Seeing through lies

Suddenly snapping back to reality, Rumius began doing as he was instructed, analysing the workings of the interrogation. His job here was to learn from this, and maybe even learn to keep out of such detection devices in the future. 

In the ENCHANTMENTS AND SPELL CREATION, magic was described rather peculiarly. Rumius thought for a brief moment, trying to recall the definition. ' Right, the…genesis of entities..from the absence of matter through the strength of will.' 

By extrapolation, it held that all words contained a certain degree of power, which meant mana. Mana existed universally in Aüserst. Everything had mana. Rocks, life, decay, magic. The list went on.

Here, the debate was forked into three main camps.

Most books wrote that Mana a presence granted by the gods, meant to empower mortals, men( as in humans) in particular, to seek their ambitions. In using mana for magic for 'good', one carried out the will of the gods. If one used it for 'evil', then the gods with bring down divine mandate and punishment. The stench of religious doctrine couldn't be more overpowering. Master had a distaste for such books, and they were hence scarce in her hut. 

In contrast, a smaller number of books held the view that mana was a native presence to the world, born in its genesis and that living creatures had simply come to be assimilated with the mana and learned to use it as their own over the millennia of evolution. The utilisation of mana as magic was hence simply an application of what our imagination deems to be the most effective way of achieving whatever goals we have. 

The last camp was a mix, and the take from this book was one of the thousands of mish-mashed views which made it up. Magic was born from words. Words that carried weight and power. And magic were these words made real.

With such a plethora, one would have too many choices if one simply fixated on choosing a single one. Hence, the more effective method was to take a little of all these styles of thinking and implement it wherever they worked best.

All these views had their roots somewhere relevant in magic, where other theories and doctrines couldn't perform nearly as well.

Rumius's mindscape fell quiet as he closed his eyes. A feeling of coldness hit his chest as his mind fell silent, like a sea reaching dead calm. So silent that a pin drop would as well be a shout. Then, the images before his eyes began to blur and clear simultaneously. The vast darkness before him shifted like folding fabric and light pierced through it.

When the he opened his eyes again, he saw a pattern of undulating waves, coiling outwards in a giant sphere which. The bell sat on the table, sending its chimes outwards while two similar wave patterns came from the two individuals sitting opposite each other across a table. 

Rumius felt like a faraway spectator. As if he was watching from high above with the eyes of a hawk. 

When first wave from the figure other side of the table crashed against the waves from the triangle there was a strange buzz of harmonious resonance as the waves fused into each other. There was a small rippling for several moments before both waves dissipated like ocean foam.

Buzzz. Buzzz. Buzzz..

The waves collided evenly, rippling and disappearing. Colliding, rippling, then disappearing. Colliding, rippling, and disappearing.

Realising how he hadn't been hearing any buzzes on master's side, and a sudden thought compelled him to look over. His eyes instantly widened in shock.

The waves weren't colliding! 

Quickly getting over his initial shock, Rumius began watching carefully, even counting the numbers of waves released per minute and how far they went. Eventually, he seemed to notice a pattern. 

' It looks like master's waves are slower?' He realised. Rumius moved his gaze to stare at Verrater who appeared as a horse-shaped mass of white dots. Counting silently, Rumius confirmed his suspicions. 

' …30..to..18..' he noted. ' Verrater's waves came out nearly twice as fast as Master's. And his the lines are thicker and more defined.' 

' What could be the reason? Mana suppression? Distance?:

A quick glance told Rumius where his master had placed the Eye, on the centre of the table. It relatively equidistant from either party. There was no tampering or manipulationas far as he could see. 

There were too many question unanswered and there were not enough clues to go off on. Rumius quickly became stuck. To begin with, what even were these lines? Pulses? Mana pulses? Was there a significance in their length? What were the factors determining their speeds and rates? 

After a while, Rumius took a step back. He looked at his current situation and let out a small sign at the obvious conclusion. ' I'm stuck. Like dead stuck. What did master even expect me to do?' 

Mounting frustration made a small part of Rumius's mind wander as he temporarily took his eyes off the Mana-World and looked at his master.

The lapse in concentration made Rumius's mana world blurry. But in return, his ears became able of picking up on the conversation happening outside. It was largely quiet. Other than master's voice and Verrater's replies, there was a small buzz from the city below, people moving around and talking but no shouting as far as Rumisu could hear. It was still too early for the city to wake fully. 

" …of embezzlement, are you certain that you don't know of any such illegal activity?" Isadora asked. Her tone was still as serious as a reaper. 

" I am. I have no knowledge of any embezzlement or wrongdoing of such type." Verrater replied, his voice now steadier but still characteristically hoarse.

Rumius noted, interestedly, how the demon was answering all the questions much more confidently. And according to the Eye Of The High Lord, he was answering all these questions truthfully as well.

' Maybe he isn't the one we're looking for.' Rumius mused.

Master nodded slowly as she noted his replies.

" Very well. This shall be the last question." She informed him. Hearing this, the demons's shoulders sagged, as if out of relief. " Alright. Let us end this." He said, sounding tired but still somewhat cheery. He then nodded, signalling Isadora to pose her question. 

" Please raise your right hand." She requested. 

The demon hesitated, but then complied without asking questions. 

" On behalf of the bureau, I will act as witness to your pledge." Isadora rose to her feet as she informed him solemnly. 

" Pledge?" Verrater repeated, stunned. 

" Correct. As the last part of this inquisition, the bureau would like you to once again swear allegiance to your lord. This will serve as a renewal of your contract, as well as proof of your loyalty."

Isadora's question was not met with an answer. Instead, a stunned silence immediately engulfed the hall. Rumius turned to see Verreter's slack face. The expression was so raw that it was unnerving.

Concious that he was still wearing the skin of a demon and the insignia of the bureau however, Rumius told himself to keep his cool. ' Any out of order actions could get us exposed. If they find out that were not demons then who knows what could-.'

CRASHHH!!

TRRIIIKKKKSSHH!!

In the blink of an eye, two simultaneous impacts had blown up in the hall. Verrater stood up, and unleashed a roar. He swung around and unleashed a brutal football kick onto the wooden chair which he sat on. It sailed to the hall's end behind him and crashed into one of the two open, rectangular holes which allowed for light and ventilation. The chair's back smashed into the base, grinding against the hard sandstone and erupted into smithereens, with the larger part of the wreckage tipping over the edge and flying outside.

He turned around and with a swift fist, smashed in a small lamp, unlit and likely meant for business at night. At the swipe of of his hand, the lamp exploded, sending glass shards flying all over. If not for his shock that tensed all his muscles up and kept him rooted in place, Rumius would have had already staggered back and made a fool of himself.

" HOW DARE YOU!!!!" The demon screamed.

He slammed both his fists onto the table again with madness in his eyes. 

" Y-Y-Y-Y-YOU DARE!!! Q-Q-QUESTION MY VOW? MINE????" He screeched, spit flying. " MY HONOR!!!" 

Rumius nearly jumped at the sudden change. The collected and pleasant demon from earlier was nowhere to be seen. He turned to his master slowly to see her with her arms crossed and a with cool headed expression on her face. Her blue eyes were chilly and unyielding. 

' This woman really should just go be an actor.' He thought. 

" Your grace, please try to stay calm. The inquisition is still underway." Isadora said matter of factly, unblinking. " This question is asked to all interviewees. The Treasurer agreed to re-take his oath without problems." 

Rumius's eyes shot wide, to look at his master, then at the triangle on the table. It sat silently, unmoving. ' That was a lie! Why was the detector not ringing?' 

Unfortunately, her economical use of language didn't seem to deter Veratter. A crazed fire burned in his eyes and he let out foul smelling scream after scream. " I-I-INQUISITION?? THE INQUISITION IS OVER!! ILL HAVE YOUR LIFE FOR WHAT YOU SAID!!!" 

Isadora shook her head." This inquisition is not over. And your integrity has been the object in question from the beginning. If you re-pledge your allegiance now, no one could doubt you again." She argued, gesturing with her hands.

Hearing her words made Demon's face contort into an even deeper shade of purple.

" Are you perhaps afraid of doing it? What are you afraid of?" Isadora asked, whilst stepping forward, hinting at something.

It was like she had hit a nerve. The demon stood shaking in place, his eyes full of hatred and thunder. Suddenly, his gaze skipped over to Rumius. In that split instance, Rumius felt his heart jump to his throat, but not by as much as he had thought it would.

With steel in his eyes, he stared evenly back at the horse headed Administrator.

After a long while, the demon was first to look away. Verrater raised a quivering finger and pointed to the exit on the other side of the hall. 

" Get out." He snarled. 

"....." Master's eyebrows furrowed, showing that she had no intention to comply.

" GET OUT!!!" He roared.

Rumius turned to his Master for instructions. They made eye contact and her head dipped in a nearly imperceptible nod. Stepping forward, she gave Verrater a small bow and snatched up the triangular bell that was still on his table.

Rumius and Isadora emerged onto the ground floor without making conversation, and Rumius followed his master out of the building before they stopped some distance away from the gate. Only when he stopped did he notice how his heart was still pounding like crazy.