217 — Oblivion (11)

Boom-!

This is the sound of the prison door being blown off.

Along with this, Rurin runs around, excited from smashing things. It’s said that a dragon’s instinct is to smash.

There’s nothing more thrilling than acting on instinct.

Boom-!

Aaaah-!

The gatekeepers, startled by the explosion, began to flee outside. With the sound of the explosion, the door breaking, and the ground shaking, they had no choice but to run.

“Did you come out? But you won’t get far!”

The soldiers who fled from the underground prison couldn’t even get past the stairs leading to the first floor and fell victim to Rurin’s magic.

All of them fainted and collapsed on the stairs, and Rurin, holding a branch, happily poked the unconscious soldiers.

Even then, she would never poke with her hands. She dislikes touching other living creatures with her bare hands. There are occasional exceptions, but usually, she doesn’t.

“Are they unconscious?”

Hehe.

The gatekeeper’s cheek was dented from the branch.

She pressed down on it, laughing.

“Hehehe, it looks strange! Eew.”

“Anyone looks weird when you press down on their cheeks like that, Rurin.”

“Why aren’t you waking up? Get up. Hey hey! Poke and wake up!”

She muttered in a way that made me speak up, unable to stay still.

“Why wake them up? The goal is to make them faint.”

Then, Rurin shook her head. She shouted as if to ask why I was worrying about such things.

“Don’t worry. If they wake up, I’ll just make them faint again!”

Ah, I see.

Well, in that case, I suppose there’s no real problem.

Squeeze-!

“Hehe, wake up. You look so foolish.”

Since she was happily playing by herself, I left her to it and entered the prison.

I wondered if the information the Captain of the Guard brought was true.

The rumors going around could be true or false. Usually, when the source is high-ranking, it’s more likely to be deception, trickery, or something similar.

He never said it directly, but the look in his eyes when he spoke was unlike anything I’d seen before. The way Greek looked at Siena showed deep emotion.

First love.

A nostalgic word.

So, I hoped there was another truth, different from the rumors that floated around.

Greek and Berna.

The two of them had suffered enough. They deserved a peaceful life now.

“What’s this!”

“It’s an explosion!”

“Aaaah!”

“Let us out too! You bastards!”

“Aaah!”

Curses echoed from all corners of the prison. The screams were so loud they almost made my ears ring. Their voices were certainly loud.

The explosion inside the prison was actually just a loud bluff. When the guards panicked and ran out, it was part of a strategy to catch them all in one go.

It was not a modern prison, but a traditional one.

It was a structure with open, empty cells lined up. Moving to the end, I spotted a man who looked like a noble. Not all nobles look noble, though. There are plenty of vulgar ones.

But the man in front of me, how should I put it, had an aristocratic air.

And he was in a solitary cell.

No matter how serious the crime, in a society with a class system, they would never put a noble and a commoner in the same cell.

In conclusion, this man must be the Baron at the center of the incident.

With that certainty, I called out to the man sitting quietly by the prison bars.

“Baron?”

“What?”

The man, who had been with his eyes closed, slightly lifted his eyelids and looked at me. He was indeed handsome. Since he responded to the question with ‘something’, it was certain that he was the Baron.

“Well, I’m the one who caused the explosion here.”

Boom-!

I used a bit of magic, and the prison began to shake again. The Baron’s face showed a bit of disturbance when he saw this.

“A mage?”

It seemed like he was more unsettled by the fact that I was a mage than the shaking of the prison.

“Did the Count…send you? To kill me like this?”

“No, no, I don’t know where you got that idea, but that’s not the case.”

“Then…”

“Would you understand if I said I came because of Siena?”

I gave a slight smile. There was no need to waste time, so I immediately mentioned Siena.

The response came immediately.

The Baron, who had remained calm even in a life-threatening situation, suddenly stood up and approached me.

“Do you know her? Who are you?”

“I’m someone who has nothing to do with that lowly Count of Lutyian.”

“A lowly person? What, who exactly are you?”

“I think I’m more on Siena’s side. Of course, the situation could change depending on the truth.”

If Siena really loved this Baron and tried to escape with him, then the story would be different.

“R-really? Then tell me! Siena, is she safe? I knew she would be caught, but…I hoped she could escape safely… I don’t want that kind-hearted girl to come to harm!”

Hmm.

His expression looks desperate.

In the end, did Greek have his heart broken?

It’s only natural to sympathize, so in this case, Greek would seem pitiful.

Looking at his desperation, it seems like it’s love, doesn’t it?

“Do you truly love Siena? If it was just a fling, I’ll leave right now.”

“What…? Wait, what are you talking about!”

The Baron’s face briefly looked as flat as a soda losing its fizz, tilting his head in confusion.

“Huh?”

Thanks to that, I also tilted my head in confusion.

“So, we’re talking about love, but the reason you ended up in this prison… Wasn’t it because you tried to elope with Siena and got caught by the Count?”

So, I explained the rumors that were circulating openly in the lord’s castle.

Then, the Baron’s face completely contorted. It felt like watching an empty beer can being crushed.

“Count Lutyian… Lutyian! Could he really be spreading such rumors? This is absurd! That’s a complete fabrication!”

“Fabrication? What part is fabricated? Siena is safe right now. She’s under the protection of the Greek family, and to rescue her, the truth is needed. Baron, if something is fabricated, will you tell us the truth?”

The Baron’s words, shouting about fabrication, were serious.

Was the Baron’s desperate expression something other than love?

“I understand. Of course, it should be done. Her honor is at stake. I don’t care, but she… If that good girl is being falsely accused like that… That is something I can never forgive. Damn it!”

After venting his emotions, the Baron began explaining the events that transpired between him and Siena.

The truth was the complete opposite of the rumors.

If this is true, Siena and this Baron are incredible people. Great and bold.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But do you know why the Greek family is protecting her?”

“Well, it’s a complicated matter, but nothing bad will happen to Siena.”

“Is that so? I don’t know what’s what, but I hope that’s true. A world where the one who did the right thing is punished is a wrong world.”

“By the way, as I was coming, the situation still looked bad. Even though relief supplies were distributed, if it still looks like that, how severe must the drought be…”

“That’s…because we failed to smuggle out all the relief supplies due to the tight timeline. The people now have enough to eat for a while, but it’s a story with limits. If we released all the food in the warehouses, the people would have enough to survive the drought and return to farming…! But all they care about is raising political funds…”

“Those who have wealth are usually like that. I understand the situation well. I plan to go back to the Greek family and report this. But before that, would you escape if I opened the door for you?”

“No! I am innocent. I have done nothing wrong. Even if Count Lutyian tries to kill me, I am satisfied because I have never committed a crime! If I had intended to run away, I would have let Siena escape first and then fled myself.”

Hmm. A righteous man.

Then, there’s no need to let him out. Even if I did, he seems like someone who would quietly return to prison.

If the world operates according to its natural order, this Baron will be freed.

After hearing this story, Greek would only hope not to miss out on a talent.

I nodded subtly.

“I see. I respect your wishes. I hope everything goes well for you.”

I said that and turned my back coolly.

“Ugh?”

However, that coolness didn’t last even a second. Rurin was crouching right next to me.

“When did you arrive? Have you mastered the skill of appearing without a sound? I didn’t sense anything, but here you are right next to me.”

It’s frustrating to be surprised every time that happens.

Rurin had knocked out the prisoner in the jail with magic, and was now poking him with a branch.

“Rurin, when did you arrive?”

“Oh, is it over?”

She jumped up, immediately coming close to me with a big grin. Now that I think about it, the prisoners who had been begging for release are oddly quiet now.

“Did you do this?”

“That’s right! Hehehe!”

Rurin nodded cheerfully and spun around.

“I knocked them all out. Didn’t you tell me to knock them out? But since you were talking, I waited quietly.”

Quietly.

There are days when the word “quietly” comes out of Rurin’s mouth.

She really had been waiting quietly.

“I told you to knock out only the guards…but I guess it doesn’t matter? Anyway, let’s go. The air’s a bit stale down here.”

“Air? Huh?”

Da-da-da-dack!

Rurin dropped the branch she had been holding and followed me with an expression that showed no more interest in the prison.

“Are we heading back now?”

“No, I’m planning to check the lord’s castle to see if the Baron’s words are true.”

“Oh?”

When I said “check”, Rurin’s eyes began to sparkle, as if her destructive instincts had returned.

“Should I break it?”

“Yeah.”

“Woohoo!”

“I’m going to make some noise.”

“Oh? You! I don’t like noisy things.”

Rurin immediately shook her head. Her destructive instincts are grand, but she doesn’t like noise, which is typical of her.

By “noisy”, she means a place with a lot of people.

“Well, it’s not really like that.”

We left the prison and moved toward the lord’s castle, stopping in front of the castle walls and the large gate.

“Rurin, you said you wanted to break something?”

“I think so.”

“Then break that big gate.”

“Really? Do you want me to just smash it? Break it into dust? Blow it up? Burn it?”

“Hmm, dust-like?”

“Oh, really!”

Rurin started eyeing the gate with an excited expression.

And soon, with a loud KWA-AAAANG, the entire wall connected to the gate shook.

Of course, the gate tore apart with a deafening sound and began to crumble into dust.

That was fiery.

“You! Can I break the wall too?”

“What kind of destructive instinct is that?”

Then Rurin stopped flailing her arms and answered firmly.