimmel brought a hand to her forehead. Her gaze was... strange, per se. Her eyes looked around like she was scared, but given her overall composition, she appeared to be in a state of incredible confusion instead. There was no doubt that she had trouble believing what she just heard...

[The piercing gaze of resolution has confirmed your words to be true.]

But it was true. The notification appeared several times during his explanation. There was no doubt that he was under constant surveillance of her skill.

Slowly, Captain Nimmel closed her eyes.

"Mister Salliv... are you 100% certain of what you said?"

"I am, Captain Nimmel. I know how it sounds, but that is what happened."

"..." 'First, that stupid call to Poiri, then the mana checking, now this... I thought I'd retire quietly. Dammit.' "I see..." she said slowly, her hand reaching out and turning off the recording device.

'I should probably try to score the optional reward as well... not that it's going to be that difficult.' he thought, slowly reaching out and combing his hair slightly for a moment. He felt a drop or two of sweat on his forehead and swiped them away in a quick motion. '...but how?'

"...Mister Salliv," Nimmel said, her voice stern yet... seemingly shaky. "If that's everything, you may leave."

"May I add something else?" 'Maybe this will work... please do.'

"Something else?"

"With what I said., I merely described my actions. However, I barely touched upon what Officer Brinn contributed."

"There's no need for that, mister Salliv. She has already given her report."

"...am I not here to give my view of the event?" he raised an eyebrow, his golden eyes looking straight into Nimmel's gray. Travis could notice a glint of stubbornness that appeared within, and she saw... a strangely indomitable conviction. Travis immediately sent out a quick <Suggestion> toward her mind and gleefully felt it connect after just a few seconds.

"*Sigh* I suppose. If you truly wish to, you may speak further."

"...thank you," he bowed his head slightly before taking a slight breath in. "I'm not sure how Officer Brinn described her actions and motives in that place, but... in my perspective, she was a heroic person."

"...?" both women looked at the man with slightly surprised expressions.

"From the very beginning, she tried to assess the situation and protect me. We might've had some differences at first, but Officer Brinn correctly noticed that cooperation was our best bet to survive. Moreover, without her magic, getting a rope would've been difficult on my own."

"Mister Salliv, I think I understand the main merit of your talk," Nimmel cut in, her voice sounding with slight disappointment. Her hair brushed the front of her attire as her head tilted forward a little. "Can you please get to the point?"

"...my point..." 'She wants to rush me, huh... I am prepared for this much.' "Without Officer Brinn, I wouldn't have survived ten minutes. By cooperating, we were able to overcome each other's weaknesses. I suppose my point is... I was never too keen on the concept of 'fate', but... what happened, how the two of us ended up in that hell... I feel like it was fate."

Momentarily, he noticed Aria flinch. As his eyes shot to her, he vaguely saw her face quickly transitioning to a deep red color. Her emerald globes looked at the floor. The small fingers of her hands were tied together, but he could see them shake a little. Did he... do something wrong?

'Great...' Nimmel thought with dismay that she hardly showed. 'He wants to confess his feelings. Should've seen this coming.' "Is that everything?" she asked, doing her best to not convey the annoyance she felt.

"...yes," 'This much should be enough.'

"Alright... Mister Salliv, you are free to leave the premises of our institution, unless you have some additional matters to discuss, of course. Officer Brinn, please see him out and return here after that."

"Y-Yes, Captain," Aria answered, albeit her voice stuttered slightly.

After that, the man and woman turned around, taking their steps toward the door. Once they stepped outside and closed it, Nimmel sighed deeply with defeat.

'Shit...' she thought, leaning over the desk a little and supporting her head with her hands. 'I didn't think she'd pull this through...' "Fuuuuuuuck," a quiet groan escaped the elf's mouth as she got up from her seat.

'And here I thought I could stall her enough for me to retire... I just need a few weeks... come on, Rebecca... there has to be a way... wait... maybe?'

-Outside the door-

The duo stood in one spot in silence, an atmosphere of awkwardness beset upon them. The woman could feel the skin on her face radiate heat like a freshly fired <Fireball>, her heart beating faster than a mouse's. Her breathing was quick and shallow as she was doing her best to keep her composure. The palms of her hands were sweaty. She felt like she was going to burst into flames out of embarrassment.

The man, on the other hand, was completely calm despite the situation. Though he did feel his heart beat faster, it was more because of the pressure emanated by Captain Nimmel than it was due to what he said. As a few seconds passed, he suddenly heard a jingle and noticed a notification appear in his field of view.

[Quest 'To battle with authorities! (2)' is finished.]

'...no reward again... I suppose that's to be expected. This quest was even easier than the previous one. Is this why the penalties were so harsh, I wonder?'

...

There was no need to ponder too much. Right now, the man knew that he should be getting away from the city, lest he would suddenly meet someone he shouldn't.

However... fate was a fickle thing, it seemed.

"Well, who do my eyes see?" A manly voice entered their ears. It bore a heavy tone to it but didn't seem aggressive. "It's been a few days, hasn't it, Officer Brinn?"

[Rulebreaker sighs at the situation.]

"...Chris?" Aria asked, slightly startled as she noticed the huge man come toward them two in the corridor.

'Oh no.' the Apostle turned his head, his yellow eyes meeting Chris's brown.

The tall guard was standing strong, clad in a suit of armor consisting of a heavy leather base with some metal plates affixed all over. This time, unlike before, he was not wearing a visor, letting Travis take in his details.

His square face had a somewhat relaxed expression on it, his brown eyes glancing upon both of them. A large nose guarded full lips which were accentuated by his sleek cheeks. The short, brown hair was neatly cut. Travis had to admit, while this man wasn't supremely handsome, he did have some charm to his looks.

Quite surprisingly for the smaller man, however, Chris's stare did not appear to emanate any hostility at him.

"Well, if we are on a name basis at work, Aria, so be it, haha," the huge man laughed quietly, but with a vigor that was no doubt real. "I see you returned successfully?"

"Yes," Aria responded, though her face was still nearly beetroot-red. "R-Right... you two never met officially. Travis, this is Chris, or Sergeant Innel. Y-You might not remember him, but he was the one w-who we met after returning from 'that place'."

"Oh, yeah, I think it rings a bell..." he replied, looking at Chris's smiling face with a glint of awkwardness. "Hello... Officer Innel."

"You don't have to be so bashful, haha," Chris laughed vividly before reaching forth with his hand. "Just call me Chris, alright?"

"Oh, s-sure... call me Travis, then," the Apostle replied, reaching out to shake the man's hand. 'His hold is strong, but... does he... not remember me? Or did I misread the situation?'

"Haha, right. I would like to first apologize to you for my behavior last month. We got off on the wrong foot. You know, tension, chaos, you two disappearing, I acted on impulse. Please forgive my behavior from back then."

"...don't worry about it. You were just doing your job. All the stress must've been bad on you back there," '...was I wrong about him?'

"Hah, I'm glad there's no bad blood between us," Chris smiled. "Well then, what are you two doing here?" he added with a slightly questioning expression.

"We were just being on a questioning about my report," Aria answered. As some seconds passed, her skin was returning to a brighter hue. "We were just dismissed, and I was about to escort him to the front door. Captain Nimmel wanted to see me afterward."

"Oh, I will gladly escort him. You can resolve things with Captain instead."

"I..."

"It's alright," Travis nodded, turning to her. "You go and finish that case up," 'Better to get away before RALS decides to give me a new quest...' he thought as he took a step backward. With a small, reassuring smile, he nodded to her and turned around, intending to go away.

"...Travis!" Aria said loudly, prompting the man to stop.

"...?" he raised an eyebrow.

"C-Can we... meet afterward?" she asked, her expression somewhat sheepish as her face appeared to regain its red color anew.

"Oh, uh... sure. I'll contact you later. Take care."

"...y-you too."

...

She felt her face burning as she softly knocked on the door after a few seconds. Embarrassment, joy, excitement, and hope - she felt all those emotions and much more. Aria wasn't even sure how she could feel so much in such a short time. A warmth was spreading in her heart with every beat, sending pleasant waves throughout her body.

...

Travis and Chris strode down the corridor, quickly making their way to the stairs, and then descending. While at first the Apostle still felt a little guarded toward the tall man, this feeling was now starting to wane. It appeared that he was all wrong about him. For some reason, he felt relieved at the news.

'Even though the quests gave me nothing in reward, it appears that nothing more will happen anymore. That's good. I'll meet Aria later and then I'm off. I still should fulfill my daily quest before that, though. Just some push-ups to do, that'll be easy.' he smiled a little. This unexpected situation was going to be solved seamlessly, and even with a small bonus - he got away from Isolde quickly.

As they stepped to the ground floor, Chris suddenly turned halfway to him.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind if we dropped by the dressing room? I need to grab something."

"Uh, sure," he shrugged lightly.

"So," Chris said whilst turning in a corridor and entering the room. "You seem to have a nice relationship with Aria, huh?"

"Well, so to speak. I guess living through hell together makes you bond a little."

The room itself was not spacious. About 4 by 4 meters of space housed no less than 100 lockers by the walls, each locked with its key. There were a few benches here and there and a door that appeared to lead to another room. The entire thing was tiled with small stone plates that had a tiny bit of polish to them. An array of lamps on the walls illuminated the area nicely.

"Hah, I kind of wish I could've seen that place. All I'm hearing is that it was hell on Casali. Was it that bad or did she exaggerate?" Chris asked whilst coming by a large locker. Quickly pulling out a key, he unlocked it and started rummaging inside.

"It was hell. Not sure what she told you, but I'm certain that she didn't amplify any aspect of it."

"Huh. Makes me wonder how you got out alive."

"I wish I knew. All we did was run away for hours, and at the last moment we were teleported away," 'Something feels off.' Travis thought as he looked around the room. While he couldn't put his finger on the thing exactly, he was certain that something was amiss.

"Well, I guess luck was a portion of it, no?"

"...maybe."

"But you're out of it now."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I know what you did," Chris said, suddenly turning around and pointing a metal pole at him. "And this ends now."

"W-What?!" 'Shit, I knew his behavior was suspicious...'

"I won't let you do anything to my girl," Chris said with a voice full of animosity as the rod in his hand extended itself a little, arcs of electricity forming on its surface.

[Rulebreaker sighs in resignation.]

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/meedrowh