'Well, that goes exactly as feared so far. But for now I will just watch what his next steps are.'
"Not interested in saying anything? Swallowed your tongue?" the guild master asks.
"There's no need to," I respond. "So far you've summarized the truth."
Of course he did it in a way which points out the improbability of all that, but it's his opinion on the acts.
"Got balls of steel, huh?" he replies. "Let's cut the crap. Right now I suspect you of having some sort of connection to those guys and setting up a trap or anything like that."
"So much I guessed. But if you were really sure, we wouldn't be here but in the investigation room together with the other three, wouldn't we?"
My way of acting is indeed somewhat cocky, but I fear that being scared would make things only worse. In my opinion there are only two types of people: Those who have the guts, and those who know better.
Right now Myrna and I are the latter type, knowing it better. And I won't flinch just because someone accuses me of things.
"I like your attitude kid. You are either brave or bloody stupid. Whatever it be, I can't let you roam around freely without clarifying the situation. So you have one week."
"And the goal of this week?" I ask, even though I can think of it already.
"To prove your innocence of course. Over the next week we will make sure that you don't leave town and can't do anything fishy. If you can prove your innocence, you are good to go. If not..." he leaves the last threat unspoken.
"So if we fail to prove our innocence in one week, regardless of whether we are innocent or not, we will be punished, is that correct?" I summarize.
"That is correct." the guild master grins. "There's one thing I forgot...."
Irene brings some bracelets which fit perfectly our size and makes us wearing them.
"Magic detection bracelets with imbued self destruction magic," she explains after having them applied on our wrists. "If we detect you trying to leave the city, you will die. If you try to remove them, you will die. If you commit a crime and we can trace it back to you, you will die."
She must like the word 'die' a lot. Not that the bracelets annoy me. I can remove them anytime, anyways. At least I believe that my unbound imagination skill is stronger. But if an official guild is taking such drastic measures, it means this town has suffered a lot. Maybe more than I can think of, now. To me, however, there is only one question left.
"If we collect hints to prove our innocence, you probably also have enough to trace the ambushers further down. So I'm wondering, what is our reward in that play? Being considered innocent is off the board. I already know that I'm innocent."
I don't mind helping them, but we will need money. Not only to pay off Ritsu, but also for our future. So at least I try to get some reward out of this situation.
"If your hints are useful, you will of course get paid dependent on the usefulness." the guild master guarantees.
"Well, I guess we're done here at the moment." I say and get up. "Don't worry. I don't take your actions to heart. You people must have suffered a lot to rely on such measures."
Both Irene and the guild master remain silent. While leaving the room I can see Irene biting her lips with a hurt expression on her face.
'I am sorry. I am not your secret connection to the ambushers gang. But I won't fail this town either.'
Together with Myrna I take the stairs down to the main hall. No one should have witnessed what happened in the headmasters room, but still I can feel some kind of pressure. There's probably no one in here who doesn't know what Irene and the headmaster are thinking.
Leaving the building also, I hear Myrna exhaling.
"You seem pissed," I say.
"Of course I am!" Myrna shouts. "We took down three criminals and get treated like criminals as well! That's not even remotely fair!'
"I know."
I know exactly how she feels and stroke her hair. She feels angered and disappointed, but all her feelings about this situation won't change the situation. The only thing we can do is to change it by finding some clues about the real gang of ambushers.
"Aren't you angry?" Myrna sobs "You are such a good human and still..."
She interrupts her speaking to wipe away the tears, while I hold her tightly in my arms.
"It doesn't change a thing if I get angry now, you know? Contrary, we would waste useful time to solve this."
It takes a few moments before she calms down again.
"Can't you just remove the detection and the self-destruction?"
It's not that I haven't given that a thought, But personally I don't believe it will solve anything.
"If I do so, and I don't say I can with ease, Tovol's adventurer guild will just report us as wanted criminals. This will spread through the country eventually, leaving us with no place to rest." I explain. "And also... this town has problems which the locals can't solve. Wouldn't we be scum as well, if we leave it just as it is?"
"Still..." she mumbles.
Deep down she probably gets what I am saying, but I can understand her feelings. Of course it would have been nicer if they just asked us for help. But what is done is done.
I let my gaze wander over the busy streets of Tovol. The city is everything but small and if the ambushes are really related to some bad locals, it's not an easy task to find them.
"Do you remember how we entered?" I ask Myrna.
"Yes. We entered through the gate after paying the fee, and luckily Liana had a place to lead us to." Myrna recalls. "Do you think they have something to do with it?"
"Not sure," I reply. "But we asked Liana for a place to stay and luckily she has a sister who runs an Inn and takes in people who are short on money. What happens to those, who don't ask for a cheap place to stay?"
Myrna remains silent but by her wide open eyes and opened mouth I can guess that just now she has the same idea as I have.
"You suspect that new adventurers and trader get trapped and sold of as slave to pay off debts?" she gasps.
Of course it's just a hunch on my side, but that is the only connection I have in mind right now.
"There is someone who can probably help is with that. Come, let's give Ritsu a visit. We have to pay a debt, anyways."