The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo was walking down the streets of the village.

At that moment, someone called out to him.

"Hey, Apollo!"

It was Ned.

He ran while waving his arms in the air. It was as if he wanted to attract as much attention as possible.

Apollo stopped and turned to Ned.

"Oh, hey Ned."

Once Ned reached Apollo he put his hands on his knees and panted.

"Hah... Hah... You suddenly left the palace!"

Apollo scratched the back of his head.

"I guess so."

Ned looked at Apollo curiously.

"...Do you have something to do?"

Apollo nodded.

"Yeah."

Ned was silent for a moment.

"...Don't you at least want to say goodbye to everyone?"

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"Not really."

Ned blinked a few times.

"Oh... Well, just know you can come back to hang out at any time."

Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok."

With that, Apollo left.

Ned watched him go. When he was no longer in sight, he went back to the palace to inform everyone of what happened.

They were surprised that Apollo left so easily.

Their time with him almost felt like a fleeting dream.

...

Once Maya fainted, she was found by some guards.

The only way they could make her out from the rest of the dead bodies was how hard she was clutching the gemstone in her hand.

Kye was one of the chiefs within Evermore city.

He was a middle-aged man but on the younger side. His hair was light brown and tidy. Along with that, he had just barely grown a small beard. It had only reached this state by growing it out since the day he was born.

When Kye heard the news, he was shocked.

Who killed all the innocent villagers and guards?

What made him most concerned was the wind mage's dead body.

There were people called enforcers in this city. They were the ones that used violence when things got out of hand.

The wind mage was one of the enforcers, and people in that group were not weak.

Being able to kill her meant that the criminal was not one to take lightly.

Currently, Maya was sitting in a chair. She was cuffed to a table in a small room.

She was wrapped with bandages and had some fresh simple clothes on top of them.

While asleep, she was fed a vitality pill.

This pill was difficult to make but could bring someone near the brink of death to a stable condition. If not for this pill, Maya would've died.

Maya slowly opened her eyes.

"...Where am I?"

Kye was sitting across from her.

He cleared his throat.

"Hello, citizen. I apologize for the harsh conditions, but we have a few questions to ask you."

Kye did not connect the dead mage to Maya. After all, she was a kid that got horribly injured in the accident.

He believed she was one of the victims of this new criminal.

Kye did not want to make it hard for Maya, but his current priority was finding out what happened. As such, he restricted Maya, believing intimidation would give him his answers faster.

Maya looked up at Kye.

"You... killed Apollo."

Kye frowned.

He presumed that the 'criminal' killed 'Apollo' and Maya was traumatized by that fact.

"No, I am the local chief of this area. I did not kill your friend, I am trying to find the killer."

Maya freaked out.

Her arms twisted, pressing hard against the cuffs. Her skin became a bright white while her hands reddened.

"YOU KILLED APOLLO. YOU KILLED HIM."

She stood up, knocking the chair she was sitting on backward.

"AHHHH!"

Maya's eyes were bloodshot.

She did not realize how much she depended on Apollo to keep herself together.

Maya may not have known him for long, but he protected her. She missed that feeling so much.

Apollo was a pillar in Maya's heart. He was what gave her the courage to brave the new world. He made her feel like she was sheltered in the raging storm.

Kye furrowed his brows.

He didn't expect Maya would be this traumatized.

Kye gathered mana on his palm, then casted the subdue spell.

Maya suddenly fell unconscious, knocking her head on the table as she collapsed.

Kye let out a deep sigh.

"Get her up."

The guards came in to put Maya back in her seat.

Kye put an elbow on the table and rested his head on his fist.

Now, to wait for Maya to wake up again.

...

Maya would wake up and Kye would try to interrogate her.

"YOU KILLED HIM"

"We did not kill him. We are on the same side, I am trying to find his killer."

Then, Maya would lose it.

Kye would cast the subdue spell on her and the process repeated itself.

...

"Can you describe the features of the criminal?"

"YOU, THE CRIMINAL IS YO-"

...

"Do you know where the criminal fled to?"

"YOU BETTER FLEE, I'M GOING TO GET REV-"

...

"DAMMIT, CAN YOU JUST CALM DOWN FOR A SECOND?"

"YOU KILLED APOLLO, YOU-"

...

"AHHHHHHH"

"AHHHHHHH"

...

Both Kye's and Maya's faces were flushed red. It had become a competition of who could scream louder.

Kye fell on his seat and facepalmed.

"...It seems this isn't going to work."

Maya tilted her head to the side.

"Yes... you're right."

Kye looked down at the cuffs.

The skin on Maya's arms pulled back, revealing her flesh. It was quite disturbing.

Kye furrowed his brows.

"...Sorry about the restraints. It seems they have harmed you."

Maya did not respond.

There was a blank look on her face.

Her lips parted to mumble something.

Kye raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

A whistling came from Maya. It sounded like an old vent letting out its last creaky breath.

"I will kill you all."

Kye sighed.

"There's no saving this poor thing."

Maya slowly raised her head.

"Yes... there is no more saving me."

For some reason, Kye felt uneasy.

However, he reassured himself that it was just a little girl. Not to mention the fact she was cuffed.

....Perhaps he would've thought about it differently if he knew that Maya was gathering mana from the gemstone in her hand.