Chương 181: Interrogation

"Did you coordinate your testimony with Mage Blythe?" The A Rank Justiciar asked as he slammed his hand down on the table in front of Damion trying to intimidate him. The A Rank knight was the district commander for Argentum, he oversaw all law-and-order matters in the heart of the city. Initially, the questioning had been amicable, the knight approaching Damion in a friendly way and introducing himself as Willem Straus, a common born knight that had risen to the peak of all knights.

However, once the bodies Damion brought back had been identified, the questioning had become a bit more antagonistic. Four C Rank, three D Rank and a B Rank were dead, not counting the E Rank Mage Kripke. This was a large death toll. To further complicate the situation, most of the dead were nobles. The Fontane brothers were nobles and while not a prominent family, since they did not have an S Rank member, they were still quite wealthy and the female healer that had been killed turned out to be Lisabeth Thorn.

Identifying Mage Blanche had been a bit more work for the Justiciars, but when they learned he was a B Rank mage and was part of the Blanche family of Rubrum, the incident's slightly complicated nature became extremely complicated. Damion of course had been aware of the noble status of the Fontane brothers, but he had no idea a member of the Thorn family or the Blanche family were also involved in his assassination attempt.

"I told you. Other than telling Mage Blythe to tell the truth, we did not discuss what he should or should not say," Damion answered keeping his voice calm.

"Why didn't you flee with him while the alleged attackers were busy fighting the goblins?"

"I'm not in a habit of letting people who try to kill me live."

"I find it hard to believe your entire team betrayed you and teamed up with this other group to murder you."

"My entire team obviously didn't. Hence why Mage Kripke was killed and why they tried to kill Mage Blythe."

"So the two of you claim. No sane person would stick around to watch a fight between Demonic Beasts and a group that tried to kill you."

"I admit it was not the best idea I've ever had, but I think it worked out fairly well for me."

"And you attest that you killed or helped kill several of the alleged assailants?"

"I'm sure the Order has examined the bodies and determined the cause of death for each. And their deaths match what I've told you. Macmillan, Sooter and both Fontane brothers died to my Ice spells. The rest were done in by the goblins."

"Except Mage Kripke. You said his throat was sliced by Macmillan."

"Yes, except for him. I didn't count him as one of my attackers, so I didn't include him in my kill count," Damion told Justiciar Straus, straining to keep the frustration he was feeling out of his voice. He had been here, being questioned for hours. Damion understood the reasoning why, he had killed people. But in self-defense. With the bodies, Mage Blythe's statement and their artifacts designed to detect lies, Damion thought he would have been done by now.

Or at the very least Mage Teft would have shown up to get him released.

"You have had disagreements with the Thorn family in the past. Was this an attempt to further damage their reputation?"

"No."

"When questioned about the chain of events, Mage Blythe reported that he was badly injured and afflicted with Mage Bane Toxin. He stated you gave him a lifesaving potion that fully healed him and removed the effects of the poison. What was the name of the potion you gave him?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"It was just a Health Potion," Damion answered.

"Normal healing potions don't have the ability to close critical wounds or remove magic toxins. Where did you get it?"

"Bought from a store a few months back," Damion answered honestly. Technically it was true, he did buy it from the Magic System's Shop.

"Do you have more of this potion?"

"You have my space stretching pouches and all my gear. I'm sure you've looked through them."

"Mage Blythe says you told him that the potion could only be taken once a week. Why is that?"

"Those were the instructions that came with it. I'm not an alchemist. I can't tell you the ins and outs of potions. I don't take that class until next term."

"What was the name of the store where…"

"I think that will be quite enough questions," Headmaster Sorin said as he barged into the interrogation chamber with Mage Teft and Elicia.

"I have reviewed the reports, and all of the Council has come to the same conclusion. Mages Wells, Blythe and Kripke were betrayed by their team in a plot to assassinate Mage Wells for his remarkable talent. Clearly, Mage Blanche did not like his S Rank Ice affinity being upstaged by Damion's S+ affinity. This is not the first time such things have happened, though I will be sure to help Mage Wells select better team members for any future labyrinth runs."

"The full Council has weighed in on this issue?" Justiciar Straus asked nervously.

"Yes, and they were quite astonished to find you were holding an elite Silver Spire student for questioning about a simple potion, despite having cleared him for his actions."

"I was merely curious. Such a lifesaving draught would mean much to my men."

"And to your pocket no doubt," Headmaster Sorin sneered.

"Do not trouble yourself with potions of such quality. This was something given to protect Damion as he is of great worth to our school. While it is commendable that he passed it to a friend in need, such items are unique and difficult to come by, even for S Ranks." Damion was glad he was out of hot water with Justiciar Straus, but something told Damion the Magic System's Health Potion had piqued the interest of more than just the Justiciar Order.

And since his story did not match the Headmaster's story, he had a feeling this would not be the last time his Health Potions became an issue.

"Elicia, why don't you escort Mage Wells back to the school. I'm sure he needs rest after such an ordeal." Mage Teft said.

"Yes ma'am."

"Wait," Damion interrupted.

"I get to keep the gear from those people that attacked me right. Isn't that the law? When I turn in rogue knights and mages, I get to keep their belongings, right?"

"These were not simple bandits…" Justiciar Straus began but was cut off.

"You are correct Mage Wells," Headmaster Sorin said.

"Since you have been found to have acted in self-defense, the belongings you provided as proof of identity now belong to you. If you would retrieve the items please Justiciar Straus." Damion thought the knight was going to have a stroke from of the way his face and neck muscles bulged in suppressed rage. While Damion understood why the man was so upset, he could not help but feel his rage was misplaced.

The spoils of the assassination team never would have rightfully belonged to him, even if he had hoped to keep the items for himself.

"The assailants' possessions are this way." Justiciar Straus led the group down the hall to another room where all the gear was laid out on tables. After the gear had been removed from the corpses, it had all been examined and cleaned piece by piece. On one table sat all of Damion's gear, that had been taken from him to be examined as well. Damion quickly walked over to it and began putting on his armor and checking his belt pouches to make sure everything was there.

Luckily, his Health Potions and other valuable items were all kept in the Magic System Inventory.

"I will requisition you a spatial stretching box to carry everything in," Justiciar Straus said to Damion.

"Why would I need one of those?" Damion questioned. He knew precisely what Justiciar Straus was up to and why he had not wanted to relinquish rights to the spoils of combat.

"You can't fit all that gear into your belt pouches."

"I turned in two spatial ring artifacts. Each with a three cubic meter of storage capacity. I can certainly fit all this gear into them. Let's see, where are those rings. I know I gave them to you, because I carried all the bodies in them." Damion said as he pretended to look around the tables in search of the spatial storage artifacts. Headmaster Sorin and Mage Teft glared daggers at Justiciar Straus.

Under the pressure of their gazes the knight reached into a pocket and pulled out the two spatial rings and placed them on a table.

"I have them here. I didn't want to risk such valuable items disappearing during the inventory," Justiciar Straus said with a forced smile.

"Thank you very much Justiciar Straus," Damion quickly snatched up the rings. He pocketed one, while the other slipped onto his finger and Damion quickly pulled the armor and weapons on the tables into his new spatial storage artifact leaving only Mage Kripke's gear behind.