Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Offer

“Morton forced the interrogation room technician to turn off the recording function,” the Captain said and waited for me to realize what she meant.

“Okay?” I hesitated, unaware of what to say. Morton said he took care of the recording, used the technician to do so, and .... I did not know what she was getting at.

Captain Rayden shook her head, “How could he know about the recording but not about the limitations of magical tools in the room?! We were lucky he was an impulsive idiot.”

Then she leaned back and muttered, “...or mentally unstable, which a lot of mind mages are.”

I wouldn’t call his poor mental health luck.

He attacked me, for fuck’ sake!! I shouted inwardly, not daring to express my emotions out loud to the woman on the other side of the table.

“But you were an even bigger idiot! What did you think when you decided to resist enchantments right in front of him, in front of me?! Did you think neither of us would notice?!” She asked me.

Under her stern gaze, I felt like a child being scolded by my mother for the stupidity I had done. I know what I did was stupid, but ...

I hesitated to tell the truth to her, feeling a little embarrassed to talk about my emotions.

“The way Hal...Morton tried to get the truth out of me felt like the magic of the slave collar, but what the room was doing to me did not differ from the effects [Master’s Toy].” I told her my reason, I shivered at the thought, and a little more passionately, I continued, “You don’t know how disgusting it was to have that skill. It made me admire Dungreen, long for his presence, in the same way as the room nudged me to tell the truth. Unobtrusively, nonviolently, if I didn’t know the feeling, I wouldn’t know about it! So forgive me for defending myself when it’s not even a week since I gained my freedom!! When it’s only been a few days since I got rid of that disgusting skill!!!”

Captain looked at me with raised eyebrows, waiting for me to calm down.

“Are you feeling better?” She asked after I stopped breathing hard.

I nodded, embarrassed and horrified by what I did, that I dared to shout at her.

“When I asked you your reason, I didn’t expect such an honest answer. It never occurred to me that you had the guts to yell at me, but I wouldn’t bite your head off for that. Compared to Egerton yelling at me in the morning, this was nothing.” She grinned, reaching for her hair. “I understand your reasons, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was stupid. Don’t do it next time!”

I’d love to promise her that, but I couldn’t tell right now how I would react to the next interrogation. Rather, I hoped that I would no longer have to take part in any interrogation, that as a victim of slavery, inhuman experiments, and the mind attack, they would leave me alone.

I sighed, knowing it was just a wish.

Moaning over my current life, over the interrogations, I remembered one of Morton’s first victims in the city.

“What about that technician, is she…?” I didn’t finish the sentence, trying to remember what she called it ... mind fucked?!

“Dead? No, she’s fine. She doesn’t even remember what happened.” She waved off my worries.

They wanted to get to me; I was their goal. All this was my fault, so I was glad to hear that at least someone didn’t suffer because of me.

Captain pointed at me, “Back to you. Lord Delamere is in no hurry, he will be here in five days, and I do not intend to keep you here until his arrival.”

On the one hand, I was glad I wouldn’t have to be locked up in the barracks. On the other hand, I felt safer here, surrounded by guards, than in the city. 

At the same time, I wondered why the journey should take the imperial chief healer five days. Was Wagonbrei so far, or did he travel from elsewhere?

Unfortunately, I did not know how far the capital could have been. I saw a map of the empire only once briefly shortly after I found my freedom. I never saw a map of this continent or Eleaden for that matter. It could have been a few kilometers away from Castiana, but it could take them a few days if they walked. Even with a horse-drawn carriage, overcoming a few hundred kilometers could be a matter of days. 

But I kept thinking about it within the limits of the possibilities of the people on Earth. Here, on Eleaden, people had skills, and I saw how fast they could move because of them. I wouldn’t be surprised that they even allowed them to fly, and If they traveled by air, Vagonbrei must have been very far away.

I didn’t even dare to think about the possibilities of magical tools. So far I have only seen a few. Magically powered cars, planes, or teleportation gates, my imagination went wild.

I even dreamed that I would be able to fly, soar through the sky and touch it one day.

That would be cool, I grinned.

“Are you listening to me?!” she snapped at me. After I refocused on her and nodded, she continued, “Get yourself examined by a healer, and then you can go. Don’t leave Castiana. Don’t mention to anyone that you are the reason for the attack. You being here was just an unfortunate coincidence, okay?”

“Um-hmm,” I nodded, wondering if I could talk about other things. “Can I mention Morton or Denholm?”

“Hal interrogated you. Don’t talk about him being a mind mage! The mind mage was in a group that invaded the city, a gang led by Beast of the South,” she said.

When she mentioned Denholm’s nicknames, I had to stop myself before laughing. Such nicknames came to me as childish.

But if I met Denholm on the street, I certainly wouldn’t tell him that in the face. I could only hope that I would never have a similar nickname.

“What about my wings? Those who met me know I had them, and the stump is quite noticeable,” I asked.

“Say how it happened. Just don’t mention that Hal was, in fact, a mind mage. At least until Delamere shows up!” She looked at me sternly. 

Saying nothing, I nodded.

“Well, when Delamere and the Imperial Agent arrive, you will follow their instructions. If you want, one of my people or I will accompany you in their presence. After what happened to you, no one will question it,” she suggested. 

Her offer surprised me immensely, and although I was dreading this meeting, I found myself nodding at her suggestion.

“I thought so,” she grinned, and after a moment’s thought, she leaned toward me, “I have one more suggestion for you, Grey.”

“Okay,” I hesitated, wondering if it was about the chief healer’s arrival again.

“If Egerton lives up to his promise, I plan to start Junior Guards Squads. City Guards suffer from a lack of personnel. Mainly due to the salaries and evolution, the achievement of which is a condition for admission. People usually reach this level in the labyrinth. This means they already work for labyrinth companies, they are used to a much higher income than the salaries of guards.” she sighed a little helplessly.

“Plus, unless someone explicitly chooses [City Guard], [Guardsman] or something similar during evolution, it is difficult for them to get more levels when patrolling the city,” Captain Rayden added.

Surprised by her offer, I could do nothing but say the obvious, “That doesn’t sound like a lucrative job.”

Unexpectedly, the Captain nodded, “I’m not trying to sugarcoat it, just saying how it is.”

“Budget?” I asked to make sure.

“I can’t raise salaries, I can’t hire more. I hope that will change now,” she said.

“Why does the Baron neglect the defense of the city so much?” I wondered.

“He thinks Castiana is safe. We are not a border town. Thanks to the Labyrinth, the monsters do not approach the city, and there are many seekers in the city because of it. Egerton is counting on them to help the city in an emergency.” She said, her smirk showing what she thought of the city lord.

Since I planned to become a seeker, I had to ask, “Why wouldn’t they help?”

“You may think I’m paranoid, but I’m trying to look at it from a practical point of view. Mitta is only one day away. If Arda attacks and Mitta falls - I don’t want to think about what would happen to Castiana.” she closed her eyes for a moment, obviously bothered by it a lot.

“Seekers have a duty in an emergency at the call of the City Lord or City Guards Captain to help the city, but it’s just a piece of paper, promise, nothing more. They don’t have any geas on them to make them do it, and I don’t have the manpower to force them. Most of them are not even from Castiana. They are here for the labyrinth and the money; they don’t care who owns the city, and I’m afraid that if Arda offers them high enough reward, they’ll stab us in the back.” She told me a little bitterly but then added," I don’t want to throw them all in one bag. There are decent people among them too."

I never thought about it like that. From the point of view of city security, the seekers were an unpredictable time bomb, a real headache for a city guard’s captain like her. 

Seekers, I could imagine that money was more important than people’s lives for many of them. After all, money was one of the reasons I wanted to be one. But more important to me was to become stronger, and Rayden’s suggestion was an unexpected opportunity.

“That’s why my idea is to create Junior Guards Squads. I already have a few interested people. If Egerton doesn’t back down from his promise, I want to create those squads as soon as possible and send the first one to the labyrinth in three days. Think about it.” She told me.

“Why me? I am [Slave]! It is not a problem?” I asked, wondering if [Slave] in the Sahal could hold an official position.

Captain Rayden shook her head, “I don’t see a problem with that. I knew [Slaves] who could gain experience on the battlefield. I’ve never figured out how, never cared, but I don’t think it should be different in the labyrinth. If something specific is needed, I’ll try to arrange it.”

I nodded, not telling her that basically, my employer could replace my master.

“What about my background, it doesn’t matter where I come from?” I asked, suggesting that I was not from Eleaden, afraid to say it out loud.

“Technically, junior guards will not be official guards. It will take a while before you reach level one hundred. That’s enough time to prove that you can be a City Guard, that you can be trusted. Personally, I don’t think you’ll want to go back to Arda after what you went through there, or am I wrong?” She asked me.

Even though I saw only one basement from the entire kingdom, I could only agree with her, “Never!”

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Though, I was confused why she thought I was from Arda, quite sure I had told her on our first meeting that I was not from Eleaden, that the interrogation room made me tell her about Fae, who kidnapped me on my way home and moved me straight to a cell in Dungreen’s cellar.

“Does it really not matter where I come from?” I asked again, afraid to mention Earth.

Rayden wondered at my question, “You mean Little Earth?”

I nodded, a little confused by the name. It was hard to remember exactly what I had told her. I was too stressed at the time.

“I’ve never been there personally, but strangely enough, as a small island nation, Arda never conquered it. Not that they didn’t try, though.” She laughed.

I laughed with her, but it was more out of confusion.

“You have to be pretty pissed off at Arda. I would be if they kidnapped and enslaved me.” She asked after she stopped laughing. “Sahal and Little Earth are not allies, but we’ve never been at war either, so I don’t see a problem in you being an islander.”

While I was wondering how I became an islander, I focused a hell of a lot on my body language, not to show my confusion. Trying to recall what I actually told her, I remembered telling her about Earth, that Fae kidnapped me on the way home from work. So the Captain assumed I came from this “Little Earth.”

Personally, I was not too fond of lying and pretense. In my opinion, it never led to anything good, and it was always only a matter of time before the truth came out. At least in my experience, but I was terrible at lying. Anyway, I felt awful about it now, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t technically lying to Rayden. I just didn’t tell her the whole truth, and she misinterpreted me.

But since I didn’t want anyone to know about my true origin, I was glad for this misunderstanding. At least for now. If this knowledge fell into the wrong hands, it could only increase the reward put already on my head.

Trying to stay calm, I nodded, “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

“It’s enough for me. As I said, I’d like to send the first junior guards to the labyrinth in three days. Of course, you can join later. But as with the seekers, to be accepted into the junior guards, you must conquer the first floor of the labyrinth, alone!” She warned me and narrowed her eyes. “Of course, you will sign the contract! I won’t train you just to go somewhere else after evolution. But don’t worry, I don’t want much, two years at the City Guards.”

At this point, I had no idea if the two-year contract was standard, but Becca mentioned her contract when she was a seeker and how difficult it was to get out of it. I needed to find out more about these contracts, companies, and the labyrinth before I could sign up for anything.

I nodded, slightly bowing, “Thank you so much for your offer, I really appreciate it.”

She laughed, “You don’t have to be so stiff. City Guards aren’t an army.”

“Can I have one last question before I go?” I asked hesitantly.

“Sure,” she gestured to me to continue.

“Can I have lunch here after they check me out in the infirmary?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t too daring.

Rayden laughed heartily this time, “I don’t think we’ll go broke for one lunch. I’ll let them know about you in the kitchen.”

I thanked her once more and thinking about her offer; I went straight to the infirmary. Not much has changed in those rooms full of last night’s attack’s victims since morning. Screaming, moaning, the smell of vomit. The only change was that not all patients wore collars. To those whose condition improved, they removed the collars.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t find Becca among the healers I wanted to say goodbye to, but she was not in the infirmary. I was told she was on leave right now. So I got checked, and because my injury healed nicely, released. So I headed for my free lunch.

With my stomach full, I reported my departure at the barracks gate and set off for Broken Heart, hoping I still had a job there.

It took me a while to realize why I get more attention from passers-by than normally on the way to the brothel. I was still in the same clothes I went to the barracks yesterday. Well, there was nothing weird about that, I didn’t have any other clothes. I bought just one pair of shorts and one shirt for the little money I had. But the shirt now had two bloodied holes in it in the chest area and one big red splodge on the back. Likewise, the entire back of my shorts was soaked with dried blood. Fortunately, by the time I stood on my own two feet, foolishly refusing to be carried on a stretcher, my injury had stopped bleeding, so my thighs were not covered with dried blood like my chest.

Ignoring the glances of the surrounding people, I quickened my pace and arrived at Broken Heart three-quarters of an hour before noon. I was nervous as I opened the door but determined to face Alyson’s anger no matter what happens.

“You bitch!” was the welcome I heard as soon as I closed the door behind me.

I looked at the female voice owner, expecting an enraged brothel owner, but instead, I found one of their girls rushing towards me.

“You dare to show up here after… huh.” She paused as she looked at me better.

I looked at her too.

[Companion: lvl 64]

This girl with auburn hair falling over her shoulders, groomed eyebrows, long lashes, dark eyes, who was pressing her lips into a thin line, knew what she wanted to be and went for it. It took courage at sixteen to choose such a profession, at least in my opinion.

I couldn’t deny that I envied her appearance. She looked gorgeous.

“You look awful! Is that blood?” She pointed to my chest.

I nodded, “I had a tough night.”

“I can see that, you look...eww what is that stench,” the young companion grabbed her nose, disgusted by what she was smelling, forgetting her anger, the origin of which I did not know.

“Korra!” the familiar voice of the owner of this business came to my ears.

Instead of sniffing my armpit as I intended, I looked at the older woman coming to us.

I smiled and bowed my head slightly, “Alyson, I’m sorry I couldn’t be here yesterday.”

“What happened, happened.” She waved me off as if nothing happened, but I would judge otherwise from the companion’s reaction. “Guards have informed me, and I can’t blame you for something that is not your fault.”

I thanked her in my mind for her understanding.

“I see you came straight here!” she pointed at me with her folded fan.

“Do I look so bad?” I asked her, wondering if she meant my clothes.

Alyson handed me the mirror that appeared in her hand, “You didn’t see yourself before you left guards’ barracks, did you?”

A shiver ran down my spine when I looked in the mirror. I was still covered in dust, my hair greasy, stuck to my skin, on which I could see paths left behind by sweat and tears as they made their way through the dust.

“I could easily play in a horror movie,” I whispered, not believing Rayden had let me into town looking like this.

It was surprising that I didn’t cause panic on the streets.

Thinking back, the first thing I should have done after leaving the barracks was visit a public bathroom or even better, ask Rayden if I could wash for free there. It was too late now, and I had no choice but to pay for the bath, which I needed very much. 

“What did you say?” Alyson asked me, responding to my remark about a horror movie.

I shook my head, “But nothing but…”

I almost vomited as I sniffed my armpit.

“Yeah, you need to wash thoroughly. Your odor is repulsive, don’t tell me you went all over town like that?” Alyson asked me in disbelief.

“Yes,” I sighed, wondering why no one had told me I looked like a monster and smelled like a pig. 

Breakfast, meeting the Lord, the Captain Rayden, and not once did anyone mention my appearance and smell. The only reason I could come up with was that the guards in the barracks did not smell any better after the night attack.

Alyson nodded respectfully, “It takes courage!”

“I would call it stupidity,” said the girl who called me a bitch.

The owner of the brothel put her hand on the young girl’s shoulder and looked at me, “Nataly here, had to do laundry instead of you yesterday, as you can see, she didn’t like it very much.”

“I see,” I said, understanding her anger, but I was not going to apologize to her for it. It was not my intention to skip the shift.

“By the way, what happened to your wings, Korra?” Alyson asked me after noticing their absence.

I turned sideways for them to see the stump, “Explosion, second got torn off!”

The two women held their breath in horror, covering their mouths.

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