Considering that Kishiar would be moving all night without rest, Yuder couldn't waste time sitting still inside the prison. He had no intention of sleeping anyway, and his mental fatigue had subsided thanks to the unexpected visitor.
Yuder glanced at Robel, who was still sleeping, then rose from his seat. Adjusting the cloak over his shoulders, he checked for any presence around him, then exerted strength to grab the bars of the jail. A suffocating sensation spread through his chest as the space widened just enough for one person to slip out. When he went outside and returned the bars to their original position, only an empty jail cell remained as if no one had ever been there.
'Normally, it's something I wouldn't even have to move my hand for.'
He quieted any noise and hid his body in the shadows as he began to survey the third floor of the underground. He had speculated that there were almost no prisoners trapped on the third floor since it was quiet, but looking closely, it seemed as if there had never been anyone there except them.
'Perhaps the first floor is for petty criminals... if the second floor is for serious criminals, then the third must be a space for others.'
The soldiers had said that this place had been around for nearly a thousand years. That meant it had been created almost as soon as Tainu had appeared.
'It must have been that the situation was so chaotic back then that so many prisons were needed, even though the Empire hadn't been around for long.'
Though he wasn't particularly interested in ancient history and didn't know much about it, the fact that there were so many prisons relative to the size of the city could not be a good sign. He thought the book that Pruelle had given him might have more detailed information, and at that moment, the face of the person who had given him the cloak and the warm stone also came to mind.
Normally, at this time, they would be wrapping up their day in their respective places. Before going to bed, Kishiar always read his received letters again or inspected his sword. In front of Yuder, it was just wrapping and tying the sword sheath, but he was slightly surprised when he learned that Kishiar got up early in the morning and consistently swung his sword in another room.
Just as Yuder had time to close his eyes and gather his strength as soon as he woke up, the practice of rising at dawn, training, and washing seemed to have a similar function for Kishiar. It was not surprising that the callus of a swordsman, so accustomed to striving without attracting others' attention, did not fade.
Although he seemed to live a reckless life fitting a Duke of Peletta, the fact that he meticulously commanded work and never neglected training seemed like him, but Yuder did not express this outwardly, fearing it might be a distraction. Kishiar also probably had similar thoughts since he never mentioned it, knowing that Yuder did such a thing as soon as he got up.
It was a brief time, somehow made special by the lack of back-and-forth conversation.
Lost in thought, Yuder heard again an eerie and sharp sound of the wind from somewhere. He quickly erased the image of Kishiar's face reading the report by the light and strained his ears to identify the direction of the sound.
The distant scream, mixed and distorted as it passed through long, rough crevices of rock, definitely felt alien compared to an ordinary wind sound.
'It sounds like something that would happen if you didn't close the door properly during a snowstorm in winter... But now it's not winter, and this is a deep underground place. Something is definitely strange.'
After the sound ceased, Yuder changed his direction. For ordinary people, it might have been hard to discern, but with experience in tracking targets, it was not difficult to find the direction with such traces.
A short while later, Yuder arrived at the point he deemed closest to where the sound had come from.
"Is this the place...?"
It was the end of an empty corridor. The cells nearby were vacant, and naturally, there was no sign of human presence. However, something about the location bothered him.
"If there were a fourth floor, the stairs would have been located around here."
The prison had been constructed in such a way that the stairs were placed at opposite ends on each floor to counter any potential escape attempts. If the stairs going down from the ground floor to the first floor were at the right end, then to go down to the second floor, one had to go all the way to the left end. And to go down again to the third floor, one had to go back to the right end.
And where Yuder was standing now was at the far opposite end from the stairs that led down to the third floor. He began to look around, searching for anything unusual, but nothing caught his eye.
"There's no place for the wind to leak through. But I definitely heard it here..."
Then, louder than before, the sound of the wind came again. Because it was the loudest in that place, it seemed as though human voices were strangely mixed with the wind.
Hoooo... uuuu...
Woo...
The sound quieted down again. Although the surroundings became still as if nothing had happened, Yuder's senses remained sharply alert.
"There might be something after all. But it's too dark to examine properly. I have no choice but to conjure a flame."
Summoning a flame the size of a candle, he began to scrutinize the end of the corridor and the nearby cells in greater detail. As he felt along the weathered stone wall, he suddenly perceived an unexpected texture. Upon illuminating it, he discovered it was some faintly carved symbol.
"Is this not the crest of the Tain family?"
The Tain family's crest was a shield entwined with deer antlers. It was a symbol that almost exactly matched the seal Yuder had seen at the end of the letter from the Duke of Tain. Finding it engraved on the prison wall was quite mysterious. He continued to feel around and soon found a second symbol not far away. The two symbols were engraved at the same height, facing each other.
After confirming that no other wall bore the same symbol, Yuder decided to step back for the time being.
"The patrol should be coming around again soon."
During his time in the prison, he had been mentally counting to gauge the soldiers' patrol intervals. Since the number he had been estimating was almost at its limit, he had to leave soon.
"I timed it just right."
Yuder had just reentered his cell when he heard the soldiers coming down from the second floor. Robel was snoring in oblivion. As he pretended to sleep, Yuder heard the approaching soldiers muttering.
"The Duke thought he was as good as dead, and yet he even gave him that expensive cloak. Look at the jewels on that guy's clothes. Wonder how much they're worth."
"One of those would be enough to live on for a lifetime. Must feel great to have someone to get you out even when you're locked up. Ptooey."
"Anyway, we agreed to act like we didn't see anything. Let's go."
"..."
After they disappeared, Yuder silently opened his eyes. It was a comment that might have offended him before, but he didn't feel bad at all. Satisfaction swelled within him, knowing that finally, his efforts were bearing fruit.
‘I hadn't realized... Thinking about it, this situation must look even more so from the outside.’
Feeling content, he sat down and spent the night reflecting on the information he had gathered, pondering over what might be happening on Kishiar's side. It promised to be a night far from tiring.
…
The next day, Yuder was eating breakfast with Robel brought by the soldiers, who were astonished by the fact that he had slept so soundly, when Tainu's Knight commander, Jeymer Phil, arrived. He wore a disgusted expression as he informed him that, just as Yuder had expected, there would be no second investigation, and that he would be released soon.
"Last night, His Grace Duke Peletta and the Cavalry found the real culprit behind the murder. Regrettably, they did not capture the culprit, but they did rescue Graham Willhem, who was nearly abducted by them. Therefore, you will be released soon."
"Is that true?"
"Release him and let him go."
Whether Robel was surprised or not, Jeymer Phil turned away after saying what he needed to say. Yuder rose abruptly from his seat, watching the soldiers unlocking the closed door with keys.
"Go on."
"I don't know what happened while I was asleep. Suddenly, so quickly..."
Seeing Yuder, who was not surprised at all, Robel seemed to want to ask something, but he closed his mouth, perhaps conscious of the soldiers. When they stepped outside the prison, those who had been waiting greeted them enthusiastically.
"Yuder! You're out!"
"Sleeping in a cold place for the night, home is still the best, right? Huh?"
Ever was not seen, but a substantial number of other familiar-faced members had gathered. Though not surprised by his release, seeing Yuder slightly disconcerted by his colleagues who proudly pounded on him in front of the security management team, Robel wore an expression that seemed both knowing and unknowing.
"Why are you looking like you're wondering why so many have gathered?"
Finn Eldore, standing at the front, grinned mischievously and slapped his arm for the first time in a while.
"Yuder said that garbage is to be cleaned up after everything is done. So we've come to clean it up!"
"Let's go!"
The Cavalry members charged unanimously at the Tainu Knights, resonating with Finn's words.
"Get out of the way! The Commander said he's going to make a Cavalry investigation headquarters here, so make room!"
"This is our place now! We're taking the chairs, one for each person!"
"What, what?"
Before the bewildered knights could react, the Cavalry members rushed inside the security management team with a cry, an air of determination not to let anyone stop them.
As Yuder looked on impassively, someone standing beside him chuckled.
"My assistant's prediction was spot on. Of course, the real beginning is now."
"Commander."
Kishiar pulled Yuder's shoulder, directing him towards a carriage on one side.
"Where are we going?"
"We've been working all night; isn't it time to rest? Let's talk on the way."
The Peletta knights led Robel, who looked bewildered, towards another carriage in the back. Yuder, along with Kishiar, climbed into a carriage and left the security management team, heading back to the mansion of Baron Willhem.
Considering that Kishiar would be moving all night without rest, Yuder couldn't waste time sitting still inside the prison. He had no intention of sleeping anyway, and his mental fatigue had subsided thanks to the unexpected visitor.
Yuder glanced at Robel, who was still sleeping, then rose from his seat. Adjusting the cloak over his shoulders, he checked for any presence around him, then exerted strength to grab the bars of the jail. A suffocating sensation spread through his chest as the space widened just enough for one person to slip out. When he went outside and returned the bars to their original position, only an empty jail cell remained as if no one had ever been there.
'Normally, it's something I wouldn't even have to move my hand for.'
He quieted any noise and hid his body in the shadows as he began to survey the third floor of the underground. He had speculated that there were almost no prisoners trapped on the third floor since it was quiet, but looking closely, it seemed as if there had never been anyone there except them.
'Perhaps the first floor is for petty criminals... if the second floor is for serious criminals, then the third must be a space for others.'
The soldiers had said that this place had been around for nearly a thousand years. That meant it had been created almost as soon as Tainu had appeared.
'It must have been that the situation was so chaotic back then that so many prisons were needed, even though the Empire hadn't been around for long.'
Though he wasn't particularly interested in ancient history and didn't know much about it, the fact that there were so many prisons relative to the size of the city could not be a good sign. He thought the book that Pruelle had given him might have more detailed information, and at that moment, the face of the person who had given him the cloak and the warm stone also came to mind.
Normally, at this time, they would be wrapping up their day in their respective places. Before going to bed, Kishiar always read his received letters again or inspected his sword. In front of Yuder, it was just wrapping and tying the sword sheath, but he was slightly surprised when he learned that Kishiar got up early in the morning and consistently swung his sword in another room.
Just as Yuder had time to close his eyes and gather his strength as soon as he woke up, the practice of rising at dawn, training, and washing seemed to have a similar function for Kishiar. It was not surprising that the callus of a swordsman, so accustomed to striving without attracting others' attention, did not fade.
Although he seemed to live a reckless life fitting a Duke of Peletta, the fact that he meticulously commanded work and never neglected training seemed like him, but Yuder did not express this outwardly, fearing it might be a distraction. Kishiar also probably had similar thoughts since he never mentioned it, knowing that Yuder did such a thing as soon as he got up.
It was a brief time, somehow made special by the lack of back-and-forth conversation.
Lost in thought, Yuder heard again an eerie and sharp sound of the wind from somewhere. He quickly erased the image of Kishiar's face reading the report by the light and strained his ears to identify the direction of the sound.
The distant scream, mixed and distorted as it passed through long, rough crevices of rock, definitely felt alien compared to an ordinary wind sound.
'It sounds like something that would happen if you didn't close the door properly during a snowstorm in winter... But now it's not winter, and this is a deep underground place. Something is definitely strange.'
After the sound ceased, Yuder changed his direction. For ordinary people, it might have been hard to discern, but with experience in tracking targets, it was not difficult to find the direction with such traces.
A short while later, Yuder arrived at the point he deemed closest to where the sound had come from.
"Is this the place...?"
It was the end of an empty corridor. The cells nearby were vacant, and naturally, there was no sign of human presence. However, something about the location bothered him.
"If there were a fourth floor, the stairs would have been located around here."
The prison had been constructed in such a way that the stairs were placed at opposite ends on each floor to counter any potential escape attempts. If the stairs going down from the ground floor to the first floor were at the right end, then to go down to the second floor, one had to go all the way to the left end. And to go down again to the third floor, one had to go back to the right end.
And where Yuder was standing now was at the far opposite end from the stairs that led down to the third floor. He began to look around, searching for anything unusual, but nothing caught his eye.
"There's no place for the wind to leak through. But I definitely heard it here..."
Then, louder than before, the sound of the wind came again. Because it was the loudest in that place, it seemed as though human voices were strangely mixed with the wind.
Hoooo... uuuu...
Woo...
The sound quieted down again. Although the surroundings became still as if nothing had happened, Yuder's senses remained sharply alert.
"There might be something after all. But it's too dark to examine properly. I have no choice but to conjure a flame."
Summoning a flame the size of a candle, he began to scrutinize the end of the corridor and the nearby cells in greater detail. As he felt along the weathered stone wall, he suddenly perceived an unexpected texture. Upon illuminating it, he discovered it was some faintly carved symbol.
"Is this not the crest of the Tain family?"
The Tain family's crest was a shield entwined with deer antlers. It was a symbol that almost exactly matched the seal Yuder had seen at the end of the letter from the Duke of Tain. Finding it engraved on the prison wall was quite mysterious. He continued to feel around and soon found a second symbol not far away. The two symbols were engraved at the same height, facing each other.
After confirming that no other wall bore the same symbol, Yuder decided to step back for the time being.
"The patrol should be coming around again soon."
During his time in the prison, he had been mentally counting to gauge the soldiers' patrol intervals. Since the number he had been estimating was almost at its limit, he had to leave soon.
"I timed it just right."
Yuder had just reentered his cell when he heard the soldiers coming down from the second floor. Robel was snoring in oblivion. As he pretended to sleep, Yuder heard the approaching soldiers muttering.
"The Duke thought he was as good as dead, and yet he even gave him that expensive cloak. Look at the jewels on that guy's clothes. Wonder how much they're worth."
"One of those would be enough to live on for a lifetime. Must feel great to have someone to get you out even when you're locked up. Ptooey."
"Anyway, we agreed to act like we didn't see anything. Let's go."
"..."
After they disappeared, Yuder silently opened his eyes. It was a comment that might have offended him before, but he didn't feel bad at all. Satisfaction swelled within him, knowing that finally, his efforts were bearing fruit.
‘I hadn't realized... Thinking about it, this situation must look even more so from the outside.’
Feeling content, he sat down and spent the night reflecting on the information he had gathered, pondering over what might be happening on Kishiar's side. It promised to be a night far from tiring.
…
The next day, Yuder was eating breakfast with Robel brought by the soldiers, who were astonished by the fact that he had slept so soundly, when Tainu's Knight commander, Jeymer Phil, arrived. He wore a disgusted expression as he informed him that, just as Yuder had expected, there would be no second investigation, and that he would be released soon.
"Last night, His Grace Duke Peletta and the Cavalry found the real culprit behind the murder. Regrettably, they did not capture the culprit, but they did rescue Graham Willhem, who was nearly abducted by them. Therefore, you will be released soon."
"Is that true?"
"Release him and let him go."
Whether Robel was surprised or not, Jeymer Phil turned away after saying what he needed to say. Yuder rose abruptly from his seat, watching the soldiers unlocking the closed door with keys.
"Go on."
"I don't know what happened while I was asleep. Suddenly, so quickly..."
Seeing Yuder, who was not surprised at all, Robel seemed to want to ask something, but he closed his mouth, perhaps conscious of the soldiers. When they stepped outside the prison, those who had been waiting greeted them enthusiastically.
"Yuder! You're out!"
"Sleeping in a cold place for the night, home is still the best, right? Huh?"
Ever was not seen, but a substantial number of other familiar-faced members had gathered. Though not surprised by his release, seeing Yuder slightly disconcerted by his colleagues who proudly pounded on him in front of the security management team, Robel wore an expression that seemed both knowing and unknowing.
"Why are you looking like you're wondering why so many have gathered?"
Finn Eldore, standing at the front, grinned mischievously and slapped his arm for the first time in a while.
"Yuder said that garbage is to be cleaned up after everything is done. So we've come to clean it up!"
"Let's go!"
The Cavalry members charged unanimously at the Tainu Knights, resonating with Finn's words.
"Get out of the way! The Commander said he's going to make a Cavalry investigation headquarters here, so make room!"
"This is our place now! We're taking the chairs, one for each person!"
"What, what?"
Before the bewildered knights could react, the Cavalry members rushed inside the security management team with a cry, an air of determination not to let anyone stop them.
As Yuder looked on impassively, someone standing beside him chuckled.
"My assistant's prediction was spot on. Of course, the real beginning is now."
"Commander."
Kishiar pulled Yuder's shoulder, directing him towards a carriage on one side.
"Where are we going?"
"We've been working all night; isn't it time to rest? Let's talk on the way."
The Peletta knights led Robel, who looked bewildered, towards another carriage in the back. Yuder, along with Kishiar, climbed into a carriage and left the security management team, heading back to the mansion of Baron Willhem.
