"But it didn’t last long. Because there was no concrete, physical evidence, his family’s legal representatives managed to bail him out within a few hours."

"They didn’t consider the testimonies of the other team members?" Soren asked, his brow furrowing.

Seria hesitated briefly before answering. "His family line holds immense leverage within the Academy Council. They are one of the prominent families in Kalmira City, and they even possess direct connections to the City Lord."

"Oh, I see..."

In a society governed by power and status, the word of a few low-ranking academy cadets meant absolutely nothing against the systemic weight of a family backed by the City Lord and the council. Without hard, immutable data logs or a direct confession, eyewitness accounts could easily be bought, suppressed, or dismissed as mere panic from an unstable dungeon raid. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"They suppressed them, didn’t they?" Soren voiced his guess.

Seria gave a slow, grim nod, confirming his suspicion. "Exactly. Not only did they suppress them and their statements, but they also completely flipped the narrative. They are currently accusing the members of Team 14 of conspiring together and ganging up on their son to cover up their own failures during the raid."

She leaned forward slightly, her eyes locking onto his with a heavy, warning intensity. "And the same goes for you, too. In fact, you have it the worst."

"Huh?" Soren blinked, the calculation in his mind momentarily halting. "What do you mean?"

"They are framing you as the culprit," Seria explained, her voice dropping to a low, serious whisper. "Their legal team has formally insisted to the Academy Council and the Bureau that you were the true mastermind behind the entire disaster. According to their official narrative, after you discovered the Golden Gate, your true greedy nature came out, and you wanted to monopolize the resources inside for yourself. They claim you intentionally forced the rest of the team to evacuate under false pretenses, pressured the remaining cadets to do your bidding, and actively blocked Garin from entering the Golden Gate. In short, they are painting you as the true villain of the incident."

"..."

Soren was left completely speechless.

’I did... that? Haha...’

The sheer audacity of the lie caught him entirely off guard.

He had expected political maneuvering, cover-ups, and suppressed testimonies—but to completely invert reality and transform the victim into the villain was a level of shamelessness he hadn’t fully anticipated.

His jaw tightened as the absurdity of the fabrication settled into his mind. However, Soren forced the rising irritation down, exhaling a slow, steady breath to center himself. Losing his temper wouldn’t change the facts.

"Well, it’s true I stopped them from entering the gate," Soren reasoned, a dry, humorless smile touching his lips. "But can’t the council or the police think logically after seeing how Ryan and I ended up? No, wait, let me guess... Garin’s family probably insisted that I was the one who dragged Ryan into the gate, forcing him to act as my meat shield or something similar, right?"

Seria stared at him, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing her face. She hadn’t expected him to dissect a high-level cover-up so clinically. It seemed her previous impression of him, as someone responsible but perhaps a bit naive, was slightly off; he already understood the darker, uglier side of their world far better than most.

"Right," She confirmed, leaning back slightly. "That is almost word-for-word what they submitted. They claim Ryan’s severe injuries were a direct result of you using him to absorb the brunt of the Boss’s attack."

"Figured as much..." Soren muttered. Then he suddenly paused, shifting his weight slightly on the bed as a thought occurred to him. He looked directly into her eyes, his gaze turning sharp and searching.

"If the narrative against me is that airtight and backed by a powerful family," he began, his voice dropping into a serious register, "may I ask why you are telling me all this? Why do you trust my side of the story? For all you know, there is a chance their accusations could be right."

"..." Seria didn’t look away. "I trust you because I think I know what kind of person you are from how you handled both this and the previous crisis, and because I also know what kind of people the Garin family represents. But more importantly..." Her expression darkened briefly before becoming neutral again. "I already know exactly how Ryan was tormented by Cadet Garin back at the academy. A venomous snake doesn’t suddenly become harmless just because it got burned by its own venom."

Soren let the silence linger for a moment, genuinely struck by the sharp, unyielding conviction in her words. The metaphor fit perfectly too. It was refreshing to find someone in a position of authority who saw right through the political smoke and mirrors.

"That is a fair point," He said, a faint smile returning to his face. He lowered his gaze slightly, adjusting his position against the pillows. "And I apologize if my question came off as offensive or overly cynical. I had to be certain where you stood before laying all my cards on the table."

Seria waved her hand dismissively, offering a small, understanding shake of her head. "No offense taken. Given the circumstances, a healthy dose of suspicion is the only thing keeping you safe right now. If you blindly trusted anyone walking through that door, I would actually be worried about your survival instincts."

She paused, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "Besides, I didn’t come here just to deliver bad news and offer sympathy. We need to look at what happens next. The Academy Council and the Bureau will eventually demand a formal statement from you the moment the Chief Healer clears you for an official interrogation."

Soren leaned his head back, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the ceiling, his mind rapidly sorting through the legal trap they were setting for him.

"They want a statement," He murmured, his voice cold and devoid of any panic. "Which means they are waiting for me to lock myself into a narrative so their high-priced legal team can pick it apart or claim I’m lying to save my own skin."

Seria nodded.

’...Ha.’ A faint smile tugged at the corner of Soren’s mouth. "Then they’re going to be very disappointed. Because..."