How to ace your interrogation!

So there I was, sitting at an old table in a dimly lit room. Only one thing was on my mind at this very moment.

“I just wanna go home.”

I’ve been chased by an orc, almost eaten by a bear, jump-scared by a giant spider, chased by goblins, and now arrested for seeking aid! Why does my bad luck always do this to me, well at least there’s still hope. Based on how this room looks this is clearly the interrogation room, as long as I answer their questions and act civil everything should be alright. Suddenly I heard footsteps moving towards the door, and soon enough the door was unlocked. In came a knight with his helmet off, he looked like he was in his thirties. His hair was amber and his eyes were a hazy gold color, he gave off the air of someone who was trustworthy. Although I was a little scared to see the light scar over his nose. I guess he noticed my panicked state because he started to sigh as he walked over to the table.

“Sorry for the trouble, the castle is in an uproar right now so the guards are in a bit of a frenzy. Doesn’t make it any better since they aren’t telling us why they're so antsy, besides that my name is Alex. As you can see I’m one of the guards stationed here, and who might you be.”

“Oh! I’m Sota, it’s nice to meet you!”

I was able to stammer a basic introduction, I’ll withhold my family name for now. At least things are going well so far, if it’s just this guy maybe I can-

“Sorry for the wait, but sadly we’re still waiting on one more person.”

“There’s another knight that’ll be taking part in this?”

“Yeah, it’s my trainee.”

Suddenly I could hear footsteps rushing towards the door, immediately the door flew open. I was startled until I noticed a knight in light plate mail breathing heavily, Mr. Alex sighed again and stared at our visitor.

“I had paper work I was going through, but what’s your excuse?”

*huff huff*

The poor knight could barely catch their breath, where in the world were they coming from. That’s when I finally heard the knight speak.

“*Huff Huff* Sorry Teach! I was brushing Clive’s mana when I heard I had to come watch this demonstration.”

That voice was high pitched, wait is this person a woman! She took off her helmet to breathe better, she looked relieved to finally be able to breathe again. I take back my previous thoughts, the female night isn’t a woman but a girl. She had short black hair and emerald eyes, her figure was rather petite. It’s amazing a kid like this managed to become a knight, she looks so harmless.

“HEY!”

Huh? Did someone just say something to me?

“YEAH YOU INMATE! I see you over there, you’ve been looking at me for over a minute now. You better not be getting any ideas over there!”

“What! Heavens no, I was just a little shocked because you’re the only girl I’ve seen here!”

“Oh, so you’re stunned by my beauty! Well I’ll have you know tha-WAIT! DID YOU JUST CALL ME A GIRL, I’M EIGHTEEN GOSH DARNIT!”

Huh? Eighteen? But she looks so young, oh I see now. She’s just like me, an adult who looks like a high schooler. I lift my head and look at her with a pitiful gaze.

“Are you pitying me now!”

“I know how you feel, I’m twenty one after all and yet I look like this.”

“HUH!?! You’re lying, if you’re that age then you’re supposed to have muscle. On top of that, why are you so short!?!”

“Hey, can we start the procedure already?”

We both turned our heads to look at Mr. Alex, he looked like he just wanted to go home. I guess me and this girl felt the same way because we both went quiet. Mr. Alex then looked at the kid and began to speak to her.

“I’ll never understand where you get all that energy from Sophia.”

“Wha-I mean! *Sigh* Sorry Teach, I keep making a mess of things.”

The girl named Sophia took the seat across from me at the table, she then started staring daggers at me. Mr. Alex then picked up a pitcher of water, and poured some into a cup. He then put it in front of me, and began to speak.

“You must be thirsty, go on and have a drink.”

“Thanks, I could really use this-”

Before I could finish my sentence, or grab the cup, Sophia rushed for it and drank it all in one swig.

“*Phew* Nothing better than some cold water after a long run.”

““...””

We both stared at her blankly, immediately Sophia began to look between the two of us.

“Oh, did I do something wrong?”

“That water was meant for him.”

“OH! Sorry I didn’t know!”

“It’s fine, since I bullied her before I’ll let her have it.”

I guess it’s only fair since I hurt her feelings, Sophia looked back at me with a smirk on her face. Hold on a moment, did this girl fake it in order to get out of trouble! As if sensing the intentions behind her actions, Mr. Alex closed his eyes and responded to her smugness.

“You do realize the water had a truth serum mixed in right?”

“WAIT WHAT!?!”

I had the same reaction Sophia did, these guys were trying to drug me! This isn’t how we do things back home at all! That’s when Mr. Alex made a smirk and started laughing.

“Relax, it was a joke!”

“TEACH!”

“That’s not funny Mr. Alex!”

This guy really is a piece of work, after that Mr. Alex looked me in the eye and began to speak again.

“Well, enough small talk, let’s begin the interro-”

“GUILTY!!!”

Huh? Why is Sophia pointing at me like a certain lawyer I know, and why does she think I’m guilty!

“Uh, did I do something wrong?”

“Of course you did, that’s why you’re 100% guilty without a doubt!”

“...huh?”

I couldn’t help looking at her in confusion, what did I do wrong? Even Mr. Alex is perplexed.

“Sophia, what are you talking about?”

“Well isn’t it obvious Teach, everyone who’s entered this interrogation room has been proven guilty. Going off of that, this guy must be guilty of something!”

Everyone who’s been sent here has been proven guilty, oh dear god! This is it, I’m done for!

“I don’t know where you keep hearing these stories Sophia, on top of that look at Sota. He’s scared to his wits, don’t you feel any pity for him.”

“Why should I pity a criminal! He’s in the interrogation room, he kept glancing at me, made fun of my age, and is most likely lying about being twenty one. Teach there’s no way this guy can be innocent!”

She really lacks faith in me that much, I think I’m about to cry again. These people are so mean, I wish I never moved. I should’ve just stayed holed up at the temple with my parents, I never got hit with bad luck while I was there. As I began to regret my life decisions, Alex sighed again and pulled an amulet out his pocket.

“Sota, are you a criminal?”

“No! Of course I’m not a criminal!”

Immediately, the amulet’s gemstone turned from orange to blue. Alex pointed the amulet towards a surprised Sophia and responded to her previous remarks.

“You remember how this thing works Sophia? It’s orange when the information given isn’t necessary or inherently evil, it turns red when the target is lying, and it turns blue when they're innocent. In other words, he’s clean.”

“No way! There’s gotta be some kind of mistake, you’ve gotta trust me Teach! This guy’s hiding something I’m sure of it!”

“How about this then, Sota tell us why you’re in this situation.”

That’s what Mr. Alex asked me to do, but can I do it? It’s probably dangerous to tell them I’m from another world, what iof that’s what those guys meant by one of “them”. If that’s the case I need to be careful about this, hopefully my plan works.

“Alright I’ll tell you my story from the beginning.”

****

“...And that’s how I ended up here in this interrogation room.”

Here’s the gist of the story I told them: I came from a distant land via a boat. While on a voyage with my companions there was a storm that sank our ship, and upon waking up I found myself in that forest. After some terrifying encounters I found myself here in this kingdom. I found out apparently this kingdom is called Rosaria, it sounds familiar for some reason. Whatever the case, that’s the story I gave them. Mr. Alex had his eyes closed and nodded his head understanding the situation, meanwhile as for Sophia…

“*Sniff* You poor little guy…*sniff*How could I be such a jerk. *Sniff*DDIIIMMMEEE DDDOOOOEEEE PPPOOOWWWWYYYY!!!!!!(I’m so sorry!).”

I didn’t think Sophia would start crying, I wonder how she’d react to that one famous movie about the shipwreck. Alex meanwhile opened his eyes and began to speak.

“Based on the amulet, your story checks out. Your innocence is proven, after filling out some paperwork you’re free to go.”

“Really! Thank you so much Mr. Alex!”

“Listen guy, I’m only thirty, there’s no reason for you to call me mister.”

“TEACH! Isn’t there some way we can help him! Can’t we give him some clothes at least, he looks like his wife left him!”

Hold it in, freedom is in sight. Don’t start crying now, just like that sheep lad once said “Hold it in”. While fighting my urge to cry Mr. Alex brought out the papers he mentioned.

“Oh right, you don’t have a visitor tag do you?”

“Visitor tag?”

“It’s like a necklace that lets you enter territories without trouble. Besides an adventurers license, it’s a must have if you want to enter cities. Let alone crossing the border.”

Wow sounds like I need to get one of those, if I flashed that thing the knights from before probably would’ve let me walk right on through. I began to ask about it.

“Mr. Alex-”

“Drop the Mr.”

“How do I get one of those visitor tags?”

“You can actually get them here, you need a silver coin though.”

Silver coin? I had a whole bunch of those in the bag that Miss Fianna gave me, so I decided to pull it out to grab the money. Alex and Sophia were shocked to see my secret stash, and Sophia pointed out I had a knife hidden on me. She looked like she was about to enter her justice mode again, but she remembered my story and calmed herself.

After paying the fair and completing the citizens registry, I was finally ready to leave. I thanked Alex again for the help, and Sophia shocked my hand before I left.

“I pray that you find your friends and family again, and your wife too!”

When did I say all that? This girl has a wild imagination, at the very least she’s a good person. The experience was scary but I hope I see these two again.

****

“What an interesting guy.”

That Sota guy was interesting, he even had a fun story to tell. He’s innocent, I’ll give him that, but that story was fake. The amulet didn’t turn blue, meaning it was false. However, due to him being innocent and the fact that his story wasn’t harmful, the amulet gave him a pass and stayed orange. I wonder where that guy came from, but before that there’s pressing matters to attend to. It might not concern me, but why is the royal family panicking right now? What could’ve happened to place them in a state of disarray? I wonder, maybe Sota and the royal family’s situation are connect-

“Hey Teach, is everything alright?”

Of course she disturbs me while I’m in thought, this kid is such an annoying student. Well she has potential, and her heart is true. I swear I’ll make her into a proper knight, but before that.

“Sophia”

“Teach, you have that scary look in your eye again. Did I do something wrong?”

“For nearly messing up an interrogation, you’ll be sleeping in the stables for the next three nights. You better hope Clive’s a light sleeper.”

“No way, Phooey!”

You’re lucky, back when I was in the army they would chain you in the brig for being late to a meeting. Not to mention the beatings you’d receive, I still get nightmares just thinking about it. Sophia, besides raising you right, I swear I will never let you or any other good people see the horrors that this kingdom hides from you.