Chapter 1022 Debriefing
1022 Chapter 1022 Debriefing
Having reached the shore of Haze Island, Marcus and Mrazivý took to the sky and began their trek across the ocean.
Thankfully the journey was devoid of any dangerous encounters and the two of them soon made it back to the Republic of Eios which was the nearest nation associated with the adventurers guild and where they had originally set off from at the start of the expedition.
Landing a distance away from the walls of the capital city, they finished the rest of the journey on foot so as to not seem suspicious. Flying in without authorization was sure to get them noticed by the city's guards and cause no small amount of trouble.
At the entrance gate, the two of them showed the guard their guild cards that showed they were mithril ranked and the two of them got into the city without any hassle. The Republic of Eios had eight dungeons within its borders and the capital city was known to have an especially popular high-level dungeon within it. For these reasons strong adventurers were quite common and no one batted an eye at Marcus and Mrazivý.
"Let's hope the others returned to the guild as well. We need to quell any panic they might have kicked up. As far as they know, the man that beat us all down is still at large and a looming threat to the world." Mrazivý said, leading the way to the main guild hall.
After navigating the busy streets of the bustling capital of the Republic of Eios, Marcus and Mrazivý found themselves standing in front of one of the most impressive buildings in the city. As a nation that made most of its money exporting goods obtained from its dungeons, the guild hall in the capital city was naturally incredibly large, built with high grade materials, and sporting an impressive architectural design.
For a few brief moments, the two of them admired the beautiful building before heading inside.
With their previous stay in this guild hall before the expedition had begun, they both knew their way around and headed towards the reception counter that dealt with high ranking adventurers.
Except, before they reached their destination, a familiar individual walked in front of them and stopped in his tracks when he saw them.
"Marcus! Mrazivý! You're both alive!"
Ashton, a member of Fianna's party, stood wide eyed in shock when he spotted the two of them. The last time anyone had seen the two of them they had been embroiled in battle against a dangerous foe that overwhelmed the entire expedition squad. Both of them had already been presumed dead considering the situation.
"Yeah, we managed to pull through in the end. I'm glad to see that you made it back as well Ashton. Are the others around? What about Fianna and Miguel, did the two of them catchup with the rest of you?" Marcus said, eager to find out what had happened to everyone else in the expedition squad.
"All of us that fled from that monster is here and safe. Fianna and Miguel did meet up with us along that long stretch of land that cut across the stupidly large lake. My party's leader took charge of everyone and brought us all back safely. It was a pretty brutal march though. We did not stop to rest once until we reached the mainland." Ashton explained.
Hearing that the rest of the expedition squad had made it back safely took a weight off of Marcus and Mrazivý's shoulders. Haze Island was a dangerous place and without most of its strongest members it was quite possible that the fleeing expedition squad could have lost members just trying to flee.
"Ah! We can't just keep standing around here talking. The others will want to see that you both managed to survive. Follow me, I will lead you to where everyone is. We only arrived two days ago, so we're all still recovering from the ordeal. Plus, the Grand Masters and even the leader of the guild arrived yesterday to find out what happened. Most of us have spent several hours having to go over every last detail with them." Ashton said, his tone conveying a hint of annoyance.
Nevertheless, he happily led Marcus and Mrazivý through the guild to the section where the expedition squad members were staying.
Along the way some of the others spotted them, and a large train formed as everyone wanted to speak to Marcus and Mrazivý who assumed to have perished holding off the man that had attacked them.
Yet, before they could tell their comrades about what had occurred after Fianna fled with Miguel, they were intercepted by Valerius.
"I see that the rumors I was hearing about you two returning alive were not unfounded. I am sure that you are both tired, but it is imperative that we debrief both of you as soon as possible. There are still numerous unanswered questions that need to be cleared up."
Despite the rest of the expedition squad wanting to hear from Marcus and Mrazivý, Valerius used his authority as a Grand Master of the Guild to whisk them away immediately.
Before long the two of them had been led to a waiting room while Valerius gathered the other Grand Masters and the guild's leader.
At the very least he did not leave them waiting for long, as just twenty minutes after he left them alone, Valerius came back to get them.
"We will start with Mrazivý first as she was the designated leader for the Northern Quadrant's party." Valerius said in an authoritative tone.
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However, as they had already discussed, neither Marcus nor Mrazivý planned on being separated during this debriefing.
The two of them stood up together and told Valerius as such causing his neutral expression to turn into a deep frown.
"This is not up for debate. We want both of your unbiased views as to how the events occurred. Having both of you together will cause you to influence each other and possibly muddle the information. Now, Mrazivý, follow me." Valerious said harshly.
Still, neither of them budged. Since the Administrator told Marcus not to reveal what truly happened to anyone except Mrazivý, the two of them had come up with a different series of events. In order to make sure that no holes were poked in their story, it was imperative that the two of them be questioned together.
Eventually Valerious became frustrated by Marcus' and Mrazivý's unwillingness to comply and unleashed a wave of intimidation towards them. Though, this was not enough to make them falter. After experiencing the absolute terror of the man that had infiltrated Mirrion, Valerious felt like a kitten trying to act menacing.
Certainly, he was stronger than either of them, but in comparison he was nothing compared to the opponent they had just stood up to.
"Fine, if that is what you want, then both of you come along." Valerius said, seeing that nothing he could do short of beating both of them down would change their minds. Of course, if he did resort to force, at the very least the guild hall would be reduced to rubble in the ensuing battle.
Soon he led Marcus and Mrazivý into a large and better furnished room where the other Grand Masters and the leader of the guild were waiting.
Some of them arched their eyebrows when they saw that Valerius had brought both of them, but no one raised any verbal objections.
"Let us begin this debriefing. To start recount the flow of events from your point of view. Make sure to spare no detail." Valerius said, motioning for Marcus and Mrazivý to start.
Going first, Mrazivý recounted what she remembered, beginning with the battle against the Tower of Heaven's guardian. She went up to the point where she was first hit by the mysterious man and then turned to Marcus to let him continue since she had been knocked unconscious for a few minutes and had not experienced what happened firsthand next.
Though, Marcus himself did not have much more to add before he himself was taken out as well. He would have liked to fudge the details but since everyone else had witnessed what happened at this point, he had to admit that he was actually a humanoid spirit. There was really no other explanation for how he had survived having his head blown off.
Luckily none of the Grand Masters nor the leader of the guild seemed to mind that Marcus was not a flesh and blood person. In fact, they did not seem surprised to learn he was a spirit at all.
After that their story was consistent with what the top brass of the guild had heard from the rest of the expedition squad, until Marcus and Mrazivý reached the point of their final stand against the man.
At this point Fianna had left with Miguel and left the two of them as the only ones around. So instead of how events truly played out, they described a far different outcome since no one would be able to discredit them.
In their version of how things occurred, the man accidently resummoned the guardian of the Tower of Heaven. Then along with the powerful mythic grade beast, the two of them achieved a narrow victory against the expedition squad's deadly assailant.
"Do you honestly expect us to beli-"
Immediately after Marcus and Mrazivý had finished, the Grand Master of the Southern Quadrant tried to call them out, but the guild's leader raised his hand to stop her.
"Everyone else leave. I wish to speak to the two of them alone."
Unable to disobey the leader of the adventurers guild, the Grand Master got up from their seats and exited the room. Leaving Marcus and Mrazivý alone with the guild's highest authority.
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