God of creation system : The apocalypse

Chapter 18 : the prisoners

A few minutes later, the two of them were brought to the headquarters of the Eskapa, which was led by Sei. Even though she was the queen of the realm, she was also a commander of the Eskapa, which is why she actively managed and looked after their troops.

The soldiers hurried over to report at Queen Sei's office.

"Queen Sei!"

Because nobody answered their knocks, they opened the door in a rush.

Upon entering, they saw Sei gazing out the window.

"Apologies, Queen Sei, but we have an emergency downstairs."

She turned to look at them, expressionless and cold.

Nathaniel's POV

After being caught, we were brought to a large, empty room where the only things inside were the restraints. Judging by it, this was a holding cell where sentenced criminals were brought.

"How incredibly unlucky I am. I've only been in this world for a few hours and I'm already locked up."

Suwi was bound by an iron collar around her neck, which was attached to a steel stake driven into the center of four posts surrounding her. It was a method to prevent her from leaving her spot in case she tried to struggle.

Both of us were kneeling, and she was also fitted with hand restraints similar to mine called tariro. It had a sealing spell that blocked the release of energy from any creature bound by it.

Several guards kept watch in front of us, including Ataparag’s team, who were the ones who had captured the two of us.

Nearly an hour had passed since we were caught, and the moment Suwi woke up, she began thrashing and shouting inside that room.

"You scoundrels, let me go!" Suwi screamed.

It felt completely draining just thinking about the mess I had gotten myself into, especially since I wasn't supposed to get involved in any trouble until I found Koko.

But at least through this method, I would finally get to talk to Sei. Though I figured that before I could voice my own problem, I had to get myself out of this situation first.

I also needed to help Suwi get out of here, but how on earth was I supposed to help someone with an attitude like that?

"Let me out of here, or else I'll wipe all of you out!" she threatened.

She was threatening them as if she didn't understand her own situation, especially since she could barely even move earlier.

"Do you honestly think they'll let you go just by threatening them like that?" I told her.

"Shut your trap, weirdo, if you don't want to get caught in my wrath," she shot back at me.

I was taken aback by what she called me. It was as if she didn't understand the lengths I had gone to just for her, so I couldn't help but match her anger.

"You seem to forget that the only reason I'm in this situation is because I was trying to help you. You should be thanking me instead," I retorted.

Instead of thanking me, she became even more abrasive and looked down on me with contempt.

"I don't give a damn about you, and I never asked for your help in the first place," she snapped.

With that, she completely brushed off my assistance and belittled my help just because she was caught and bound right alongside me.

Her dismissal of my kindness didn't even end there; she went as far as calling me useless.

"You really are ungrateful," I muttered under my breath.

I knew Suwi had a hot temper, so to keep her from hating me completely over our bickering, I calmed myself down and explained my reasoning to her.

I told her about my determination to become her friend and how I was ready to help her get out of here.

"I want to help you as your friend, so could you please just cooperate?"

Even though my plans were meant for her own good, she suddenly shouted at me and called me a fool.

"Fool! You're only putting yourself in danger with what you're doing," she angrily yelled back.

I could only frown because I was well aware that I was putting myself in danger by helping her, but I had no other choice left except to see it through.

"Look at it this way—if I get hurt because of what I'm doing, that's no longer your problem, it's mine."

I answered bravely because I firmly believed that even though I was locked up and under investigation, Sei would help me out of this predicament.

I knew her. I knew she was fair and had compassion for those in need, especially once she found out I hadn't actually done anything wrong.

Moments later, the heavy door of the room burst open, accompanied by the entry of Eskapa soldiers.

They rushed inside, surrounding Sei, who was flanked by her team leaders.

She walked in holding a bag of bread, eating it casually as if she were just out for a stroll.

One of the weirdest traits Sei possessed was that she was always eating, no matter where she went or even right in the middle of battle.

However, this wasn't simply because she was a glutton; she needed to stay full because of the condition tied to the crimson curse mark bestowed upon her.

She would grow ravenous whenever she used her power to manipulate the time around her, and if her stomach was empty, she would instantly fall asleep.

As they entered the room, one of Sei's companions suddenly shouted in a booming voice:

"Who brought this plague inside the base?!"

That soldier was Katsuri Aoi, Sei's vice commander, or general, and the person she trusted above all else.

She was the chief general and adviser in ruling Sei's army, bridging the gap when Sei fell short in communicating with them as a leader. As a queen, she wasn't really good in military operation and commanding.

Ataparag immediately stepped forward and answered her question.

"Good day, General Aoi. My team was the one who brought them here for investigation," she replied.

Annoyance was written all over Aoi's face when she learned that Ataparag was behind it, and she stomped closer to her.

"So it's you again."

"Don't you ever get tired of causing trouble every single day?" she said irritably.

She suddenly grabbed Ataparag by the collar and shouted at her, chewing her out for bringing such a dangerous creature into the very place where their queen resided.

Because of being a Columbus. Sei had been granted five territory with over 10 million citizens, so even before she officially became part of the Eskapa, she was already treated as a queen in her own domain.

A terrified Ataparag had no choice but to apologize for what she had done.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated over and over.

"She never learns. I knew this would happen," Nyabu muttered under her breath.

Aoi didn't accept the apology and continued scolding her.

"You've been in your position for ten years, and you still haven't learned."

"What kind of brain do you even have?!" she added.

Taking pity on her leader, who currently had no choice but to take the tongue-lashing, Nyabu took the initiative to plead with Aoi.

"My apologies, General Aoi."

"Perhaps our leader was wrong, but please let her explain first," she added.

Hearing Nyabu's plea made Aoi calm down temporarily. She reached out and pinched Ataparag's cheek, demanding a proper explanation.

"Fine then. I'll let you explain, but you better make sure you have a good reason for this. If you don't, you and your entire team will be punished," Aoi threatened.

Nyabu smirked at that and muttered to the wind, especially since they had just received a punishment recently due to another one of Ataparag's mistakes.

"I only did it because I wanted to be fair, especially since they weren't doing anything wrong," Ataparag said softly.

Aoi sighed in sheer frustration, knowing that Ataparag had simply felt too much pity for the soul eater, which was why she wanted to investigate them right at the base.

"You brought them here just because you felt sorry for them?"

Nevertheless, Ataparag explained that her decision was based on Eskapa's laws regarding the judgment or execution of criminals by soldiers.

Because the Eskapa also functioned as a religious group, killing soul eaters who weren't on their official list of criminals did not fall under their rules—despite everything they knew about how dangerous those creatures were to the living.

"Yes, what you're saying is technically right."

"But treat these ones differently because they are dangerous to living beings," Aoi countered.

She warned Ataparag that if a soul eater were to consume someone in this place, Ataparag wouldn't be able to bring those lives back.

At that moment, Nyabu chimed in, mentioning that she had already warned Ataparag about that very thing, but her warnings were ignored because of the leader's overly kind nature.

"I told her earlier, but our leader is just too soft-hearted."

Aoi glanced down at the dejected, bowing Ataparag, knowing full well the pure-heartedness that so often brought the young woman into trouble.

She massaged her temples and sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do to change it because Ataparag deeply admired Sei's kindness and viewed her as a role model in her service to the Eskapa.

"Your talent in combat goes to waste when you can't even make the right call on a simple problem like this."

"You are considered one of the queen's children, so protecting the queen should be your top priority," Aoi added.

A moment later, Sei walked up to them to speak with Ataparag.

She told her that bringing them in was a poor decision as a leader because it could endanger the rest of her comrades inside the base—especially with other dangerous criminals already detained and guarded there.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty," Ataparag said, bowing her head and frantically apologizing.

"Even so, I can't entirely blame you since you were only following orders."

Sei's voice was gentle, making her reprimand feel far from terrifying. Even so, Ataparag knew her actions were unacceptable, which was why her queen was chewing her out.

"Forgive me, my queen. I promise I'll do better leading my team from now on," she said, still bowing.

There was not a trace of anger on Sei's face as she scolded Ataparag, even though the mistakes kept repeating. Instead, the queen acknowledged the young woman's perseverance and dedication as a leader.

"I expect you to do everything in your power to prove yourself worthy of the position I gave you, Ataparag," Sei said softly.

Hearing those words wiped away Ataparag's anxiety, replacing her fear with a relieved smile, grateful that her role-model queen whom she served so deeply wasn't truly furious with her.

At that point, Nyabu chimed in again to defend Ataparag.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, our leader didn't mean to violate our laws. It's all because of this troublemaker's doing," Nyabu said sharply, pointing straight at me.

"A troublemaker ?" Sei asked.

The troublemaker she was referring to was me, and Nyabu certainly didn't pass up the chance to shift the blame onto me in hopes of lightening the punishment her team would receive.

"Huh? Why me?!"