My Servant Is An Elf-Knight From Another World

Chapter 15

"You said you lived alone."

My left hand slowly brushed across the soreness of my throat. A heavy pressure lingered on it like a phantom sensation, as if Ash still had her hand around my neck.

I doubt it'll ever subside anytime soon.

The detective, Irene, who was up until this point pacing around the aftermath of my apartment stopped in her tracks, a piercing gaze at my direction.

"Who was she?" she asked.

The only piece of furniture that was spared in Ash's wake was my favourite armchair. Bloodstained, fabric torn on one end, yet it was still standing tall. When anxiety and worry striked, that armchair would always calm me down.

Right then, I was melting in its soft embrace, but my unease wouldn't die down.

I took a heavy breath and met the detective's eyes.

"She's a friend. She was staying over, just for a few days."

Irene combed away a loose strand of hair from her face. An unprompted call at 5:30 in the morning about a person's disappearance wouldn't give anyone much time to make themself look presentable, even less so for a detective like her. It's no wonder she looked so disheveled.

"A friend, huh..." Irene marched over to my bedroom and had a look around. "How close were you two?"

"Not that close."

"Yet close enough that you'll let her stay over at your apartment, hm? Too pretty of a face to deny?"

Sleep deprived, half-awake, yet her mind was as sharp as ever. It took a while to find an answer to that.

"A favor. I was just doing her a -"

"If you'd like, I can give you some time to come up with a more convincing lie than that," Irene said, appearing from out the bedroom doorway with a stern look on her face. "Or would you rather prefer to start telling me the truth now instead?"

I felt my lips tightened. Ash was right, I'm a terrible liar.

"What gave me away?"

"A couple of days," she said, towering over me with her arms crossed. "If she's staying over, I highly doubt any girl would like wearing the same sweaty clothes for days in a row. No luggage, no bag. I didn't come here to get lied to. You give me something now, otherwise I might have to add another name to my list of suspects."

"You think it was me? Yeah, I broke every single piece of furniture in my apartment and kidnapped my friend. Case closed."

"I'm not thinking anything," Irene unfolded her arms. "Not until I hear what you really have to say."

Police officers were beginning to funnel through my front door. I heard sirens, saw the flash of blue-red blinking on my walls. This was really happening. Why was this happening?

Mythical beings, fantasy worlds, magical abductions... what part of any of that would sound like the truth to her? Lies were all I had to give.

"Detective, with all due respect, you'd be far better off interrogating my broken coffee table than to listen to what I have to say."

I heard her click her tongue and expel a heavy breath. I've annoyed her, but I didn't care. It's better than having her think I was a crazy person with crazy delusions.

Yet still, she won't back down.

"Try me, then," she said. "You'd be surprised at just how far I'm able to suspend my disbelief."