Chapter 36: The Colonel’s Resolve

“Colonel Ketia, you are entirely correct in your admonishment.” Deboli said, bowing slightly, a strained, bitter smile playing on his lips.

Ketia paid him no mind, simply extending a hand to press against the cell door, which pulsed with a dense array of glowing runes.

The intricate symbols, once vibrant, slowly faded into nothingness beneath Ketia’s touch, as if they had never existed.

With the iron door now open, Ketia stepped inside, his movements light and unhurried, entering the chamber where the three captives were held.

The creak of the door startled the previously silent individuals, drawing them back from their stupor.

Upon witnessing an unfamiliar knight clad in shimmering silver plate armor, they instinctively lowered their heads once more.

“What are your names?”

With his hands clasped behind his back, Ketia approached Nia, whose cat ears drooped dejectedly, his piercing gaze fixed on the three forlorn figures.

The silence that followed caused a faint crease to appear between Ketia’s brows.

“Colonel Ketia, please, allow yourself to rest. I shall attend to them.”

Noticing Ketia’s burgeoning displeasure, Deboli swiftly stepped into the cell from outside, his voice dripping with obsequious flattery.

“And how do you propose to do that?”

Sensing a flicker of interest from Ketia, Deboli eagerly elaborated: “Colonel Ketia, for recalcitrant criminals such as these, torture is, of course, the only viable method!”

“I am aware that you, and indeed some others within the Empire, harbor an aversion to interrogation through such punitive means, but surely, special circumstances warrant special treatment.”

Leaning against the cold stone wall, Nia, curled on the straw mat with her knees drawn to her chest, heard Deboli’s words. Her formerly drooping ears snapped upright in an instant.

“You can discern from this beastkin’s reaction that they are utterly terrified of our methods!” The keen-eyed Deboli exclaimed excitedly to Ketia, who still seemed to be weighing the merits of torture.

Ailin, who had been silently searching for a way out of their predicament, abruptly lunged forward as Deboli grew more animated, positioning himself in front of Nia and extending his arms to shield her.

“You wouldn’t dare!!”

Ailin bared his teeth, his eyes blazing with feral intensity as he glared defiantly at Ketia and Deboli.

“Hmph, you brash whelp, are you inviting a thrashing? How dare you look at me with such insolence? Do you even comprehend how many of your kin I’ve personally whipped to death?”

Deboli produced a long whip from his waist, cracking it sharply in the air a few times, then made to lash it towards Ailin.

“Enough!”

As Deboli raised his whip-wielding hand, poised to strike, Ketia’s calm eyes belied the sudden, sharp command he issued.

“Colonel Ketia? Is something amiss?”

Halting his movement, Deboli turned back to Ketia, a hint of confusion in his expression.

“These individuals were apprehended by His Majesty’s direct command. I must inquire: do you… possess the authority to interrogate them on His Majesty’s behalf?” Ketia’s voice was soft, yet his gaze remained unwavering as he addressed Deboli.

Ketia’s tone was hushed, but Deboli recognized it as the familiar precursor to the Colonel’s rare, yet potent, anger.

Ever since the Empire had subjugated the northern races and established dominion over the continent’s northern territories, Ketia had seldom betrayed even a hint of fury.

He harbored no desire to be the first to witness it now.

“Colonel Ketia, surely you speak in jest? I would never presume to interrogate criminals apprehended by His Majesty’s direct order, much less set such a dangerous precedent.”

“Good that you understand!” With a dismissive glance at the fawning Deboli, Ketia turned and began to walk out of the cell.

“If we are unable to extract any information from them, then there is no further need for questioning. We shall simply escort them back to the Empire and deliver them to His Majesty.”

“You are absolutely correct, Colonel Ketia!” Deboli assented, bowing and nodding profusely as he scurried to keep pace with Ketia.

Clang.

The cell door slammed shut, and the dense, intricate runes flickered back into existence.

Ailin, still shielding Nia, watched Ketia and Deboli as they presented their backs to him. His sharp claws sprang from his fingertips, poised and ready.

He yearned to act, yet even after Ketia and Deboli had sealed the cell door and slowly receded, he remained motionless.

It was not a lack of will to ambush them, but rather an inability to do so.

Though the knight, clearly the leader, had turned his back, Ailin keenly perceived a subtle, almost imperceptible pressure emanating from him, a silent warning that pinned him in place.

It was as if the knight had anticipated his every move.

Only when he was certain of their departure did Ailin suddenly collapse onto the ground with a soft whoosh.

“Ailin? What’s wrong?” Seeing Ailin’s sudden collapse, Nia frantically clutched his arm, tears welling slightly in her eyes.

“Hoo, hoo-hoo~”

Ailin, his pupils dilated with lingering fear, offered no reply, merely continued to pant heavily.

“Ailin? What happened? What’s wrong?” Qi Lin, who had been anxiously observing from the periphery, his presence almost unnoticed until now, exclaimed with alarm.

“Hoo-hoo.” Gasping for breath, Ailin waved a dismissive hand and slowly pushed himself to his feet. “I… I have something important to say!”

“What is it?” Qi Lin and Nia asked in unison, their expressions etched with confusion.

“He’s incredibly strong!” Ailin retracted his extended claws. “That armored knight, presumably their leader, is immensely powerful! We… we have no chance of escaping!”

Ailin’s stark words caused Qi Lin and the red-eyed Nia to exchange a troubled frown.

****

“Colonel Ketia, what course of action should we pursue next?”

Stepping out of the prison, Deboli cautiously posed his question to the silent Ketia, who walked ahead.

“Do you truly believe there is anything left to be done?” Ketia retorted, his expression utterly impassive.

Deboli was struck dumb. Indeed, the criminals had been apprehended; what more could possibly be required? Interrogation? But these were individuals captured by His Majesty’s direct decree; they possessed no authority to question them.

It seemed his only remaining task was to escort the criminals back to His Majesty, was it not?

Yet, he was a frontier officer, bound to his post for life unless an extreme emergency arose. He could not, under any circumstances, leave the borderlands.

Thus, his current responsibilities would likely revert to their previous state: indulging in food and drink? No, rather, attending to all matters concerning border defense.

Stealthily, Deboli stole a glance at the slow-paced figure ahead, then lowered his head in thought.

Without a doubt, it would be Ketia, the very man who had delivered the orders to him, who would be responsible for escorting the criminals back.

“Very well, attend to your own duties.”

Ketia halted, turning his head slightly to address Deboli, who seemed lost in a reverie behind him.

“Ah? Yes, of course. Then, Colonel Ketia, should you require anything, please summon me or any of the others!” Deboli said, respectfully bowing slightly and pressing a hand to his chest.

“I shall take my leave now.”

Straightening his back, Deboli turned and departed.

Watching Deboli’s retreating figure, Ketia’s gaze drifted away, and he began walking towards the city wall.

“Colonel!”

The moment Ketia ascended the city wall, the knight diligently manning his post immediately offered a respectful greeting.

“Hm, standing firm at your post, well done indeed!” Ketia praised, observing the Young Man whose armor made him appear somewhat bulky, yet whose eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence.

Upon hearing the commendation, the already enthusiastic Young Man knight became even more invigorated, his spirits soaring.

“Yes, Colonel! I will strive to perform my duties exceptionally.”

A faint smile touched Ketia’s lips. He nodded at the Young Man, then continued his ascent towards the tower’s summit.

Standing atop the fortress tower,

Ketia surveyed the boundless expanse of the plains below.

A gentle breeze stirred his cloak, and Ketia let out a sigh, his eyes clouding with a distant memory.

“My sister…”

As Ailin’s protective gesture towards Nia flashed through his mind, Ketia murmured softly.

‘If I hadn’t answered His Majesty’s call, left our home, and joined the war to subjugate the northern lands, would you not have succumbed to illness, taken too soon for lack of timely medical attention?’

Clenching his fist, Ketia’s gaze hardened, fixed on the distant, endless grassland.

With another sigh, he shifted his eyes from the plains, looking instead at the flag proudly fluttering in the wind atop the tower.

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