In the vantage point of the abandoned garden, covered by a spell sealing barrier, there was an armored man with his legs smashed and two men with their black clothes tattered and looking almost grey, lying on the ground. The only person standing was the girl with long silvery hair and aquamarine eyes, scratching her chin while looking at the armored man.
(I should deal with that sword first.)
Mira turned to look at the sword that still contained elemental power that was about to go out of control. She casually lifted it and released all its energy towards the sky.
The torrent of energy amassed from various spirits sprang up like a rainbow, though in contrast to that bright appearance it was accompanied by grieving howls of resentment. When that energy, only meant for destruction, collided with the sealing barrier, it was able to realize that purpose. The barrier covering the entire area vanished in an instant.
「That’s two birds with one stone.」
The dangerous sword had been taken care of, and now there was no need to go out of her way to figure out how to disperse the barrier. Mira looked at the blue sky above, as she raised her right hand that suddenly felt less heavy.
After releasing all that elemental energy, the spirit sword crumbled leaving only the hilt behind. The remains, clumps of iron with a burned appearance, fell to her feet.
His weapons and armor were all shadow spirit arms. Remembering how they all seemed to sync up and fuse into a single elemental blade, Mira turned back to look at the armored man.
「Now then, I have a lot of questions for you. I hope you reply honestly.」
Kairos, the armored man, was lying down facing upwards. Mira placed her left foot on his right arm while resting her right knee on his torso, restraining him. Then with her free hand, she knocked on his helmet just like someone would knock on a door.
「What is it…」
Kairos spat out, completely resigned to his fate. There was no strength left in his shoulder and his eyes were unfocused, apparently looking at a spot far, far away.
「Where did you get your hands on these spirit arms?」
Mira asked in a low voice while pushing with her left hand on the forehead of the helmet, glaring at his eyes through the gap that created.
On the other hand, Kairos looked puzzled for a moment when he heard the question. He had expected her first question would be something on the lines of why he did all of that, or who those two ambushers were, or how he would repay her for everything. Instead, she was asking details about spirit arms that had been completely useless against a pupil of a Wiseman like herself.
When he pondered about the question a bit longer, his vagrant conscience seemed to return, and with that, he noticed. As she restrained him, she was no longer holding those stones that had wrecked his spirit arms.
「I dunno!」
His conscience had returned that much, bringing back his arrogance. But it was not enough to realize that while the Magic Bomb Sealing Stones were gone, her spells were usable again. He was not aware yet that the situation could turn much worse for him.
「I swear, this kid… It’s futile to resist any longer.」
Hearing his reply, Mira’s shoulders sank in exhaustion and she began thinking how to punish him. Having to keep his helmet open was bothersome too, but spirit arms had a property that inhibited forceful dismantling, so if anyone was taking them off him, it would have to be himself. But even if she slammed his helmet and ordered him to take it off, he did not seem to be the type to obey.
Then there was the option to do it with a spell, now that she could use them again. But a spell strong enough to destroy spirit arms would be too powerful to use with Kairos still inside, otherwise the interrogation would escalate to an execution.
Mira looked around for other options, then her eyes stopped in a certain place as she grinned while chuckling slightly.
「This is your only chance to speak, you know?」
「I dunno!」
She asked a last time before doing things by force, but Kairos had convinced himself she would never do anything more to him, so he replied instantly. As soon as she heard him, her hand began moving away from his face.
Her hand went down his chest, moving even further down reaching his lower body where the armor had been shattered by the Magic Bomb Sealing Stones.
A feeling of fright slowly crawled into his mind and seized control of his senses, filling them with uneasiness. That uneasiness then began taking a more palpable form, going from palpable disgust to a primitive emotion pulling at his nerves, like the plucking of strings from an instrument, then turning into plain agony.
「Ahhhh stoppppp! It’ll break! It’s going to breakkkk!!!」
Even if he tried to resist, he was unable to escape from Mira’s grip. Cold sweat poured forth from every pore in his body as his naiveness turned into regret, his shouts sounding like the growls from a provoked beast.
As Mira went through her options, she realized the Dark Knight’s sword would literally split the armor in half, while her Sage Arts would dismember him, both unacceptable for an interrogation. At that point, she saw his lower body, the armor shattered and offering little protection. There was one spot there where she could inflict plenty of pain on him, even with her average physical strength.
With a slight coldness, Mira took that one spot between her thumb and index before tightly squeezing. Just like she predicted, that was enough to make him yield.
「Then speak frankly. Or else…」
As she said that, she slowly but surely decreased the gap between her index and thumb. She let it go before starting again, so in reality it was not that painful. But Kairos was violently nodding, the armor clanking as he did that.
「I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything! So please stopppp!」
He stopped as the fear of a potential future firmly took root in his mind.
「As long as you understand.」
With that, Mira loosened up her grip. The metallic clattering form Kairos’ stiff body also ceased at the same time.
「Then I’ll ask you once again. Where did you get these spirit arms?」
「From a merchant.」
「Ohoh, and where is this merchant from? And did they tell you where they got these?」
「I don’t know.」
Kairos replied plainly and disinterested, but as soon as Mira heard that, her fingers acted as if they were about to squeeze with full force. A cold shiver that seemed to contract his spine ran through his back as Kairos raised his voice agitated.
「It’s true! I’m not lying! That merchant is Mother’s friend, so I bought them through her. Mother is the one who knows all the details!」
It was impossible to see his expression through the armor, but his voice gave away that he was desperate.
(Not his father, but with his mother. Hmm, I’ll have to look into the details when I’m back. Solomon should be able to find something if I tell him about this.)
