Reiji woke up on a pile of hay. Haruto! He quickly tried to sit up only to be flooded with pain. He lay back down, took a minute to breathe and slowly sat up.
He was in shackles; his wrists and ankles bound together by chain. He had old, torn clothes that clearly weren't his.
He noticed he was in a prison cell. There was a hole for his waste and no windows. The only light came from beyond the iron bars of the cell from torches placed on the walls of the hall.
He noticed the same woman that was in that dark cloak earlier. This time she was wearing an outfit that featured a combination of deep black and crimson red fabrics.
The jacket was black with a high, stand-up collar and a slightly asymmetrical front closure. It's adorned with small red buttons. The pants were also black.
A red sash crossed diagonally over the chest, secured by silver chains and metallic embellishments, including a dragon-shaped brooch on the shoulder.
Draped over one shoulder was a long black-and-red half-cape. The inner lining of the cape was deep red. There were multiple silver chains, pins, and clasps that ran across the chest, waist, and legs. She also had black gloves.
Reiji stared at her for a moment. He already didn't like her. He could tell she was dripping with arrogance that comes from superiors who think everyone below them is nothing more than dogs.
He grinned ear to ear and spoke in a mocking tone. He didn't care who she was, no one had the right to look down on others.
"Oh, it's you. Did you knock me out or was I too stunned by your beauty?"
"Silence! You won't be the one asking questions and you will only answer when asked directly."
Reiji Kurozuma fell silent, playing along for now. She pulled out the keys to his cell. She opened the door and walked in.
"You are to come with me to be interrogated. Don't even think about lying or we'll resort to torture."
She grabbed the chain connecting the shackles on his wrists and ankles and forcefully pulled him up to his feet.
"Ow, lie? Why would I do that? You won't stop until I confess I committed a crime regardless if I did or didn't do it."
"Have I not told you to be silent and only answer when asked directly?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you should remind ME-
She yanked him by the chain and dragged him out of his cell. They walked down the hall. There were cells on each side, facing each other. There were torches mounted on the walls.
This has to be a dungeon. Just look at these rats crawling everywhere.
One rat approached him as he walked. He gently kicked it away. He noticed these cells were full of people, sometimes even five in one cell.
As he could guess, most of them were crazy, dirty and disgusting. Some feared for their life, since when you're down here, you pretty much have a guaranteed execution.
"Someone is about to die and IT'S NOT ME!"
One of the prisoners screamed at Reiji before laughing loud enough to be heard ten cells down. Reiji wasn't bothered. The man was crazy, irrelevant and soon to die.
They passed the last cell and the hallway began to narrow until it reached a wooden door reinforced with iron bars and locks.
She unlocked it and opened it, revealing a ladder. He went up first and she followed behind him. At the top was an open hatch that he climbed out of into a big room with four guards in each corner.
He moved to a door in the room that led outside. She climbed out of the hatch, closed it and walked over to him. One of the guards rushed to lock the hatch. She unlocked the door and signalled for him to go first.
He moved inside. On the other side of the door were spiral stairs, very small spiral stairs. He had to turn slightly to the side to be able to walk up.
When he got up to the top there was another door. He pushed against it but it didn't budge. So he pulled on it and it opened.
He walked through into another hallway going left and right.
"We're still underground?"
"We're almost to your interrogation room. Follow me." "Sure."
She closed and locked the door behind them and moved down the left side of the hallway. He followed her. They once again got to a door, a big door.
She unlocked it and opened it like it weighed nothing. He moved through to another hallway and she locked the door behind them.
This hallway was different. It was nice, laced with wood and easy to walk in without the walls constricting your movement. There were wooden doors along the left side of the hallway.
They walked forward until they reached a door that looked no different from all the others. She pushed it open and signalled for him to walk inside.
"Ah, there you are. I was told to be expecting a special visitor today."
A voice spoke from within the room. There were four oil lamps hanging from the walls, two on the left and two on the right. There was a young man sitting in a chair behind a table. On the table were two wristbands, each one lined with emeralds.
The young man had short, black hair and bright teal-blue eyes. He wore black gloves that extended up his arms. His outfit was dark with gold accents and included a high collar and a gray scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. There was also a green gemstone pendant on his chest and matching earrings.
"I'm guessing you'll lead the interaction?"
The young man grabbed one of the wristbands and slid it towards Reiji. Reiji Kurozuma sat down in the chair opposite the young man.
"My name is Akihiro Sato, pleased to meet you."
He offered to shake Reiji's hand but Reiji didn't respond in any way. After pulling his hand back, Akihiro Sato gently smiled and put on one of the wristbands.
"Put it on your wrist." "Why?"
"I would tell you, but I cannot. Not with her making sure I don't leak any classified information."
He pointed to the woman who was standing in the corner of the room, overlooking the entire thing. She had no reaction but Reiji could just feel the irritation seeping from her.
"If you say so, Mister Smiley."
Reiji put it on and felt tingling for a moment before it disappeared. Akihiro Sato crossed his ten fingers and his eyes lit up. His smile widened as he looked at Reiji with interest.
"Interesting, very interesting…I'm going to ask you some questions to fill in these…irrelevant papers and get to the good part."
Reiji expected the most incriminating questions to be asked. He couldn't wait for this to be over.
"Were you in any way involved with Lord Saionji's disappearance?"
"Who?"
"Lord Ryouma Saionji. He left to sign a business deal with another lord. He was accompanied by twenty soldiers and traveled in a carriage."
"Oh, I met him on the road he was taking. I wanted to ask for some silver coins but the arrogance of the lord caused me to take out the soldiers and steal the coins myself."
Akihiro Sato didn't respond. The woman stepped forward but he raised a hand, signalling everything was fine. He then put it back down and crossed all his ten fingers again.
"Where's Haruto?"
Reiji asked, finding an opening in the chaos. He spoke in a tone that had an underlying threat to it.
"Where's my stuff?"
He asked another question after getting no response. Akihiro Sato only seemed more amused by this.
The woman got inpatient and decided that the answer from the first question was enough. She walked over to Reiji and grabbed the chain connecting his shackles.
"Why are you interrupting my work, general?"
The general's fury could be felt in the room. She had no tolerance for insubordination.
"I am a general of the Royal knights. You are but a mere interrogator, a rookie one at that, someone far below my standing."
"I am under the direct order of lord Masahiro Fujioka, you brute."
The general's face showed an emotion for the first time, surprise. She then grits her teeth and kept her hold on the chain.
"Geez, so many names."
"What proof do you-" "Bluffing about something like that will cost me my life, do I strike you as someone who doesn't value his own life?"
After a moment of silence, she let go of the chain and stepped back. Akihiro Sato turned his attention back to Reiji.
"Mister Kurozuma, I think you have a very eventful future in front of you. A future filled with…a lot of secrets."