Ichor Cell-Chapter 63: Return III
“What?” Alex repeated as he stared at the shackles wrapped around his wrists, binding him to the interrogation table before him.
Rewinding a few minutes prior, a guild enforcer had led a team to ‘apprehend’ him in the main guild hall.
“What do you mean I’m being detained?” Alex backed up, flicking his eyes over the group.
A small crowd had gathered at the mention of the guild master’s disappearance, and the gazes directed his way were not very friendly. As he threw a quick glance at the gathered adventurers, he couldn’t help but freeze. There, standing just behind and to the left of the enforcer squad, was Remus.
The man had changed out of his armour and cleaned the blood and grime off himself, but the gory hole he had for an eye was still untreated. When he saw Alex looking, he offered a helpless smile and shrugged, mouthing, “I tried.”
Alex tried not to make any assumptions, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel betrayed.
His attention was brought back to the enforcer, who also had a helpless expression on his face. “As the only witness to the guild master’s disappearance, we have some questions for you. Please come with us.”
Alex, in his hubris, had chosen to trust them.
The same guild enforcer was now sat across from him inside one of the guild’s truth chambers, hands steepled and an apologetic expression on his face.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions right now, and I’m sure this feels very sudden, but we cannot leave any stone unturned under these circumstances.” The man said. “I’m sure you understand.”
Alex tugged at his restraints and raised an eyebrow. “This seems a bit excessive if you’re just gonna ask me some questions, no?”
The apologetic expression intensified. “We need to take as many precautions as we can in situations like this. If you are found to be innocent, you will be duly compensated for the discomfort. Please understand.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it already. I understand.” Alex leaned back in the chair and raised his arms. “So? What do you want to know?”
The other man seemed to appreciate his candour as he too relaxed a little. He pulled out a small device which he placed on the table.
“In that case, let’s get started.” He cleared his throat and injected a strand of mana into the device on the table, lighting it up. “My name is Hayk, I’m an enforcer from the Luterra adventurer’s guild. I am here with Alexander…?”
“Just Alexander.” Alex shook his head. “Alex for short.”
“Very well, then.” Hayk shrugged. “I am here with Alexander, who has been brought into an interview room to on the circumstances of guild master Eve’s disappearance. First things first, could you please give a truthful on last night’s events?”
Although he found the whole situation rather dumb, Alex obediently retold the night’s events without hiding anything apart from his personal secrets.
Starting with the first s of the goblin variant and ending with the moment the air fractured and the guild master vanished, he retold everything. He skipped the gore, trimmed the heroics, and kept to the order of things as best he could.
Hayk listened without interrupting, eyes fixed on the device as it pulsed steadily on the table. Now and then, he glanced up, raising an eyebrow at something Alex said, but he didn’t interrupt. When Alex finished, the room fell quiet.
“Thank you,” Hayk said at last. “I’m going to ask a few follow-up questions. Some of these may seem… particular.”
Alex shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”
Hayk nodded once and glanced down at the device again. “Let’s start with something simple,” he said. “Your position during the engagement. You stated you were on the front line, engaging the variant up close while the guild master worked from range.”
Alex frowned slightly. “That’s right.”
Hayk raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “You are aware that those were two high-rank Disaster-level combatants.”
“Painfully,” Alex said. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Most people wouldn’t survive even being near such a battle, much less right in the middle of it.” Hayk said. “Even Mr Kazarian was gravely injured after a short battle.”
“Kazarian?” Alex asked, confused.
“Mr Remus.” The enforcer clarified, then continued. “But wouldn’t you say it’s quite suspicious that a powerful combatant such as yourself joined our guild a mere few days before the discovery a dangerous goblin nest outside our city? One that, if I’m not mistaken, was actually ed by you?” The man gave him an unreadable look. “Quite suspicious indeed.”
‘Shit.’
Alex froze at the unexpected line of questioning. He had to admit, while he knew that he was actually innocent, he probably didn’t look it to an unbiased third party.
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“Suspicious,” he repeated as his mind raced. “Sure. I can see how it looks on paper.”
Hayk didn’t react, simply watching him, fingers resting lightly against the edge of the table. The recording device between them kept pulsing steadily.
“But let’s be clear about something,” Alex continued. “If I were actually planning something like that, announcing the nest’s existence to the guild would be a pretty strange first step. Especially when the end result is me sitting here, chained to a very expensive table.”
“I’m not accusing you. I’m establishing possibilities.” Hayk pretended to back down. “Plus, I never said this was your plan. For all we know, you could be an expendable chess piece sent here to take down the guild master.”
Alex was really not liking where this was going. “Okay, look, I know the circumstances around this aren’t looking good, but I can promise you that I genuinely did not intentionally cause the guild master’s disappearance, not did I join this guild as part of some plan to sabotage it.”
Hayk looked genuinely surprised when the room’s enchantments didn’t detect any lies in his statement.
“Huh.” The man intoned. “Very well, then, please tell me why you
did
join the guild. All you’ve said so far is why you
didn’t
.”
Alex let out a slow breath and leaned back against the chair, the restraints clinking softly as he did. “Because it was convenient,” he said. “I was new in the city and I needed work. All I had to offer was my power and skills, and the guild looked like the best place to put them to good use. At least it seemed better than just turning into a criminal and robbing people for a living, at least that’s what I thought.”
Hayk studied him for a moment. “Do you not think so anymore?”
Alex gave him an unimpressed look. “I busted my ass fighting a Disaster tier monster, got the ever-loving shit kicked out of me, almost died a bunch of times, and my reward is to be chained up like some criminal and interrogated. Does this seem like something I would choose or enjoy?”
The enforcer at least had the decency to look embarrassed.
“Yeah, exactly.” Alex tried crossing his arms, but gave up when his bindings didn’t let him. “So, what else do you want to know.”
Hayk immediately wiped the embarrassed expression off his face and got back to business. “Just a few more questions, then you are free to go.” He promised.
“You said that the guild master was taken by a spatial crack. What do you mean by that exactly?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.” Alex shrugged. “Have you ever been inside a dungeon?”
“Yes.” Hayk nodded, but seemed confused by the sudden question.
“Okay, well, have you ever encountered a tear in reality that lead to another place in the dungeon?” Alex pressed.
“I… can’t say I have.” The man sounded doubtful.
“Well, ask around. I’m sure someone at the guild has seen one.” Alex forged on. “Anyway, so when the variant exploded on the guild master, I’m guessing the force of the attack, or the density of mana, or something, caused a similar tear in reality; at least it looked almost identical to what I saw in that dungeon.”
“I see…” Hayk looked thoughtful. “So you’re saying that the guild master isn’t dead, she’s just been taken somewhere else by this… ‘spatial tear?”
“I’ve got no idea.” Alex shrugged. “I’m just giving you my best guess. For all I know the crack led to the void, which promptly erased the guild master. Or maybe it led to the no women dimension, where all women immediately explode. Everything I know about spatial tears comes from a single, ten-second-long encounter.”
“In that case, what makes you-” Hayk’s words were interrupted when the door behind Alex was opened. One of the guild’s receptionists walked past him and leaned over to whisper something into the other man’s ear, before offering him and awkward smile and leaving.
“…It seems you weren’t lying about these ‘spatial tears’.” The man explained upon noticing Alex’s curious expression. “I’ve just been told they are very real and can occur when high density mana makes contact with a mana drained environment.”
“Like a battlefield.” Alex nodded and filed away the fact that this room was apparently under surveillance. “Does this mean that I’m free?”
The question seemed to catch Hayk off guard, and he hesitated for a moment before relenting. “Very well. Your story matches the circumstances, and the lie detection enchantments haven’t triggered even once, so for now we will trust you.”
“Yippee.” Alex pretended to celebrate.
“However be aware that should any new information come to light, you are expected to cooperate with the guild to ensure that the investigation goes as smoothly as possible.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Alex shook his head. “Just untie me already. Also, you wouldn’t happen to have a spare change of clothes, would you? My outfit’s kinda…”
Hayk eyed the rags Alex had for clothes, then sighed. “Yes. The guild can provide replacements in situations like this.” He reached under the table and pressed a rune. The pressure around Alex’s wrists vanished, the restraints unlocking with a soft click. “A clerk will escort you to the washrooms and storage. You’ll receive compensation later.”
Alex flexed his hands, rubbing at his wrists. “How kind of you.”
“We try,” Hayk said. “Despite appearances.”
A few minutes later, Alex was standing under one of the guild’s magic dissolving ‘showers’, letting layers of grime, blood, and dried gore vanish into thin air. He stayed there longer than strictly necessary, eyes half-lidded, letting the tension finally bleed out of him.
Clean clothes waited on a bench when he stepped out—plain, functional, and very basic. He dressed quickly, finally feeling human again.
By the time he made his way back through the guild hall, the earlier commotion had died down. People were back to their routines, conversations returning to contracts and bounties instead of vanished guild masters. Alex slipped through largely unnoticed, which suited him just fine.
Outside, the sky was still overcast. Thick clouds hung low and unmoving, blotting out any hint of direct sunlight. Satisfied, he stepped out into the street and headed toward their new inn.
As he walked through the fully awake city streets, Alex once again marvelled at being able to be out during the day. Despite the events of the last hour, his excitement at the discovery remained largely undiminished.
Soon enough, he reached Sophie’s Inn, the sign swaying gently in the breeze.
The common room was already busy when Alex stepped inside, thick with the smell of food and damp coats. Grenil was easy to spot, seated at a corner table with a bowl in front of him.
Alex smiled mischievously and stood on his tiptoes as he snuck up behind the old man. Just when he was about to scare him-
“There you are.” Grenil said, pushing himself to his feet and turning around. “What took you so long? And how were you able to come back at… this hour?”
“Some shit happened on the mission, I had to stay behind to answer some questions.” Alex replied mildly. “Long story. I’m fine. Also, apparently clouds count as enough cover so that I no longer have to worry about… that.”
“Really?” Grenil looked pleasantly surprised. “That’s great! Now you have fewer excuses to make me do work while you relax in your room.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Alex waved him away. “You like it. It makes you feel useful.”
The old man huffed good naturedly.
“By the way.” He said in a low voice. “While you were gone, Duran ran out of mana again.”
Alex paused. “He did?”
“Yes. Collapsed halfway up the stairs. You should probably go… you know. You can tell me that long story while you’re at it.”
Chapter 63: Return III
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