We live at the foot of Dragon Peak.
Life in Prison
“I’m sorry, Mistral.”
“Fufufu, what are you apologizing for?”
“It’s because of me that things turned out this way…”
“You silly goose. This isn’t your fault. No one was harmed, so there’s no need for you to apologize.”
“But still…”
“You know, resolving conflicts with brute force is quite simple. For someone like you or me who possesses power. However, Elnea doesn’t desire that. That’s part of your charm, and it’s something we also sympathize with. So, the way things are now is fine.”
“Yeah. It really helps when you say that, Mistral.”
“Fufufu. If someone else had said it, would it not have helped?”
“Ugh. That’s not true.”
Mistral and I were having a casual conversation, but we were in a prison cell beneath the royal castle. We, the entourage captured in the courtyard, were separated according to our social status. Among us, only I, a commoner, and Mistral, whose identity was unknown, were brought to the castle’s underground.
I felt incredibly guilty that Mistral was brought to a prison cell, let alone myself.
Mistral claimed to be of the Dragon Race, but there was no way a human could verify that. Without any proof, they were dismissed as spouting nonsense and taken to the prison.
I had always imagined that underground prisons would be damp, dirty places covered in filth and dust. However, this was the underground prison of the royal castle, after all. The stone-paved floor was clean, and the steel bars showed no signs of rust. Each cell, though small, had a bed and a toilet. They were fully visible since there were no partitions. Honestly, the size of the cell was larger than my room at my family home.
If the food was also delicious, I might not mind living here at all.
…No, no, I don’t want to be separated from everyone. So, I want to get out of here quickly.
My cell and Mistral’s cell are located directly across from each other, separated by a corridor. Rows of cells lined the underground, but it seemed only my cell and Mistral’s were currently in use.
Inside our cells, our hands and feet were not restrained, and we were only deprived of our luggage.
There was no light source inside the cells, but the corridor was constantly illuminated by light-emitting magic crystals. These crystals provided sufficient light through the bars, which lacked any walls, so we weren’t inconvenienced.
It was a bit anticlimactic.
I had imagined being imprisoned in a more imposing dungeon, with a gruff man wearing a mask licking his lips and saying, “Heh heh, it’s time for torture.”
…I’m not wishing for that, mind you. It’s just an imagined scenario. And if that were to happen, I would have resorted to physical force without a second thought!
As I inwardly made excuses to no one in particular, I heard the cry of a kitten.
Slowly but surely, a kitten trotted down the corridor lined with underground cells.
It had adorable round eyes, a fluffy hat on its head, and the tips of its leathery dragon costume were a light pink. It walked towards us, wagging a tail almost twice its body length.
“Hey, Nimia. You were quick.”
“Mew.”
The kitten, no, Nimia, easily slipped through the bars and leaped onto my chest.
“Sqush.”
“No, no, no. I’m not like the Twin Princesses or Laira.”
“Elnea?”
“M-Mistral, sir. Why are you making such a stern face!?”
“Mistral, you’ll be a cat from now on. Give up, meow.”
“Nimia, you’ll regret this later.”
“Meeeow. I don’t want to be in prison.”
“No, you’re not imprisoned…”
Nimia shook her head as if frightened, then climbed up my shoulder and settled into her usual spot.
“So, what’s the situation outside?”
I asked Nimia, who was lounging on my head.
“I did my best to reconnoiter, meow.”
Underground prison of the royal castle.
Mistral and I were having a casual conversation just a while ago, and Nimia, disguised as a kitten, easily infiltrated and even spoke human language.
Hey, hey, hey, where are the guards! Are there no soldiers on watch or scary interrogators? I shouldn’t think that.
Shortly after being put in prison, Mistral used dragon arts to incapacitate everyone around us. That’s a secret.
“It’s terrifying, meow.”
Nimia shook her head again on top of my head.
“So, what’s the situation?”
Mistral asked from the cell across the way.
“Queen Ruiseine and Priscilla are in the same room, meow. Someone in the same uniform is looking after them, meow.”
Perhaps it’s a miko serving in the royal castle, or a miko dispatched from the Great Shrine in the capital city of Yorttenitos. Priscilla, being a child, was likely deemed harmless and entrusted to Ruiseine.
We’re all being careful not to reveal Priscilla’s true identity. I’m sure it’ll be fine, knowing Ruiseine.
“Yufi and Nina are in a luxurious room, meow.”
The Twin Princesses are probably being treated as princesses. Well, that’s only natural. After all, those two are being treated as victims due to my alleged abduction and kidnapping.
Still, I think about it again.
Who would have thought there was talk of an engagement between the Twin Princesses and Lord Grave.
Judging by the Twin Princesses’ attitudes and demeanor, it seemed they had no interest in him whatsoever, but Grave was clearly aware of them.
Speaking of which, when I first met the Twin Princesses at the detached palace. Or rather, when I went through what felt like heaven and hell for the first time. Grave was glaring at me with a terrifying expression. Could it be that he was jealous that the two he desired were showing interest in me?
Fufufu. If that’s the case, I managed to outsmart Lord Grave in an unexpected way. That makes me feel good.
“Big Brother Elnea is falling to the dark side, meow.”
“Hey. What are you saying?”
“Both of you. Please stop talking about things I don’t understand.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Meow.”
When I mixed my thoughts and words as usual, Mistral got angry at me as usual.
“So, what about Laira?”
“Meow.”
Nimia meowed as if she had no worries.
“Big Sister Laira is confined in a dirty room, meow.”
Hmmph. A dirty room?
“Her sleeping quarters are broken, meow. The room has been cleaned, but there’s no furniture, meow. There’s no dust, but it’s a stuffy, dirty room, meow. But she’s doing alright, meow.”
“Could that possibly be… a room the princess used…?”
Laira was confined there.
My chest suddenly felt tight.
“It’s alright, meow. Big Sister is doing fine, meow. She’s looking forward to Big Brother Elnea coming, meow.”
“Yeah. We need to grasp the situation quickly and rescue Laira.”
“Meeeow. I’ll do my best, meow.”
Nimia is unusually motivated.
“Well then, have you investigated what’s happening with Friel?”
During the commotion in the courtyard.
It was actually easy to quell the situation with force. But that wouldn’t solve anything. In the first place, I was prepared for some trouble when bringing the tyrant. Yet, I still wanted to bring him. And if there was a fight, we had all agreed to handle it peacefully until the situation became desperate.
What about a situation where weapons were pointed at us? That’s nothing of a threat when you can use spatial jumps.
And so, with the policy of “no violence, be peaceful for now,” I made various requests to Nimia in my heart when we were captured. The first of these was Laira’s protection and checking on everyone’s situation. In the unlikely event that Laira was in any danger, I had arranged for her to be forcibly rescued after growing up. In that case, I would also be prepared to resort to force without any hesitation.
And Friel was included in the check on everyone’s situation.
During the courtyard incident, Friel did not appear. He wasn’t behind Lord Yugra either. But he must have at least made contact with Lord Grave and conveyed something about us. That’s why there was an ambush in the courtyard.
“The Prince is confined in a luxurious room, meow.”
Hmmph. Does that mean he’s imprisoned in his own room?
“Probably, meow. There are a lot of scary people standing at the entrance, and the Prince can’t go out, meow.”
Friel is confined. This means he wasn’t involved in our capture.
He probably returned to visit the King and told Grave about us. At that time, Grave planned to capture me and confined Friel to prevent him from interfering.
“That’s how it is, meow. Prince said so, meow.”
“Ah, so you talked to him too.”
“Meow. The Prince apologized, meow. He said he’ll be sure to help, so please wait, meow.”
That thoughtfulness alone is enough.
“Did you see anything else?”
In response to my question, Nimia wagged her tail and pondered.
“I don’t know much, meow. But there’s a bad feeling, meow.”
“A bad feeling?”
As I wondered what it could be, Mistral cleared his throat.
“Elnea, restrain yourself.”
“Ugh…”
“Nimia, don’t teach him strange things.”
“The way you say that, Mistral, you must have noticed something too?”
“Elnea?”
“Ugh. But I’m curious, aren’t I?”
“Just because you’re curious doesn’t mean you should stick your nose into everything.”
“That’s true, but…”
I understand Mistral’s point perfectly. But I’m curious!
“Elnea, what is our purpose for coming here?”
“To visit the King!”
“That’s right. So, don’t meddle in anything else.”
The reason we’re calmly captured like this, without causing a scene in the courtyard, is because we want to visit the King somehow. Also, incidentally, I wanted to report on the Earth Dragon incident and offer advice to the people of the country, but…
“But that’s probably impossible, meow.”
“Hmmph. What do you mean?”
“The blue Prince said it’s absolutely forbidden to let Big Brother Elnea out of the prison, meow.”
“Guh…”
“Think about it.”
Mistral said.
“If you were released, the lie that Prince used to capture us would be exposed, wouldn’t it? And that Prince wants to marry Yufi and Nina, right? If so, he’d lose them if he let you go.”
“So, does that mean I’ll be in prison forever, and the Twin Princesses will be forced into an engagement?”
“Logically speaking, yes.”
“That’s a problem…”
I’m worried about Laira, but now I’m also concerned about the Twin Princesses.
“So, if we stay here like this, we won’t get a chance to explain ourselves and will remain imprisoned indefinitely?”
“That’s highly probable.”
“…Then there’s no point in being captured obediently.”
Was my judgment and action wrong?
I drooped my shoulders. Nimia patted my head.
“Fufufu, that’s not true.”
Mistral smiled encouragingly.
“You couldn’t have had a calm discussion in the courtyard circumstances. By being brought here, you can thoroughly assess the situation and decide on your future course of action.”
“Is that so?”
If I had been more competent, I wouldn’t have fallen into the trap in the first place?
“Even mothers make mistakes, meow. Perfection is impossible, meow.”
“I see. So, even Mr. Asher makes mistakes.”
“That’s right. Even the old man makes mistakes sometimes. Nothing is perfect. What’s important is how you recover.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
I felt a little more cheerful.
“So, have you decided what to do from now on?”
“Uh…”
“It’s forbidden to meddle in this country’s problems, understand?”
“Ugh.”
Before I could say anything, I was given a warning.
“Well, if it’s hopeless to explain myself by staying here, then how about we get out?”
“What would we do after getting out?”
“Join everyone, visit them, and return?”
“Don’t ask as a question, state it as a fact.”
“Yes…”
“But there were a lot of people in the castle, meow.”
“That’s right.”
There were guards, royal guards, and many other important figures in the royal castle. If we sneak out and get caught, it would inevitably lead to trouble or recapture.
But you see.
“Nimia. How did you manage to check on everyone and meet Friel, who is confined under heavy guard?”
“Meeeow. I moved while erasing my presence and form with dragon arts, meow.”
“Got it. Decision made!”
Let’s all act while hidden by Nimia’s dragon arts. Then, we’ll quickly visit, take care of some small business, and return to Dragon Peak.
“That ‘small business’ sounds suspicious, meow.”
“N-No, it’s not. It’s not about meddling in strange things.”
“Elnea?”
“Mistral, it’s a misunderstanding. You’re misinterpreting based on fragmented conversations.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Lies, meow.”
“Hey, Nimia!”
“Elnea, restrain yourself.”
“Grumble. Yes.”
In any case, our plan is set, and our means are decided. Then, we have no further business with this prison.
“Well then, since we’ve decided on our future course, shall we get out?”
“Yes.”
Mistral and I nodded to each other. I phased through the bars with spatial jump and entered the corridor. Mistral, on the other hand, twisted the bars and easily came out into the corridor.
…I wish she had waited for me to rescue her, in a more maidenly fashion.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Mistral, smiling brightly, took my hand and started walking.
