Slave to Righteousness (II)

“Well, look who it is.”

Eventually, after I was left to roll around and mope by myself a bit more, a familiar face suddenly appears in front of my cell.

It is Ariesa, the female knight I met earlier today.

“When I first met you this morning, I never expected you’d actually commit a crime. Maybe I should’ve just arrested you back then before you did anything serious.”

“Nice to see you again too… um, aren’t you a commander or something? Don’t you have better things to do then come and taunt a small-time criminal?”

I greet her with a little timidness and little sass, remembering just how badly our first meeting went.

“Indeed, I am incredibly busy at the moment. I normally wouldn’t have the time to come check on you like this. But there are a few questions I want to ask you.”

She states as she enters the prison cell with me, shutting the door behind her.

Oh, so this is my questioning session. I thought that I’d be brought to an interrogation room or something, but I guess they just interrogate you in your cell over here.

However, even then, is it really okay for her to be in the same cell as the criminal? I mean, the keys to the cells are hanging right there on her hip. It’s like she’s asking for someone to attack her and take them to escape…

“Oh. If you’re thinking of taking my keys, feel free to do so. However, be warned that I will cut off your head the moment you try.”

Never mind. Seems like it’s not a problem when the criminal is no match for the guard.

“N-no, I would never dare. I already know from experience that I couldn’t fight you.”

“Hm. It’s good that you understand that. It seems that your previous punishment has succeeded in knocking some sense into you.”

She smirks a little, evidently proud at how quickly I learned not to mess with her.

“However, it seems that you’ve gotten yourself even further injured since our last meeting. I can only assume you must have zero sense of safety. Even when we first met, you were already beaten up. How did you receive such wounds?”

“Oh, those? Well, I got beaten up on my way to the Knight Post, so that’s why.”

“Really, now. You were attacked?”

“Yeah, by these three guys. When I told them I didn’t have any money, they all ganged up on me. Hahaha.”

I laugh it off, trying to keep a jovial attitude to the whole thing. But instead, Ariesa’s face quickly grows grim.

“I see. In that case, you have my apologies. I’m sorry that that happened to you.”

“Huh?”

Ariesa suddenly bows before me, lowering her head in complete formal apology.

“Wh-what are you doing? That’s not necessary.”

“No. If you were assaulted and robbed in this city, then that is a failure on the part of us knights. We failed in our duty to keep the streets safe. Thus, on behalf of the entire knight order, I apologize to you.”

Her voice rings with sincerity and gravity. This isn’t some PR canned apology, but rather a genuine act from her art. She truly feels sorry for what happened and is treating it like her own personal failure.

I barely know how to respond to such a serious apology. I was just expecting her to come in here and make me apologize for my crimes or something, so the complete reversal of that feels weird.

“U-uhhh, it’s okay. I accept your apology. Please raise your head now.”

“Thank you for your understanding. I solemnly promise to continue to try and do better.”

She lifts her head and shoots an earnest, determined look at me.

“For starters, I can punish the men who did that to you. If you’ll share their descriptions with us, I can send a patrol of knights to find them and bring them in. I’ll make sure that they apologize to you in person and pay reparations for what they did to you!”

There is a fiery glare in her eyes as she declares that, as if she’s gunning to hunt them down right now. I appreciate the spirit, but it feels a little dangerous how extreme the tone of her voice is.

I should probably try to calm her down a bit and let her know it’s not that serious.

“O-oh, it’s ok. Don’t worry about it. I’m totally over it by now. I don’t care about those guys anymore…”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

All of a sudden, Ariesa’s expression turns furious.

“I never asked if you wanted to cooperate with us or not. That’s not your decision to make. It doesn’t matter if you don’t care or you’ve forgiven them; those punks are still out there and they need be stopped before they hurt anyone else! If you won’t help us catch them by sharing what you know, then I’ll consider you their accomplice too!”

“Woah, okay, okay. No need for that. I understand. I’m happy to cooperate!”

Holy geez, she’s intense! One second, she’s bowing to me and the next she’s threatening me. This girl’s a freaking rollercoaster!

I quickly give her descriptions of the three guys who mugged me to get her off my back. After she finishes jotting the notes down on a memo pad, she nods at me with satisfaction.

“Good. I’ll pass this info along to the patrol guards. Soon, we’ll catch them and I’ll present their heads to you on a platter.”

“F-figuratively, right?”

“Yes. Figuratively… for their first offense, at least.”

Scary! This chick’s scary! Someone get me out of this cell right now!

Quick, I need to change the subject before she turns her ire back at me.

“Umm, oh, that’s right. Weren’t you going to question me? So, what do you want to ask me?”

“Oh, yes. It seems I got a little distracted. Let’s get back on topic.”

She faces me again with a look of complete, solemn seriousness, the face of an earnest professional.

“Regarding what you told me about earlier today, please tell me more.”

“Huh?”

I blink in surprise.

I thought she was here to discuss my theft incident. But instead, she’s here about the warning I gave her?

“Hold on. Didn’t you just brush me off when I told you about it back then? You said it was just a prank, so why are you suddenly interested in it now.”

“I did think it was a prank. And I still mostly do. But after hearing about this past incident, I’ve reconsidered my thoughts on it.”

“Why…?”

“The crime you just committed does not logically align with my earlier assessment of you. If you were just a prankster trying to make a fool of me, it would not make sense for you to later commit a serious and blatant crime such as a robbing a merchant in broad daylight. And if you were a criminal planning on robbing someone, you wouldn’t go have mischievous fun in front of the Knight’s Post just before. Because of this discrepancy, I am led to consider the possibility that you weren’t trying to prank me after all.”

Huh. She actually put quite some thought into this. That’s rather diligent of her to try and connect the dots instead of just writing each minor incident off.

“So, because you sensed something was off, you came to confirm your suspicions with me?”

“I’m just making sure I don’t miss anything. It’s not like I believe you now. There’s still the chance that you’re just a lunatic criminal and your actions have no logic to them. But… if there is even a slim chance that what you told me is actually true, then I cannot ignore it as a Knight.”

She places her hand on her chest, showing the dedication and resolve behind her title.

And then, she crouches down, lowering herself to meet me at eye level. Without looking down on me from above on putting any airs, she speaks to me in a clear and direct voice.

“So please, tell me what you know. Tell me everything you can. I promise I won’t dismiss you or belittle you no matter what you say. Please help me protect this world.”

If she says such a thing with a face like that… how could I possibly say no?

“Okay. I’ll tell you everything.”