Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

Chapter 95 - Talk With Prefect

"A Prefect? What kind of job that is?" Layn asked his girl while obediently following after the man. While others might deem it stupid to just accept the orders from some random stranger, Layn didn't want to stir up the trouble in this place as well.

With his schemes back in the academy coming to fruition, there was bound to be some people that would pay everything to catch him. Be it for the sake of revenge or just for the sake of learning how he created the treasure, it didn't matter. The explosion of his treasure, although not made by his hands, effectively made him a fugitive.

And by causing trouble and making his name and face well-known in the warcamp was the shortest way to ensure that once the hunting season would start, someone from the academy would surely recognize him!

"A Prefect? Well, how do I say this…" Irea got caught off-guard by the question, raising her hand to her chin to think about the proper answer.

"Basically, he is the man responsible for keeping order and laws in the warcamp." Pavrien got ahead of the girl, explaining the situation to Layn right away. "He is not from the military so there won't be any voices accusing the military of tyrannical conduct in this place… But it doesn't mean he doesn't have ties with them."

Layn raised his eyes at the man's back. Given how they willingly followed after him, he had no reason to arrest them or limit their freedom. 'From how Pavrier phrased it, they are quite wary of crossing the borders of their responsibilities.' Layn noticed before shaking his head.

"We are here, come, have a seat." The Prefect said while pointing his hand at a set of small, outdoor tables hidden under the shadow of huge umbrellas shielding them from the sun.

"With pleasure." Layn nodded his head with respect to the man before following his next order and taking a seat.

"Now then, let's not make this any longer than necessary. You must be wondering why I invited you for an interrogation, are you not?" A smirk appeared on the prefect's face.

"No? Not really." Layn countered without a second thought. From the moment a word interrogation appeared, the archmage instantly set himself for the simplest tactics of dealing with the policing forces of any kind.

The rule of denying everything.

"Then it's too bad for you because I will tell you anyway." Prefect's lips trembled a bit, momentarily disfiguring his smirk. Yet, he was a man with enough experience to keep his face relatively composed. "You guys are suspected of committing murder on Kerren and the entire party he hired before departing this place for the last time."

Pulling out a stack of papers out of nowhere, Antion slammed them on the desk. 'His message is rather clear, those papers have something to do with that case,' thought Layn before raising his eyes and looking the Prefect directly in the eye.

"Sir, with all due respect, but if your only evidence of the murder of… wait, what was the name?" Layn asked while turning his head around to Irea.

"Kerren. Don't ask me for his team's name, never bothered to remember it." Irea shrugged her arms as she answered.

"Right, Kerren." said Layn as a wide smile blossomed on his lips. "I remember that bastard. What about him?" the archmage asked with a smirk appearing on his lips.

"He is dead. They found his body, along with bodies of several experts that he hired, cast aside on the northern road." The Prefect said before placing his finger on the fat stack of papers. "The same road you guys were reported to take while retreating from the war camp. Or was the report wrong?"

As if it was some kind of game of chess, the smirk appeared either on Layn's face or on the prefect's. Whenever one would speak, he would claim the right to smirk at the other, only for the situation to reverse once the other side got a chance to put it's own five cents forward.

"Were we the only ones who took that path? Heck, didn't you remember all that crowd between the walls when the season ended?" Asked Layn while widening his eyes and obviously, regaining his smirk. "What then, maybe are you going to tell me that they all ended decapitated and their weapons had no signs of struggle?"

Pushing the irony behind his smirk to the limit, Layn turned his head to Irea. "Well, if that's really what you are going to say, then I can only comment it in only one way," said Layn while rubbing his forefinger against Irea's cheek. Then, he moved his eyes back on the prefect's face. "Serves him fucking right."

For a moment, the policeman of the ancient world turned silent. Then, rather than putting a smirk on his lips, he looked sharply at the archmage. "Decapitated and their weapons had no sign of struggle at all. It's funny because that's exactly what I was going to say."

'Pff, that's why I said it in the first place!' Layn thought while doing his best to hide the smirk that relentlessly wished to appear on his lips. "I bet that if I were to tell they were all hanging up from an invisible rope from the skies, that also would be exactly what you wanted to say. In other words, what I said, has no meaning or weight whatsoever." Layn said while shrugging his arms.

"Oh? And why do you think I brought all those papers with me, then?" The smirk returned on the prefect's lips as he pointed his finger at the stack of papers once again. 

"Like I care. It's not like I can read in the first place." Layn rebuked. But rather than getting annoyed at the fact that the man indeed got one better on him, his eyes sparkled with vivid curiosity and interest.

"Oh, but your partner surely can read, doesn't she? Miss quasi teach of the academy to the north?" asked the prefect while turning his smirk to a genuine, kind smile. "I will understand if there are some reasons why you don't want to speak the truth, but I need you to make sure you understand two things."

Raising his hand, the prefect extended his forefinger up.

"First off, no matter what kind of threats this man is using to control you, we will protect you from him and his means if you give us a testimony." the Prefect explained before raising his second finger. "And if you decide to keep your lips pursed, I will have no choice but to consider you a collaborator to the crime." This time, Prefect shrugged his arms as he lowered his hand as if to showcase that he didn't really care which route would the girl pick.

"Before that, a simple question." Layn decided not to give Irea any time to respond. Not sure what kind of respect she would have for that man's position, the archmage didn't want to let the girl fall into that man's trap. "If I were to attack you right here and now," Layn said before making a pause, just for the sole sake of making the man a bit tense, "and you would end up killing me in self-defense. Would that make you a murderer in your book?"

Prefect squinted his eyes. "Do you wish to suggest that you actually killed them all but you did so in self-defense?" he attempted to repeat Layn's words in a more suiting manner.

"I do not wish to suggest anything. But I believe you are smart enough to understand the meaning of those strictly hypothetical words." Layn explained before allowing his true smile to surface on his face. "The truth is, I wanted you to take a look at this situation from another point of view. Rather than focusing on whether I did what you are accusing me or not, isn't it pretty curious how I was supposed to kill not only a two-star expert like Kerren, but also his entire team as well?"

Layn pushed himself up, refusing to sit on the chair any longer. Noticing his movements, Irea quickly followed with Pavrien lagging behind them.

"That would… make you a pretty dangerous person, to say the least." Prefect admitted through his teeth.

"Well, let's leave it at that. Irea, go first. We still need to secure enough rooms in the inn." Layn ordered. At first, the girl stood still as if she had the intention to refuse his request, only to shake her head after a moment, turn around and leave.

"Good. Now that I don't need to be kind and nice, let me explain one thing." Layn said while turning his eyes back on the prefect's face. "Kerren and his group attacked us as we were traveling on the road. And yes, I witnessed his demise.. But to admit that I killed him?" Layn shook his head, "no, I would do no such thing. After all," his eyes drifted to the side, as an ugly expression appeared on his face, "it's not a murder when you squash an ant, so it's not a murder when you kill this kind of piece of shit, isn't it?"