In the Dining Room, the remaining three discussed the issue.

  “What do you think, Seb?”

  The woman looked at the youth, who was fiddling with Rodrick’s silver coins.

  “He’s suspicious, but I think he doesn’t have anything to do with the theft.”

  “I think so as well. Still, he’s ‘new’, which means he could be from outside the walls.”

  “He reeks and talks a lot. Let’s just kill him.” said the girl as she leaned backwards and raised her legs on the table, which earned her a glare from the leader. She hastily sat up straight and gave a silent apology to the woman before yawning.

  “Plus, if he was in league with them, he would have killed himself rather than get caught. There’s also the fact that he’s weak. If he’s not with them, then they won’t come looking for him, and if he is just lying, they still won't come.”

  The woman nodded in agreement before looking at the golden box, which she was slowly caressing.

  “But they’ll try to get this. We can use this to our advantage and catch one of them.”

  The youth, as if he could read her thoughts, let out a sly laugh.

  “I can always count on you to think like I do, Simone.”

  “It’s Madam Simone for you.” She reproached her with a glare, but there was no anger in her eyes.

  …

  When Rodrick was escorted back to the fancy dining room, he could feel that there had been a slight change.

  “Theft is illegal in Lineage.”

  Just as she spoke those words, Rodrick nodded non-stop, “That’s right! I was going to turn myself in!”

  “Good. Sir Bloom here will take you to the station. Any objections?”

  “None whatsoever!”

  Rodrick glanced at the so-called ‘Sir Bloom’, whose name, or nickname, certainly didn’t fit his gloomy character.

  After a couple of minutes, in which Rodrick was forced to stay in another room, both he and Sir Bloom went down a long staircase and exited the building.

  ‘I think I recognize this place. It’s near the pawnshop.’

  As he studied his vicinity, Rodrick walked in front of Sir Bloom.

  “Ehm, I don’t know where the station is. Could you lead the way.”

  The tall man grabbed his shoulder, stopping him and then looking around. Although he didn’t say anything, he still took the lead, seemingly not worried that Rodrick would try to escape.

  The trip to the station took no more than 10 minutes, and when they arrived, Rodrick felt a bit nervous. He hoped that he wouldn’t be jailed for a long time just because of a single apple.

  Surprisingly, the procedure was smooth as Sir Bloom explained the situation to the officer.

  “He also had this with him.”

  Sir Bloom took out the golden box, much to Rodrick’s surprise, and put it on the counter.

  The officer had a momentary frown before giving a silent nod. One of his colleagues cuffed Rodrick and took him to a small jail cell while Sir Bloom was led to another room to give an official witness statement.

  “Hey! That’s not mine! That bastard is lying! Hey!”

  No matter how much he called, the officers completely ignored him. In the end, he sat down on the crude bed and closed his mouth. It wouldn’t make a difference right now, and what was more important was the buzzing of the System in his head, which informed him of his success.

  It wasn’t midnight yet, and though he passed the mission, Rodrick had to figure out how to get out. Of course, a breakout was out of the question, so his only option was to talk his way out.

  Those weird people who captured him were shameless enough to keep his silver coins, so he was back to being penniless, but more importantly, the fact he had the silver would make the explanation easier.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  His once-new black suit had cuts in it, he didn’t shower for days, and he smelled a lot, which practically made him look like a homeless person.

  “Excuse me! Hello?!”

  Rodrick kept calling to the officers, but they kept whispering to each other. They didn’t seem interested in doing their job or listening to him.

  By the time night fell and shifts changed, new officers arrived, fortunately.

  “Hello, sir! Sir!”

  One of the officers was familiar, and when called to, he approached the jail cell with a frown.

  “It’s you?”

  It was the same night from yesterday night. Although he seemed like a stern person, Rodrick hoped he was more reasonable.

  “I stole an apple and came here to confess.”

  “You stole… an apple?”

  “Yes! I know what I did was wrong. I’m sorry.”

  “...”

  The man became even more confused as he looked at his colleagues, who shrugged. He went to look for the report but there was none, leading to more suspicion.

  “You came here by yourself?”

  “No. Some weird people caught me, thinking I stole some golden box. One of them accompanied me here and claimed the box was in possession. They’re trying to frame me! They even took my silver coins!”

  As the officer listened to Rodrick’s non-stop rambling, he felt that something was off. A golden box? Weird people? He did hear about an explosion earlier today.

  Just as he was about to ask for more details, the entrance door to the station was flung open and several shadowy people sprinted inside.

  The few officers on-duty pulled their batons and immediately retaliated. They were experienced fighters, resilient and powerful, however, the assailants were equally strong and also armed.

  Rodrick, stuck in his cell, watched a battle that, normally, would only be seen in movies. Backflips, wide and lightning-fast swings of weapons, sparks flying in the air, and even somesort of magical fireballs that flew into the air.

  Afraid to get hit, he backed against the wall, quietly hoping they weren’t hit for him. One of the shadowy people managed to slip through the officers and charge into another closed room. He cut through the door with his longsword and disappeared from sight.

  The officer who had been talking to Rodrick chased after him, and, just a second later, flashing lights and clanking sound echoed from that room.

  “Wait! Ah!”

  One of the few other officers was pierced in the chest, his lifeless body falling on the ground. Thereafter, his killer shot toward the only occupied jail cell.

  “W-why me? I haven’t done anything wrong! Fuck! It was just an apple!”

  Luckily, even after swinging at the cell door a couple of times, the shadowy person wasn’t able to break it, much less get inside. Upon seeing him take out small knives, Rodrick started frantically moving around the narrow cell.

  Before the first knife could be thrown, the shadowy person was struck in the head by a baton. The hit was so strong that he immediately stopped all movement and fell down, dead.

  An ear-piercing alarm resounded from within the station, alerting everyone. Even off-duty officers would have to respond in case of emergencies like these.

  The two remaining shadowy people, now at a disadvantage, chose to run away, but not before snatching the golden box.

  Within a matter of minutes, two unknown men and one Lineage officer were dead. It was inconceivable for anyone to think of attacking the police station.

  More and more officers began appearing inside, including a tall old man who had a grizzly face and a thick beard. The officers saluted him in unison before one of them began explaining what happened.

  Rodrick could only listen in silence, at least until the only officer he was familiar with approached the cell.

  …

  Transported into an interrogation room and seated across the familiar officer and the old man, who everyone called ‘Captain’, Rodrick let out an awkward laugh and then recounted everything he saw and heard.

  “I was at the wrong place and time, sir. It’s hard to believe but there’s a voice in my head that forces me to do things. I swear I had the money to pay for the apple!”

  From beginning to end, the two men listening to him neither interrupted him nor showed any reaction.

  Eventually, Rodrick was put back into the cell.

  An hour before midnight, the station was crawling with officers. There was even a handsome man, who behaved and dressed like a noble, present.

  “Fuck the System. Fuck everything.”

  Sitting on a small bed, Rodrick angrily cursed as his stomach growled. He was thirsty and hungry, and the situation escalated dramatically.

  “You are free to go.”

  The familiar officer unlocked the jail cell as he solemnly stated.

  “W-what? Really?!”

  Rodrick stood up, half-suspicious and half-relieved. He looked around and noticed Madam Simone. She glanced at him and smiled before resuming her talk with the handsome blond-haired man.

  “Yes. Someone spoke on your behalf.”The officer paused and gave Rodrick a long and meaningful look, “Don’t steal again… even if it’s an apple.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Unwilling to stay there for any second longer, Rodrick gave a comical salute before swifting darting out of the station.

  As soon as he got out, however, he saw Simone’s man, Sir Bloom.

  “Hey! You got me into some real shit! I almost lost my life!”

  Even when shouted at the man, he didn’t show any reaction, which made Rodrick shrink back.

  “I-I mean… ahem, can I have my money back?”

  Sir Bloom pulled a small leather pouch from his pocket and handed it to Rodrick.

  “Hmm… it’s all there!”

  Rodrick counted the silver coins before hesitantly looking back at the man,

  “Don’t you think I deserve some compensation? You used me. A single gold coin will do.”

  “...”

  “Okay okay! I get it! Damn it!”

  While grumbling, Rodrick walked away.