That first bite was actually very anticlimactic.The food just tasted like nothing.
He only ate half of the meat and some peaches. The texture of mashed potatoes along with no flavor was terrible so after one bite he couldn't continue. It's a shame though as that used to be one of his favorite foods.
Before they all went their separate ways Zal ate the rest of the uneaten food leaving not even a crumb behind. Really, where does it all go?
"Alright so now we're heading to the office of Doctor Leon Everlic. Solace, the officer you've met on the day we found you will be there for support. If you feel uncomfortable or need anything just let her know and she'll help you out."
"...." What was he supposed to say? Right now all he could think about is making a believable tragic story so he could stay here longer. Living on the streets sounds miserable.
Loreleia took his silence as fear and nervousness and spoke a few words of comfort.
"It'll be alright. I'll be right outside the door the whole time. Just shout if you can't handle anymore and I'll break down the door to rescue you!"
He knew she was trying to make him relax so he forced a small smile on his face even though he wasn't really amused.
It didn't take long to get to their destination as the building wasn't that big. When they both arrived at the door, Loreleia knocked twice to alert those in the room of their arrival and stepped aside to lean against the wall.
"Come in." A rough voice was heard coming from inside the room.
Opening the door, the first thing Cyll saw was the large wooden desk in the center of the small room. A man that looked to be on his early sixties was slowly making his way over to him from his seat behind it.
"Thank you for coming here today Cyll. I'm Doctor Everlic but you can just call me Leon. I heard about you case and was very curious to meet you. How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing alright." Cyll awkwardly accepted the man's outstretched hand and shook it.
"That's great! Now come pick a chair and make yourself comfortable, we'll only be talking for a few minutes."
He picked the red cushioned chair in front of the desk and sat down slowly. There was only two other chairs, one blue and one green, so it didn't matter which he picked.
Though immediately he noticed that doctor writing something down on a piece of paper. Was this a test or something?
"Solace come pick a chair, stop standing so quietly in that corner."
If he didn't say anything, Cyll wouldn't have noticed Solace standing silently in the back corner. Was she a ninja or something?
Leon continued to ask speak as she sat on the green chair to his right.
"So let me begin by saying everything here is confidential. Unless you give us permission, nothing said here will leave this room. Now, if you could fill out this sheet of paper and please write down your full name, date of birth, where you're from and a few other things we can begin."
'Bullshit, I saw a small camera in the top corner of the room right behind me when I looked around a minute ago.'
A pen and paper was place in front of him. His first name was already filled out as "Cyll"
'Cyll? Maybe it's a common name on this planet and that's how it's written. I was actually going to write Sil as in Silver. Oh well.'
Cyll quickly got to work as he filled it out. Well, with a lot of blanks.
——-
First Name: Cyll
Last Name:
ID Number:
Race:
Species:
Age:
DOB:
Address:
Parent's Names:
Favorite Color: Blue
School:
——-
"That's all I know. Sorry." He made a sad face, trying to squeeze a tear out.
Leon had a concerned expression as he spoke.
"It's fine. This just means you don't have to stay as long now right? Now, let's talk about yesterday morning. Where did you come from? You were covered in mud when you were found. Was someone chasing you?"
Now is the time when Cyll's decent acting skills came into use.
"I'm not too sure, I was in a small dark room in a forest. I've always been there. Two days ago I found that the door wasn't locked correctly so I ran out. I've been wandering around the woods for hours until I came across this city."
"Do you know what the person who locked you there looked like?"
"No."
More was written down on the paper.
Although Cyll wasn't giving much information, with Leon's years of experience then was painting a pretty vivid picture in his head. Something similar has happened before. In this world, besides beast folk, magic beasts also exist.
Magic beasts were the last ones to gain their freedom from man as only a small number of high tiered beasts had human forms. All medium and below are either wild animals or pets. High tiered ones were seen as tameable beasts in human skin so the wealthy and strong used to capture them and breed them for their own use. The fact that they could stay undercover as humans next to their masters and transform back into their beast form to attack was very appealing to many.
Even today their organization would come across these poor souls who've escaped and try to give them justice by weeding out these criminals and shutting down their business.
Judging by Cyll's horns and the fact that it was proven the boy isn't a native to the forest,Leon immediately came to the conclusion that something similar had happened. The boy was locked away with many others in the Forest of Darkness where no one can reach them because of the barrier. The thought of those poor souls that could probably never be saved sent shivers down his spine.
Though unknown to him he was completely wrong. Cyll not a beast and there was no hidden breeding hideout anywhere. Nowadays the Forest was actually very calm and harmonious as all the aggressive beasts were exterminated by patrolling demons long ago. Those outside just didn't know it thanks to the barrier that kept them out of the forest and kept people away from the portal to the demon realm.