Kyle was exhausted. The shackles digging into his wrists had torn the skin

apart, but he could no longer feel pain. Rather, his whole body had been so

bruised by the club, he could no longer feel the pain in his wrists.

"You damn brat! Spit out the kidnapper's details already!" Bahram' angry yells

echoed through the cell; a layer of impatience could be heard underneath all of

the rage. Kyle had noticed that too, though he didn't know the reason for it.

Once he realized how flustered the other party was, though, he was able to

keep his own thoughts rather calm.

But the situation was still bad.

Ever since he arrived in the second interrogation room, he'd been beaten and

bruised in an attempt to coerce a false confession out of him. They wouldn't let

him pass out and find peace. He had barely any stamina left, and was onlyholding on through pure will and stubbornness.

In an attempt to reduce the physical damage he had to suffer, he tried to

strengthen his body.

He could remember the feeling of that moment quite vividly... He should've

been able to reproduce it easily if he concentrated, yet for some reason, Kyle

couldn't enhance his body.

It was because of the shackles that restrained him.

Sorcery had been cast on them to seal the magic essence of whoever wore

them. Kyle didn't know anything about essence or sorcery, but he knew the

physical enhancement he did in his previous fight used magic essence as the source of

energy. With the shackles preventing his magic essence from flowing out of his

body, he couldn't perform the physical enhancement.

Even so, Kyle kept waiting for a chance without giving up. He found that he could break the sorcery placed in shackles if given some time.

It seems that this sorcery is made to restain the magic spells which William had used in slum's outerskirts.

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But the magic he used sems to be different from William after all he don't even need to chant spells before using magic.

The sorcery in shackles can only temporarily restain him so he endured the torture given by Bahram and silently waited for his oppurtunity to strike back.

"I don't have anything else to tell you."

"You brat!"

Bahram swung the club with all his pent-up frustration. It was a merciless

blow to the face.

Guh...!"

Blood started pouring from Kyle's nose.

"D-Deputy commander! He may die if you go overboard..."

One of the knights that had been silently watching the interrogation tried to

hold Bahram back in a panic.

"Silence! My position is in danger right now!" Bahram shouted hysterically.

"B-But sir! Your position will be in worse shape if you kill him of your own accord. We're treading on thin ice as is."

Then what would you have me do? Fear of taking a risk will bring no reward

in this situation! If I don't regain my honorable standing here, I'm taking you all

down with me!" Bahram yelled. Silence fell over the room.

All the knights present in the room were part of the Royal Guard, and they

were all knights in danger of losing their position due to Eira's kidnapping case.

The uproar from Eira's kidnapping case all started yesterday.

The royal family of Erugenia held a ritual every spring to pray for the

prosperity of the kingdom. Eira was appointed the vital role as the priestess in

charge of performing that ritual. By tradition, a purification ceremony was

conducted before the ritual. In order to do that, Eira had to visit a spring on

ancient holy land in the outskirts of the capital. However, it was forbidden for

anyone other than the priestess and her attendant to enter the holy land during

the ceremony. This time, though — the custom ended up backfiring. The Royal

Guard surrounded the holy land with heavy security, but the spring was located

in a forest and the kidnapper managed to slip through the cracks of their

security. Eira's kidnapping was the fault of the Royal Guard in charge of the

security on site and the knights at the center of the security — in other words,

the members gathered in the cell with Kyle. At this very moment, Bahram was in

danger of losing his position as deputy commander of the Royal Guard. Fearing

that outcome, he was now desperate to recover his disgraced honor, and had

forcibly taken over Kyle's interrogation from the investigator that Alice had

assigned — to force the interrogation in his favor. He was prepared to twist the

truth with a small false accusation or two if it came to that...

All in order to lighten his punishment as much as possible.

Since confessions were considered to be irrefutable evidence under Erugenia's

justice system, an admission would be enough proof to sentence the crime. If

Bahram could make Kyle give testimony that was favorable for the knights during

the interrogation and repeat that in front of the King before his verdict, then his

guilt would be proved. Even if Eira woke up and testified that Kyle had saved

her, there would be no overturning Kyle's guilty sentence. This was how strongly

confessions were considered as evidence. Kyle was a seven-year-old child — with a little pain and fear, he'd easily bend his confession to their will, Bahram

thought.

However, Kyle showed more endurance and courage than he expected, greatly

derailing his plans. Normally, an interrogation had no time limit... but this case

was different. The battle was against Eira's awakening. Should Eira confirm

that Kyle was the one who saved her, Kyle would become her savior, the crime

would still be unsolved, and Bahram would no longer be able to interrogate him

through torture. If that happened, the only fact left would be that Bahram

forcefully tortured the savior of the royal family, making his situation take a

turn for the worse, rather than the better.

That was why he was feeling extremely impatient.