Chapter 6, "But in cases such as yours..."

Chapter 6, "But in cases such as yours..."

-From then on I have only fought. Somehow, Kreig was surprised he could even remember their names. They had been so young when they were taken. So old when they died. Still, it was too early. He glanced up at the officer where he sat, slack-jawed with a creased brow.

Is-, is that so

Silence stretched between them.

Well, I, er Guess I can just give a little info on whats been happening here in the meanwhile. These past ten years have been pretty turbulent. These damn portals started opening up, and if nobody went in them for like three days or so, monsters and things would come out of it. Weve learned how to deal with it, sort of. Mostly because of these people who started popping up. They can see statuses and grow stronger by defeating the monsters in the portals. Fighters, the lot of them. Theyd have these randomly assigned Jobs that only let them use certain weapons, the lot of it. Weirdly enough, most of them are kids Really strange.

Its mostly all good, but sometimes Sometimes, really strong monsters come out of the portals. See, in most cases, we can see how strong the monsters in the portal are and send in stronger Fighters, but sometimes the Fighters still get defeated. In those cases, we got a back-up team just outside, but in cases such as yours He glanced away. -Weve got no choice but to deal with it some other way.

...So that was how it was. Those people he saw in the cave must have been those Fighters that the officer had talked about. Kreig almost felt a little guilty to have killed them.

Though, by the sound of it, if he hadnt done it, he wouldnt have been able to leave the portal at all.

May I speak with my family? Kreig asked. The officer didnt meet his gaze.

...At the moment, we cannot allow that. Though, in some time, you will be allowed to. Undoubtedly. Until then, you will be kept elsewhere, as this cell is unfit to contain an otherworlder of your calibre. Not that we have anyplace suited to hold you the officer said. Elsewhere could be anywhere. But the thing that Kreig found himself caught up on was

Im not an otherworlder.

Sure, yeah, of course! But in this moment, youve gotta be treated like one. Okay? Dont hold it against us, its just protocol. Listen, I promise you, on my aunties grave: you will meet your family. As long as you dont rebel against us or hurt anybody. Youve been through a lot. You told me so yourself. I cant imagine how hard that must have been on you, and sitting here in a cell yet again must remind you of a lot of terrible things. But if you just stick through it One day, you may go free, the officer said. The smile on his face almost seemed warm. Friendly.

Kreig hadnt seen a friendly smile in so long. In this moment, he could only glance away, and accept it all. ...Of course.

Kreig turned to the interrogating officer. -I cant let you wear that without getting a damn shower. Youre crusted in filth! How have you been able to live like that? Kreig had an answer to that, but he wasnt sure if the interrogating officer would like it. So, instead, he folded the jumpsuit back up. The interrogation officers eyes scanned Kreigs body. -Yeah, you need a shower. Officer Jenkins, unlock the cell and cuff im. Ill take him to the showers. Officer Jenkins seemed like he wanted to object, but a well-placed glare got him to work.

At this point, Kreig had already removed his shirt, so the only thing that kept him from complete nudity was a pair of torn wool trousers. Still, he had no shame. Hed lost that long ago.

He was soon led out of the holding cell, cuffed, and guided out of the door with the interrogating officer as his lead.

Outside, they found what seemed to be a Fighter (young, carrying a fancy-looking spear and wearing modern armour) holding guard. The appearance of Kreig set the young Fighters teeth on edge and he branded his spear purely by instinct. Stand down, Fighter, the interrogating officer said.

B-, but sir-

Stand. Down.

Maybe the interrogating officer could sense the murderous intent flowing off of Kreig, maybe he knew that a man such as Kreig would react to violence the same way a wounded animal would, or maybe he was starting to feel genuine compassion for the man. Either way, the Fighter reluctantly followed the order. Though, even while they were leaving with the interrogating officer leading Kreig through the hall, Kreig could feel those burning eyes on his back. Eyes of fear. Eyes that knew what he was.

Somehow, the interrogating officer hadnt truly understood that. It was one thing to see a few numbers on a card. One thing to hear a tale of woe and death. It was another to see those three question marks, to see them and know you were faced with Death.

Hed felt it himself, after all.

It had been a dragon. In the middle of a battlefield. Hed been fighting for the Empire, and back then, he hadnt known that adolescent dragons enjoyed joining human wars just for fun. Like trampling ants. It was grinning all the while it lapped up humans and crunched and mangled their bodies like a great big crushing machine.

-But that was long ago.

Really, almost everything he remembered was.