Chapter 9

Rio 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!"

Charles' angry yells echoed through the cell; a layer of impatience could be heard underneath all of the rage. Rio 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 only holding 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, Rio 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. Rio didn't know anything about essence or sorcery, but he knew the physical enhancement he did in his previous fight used 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, Rio kept waiting for a chance without giving up.

There had to be a reason why Charles was impatiently trying to force a confession out of Rio. It was easy to assume that if Rio confessed here, the situation would only benefit Charles... That's why Rio hardened his resolve. He absolutely wouldn't give in to this violence and confess to a crime he didn't commit.

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

"You brat!"

Charles swung the club with all his pent-up frustration. It was a merciless blow to the face.

"Guh...!"

Blood started pouring from Rio'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 Charles back in a panic.

"Silence! My position is in danger right now!" Charles 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!" Charles 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 Flora's kidnapping case.

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

The royal family of Beltrum held a ritual every spring to pray for the prosperity of the kingdom. Flora 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, Flora 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. Flora'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 Rio. At this very moment, Charles 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 Rio's interrogation from the investigator that Vanessa 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 Beltrum's justice system, an admission would be enough proof to sentence the crime. If Charles could make Rio 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 Flora woke up and testified that Rio had saved her, there would be no overturning Rio's guilty sentence. This was how strongly confessions were considered as evidence. Rio was a seven-year-old child — with a little pain and fear, he'd easily bend his confession to their will, Charles thought.

However, Rio 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 Flora's awakening. Should Flora confirm that Rio was the one who saved her, Rio would become her savior, the crime would still be unsolved, and Charles would no longer be able to interrogate him through torture. If that happened, the only fact left would be that Charles 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. Flora could wake up at any moment now, and it would only be a matter of time before they discover the interrogation taking place in this room.

He had to get Rio to confess before then, no matter what it took.

"...Bring me the Collar of Submission," Charles ordered in a low voice.

The surrounding knights all widened their eyes in surprise. "I-It's a

felony to use the Collar of Submission on a suspect without

permission!" one of the other knights stammered.

The Collar of Submission was a magic artifact that bound the free will of the wearer and compelled them to obey the orders of their registered owner. If the wearer rebelled against the order, the owner could chant a phrase to inflict sharp pain upon the wearer's body. Furthermore, because the artifact had a history of being abused for malicious intentions, there were strict national laws imposed around its usage. Such laws included the wearer being limited to either slaves or criminals, and its actual use had to be reported to the government.Charles, having lost his rational mind, was going against protocol.

"Silence! Shut up and do as I—"

Just as Charles yelled angrily, the door to the underground room slammed open. Startled, all the knights in the room whirled to face it. In the open doorway stood Vanessa Emerle, the female knight that escorted Rio to the castle. She took in the state of the room and furrowed her brow.