Case #3: The Prisoner's Interrogation

The following morning, inside the Guild Master's office, Alexis was lying on the sofa trying to rest with Ana's eyes showing dark clouds. 

"WHY WON'T HE TALK!!!," Alexis cried after being up all night, watching the prisoner get tortured nonstop, to have him spill information from the organization. "I want to sleep, but if I sleep now and he ends up dead, it would have been for nothing," she exclaimed.

"If it were that easy, we wouldn't be suffering like this," Ana answered, as she was also very sleep-deprived after dealing with the Goblin Incident. 

"I know!" Alexis yelled, sitting upright, "How about we ask Haruno & Emila for advice on how to extract information from him?", with the lack of sleep distorting her usual clear conscience judgment, failing to realize she had requested civilians' help to torture a prisoner. 

"Alexis, I don't plan on exposing them to the dark side of this world," Ana declined the suggestion. "They are still young ladies who still have a bright future, and I want them to stay away if possible," she worried. "I'm okay if this is something they wish to do out of their free will, but I will not stand for it if you are planning on coercing them into it." She warned. 

"What do we do then?" Alexis fell back to the sofa, "If we can't extract information from him, we can't decide our next plan of action!" she cried, kicking her leg up and down in the air, as they leaned over the sofa's armrest, exposing her purple laced underwear. 

"If you want to extract information out of him, Emila can do it easily," Haruno offered, as the two burst into the room with Lucy standing nearby after failing to stop her. 

Alexis sat upright and fixed her posture. 

"HARUNO! I've told you before to always knock and obtain permission before entering my office," Ana yelled, sending Lucy on her way. "It's not very polite to just walk into the room without knocking."

"I'm sorry, Mother," Haruno apologized. 

"M-M-MOTHER?!?!" Alexis quickly stood up from the sofa, "Did she call you, MOTHER??!?!?" she pointed back and forth.

"It's a long story, but this is a good time to clear up any questions you may have regarding them," Ana determined, standing up and proceeding to walk towards the other sofa. "Haruno, can you brew us some coffee, please?" she requested. 

"Yes, Mom," Haruno answered back, walking out of the room with Emila. 

Ana began to explain to Alexis that Haruno & Emila were not from this world and were considered lost individuals. She then began to explain how she has been keeping a watchful eye on the two of them, as they are too eccentric to be left on their own, especially Haruno. She went on to explain that Haruno possesses immense uncontrolled strength that can easily destroy the barriers she created, and Emila lacks the self-confidence to act on her own, easily being swayed by Haruno's ridiculous request. 

"I knew they were a bit off, but I didn't realize it was that bad," Alexis commented, "I'm concerned what would happen if Haruno snaps one day and goes on a rampage. I don't think anyone can stop her if she can easily destroy your super-hard barriers with just pure raw strength." as she recalled her attmept to break through one.

"That's why I've kind of adopted them into my family," Ana explained, "At first, I was watching them out of concern and curiosity, but now, I'm a bit too protective of those two." She smiled. 

"I see.....motherhood does draw out a new type of personality," Alexis teased Ana. "It's about time you had kids of your own after all!" she laughed. 

"I could say the same thing about you," Ana laughed, knowing Alexis was in her midtwenties and in this world, she is already behind when it comes to getting married.

"What's so funny?" Haruno asked as she placed a French press onto the coffee table. "By the way, I did knock this time, but no one answered," she pointed out, before getting another lecture from Ana. She proceeded to take the tray of cups from Emila and pour the coffee. 

"It's nothing," Ana chuckled, "Why don't you two sit next to me?" she stated, scooting over, making room for Haruno & Emila. 

"Yes, Ma'am." Haruno & Emila sat next to Ana on the small sofa. 

"You finally made a wonderful little family for yourself, Ana," Alexis muttered, staring at the ideal family scene in front of her, "HOT!" she yelled, burning her tongue on the coffee. 

"Are you okay?" Emila asked as she leaned forward and proceeded to heal Alexis's burnt tongue. 

"Hey Ana, can I have this child?" Alexis requested, "My parents would love to raise her as their grandchild." 

"Unfortunately, no." Ana declined her request, "They are part of my family already, so keep your hands off of them!" she declared. 

"Fine, but I would still love to introduce you two to my parents in the future, especially you, Emila," Alexis stated. "Moving along, Haruno, you mention Emila can extract the information out of the prisoner easily. How is that possible?" she inquired, gently blowing on the hot coffee. 

"Regarding the method, that's a secret!" Haruno said, "If you allow Emila some alone time with the prisoner, she can easily extract information," she offered again. 

"Are you sure?" Alexis asked Emila, " This isn't some sort of game; this is a real-life prisoner who is going to lie and try to attack you."

"Emila, what do you think?" Ana asked, "Regardless of what Haruno is offering, I want you to make that choice yourself." 

Emila deeply stared into her cup and began to think carefully, "I'm not too sure myself," she answered.

"That's fine too," Ana calmly stated, placing her left hand on Emila's right shoulder. "You heard it from her, Alexis. She doesn't want to do it," she stated.

"BOOOO!!!" Haruno pouted, "Here I thought we could finally begin our work as detectives and finally get paid for our services!" she stated. 

"What is a detective?" Alexis inquired. 

Haruno began to explain what a detective meant and how she & Emila were a famous detective pair who solved crimes on Earth. She went on to describe cases that they solved, which were exaggerated and corrected by Emila. She went on to explain that they were not paid for their services, but were greatly appreciated by the community, with small gifts being given to them in return. 

"Speaking of gifts, remember those two BeastKin you saved, Haruno?" Alexis said, "I received this box of cookies from them earlier today," as she brought out a small sky blue tin container from her inventory with an attached letter and handed it to Haruno. 

"Ooooo, yummy cookies, perfect with coffee," Haruno said, opening the cookie tin for everyone to enjoy. "Let's see what the letter is about," she stated, opening the letter with something slipping out and falling to the ground. 

"OH WOW! THESE COOKIES ARE AMAZING!!!" Ana exclaimed, "I've never had cookies this good before!" she stated. 

"I agree!" Alexis stated, "I wonder who made these?", picking up the cookie lid, and saw an insignia of a whisk & rolling pin with a large five-tier cake in the background. She proceeded to drop her half-eaten cookie on the table. 

"Where did it come from?" Emila asked, immersing herself in the cookie.

"I-I-It came from the Raul Bakery!" Alexis yelled, showing off the insignia to everyone.

"THE RAUL BAKERY!!!" Ana & Emila screamed, with their jaws dropping. 

"Who?" Haruno asked, with her eardrum ringing from all the screaming.

"The Raul Bakery is one of the most exclusive cafes and bakeries in this Kingdom!" Emila explained, "Mother & I pass it each time when we go shopping with lines that extend through multiple districts just waiting to buy bread. Currently, the reservation list for the in-house dining requires a five-year wait, and the food that is served rivals the Royal Palace!" she exclaimed, with her face suddenly turning red, realizing she had addressed the Guild Master as Mother. 

"You finally called me by another name other than Guild Master," Ana cried, shedding a few tears and embracing Emila tightly. 

"I see...." Haruno said, munching a cookie, "This is pretty good!" 

"What does the letter say?" Alexis asked, curious to know how the two BeastKins were able to procure such an exclusive gift. 

"There are two letters in here, one from the two BeastKins children and one from their grandparents, owners of the Bakery," Haruno stated. "The first letter was them giving their appreciation to me for standing up against that scam artist old man and saving them. The second letter was from the grandparents stating the same thing, but requested I come have a meal at the cafe at any time for free. It also states that I can just skip the line by presenting this gold-plated card to any of the staff members, and I'll be escorted directly inside." She picked up the gold card from the ground, noticing it was engraved with her name. "They must have heard my name when I introduced myself to you, Alexis," as she showed it off.

"THAT IS SO UNFAIR!!!" Ana, Emila & Alexis exclaimed. 

"EVERYONE RELAX!!!" Haruno yelled, "They said I can bring guests with me!" She added, hoping they would calm down. 

"YAY!"  Ana, Emila & Alexis laughed with excitement. "When should we go, Haruno?" Emila asked.

"Wait.....does that mean that giant box of cake came from them too?" Alexis realized, "When the cookies & letter were brought to the station, they included a giant box of cake. I thought it was meant for the Captain, so I left it behind in the cold room at the Order." 

"D-DID YOU SAY C-CAKE?!?!?" Emila's blue eyes shine brightly. 

On Earth, Emila was extremely self-conscious about her weight as she easily gained weight when she consumed anything sweet. Due to this reason, she refrained from eating sweets and was consistently exercising, which is why she learned swordsmanship. In this world, sweets like cakes were considered a type of luxury that only the higher nobility could afford, with the lower class eating fruits or the occasional sweet bread filled with jam. 

"LET'S GO TO THE STATION NOW!" Emila demanded, getting up and ready to leave. 

"Wait, what about the issue regarding the prisoner?" Alexis asked, "We need to figure that first," she added.

"I'll do it," Emila stated. 

"Huh?" Alexis wondered, "What do you mean by that?" she asked. 

"I'll extract the information out of him," Emila announced, "If he is standing in my way of eating a delicious cake, I just have to remove him from the equation!" she declared. "By the way, Haruno, you are coming with me inside!" she glared back at Haruno. 

"W-Wait, you can't do this to me!" Haruno screamed as Emila dragged her by her shirt collar down the stone hallway and towards the interrogation room where the prisoner was kept, "This is going to haunt me forever!" she cried, as her photographic memory will retain all the details.

"Don't be a baby, Haurno! You've made me watch horror movies when I didn't want to," Emila stated, swinging open the heavy metal door with one hand when the knights required two people. "Please make sure no one else comes into the room until we return," Emila requested towards Ana Alexis, Eric, Max, and four other knights standing by. 

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!?!" the prisoner yelled, "DID YOU WANT TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH A REAL MAN TONIGHT!?!?" he mocked, thrusting his pelvis forward. 

"Also, make sure you have someone who can write nearby," Emila requested. "This shouldn't take too long," she stated, with an ominous smile appearing on her face as the metal door slowly creaked closed.

*Title: Queen of M Active*

"A-Are t-they going to be okay?" Eric asked Alexis, who shrugged her shoulders, while Ana looked concerned. 

Suddenly, the sound of screaming could be heard from the outside, with the loudest screaming coming from Haruno. Alexis and the other Knights wanted to check on them, but were immediately stopped by Ana, who just shook her head, saying, "We must trust them."

As they questioned their judgment allowing two young girls to interrogate the prisoner, Emila's voice could be heard, "DID I SAY YOU CAN FUCKING TALK?!?!?" followed by a loud smack and *BUUU!!!* *BUUUU!!* noise being heard. 

Everyone stood in shock after hearing Emila's usual, soft voice suddenly become this loud and assertive. 

After 12 minutes, the metal door creaked open, with Emila coming out alone, holding a broken, bloody tool in her hands.

"I can't believe it broke already!" Emila exclaimed, holding the broken makeshift flogger with the vines shredded. "Can you dispose of this when you can?" as she dropped the broken flogger into Eric's hands, who accepted it without question. 

"Alexis, the prisoner is ready to speak now!" Emila smiled cheerfully, "You can leave Haruno alone in that corner for a bit," as she began to walk towards Ana. "Now, let's have some cake, shall we?" she suggested, with Ana giving an awkward smile as a knight led them to the dining hall. 

Alexis and her knights slowly walked into the prisoner cell, peering inside to see that Haruno was curled up in the corner of the room with her eyes shut and ears covered, rocking herself, while the prisoner had an odd, smiling face.

"What just happened in here?" Alexis questioned, seeing the odd scene in front of her.