Alone

Holding his chin, Abraham thought for a few moments and then said:

"Seems like its impossible to determine who it was at the moment, continue on with the interrogation" 

"Yes sir," replied Isabelle as she turned to Leroy and nodded towards him.

"After getting the monocle, I tried it and found that it truly could allow me to see red threads coming from the people's bodies. Another thing I noticed was that the signs of them being puppets had increased, as it looked like they had lost some control over their facial muscles, leaving their mouths almost always open with drool coming out of them." 

said Leroy as he continued to explain his story until he arrived at the part about the intersection

"You say that no matter what you did, there was no way to pass it?" Abraham asked.

"Yes sir, no matter what I did, I would always end up back at the start, but I could still go backward, just not continue forward."

"What did you do then?" Isabelle asked. At this point, she looked completely immersed in the story.

"I decided to head back to the tavern and slept the night. When morning came, I figured the only place I could get a clue was at the Church, so I headed there and hid outside as I heard two people talking. When I peeked, I saw two men dressed like priests. One had yellow hair and three yellow stripes on his robes, while the other had brown hair and just looked average without any stripes."

"Three yellow stripes? That's most likely a way they show their status inside the cult," Abraham said. He had already grabbed a nearby chair and was also seated now.

"I found out that a key was needed to go past the Barrier, so I hid inside the alley and waited for the man with brown hair to pass."

Then Leroy seemed to choke up a bit. Only now that he was feeling a little bit of respite from the madness had the emotions started to show themselves. He had bottled everything inside, as he couldn't stop if he wanted to live. At the end of the day, he was just a normal 14-year-old kid. Before all of this, he could say that he had survived. Something had most definitely been broken the last few days.

"And then?" asked Abraham. Even though he noticed Leroy's emotions, he simply didn't care and wanted to get this over with and report to the commander.

"I jumped him from behind with a knife I had stolen and killed him, stealing the key and then heading towards the intersection once again," replied Leroy as he tried to sound calm.

Isabelle had already furrowed her brows; it looked like she had started to feel a bit of pity for the kid, but this was her job, so she had to carry on.

"When I arrived, I could safely pass with it, but as I passed, I saw a figure on the horizon. It seemed like another priest, so I did the same thing as with the other one and killed him while taking advantage of me being a kid this time instead of hiding."

The longer Leroy talked, the more the story seemed implausible to Abraham, but as Isabelle hadn't said anything yet, that meant it was all true.

'This kid, he's quite an interesting case,' Abraham thought for a moment, then got rid of those thoughts the next moment, feeling like the boy had just gotten lucky.

"After that, I finally arrived at a clearing where a woman seemed to be building a magical circle with red threads. They seemed to go inside her body and then disperse everywhere, and while the process was ongoing, all I could hear was thousands of screams. They started damaging my body in some way, and I'm not sure how, so I decided that the only way to live was to kill the woman. Thankfully, she seemed to be in an unconscious-like state while building the magic circle."

"And you were just able to kill her like that? She offered no resistance at all?" asked Isabelle out loud, but her expression turned into a sorry face as she had clearly not meant to say that out loud.

"Yes, I simply plunged my knife into her neck, and she died, after which I went to the crystal that was gathering the threads and destroyed it. After that, I went unconscious." 

Leroy replied, his expression now completely emotionless. It looked like he was unconsciously trying to block the emotions. Thankfully, his brain hadn't blocked the memories, or he'd be in quite a bit of trouble right now.

"All right, is everything he said true, Isabelle?" asked Abraham, now turning to face her.

"Yes sir, everything that he stated was true without a single lie."

"Good. Make me a report of everything and send it to my tent in an hour. As for the kid, he's free to go."

"Free to go, sir? But he doesn't have anywhere to go," asked Isabelle.

"Yes, we aren't responsible for him, so he can go. The knights aren't babysitters. Now untie him and send him away," replied Abraham, his face now showcasing a sneer. He was like a puppy toward the commander, but anyone beneath him he considered mere fodder, insects on the road.

"What but sir!" Isabelle said, her voice loud, trying to stop Abraham from leaving.

Turning around, Abraham asked the young woman, his eyes fierce as if daring her to rebutte him.

"I don't want to hear anything more. Follow orders, knight. Is that clear?" 

"Yes, sir," replied Isabelle. She could not do anything against someone in a higher position than her. It would only result in her being punished.

"Good," Abraham said as he went out of the tent.

Going towards Leroy, Isabelle untied him with her face showing a grimace.

"Hey, I'm sorry, kid. Leroy was it?" she said.

"Yeah," Leroy said, clearly unfocused. He was, in his mind, still trying to come to terms with his new situation.

After helping Leroy up, Isabelle took him out of the tent and walked all the way to the commoner district, which was 15 minutes away.

After bringing him here, Isabelle turned around and started looking in her pockets as she took out a bag.

Finally, after a few moments, she found something. As she took it out, it could be seen that it was a small leather pouch.

"Here, take this all right. It's not much, only 4 silver, but it's all I have right now. I suggest you leave the capital and go to other cities, as living there should be much cheaper than in Vigonna. These will allow you to buy food and sleep in Inns for a while."

She said, her face showing a smile, clearly trying to lift Leroy's mood, but it didn't seem feasible at the moment.

Leroy looked up from the ground and looked at her for a moment.

"Why are you helping me?" He asked, clearly perplexed.

Isabelle made a thinking expression while putting her index finger on her chin and then made an aha sound like she had come to a conclusion.

Turning her eyes towards Leroy, she said with a smile.

"Because that's what a knight should do."

'That's what a knight should do?' Leroy thought, still confused about the whole situation

"Now I have to go, but if you turn left and go through that street, you should arrive at a Caravan stop. About ten copper should be enough to go to the closest city from here. It's called Steelburn."

She said. She started walking away before waving to Leroy and finally dissappearing from view.

Leroy was still looking in her direction.

Suddenly, a thought came to him.

'I really am alone now, huh.'

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Doing a power stone goal:

Every 10 power stones ill release a bonus chapter, thanks for all the support!