So... he decided to relax as he waited instead.

  Soon after his heart had calmed down, the sound of the lock turning could be

  heard. Then, the door opened, and three men appeared. They were all wearing

  the knight's uniform of the Royal Guard, but the man in front, who looked to be

  in his late twenties, had an especially embroidered on his. His

  facial features were well proportioned, but there was something pretentious

  about the scornful way he looked at Kyle. The lavish knight shot Kyle a glance

  before immediately opening his mouth."I am Bahram Turner deputy commander of the Royal Guard and the

  investigator for your case. We're going to ask you a few questions; if you want

  to be released quickly, then answer honestly," he ordered with an air of

  superiority.

  Kyle furrowed his brow as Bahram sat down in the seat opposite him.

  "Are you the one who kidnapped Her Highness, the Second Princess?" he

  asked as he flipped through some documents. He didn't seem to care for Kyle's

  feelings at all.

  The knight who was serving as the transcriber sat next to Bahram and began

  to record his testimony. The remaining knight stood intimidatingly next to Kyle.

  "...No, I'm not," Kyle answered bluntly, feeling a little bitter at Bahram'

  arrogant attitude.

  "Then where did you find the Second Princess?"

  "In a wooden shack in the slums. She was stuffed inside a sack."

  "Why were you there?"

  "The people who raised me lived in that shack."

  "According to the report, they were the ones who took the Second Princess

  prisoner. Is that true?"

  "Seems so. I saw them come back carrying the sack with the princess inside."

  And so, the investigation continued. All of it was information he'd already told Alice and others on the way to the castle. The documents in Bahram' hand probably

  contained all of that intelligence so that he could cross-check for any

  inconsistencies as they proceeded with the investigation. There were parts of

  his testimony that put Kyle in an unfavorable position, but it was all information

  that could be clarified with a thorough search. It would have been worse if Kyle

  lied and lost track of the actual facts, so he decided to answer as honestly as

  Stolen novel; please report.

  possible.

  "So you're saying you weren't involved in the kidnapping of Her Highness, the

  Second Princess?" Bahram asked doubtfully.

  "That's right," Kyle confirmed without hesitation.

  "Hmm... how suspicious," Bahram noted. "According to the report, the thugs

  that tyrannized you were killed by a masked man of unknown origins. So why

  are you the only one alive?"

  "He was defeated."

  "By who?"

  "By me."

  Bahram scoffed at Kyle's answer.

  "Don't lie to me. A little kid like you defeating a bandit? Impossible. He

  would've gone through some form of training."

  "I don't know, maybe he let his guard down? I was so frantic at the time, I

  don't even know what happened..."

  Kyle chose not to tell them about how he had enhanced his own body.

  "Hmm. Fine. Where is that man now, then?"

  "Who knows? If he hasn't woken up and fled, then he should still be lying

  somewhere among the corpses in the shack," Kyle replied in a rather fed-up

  tone.

  "Our search party is at that shack right this moment. Their report should

  arrive shortly. If it's as you say, then we may be able to extract some

  information from that man... Just as Bahram finished speaking, a knock echoed from the door.

  "Seems like it's here. Open it."

  At Bahram' order, one of the knights opened the door, and another knight

  entered the room.

  "Excuse me. Here is the report from the search team, Sir Bahram," the knight

  said, leaning in to whisper something to Bahram' ear. Bahram stared silently at

  Kyle as he listened to the report. Kyle watched on in silence, too. Several

  moments later, Bahram scowled unhappily at the report he'd finished listening

  to.

  "...It seems like we have to relocate. Stand up," he ordered Kyle.

  "Why do we have to relocate?"

  "To do the interrogation, obviously."

  "Then why can't we do it here?"

  Bahram' vague answer left Kyle extremely puzzled. He couldn't understand

  why they had to leave the interrogation room to do an interrogation.

  "Just stand up! We don't have time!" Bahram shouted menacingly. The other

  knights grabbed Kyle by an arm each and moved to life him out of his seat.

  "I can stand by myself," Kyle said with a sulky expression.

  He got up quickly and tried to shake off the knights that had him by the arms,

  but they seemed to have no intention of releasing him, as their vice-like grip

  didn't budge at all.

  "I'm not going to run, so could you let go of me?" Kyle asked Bahram, who was

  still sitting before him.

  "Hmm, let's see..." Bahram stood up abruptly and made his way over to Kyle.

  "Stick out his hands," he ordered the knights restraining Kyle.

  "Yes sir," the knights replied promptly, forcing Kyle to put out his hands.

  "Hey, stop it!" Kyle tried to fight them off, but his child's strength was no

  match against these adults. He might've been able to throw them off easily if he

  had strengthened his physical body and abilities like in the battle before, but the situation moved too quickly for him to react calmly. And even if he did

  manage to shake off Bahram and the other knights, it would probably be

  considered obstruction and make him a criminal for real. Which meant that if

  Kyle had acted calmly and enhanced his body, he was unlikely to escape

  successfully anyway. Kyle struggled with all his might, but the adults held him

  still with ease.

  Bahram chose that moment to make a move. Clink! A jangling sound echoed

  throughout the room.

  "Huh?" Kyle looked at his hands in shock. Cuffed around his wrists were a pair

  of shackles and a long chain leading away from it; a knight held the end of the

  chain to prevent Kyle from running away.

  "Let's hurry. Bring the brat along," Bahram said to a confused Kyle, who still

  hadn't caught up with the situation.

  ◇◇◇

  Tugged forward by the chain, Kyle was led to a damp and humid dungeon. The

  air in the room was chilly against his skin. There was a lantern against the wall

  giving off faint light, but for some strange reason the light source didn't appear

  to be fire. There had been several similar lanterns in the interrogation room

  earlier, but there was only the one in this room, leaving it rather dim. The

  entryway consisted of a sturdy metal door and there was a bed placed in the

  corner of the room. Both the floor and the ceiling were entirely made of stone,

  implying absolutely no regard for the inhabitant's comfort. On top of that, there

  were several restraining tools set in the room along a stained wall with patches

  of different color — probably from blood. It was exceedingly easy to imagine

  what this room was for: a prison cell dedicated to what was most likely

  interrogation by torture. That's what Kyle deduced.

  "Hey, what are you throwing me into a cell for?" he demanded, no longer

  bothering to soften his words out of resentment.

  "You're the suspected culprit behind the kidnapping case of the Second

  Princess. We need to take you into custody for the interrogation, obviously."

  "I did no such thing!" Kyle replied angrily. He could understand being called the

  primary witness, but having the crime placed on his head was a different matter entirely.