Chapter 21: CH. 21 | Guarantee From Yasa

She never told me any of that? But could Michelle really be the Commander of the White Rose Corps?

"Listen! I don’t know whether you’re trying to lie to me or not. But I need real, solid proof that you’re actually connected to them," the man said.

Theo lifted his head again and looked ahead. He had a point. Yasa and Michelle were probably famous enough that plenty of people could falsely claim to be close to them without any real evidence.

He reached into his inventory bag and pulled out something, handing over the written letter Michelle had given him, right before she left with the Third Prince.

The man took the letter and read it over. He looked genuinely surprised, since what Theo had said checked out, he clearly did have some real connection to Yasa and Michelle.

He nodded a few times, like someone agreeing with a conclusion he’d already suspected. He handed the letter back and stood up again.

"You know, Yasa and Michelle’s status ranks far above city nobility, even above a count," the man said, "I don’t want to get tangled up in trouble with someone close to them, they’re absolute monsters."

"Come with me!" he said, and Theo followed without hesitation.

The two of them left the investigation room and headed up to the second floor. There, they stopped in front of a room labeled Head of the Investigation Division on the plaque outside.

A soft knock on the door, and Theo and the man stepped inside. Theo had assumed the Head of the Investigation Division would be a man, but that wasn’t the case.

A grown woman sat behind the desk, dressed in a military style shirt and cloak, reading through a file in her hands.

"Sorry to bother you, Chief Yesi."

"What is it?" the woman named Yesi asked.

The man glanced briefly at Theo, then stepped forward until he stood right in front of Yesi’s desk. Theo stayed where he was, watching them talk without being able to hear a word of it.

"HAHAHA!" Yesi’s laughter rang out loudly, startling Theo.

"I can’t believe someone’s out here claiming to be close to them. Does he have any idea how terrifying Yasa and Michelle actually are?!" Yesi complained.

"I’m not making it up, I really do know them," Theo said.

Yesi turned and locked eyes with Theo. She set her file back down on the desk and walked over toward him.

"Yasa and I are close friends. How about we make a bet?" Yesi asked.

"What?" Theo asked.

"If you’re telling the truth, you walk free from every charge. If you’re lying, I’ll personally be your executioner!"

"Well?" Yesi asked, challenging him.

Theo nodded. He didn’t feel scared about it at all, because it happened to be the plain truth, he really did know Yasa and Michelle, no lie about it.

Yesi turned and told the man to go to the inventory room and grab a long distance communication crystal. He understood and nodded, heading off.

It didn’t take long before he came back, carrying a blue plate held in his hands. He handed it over to Yesi.

The woman activated the blue plate by channeling her mana energy into it, then recited a particular spell that Theo couldn’t make sense of.

She tossed the blue plate forward, letting it land on the floor, and a holographic screen sprang to life from it, showing Yasa dressed in a beautiful gown befitting an Archmage.

"Yesi! Why are you calling me? I’m out at the eastern border right now!" Yasa said firmly.

Her voice came through clearly to Theo. It sounded familiar, it really was Yasa’s voice.

"Sorry. I just need a moment of your time. Do you mind?" Yesi asked.

"Make it quick! The Dark Legion’s about to attack again."

Yesi had the man bring Theo in front of the hologram, standing tall to face Yasa. Yesi crossed her arms and laid out Theo’s case.

"He’s been confirmed to have killed two adventurers, one of them a noble’s son. He claims—"

"THEO?!" Yasa shouted, "How have you been? Have you been eating properly? Getting enough sleep? Did you manage to land a guild mission?"

"I’m sorry for leaving without telling you. We had no choice. Michelle’s out here too, leading her troops."

Yesi looked stunned, watching Yasa chat with Theo so casually, as if the two of them were the closest of friends, inseparable. Theo smiled at Yasa’s reaction, exactly the response he’d hoped for.

"I’m fine. You two don’t need to worry about me."

"I just need your help right now. They’re planning to execute me over what I did, even though I killed them because they genuinely deserved it."

"WHAT?!" Yasa shouted.

"Who said that? I’m heading over there right now to kill them myself!" Yasa said firmly.

"Yesi?! Are you still there?" Yasa asked.

Yesi walked closer to Theo, still keeping her arms crossed, "I’m here."

"Listen to me!" Yasa said firmly, "Never try to have him killed. He means a lot to me and Michelle!"

"If you execute him over these charges, Michelle and I will leave the front line and show up at your doorstep in a single night!"

"Do you understand me?!" Yasa said firmly.

The woman couldn’t do much else but nod in agreement to what Yasa had just said.

She promised to close Theo’s case and never reopen it again, the young man would be safe from every charge against him.

"Good. I have to go!"

In an instant, the hologram vanished, shutting down on its own, leaving just Yesi and Theo behind. The woman turned to face Theo, her expression dead serious, clearly curious about who this young man actually was.

"You... who exactly are you, that they’d go this far for you?" Yesi asked.

Theo smiled, turning to look at Yesi, "Does that mean I win the bet?"

Yesi went quiet for a moment, then let out a breath and walked back to her desk, sitting down and leaning back into her chair.

"You’re cleared of every charge. Still, I hope you don’t make the same mistake again."

"If it happens again, I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect you a second time," Yesi answered.

Theo nodded, bowing his head slightly, thanking Yesi since her decision had just spared him from a genuine threat of execution.

The man escorted Theo out of the room, walking down the corridor of the building until they reached the outside. Their footsteps came to a brief stop.

"What’s going to happen with this case?" Theo asked.

"We’ll come up with a different explanation for Denis’s disappearance. As for Lucas, we won’t be looking into it further," the man said.

"But still, listen to what Yesi told you. You need to hold yourself back from killing anyone else," the man added, "Though I’ll admit it’s strange, a rookie adventurer managing to kill a silver ranked adventurer."

Theo nodded in agreement, then said his goodbyes and left the place. He felt a wave of relief, since his closeness with Yasa and Michelle had just saved him from a death sentence.

Still, what he didn’t quite understand was why they cared enough to protect him at all. He had no idea what was going through their minds, since as far as he could tell, he wasn’t anything special.

He was just an orphanage kid, and a classless one at that. An Archmage and a Knight like Yasa and Michelle certainly weren’t obligated to protect him so completely.

Unless there really was something special about Theo that even he wasn’t aware of.

Could it be that they’re protecting me because I hold the Authority of Mystic Eyes talent? But I never told Yasa about that, not even Michelle.

As he walked out through the gate, his footsteps stopped when something off to the side caught his eye. There, a girl sat hugging her knees near the wall by the gate.

Theo knew exactly who it was, "Thalia?"