The houses decreased proportionally as the disproportionate quintet reached the edge of the southern wall; Due to the planning of the city, it was agreed that the best thing was not to have houses very close to the wall, instead, among the few buildings that allowed to build were blacksmiths, food stores, barracks and a couple of training circles.
The number of people also dropped considerably, there were a couple of guys with swords on their belts, a couple of excited children talking to one of the new recruits' trainers and a man in a straw hat carrying a couple of fruits in a basket.
Airys was still unconscious locked in Gregory's sphere, Melody was calmly descending —attracted by Gregory himself —while Samantha, Gregory AND ZAMIR walked; the first was choked with laughter and the shirtless boy crestfallen.
"I tell him to be careful with sharp things, and what is the first thing he does?" Gregory said bluffing out a laugh.
"I just forgot he had long nails" Zamir muttered.
"Dig his nails in it!" Gregory exclaimed and both he and Samantha laughed non-stop.
The volume of Samantha's laugh paled in comparison to Gregory's, after the fright of seeing Zamir fall from about twenty meters high and the pro-next stunt that the boy had to do with a jump in the air so as not to break his bones, he had no choice but to laugh.
"I promise it won't happen again…" Zamir said.
"Oh hoho, of course not." She patted him on the back that straightened his back. "Don't think I'll use my resonance to get you to play again."
Once Melody's sphere was within a meter of him, Gregory deactivated his resonance and caught the girl. Melody fell into the arms of her uncle with a bright smile and wild hair, super happy.
"Oh," Padd stood in front of a metal gate leading into the walls of the wall, patiently watching. "What are you doing here on your day off?"
No one doubted that Padd was the tallest man in the entire city. Standing eight feet four inches tall, with broad shoulders and toned like his arms, covered by a golden helmet, breastplate, boots and gauntlets, a walking safety wall with one of the most impressive resonances one could wish for.
"I'm coming for this." Gregory grimaced, bowing his head to the girl floating next to him.
"She S-she's the thief's accomplice!" Zamir assured.
Padd gave him a disdainful look, as if he'd been intruding on an adult conversation that didn't concern him at all. Zamir sighed in disappointment and if it hadn't been for Gregory hugging him over his shoulder with his free arm and pulling him close, he might have been disheartened.
"Zamir says he found her outside the other plane."
He hated to admit it, but in Zamir's eyes Mr. Greg was the best authority figure. Maybe it's because in the past his brother-in-law was a great Gold Guard and inspired him, or because he also knew what it was like to be an underdog like him. The Gold Guard who took him seriously.
"The moron didn't interrogate her well and knocked her out." Well, he is also the one who teases him the most.
"S-she was strong a-and didn't cooperate…"
"You have to treat her injuries and solve this mess" Gregory commented as he lowered Melody to the floor.
"What a wonderful coincidence, right now I'm interviewing three suspects while Keith takes care of the thief," Melody ran to yank Padd's pants. "What do you want little one?"
"Let's play hide and seek!"
"Of course," Padd knelt to touch Melody's nose. "Inside the base there is a Padd hiding a rose, if you find it before Gregory and I finish the work, you win."
"You're going to give me that helmet!" shouted Melody excitedly she stuck to the door waiting for them to open it.
Padd opened the door and everyone except him and Zamir walked through.
"You know the rules boy" he reiterated putting his arm in the doorway.
"Yes…" Zamir sighed and turned around. "Tell me what happens later." He waited for a response from Padd, which he never received, and he left discouraged.
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"I have nothing to do with that guy," Layd testified. Some time ago the subject in front, Padd, insisted on the veracity of his words, since...
"And you already have a proof?"
That.
It's not that Padd is bad or not, it's a matter of mere reason. They were found together with the obvious culprit, the thief; the natural thing is to think that they are related to that criminal. In order to earn their freedom, they have to provide proof of their innocence, which is not easy.
Padd was prepared to listen and talk all day and night if necessary. If any of the three of them told him a lie, he would set up a conversation to verify his veracity, it is impossible for them to lie to him without having planned a good deception in advance, without gaps, without defects; They will not be able to con him, he is in front of the three, in different places, at the same time.
"Do you know Trekaeps?" Layd commented. Padd raised an eyebrow inside his helmet. "I came to see him along with Natsume ... t-the girl I was with ... if you call him he will surely confirm that I am not a thief."
"What proof am I going to have? I have come accompanying Layd to look for an acquaintance of his" Natsume said a few seconds before Layd made that comment in the other room.
In that the stories of that pair coincided, however...
"If that's true you're out of luck," The Padd who was with Layd approached the cell. "Trekaeps is…" he paused longer than necessary, as if his mind was occupied with multiple thoughts. "he left city some time ago."
"W-what?" Layd leaned against the wall. "The truth is… seeing him is secondary, but with this mess... what do I do to prove our innocence?" Discouraged, he ran out of alternatives.
Although that didn't really prove their innocence at all. In Padd's eyes there was a fallacy between the words of Layd and Natsume, meeting someone moderately famous in the city does not imply that you are to be trusted, and not to mention Trekaeps, it would not be ridiculous to think that they are friends of a night in a bar or a party.
Besides that, neither of them commented on what Seng has to do with this matter and he has not said anything about visiting someone.
"I am traveling with them because our destinations coincide" Was what Seng said to the Padd asking him.
Assuming that Natsume and Layd are innocent, there is a possibility that Seng is working for "those guys" and traveling with that pair is as he says, a coincidence.
"Oh I know." Natsume smiled having figured out how to test her words. "Layd came looking for his acquaintance of his on the orders of Arthu'rion the third, the priest of the Cathedral."
"Well, we will send him a letter, in two or three weeks we will know if you lie."
"W-wait! Don't tell me you're going to keep me locked up here for all that time, will you?" Natsume's eyes were filled with rage and anticipation.
"Be thankful that you won't go hungry." Padd replied dryly, willing to ignore the young lady's complaints.
"Why are you coming to see Trekaeps?" he asked Layd while his other me suffered from a heavy evil eye from Natsume.
"E-eh… well… ehm… th-is that the old man, I mean, Arthu… rion asked me for the favor of coming to see him."
Padd narrowed his eyes in disbelief; since, although they said similar things, the confidence with which they did it had a gulf of difference, which means that Layd must have some problem with going to that name to get out of this. Padd was absolutely right.
The last thing Layd wanted was for Arthu'rion to find out about their whereabouts.
"I will send a letter to the cathedral, you will be under surveillance until I receive an answer and know what to do with you."
"S-sure ..." A thick bead of sweat ran down Layd's forehead, meaning that he must hasten his plans if he wants to honor Echsos' wishes ... and the temperature was hot.
———————————————————————————————————
"I told you Keith, he doesn't want to talk" said Naoru, the red-haired guard as he left the room gloomier than the others, with the dirty walls and the floor covered in old blood stains.
"It can be fixed." Keith, the guard of the two swords, drew one of them and entered the room, closing the door.
The edge dazzled the room in a golden flash that remained in the room perennial, mystical, radiant. The blade was single-edged, not very thick; and that same edge, instead of being made of iron like the rest of the sword, was made of the same material as the chains, Dingarsite, which caused it to emit a faint yellow light.
In front laid Hax chained to a chair with chains identical to those Seng or Natsume had, with bandages on his arms that stopped the bleeding, tears in his eyes, heavy breathing and a deep fear for what was going to happen to him.
"Last chance, tell us who hired you" demanded and precisely slid the sword through Hax's skin until it reached the lower lid of his left eye, leaving a slight and long cut that did not give off blood.
Hax swallowed hard, he couldn't speak, no, really, it was impossible, the words wouldn't come out no matter how much he yearned to tell them the details of who hired him… he was literally incapable.
And Naoru knew that perfectly.