"Your name, boy."
"Pl-Please, I-I didn't do anything wrong…! Sniff…"
A fifteen-year-old boy pleaded as tears flowed down from his swollen brown eyes.
"Don't try to play the innocent here."
But the middle-aged man cut him off harshly.
The man was wearing a normal suit though the design was rather original.
The most eye-catching thing was the bright red badge coiled around the arm of the man. On the badge were the letters 'PSD' written.
"You tried to steal an artifact from that shop and you ran away."
"Snifff…"
The youth continued to cry as he heard the man.
"Then I don't know why you tried to kill yourself jumping on the rails of the mana train. What was that? Did you become suddenly guilty? If we didn't find you, you would have been dead. You should cherish the life your mother gave you."
The teenager bit his lips.
"Y-You don't understand, sir. I-I didn't want to steal but I…"
He suddenly stopped speaking before crying even more.
His brown hair was stuck on his tearful face.
"Boy? I won't ask again. We have a record of the camera filming you stealing that artifact. It's useless to lie. Your name, now."
"Pl-Please…"
"Sigh…"
The man stood up.
"Ted, bring me the scanner."
He asked another man who had the same red badge as him.
"Yes, sir."
Ted gave him a device which was a transparent rectangle.
The man took the device and brought his hand in front of the youth.
"Scan."
[Scanning in progress…]
A voice echoed and several beep sounds rang from the device.
A red laser came out of the device and touched the youth's forehead before scanning the youth's whole body from top to bottom.
The youth closed his eyes in despair.
He knew that with that device they would easily find his identity and would call his guardian and he didn't want that.
[Fate Aurigae, 15 years old, First Year Student at the Alexander Great Azur Academy.]
The device started to tell all the information about the youth, Fate.
The more the device spoke, the more Fate's face became pale.
"You gave me no choice, boy."
The interrogator said.
He tried to do it gently by talking directly to the youth, but Fate was reluctant, so he had no choice.
Skimming through the device, the interrogator read Fate's information to have an idea about the boy.
Truthfully, he couldn't picture that innocent boy stealing something.
At least willingly.
So he looked at whether there were other cases before but there didn't seem to have been.
It was probably the first time Fate had stole something.
Putting the device on his table, he faced Fate.
"Listen fate. If you were coerced by someone, you should say it. You will be released."
"!"
Fate opened his eyes wide but remembering something, he lowered his head.
"Sigh…"
Looking at Fate shivering, the interrogator understood that Fate was likely forced to steal, but he was sure he wouldn't get any information from Fate. The boy seemed traumatized.
"You are from Alexander Great Azur Academy. A prestigious academy like that wouldn't hesitate twice before firing a student who had stolen to preserve its image. You're aware?"
"..."
He tried to explain the possible consequences to force Fate to confess, but the latter still kept his mouth shut.
'Yeah, he is probably threatened by some people.'
He also had a son, so he felt a little sympathy for Fate, but he had to do his job.
"Ted, put him in the cell, we will call his guardian."
"!"
Fate flinched.
"Yes sir."
"Please! Don't!"
Fate pleaded but they ignored him.
Ted took Fate by the arm and put him in a cell made of sturdy metallic bars.
"You can't run away from here. The bars are protected against mana."
Though the interrogator warned him, he doubted Fate would try to run away.
Fate leaned on the wall and his back slid off the wall until he fell on his butt.
Crossing his arms around his knees, Fate buried his face in his arms.
"I-I'm sorry…"
The interrogator, Ted and the other officers heard Fate's mutter but didn't do anything.
If he wanted to be released he should have said the truth.
For the next minutes, cries and mutters were heard from Fate's cell.
The atmosphere in the station became really gloomy just because of that.
"When his guardian is coming?"
The interrogator asked.
He couldn't even concentrate with Fate's whimpers haunting his ears.
"She will be there soon, sir."
Ted replied.
"..."
"Hm?"
The interrogator let out as he couldn't hear Fate crying anymore.
'Did he calm himself?'
He glanced curiously and saw Fate with wide eyes looking at the ground.
The interrogator looked at the ground but there was nothing.
'What's going on?'
Fate was strangely immobile, so he decided to talk to him.
"Hey, boy."
"..."
"Fate."
"!"
Fate turned his eyes toward the man and looked at him with distrust.
He was clenching and hiding his right hand for some reason.
'What?'
But the interrogator wasn't curious about that. No, he was currently surprised by Fate's expression.
He wore a distrustful expression and his eyes were sharp.
No more puppy eyes and despairing face.
The interrogator frowned.
Fate's behavior changed in a second.
"Fate!"
A loud voice brought the interrogator from his thoughts.
He turned around and saw a very beautiful young woman.
The woman who seemed to be in her early twenties had black hair and brown eyes. She was showing a worried expression.
She looked around the station frantically and her eyes fell eventually on Fate in the cell.
"Fate!"
She immediately rushed toward him but Ted stopped her.
"Please, wait. The boy is currently incriminated of robbery of an artifact in a shop."
"!"
The woman was shocked upon hearing this.
She looked at Fate, who seemed a little lost and shook her head.
"F-Fate isn't someone like that! He is a kind boy!"
"Please calm down, Mrs.?"
The interrogator intervened, seeing the woman nearly crying.
"I-I am Grace Aurigae, Fate is my younger brother."
"Very well, Mrs. Aurigae. I'm Ned, an agent of the Public Security Department. First, is the boy your blood brother? In his information, I didn't see anything about him having an elder sister."
Ned asked while looking again in his computer, which was connected to the scanner.
"N-No."
Grace shook her head and wiped her tears.
"Fate is my brother-in-law. I'm married to his elder brother."
Grace said in a hoarse voice.
"I see."
Ned nodded and typed on his keyboard.
"Mrs.Grace, your brother-in-law, has been caught robbing an artifact. We have video evidence of it."
"N-No-"
"Yes. I also think Fate wouldn't do anything like that. He was probably forced by someone to do that."
"!"
Grace put her hand on her mouth and looked at Fate.
Fate was looking at the scene with a strange expression.
"But he refused to say anything. I don't want to keep an innocent boy here so you can take him back just by paying the compensation, but please try to talk to him about that."
"Y-Yes thank you!"
Grace nodded.
Ned smiled and turned to Ted.
"Ted, bring me the bill."
Ted brought a paper and gave it to Ned.
Ned took a stamp from his shelf and put it on the bottom of the paper, on an empty rectangle.
A glow came out of his hand before shrouding the stamp.
A few seconds later, Ned removed the stamp and strange runes were written on the paper.
"Now, you have to sign, Mrs. Grace."
Grace nodded and took the stamp.
She did the same thing and signed on to another empty slot.
"It will be 5000 AXP."
"5000…?"
Grace asked, shocked.
"Yes, if you want, you can pay in installments."
"No, I will pay the entirety now."
Grace said and took a blue credit card from her purse.
She put it on a device given by Ned.
Again a glow came out of her hand before enveloping the card.
-Ding!
"Here is your receipt."
"Thanks."
"Ted, release the boy."
-Clang!
The cell opened and Fate came out.
Grace walked toward him and-
-Slap!