Chapter 11: The Sage Encounters the Prisoner (1)

"His abilities rival those of a hero’s, most likely.”

I ruminated over Luciana's words.

I had forgotten about him up until now, but he definitely met the criteria.

As I looked back at the memories from when I was alive, Luciana peered at my face.

"Do you perhaps have a guess who it might be? "

"It’s been ten years, so I am not certain. Let's go have a look."

"That's right. If we don't go quickly to protect our troops, the enemy might break through."

Luciana and I flew to the prison in a straight line, so that it wouldn’t take long.

A short while after transferring, we arrived at the prison at the edge of the capital.

A broken barrier that had lost its function stretched across the crude black building. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The wired fence enclosing the grounds had collapsed, and the undead wandered about.

"Is this it?"

"Yes. Leaving aside the prisoner in question, we suppressed all of them."

We landed on the premises and entered the prison through the broken entrance.

The inside was outrun by the undead as well. Most of them were former prisoners and guards and were waiting for orders.

With nothing to do, they slowly roamed around, lethargically.

I moved to the prisons under Luciana's guidance.

"This should be the place."

I heard a huge commotion at around the same time.

After turning at the corner, there was a large space with no partitions.

Looking at the scattered tableware and food, this seemed to be the dining room.

"Argh! "

I heard a powerful voice.

A lone man swung a long table, throwing around the undead.

He wore a wrinkled prisoner uniform and had scruffy straw-colored hair.

He had a long scruffy beard, and it was difficult to discern his looks.

But even I could see the savage smile on his face from my position.

Defeated and fallen, undead lay scattered all around, immobile.

Their numbers amounted to nearly a hundred.

That was the number this man had defeated by himself.

I observed him from a distance.

"That man is…"

"The damage seems more widespread than before. Really, what is happening?"

Luciana sounded a little worried.

Seeing this sight, anyone would feel the same.

"By the way, is that prisoner an acquaintance of yours? "

"I wouldn't go so far as to call him an acquaintance. However, it is strange that he is still in prison."

Luciana's face grew increasingly displeased at my vague answer.

She growled with her arms folded.

"Dwight's acquaintance, whose power rivaled that of a hero…? If there was such a person, the Demon Lord's army would have known about them…"

"It was understandable that you didn't know of this. That man was imprisoned before the battle with the Demon Lord's army intensified."

"What did he do? "

"His personality was too free-willed and he brought calamity, unwilling to follow the rules. On the contrary, he calmly committed sins. He could be said to be closer to a ruffian."

I had no direct acquaintance with the man, but I had often heard of his rowdy behavior.

Originally a former mercenary, the small country hired him as a soldier.

To say nothing of his ability, he had once been a prospective candidate to subjugate the Demon Lord.

If the man had not been imprisoned shortly after becoming a soldier, he would have gone on the journey to subjugate the Demon Lord with us.

Given we were eventually executed in the Valley of the Dead, I'm glad he didn't join us at that time.

It seems that such a man is a prisoner because of a particular obsession of his.

I heard he was sometimes disciplined in the strangest of ways.

Unexpectedly, he seemed to hold an interest in prison life and actually liked it.

Or was it a mere whim?

To my knowledge, I had received information that he was a moody person and it was difficult to accommodate a man like him.

It wasn't as if the small country was in constant threat either.

Additionally, some feared he'd plan a jailbreak on a whim.

"The reason they didn't execute him was probably that they valued his abilities. I never thought he'd still be a prisoner, even after ten years!"

"It's very different from the kingdom that pushed you into the Valley of the Dead."

"…Indeed."

While we were speaking, the man was destroying a huge number of undead troops.

Making full use of the blood-stained long desk, he swung it around the room, left and right, up and down.

I didn't mind it much since I could simply recompose the remains and reuse the undead, but it was dangerous to leave him unchecked.

As I took a step thinking so, the man turned towards me.

"Hey! Black skeleton! That's right, you!"

The man spoke with a well-projected voice.

He seemed to be clearly pointing at me.

I looked at Luciana.

She shrugged and shook her head. She had given up.

I made my undead subordinates part sideways, creating a path that led up to the man. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The man put down the half-broken long dest and spoke cheerfully.

"Are you the boss of the undead here? I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I'm tired of dealing with small fry. Let's fight one-on-one."

Next release on Sunday, Oct 4~