Chapter 327: It Happened Again

Han actually agreed to Boaz's excuse of interviewing him about the thugs from last night. 

And though Boaz admitted it was something that needed to be taken care of—as long as there were people who thought they could get away from abiding by the law and be the one to enforce it themselves… it was going to be a never-ending situation.

The two of them finally arrived at a hallway away from the rest of the people. 

Han didn't give much thought to it and even leaned against the wall. He waited for the man to start the conversation, but there was an awkward silence that came in between them. 

The Guardsman stayed silent for quite awhile that it seemed like he was trying to stare down into Han's soul. 

Han couldn't help but feel the need to speak up and so he scratched the back of his head. His hands were a little sweaty for a no-good reason at all. "So what do you need, Guardsman, er—sir? Description of what the thugs I encountered probably looks like—"

"I only need you to identify three of them for me," Boaz said. He seemed to have finally settled into the direction of their conversation.

Han only raised a brow at the oddly specific number. 

And he eventually stopped himself from snickering at himself, but eventually became serious. This wasn't just about him, but other people. So if he was going to get interviewed, then it might as well be for the good of the kids.

"Uh... can I ask why three? Is that a way of you telling me that the others are too small fry for you guys to investigate? You guys weren't there, but I had multiple people chasing me down and they were all dangerous criminals. But on the flip side, I think they'd be easy to capture if they weren't in the ones that were captured last night."

Boaz gave the young man a plain look.

The message didn't come across easily and perhaps it was still very vague. 

The Guardsman spoke again. "There was an Assassin with poisoned blades for weapons to kill his victims instantly, a Fist Fighter that fights with great fire and finally a Mage with blinding lights. One man. Two women."

"Huh, almost sounds like me—I mean the uh, Mage with [ Light ] spell. I got that too since it's a pretty useful spell."

"So do you remember them or not?"

Han scratched his head and tried to recall if he encountered them. "Not saying that I'm the one who did that, but like… I don't think I remember encountering a Mage like that. Or any of those people. I mean, it could have been any of those guys." 

"Are you sure?" Boaz frowned at him. 

It was hard to tell if Han was acting dumb, but it seemed like the boy's words were genuine and he could feel that his intentions weren't insincere at all. Boaz's true intention was different, but Han came here to help out with the investigation on the gangsters.

This just made Boaz feel a little more guilty. 

And yet Boaz couldn't be swayed so easily when the person in front of him could have fooled not only the people around him, but the entire city! It was up to Boaz to get justice for his the ones who got attacked—

Well, that wasn't just it either.

Boaz could have said that it was because his fellow colleagues died, that Ryden got extremely injured while he tried defending the city… but his reasons were actually more self-centered than that. Boaz hated how much he felt like a fool getting played by those fugitives.

Toying with his life simply because they were stronger than him, cornering him into that position and making him feel like a complete imbecile—

Han cleared his throat and then grinned sheepishly. "They're uh vague descriptions. Do they have long hair? Short hair? Bald? What were their ages? Some in their thirties, forties or younger? Are their eyes blue? Green? Red—"

Boaz looked down at him. "Alright, this might jog your memory. The Assassin has skin as deep as the night, at least from what's to be expected under their veil and bandages. The Fist Fighter has roughened skin that are akin to scales of a demon and then the Mage is blonde—"

Han's eyes widened and he stepped back a moment.

Which was the wrong move entirely.

Boaz recognized the look on the young man's face and then literally dove for him. Han immediately ducked that move and before the two of them could even gather what exactly they were doing—Han was already running down the corridor and didn't look back at all.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

Han found himself muttering expletives underneath his breath. He should have stayed put. He should have pretended to not know otherwise. Kept his face blank—

But the Guardsman probably had a truth-telling jewel to tell that he was lying through his teeth. Maybe it wasn't too late to turn back and say that he didn't have anything to do with them.

"Hey, I actually saved the city—like hell anybody's going to believe that." Han groaned. He turned into another hallway and started cursing his luck. Why did he even meet up with the others before in the first place?

Oh, it was to trade with some ingredients.

He clearly got more than what he bargained for.

.

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Guardsman Boaz slapped a hand over his face before he cursed underneath his breath. "Damn it." His body was so used and ingrained with apprehending criminals that the look of guilt on Han's face made him act.

But it did the same for Han. The boy was already gone in a blink of an eye.

Boaz groaned, started looking at the corridor ahead of him and eventually sighed. Did the boy expect he'd chase him down? Boaz wasn't going on some spiraling goose chase for this guy. He already experienced it once here and there wasn't anything good that would come out of it.

It wasn't like the boy could keep hiding here forever, could he?

The best way to capture a person was to have them come to you instead. It was definitely better to simply block out all of the possible exits as well. 

Although he didn't like how things were going on now… besides his own selfish intentions, this was still for the good of everyone else.

Except for Han, of course.