Although all these weapons were pointed at Red, none of the guards seemed intent on attacking him.

“Identify yourself!”

The guard in the lead called out to the youth with a stern expression.

Red frowned and looked around. Even with his newfound strength, he would find it hard to breakthrough this barricade, much more so with those ballistas on the wall. He could only imagine the power behind each of their bolts.

‘I suppose I should have expected something like this.’

It was hard to imagine instead if the capital didn’t have some way to identify the strength of everyone who tried to get into the city.

He was just about to say something when the merchant raised some documents up in the air to call the guards’ attention.

“He’s with me!” the old man said. “I am a citizen of the capital, and he’s my escort!”

The lead guard looked at Emer with a frown, and his expression didn’t relax. “We keep tabs on all the Lesser Ring Realm cultivators in our city. This is an outsider.”

“Yes, but I can guarantee him! He saved my life and I want to receive him at my guild’s manor.”

There was a silence as the merchant said that. Red, who was learning some of this information for the first time, was rather displeased at being kept in the dark, but he didn’t interject into the conversation.

This commotion seemed to have attracted the attention of everyone in the vicinity, as a crowd of refugees gathered by the roadside to watch what was going on. The lead guardsman waved over one of his subordinates and whispered into his ear.

The subordinate nodded before running off and disappearing into a doorway into the gatehouse.

The lead guard looked back at the merchant. “Anyone at or above the Lesser Ring Realm must be interrogated before being allowed entrance into the capital. If you and your escort are fine with that, then you must follow me.”

Although the man seemed to be talking to Emer, it felt like his words were directed at Red. The youth, for his part, didn’t respond and looked over at the merchant in silence.

The old man shivered. “I-It’s fine! They just want to make sure you don’t have any ill intentions towards the capital. They won’t ask try to pry into your secrets.”

His words didn’t sound very convincing to Red.

The youth looked over at the guard. “Do I have the right to not answer your questions?”

The guard nodded. “We won’t force anything out of you, but we also reserve the right to deny your entry into the city.”

Red sighed. “Fine. Lead the way.”

He wasn’t happy about being interrogated, but since he wouldn’t be forced to reveal his secrets, he felt like there was nothing to lose. Beyond that, though, Red was only going along with this because, after seeing the defenses of the capital, he was even more certain that sneaking in was pretty much impossible.

The guard nodded and waved at his men. They lowered their weapons, and four of them broke ranks to escort Red and the merchant.

“Please, follow me then.” The leader said.

Emer dismounted his horse and scooted over to the youth’s side, looking at him with an embarrassed expression.

“I’m sorry for not telling you this, benefactor. I was only afraid that I would have scared you away if I told you about the formations.”

Red didn’t respond. Whatever reasons the merchant had, it told the youth that, at the very least, the old man didn’t trust him. Then again, he wasn’t expecting anything different from someone he had just met earlier today.

As they were escorted inside the gatehouse, Red was allowed a glimpse into the innards of the wall. Dozens of guards and clerks walked to and fro, moving supplies or going over documents like a well-oiled machine. Compared to the soldiers from Bestrem, these people were far better equipped, and the average strength of each guard was also superior.

The youth counted about four or five guards with twelve open veins, and this was only in his immediate vicinity. He also detected two Lesser Ring Realm cultivators hidden away in some rooms inside the gatehouse, which only spoke to the importance they assigned to keeping the entrance to the city safe.

Red could only imagine what sort of accident could have led to this.

As they walked through the gatehouse, everyone’s attentions were placed on the youth. The guards heard the commotion from outside, and a foreign Lesser Ring Realm cultivator was probably a rare enough sight to draw the attention of everyone in here. Red even felt a few hostile gazes thrown in his direction, which left him rather puzzled.

Finally, they stopped at the entrance of a set of rooms, and the guard captain turned around to face them.

“We will be interrogating each of you separately.” the man said and pointed at a few of his guards. “If you would escort Sir Emer to the room at the end of the corridor.”

The merchant’s eyes widened. “Wait, separately? Why separately?”

“It’s just procedure, sir.”

Emer hesitated and looked over at Red. The youth, however, remained silent, so the old man could only follow the other guards into the other room.

A few moments later, Red was left alone with the captain and two other guards.

The leader extended his hand. “Your weapons, if you would please.”

“No.” Red shook his head without hesitation.

The man frowned. “We can’t allow you to remain in the interrogation room with your swords.”

“I’m inside the enemy base surrounded by dozens of guards, at a complete disadvantage.” the youth said. “If I was worried about any confrontation, I would have never followed you in the first place, so I don’t see any reason to give you my weapons.”

In truth, he wasn’t really worried about being momentarily disarmed. The problem was that one of swords was inhabited by a Slaughter Spirit, and if anyone else held it, they would definitely notice something was amiss with it.

The guard’s frown only deepened. “If you keep your weapons, our superior may refuse to meet with you and you will be denied entry into the capital.”

“That’s fine.” Red nodded. “If he really doesn’t want to meet me, then so be it.”

He was obviously reluctant to give up on this chance, but it was better than being outed as carrying a demonic weapon.

“As you wish.” The guard waved at a close by room. “Please, enter.”

Red followed his lead, entering into a stone chamber. A white lamp illuminated the room, and it was occupied only by a long wooden table and two chairs. There was no window to speak of, and the place truly resembled a proper interrogation room.

Red sat down on one of the chairs, and the guards closed the door behind him. He was left in a complete and oppressive silence, where he couldn’t hear anything from the outside, even with his improved senses. No doubt this was the guards’ psychological tricks to pressure anyone they wanted to interrogate, but the youth was beyond being troubled by this.

Not to mention that he could still sense everything outside with his crimson sense.

Two guards remained on the outside of his room, and he could also sense the merchant’s fluctuation at the other end of the corridor. They were left alone for almost ten minutes, likely to build up their tension, until Red felt one of the Lesser Ring Realm guards approaching their location, accompanied by the captain from earlier.

The youth immediately stood at attention, but they didn’t go to his room immediately, instead entering the merchant’s chamber. He felt Emer’s fluctuation tremble, and over the next half an hour, the man seemed to undergo a torturous psychological session.

If the old man’s fluctuation was any indication, the merchant probably revealed everything that happened earlier today to the guards.

‘No point in lying, then.’

The Lesser Ring Realm fluctuation left the merchant’s room before approaching Red’s own. The door opened, and a middle-aged man walked into the room.

He wasn’t wearing a guard’s armor and wasn’t carrying any weapons, either. The man didn’t even look like a cultivator, instead sporting clothing that seemed more befitting of a noble clerk, with slicked-back black short hair and a finely trimmed beard.

He entered the room without hesitation, as the other guards closed the door behind him. He sat across the table from Red, setting a bunch of papers and a pen down before looking at him a serene smile.

“Captain Loras of the City’s Guard. May I know to whom I have the pleasure of speaking to?”

Red, who had been expecting some form of protest to him holding the weapons, was surprised by how forthcoming this man looked. Still, when the topic turned to his name, the youth couldn’t help but hesitate.

The man chuckled. “Ah, it’s fine even if you give a fake name. I just need something to put you down as.”

Red nodded. “Viran then.”

“Viran… A good name.” The Captain jotted it down on his paper before looking back up at him. “Such a young cultivator and already at the Lesser Ring Realm. How old are you, exactly?”

The youth wasn’t surprised that the man was able to tell his age. Even with his mask, there were plenty of other youthful features he couldn’t hide.

“Do you need to put down my age, too?” he asked.

“I suppose not.” The man shook his head. “Let’s just put you down as ‘young’, then.”

He scribbled some more on his papers before returning his attention to Red.

“Might I ask you what your purpose is in seeking entrance into our city?”

“I’m fleeing from the war and looking for a peaceful place to cultivate.” Red said.

He wasn’t lying to the man, though he omitted more than a few of the specifics.

“Ah, of course.” Loras nodded. “I hear that very often, and to be honest, it’s both an extremely convenient excuse and also the truth most of the time. Where are you from?”

“The North.”

This reply was also obvious. If he was fleeing from the war, then he had to be from the northern part of the country where the Imperials invaded from.

“North?” The man raised his eyebrows. “It has been overtaken by imperials for quite some time. Why only come to the capital now?”

“Because I only broke through recently.”

“I see.” The Captain nodded, writing down on his papers.

Red couldn’t tell whether the man believe in him through his slightly smiling expression. Not even his crimson sense detected any strong fluctuations to indicate his emotional state.

‘An experienced interrogator.’

“Might I ask about your relationship with Emer, then?” the man asked. “I was led to believe you are his escort, correct?”

Red shook his head. “Not at all.”

The man frowned ever so slightly. “Oh? Do tell.”

“I saved him from his previous escorts that wanted to kill him for not paying them.” Red said. “Apparently, he got his merchandise stolen and thought that was their fault.”

“And how did you come to be involved?”

“I happened to meet him on the road. He said something about granting me entrance into the city, and since I was not aware such a thing was required, I agreed to help him in exchange for passage into the capital.”

“I see…” The man nodded. “Did you kill his guards?”

“No.” he shook his head. “I threatened them and they left on their own.”

Red was quite straightforward with his retelling of the story. For one, he knew from the little he interacted with Emer that the merchant would probably break upon the slight hint of pressure, so it was likely that he already told the guards everything. The other reason was that this Loras in front of him was clearly very experienced in interrogations.

It was likely he was just putting on a front by pretending to be unaware of what Red was telling him, and perhaps he had even spoken to the merchant’s previous escort. If that were the case, lying would just be detrimental to the youth.

“Hmm, that’s quite interesting…” The captain reclined in his chair in thought. “You say you didn’t kill them?”

“I didn’t.” Red frowned beneath his mask. “Why?”

“Well, it just so happens we found their bodies earlier today in the slums. All dead, without exception.”

The youth immediately felt the situation became much more complicated.