Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Florist

"Sorry?" I said, unaware of how to respond to guardswoman's words, wondering how it could be my fault if I didn't even know they were looking for me?

"You should be," she responded curtly.

Swordswoman put her hand on spearwoman's shoulder and looked at me. "Excuse her; she's usually not so grumpy. Shall we go?"

"Sure," I nodded, even though I didn't want to.

Because I had been there, I knew where guard barracks were. It wouldn't be hard for me to find my way there alone. I would prefer it because right now, accompanied by two armed women, I felt like a criminal and the people on the streets looked at me as if I were one.

I shouldn't give a fuck what they think.

But somewhere deep inside, I didn't want others to think I was a bad person. My parents weren't here with me; they couldn't scold me, but their upbringing was one of the few things I brought with me to Eleaden, and I still had. They raised me to be a decent girl, and a year ago, I still was. Now? I wasn't so sure, but I wanted to be. That's why people's looks and the slandering behind my back that didn't escape my ears hurt me.

To take my mind off these thoughts, I asked my guards, "Why are you taking me to the barracks, anyway?"

"That's a good question," swordswoman said, looking at her partner. "We have no idea."

"The Captain was unusually agitated at the morning line-up." spearwoman muttered before adding. "She sent three pairs of guardsmen to find you and bring you to the barracks as soon as possible. Maybe you can tell us what's so important about you!"

"I'd like to know that, too," I sighed.

They didn't arrest me, so telling the librarian about Dungreen's experiments on other slaves and me wasn't the reason they required me in the barracks. Maybe someone found my ex-master and arrested him? I could only hope, but I didn't believe it myself. Perhaps they just wanted to check the information they already had, to ask if I could think of anything else? Maybe and it was big maybe, this was just a routine check.

However, the expressions of the women who led me to the barracks told me that this was not the case, that this was an unusual and much more serious matter.

We soon arrived at the guards' barracks, where I found myself in front of a familiar assistant. The young man looked just as I remembered him: ironed uniform, trimmed hair, a serious expression, and a mountain of papers on his desk.

Spearwoman walked over to his desk and leaned against it. "We found her, Travis. Don't you think we deserve a little bonus to our wages?"

He looked at the woman. "Vara, as far as I know, you were just doing your job. If you don't like it, find another one. Now please ... remove your hands from my desk."

"Tss ... stingy," spearwoman hissed, straightening up.

"What should we do with her?" the swordswoman asked.

Travis looked at me, so I waved at him. "Hi"

At that moment, he blushed. Apparently, he remembered our first meeting, during which he also blushed when he saw my ... exposed lap. Now my cheek felt hot too. Why? It was all his fault anyway, and I had nothing to be ashamed of.

Plus, I was wearing proper clothes now.

Vara whistled. "Look at that, Travis is blushing. She's your girlfriend or something. That's why we were looking for her so you could go on a date with her?"

"She's not!" Travis snapped.

"But she works in a brothel," Vara said, adding. "So you met her there. Oh ... so you visit brothels. Wow, when Rayden finds out ..."

"I'm just doing the laundry there," I tried to object.

Vara turned to me. "Hush, the adults are talking now, girl..."

I looked at the second guardswoman, who was leaning against the wall, waiting for this quarrel to end. "I'm really just doing the laundry there."

She smiled. "I know, just let it be."

I sighed. I knew that Vara was just messing around with Travis. However, it still annoyed me she implied that I was working as a companion. It wasn't exactly flattering.

Still, I wondered what exactly Travis's job was. Was he really just a captain's assistant, as I thought, or something else?

So I looked.

[Assistant: lvl ??]

Huh. Just an assistant, but with a genuinely high level. But again, I was wondering if assistant was actually Travis's class? Or just something the system showed me? I wish I could stay in the library and ask the librarian. If I asked these people, they would probably laugh at me.

"Vera, that's enough!" Travis hissed at the guardswoman. "Take miss Grey to room one. I inform the Captain. Then you can get out and do your job!"

So they left me to my fate again in the interrogation room.

When I was here for the first time, it wasn't easy for me. I thought I would collapse, but instead, I fell asleep exhausted in the room's corner.

I smirked. "That won't happen today."

Voice came from behind me, "What won't happen today?"

Frightened, I turned to the door where a tall man in a dark uniform stood. He was looking at me with narrowed eyes. When he looked at me like that, I felt like an invisible hand was gripping my heart. I was having trouble breathing, and my anxiety reached new levels.

Still, I gathered the courage to answer. "Just talking to myself."

The man entered the room, followed by Captain Rayden. When she entered the room, I was flooded with her soothing aura. It calmed me down, but my worries didn't go away nor did the man who sat down at the table and spread out his files on it.

It wasn't very pleasant to wait quietly for him to unfold all the papers to his satisfaction. Even the City Guards Captain didn't enjoy having to stand behind this man in silence. Despite clearly being dissatisfied with the current situation, she said nothing and, like me, waited.

In the meantime, I tried to find out who he was. But this time, the system was even less useful than usual.

[???: lvl ??]

This was the first time I saw question marks instead of class, and I wouldn't say I liked it. Why couldn't I see this man's class? Who was the man? Why did the Captain stand behind him in silence?

Finally, he motioned to the Captain, "Captain Rayden, please."

City Guards Captain cleared her throat. "Ehm, miss Grey. This man is Imperial Agent Hal. He's here to verify the information you reported to us regarding your stay in Arda. You don't have to be afraid. Just answer his questions, truthfully."

I looked at her questioningly because I was in the interrogation room right now. The room itself was a magical tool that made me tell the truth. How could I lie to them here?

Agent Hal leaned forward, his elbows on the table, bringing both hands together, and asked, "Now please tell me what won't happen today?"

He still wanted to know?! Fuck, this guy was persistent.

I took a deep breath, looked at Captain Rayden for a moment, then at the Imperial Agent. "When I first came to Castiana, they brought me to one of the interrogation rooms. I don't remember which one. I had to wait for the Captain herself to interrogate me. I was scared and tired. I didn't want to, but I fell asleep in the room's corner. That's what I was talking about that won't happen today."

I noticed the Captain smirk, but she said nothing. Not until the agent asked her if it was true.

"That's when I came to interrogate her. She was asleep," the Captain nodded.

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The Imperial Agent turned back, looking at his papers lying on the table in front of him. He surprised me when the identification station appeared on the table in front of me. Yeah, the spatial rings were handy, but I wasn't quite used to them yet.

"Please," the Imperial Agent pointed to the station.

When I realized what he wanted from me, it horrified me. This station will show them everything, all my new skills, and skills that were my secret that even Dungreen didn't know about. I felt cornered; I didn't want to reveal my secrets to them, but what could I do?

I could quickly change skills in which I didn't gain any levels so far. I had no idea if it was a good plan, but it was the only one I had right now. So I promptly swapped [Perfect Equilibrium], [Beast], [Heart of Magic], and [Arcane Magic] for ordinary skills.

I was still pondering if I should also replace [Spatial Domain] in which I gained one level or even [Tail of Poison Empress] when I dared to ask, "Do I have to?"

"I insist," Agent Hal said curtly, which made my decision easier.

One level was not a loss I would cry over. On the contrary, I regretted the loss of six levels in [Tail of Poison Empress], even though I was not too fond of the skill. I just kept [Never-Dying] in case the Agent decided to kill me. Who knows what might happen?

Resigned and with hastily replaced skills whose loss made me dizzy, I put my hands on the identification station. As soon as I did, my Status Screen appeared in front of us.

"Hmm ..." the Imperial Agent growled. "I see you've made drastic changes in your skillset compared to what we received in the report."

Even the Captain studied my status screen but refrained from commenting.

Agent Hal continued his evaluation. "This is expected of a just freed [Slave], but your General Skills are remarkable. However, that's not why I'm here. Your identity fits with the one stated in the report." Agent Hal said, taking a few notes before returning the identification station to his spatial tool.

I was sure he wrote down my skills. He may not have been here because of them, but I was afraid of anyone who might be interested in my skills. Agent Hal came today. Who will show up tomorrow?

"All right. Korra Gray, female, age twenty-nine, class [Slave], level ninety-two. Imprisoned in Arda for more than a year by the known individual Frederic Dungreen." Agent Hal summed up my data, then leaned closer to me and asked. "Tell me, how did you cross the borders of the empire?"

Is that why he was here? Not because of the madman who was experimenting on me, but because of how I got across the borders of the empire? I didn't like that I had to be here and hated that I had to reveal my skills to him, to both of them. But that he didn't care at all that I had been imprisoned for over a year pissed me off. Sadly, if I didn't want to end up in the dungeon again, I couldn't complain to Agent Hall.

So I clenched my fists and told him how I had flowed undisturbed down the river like a corpse, unaware that I woke up on the riverbank in the Sahal Empire.

He asked me a few supplementary questions, but I was unable to answer most of them. Maybe he was capable of it, after all, I had no idea how the agents were trained, but I couldn't see or perceive my surroundings when I was dead.

To my surprise, however, the following questions were directed to my stay in the hands of that cuckoo. Unfortunately, I did not recall any additional information that could be useful to them searching for him. That is, if they wanted to look for Dungreen at all.

"Now, let's move on to more current things," the Imperial Agent said, leaning back in his chair before asking. "It says here that you currently live in the inn next to the brothel you work for. Is that so?"

I swallowed dry. Why did he ask me this? What did that have to do with his investigation?

Hmm ... Realization dawned upon me. Who was Agent Hal actually investigating? Dungreen or me? Because right now, I felt like I was a suspect in his eyes. One wrong word, and I can say goodbye to freedom.

"That's right." I nodded, not daring to say more.

Agent Hal took a note and asked, "In Broken Heart, you're washing clothes. Is that right?"

"Yes." I nodded again, wondering how they knew all this.

Maybe someone was watching me. Was I wired? I mean magically; I doubt I would find an electronic device in all of Eleaden like on Earth, not to mention the bugs used by secret agents on Earth. Of course, I was not an expert on this topic. My knowledge came from movies, which was not the best source for understanding espionage techniques.

"Interesting place to work, why there?" the Imperial Agent asked.

I shrugged slightly and replied, "Because it was the only place where they accepted someone like me."

"What do you mean, someone like you?" Agent Hal asked, wanting to hear more details.

"I mean terran, or half-terran. I've been looking for work all over Castiana, and I'm still looking for another one, but with my appearance, which is not very different from half-terrans, I haven't found a job elsewhere," I explained my problem of looking for a decent job.

Agent Hal smirked. "So you're dissatisfied with your current job. What job are you looking for?"

"Florist," I said immediately, surprising myself.

The damn interrogation room made me tell the truth. A truth that I did not admit, even to myself, that I buried deep inside me. The truth was, I didn't want to be a seeker. I planned to become one because it was the only way for me to become stronger I knew about. Stronger so I wouldn't have to feel helpless like I felt when the Fae kidnapped me when I was held against my will by that bastard, or like I was feeling right now.

I was a florist back on Earth, I enjoyed it, and I was looking forward to work every morning. Not like many who had to force themselves to work every day. I was lucky to do something I enjoyed. To my surprise, I enjoyed it so much that, deep down, I still wanted to be a florist.

I knew it was an unrealistic dream now.

First, there were not so many florists in Castiana.

Second, none of them were looking for employees.

Third, besides flowers, most also sold medicinal and magical flowers and herbs that I knew little about.

Maybe when I make enough money as a seeker and strong enough, I'll open my flower shop. That would be nice, but right now, just an unrealistic fantasy.

However, I was not the only one who was surprised by my answer. For the first time, Agent Hal didn't know what to say. It was a momentary hesitation, but it was there. Captain Rayden noticed that, too. Even this little thing was enough for a small smile to appear on her face to my delight. I could imagine that being in this man's company all morning must have been very ... very stressful for her.

"An interesting choice," said the Imperial Agent as if nothing had happened, looking at his spread out papers on the table. "But it says here that you're interested in the job of a seeker. What can you tell me about that?"

Why was he so interested in me? It terrified me, as did this room that made me tell the truth! I could feel this tool in my mind urging me nonviolently to reveal everything. What was [Indomitable Will] doing right now? Shouldn't this skill prevent anyone from controlling me like that? It should, but for some reason it did not limit the tool's effects. Was this tool more powerful than [Indomitable Will]? Or what the room was doing didn't count as mind control?

The problem was that [Indomitable Will] was a passive skill. Still, I knew from experience that it was possible to control it to a limited extent.

Otherwise, I could not effectively resist the urge to fulfill every word of my master caused by [Master's Toy]. However, it required a lot of concentration.

"That's true. I'm considering becoming a seeker," I said as I focused on the feeling in my mind that made me tell the truth.

"It's not safe to dive into the depths of Fallens Cry. Why are you considering such a job?" Agent Hal asked.

A sharp pain shot through my head as I tried to push the interrogation room's effects out of my mind. I'd rather kick myself for it because I couldn't help but twitch my head, which didn't escape the Imperial Agent's attention.

"Because I never want to feel defenseless again," I blurted out to cover the jerk of my head, omitting the fact that I have to be stronger to achieve that.

The Imperial Agent could misinterpret this, and I didn't want that. I still had the urge to tell him, but it was weaker than before. [Indomitable Will] started working as it should. However, it was at the cost of concentration and the extreme headache I now had.

The Agent nodded. "There is no guarantee that you will achieve this in the labyrinth. Have you considered other options?"

The Imperial Agent startled me with this question because I didn't believe that he was worried about me for a second.

"What other options do I have?" I asked Agent Hal instead of answering him. But before he could tell me anything, I raised my voice and added, "Would you take someone like me among the city guards? Could I become an imperial soldier? Because I don't want to be an adventurer or a mercenary. I don't feel strong enough to go beyond the walls of this city. Not now."

"I see, you have considered other options," said the Imperial Agent, not noticeably affected by my outburst, which I already regretted. He just made a note before looking at me, "You're right. I can't speak for the City Guards Captain Rayden, but I wouldn't entrust the city's protection to anyone like you, let alone the empire. I would not entrust the safety of the empire's citizens to anyone who's trying to lie right to my face!"

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