Chapter 247 Volume IV - Chapter 92: Frederick Owell
I passed through the white-colored corridors again with Pulvar. I entered the corridors that I normally would not have been able to enter without being checked by security without any problems. Even when I stepped into places where I was not allowed, no one questioned where we were going. The dwarves who saw us in the corridor all stood aside, bowed their heads, and waited for us to pass.
The presence of a general, no matter how young, was frightening for anyone. This was especially true for Pulvar, who did not have a good reputation.
"Here we are."
Pulvar stopped in front of a door almost two meters wide and three meters tall. The two nervous guards standing in front of the door looked at him, almost sweating.
Were they supposed to do their job, or were they supposed to ignore Pulvar's nonchalant demeanor and give way to him? They were confused.
"G- General Pulvar... This is-"
"Yes, yes. I know, the archive room. Now get out of the way."
The guards almost jumped out of their skin at this answer as they looked into Pulvar's golden eyes.
They realized what they had to do. It had been a mistake to question him in the first place.
They quietly stepped aside, even opened the door for us, and bowed their heads in respect mixed with fear.
All the upper walls were white. But the walls behind the double doors that hid the archive room... They were not white but a depressing gray.
The archive room was twice the size of the living room in a normal apartment. It didn't have much - in fact, nothing - except a screen that covered the entire wall opposite us. Yet it had a strange air about it as if it had been designed in such a way that it was a forbidden place. It made one feel uneasy.
Of course, it wasn't as if there were no staff here. On the contrary, two regular dwarves and three security guards were staring at us in confusion as we just walked in.
"Get out."
Pulvar's cold voice echoed inside.
Both staff members swallowed at the same time and, unlike the previous guards, did as they were told without a moment's hesitation and ran outside. The three guards assigned to guard the inside were hesitating, just like the ones outside.
"General Pulvar... Can we be knowin' yer reason fer steppin' into the archive room?"
Pulvar squinted at the dwarf who had spoken, staring into the guard's eyes with a disgust that was easy to read in his expression. Then he took a simple, short step toward him.
All three guards stepped back involuntarily as the sound of that simple step echoed through the room, their fear overriding their thoughts, if only for a moment.
"Do you think you have the right to question me? Either you come out now or I will make sure you spend the rest of your life in a place you will not like."
The two guards did not wait any longer after the threat against their friend. They threw themselves out of the room. However, the dwarf who had spoken at the beginning was frozen.
"What are you waiting for? Go ahead."
Pulvar's two words were what brought him back to earth. The guard hurried out, sweat beading on his forehead and his eyes widening.
After the last dwarf had left the room, Pulvar's expression was back on his face, a slight smile on his face as if nothing had happened, and the door to the room slowly closed behind us.
When we were finally alone again, Pulvar folded his arms across his chest. He looked at me with a broad smile and calmly pointed at the screen.
"Go on, check it."
I clenched my fist when I saw his confidence. He was getting on my nerves more and more, but I held back.
I swallowed, as if afraid. I shook my hands, even my steps were nervous, and I turned toward the screen. When there was only a meter between me and it, finally something different happened. A holographic keyboard suddenly appeared in front of me.
I looked at the keyboard, then slowly turned around and met Pulvar's eyes.
He was still smiling. His eyes, smaller than mine but with a hint of superiority, were waiting for me with great anticipation. He was getting even more excited thinking about what was about to happen.
I was important, maybe not the only one who could fix the gate at their base, but I was still important. He didn't care though, his own entertainment was more important to him.
I really wonder... He may be a general, but after what he did just now, will he really get no punishment? At least the dictator of the South Holar, his father, won't do anything to him?
I guess not, since he's so relaxed.
I swallowed again, turned in front of me with shaky hands, and typed simply 'Frederick Owell' on the keyboard.
<<------------------------------
Name: Frederick
Last Name: Owell
Age: 52
Authority: Major Level
Position: Scientist
Specializations: Gates, Holographic Technology, Control Runes...
...
------------------------------>>
The information that instantly poured onto the screen went on and on. There was really a lot written about Frederick, but my eye was drawn first to the summary of his life. I was curious, I wanted to know what I didn't know about him. So... I started reading.
Frederick Owell was a forty-four-year-old scientist who was captured after an attack on a North Holar city. His wife was killed outright by soldiers in the hotel room where they were staying. In fact, he and his daughter were also going to be killed there, but a corporal in the room realized that he was a scientist and prevented him from being killed.
Afterward, Frederick Owell and his daughter were taken prisoner. They didn't do anything to his daughter because she was still very young, but Frederick Owell was tortured just like I was. Through this method and the research they did on him, they found out who he was, what he could do, almost everything, and they threatened him with his daughter to use what he knew on behalf of the South.
Her daughter's name was Isabella Owell. She was supposed to be thirteen this year, as Pulvar had told her.
Of course, she would have been thirteen if she had lived.
Pulvar was telling the truth. Frederick Owell's daughter was indeed dead. About three years ago, when Isabella was only ten years old, a drunken captain had killed her. The South Holar hadn't cared much about that, the girl didn't matter anyway. What mattered was that Frederick Owell continued to work for them. So whether she was alive or not was just an extra. They had no reason not to lie to Frederick.
"Ah..."
I widened my eyes. I stared at the paragraphs that said she was dead. I didn't move a muscle. I even stopped shaking, I was locked to the screen as if time had stopped for me.
It was all an act.
"I told you, didn't I?"
Pulvar's footsteps echoed in the room, he was approaching me, but I didn't turn around, I just kept looking ahead.
"Oh, by the way... The captain who killed your daughter was a friend of mine. He was bored, he couldn't go to war. So when he saw his daughter on a base, he had an idea."
He kept coming closer to me, right up to my feet.
I knelt down, weakly, as if I couldn't find the strength to stand. So Pulvar, despite his short stature, was able to put his hand on my shoulder.
His body trembled slightly, as if he had imagined such a scene from the beginning, and I could feel it in his cold hand on my shoulder.
"He fired two shots into her shoulder, listening to her cry out in pain and satiating his hunger for war. When he was finally satisfied, he let her go and she bled to death."
I clenched my fist, clenched my teeth so hard that I felt a metallic taste in my mouth.
Finally, I turned around and punched him in the face.
Pulvar easily parried my punch, probably with his armor supporting him from under his suit.
"AAAAGGRHHH!"
I didn't stop, I punched him again and again with weak punches, slow punches that never reached him, punches without any force.
"Are you angry?"
I didn't answer, I kept attacking him like a madman, and Pulvar kept circling around me like he was playing with a child.
"Come on, you can do it. You can hit me, professor."
I looked into his eyes, his eyes overflowing with pleasure.
He was having fun with me. Just like the captain in the story he told me. He was bored too, just like that man. However, this time it was Frederick Owell who was being used as a toy... not his daughter. Her daughter's fate had now befallen him.
At least... that's what would have happened if I hadn't been in his place.
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