Chapter 170 Punished

Clay stood in the center of the restaurant, his ability still being used to increase his overall size.

The soldier with a knife in his shoulder tried to crawl to the restaurants entrance/exit but Clay just placed on of his his feet on the soldiers ankle, slight popping sounds were heard.

"Alright! Stop, just stop! I'll stay...!" The soldier called out. Clay was satisfied that he, nor any of the others, would try to escape again so he removed his foot.

The regular civilians that were just trying to enjoy their meals before all this began were visibly afraid.

Clay noticed their fear, especially how it would suddenly increase when he looked at them. In a soft and gentle voice, while smiling, he addressed them.

"You don't need to worry, none of you are in any danger. Please just wait patiently for the Army to arrive so we can sort this all out."

It would difficult for anyone to just blindly accept the words of a stranger, especially in this situation. Still, their worries seemed to be slightly alleviated after he spoke.

Another minute or two passed and the room remained dead silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the injured soldiers complaining about their injuries.

After some time, dozens of footsteps could be heard coming towards the restaurant and it was clear it was the Army.

'I don't need to keep this up any longer now that they're here.' Clay thought as he stopped using his ability and shrunk back to his regular size.

The soldier that attacked Clay with a chair burst through the doors at the entrance and looked around the room.

"That's him! That's the ability user that attacked us!" He shouted in an accusatory tone while pointing at Clay.

A man, wearing a red military uniform that showed he was the rank of Captain, walked into the room behind the soldier.

"You better not be lying to me, ability users are a huge thr... This is the man you say attacked you?" The Captain asked while looking at Clay.

"Yes, he just started attacking us for no reason! As anyone here!" The soldier shouted back, glaring at the civilians in the room.

The civilians had their heads hung low, none of them willing to refute the soldiers claims out of fear they would be targeted.

It wasn't that the Army had a reputation for treating people this way, no it was more of an understanding that if a soldier decided to behave this way they couldn't do anything about it because they had no power.

"That's a lie!" The manager said, stepping in front of Clay "These soldiers complained about the food and then they suddenly attacked me while saying things like 'we run this city'. This man only defended me!"

The Captain looked at Clay. "Is what the woman said true?"

Clay nodded.

~Sigh~ The Captain let out a deep sigh. "What would you like me to do about this, Sir?"

"What!? Why are you asking him!?" The soldier shouted in disbelief.

"Shut up! You don't even know who this man is yet you're lying about what happened right in front of him! You even had the audacity to say 'we run this city' as a threat to the man who actually runs the city!" The Captain shouted furiously at the soldier.

" W-What do you mean...he runs the city...?" The soldier asked, fear now filling his voice.

~Sigh~ "Sir, you really shouldn't remove your uniform like this. I know you don't like the attention but this whole situation could have been avoided." The Captain said while looking at Clay.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Clay said as he walked back to his own table and pulled his and Renes military jackets out of their bags. He handed Rene her jacket as he walked passed her back to the middle of the room.

The two of them both put their black Infernum jackets on, each of them now displaying their ranks.

It was a shock to literally everyone in the restaurant other than the Captain. The soldiers that attacked Clay all had expressions of disbelief and dread on their faces.

"Let's just sort this out quickly so these people can get back to their meals. You asked what I wanted done with these men? It's simple.

Arrest them all and strip them of their positions in the military. They will also recieve no healing from any Infernai in regards to the injuries they sustained today.

Their belongings will be taken from them, sold and the money used to pay for the damages to this establishment.

In regards to their arrest, they will go through the regular judicial system and recieve whatever prison time their crimes warrant." Clay said in a commanding tone.

"Yes,Sir. Arrest these men!" The Captain ordered and several soldiers walked into the room from behind the door behind him and removed the men from the restaurant.

"Are you alright?" Clay asked the manager who was looking at the men being taken away with a dumbfounded expression.

She turned to look at Clay "Yes... I'm alright." She replied, still holding the cheek that was slapped.

"Here." Rene said, placing her hand on the managers cheek. The warm golden glow from her ability spread into the managers skin and within seconds she was healed.

"T-Thank you..." The manager awkwardly replied. She was quite shocked about everything the had happened today.

Rene smiled back at her "It's nothing much."

"Could you give everyone a quick check, make sure everyone is alright?" Clay asked. Rene nodded her head and went to check on the other people in the restaurant.

"I'm sorry about all this." Clay said.

"It's not your fault... There's nothing you could have done to prevent it." The manager replied shaking her head.

"I'm the highest ranking person in this city, it's part of my job to make sure things like this don't happen." Clay replied with his head hung low.

"You have bigger things to worry about right now, don't you? With the war and all that..." The manager said.

"What's the point of winning the war if our own soldiers attack our people." Clay said as he turned and walked away, stopping just before he walked out the door.

"I could see how afraid you all were to tell the truth earlier. I'm sure the idea of going against the word of a soldier might scare you but you don't need to be afraid to speak the truth.

If you or anyone else in this city had a problem with a member of the Army, you can come straight to me to report it. Anyone who tries to stop you will also be punished, so rest assured, I will not let this behavior continue." Clay announced to everyone in the room, he then pushed the door open and left.

The Captain was still standing outside for Clay. The two of them began talking and Clay explained everything that happened in detail.

Just as he neared the end of his recount, a female Infernai came running up to him and the Captain while shouting.

"Captain, please wait!"

The Infernai stopped right next to the two of them. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation Colonel, Captain, but I have to speak with you." She said.

"What is it, Private?" The Captain asked.

"One of the men you arrested today was my brother. I heard he attacked someone but nobody ended up hurt other than him and his friends, please don't punish him too harshly!" She said with a pleading tone.

"Your brother and his friends didn't attack just anybody, they attacked the Colonel." The Captain said while gesturing to Clay.

"R-Really...please Colonel, don't punish him too harshly... I beg of you! " She pleaded once again, more aggressively this time.

Clay though about it for a moment and then looked at the Captain "What do you expect their punishments would be in the eyes of the law given their crimes?"

"Attacking someone of your rank is a very serious crime but it could only entail a few years on prison time followed by some forced labor after release.

The problem here is that two of them used weapons against you. One a knife and the other a shortsword. That brings the charges up from assault to attempted murder.

That would be considered treason, as they attempted to kill a powerful figure in the kingdom. The punishment for treason is execution." The Captain explained.

" E-Execution..." The Infernai mumbled in disbelief, a crestfallen expression on her face.

Her reaction to that news tugged on Clay's heart and he just couldn't help himself.

~Sigh~" Alright, how about this. I won't help them get off without punishment and I don't know which one of the soldiers was your brother so I can't say if he was one of the people who tried to kill me.

However, what I can do is this." Clay then looked at the Captain and spoke with a commanding voice "I want it to be known that I am formally requesting that none of those men are charged with treason and that their punishments should not include death by any means."

The captain simply nodded in response, a small smile appearing on his face.

Although it wasn't exactly what she was hoping to achieve, she didn't want to push her luck" Thank you for your leniency, Colonel." The Infernai said as she walked away.

~Sigh~ Clay let out a massive sigh that was filled with annoyance and disappointment.

" Is something the matter?" The Captain asked.

" I'm gonna have to find a new restaurant now..."