As the shout echoed throughout the empty and silent street, Alastair and Soteria turned their heads towards where the loud noise came from. Upon turning their heads, they could see a large cavalry in the distance. It appears that the army of the city has finally arrived. How would the two of them deal with this simple problem?
Soteria raised an eyebrow upon seeing the cavalry. There should be over a hundred spirits armed to the teeth, planning to attack her master. With this thought, she furrowed her eyebrows as a cold expression emerged from her face. Violence was never the answer, but it could be a question, and the answer should be yes.
"Don't jump on the offensive, Soteria."
"Calm yourself and let them speak for themselves. After that, we will conclude about what to do about this situation." Alastair said with a calm tone which immediately stopped Soteria. The hostility plastered on her face slowly disappeared, and what replaced it was the common emotionless expression.
Alastair then gazed upon the cavalry as she waited for them to continue their words. A strange-looking horse then stepped forward with a man entirely clad in armor. It appears that this man was the one who shouted halt. Meaning that she should be the captain of this cavalry.
"Are we bothering any of you?" Alastair questioned with a smile plastered on her face. The captain of the cavalry stopped about 50 meters away from Alastair. He looked at her under his armor and spoke with a stern voice. "Dark spirit, why have you entered the city of Anfang?"
His words sounded again throughout the empty streets as Alastair thought about it within her mind. 'The city of Anfang... So that's the name of this city. Intriguing...' It wasn't much of critical thought. She was relatively thinking about the city's name, which was a good name in her opinion.
Alastair then shook her head as the calvary captain had asked her a question. She gazed upon him with her slit pupils and replied with a calm voice. "This city is the nearest settlement I could find. I was somewhat lost in the forest, so I needed a place for shelter."
The calvary captain froze and looked at her for a short while. He then said with the same stern voice. "Do you not know, Dark spirit?" It appears that he was trying to tell Alastair something. Maybe it was about the dark spirits? But, unfortunately, Alastair was far from those inferior creatures.
"What do I not know? Can you tell me, captain?" Alastair was rather curious about what the captain was trying to say. Maybe she could gain important information from it. With this in mind, she waited for the captain to answer her. And it didn't take a while as the captain responded with a calm tone.
"The dark spirits have been banished by the spirit monarchs from all the cities. Therefore, any dark spirits entering the city should be detained and executed upon contact. So you shouldn't have entered this city, Dark spirit." The information revealed by the cavalry captain was somewhat surprising.
Alastair then turned her head towards Soteria, resulting in the maid shaking her head. Soteria knew that the dark spirits were terrible, but she didn't know that the spirits would detain and execute them upon contact. It appears that this kind of information was something released to the general population.
"So what do we do, Lady Alastair? Should we force our way and pillage this city along the way?" Soteria questioned their plans as she knew that the spirits would be willing to execute her master. If they used violence, so shall she.
"This is becoming more complicated than what I had anticipated. But, just follow me." Alastair had a slight smirk forming on her face, which immediately disappeared a second later. She turned her gaze towards the cavalry captain and uttered with a serious voice. "Take me in."
A lot of them were surprised upon hearing Alastair, and that included Soteria. She didn't know what her master was trying to do, but as she trusted her, she accepted her master's words. She sighed as she wondered what her master was trying to do.
'Well, let us see my master's plan.'
Soteria thought to herself as she waited behind Alastair. The cavalry captain and the soldiers found themselves confused. They had never heard of a dark spirit surrendering themselves. They were sure that the dark spirit in front of them was trying to do something.
The cavalry captain thought about it for a short while and nodded to himself. He then threw a handcuff towards Alastair and spoke with a stern voice. "This handcuff will seal the power of a dark spirit. Cuff yourself, and we'll take you in." This was a test as no dark spirit would cuff themselves.
Unfortunately for them, Alastair was different. She took the handcuff out of the ground and cuffed herself without a hesitant expression plastered on her face. The calvary captain was shocked as the soldiers didn't know what to do. Meanwhile, Soteria couldn't help but smile.
After all, she understood what her master was trying to do.
'As expected of my master.' Soteria thought to herself while smiling. Alastair. After cuffing herself, Alastair looked back at Soteria and said with a calm voice. "Do what you need to do. Gather information, money, and resources. I want to know all about this city by the time we meet again."
It was a simple order which Soteria replied with a slight nod. Then, without any hesitation, she faded from the spot, leaving Alastair behind. There was no need for Soteria to be with Alastair, and Alastair herself knew this. So she ordered her maid to gather more information and money for their future plans.
The cavalry captain furrowed his eyebrows upon seeing Soteria disappearing. He turned towards the soldier who had recently arrived right beside him and questioned with a calm voice. "Is that maid also a dark spirit?" Upon hearing such a question, the soldier shook his head and replied.
"No, sir."
"Well, then, take the dark spirit in and detain her in the security bureau. We'll have to gather the officials of this city and decide what to do with her. Detain and execution upon contact cannot be applied to surrendering dark spirits. We need to dig into the things she had done."
The captain said with a calm voice while numerous soldiers walked forward and guided Alastair back to the security bureau. None of them expected everything to go so well. Most had expected casualties to hit the city. Fortunately, it appears that the dark spirit wasn't as violent as they had recently believed.
While walking in the streets, Alastair could notice numerous spirits peeking through their houses. They seemed to be curious about her, which was kind of expected. This kind of scene was highly familiar to her. Walking through an empty, silent street with soldiers beside her. It was nostalgic.
"Are you the highest captain of the cavalry here?" Alastair questioned with her soothing voice as the captain slowly turned his head towards Alastair and stared at her with a serious expression. He was sure that the dark spirit was trying to do something. But with the cuffs on her pale hands, she wouldn't be able to use any of her abilities.
The handcuff was known as the Acheron's chain. It practically deprived the dark spirits of their power which was extremely useful when trying to detain one. Such a handcuff was highly rare and expensive. Such was the reason why dark spirits get considered high-value criminals.
After staring at Alastair for a while, he sighed and answered with a calm voice. "Yes, you are correct. So what is your name, Dark spirit? And why did you come here?" He questioned with a serious voice as he really wanted to know the reasoning behind Alastair's emergence.
Hearing the question, Alastair replied with a nonchalant tone. "My name is Alastair. I am lost and found this city on the way. I wanted to enter the city for shelter. I have no reason other than this and have no intention of causing chaos and destruction." Alastair was mostly honest though there was a lie hidden within her words.
Alastair didn't enter the city of Anfang due to the shelter it could bring her, but she also wanted to conquer it. How? Well, that was a question that would be answered later on.
"I see... And who was that maid? Was she your slave? Your subordinate?" Another question escaped from the captain's mouth. It was more or less interrogation. Alastair, hearing the question, shook her head in disagreement and answered. "She isn't my slave nor my subordinate."
"She is my maid and my friend. As a warning for you, don't you ever call her with such titles." Alastair said with her soothing voice though it had a tinge of coldness. After hearing her tone, the captain decided to stop interrogating as things might get dangerous if he had continued.
As they walked through the streets, they had finally arrived at the front of the security bureau. It was a concrete building, which looked unnatural compared to the medieval houses around it. Alastair gazed upon it with wonder as such a building seemed entirely different than the buildings she had seen in her old life.
'Wow, that is a good design.' Alastair silently thought within herself as this city had some hidden surprises. Most of the soldiers then dispersed. The soldiers and captain left their strange-looking horses. They then entered the building while bringing Alastair along with them.
They had arrived at the reception area as numerous spirits were looking at Alastair with the expression of shock and fear. Well... It was understandable as the dark spirits devoured many spirits in exchange for strength. Therefore, the powerful the dark spirits, signified the number they had consumed.
As they walked through the reception area, the chief of the security bureau revealed himself to Alastair. He was a two-meter buff man with a sharp expression plastered on his face. He appeared to be smoking cigarettes and waiting for the captain to return.
The captain walked forward and spoke with the chief.
"I captured the dark spirit, and no casualties emerged. She had surrendered herself before the cavalry and cuffed herself with that handcuff. I don't know what she is trying to do, but I suggest you be careful. I have a bad feeling about her." The captain warned as he gave Alastair over the security bureau.
'I see... They are giving me to the authorities of this city. Well, they seemed to be part of the army. With the strange handcuff, they lowered their guard, which gave me information about the handcuff. If my thought is correct, this handcuff should disperse the power of a dark spirit.'
Alastair silently thought within herself as she got guided to the interrogation room. While walking there, she noticed many spirits looking at her with wonder and curiosity. It appears that knowledge about her existence had been spread all over the city.
Alastair didn't know if it was a good thing, but she hoped that Soteria would have good results the second she met her. Entering the interrogation room, Alastair sat on the chair while numerous security bureau high officials stood in front of her.
A lot of them looked somewhat unique from each other. It seemed that the chief wasn't the only one with a high rank in the bureau. Alastair gazed upon them with an emotionless expression as one of them stood forward and questioned with a stern voice. "Give us reasons on why we shouldn't execute you."
It was a simple statement, and none of the high officials in the interrogation room tried to stop him. Upon hearing such words, Alastair sighed and looked at all of them with a cold expression forming on her face. Her gaze got colder and colder as she uttered with a strangely soothing voice.
"There are a lot of reasons why you shouldn't execute me. But no matter how much I would say it, none of you would take it seriously. That is the problem with this kind of thing." Her words echoed throughout the interrogation room.
"You see... I am someone that understands this simple rule. So as I said, I will not tell you the reason but show you instead." Alastair stood up from her chair and slowly separated her pale arms, which were stuck together under the handcuff.
Cracks then began to form, and seconds later, the special handcuff broke.
With that, Alastair was free.
She wasn't stuck in the interrogation room with the high officials.
They were simply stuck in the room with her.