Arthur's Point of View

Town Guard's Cells

Moving some of the stone floor into a stump of sorts, I sat in front of the cell and studied the group who kept quiet. Even the one who I had injured made sure to keep his mouth shut. It was smart, especially in this type of situation. They didn't know anything about me aside from me crippling one of them in an emotionless manner. It was probably terrifying.

However, there was nothing I wouldn't do to make sure Lestrania was taken care of now. I owed it to Aydan, Mara, Elias, and even Elincia and Arceana. This place was going to be everything they dreamed it would be. I hadn't seen the rest of the Kingdom but setting the Capital straight was my biggest concern for the moment, which served several purposes moving forward.

A knock on the door rang throughout the cells, and I spoke in a low tone. "Move your leader over to the bars but facing away from us." I ordered the group. "I called for a healer." They shuffled about before pushing the unconscious bird forward carefully.

Moving to the door, I opened it to find Ayda and Typhon both looking up at me. "Sir Arthur!" Ayda greeted me cheerfully. "I heard you could use some assistance with a private matter of sorts!"

I nodded. "You heard correctly." Opening the door for her to come in, I looked to Ty and the others before stopping them from entering. "We'll be out in a minute."

They didn't get a chance to say anything as I closed the door and turned to see Ayda staring at the man in the cell. "Is he okay?" She inquired.

"I may have lost my composure when I found out they tried to assault Sherry." I alluded to that being the cause of this situation and not my own selfish goals. "Clearly, I should've restrained myself more. However, I would greatly appreciate it if you could heal him."

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Ayda looked at me for a moment before nodding slowly. "I suppose accidents do happen."

I eyed her. "They certainly do."

Knowing she's the one who almost killed me, I used that against her as she moved forward without further questioning. Using her magic, Ayda kneeled down before casting some healing spell on the Zugal, who quickly began to shift about. Naturally, I watched him carefully, so he didn't do anything inappropriate. Ayda eventually finished with a sigh before standing back up.

"Is that everything?" She asked me.

Crossing my arms, I replied. "Did it work?"

Ayda nodded confidently. "As long as the recipient in question was not in critical condition, I am confident that I can heal any wounds!"

"I guess I'll find out. Hopefully, I didn't give him too bad of a concussion or something along those lines." He did hit his head on the floor pretty bad, so it was possible.

"I have no doubt he will be fine. If there are any issues, I can wait around to make sure he is feeling alright." Ayda offered.

"That is appreciated. Would you be willing to wait with the rest of the group?" I inquired as I gestured to the door.

She gave me a curt nod in return. "Certainly." Ayda quickly left the room as I stepped towards the cell again.

"Do you realize how badly you and your group fucked up?" I questioned the leader, who was pretending to be unconscious. "If you don't get up within the next two seconds, we'll have a repeat-" Before I could finish, the Zugal quickly backed away from the bars in a fearful crawl.

"Please don't!" He pleaded.

Sighing, I stood and bent the bars out of my way as I let myself inside, which startled all of them. Each of them quivered in fear as I stood above the group and looked down on them. After a moment, I crouched down once more and rested my elbows on my knees.

"Then you're going to do exactly as I say. You do that, and I will let all of you go." I told the group. "No tricks and no lies. Each one of you can fly back to the North for all I care."

"Wh-What do you need?" The whipped Zugal inquired.

"I want the name of the one who sent you to the Rainy Helm. How much it cost to hire you? What were your instructions? If you were meant to target anyone in particular and so on." Then I looked across the group once more. "Depending on what you tell me, I might have you repeat the same thing to the Priestesses themselves."

The leader just looked at me in despair. "The Priestesses?" He repeated in disbelief. "You want us to stand before the Priestesses?"

I nodded. "And the Nobles who sent you on this foolish endeavor." Gesturing to them, I continued. "You do that, and you will be set free!" Standing back up and looking down at them got them to lean back. "However, should any of you get any silly ideas, be prepared for even worse consequences."

Unleashing wave after wave of killing intent in such a small space, they all seemed to start suffocating as their eyes widened. One even puked as he shook in fear, while another covered his head and cowered in the corner. The leader looked up at me with a broken expression.

"I'll tell you everything."

"Good."

I will do anything…