I blinked. Unable to process the severity of the situation. I didn't think of it as a big deal to begin with. My heartbeat, though, felt otherwise. It had been calm this whole time but started beating slowly faster until that was all I could focus on.
"I said put your damn hands up!" said that same officer, guns pointed at me.
The World Magistral Army, or W.M.A. for short, was part of a system in place, formed, as what we all mages know, as the Great Alliance or the World System. This alliance consisted of the Four Kingdoms and their Sub-Kingdoms, the W.M.A., and the Maven Lords, who, quite frankly, I did not know the purpose of.
Regardless, the W.M.A. had shown up, and we were supposedly on the same side, but…
"Look, officer, I think there's been a clear misunderstanding—"
"It looks to us like damage to public property, disturbance of peace, harming of innocent people—the list goes on. Want me to keep going?" another officer said.
Interrupted again, but I, keeping a cool head, put my hands in the air and responded cordially, "Yes… But not of my own hand."
These W.M.A. officers wore light padding and armor that was a blue tint. They each wore ballistic helmets, tactical goggles, and balaclavas that only had eye openings, leaving their mouths covered from the nose down. Each of them was decorated in weaponry of different kinds, but the most distinct one they were each armed with was guns the shape of rifles, which were black and had blue lights on the sides of them that glowed, infusing them with their own mana.
"I'm an Arcane Knight of the Valley Kingdom. I was here on a mission to stop an unidentified Grade 3 monster, which I had just defeated before you showed up," I announced.
"And where's your uniform and authorization scroll?"
Fuck. I had thrown my jacket somewhere in this plaza, and the authorization scroll was… The authorization scroll was with Ophelia. She took it from me with her magic ability before we left the Kingdom. By the Keeper.
"My jacket," I managed to say. "I threw my jacket somewhere here in this plaza while I was fighting. That's my uniform."
"Keep your hands where we can see them. We will find your uniform," an officer said as he signaled a cadet to go look for my jacket.
Seconds passed. My stomach rumbled. Hungry and tired from my fight with the Grade 3. Guns locked in on me. And my only tickets out of this predicament are in the hands of a cadet and an unbelievable woman… No offense, Ophelia.
"I found the jacket!" the cadet yelled.
Another officer came around to check out the findings. He glanced over the jacket and checked the pockets for any concealable items. That officer then presented the jacket to the one questioning me, whispering in his ear inaudibly.
"Your authorization." Not a question but a demand.
"I don't have it."
The officer took the jacket and held it up, showing me the back logo.
"Black Wolf Knights of the Valley Kingdom, right?" he retorted.
"Yes, that's correct," I said reluctantly, sensing his smugness.
"You do understand that if you don't provide your authorization, we are permitted to take you in due to alleged crimes against the kingdoms alone. Anything else that happened here would be probable cause," he said. A warning.
Of course… alleged was the key word here because they were crimes we didn't even commit. It's a long story, but ever since I was appointed Acting Captain of the Black Wolf Knights, there have been a number of reports outside of the Valley Kingdom. Reports of "Black Wolf Knights" participating in illegal medical trade, trafficking, and gang warfare outside the Valley Kingdom's jurisdiction. All of which we did not do. But these fake Black Wolves kept popping up and ruining our reputation.
I don't even know how it all started. Even when we shut down one fake group, another one pops up from who knows where. It would be hard to back this up without plausible cause, given my unfortunate circumstances. No matter what I said, it would be used against me… this situation was annoying.
At this time, I felt a hand on my ankle. A female hand had permeated from the ground. Then a face appeared from underneath, the ground like calm water to her. That calm and pretty face. The eyepatch on her right eye… Ophelia! I thought, to my pleasant surprise.
She tapped my ankle, and with her other hand, she slipped the authorization scroll into my boot. I signaled her to hide before anyone saw her, and she obliged. Good timing. Seems we may have just grazed past this one.
"My boot," I said, trying to keep my composure. "I forgot I kept the authorization scroll in there." I used my eyes to point the officer to it.
The officer looked me up and down before he reluctantly went to check my boot. He took it out and read the digital scroll to himself.
After reading it for a good two minutes, he looked at me again, put the scroll away into his front vest pocket, and then said, "Arrest him."
"What! I gave you everything you needed. What is it now?"
"The authorization is expired. You only had until 1600 to complete this mission and leave."
Ridiculous. I completed the mission at 1550. But even so, I would have collected my reward and been out of this town by 1600 if it weren't for these damn W.M.A. wasting my time.
The time was now 1605. And at this point, I could either plead my way out of this or resist arrest. Neither would go well. Even if I have valid cause, the World Magistral Army had enough dirt on me to have their way, even if it was unlawful. They could get away with it.
The officer cuffed my hands behind my back, and it looked like I was getting arrested…
No. To hell with that.
We were going to break out of here. All I had to do was signal Ophelia, and she could send me through the ground. Havoc could cause a distraction, and we'd be gone.
I gave a sigh to myself under my breath. Just thinking about that was troublesome. Though that would also mean a downward spiral of events. We would become official enemies of the Valley Kingdom and lose our privileges as a guild once word of this got into Kingdom walls.
If I resisted arrest and the Kingdom found out one of their guild captains had done so, it would immediately link us to all the alleged crimes against the Black Wolves outside Valley Kingdom district. Everything would merge, and we'd officially be connected with the fakes.
There was no winning this. We were fucked.
Ophelia, through a wall, was waiting for orders. Havoc was probably nearby, too—but I couldn't do it. I couldn't risk everything just to escape.
As much as I didn't care about a lot of things, that decision would require taking others down with me. And that was one action I couldn't live with.
I signaled Ophelia—No. And her eyes widened. I could tell she was yelling at me with the expression she had on her face, What do you mean 'no'? And knowing her, she would disobey me.
But I looked at her square, and, with my face alone, gave her a commanding and stern "No." It felt as if I had emitted an aura that even the officers felt.
The officers taking me in stepped back as if sensing hostility from me. Guns were already on me, but the officers who had put them away drew their weapons and became ready to put me down.
"Stop resisting or we'll have to use force!" an officer said.
"I'm not resisting…" They weren't listening. Whatever they felt, they felt it in their bones. The officer's warning was even a bluff. Some of them were sweating and some trembling. They couldn't make a move.
I didn't know what was going on, but I used it to my advantage. I turned to the officer who questioned me.
"I said stop resisting!"
A trembling gunshot whipped, grazing my face. I looked that officer dead in the eyes, unflinching.
I started walking toward him. To him. I was haunting and menacing. An aura emitted from me that I didn't quite understand. I knew for a fact, though… it was not mana.
Frightened, he stepped back and attempted to fire again. Another graze. The other officers were watching, frozen in what looked like fear. Whatever this was—dare I say… I liked it.
At that moment, I felt a strong presence. As if a ray of light shot through me. Completely different from this strange negative aura around us that I was emitting.
"Officers. If you could please release my good acquaintance. Under law of the Valley Kingdom." A familiar voice. The light and the heart of the Valley Kingdom itself. And the reason I wouldn't have to pay the consequences for my stupid actions…
He was the respected Vice Captain of the Crimson Dragon Knights. And my best friend. Relief struck me finally.
"'Bout time, you damn bastard."