The Seeker Of The Flames

"So—"

Some strong coughs could be heard in the air. They seemed to be endless until he decided to utter the next words.

"You know that any violent movement or practice of magical powers is forbidden inside here, right?"

"Yes!" said a womanly voice, sounding friendly and embracing.

The sound of coughs and chokes once again resonated through the place.

"And you know that if the suspects and criminals use their powers here, they will be punished by spending ten years in prison, right?"

"Yes!"

"Also you know that those anti-magic handcuffs there would make one unable to use any magical force, right?"

"Yes!"

"Considering all of these things I've said, can you tell me..."

He put his hands together, supporting his face by bringing them under his chin.

"What the actual f.u.c.k is going on here?"

The whole room was filled with the deep clouds of smoke. Nothing except grey gas became evident.

As time passed, the smoky fumes subsided, clearing the cloudy space enough to see Phoenix sitting before a white sorceress.

She was staring at him with a gentle smile, her hands handcuffed behind her back. Her long snowy hair reached the ground, eyes appearing as a bright crystal of snow, sparkling like a silvern light.

Phoenix started inhaling in the cleaned air.

"All right," he sighed, blinking while shaking his head around, swinging his hands to get rid of the remaining smoke, "I will start the interrogation now."

He hesitated while turning his stares from her to the table before him. "What is this?"

A white wizardry hat was placed upside down on the table.

"Ah! It's my hat!"

"I know that. What I meant is that why all of this smoke has been coming out of it this whole time."

"Hah, well," she chuckled, "it's just the remnant of the magic I used in my last quest."

"Remnant? Ok just nevermind. Next question: What was that sudden explosion?"

"That... it was also a remnant of my magical force in this hat."

"Ok then, next question... Where have you come from?"

"Abelion Prussian town in the south."

"Why have you come to Seora?"

"Because Arian had decided to get here."

"I see... Why did you destroy that farmer's field and meadow?"

"It's a long story, but I didn't do it on purpose. The quest I had taken was located close to that land so that's why I unintentionally destroyed it."

"The last questions: What's your name and who are you?"

"I'm Felicia, a wizard!"

"I'm done here!"

Phoenix then left the cloudy room, feeling relieved. He stepped across the stone corridor, meanwhile thinking: "Finally, I've finished this boring case. There's nothing—"

A fat man in royal dress emerged in his way. A thick grin could be noticed on his cheerful face. This man was Oscar, a Grandwizard chosen to be in charge of defending the women's rights as the head of the West Kingdom Department of Justice in the Council and Kingdom.

"Good job Phoenix! I will be interrogating them from now on. I will see whether this man Arian is as horrible as the rumors say."

Phoenix didn't let him stand in his way, passing by him instantly without giving any attention.

"Don't bother yourself, Oscar," Phoenix said. "You won't find anything like that. That man Arian isn't a s.e.x offender. He's just a normal Archer, and those women beside him are following him without being under any force."

"We will see..."

Phoenix continued getting away from him, passing through the dark hallway.

He didn't care about that case anymore. Whether Arian was a thief as Phoenix himself had become suspicious about, a s.e.x criminal according to the rumors and based on Oscar's doubts or a spy from the East Kingdom as claimed by Divya, it would not matter even the slightest bit.

"Thank god, it's finally over. Now I can go for some important cases to solve. Divya can keep her stupid assumptions forever. She won't reach anything anyway."

As he kept walking ahead, a slender figure came into view. She was Divya, the head of the West Kingdom Department of Information. Divya looked as serious as always, inscrutable and perfectly impenetrable. The way she stood on her feet would imply her solidity and strength. She was standing before Arian's room, watching Arian through the one-way magical mirror.

While keeping his steps uninterrupted and continuous, Phoenix walked past her.

They both staring at each other while exchanging brief glares.

"Don't bother yourself, Divya. This man and his party members don't have anything special. Don't waste the Council's time more than this!"

"We will see..." Divya responded in a cold shady voice.

Alone in the dark hall, he found no other person to face. However, turning his head to the right, Phoenix saw a poor reflection of his appearance in an old, rusty mirror on the stone wall.

The eyes in the mirror were emitting a gleaming crimson color. Those were his own eyes, looking purely bloody and striking an arrow of red light to the heart of the place. One could feel the burning pain just by glancing at those red eyes.

However, it began fading away as his eyes turned normal in shape.

Phoenix's face suddenly twisted into a shocked face, yet turning normal immediately.

"What was that..." he asked himself, trying to understand why he's been suddenly disturbed.

Phoenix then sighed.

"Oh my god, it seems I'm still suffering the after-effects of facing those fools. It seems my brain has an allergy to stupidity. I should better go for a good case to get lively again. Yes, a good case is always invigorating! I wish I never see those idiots again!"