Chapter 155 - Children

"Before we go in, can I have your word, Princess?" the chief in command said while looking back at Venedette and stopping in front of a big garage entry door-looking barrier where officials usually need to slide their IDs first before entering.

"As I've said, I can only pardon them if-"

"But these are just kids, so, please. If you have any sort of decency left," the chief in command said recklessly which made the air a bit burdensome around him and Venedette all of a sudden.

"Excuse me, this is my team we're talking about here. Do you know how important it is for my team to be in the best condition all of the time in order to be able to train properly and compete in the upcoming tournament?" Venedette said in response.

"I'm sorry, that was not what I meant by that.. What I was trying to say is that, please consider giving these kids more pardon for their actions, we're not even sure if they're really the ones who did that and I'm only showing them to you based on my suspicion, so please. Don't be so hard on them."

"We're going to see to that later," Venedette said, neither accepting nor declining the chief's request by just putting her head up and looking forward to her meeting with the suspects

"Pull it up," the chief sighed and said reluctantly to the officer assigned in this door who then diligently followed just what he said without questions.

Upon the opening of the barrier for Venedette and the chief in command, they were welcomed by what seemed to be an audacious mess especially in front of the Princess who just got here recently and was already able to witness several young and free looking teens making a mess out of anything they could grab in this place just to try and get away from the guards that were assigned to watch over them.

"I told you we shouldn't have followed them here! Now grab this rope and wrap it around his neck before they come in-" a girl with thick eyeliners, black hair with pink highlights, and the same style for her punk fashion said while pinning down a guard using her whole body and arms while trying to hand a coil of thin rope to her other friend, a chubby and angry teen looking guy who was, on the other hand, swimming on the floor while kicking the same guard's hands off of his feet.

"Oh no, we're too late." A nerd-looking guy who almost used an adjustable wrench to knock another guard in the head said while hiding his weapon behind him quickly and adjusting his glasses after seeing the door open and the adults come out of it.

"What is happening here?!" The commander in chief's voice thundered across the open parking space for aircraft where they decided to keep these kids that they almost immediately caught after just a few minutes of stepping inside the tower's elevator.

"Sis, put it down!" a little blonde child with curled pigtails and a cute stuffed teddy bear said angrily to the girl earlier who then had no other choice but to follow the little girl's request because she had been busted anyway even if she still managed to strangle the guard assigned to take care of them.

"Uhmm, hi… Sir," the thin guy with glasses said while being brought closer to Venedette and the chief by the guard he attempted to hit with a wrench earlier along with the chubby guy who was frowning and had a dark look with his eyes, while the two girls were taken by the other poor guard who almost got choked with the wild teenage girl's rope earlier.

"Daddy!" the little girl with ribbons and teddy bears said while squabbling closer to the chief in command while still holding the guard's hands for support said before reaching the commander who then carried her in his arms like a baby.

Venedette quickly estimated the four children's ages in his mind which, if she was correct, was respectively, 4 years old for the little girl, fourteen for the wild-looking girl, and around the same age for the two boys which made her understood why the chief in command was begging her for pardon.

Not to mention that the little girl just called him 'Daddy,' and the other girl 'sister,' which made it pretty obvious that they were a family and these two guys were just his daughter's friends.

"What are you doing? I thought I was clear when I said you weren't allowed to hang out with your friends today?" the chief commander said to the snobby girl who just rolled her eyes at him as a response.

"I sincerely apologize for this mess, Princess," the chief in command said while bowing slightly to Venedette who was still processing all the information she had gotten in her mind and how she could deal with this situation as efficiently as possible.

"Wait, so are you saying these kids are the ones responsible for shooting Gem and Von precisely using that gun?" Venedette said with a concerned expression while pointing at the long improvised machine gun that the chubby guy was trying to reach for earlier when he was swimming on the floor.

"We didn't mean it! It was just a joke! And besides, who knew Gonder's aim would be so precise like that?! Who told you to do your best at shooting them, huh?" the wild girl with pink highlights growled at her chubby friend who was now looking down because of the disappointment and embarrassment for himself.

"Well, I was the one who calculated his aim and made sure that he could hit something close to the target, b-but I made sure he wouldn't hit the target, so I'm also not sure what happened…" the nerdy guy said, immediately following up with an excuse to save himself.

"Where did you even get those ice bullets from?" the commander asked which was then followed by his youngest daughter's proud answer immediately.

"Sis told me to go near the ice hail and grab a lot of bullets for them, I did a great job, didn't I? Didn't I" she said, waiting for a compliment from her dad but turned silent when she saw him frown.

"You told your sister to go near the storm? Hetti?!" the commander growled, not even capable of controlling his anger anymore even in the presence of the Princess because of the reckless thing that Hetti made her sister do.

But instead of being annoyed, Venedette immediately understood the situation and thought that the commander probably needed alone time with his kids to deal with this situation quietly.

"Can I talk to these two while you resolve your issues with your children, sir?" Venedette politely asked the commander who then apologized immediately for forgetting about her presence.

"Of course, Princess. Then can I-?" The commander bowed courteously and asked for a moment with his children.

"Uhuh," Venedette nodded and then looked at the two guards behind the children, "Can you show me where the interrogation room is?" 

"Can I?" the guard asked his commander who then gave him a nod, "This way, Princess," he said and led them across the hallway and into a room where interrogation usually happens for suspects, witnesses, victims, and criminals altogether.

When Venedette and the first kid, the chubby one was then left inside the interrogation room on their own, Venedette cut to the chase and started the conversation with the most important question she needed to know in the meantime.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, but even after waiting for a few minutes, the chubby kid didn't bother opening his mouth or even looking her in the eyes.

'I guess he's a shy type, then?' Venedette thought to herself and cleared her throat.

"Do you know me?" she asked despite getting her pride hurt in the first attempt.

"The Princess," he answered with the same attitude, which made Venedette feel relieved and troubled at the same time for not getting anything from him.

"Can you bring the other one here first?" Venedette said out loud, which was meant for the guards watching them from behind the one-way glass behind her.

She thought having the nerdy one was better to interview first because of his probably talkative personality in comparison to this one who only ever opens his mouth when asked natural questions with answers that didn't need to be thought about.

"Very well, Princess," the guard behind the one-way mirror said before ordering the others outside to bring them the nerdy one instead.

When the nerdy kid finally sat down in front of Venedette, she was relieved to see this kid at least trying to look her in the eye unlike that boy before who did not even try.

"So, do you have anything to say?" she asked with a raised eyebrow which the boy peeked at for a little while before looking down at his shy posture again.

"Uhmm, so..."