Episode 129. Rescue Operation (2)
“Oh, you’re from Bayanegro. Why do you seem to be in a bit of a hurry today?”
“Because there are a lot of corpses.”
“Hmm… That’s right. When I have time, I can tell just by smelling it. In this kind of weather, freezing it is useless.”
The officer guarding the entrance to the crematorium circled the cart, frowned, and covered his nose.
The crematorium of the ‘Valley Prison’. A place where nameless and lowly corpses gather near Tresden.
“These are the corpses that will be reborn in oil. Now, let’s go in.”
As the closed door opened, the ox started to move forward. It moved forward with a thud.
The crematorium was the lowest level of the prison. On the way down to the basement, Gashin raised his head as a habit. It was a sight that made him feel bad every time he saw it.
There were hundreds of caves drilled into the canyon walls. These were the prisoners’ cells.
Naturally, the tightly packed iron bars had high-dimensional barrier magic built into them.
‘… … .’
Through the gap in the pile of corpses, Rubin looked at the countless cells in the canyon. As the sound of the cart was heard, one by one, sharp eyes appeared between the iron bars.
Everyone is looking this way.
‘It’s like a first-class prison.’
There are more than one or two prisoners who have made a name for themselves all over the continent. Even though the barrier magic was blocking them, the clear aura of high-level warriors mixed in with the wide-spread darkness.
-Why doesn’t the Emperor kill them?
It was Kuze’s voice, his eyes sharpening.
-They must be alive to be useful to the Emperor. Those in this deep-down area are especially useful.
No matter how strong they are, to the Emperor they are nothing more than tools to be used for illegal purposes. Kuze nodded as if he understood.
The cells at the bottom of the cliff were connected by a passage, but the deeper part was just empty space.
A void in the field of vision, but one where high-dimensional attack magic is loaded.
-It’s a structure you can never escape from. It’s a truly terrible place.
The only way for them to get out was for someone from outside to break the barrier.
Rubin looked into each cell to see if Enzo Lorenzini was there. It would be quite a task to get him out of here.
‘Fortunately, there isn’t one here.’
The worst was averted.
* * *
“Architect! Come here quickly. Why are you so stubborn when you have a bad leg?”
“If E103 is that diligent, the guards will harass us. Please just keep quiet and give orders.”
“That’s right. I’ve never seen a wizard throw away his body like this.”
The loud voices all turn towards one man.
Short blue hair. The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly. In the end, he had no choice but to follow the instructions of his fellow prisoners.
Prisoner number E103 carefully put down the cubic ‘Mana Cube’ that he was holding with both hands.
“Okay, I can’t cause any trouble for you guys.”
E103 limped on his right foot and approached the prisoners. The five prisoners were waiting for E103, with bread piled in the middle.
Although the bread didn’t have much of a texture, in this ‘Valley Prison’, even this was considered a huge privilege. The prisoners knew this, so they treated E103 very well.
“Thanks to the architect, I am able to spend this comfortable day today. Thank you very much.”
“Will you offer me a prayer of thanks every time you eat bread? Come and eat.”
As if they had been waiting for those words, the prisoners all reached out for the bread.
Crunch crunch.
“… … .”
E103 quietly watched the prisoners eating their bread in a hurry.
His real name was Enzo Lorenzini. He had a new feeling that his time in prison had been quite heavy.
‘How many months has it been now?’
I came here right after sending Per to Capotini, so I think I spent a season there.
Suddenly, worries about his son cropped up.
‘I hope Per is doing well?’
A playful and mischievous son.
At the same time, he is a boy with more magical talent than anyone else. Whenever he thinks of the child, a smile appears on Enzo’s face without him knowing it.
“Oh, our architect. Who on earth are you thinking of? Can you stop talking now?”
“… It’s nothing, haha.”
“Please, just tell me. Who do you think of? A lover? A family member?”
“Hey, everyone, stop bothering the architect. I already asked him so many times. He never taught me, never.”
Enzo awkwardly touched his hair.
Five fellow prisoners.
Maybe it’s because they’ve been in prison for so long that they’ve naturally become more nosy, but they ask me about this and that every single day without fail.
As annoying as those questions were, Enzo was certain: these were good people.
People who enter the prison, especially the ‘Valley Prison’, can’t be good people, but Enzo didn’t think so.
Enzo himself is like that, so is there anyone among them who came here looking for a place to hide? Or is there anyone who was falsely accused?
‘Hmm, I guess that’s only possible in a level 3 prison.’
While I was chewing bread and thinking about various things.
“By the way, is the first gate now complete?”
One of the prisoners asked.
“Yes, it will probably be finished by the day after tomorrow. Even so, it will only be one of twelve.”
“One in two months! There are eleven more left, so how much is this? I must never leave the architect while serving my sentence.”
Next to where the six people were resting, an arched gateway was being built.
It was an unremarkable stone gateway at first glance, but the interior was being filled with ‘mana cubes’.
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Mana Cube.
A cube sectioned with eight floating magic stones. A type of magical architecture, it allows for higher-dimensional design magic when using a mana cube.
The representative building was Capotini’s Rhapsody Hall. Because it was an old magical building, there were limits to how quickly it could be renovated, so it went through the hands of several magical architects over several decades.
One of them was Enzo Lorenzini. He had been involved in the construction of his alma mater for 13 years, when his wife Lily was pregnant with Per.
It was a truly happy moment.
But at the same time, it was also the moment when all this misfortune began.
‘I never knew there was a ‘Chain of Awakening’ there.’
I never dreamed that such a terrible curse would be lurking inside that historic dormitory building.
It wasn’t until several years later that I found out.
The day his wife Lily came to the Capotini construction site, Enzo and the yet-to-be-born Per were tied together in a ‘chain of awakening’.
Moreover, the fact that he was chained to the son in her womb, not to his wife.
‘Yes, it is a curse. It is a curse.’
Five years ago. That was when the tragedy began. It was the day I went to the island to repair the Imperial Army’s military facilities.
It was a rare event for a Samhwi magician to construct a building for the system, so he participated in the project knowing that it would be an important turning point in his career.
But on that very day, Enzo realized for the first time that he and his son were connected by a ‘chain of awakening’. It was due to a disease that magicians sometimes suffer from, called ‘mana seizure’.
That day, Enzo accidentally had a mana attack, and the hidden ‘Chain of Awakening’ stirred, revealing its true nature.
If there had been no witnesses at that time. If there had not been a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Magic dispatched from the palace that day to check.
The father and son’s lives might have changed.
The voice of the Ministry of Magic official who was dealing with the mana attack rang in Enzo’s head.
‘Hmm, it’s just a normal mana attack. Take better care of yourself next time.’
I thought it would pass like that, but it didn’t.
The Ministry of Magic officials reported the seriousness of the symptoms to their superiors, and thus began the days of flight.
In the process, his wife had to die and he had to break up with Per.
‘Chain of Awakening’ is something that only manifests when one of the two is killed.
Even if he awakened and realized his potential, if either the father or the son had to die, it would be nothing more than a curse.
“… … .”
Then, someone broke Enzo’s thoughts.
“Prisoner E103.”
Enzo looked up and looked at the guard.
“I have an interview with the director.”
“Oh, yes. Okay.”
Enzo put down the bread he was eating. His fellow prisoners stood up and looked at him with envious eyes as he walked away.
Because I knew what a privilege it was to secretly interview the head of the ‘Valley Prison’ once every four days.
“I’ll be back. Just stack the Mana Cubes on the left and right as I said earlier. I’ll check later after the interview.”
“Yes, sir, architect. Have a nice interview. Please tell the warden about our cellmates!”
After a while.
Enzo arrived at the warden’s office through a passageway used only by guards. It was an old-fashioned interior that contrasted with the desolate landscape of the canyon prison.
The director, who was sitting on a chair, sat up and greeted Enzo as he entered.
“welcome.”
Enzo looked around and sat down opposite the director.
The director smiled faintly and tried to free the handcuffs on Enzo’s arms.
“No, you don’t have to do that.”
“You’re not a prisoner. It’s out of the question.”
“… Thank you, every time.”
Crunch.
“Please start by eating.”
Putting the handcuffs aside, the warden offered Enzo some food. The meat on the iron plate was steaming.
Even the poorest bread was food that the precious prisoners would want to eat even in their dreams. Enzo did not refuse the warden’s consideration.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
As Enzo was eating his food, the director’s voice came down to his ear. At the end of his words, the director added the name ‘Enzo’ in a very small voice.
Enzo nodded slightly. His eyes looking at the curator were filled with sincere gratitude.
Hitan, the person in charge of the Valley Prison, a first-class prison in the western part of the continent. His hidden identity is that he is an assistant who helps Enzo Lorenzi escape.
It was a bit strange to hide someone in prison, but in other words, it was a case of exploiting a loophole. So far, it had been safe without any problems.
This was also Hitan’s suggestion.
“Thank you, Hitan. I have never slept so comfortably with my legs stretched out like I have these days.”
Hitan smiled softly at those words.
“Didn’t you say it was the second time? There were people who helped Enzo the other day too.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“At that time, Enzo said that he left them too hastily… … .”
For a moment, Enzo looked at Hitan with wary eyes. The atmosphere seemed slightly off.
It seemed as if Hitan would ask, ‘Can you tell me their identities?’ But Enzo did not want to tell them their identities.
As if he had read her mind, Hitan changed the ending of his words to improve the mood.
“… I hope that won’t happen this time. So that I can help you, Enzo.”
“All right.”
After a while, Enzo finished his meal and ate the sweet dessert that followed.
At that moment, I felt a stench that was piercing my nose. It was a smell coming from outside the window.
Oh my, Hitan quickly got up and closed the window with a noise.
“The office is nice, but the smell of incinerators wafts up to you. I forgot that today is incinerator day. I apologize for the inconvenience while you are eating.”
“No way. Even this is a luxury.”
“Oh, and… … .”
Hitan’s expression became very serious.
He took a sip of his tea and paused. What happened? Enzo felt uneasy for no reason.
“Our organization recently received some intelligence, and I’m wondering if I should tell Enzo about it.”
“Please tell me. If it has anything to do with me.”
“That’s right… There’s something going on at the Capotini School of Magic next week. Something to do with the Imperial Army.”
Just the two words ‘Capotini’ and ‘Imperial Army’ were enough to make Enzo’s heart sink.
“Is the Emperor moving his army?”
“No, no. It won’t be that bad. In terms of intelligence, that is. Maybe Enzo’s son will pass through safely. I’m just telling you in advance. If… Enzo can contact his son separately, you can do so.”
The sweetness of dessert had already been forgotten, and Enzo’s expression was dark.
Can I leave my son’s safety in Hitan’s hands?
Currently, Hitan only knows that Perga Capotini is entering the Magic School undercover.
‘I guess I can trust him. He even annihilated the Imperial Army right before my eyes… ‘
Maybe you can get more help.
“… … .”
Enzo’s lips were almost closed at the thought of what would happen to Capotini, but he ended up biting his lip.
“… … .”
“There’s nothing to worry about. Nothing has been revealed about your son so far.”
“… … .”
“Okay, let’s stop here for today.”
The Hitan chief handcuffed Enzo’s arms again. These were special handcuffs designed to restrict the wizard’s movements.
The moment it was filled, Enzo felt as if the circle of mana was freezing.
“I know it’s frustrating, but it’s a process. Please endure a little longer, Enzo.”
“thank you.”
After that, Enzo went down to the prison cell with the guard.
“… … .”
After Enzo left.
The Hitan chief looked down at the traces of the meal. His eyes soon filled with anger. His face twisted and he exhaled roughly.
“f*ck!”
As I approached the window and opened it, the smell of burning corpses quickly rose. It may have been a strange taste, but it was the Hitan Director who did not mind the smell of burning corpses.
“I told you my son could be in danger, and you didn’t say anything? You rascal.”
The curator spat on the floor in frustration.
“By the way, why is there still no news about Rosenthaler and Gaizen?”
* * *
The night was deep.
Before falling asleep, the prisoners in the third-level prison would talk about this and that.
Life stories, things to enjoy after leaving prison, a pledge to start a family and live a clean life, etc.
The five prisoners, who received various special privileges from Director Hitan because they were in the same room as Enzo, continued their conversation while giggling.
I occasionally asked Enzo to talk to me, but he politely declined each time.
“I’m sorry. I have nothing to say.”
“Well, it’s okay. Thanks to you, Architect, I can sleep soundly. I’ll work hard tomorrow too, Architect.”
“I’ll go to sleep first.”
Enzo said with his eyes closed.
The words that Chief Hitan had told him continued to ring in his head. The words that something might happen to his son.
I fell into a deep sleep with that feeling of anxiety.
Was it around dawn?
Enzo opened his eyes on his own and sat up. It seemed like he had only been awake for a moment, but his fellow prisoners’ chatter had already ended.
‘These people are usually not so quiet… … ?’
When I turned around with that thought.
Enzo almost screamed.
Four prisoners are found dead with their necks clutched.
“What, what’s going on…?”
What happened while I was sleeping? What happened to those poor prisoners?
“no way.”
At that moment, I thought the emperor had finally found me.
“Enzo Lorenzini. You’re Per’s father, right?”
In a place where I thought there was only darkness, a human voice suddenly popped out.
