Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

Ding

The elevator's door opened and a familiar hall came into the view. In the hall, two people were busy talking.

"He had requested to have a meeting with team leader Dains?"

"That's right."

"Why does he want to have a talk all of a sudden. Didn't he insist that he was innocent?"

"I don't know about that."

Those words were the first thing that Kairen and Rai heard as soon as they entered the hall.

"Team leader Dains is really busy these days with all the stuff about the mascry case and that painting... How is he going to meet him as well? Glenn also doesn't have time to look into the man's past..."

"I'm not sure- Oh, You two are here!"

Elsie turned towards them and waved her hand as a greeting with a smile.

Kairen walked into the hall and looked around, Elsie and Carlson were the only ones in the hall. 

"Other's aren't back yet?"

"Nope."

Elsie leaned back and sighed.

"Man, I'm glad there are no more mines left to visit. Today and yesterday were really exhausting. I don't want to use a single drop of my mana for two weeks."

"Yeah, you're right."

Their schedule was more or less the same as yesterday. The unit divided themselves into different groups and did different jobs. There were still a few mines left that they didn't get the time to visit yesterday so they left to finish their jobs today.

It didn't take so much time like yesterday. They finished it in a few hours and came back to the office.

Rai plopped down on a chair in front of Elsie.

"Anyway, do you know anything about how the negotiations with Bordkly are going?"

Elsie and Carlson both turned towards Rai.

"Apparently, not too good. They oppose anything we say and don't accept to let any agent set food in their land. They've also requested compensation"

"What compensation? Is it our fault that their mines were looted? We are not even sure that it was done by the same thieves."

"I know right? They've just jumped into conclusion and now ask us for money."

Kairen walked to one of the rooms in the hall that unit members used as a place to rest and also had a small kitchen, and brew some tea while listening to the others' conversation. 

"It was obvious from the beginning that they won't cooperate. I don't get them. They want us to find the culprit and at the same time, don't let anyone visit the mines. Do they understand what they're doing at all? What if they've just framed us to get some money as compensation?"

"Don't be like that, Carlson. Hainston wouldn't let people from other country's special forces enter the country either. This isn't a joke, it's about the country's safety. Also, no matter what they want, Hainston  won't give them a single coin until everything is proven."

"Whatever!"

Kairen placed the cups of tea in front of everyone in the hall and brought the last one to Glenn who was busy working in his office.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

Kairen placed the tea on Glenn's desk and turned to leave.

"Ah, Kairen."

Kairen stopped moving and looked back at Glenn.

"If you are free, can you come to talk to me after you rest?"

Kairen slightly tilted his head at Glenn's sudden request but nodded his head nonetheless.

"Sure..."

Glenn smiled and looked down at the papers on his desk again.

Kairen could hear the others' conversation once again when he left the office.

"Anyway, what were you talking about when we came in?"

"Ah, that? You haven't heard of it yet?"

"About what?"

Kairen sat down on one of the chairs near others and took a sip of his tea.

"That man we captured, Alan Gill, had requested to talk to the team leader."

"Ah? Why?"

"He didn't say why. He just requested a meeting all of a sudden."

Elsie also picked up her cup of tea and took a sip of it.

"He has the right to request such a thing. We've been keeping him here without solid evidence or of him committing a crime."

"You are right."

Ding

everyone turned towards the elevator after hearing that voice.

"Oh, the others are back as well."

The elevator's doors opened one more time and the other group, that had probably finished their job, entered the hall. Serria and Reyan walked in and joined the others.

'Doesn't look like they had a fight this time...'

Kairen looked at Reyan and Serria's faces, but there was nothing unusual. They didn't seem mad or anything.

'How surprising...'

Kairen finished drinking his tea while examining his friends' faces.

. . . . . 

"Um, why did you ask me to come here?"

Sitting on a chair in front of Glenn, Kairen was waiting for him to start explaining. Glenn answered him without even taking his eyes off the papers that he was working on.

"You know that Alan Gill had requested to have a talk with the team leader, right?"

Kairen nodded his head. He had just heard about it moments ago.

"And you are also aware that we know little about that man."

Kairen nodded his head again. 

"I have to work on the two other cases and don't have time to search about that man's past or whatever else. You work on it."

"Y-yes?"

Kairen sat straight and looked at Glenn with confusion.

"Why are you so surprised? You and I were the ones who had worked on Alan Gill's case before. You know more than the others about him. It would be easier for you to work on it than the others."

Glenn pointed at a desk on his right side.

"Use the computer there. Use the archive if you need to. Make sure to find anything you can about that man. Ask me if you need help."

"....."

Kairen looked blankly at the computer, then he looked back at Glenn.

He had a thought at that moment.

'Anyway, it's better than going around and searching mines.'

But there was a problem.

Searching for information.

Kairen had zero knowledge about that.

It wasn't an easy task and one had to be a professional or something to be able to find anything about someone. 

"But, I know nothing about such stuff."

Glenn answered nonchalantly.

"No one in the unit does. Most of those guys are all a bunch of muscles, at least mages are better in these aspects than those swordsmen."

"....."

Kairen looked at Glenn who was insulting his own unit members as if it was nothing. 

Kairen didn't dislike the idea of helping Glenn, but he still asked something out of curiosity.

"What about Serria? She is also a mage. She's smart and intelligent." 

In Kairen's idea, she was the best choice to do this kind of work.

'I mean, to compare Serria and me realistically... if she is google chrome, then I would be internet explo-'

"She's too annoying to deal with."

"...."

Kairen blinked his eyes.

Yeah.

Understandable.

"When is the meeting then?"

Kairen asked that just to know how much time he had.

"In two hours."

But the answer wasn't what he expected.

"...."

"So you need to hurry."

Kairen silently sat down on the chair and turned on the computer.

'No, really, what exactly do you expect me to do in two hours?'

He looked at the blue screen of the computer and sighed. There was no way he could find something about that man in two hours.

. . . . . .

Click

The door opened slowly and a man entered the room. There was a small table in the center of the room with two chairs on two sides of it. There was also a big glass on one of the walls, covering almost all of that wall.

The man who entered the room looked at the other person sitting at the table in the room and opened his mouth.

"What did you call me here for?"

The other man looked up, scuffed, crossed his legs, and stared at the other's face.

"Come on, Fidel. Is it how you greet someone after not seeing them for so many days?"

"Why do I need to greet a prisoner?"

The man sat down on the chair in front of the other person. The other man tilted his head. The prisoner's expression seemed a little bit mad and annoyed.

"And what exactly makes me a prisoner? The fact that I lived in a snowy mountain? Or that I used an ancient ruin or something as my house? Or maybe the fact that I opened my house's door to a bunch of strangers? Hmm? What did they call you again? Ah! Team leader Dains?"

The team leader silently stared at Alan for a moment. He placed the papers he was holding in his hands on the table. He tapped on the papers and said with a smile.

"It seems that you don't know what makes you a prisoner yet.. Then, let me tell you."