Chapter 156 156: The Strangulation Mark
The door clicked close behind Killian. Darkness stretched over everything they could see.
From Killian's thumb, fire grew, illuminating the room. He raised his hand for further illumination.
In front of him, forward, Theodore walked around carefully, trying not to bump into anything breakable, while calling out. "Mr. Ten? This isn't funny—"
Click.
All the lights came on at the same time, piercing through Killian's eyes and dulling his light.
A large empty room appeared in front of him with a young man writing on a desk. The young man gestured to a seat, without raising his head.
"Please sit. I just left a meeting. Sorry."
Killian's gaze swept over the man, lingering on his hands, then his eyes, before he joined Theodore where he sat.
He clenched his hands, quenching the flames. He scanned the room with narrowed eyes. 'This is exactly the room I had been in before, even if I didn't know it was this big.'
He looked above him, at the overhead glass room the Coordinators had watched him from.
'Is he really the only one asking me questions? Then why didn't he use another room?'
The man closed the opened pages quickly, and shifted them off his table. They vanished into a portal. He smiled, looking at Theodore and then Killian.
"Hello, Killian, right?" The man left his seat. "I never got to introduce myself to you."
Killian adjusted his posture on his seat. "Hello, Mr. Ten." He glanced around the empty place again.
His eyes tarried on the empty space, before he looked away. It was odd that there were no other pieces of furniture within the wide room.
"Are there others here?" Killian asked, to get it off his chest. "Masking their presence with an illusion?"
Mr. Ten, who stooped to match the boys' height, went rigid. His legs were bent, arching his back in a way that made Theodore laugh.
"I didn't notice it, but you are right. It does feel like they are illusions around." Theodore said. "Do you have guests here with us, Mr. Ten?"
The man blinked twice, before straightening his back. He kept his gaze on Killian, who looked back at him unblinking.
"I do," he admitted. "I believed it would be easier for him to tell me what happened if there weren't many eyes on him."
"He's quite perceptive, isn't he?" Theodore playfully flicked Killian's forehead but lines formed on Killian's forehead, so he took his hand from him. "Oh, sorry."
Mr. Ten stepped away from the boys, briefly glanced towards the overhead glass room before looking back at Killian who was still watching him.
He smiled. "Well, I hope you'll feel comfortable enough to talk to me. Even if we're just meeting now."
"I don't have anything uncomfortable to say." Killian answered. "Outcasts attacked me. My coordinator can bear witness. My younger brother was attacked before this so maybe my family was targeted."
His voice remained flat. His face never changed nor did his tone get any higher. His words simply sounded like the only truth that could exist.
The man hummed, taking a few walks around the room. "I heard about Keith's attack, but it seemed to be a mistake. The outcast had retreated, according to him. But yours. It was different."
Killian said nothing, waiting for the man to settle on a theory he wanted so he could agree with him.
The interrogation could only end in mind games and mental gymnastics. They would never know the truth.
Mr. Ten turned to the boy, adjusting his sleeves. "I saw the corpse belonging to one of the outcasts. I believe the rest died within the Realmcraft he created, that's why we were unable to recover it, correct?"
"Yes."
Mr. Ten nodded. "And they are all Element Users?"
"I believe so." Killian answered after a pause.
"Didn't you kill them individually?" another question came again.
Killian replied, keeping a straight face. "I burned them en masse before they got too close to me. Most never got to use their element."
The young man chuckled lightly, nodding. His expression wore off when he strolled to his table, took a notepad and walked back to Killian.
"We checked the man's body, and it had burn marks and dark bruises that caused his injuries."
Killian kept his gaze on the man. He pressed his hands that were on his thighs, willing them to remain in place.
Leaving a corpse with dark bruises the tendrils caused was a reckless move he couldn't take back.
He had left the body simply because there had to be a visible victim or else, he wouldn't be able to explain who created the Realmcraft.
And with the mark of the tendrils, the Light Lady might have noticed what caused the dark marks.
But Killian still said nothing, waiting for the man to come up with his own theory.
Mr. Ten added after his pause. "But the man seemed to have died from strangulation not just bleeding."
'Ah, right.' Killian's fingers stretched on his thighs. 'Thistle had also left her mark on him before he died. My tendrils injuries could imitate burnt marks but I can't say I used fire to strangle a person. Or that I did it myself.'
Seeing he took a while to answer, Mr. Ten asked with a lowered tone, as if he didn't want the others in the room to hear him. "Did you struggle to kill him?"
"I did," Killian said audibly.
Everything was fair in a fight for survival, and playing the victim who did all he could to survive was the only way to make this interrogation session shorter.
Theodore leaned towards the man. "Is strangulation unusual? Killian probably weakened the man after injuring him. Using his flames drained his mana a lot."
Mr. Ten agreed with a nod. He let go of his notepad and the boys' eyes followed its descent until it vanished into thin air.
Then they heard it drop on his table. The sound broke the silence in the room and the tension banging in Killian's chest.
"Nothing is wrong with this mode of killing. It's just a little random for Killian who is a long-range type. I wouldn't expect him to get close to an enemy unless personally provoked."
Mr. Ten looked around him, as if expecting agreement from those around.
"So plucking the Outcast's eyes as a trophy and strangulation seemed really unusual for you, Killian."