(Author's Note: This is the last part, I swear... also, Patreon thinks tables should never exist, so I will be converting them into a sort of list format here.)
(Another author's note. Wtf is wrong with Patreon. It is literally scheduled for for May 4, 2023 on 11:46 pm, so why the hell is it still scheduled now!? I'm sorry, I swear I didn't forget or make any mistakes, but Patreon.... REEEE!)
*****
"Phew." Reivan heaved a sigh as he rubbed his left shoulder. "Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would..."
With his interrogation finished, there was no reason to stay in the cell, so Reivan stood up, off the edge of the pit. With one last look at the gaunt man at the bottom, Reivan turned around and walked toward the exit. After opening two steel doors, Reivan was back in the hallway, where his guardian knight awaited.
Valter gave a crisp salute before commenting with a smile. "Welcome back."
"Yep. I'll submit the report later. Before bed."
"There are no problems with that. There won't be anyone to read it at this time of night anyway. His Majesty has been consecutively running all-nighters for the past few days, so it's about time for them to give in."
"True enough." Reivan nodded before a grin crossed his face. "And on that note, now that we know where all of the rat bases are, we can round them all up and get rid of them in one fell swoop."
At first, the wardens who'd been in charge of performing preliminary interrogations thought that their captive was staying silent because he didn't know anything. But Reivan's fraudulent interrogation methods had revealed that the man was relatively high on the totem pole of their organization.
'Well, he was at least high enough to know where most things were...'
Valter gave another salute before nodding. "I understand, Your Highness. I'll have the Peacekeepers make some preparations. In any case, the interrogation went faster than usual."
"Yep." Reivan's lips curled into a smirk. "As expected of the penitentiary's cells. It really creates a good condition to put people in despair."
Fear.
Since the dawn of civilization, it was a mighty tool to control people.
And one of man's greatest fears was darkness. More specifically, man feared the unknown.
'A mysterious kid that can hurt you in strange and incomprehensible ways. Paired with an atmosphere like that...? This place is practically built to manufacture fear.'
Still, Reivan felt slightly offended that the man thought he was that scary. From what Reivan knew, didn't he have a cute and youthful voice?
'Well, I suppose this wasn't the first time it happened...'
He assumed they were just spooked by how their limbs moved to follow his commands.
Thinking of how effective he'd become at using his powers, Reivan broke into a grin while looking at his palm. As he opened and closed his right hand, he chuckled in satisfaction and happiness.
'I'm gradually getting better at using it on living things...'
He idly thought back to the days when the sword he controlled with [Formless Will] would drop to the ground the moment he touched them.
Now? He could even do things like bending people's limbs!
'I really have to thank Valter...'
Reivan threw a glance at his guardian knight. If it weren't for the thousand-year-old warrior, Reivan may not have discovered that compressing his willpower to only affect small parts made it much easier to affect living beings. As expected of someone who'd been alive for so long, the man's mind worked differently.
Seemingly having noticed his gaze, Valter chose this moment to speak up. "I still stand my opinion that it's too early for you to do these kinds of things."
'There he goes again...'
"And I've already told you," Shaking his head in exasperation, Reivan replied. "That I want to do this. I'm good at it. Extracting information in this manner is an excellent way to make use of my abilities. And I want nothing more than to be an asset to the nation that my family rules."
"But still..."
"It's fine. Moreover, is there a point in stopping now?"
'And also... this is a great opportunity to test my powers on other living things...'
He'd feel horrible if his lack of control accidentally injured his friends while they were sparring.
The prisoners on the other hand? They were the perfect punching bags.
'I've already confirmed that they're all scum of society. So there's no reason for me to feel bad. What I do to them isn't even a fraction of the pain they've inflicted on others. The victims of these bastards would probably praise me for my actions... right?'
Reivan's brows creased. He took a deep breath and tried to banish the feelings of guilt to the back of his mind — right where they belonged.
'I'm in a different world now. A world with its own rules and morals. These feelings are just because I was raised on modern earth. I can't... I shouldn't keep feeling this way...'
"It's getting quite late." Valter, ignorant of the thoughts running through the little prince's mind, gestured towards the exit of the penitentiary. "Shall we go?"
"Sure." Reivan stepped forward and led the way, his hand unconsciously balled up into a fist.
Because of the enchantments all around the prison, there were only a few, trap-filled designated areas where one could teleport in or out. So they had to walk a bit before they could use Valter's black puddle express service™.
"Hmmm..." As they walked, Reivan couldn't help but glance at the floor, where a vast facility secretly lay hidden underneath the island.
Valter noticed his gaze and asked. "Should we drop by Grimsburg, Your Highness?"
Reivan thought about it for a moment before eventually shaking his head. "I doubt they found what I want already. And I don't want to frequent such a place. They still haven't done anything about the smell. You know how sensitive my nose is..."
"Understood."
'Still... maybe I should send someone to probe the researchers? Just so they know how important this is for me...'
But the scholars had bigger and more urgent subjects to worry about, so Reivan's private matters should be thrown to the back burner. In fact, he was convinced he'd have to research it on his own time.
'Oh, wait a minute. I can just hire someone to do it for me...!'
Reivan surprised even himself. He was truly starting to think like royalty, throwing work he couldn't do to someone else.
'But I don't have any money...'
That reality immediately dropped Reivan's spirits. He actually had quite a number of people on his payroll, so he lacked the budget to hire even more people.
'If only there was an easy way to make money in my spare time... I hate myself for only being able to think of illegal stuff.'
He stroked his chin while walking, eventually remembering the information he received from Terrel.
'A criminal syndicate from Arkhan's underground, trying to sink their fangs on Worgon Outpost...'
In particular, it was a criminal syndicate that had amassed a lot of money and all sorts of other goods.
'Heh. That's it. I'm a fucking genius.'
With a chuckle at his ingenious thoughts, Reivan and Valter made their way home.
Back to the capital.
Reivan slowly, and very carefully cracked open the door to his bed chamber. He was not unlike a thief, in that he strived not to make a single sound.
'Is she here...?'
His golden eyes pierced through the darkness, examining the immaculate state of his bed. Seeing as the sheets were still neatly folded and none of the pillows were out of place, it was safe to assume that there wasn't anybody sleeping in his bed, waiting for him to come back.
'That's great. I don't want her to be around for this...'
Seeing as there was nobody to wake up with the noise he made, Reivan strode into his room with confidence. He sat at the edge of his bed and took out a large syringe from within Zouros' stomach. With narrowed eyes, Reivan glared at its luminous contents.
This was the latest development for aiding mortals to increase their physical abilities within a short period of time. Born from the sacrifices of dozens, if not hundreds, of prisoners, Aizen had now improved the growth of its might yet again.
Just by injecting the contents of this syringe into his body, the strands of solidified energy would seek to fill his veins, eventually dissolving once they'd spread out enough. Once this happens, energy would seep into his body within the next couple of hours.
Too bad that it wasn't technically medicine, so Reivan couldn't modify or use it infinitely when he'd memorized it with [Drug Memorization].
"Ugh..." Reivan grimaced while looking at all the glowing strands of wriggling energy. Although he knew they were biological constructs made through methods he couldn't begin to fathom, they were too similar to worms that he couldn't really see them as anything else. "Gross..."
The biggest problem was that the things looked absolutely repulsive.
They were also very gross.
And appalling.
Reivan felt like he didn't know enough words to describe how unpleasant the little wriggly things were.
Feeling all the worm-like biological thingamajigs squirming inside your body was extremely unpleasant. And that wasn't even taking into consideration that the process of assimilating with the energy wasn't much different from bathing in boiling water.
In simple terms, it hurt like hell.
"Dammit..." Reivan groaned. Still, looking at the disgusting things wouldn't do him any good. He took out two bands and secured them to his legs, tightening around his upper thighs. With his blood flow slightly hindered, Reivan stabbed the syringe's needle into his right thigh, pouring in about half of the contents. Once he was done, he pulled it out and plunged it into his other leg.
'I fucking hate leg day...!'
Reivan rushed to stuff a piece of cloth into his mouth in preparation for what was to come and lay flat on the soft mattress. Then, with his [Formless Will], he controlled the straps that had been installed on his bed a few months ago to secure all four of his limbs.
Although he couldn't see it at the moment, he was sure that his legs had luminescent veins spread out all over like roots.
'Alright. Off to dreamland, I go...'
Not willing to stick around for the rest, Reivan activated the ability that he was steadily using more and more.
[Glimpse of Eternity] has activated!
As his consciousness began to fade, Reivan thought that if anything, this troublesome skill was great for when he wanted to run away from the pain of reality.
"You're here. Again."
The first thing Reivan heard when his mind cleared up was Karuna's droll voice — which, now that he thought about it, somewhat reminded him of Donovan's.
'I bet they'd get along really well with each other. Like, they'd trade clever ways on how to insult people or something...'
Too bad the two would likely never meet.
Karuna took a sip of her tea while lounging around on an exact replica of his bed, in a room that was an exact replica of his room. She then heaved a sigh while brushing some of her white hair behind her ear.
"Judging from the stupid look on your stupid face, you must be thinking about something stupid. I'm right, aren't I?"
A bit taken aback, Reivan broke into a grin. "Not at all. I was thinking about how you're always cute whenever I see you. Do you intentionally pretty yourself up just before I arrive?"
"Horse. Shit."
"Can I take that as a yes?"
Seemingly finding it an exercise in stupidity to entertain him any longer, Karuna rolled her eyes and shooed him away. "Just do what you came here to do and leave quickly."
Reivan chuckled. "You're just worried that if I spend too much time here, I'd get swallowed up again."
"Are you one of those idiots that think lightning doesn't strike the same place twice? Since it happened once, it can always happen again. If I have to watch you relive your life one more time, I'll gouge my eyes out."
"You worry too much. I already told you..." The boy grinned with his chest puffed out. "I've got it all figured out. I didn't even have any trouble forcing it to go dormant last year. And I'm sure I won't have any trouble this year either."
"Famous last words." Karuna's voice dripped with sarcasm. She heaved a sigh as he closed her eyes. "Just be careful. Seriously."
"I know. Don't worry. I've got this. I just need to not slow down time too much..."
Reivan showed her a sincere smile before turning away. In an instant, the scenery around him changed. The exact replica of his room that had a snarky, white-haired fairy as a permanent resident disappeared, giving way to a perfect imitation of the underground training room he frequently met Donovan in.
Just by desiring it, his clothes changed to the usual gear he wore whenever he trained. And even without the old bastard present, a wall of water rose to surround the island he was on.
After taking a deep breath, he spoke. "Karuna, can you remind me to stop once about two hours have passed in the real world?"
Even though he didn't receive an answer, he knew she would still do it.
Just like all the other times he did this.
When Reivan opened his eyes in the real world, he found that his limbs were still strapped. His sheets were a mess due to the sweat that practically poured out of his body, but otherwise, everything was perfect.
"My legs are killing me..." Reivan scowled. After he removed his restraints in an instant, he sat up and looked at his legs. "Yikes. A few blood vessels popped..."
Luckily, he could heal such injuries in an instant with [Effect Reproduction]. Once he'd healed what needed to be healed, he stood up and used [Formless Will] to change his dirty sheets. He then took out a holostone and checked the time.
23 : 57
'Oops. It's almost midnight.'
Reivan recalled the report he was supposed to submit. But it really did seem pointless to submit it this late at night, so he decided to just do it tomorrow. Besides, he only needed a couple of minutes to do it if he used a communication crystal and a holostone to pump text out of his brain in an instant.
'I'm definitely not procrastinating...'
He also had to get up early tomorrow, lest he anger a certain hairless bastard. As such, he had to get to bed as soon as possible.
'But first...!'
Obviously, he had to check the fruits of his labor.
Earlier, he had ninety-six points of Might. And although doping could help raise that within the next few hours, its real strength was increasing Might over time.
'It's starting to be less effective these days, but I guess it should have risen to ninety-eight, right? And the over the next week or so, I'll be at a hundred.'
Unfortunately, he couldn't go past a hundred base Might. According to Valter, an ordinary human had physical limits. Although there were techniques to temporarily leave these limits far behind you, ultimately, one returned to their original state.
Naturally, Reivan took a look at someone who'd reached the "limit" of the physical body without Qi...
This led to his discovery that the limit was 100 Might.
If he wanted to reach a base Might of 101 and above, then Reivan would have to unlock his Qi first. No amount of doping would help him climb past that barrier — according to Valter, that is.
"Qi, huh...?" Reivan looked down at his palm while clenching and unclenching his hand. "Mother and Uncle said that I'd automatically get it once I turned thirteen but..."
'Is there a way to push that forward? Or rather, are they even sure that it applies to me? I'm only half-warbeast after all.'
Being the first hybrid race in the history of this world certainly had some downsides. One of which, was that Reivan could never be sure if what applied to a human or a warbeast would apply to him as well. It was quite headache-inducing if he was being perfectly honest.
'Well, anyway...'
Thinking that some things were just out of his control, Reivan brought his hand up to his face and used [Supreme Insight].
Unit Statistics
Name: Reivan Aizenwald
Species: Hybrid
Realm: Mortal
Age: Cannot Be Calculated
Sex: Male
Might: 98
Special Abilities
[Supreme Insight]
[Indomitable Willpower]
[Essence of Falsehood]
[Drug Memorization]
[Glimpse of Eternity]
Extra Skills
[Chaos Origin] [Intuition] [Taunt]
Elemental Affinities
[Lightning]
[Chaos]
[Darkness]
[Ice]
Seeing his predictions confirmed, Reivan broke into a satisfied grin.
'Next, I'll dope up my upper body while working on my agility, and then...'
While he was brooding, the door to his room slowly opened.
"Who's there?" Reivan asked in a calm manner. Being within the very heart of Aizen, if danger lurked in this place, there would be nowhere truly safe for him. In that case, it was better to just give up and die.
Still, there were only two people who frequently entered his room at such a late time; and both of those people were females with white hair.
From beyond the darkness, a voice he was familiar with cried out in a sleepy voice. "Yani... You here...?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"Yay..."
Following a very lethargic "yay", a girl wearing a gown as white as her hair strolled into the room while rubbing her right eye. In her free hand was a pillow, which, Reivan assumed, belonged to their mother. With her eyes barely open, Jiji climbed onto Reivan's bed, set the pillow down beside her, then lay down to sleep. In a manner of seconds, the sounds of her even breathing filled the room.
"Pfft." Reivan lightly chuckled, shaking his head. Even though his legs still felt like they were made out of lead, he climbed onto the bed too, settling himself beside his younger sister. As his head sunk into a soft pillow, his eyelids gradually closed shut. "Good night..."
It was unknown whether his sister actually heard him, but he could feel her warm little body seek him out. And by the time her thin arms wrapped around his body, Reivan was already fast asleep.
Just like that, another normal day ends for Aizen's second prince.
2023-05-04 12:52:43 +0000 UTC
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The city of Grimharbor was one of Aizen's most well-known cities.
However, this was not due to its beautiful scenery, bountiful lands, friendly inhabitants, or rich cultural heritage. Rather, it was infamous for being a city built close to a certain facility — a certain facility that people who don't work there never want to go to.
Grimharbor Penitentiary.
The Aizen Kingdom's largest, and most well-guarded prison.
A place where people are sent to die, be it from execution or time. The only way out of Grimharbor Penitentiary was through immediate death or gradual death. And those who were fortunate — if one could call them that — enough to be dealt the latter, would all wish for oblivion to claim their souls even as early as possible.
The prison, built on a small island in the middle of the sea, was surrounded by violently churning waters that guaranteed a watery grave for even the most adept of swimmers. And guarding it were knights capable of wading across the air with ease. Each of these monstrous men and women patrolled the area around the prison, a sharp look in their eyes as they prepared to respond to any situation.
Despite its name, wrongdoers were not sent there to repent for their crimes, but to be punished for them. And it was well-known that even the most hard-boiled lawbreakers started to see the light just by thinking about being sent there.
This was Grimharbor Penitentiary — a place parents warned their misbehaving children about, in order to instill discipline and good behavior in them.
'Well, it's not like a whole lotta people are sent here in the first place... it's mostly just prisoners of war and stuff.'
Reivan sighed as he stepped out of the warp gate. He looked up, gazing upon the towering building he'd been frequenting for a while now.
On a tiny island that looked as if it was just a massive rock with the top part cut flat, was a massive tower that rose up into the sky. Seemingly made from obsidian, faint moonlight reflected off the tower's smooth surface. And as the waters around it churned violently, it stood straight up like a godly spear stabbed into the sea, undaunted and indifferent to its surroundings.
'I can't get used to how pretty it is...'
If Reivan had been more artistically inclined, he would've loved to make a painting out of this scene. Sadly, despite his dexterity, he was a horrible artist.
And in any case, since he was very well aware of the things that happened inside the place, Reivan couldn't help but feel like its beauty was disgusting.
"Shall we go, Your Highness?" Valter asked, standing behind him.
Reivan nodded. "Let's get this over with."
Since there wasn't a warp gate that led directly to the prison, or even to the island itself, they had to pass through the closest warp gate — which was the one at Grimharbor City's port.
As for the rest of the way, Valter could easily get them there in a second.
"As you wish."
With a bow of his head, a dark puddle of darkness spread out from the guardian knight's feet, engulfing him and the prince whole.
Despite how pitch black it was outside of the penitentiary, it was actually very bright within the tower itself. Every inch of every hallway was illuminated by glowing crystal orbs embedded into the ceiling. Furthermore, the walls were white, the floor was white, and even the doors were white.
All in all, it strained Reivan's eyes a little.
'I really wished they'd tone it down with all these damned lights...'
Still, since they were doing it to maintain maximum visibility, he supposed there was nothing he could do. After all, despite there being Ascendants — whose senses weren't hindered by darkness — guarding the tower, there were also ordinary wardens and other personnel that took care of doing all sorts of grunt work.
'It's still a bit excessive, but whatever.'
"THIS HUMBLE WARDEN GREETS THE SECOND PRINCE!"
Suddenly, Reivan had to stop thinking about how his eyes hurt because of the booming voice that threatened to burst his eardrums.
"Ah, yes... High Warden Zeke." Reivan smiled while massaging his right ear, which had taken the brunt of the damage. "Thank you for always welcoming me so warmly. You are truly an exemplary example of a public servant."
"THANK YOU! YOUR HIGHNESS!"
"However, I've repeatedly asked you to do something about your voice..."
"I AM WORKING ON IT!"
"... I see."
'So there's still no progress? My eardrums are crying...'
Reivan sighed while he examined the middle-aged warden in front of him.
Zeke was just as one would expect from a man who sounded like he had a megaphone magically fused with his throat — an absolute hulk of a man. Reivan didn't know the exact measurement, but he could roughly tell that Zeke was at least seven feet tall. And instead of looking lanky, the man had biceps that were as thick as a child's waist.
With a beaming smile on his face, Zeke bellowed, "I will strive to become an even better servant of the law!"
'And this is why I can't hate you, you loudmouthed bastard.'
Reivan suppressed another sigh, thinking that the pain in his eardrums would be a small price to pay to have such an enthusiastic worker under the nation's employ.
"I heard we caught one a few days ago." The second prince cut to the chase, as it was already quite late at night. "I'm sorry to rush you, but please guide me there."
"It would be my honor!" Zeke boomed, turning around and leading the way.
"Thank you. And I'm sorry I was late."
"Think nothing of it, Your Highness! It's not like we sleep a lot while we're in here!"
'No, uh... You should still try to get some sleep... It's unhealthy.'
Especially since the loud warden was just a mortal-realm warden, put in a leadership role only due to his dedication to the job. Diseases and other things were still a huge concern for people at the man's level.
Still, even if Reivan voiced his thoughts, he knew that the High Warden wouldn't heed them unless he worded it as an order. And there would also be a very loud back and forth where Zeke would repeatedly insist that he was okay.
As Reivan was having idle thoughts, they finally arrived.
"The prisoner is here, Your Highness!" Zeke gestured to the white door in front of them.
If one didn't look closely enough, one might think that they were looking at a wall. But in fact, there was a door in front of them, it was just very hard to notice because there were no gaps or handles. The only way to actually tell was to get used to where the doors were approximately placed — since they were placed in even intervals.
"Thank you, High Warden. We'll take it from here." Reivan smiled as he nodded to the dedicated man. "Please go about your normal duties."
"As you command!"
With a crisp salute that even Donovan would be proud of, Zeke marched down the snow-white halls, eventually disappearing from Reivan's sight after he turned a corner.
"Hm." Reivan, with an expression of indifference on his face, placed his palm against the hard-to-notice door.
A glowing line traced a circle around the part his hand was touching, before it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Then, after the sound of steel grinding against steel echoed across the hall, the door moved sideways to reveal a small room that could at most fit three grown men — and that's if they squeezed together.
"I'll try to make this quick." Reivan looked back and nodded to his guardian knight.
"Understood."
After a wave of farewell, Reivan stepped into the room that acted as a buffer zone between the prisoner's cell, and the prison's hallway. He placed his hand on the wall to the right, and the same thing as earlier happened, except this time, the door he'd passed through closed shut, locking him away from the light of the hallway and plunging him into darkness.
He didn't react at all though. Thanks to his elemental affinity for darkness, he could see perfectly well at the moment.
"Open," Reivan commanded.
A few moments passed before another door opened directly opposite the first one. Contrary to the hallway behind him, the room in front of him didn't have any light at all.
Nor was there any sound.
With an indifferent expression on his face, Reivan stepped into the darkness beyond.
Pacing around in his cell, Terrel couldn't help but bite his lip in anxiety. He even debated killing himself, but if he had the courage to do something like that, he wouldn't have gotten in with the wrong crowd and instead worked as a mercenary or a soldier.
'Damn it...!'
Even someone from the republic's underbelly knew about Grimharbor Penitentiary. And naturally, he wanted to be in here as much as the next guy, so he was visibly panicking about what he should do from now on.
Objectively speaking, his living conditions were much better than before he came.
Although his wardens were unfriendly, Terrel didn't have to worry about them slitting his throat or shoving their dicks in his mouth as he slept. And even if they were a bit bland, he still got three meals a day. There was even a clean toilet in the room with a water source, multiple sets of clothes, and a somewhat soft bed.
If it weren't for a few problems that made his cell a manifestation of hell on earth, Terrel wouldn't mind living here for a few months.
One problem was that it was dark.
Really dark.
Terrel could barely see, as the only source of light in the room was a tiny glass bead that erratically flew around the cell. In addition to providing very little illumination, it also ran away from him whenever he tried to get close to it. He couldn't even use it to light up what he wanted. It troubled him to no end whenever he had to take a crap.
Another problem he had was that it was quiet.
And no, this wasn't because the cells next door were quiet, and it definitely wasn't because he wasn't making any noise.
It was because the room literally silenced every sound before he could hear them.
He couldn't hear his own farts, his own curses, nor could he hear his own hysterical screaming. Not even the tearing at his own face with his nails.
Although it was a small respite, Terrl could hear the cracking of his own skull after he banged his head against the wall though. But it hurt too much to do it too often.
Terrel didn't know if it was because of magic or whatever, or if the wardens had literally stolen his ability to hear, but the perpetual silence was driving him insane.
'Or maybe I already am insane...?'
He'd tried to escape multiple times, but the only way out of the cell was up. Unfortunately, there weren't enough things to stack on top of each other, and the smooth walls didn't necessarily encourage climbing.
If that wasn't bad enough, he had to get through a steel door afterward. In fact, he wasn't sure if it was just that one.
'Fuck. This is hopeless...'
Suddenly, however, his soundless tomb's peace was broken.
"Good evening, Mr. Terrel."
'Wha—!'
Terrel thought that his mind had finally snapped and that his last wisp of sanity had finally gone out, but he eventually realized that he could once again hear his rough gasps and his bare feet slapping against the hard floor.
"I can hear again!" he shouted in glee.
"Your hearing was never restrained. It's just that this room does something with the air so that sound can't travel inside. I've turned it off since I wouldn't be able to question you otherwise."
Terrel looked up from the bottom of his cell, but the darkness revealed nothing. Judging from the sound of the voice, however, he could tell that his visitor was a young boy.
'But what the hell's a boy doin' here...?'
Before he could wrack his brains for an answer, the boy spoke again.
"I'm here to ask you a few questions."
"..." Terrel was shocked for a moment before he eventually scoffed. "Is tha' right?"
'So they sent a kid here thinking I might let my guard down and snitch on my mates?'
Despite wanting most of them dead, Terrel still went through a lot together with his comrades. If those fools from Aizen thought that he was dumb enough to reveal any information just because he was talking to a kid, then the nation wasn't as smart as he thought they were.
'Even bottom-feeding dregs like us have honor!'
And he'd rather die as a dog than live as a traitor.
'Anyway, these bastards won't let me live even if I did tell 'em the truth!'
In Terrel's heart, that was the biggest reason.
With a cold sneer, that the boy likely couldn't see, Terrel crossed his arms and parked his ass on the bed. He would chat with this boy to stave off his boredom.
"Yer free ta ask, kid."
"Thank you," The boy said, his tone surprisingly droll. "Now, I only want two things from you, Mr. Terrel."
Terrel chuckled, amused by the boy's use of big words. "Lemme hear 'em then."
'He's tryin' ta sound like a big shot, eh?'
"First..." The boy trailed off. "...is that you give me an answer to every question. Which is to say, that you cannot remain silent when I ask something."
The criminal snickered with a shrug. "Sounds reasonable."
"The second thing I want from you, is to answer everything I ask with a lie."
Terrel was ready to offer a mocking comment, but then ground to a halt when he heard what the boy said.
"A lie...?"
"Yes," The boy hidden in the darkness confirmed. "You must lie. Every single time."
'Is this kid for real...?'
Did they grow so frustrated that they couldn't even verify if what he said was the truth, that they went ahead and outright told him to lie instead? And even if he did lie, what would they get out of that? He could also tell the truth sometimes just to mess with them too.
'I don't get it...'
"Uhh..." Not knowing how to respond to such a weird request, Terrel crossed his arms in defiance and smirked stiffly. "And what if I don't?"
The boy stayed silent for a moment, before his indifferent voice entered Terrel's ears.
"Then I will hurt you."
"Hurt me...?" Terrel couldn't help but laugh. "From all the way up there?"
"Yes. From all the way up here."
"Hah!" The prisoner covered the uncontrollable smile on his face. "Kid, unless you got a bow or sumthin' up there, you'd have ta come down here ta hurt me. And I'd beat the crap out of you if you do."
"We'll see." The boy brushed off Terrel's threat and asked his first question. "What country were you born in?"
Terrel dug around in his nose and flicked a sticky one to where he thought the boy was before answering. "Aizen."
"Were you born in the republic of Arkhan?"
"Nope. Already told ya I was born in Aizen. Been here since I was a wee boy, I was."
"I'm sorry, but you don't have the accent of a native," The boy retorted. "Anyway, is Terrel your alias, or your real name?"
"An alias."
"Very good. You've been very cooperative so far." The boy's dry clapping filled the once-silent room. "Let's continue in this manner so that we can both go our separate ways."
Terrel didn't like how pretentious the boy sounded.
'They probably did some research on me. So they already know some o' the answers to the things they're askin'.'
Unfortunately for them, Terrel didn't have any intentions of revealing anything information that was actually vital.
"Ask away, then." Terrel had gotten too tired of sitting, so he went to lie in his bed instead and dug around in his nose.
"Is your headquarters in Worgon's Nightmarket district?"
Terrel's face stiffened. He decided to stay quiet for this one.
After a few moments of silence, the boy spoke, "Mr. Terrel? I asked you a question."
"..."
"Mr. Terrel?"
"..."
The boy pestered him some more, but Terrel wouldn't budge.
'Whacha gonna do now, kid?'
"Mr. Terrel, I'm very disappointed in you. I thought we had an understanding." The boy almost sounded forlorn, if not for how monotone he voiced his thoughts. "However, it seems you don't perceive me as a threat."
"Hah. Am I wrong?"
"Yes. You are wrong, Mr. Terrel."
Then why don't you go prove it? he was about to say, but Terrel's voice caught in his throat when he felt one of his fingers — his right thumb — bend the other way.
"Aaaaaah!" Terrel shrieked at the sudden bout of pain. He cradled his right hand, gently poking the now-swollen joint.
As far as he was concerned, nothing had touched him. His finger had just bent on its own.
"Mr. Terrel." The boy's calm voice echoed within the criminal's chaotic mind, as if the voice was the only thing in the world at the moment. "I don't like repeating myself for ugly men such as yourself. So please answer the question I asked earlier."
"Ahh... ahhhh..." Terrel looked up in horror while cradling his twisted finger. He still couldn't see the boy, but whatever happened just proved that there was nothing ordinary about the child he'd been mocking.
"Answer."
One word was all it took for Terrel to start shaking. "Ah. Y-yes... uh... o-our headquarters... isn't in that district. W-we just passed by..."
"Very good. Now, do you have any other bases or facilities elsewhere? Specifically, do you have any other facilities in Aizen?"
Terrel gulped. "We do..."
'Technically, it's true...'
Although it wasn't under the ownership of the syndicate that Terrel belonged to, the place was open for their use.
"Hm?" The boy hummed, sounding interested. "I see. Although I gained something out of that, I did tell you to lie to all of my questions, didn't I?"
Terrel's scream filled the room again. The pain came faster than the realization that yet another finger had been bent in the wrong direction. He didn't know why, but the pain was especially vivid.
And as if to answer his horrifying realization, the boy explained. "Did you know, when a person loses one of their senses, the other senses are raised to compensate for that? To a certain extent, you have lost your sight, and for a while, your hearing. I imagine that your other senses have been especially sharpened. This is not a good thing for you at all, though."
"P-please stop...."
"Do you think I enjoy this, Mr. Terrel? I'd much rather be sleeping right now. Regardless, there will be no pane as long as you cooperate." The boy said, his voice conveying his boredom and desire to get this over with. "Now, I will likely be repeating my questions multiple times for no apparent reason. Do not ask why. Just answer with a lie. Do you understand?"
"Yes...!"
"Very good. Answer all my questions, and I will make sure you are given a swift death."
Even though his demise had just been declared in such an indifferent manner, thinking of spending more time in this prison... and that he'd be questioned by this monster hidden in the dark again, Terrel wished for his doom to come sooner.
As his entire body trembled, Terrel shakily nodded his head. He unconsciously gazed upwards, to where he thought the boy was.
"Good. Let's begin in earnest."
In a fleeting moment that barely lasted a fraction of a second, the wisp cast its feeble glow, the only semblance of light that dared penetrate his dismal and suffocating prison. It was at that moment that the boy's face was illuminated.
"Y-yes, sir..."
Terrel gulped after having bared witness to the piercing gaze of those inhuman, gold eyes that would haunt him for the remainder of his wretchedly short existence.
2023-04-30 15:46:01 +0000 UTC
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Paper.
Despite the existence of amazing magical items like the communication crystal and holostone, paper was still widely used in Aizen.
Even civil officials like administrators and ministers still used it.
"Ugh..." Reivan groaned as he slid a document to his right, where it was immediately signed by an inked quill that he was controlling with his [Formless Will].
After having a quick lunch with Jiji, Reivan was confined inside his office for the next few hours. There weren't as many requests for him to validate and approve today, but that didn't matter since Reivan had been blowing off this particular responsibility for about a week.
As such, a veritable mountain of paperwork had built up over time.
Had.
'I'm finally done! Woo hoo!'
Reivan stood up from his cushioned seat and looked at the fruit of his labor. The left side of his desk was mostly barren, while the right side had a mountain of papers that were taller than him. A few hours earlier, that pile of documents had been on the left side.
Naturally, that wasn't to say that their locations were the only thing that changed.
"Hehehe..." Reivan chuckled, having put his fast reading speed to very good use. He then looked toward a middle-aged man who was buried in his own pile of documents. "Minister Polino. I'll be heading off now."
"Ah..." High Minister Polino looked up from the document he had been scrutinizing and stood up to bow to the prince. "Yes, Your Highness. I'll handle everything from here on out."
"Thank you. And don't forget to get off work today too. You have a family after all."
The man chuckled but said nothing. With another tip of his head to show his respect, Polino sat down and continued his work. Seeing the pile of unsigned documents on his desk, the man likely knew that he wouldn't go home tonight either.
'Poor guy. I'll have to ask for more people...'
Reivan thought so as he made his way out of his office. It wasn't that there was always a lack of manpower. It's just that all of the other ministers assigned to help him had to go on a sudden leave of absence for various reasons.
'Well, I'll think about that later.'
After deciding to just give Polino a fat bonus once everything settled down, Reivan began to think about his appointment with Jiji. He'd agreed to take her to the night market once his work was done, so he'd have to prepare some things for that.
First, he had to prepare disguises for both of them, since his and Jiji's hair colors stood out like sore thumbs. Second, he had to inform Valter of their little trip. Third, Reivan had to ask for approval to use a warp gate, since asking Valter to teleport them to a place so far away was asking for too much and past instances had proven that Jiji didn't like flying.
Last, but not the least, he had to prepare the money they would be using.
'Things are getting really tight this month...'
Ever since he'd treated Hector and Helen on an all-you-can-eat-for-a-week food trip to celebrate their eleventh birthdays, an infuriated Rodin had started limiting Reivan's allowance.
Although Reivan still had an absolutely absurd amount as an allowance, about ninety-nine percent of that was to be automatically allocated to personnel on his payroll. If he didn't have someone under his employ to pay, the budget would go unused and he wouldn't be able to touch it.
As for the money he could actually use, it was only about ten thousand lumens a month. Which was still quite large, but with Reivan's spending habits...
In any case, Reivan didn't have a whole lot of money tucked away.
"Damn..." Reivan cursed as he took a peek inside Zouros's stomach, where only a few measly hundred-lumen bills remained. "...I-it should be fine as long as we don't take Helen along... I think?"
Unfortunately for his finances, Jiji was a big eater too. Not as much as Helen, but her appetite was nothing to scoff at either.
'Fuck it...'
If push came to shove, Reivan would just throw his shame aside and borrow some money from Valter.
"Yani!"
Reivan snapped out of his depressing thoughts and looked to the source of the familiar yell. At the far end of the hall, he could see Jiji running up to him with a bright smile on her face.
'Eh. Whatever. Let's just borrow some money. Who cares about shame?'
With a matching smile on his face, Reivan opened his arms and waited for the white ball of fluff to ram into his body.
Worgon Outpost's night market.
As the sun sets in the sky, the streets of the bustling city come alive with the sound of chatter and the aroma of sizzling food. The orange lanterns that hang overhead illuminate the night market, casting a warm glow over the excited crowds. The air was filled with the sounds of vendors calling out their wares, musicians playing lively tunes, and the laughter of families and friends enjoying the nightly festivities.
The stalls line the narrow streets, each one packed with goods of all kinds. There are food stalls selling everything from grilled meats to steaming bowls of soup, vendors hawking brightly colored fabrics and ornate jewelry, and merchants selling all manner of magical trinkets and potions from foreign lands. Aizen's laws were laxer here — and so were the taxes — so all sorts of people from all over the continent came here to strike it rich and get a glimpse of what the kingdom was like.
As visitors wander through the market, they are greeted by the sights and sounds of a fantastical world. Despite it being a time of rest, this corner of the world comes to life when the rest of the city prepares to sleep. People of all kinds and races come here to have a good time, and if one looks closely enough, there were even people with brown cat ears on top of their heads, adding to the sense of wonder and magic.
The night market — set in the kingdom's westernmost outpost — is a place of excitement and adventure, a place where anything can happen, and anything can be found.
'Well, that's how it's advertised anyways.'
Reivan sardonically stewed in his thoughts while sipping on a cup of soup — whose recipe apparently originated from the continent of Pentagoria to the south of Sentorale.
Although it appeared to be a city, and everyone called it as such, Worgon was an outpost. A place meant to keep watch on something. And for the westernmost outpost of Worgon, that naturally meant that it was to keep watch on The Magitechnocratic Republic of Arkhan.
Of course, just southeast of the outpost was the absolutely massive military base called Fort Magellan — which had been built to guard against invasions from the west and south — but Worgon Outpost was a place where foreigners wouldn't be killed on sight just for approaching.
For the past few years, Worgon Outpost was a "city" that acted as a bridge between Aizen and Arkhan, who had begun to improve their diplomatic relationship.
'But it can't all be good news.'
Since laws were laxer, naturally, people who were up to no good would show up eventually. Of course, lax didn't mean nonexistent, so the chances of being caught if they did things out in the open were a hundred percent.
That's why the night market existed.
It acted as a bright and shiny jewel in the depths of the sea, luring all of the monsters hiding in the darkness.
The enforcement of the law was intentionally slackened so that evil-doers would flock there. In essence, the night market area became a place where Aizen could keep a close watch on miscreants and potentially stop them if they were up to something too big and dangerous.
But none of that mattered since Reivan was just here to play with his sister. They even had the very powerful Valter hiding in the shadows.
"I did it!" Jiji cheered, having won some kind of prize from a game stall. Her white hair which now appeared black due to her disguise, tied in a loose bun behind her head, bounced around in her excitement. "Look, Van! I won!"
"That's awesome!" Reivan matched her energy, even if he hadn't been paying attention at all. "What did you win though...?"
"I don't know!"
'Then why the hell are you so happy...?'
Reivan wanted to retort, but he supposed that winning in and of itself was something to celebrate.
"Here you go!" The stall owner handed over some kind of wooden toy with a big smile on his face. "It's a wooden carving of the god that I worship!"
'Hey! Don't proselytize to children!'
Reivan didn't waste any time in pulling his sister away from the stall, purposefully leading her close to one that served balls of grilled chicken meat slathered with some kind of sauce.
"Wow!" Jiji exclaimed and started pulling on Reivan's sleeve. "Look at that! Let's get some of that!"
"Sure." Reivan stealthily took the statue out of his sister's hand while paying for the food. And while Jiji was too engrossed in eating, Reivan looked down and examined the wooden carving.
It was made in the image of some kind of humanoid bird. The head was that of an eagle, while the rest of the figure's body was that of a large and muscular man.
The problem was that it also had a very large penis. And it was erect.
Reivan crushed the statue to dust and silently decided to have that stall burned to the ground due to an accident. Luckily, Jiji wasn't old enough to even feel disgusted by the statue.
'I shouldn't have taken her here...'
"Yani~" Jiji suddenly hugged his arm and whispered with a smile on her face. "Thanks for bringing me here. You're the best! I love you!"
"..."
'Well, I guess if she's happy, it's fine...'
Still, he resolved to be even more watchful next time. Jiji had only gotten involved with that strange stall because he was too busy zoning out.
"I love you too, but remember," Reivan warned with a serious expression. "We're here for one hour. And that's it. That's final."
"Just one hour...?" Jiji pouted and looked up at him.
"..." Reivan bit his lip and sighed. "Fine. Two hours. But there are no more extensions!"
Jiji sniffed, her eyes wet with tears. "Please? I want to spend more time with you..."
'Damnit.'
"...Three hours, then."
"Jus—"
"Stop it." Reivan pinched his sister's nose. "You know how busy I am. That's really the best I can do."
"Fine~" Jiji pulled herself out of her brother's grasp and playfully stuck her tongue out to the side. She then grabbed him by the hand and ran ahead of him, pulling him along. "Then let's go!"
"Don't run. You'll bump into someone."
"Okay, okay..." A grinning Jiji returned to Reivan's side and walked slowly.
As their joined hands swung back and forth while they walked, the two kids continued their exploration of Worgon's night market — all while a dark shadow watched them protectively from below.
In front of one of Aizen's secret hidden gates, the second prince, a purple-haired knight, and a very upset cat-eared girl with white hair were arguing.
"Can't we go together?"
At Jiji's question, Reivan shook his head.
The girl pouted, her brows furrowed. "But why?"
"I still have some business elsewhere." Reivan smiled wryly.
"But it's so late!"
'Well, she's got me there...'
It was about eight o'clock now. By modern Earth standards, it wasn't that late. However, it definitely wasn't a time when a twelve-year-old boy like Reivan would still be out and about. And for the eleven-year-old Jiji, eight o'clock was very close to her bedtime.
Reivan heaved a sigh as he gently prodded his sister. "Just do as I say this time. I'll be home in a bit. Please?"
Jiji groaned, her brows creased. "Fine! You're always like this. I hate you!"
- [Lie Detection] has activated!
With that, she stomped off, disappearing beyond the bright blue portal of glowing blue energy.
The prince scratched the back of his head with a wry smile on his face before turning to face his guardian knight. "Kids, am I right?"
Valter chuckled. "You're also a child, Your Highness."
"I suppose I am." Reivan shrugged with a smirk before nodding to the knight designated as this warp gate's operator. "To Grimharbor Penitentiary, please."
"Understood." The knight saluted in a traditional Aizenian manner, before pulling some levers and turning a few knobs.
The swirling portal flashed once and churned violently for a moment before calming down again.
"Hooo..." Reivan took a deep breath and exhaled. Knowing what tasks he had to accomplish soon, his smile had all but disappeared.
'It's something only I can do, so I have to do it.'
After receiving the operator's signal, both the prince and his shadow stepped through the teleportation gate.
Towards the kingdom's largest and most notorious prison.
2023-04-29 14:44:33 +0000 UTC
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