Interrogation

"TWO BLOODY MONTHS?!?!?" Aki yelled, handcuffed and sitting in an interrogation room, "I'VE BEEN DEAD FOR TWO BLOODY MONTHS ?!?!" he asked, with Shrimpy & Ao sleeping inside two separate special cages for A-Rank monsters. 

"That is correct," the guard answered, "According to the report, the person associated with this guild card has been dead for two whole months, so why don't you explain where you got this from?" he asked. 

"I'm telling you, this is my guild card!" Aki restated, trying to stand up before being forced down by the heavy iron ball on his feet. 

"If you were still alive this entire time, why did the Adventurer Guild report you dead then? " the guard questioned. "Where have you been this entire time?" he asked. 

"I explained it already. I was originally out mining when a cave-in happened, and due to luck, I managed to end up in an underground cavern," Aki explained his story again. "I've been stuck inside that underground and I'm finally returning home!"

"I see.....it's a good story," the guard commented. "You should work on writing a book while you are in prison," he suggested. 

Suddenly, the large wooden interrogation room door swung open, and a large, muscular, bald man walked in. 

"SON OF A BITCH, HE SURVIVED!" Brox stated, staring at Aki. 

"BROX!!!" Aki yelled with joy, trying to stand up again before being forced back down.

"CAPTAIN!" The guard quickly stood up and saluted Brox. 

"At ease, soldier," Brox instructed, "I'll be taking this prisoner and his stuff now." 

"I understand," the guard handed over Aki's bag along with two small metal cages, and proceeded to remove the iron weight on Aki's legs. 

"Come on, Aki, let go!" Brox stated, pulling on Aki's iron handcuffs. 

"SHOULDN'T YOU BE TAKING THESE OFF FIRST!!" Aki questioned loudly before being picked up like a sack of potatoes and carried out. 

"Later, we have to meet with some important people first!" Brox stated, throwing Aki into the back of a prisoner transport wagon, and placed his bag & the metal cages next to him. "Let's move the prisoner now!" he yelled, slamming the metal door closed. 

"PRISONER?!?!?" Aki questioned, with the wagon starting to move, and a wave of motion sickness hitting him, "I'LL FUCKING REMEMBER THIS BROX!!" He yelled through the metal bars. 

The prisoner transport wagon began to travel a long distance before finally arriving at an open training field with a crowd of people waiting in front.

Brox proceeded to open the prison wagon's door to find Aki all laid out, sick to his stomach from the bumping ride. He proceeded to pick up Aki, taking his bag & the cages out of the wagon as it quickly left the training field. 

"Where am I?" Aki quickly woke up, glancing around to see a rather large open dirt field with empty stands. 

In front was Queen Caroline, Prince Kurt & Albert, Princess Rei, Layla, Guild Master Falcon, and a tall brunette lady dressed in a single slim black dress wearing black leather boots. 

Brox placed Aki into a chair and locked his legs to two large iron weights, holding him down. On the dirt ground, there was a holy magic circle drawn, and Aki sat in the center of the circle. 

As Brox left the circle, another visitor appeared, a tall sister with long silver bluish hair, a white clergy attire with navy blue accents, black thigh-high socks, and white boots, who proceeded to stand in front of Aki. 

"Talk about erotic!" Aki stared at the sister's attire, noticing the way her leg appeared through the parted slit on her long clergy outfit, exposing her black thigh-high socks. "Truly a work of art!" Aki muttered softly. 

"Per request of your majesty, Queen Caroline, I will perform a purification ceremony on the undead that is currently possessing Aki," the sister declared, with a large white light enveloping his entire body. *Purification* She activated her skill with Aki screaming and his chain rattling, leaning his head forward, lifelessly. 

"Is it done now?" Layla cried with tears coming down her face as she leaned towards Princess Rei for comfort. 

"I hope you mean this shitty play," Aki stated, staring at them, annoyed. "I played along with the sister, so get me the fuck out of these cuffs already!" he demanded. 

"EH?" the crowd of people muttered, "Did it not work?" Queen Caroline asked. 

"Let me try again!" the sister requested, *Purification* with another white light enveloping Aki, as he stared directly back at them without a single peep.

"SERIOUSLY, GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF THESE CHAINS!" Aki yelled, "FUCK THIS SHIT, AO, RELEASE ME!" he ordered. Ao immediately woke up from his nap and proceeded to dissolve his metal cage and bounced over to Aki, dissolving the iron weights and cuffs that held him down. 

"I-it's really you?" Lalya asked, "You aren't possessed?" she asked. 

"I'm more pissed than possessed at this point," Aki answered, rubbing his chaffed wrist and watching Ao dissolve Shrimpy's metal cage and release him.

"How did you survive?" the Queen questioned, "The report stated you were crushed to death, right, Guild Master Falcon?" she verified. 

"Yes, that's correct, the report came from Ana, a S-Rank Adventurer, your majesty," the Guild Master answered, "Ana states that after being thrown out the opening by Aki, she witnessed Aki's body disappear as a boulder crushed him." 

"Explain yourself, Aki," the Queen demanded, releasing a heavy wave of fridge-cold air, threatening him. 

"What a nice breeze!" Aki stated, unfazed by the dense pressure release by the Queen, startling the crowd. "Shouldn't you apologize first before you start demanding answers, your ma-je-sty?" as he approached and stood in front of the Queen without hesitation or fear of cold pressure. 

"You are correct, I'm sorry for our treatment towards you," the Queen apologized and bowed her head. 

"YOUR MAJESTY! YOU SHOULDN'T NEED TO BOW YOUR HEAD FOR THIS RUDE COMMONER!" the tall brunette yelled, "YOU SHOULD THROW HIM IN PRISON FOR BEING RUDE TO THE ROYAL FAMILY!"

"Aemila, if I threw everyone who was being rude to us, we wouldn't have many people left in this Kingdom, would we?" the Queen stated, "Also, I told you to just address me by name like in the past?" 

"The past?" Aki questioned, "Who is she?" 

"Aki, this Aemila, my personal advisor and best friend," the Queen introduced, "Before I became Queen, we used to be part of an S-rank party called the Iron Heart."

"Wait,  you were a commoner?" Aki questioned, "I thought you were always a princess." 

"No, the current King was a part of our party, but was under a secret identity," the Queen explained, "I didn't know he was a prince until I was pregnant with Kurt," she chuckled. 

"I see....so why is she here?" Aki questioned, "If I were possessed, why did she need to be here?"

"Aemila possesses a few light attack skills that can help out if a fight breaks out against the undead. She also possesses the rare appraisal skill that helps identify attacks during combat," the Queen stated, "Not to mention she is also single if you are willing to court her," she added, with a smile. 

"CAROLINE!! HE DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!!" Aemila yelled. 

"I mean, you were complaining about reaching that age and wanted to settle down soon, right?" The Queen commented, "Aki isn't a bad guy except for the fact that he is a bit moronic in his own way, right?" She smirked. 

"*Ah-hem*, If you don't mind, can I leave now?" the sister asked, "I have other work I need to do at the church." 

"Oh, yes, you can leave now, Roxi," the Queen stated. "Please come visit Lily soon! She misses you a lot," she added. 

"I will.......eventually," the sister stated, before walking out of the training field. 

"Okay, explain yourself!" the Queen demanded, getting back on track. "How did you survive, and what is with the slime? How did it dissolve a special cage meant to contain A-rank monsters?" 

"Hey, you pervert prince, write everything I'm about to disclose down!" Aki demanded, with the Queen nodding and Prince Albert, to take out a large stack of paper and a pen. 

The group proceeded to move to the stand area and sat around while Aki proceeded to tell his story, where he fell through a large tunnel system and was saved by the slime he now called Ao. He proceeded to disclose his encounter with the Ice Hawk and detailed his fight with it. 

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" the Guild Master yelled, "Ice Hawks no longer exist in this world! They died off when their home was destroyed hundreds of years ago!" he proclaimed. 

"The Guild Master is correct, Ice Hawks are considered to be legendary birds that once ruled the skies. They were wiped out after a conflict involving Gods & Demons that destroyed their homes," the Queen explained, with a small hint of disappointment in her voice. "If only I could have an Ice monster to tame, maybe then I would be considered officially a royal member," she muttered softly. 

 "Speaking of proof, I have the Ice Hawk in my item box," Aki stated, looking at his inventory. 

"WHAT!" the crowd yelled. 

"W-W-WAIT, Y-YOU H-HAVE I-IT IN YOUR INVETNORY?" The Queen quickly stood up and grabbed Aki's shoulders, "SHOW ME NOW!" 

"OWWW!!!" Aki yelled, with the Queen squeezing Aki's shoulder intensely. 

"CAROLINE! LET HIM GO!" Aemila pulled the Queen back, "I'm sorry, Aki, she gets like this when it comes to ice attribute monsters," she stated. 

"TAKE IT OUT!" the Queen yelled, screaming and acting like a child throwing a tantrum. 

"Please, Aki, if you don't mind, can you please show Mother?" Princess Rei walked over and pleaded with him, along with Prince Kurt & Albert. 

"Sure, I don't see the harm," Aki answered, "The only thing I request is that the Queen is allowed to be near it." 

"Are you afraid of us stealing?" The Guild Master questioned Aki's request. 

"No, I don't want anyone to die from it," Aki answered with a stern voice. 

Aki & the Queen proceeded to stand in the center of the training field, and he proceeded to take out the Ice Hawk as it landed on the dirt ground, freezing the entire field and part of the stand. 

"FUCK, THAT IS COLD!" Aki yelled, with his hands once again frost-bitten, and tried to warm them back up. 

"I-I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" the Queen stated, brushing her hands through the blood-soaked feather and feeling the frigid cold air shaking her core. For the first time, the Queen was feeling cold as she possessed the extremely rare ice attribute, and the cold shouldn't affect her at all. 

"Mother, what do you think?" Princess Rei yelled from a distance, with the entire crowd shivering. 

"He was telling the truth," the Queen answered back, looking at Aki's frost-bitten hands after touching the Ice Hawk. "You don't mind if I hold onto this corpse, right?" she requested, knowing that the cold air was too much for everyone at the moment. 

"I don't mind, but do you have a big enough item box?" Aki questioned, knowing that even with his item box, he had removed everything from it. 

"No need to worry about that, I have a special item bag only given to the Royal Family," the Queen smiled, taking out a blue magic bag and proceeding to store it away. "Don't worry, I won't take this achievement from you," she reassured Aki as the training field returned to room temperature. 

The crowd began to approach Aki & the Queen as they started to discuss what to do with this legendary bird. 

"Aki, what do you plan on doing with the Ice Hawk?" the Queen asked. "Do you want to keep it or sell it?" 

"Hmmmm.....I'll delegate that decision to you," Aki stated bluntly. "Sell it, keep it, or burn it, I don't really care," he added. 

"HUH?!?!?" The Crowd yelled, 

"YOU DO REALIZE WHAT WILL HAPPEN THE MOMENT THE MATERIALS FROM THIS LEGENDARY IS PLACED ON AUCTION!! " The Guild Master yelled, "YOU CAN EASILY EARN ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY MULTIPLE CASTLES WITH THE AMOUNT OF MONEY". 

"Why do I need a castle exactly?" Aki asked, "The reason I'm going to leave with the Queen is because she is the only one who can properly touch it. I can't touch it without hurting myself." he showed his frostbitten hands.  

"That is true...." the Guild Master stated, "I honestly don't believe anyone else in this Kingdom can properly handle this type of material other than the Queen herself," realizing that if anyone comes in contact with this bird, there is a good chance they could die. 

"Don't worry, Guild Master, I have plenty of monsters for you to deal with!" Aki answered with a sarcastic tone. Aki proceeded to empty four magic sacks of different Orcs, including a general, knights, a King, and a Queen, creating large piles of corpses.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE AMOUNT!?!?!" the Guild Master yelled, "PUT THEM BACK IN AND TAKE THEM TO THE ADVENTURER GUILD!!" 

"Sorry, no can do," Aki stated, "These magic bags were already damaged, and once I took them off, they kind of fell apart." he showed the torn bags. 

"AHAHAHAHA!" Prince Kurt laughed, "He got you good on that one!" 

"WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING, PRINCE KURT?!?!?" Aki smiled, grabbed three magic bags, and proceeded to empty weapons and armor onto the training ground. "By the way, some of these armors and weapons may be cursed," he added. 

"WAIT! YOU CAN'T DUMP ALL THIS ON ME?!?!?" Prince Kurt yelled, "What am I going to do with all this junk?!?"

"Aemlia, can you please appraise this?" Aki picked up a broken sword and presented it to her while kneeling, with the Queen nodding.

"MITHRIL?!?!?" Aemila screamed, "The sword is broken, but this was once a mithril sword!" 

"Ahhhhh....to think Prince Kurt called it junk....maybe I'll just throw it into the river," Aki jokingly suggested. 

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH IT!!" Prince Kurt stopped Aki from taking it away. "I'LL SORT THROUGH ALL OF IT, SO DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH IT! THAT GOES DOUBLE FOR YOU, GUILD MASTER FALCON!!" he yelled, seeing the Guild Master trying to sneak off with a few broken weapons. 

The crowd began to laugh as Ao woke up from the laughter and bounced towards Aki to heal his hands.