Interrogation

"Where am I?"

Asked Noah in his half-dazed state as he slowly opened his silver eyes. He was in a dark room, and his arms were tied behind a wooden chair. He also felt the cold wind brushing his face and concluded that someone woke him up using a bucket of cold water. Noah looked around, but the room was dark. Luckily, he was able to make out the details barely.

The room was made of the same stone material as the giant stone walls he saw just before he passed out. There was only a wooden door in front of him and a tiny, barred window on the wall. This window was the only source of light in this room. The floor was dusty, and Noah was able to bury his feet under it. It was sand.

His clothes were still dripping wet, which meant that the person who woke him up left not long ago. Noah also felt bigger bits and pieces around his foot sometimes that made the purpose of this dark room obvious. Of course, an ordinary person wouldn't know, but Noah, who was a law-breaker to the bone, easily guessed it.

It was an interrogation room. Be it the Middle Ages or the modern world. The interior of such rooms never changed. A small, wet, closed place with weak light. The sound of dripping water and remains of the previous torture on the ground, such as nails, teeth, sometimes even fingers. It was all designed to give anxiety, pressure and make the interrogation easier.

Noah could easily untie the rope that bound him, be he choose not to do it as that would only worsen his current situation. Finally, a few minutes after Noah woke up and got himself together, the iron lock on the wooden door turned, and a brown-haired, thin man stepped inside. This man had white skin and cold blue eyes. He wore light leather armor and basically looked like someone who already killed before.

Another man followed him inside, this time someone whom Noah was already familiar with. This man was the boss of the guards. His armor was so big that he could barely pass through the wooden frame of the door. Noah wondered how he was able to carry himself so lightly while dressed in such a big and heavy armor.

He checked the status window, and surprisingly, both of their status windows were filled with nothing else but question marks. They had a method to hide their statuses completely, unlike Noah. The two men also sized up Noah, and they were surprised. Noah wore unusual clothes, and he did not bother to hide his status window at all.

They knew that Noah came here from the forest, his clothes were drenched in water when they found him, so they also knew that he had to swim. He had to swim for a very long time, probably since he passed out from visible exhaustion. The two of them looked at him for a few seconds, then looked at each other and nodded with a knowing smile.

The boss of the guards looked at Noah, and the long-awaited conversation finally started.

"First of all, we are deeply sorry for we had to bring you here in such a manner. However, please do understand that we had to take precautions. You came here from the edge of the continent, and it seemed like you tried to enter the Empire in a hurry. Also, we searched your body and didn't find any document that would allow your entry. Thus, as an illegal immigrant, you will have to go through a short interrogation."

Noah just nodded in agreement. Even if he were to get tortured, he would do the same because he had no weapon to protect himself. He needs to get through this wall at all costs if he wanted to learn more about this new world. Thus, he was willing to answer their questions, even if their method was rather crude.

He could only hope that they don't have a way to detect lies...

The thin man stepped forward after Noah nodded. He placed his left hand on Noah's head and started speaking.

"Alright, Noah, then let's begin the interrogation, you only have to answer honestly, and we will have no problems."

Noah nodded again, and unexpectedly, the man pulled out a bloody pincer from his pocket using his other hand. His left hand on Noah's head warmed up, and a white glow started forming around it. Noah also noticed this wide glow, and his eyes widened. He instinctively knew that the man is using magic on him to detect lies.

"Okay, Noah, first question. Why did you come here?"

"I just searched for land to survive." Noah answered honestly, and the man nodded, although he was a little bit surprised.

"Where did you come from?"

"I... came from Black York city."

"Where is this so-called Black York?"

"On a place called earth."

"What did you do for a living back in Black York?

"I..." Noah suddenly didn't know how to answer. He killed and robbed many people in a world that was full of laws against it. Then suddenly, an answer came to his mind. He didn't know if that answer will be valid, but Noah felt like that was his only choice.

"I disposed of trash as a way to make a living." Said Noah while acted like as if he was ashamed of his lowly job. A second later, the man nodded in acceptance, signaling that what Noah said was the truth. This confirmed Noah's theory. The magic can detect lies or truth based on what the person who answered the question thinks about his own answer.

After this, the man asked another series of questions, but Noah answered them all without breaking a sweat. The interrogation ended in a few minutes, and the man untied Noah.

"Once again, thank you for your cooperation. Normally, we wouldn't let you inside the Empire, but we decided to make an exception after seeing your circumstances. Here is 50 gold. This is not much, but you should be able to rent a room for a few days. Have a good day."

The captain of the guards bid his farewells in a monotone tone. The other one didn't care, but Noah was not bothered by it. They gave him something to eat and drink before he left, and that was more than enough for him. Just as the man said, it was time to find a new home.

Noah exited the interrogation room, and the natural light blinded him for a few seconds before he could see again. What greeted him was a bustling, wide cobblestone pavement enclosed with houses of different colors and sizes on both sides.