"Ughh..."
The white light dazzled Adin's eyes. He turned his head while closing his eyes.
"Agh... Where the hell am I?"
He found himself in a thoroughly-white room on a wooden seat, his wrists handcuffed behind his back.
As the effects of the dazzling light on his eyes diminished, he noticed a human shape sitting before him on another seat.
A wooden table was set between them, separating Adin and that human.
He was a young-looking man, bearing short black hair and dark eyes. He had a lip ring and two eyebrow rings, and an earring in each ear, wearing a black uniform with a large dragon symbol gilded on its surface.
"Ehe... Who are you?" Adin asked, staring.
The man coughed, holding his hand before his mouth. "I'm the one who's going to ask questions here. Understood?"
"What? Oh... so is this that 'interrogation' that guy was talking about?"
"Told you, I am the one asking questions here!"
"Hmm, Ok..." Adin sighed, mumbling, "Boring..."
"Did you say something?"
"No! Just go ahead! I'll be cooperating with you since I have absolutely nothing to hide!"
"Good! It's also better for yourself! So... shall we start?"
"Are you going to torture me now or something?"
"Torture? No! We can't do that according to the law! Ahh, didn't I tell you I'm the only one who can ask questions here? You must just answer! Understood?"
The man put his hands together under his chin, his elbows being supported on the table, bringing his suspicious looks closer.
"What's your name? Who're you? What do you want? Where've come from? What's your objective?"
"Hold up! Hold up! You're asking too fast!"
"All right then, I will ask in order: Why have you come to Seora?"
"To join an adventuring guild? Maybe?"
"Didn't I tell I AM the one asking questions here?"
"Oops, sorry! I thought Seora has the best guilds, so I decided to go adventuring under the flag of one of its guilds."
"I see... Where have you come from? Where's your homeland?"
"Ahh, well, I've come from the south lands. There's a small village in the south; I'm born there."
"What's the name of that village?"
Adin hesitated for a moment. "It's called... it's... hmm... Oberectus!"
"Oberectus? I've not heard of any village with that name."
"Hehehe... you see, it's really an unknown place. Nobody gives attention to it."
The suspicion in the man's stares grew more intense.
"Why do you want to adventure?"
"Because it's cool!"
"What's your ranking?"
"0G1"
"Have you joined a party or do you have members?"
"Yes, you guys have also arrested them. They are Winter, Elena, and Felicia."
"Is there anyone else in your group?"
"Ah, yes! Liora!"
For a second, the man appeared confused, but he managed to keep his serious gesture.
"I see, that's right. Let's ask more important questions now. It's been reported that you've stolen an archer's garments; is that true?"
"Ah, no!"
"Then why were you wearing his clothes?"
"Mmm... you see, I was doing a quest with one of my members, Winter, and I lost my clothes in the forest. She's the one who brought me those garments. I had absolutely no idea that they are stolen."
"Can that member, Winter, confirm this too?"
"Yes! Just go ahead and ask her! Can I go now? I've answered all of the questions. There's no need for me to stay here anymore."
"No! Even if your claims get confirmed, you can't go out for now."
"What? Why?"
"I don't need to answer your questions. I ask, you answer. Understood?"
Adin sighed again, rolling his eyes. "Yes... yes..."
"All right, I only have two more questions to ask, and then I will go interrogating your other group members. Also, it seems some other people are also interested in you. They will be interrogating you after I leave here. We'll see whether you've been telling the truth. So, about the final questions," he paused, letting silence dominate the place for a few seconds. "What's your name, and who are you?"
Adin prepared to answer the question. "I'm..."
"Arian, just a normal archer!"
─ ─ ─
Quitting the white room, he stepped out into the hall. A slender female figure was waiting for him. She had inscrutable eyes along with a serious gesture, her arms folded together while standing before him.
Meanwhile, a short chubby man in tight royal clothes could be seen leaning on the one-way mirror over the room's external surface, with a broad grin covering almost half of his facial expression.
"So, how was it? Phoenix?" said the chubby man, taking a look inside the interrogation room through the mirror.
Phoenix began walking away through the hall, ignoring them. However, before vanishing completely from the view, he uttered some audible words.
"Nothing. He's an ordinary stupid man. He's not a thief, pervert, or a spy from the East Kingdom."
The slender woman knitted her eyebrows, showing disagreement toward those words. The chubby man, however, still preserved his grin.
"He's just..." Phoenix's voice grew faint, disappearing through the hall's darkness, "Arian, just a normal archer!"