22 Chapter 22 - Questioned (1/2)

<AUTHOR'S NOTE>

Since there is not enough room for this in the author's note box and it's important to know before starting to read the second volume I'm leaving it here.There were a couple of small revisions that impact the story that I had made while editing the first volume.If you started reading Advanced Arsenal on or after January 26, 2019(GMT+8) then you will have already read these revisions and you can skip ahead to the actual chapter.

I wrote that Annie had lost her hand earlier when I wanted to have it where only a couple of fingers on her right hand were lost.She lost her pointer and pinkie fingers.

Before the revision I had made it where Thomas left the abandoned village without accepting a reward or giving the children anything.This didn't really make sense to me when editing the chapters since he has lots of money right now so I have revised it to where he gave two silver coins and ten copper coins to them.That's enough money for them to survive for a short while but not too much money to become a target if they go to a city.

There were other small edits that improve the way that the story flows(in my opinion) but they're meant to fix grammatical errors, replace missing words in sentences, or to mention details a bit earlier on.

ND OF AUTHOR'S NOTE>

After the guard had brought Thomas and Estella to their cell, Thomas had been laying down on a bench while looking at the ceiling.Estella was already snoring on the other bench since she had only gotten a few hours of sleep and had been up for longer than Thomas was.There was a guard not too far from the cell that was keeping watch on them so Thomas couldn't even bring out a blanket.Unlike the guards at the gates, this guard carried a short sword and was wearing light armor.Thomas had tried talking to the guard but they didn't respond to any of his words.

From the distance a clinking sound could be heard alongside the steady sound of heavy footsteps.Thomas decided to sit up before the footsteps reached the holding cell that they were in.A fully-armored man stopped in front of the cell--his left hand resting on the pommel of his sword.The armor he was wearing was made from a shiny black metal and had a silver crest on its chest.Attached to the armor was a black cape with a silver-threaded trim.Behind him stood two soldiers in the same type of heavy armor as those outside the gate but their spears were shorter.

”Are you Gren?”The man with the fancy armor seemed to be talking to Thomas and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking from his expression--largely because there was a helmet covering his entire head.

Thomas didn't know what this man wanted but it was pointless to lie about his name.”Yes, that is my name.”

”Good.”The man signalled to the guard that had been keeping watch on Thomas and Estella.The guard moved to open the cell while the man continued talking.”We've got some questions to ask you about Newton.Come with us.”

Before Thomas could give them an answer the two soldiers positioned themselves behind him and one of them pushed his back with the butt of their spear before commanding him.”Get to walking, kid.”Thomas started following the man wearing the black armor even though he didn't like that one soldier's attitude.

The path they took was different from the one that Thomas entered from.On the way Thomas could see many more soldiers; some guarding different rooms or patrolling and others sparring against one another or practicing swings in a small courtyard.Eventually they reached a staircase that led down with the way being lit up by magic lights.

The passageway became tighter and Thomas's view was blocked by the man in front of him.Occasionally there would be the sound of someone's armor scraping against the stone wall coming from behind as they walked along.The man in front stopped suddenly and Thomas almost bumped into him.Thomas could hear someone knocking in front of him.There was a series of two knocks and then another three in quick succession followed by the sound of metal sliding and locks being turned.The door's hinges creaked and then the four of them continued to move forward.