MTM 111

Creak.

The door creaked open on rusty hinges. But then,

“Who goes there!”

A voice erupted from inside the torture chamber, which they had expected to be empty.

“……!”

The group froze in place. Standing before a table laden with bloodstained instruments in the center of the torture chamber was a man clad in a black robe. A silver badge symbolizing the Regnovar Empire hung on his chest, and magic flowed from the staff he held.

‘That’s…’

Leon quickly recognized the man’s identity. He was not a mere guard, but a high-ranking mage belonging to the Regnovar Empire.

“At this hour, outsiders should be prohibited from entering. Who the hell are you?”

Before a flustered Leon could stammer out a response, Allen stepped forward hastily.

“Who are we? Of course we’re mages!”

“Mages…?”

The mage narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the two figures standing behind Allen. Their attire screamed ‘I’m a mage’ to anyone who saw it.

“…I can tell you’re not mages from the Empire.”

The man’s eyes narrowed like a snake’s when he confirmed the absence of the imperial mage badge on their chests. He looked ready to raise his staff and cast an attack spell at any moment.

“Hold on.”

The tension was palpable.

Flutter.

Zed swept his cloak dramatically, stepping right up to the mage’s face. He gave him a haughty glare.

“Are you some sort of administrator here? To us, you look far more suspicious.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

“What exactly were you doing with headless corpses? And you, a noble mage of the Empire, no less.”

“Th-that…!”

Struck at the heart of the matter, the mage visibly flustered.

In the corner of the torture chamber, two cold corpses lay covered in cloth upon a blood-soaked table. At first glance, they seemed like ordinary corpses, but where curves should have been, there were hollow depressions. Their heads had been severed.

He must have thought the darkness would hide it, but Zed had instantly and precisely perceived that incongruity.

“I was… I was just disposing of the… the criminals!”

Caught off guard by the accusation, the mage stumbled back, shouting defensively. Zed didn’t miss the opportunity. He lifted his chin even more arrogantly.

“Well, well, how peculiar. It seems the Regnovar Empire assigns menial tasks like corpse disposal directly to its proud, high-ranking mages?”

“Th-this… this is a special mission, so I personally…”

“A special mission… Then are you also carrying out orders directly issued by His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“……!”

The moment the words “Crown Prince” fell, the mage’s eyes filled with horror. He scanned Zed, Allen, and Leon with a trembling gaze.

They were certainly unfamiliar faces, unheard of within the Empire. And the ceremonial robes and accessories they wore were the highest quality items, the sort even the most senior mages might only touch once in a lifetime, if at all. And that overwhelming aura.

‘Could it be… they knew exactly what I was doing here from the start…?’

Cold sweat trickled down the mage’s spine.

Recently, the Crown Prince had ordered the capture and beheading of all those with blond hair, commanding their bodies be secretly disposed of. It was a cruel order: physical methods might leave traces, so they were to be magically reduced to ashes.

This top-secret mission, which he had been certain no one knew about, had been suddenly and completely exposed by these strangers.

‘Could they be… His Highness’s trusted agents sent to monitor me…? Or could it be…?’

In that instant, uncontrollable terror began to devour the mage’s reason. His mind, drowning in anxiety, became a tangled mess of every conceivable worst-case scenario.

“Th-that… Your Highness’s orders? What exactly are you referring to…?”

The mage asked in a trembling voice. Zed, however, answered with a leisurely expression, as if he were granting a favor.

“Don’t be afraid. We were merely dispatched after receiving reports that the ‘criminal’s’ condition had deteriorated rapidly. As you can see, we’re mercenaries, not imperial personnel, so we had to enter through this back entrance. If you absolutely can’t believe us, feel free to send a messenger to His Highness the Crown Prince right now to verify. Of course, you’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

Zed’s brazen lie was delivered with such unwavering conviction that anyone would have believed it without question.

“A criminal , you say….”

The mage recalled Prince Damien, imprisoned in the dungeons below. He’d heard the prince hadn’t been well lately, so the idea that the Crown Prince would use external mercenaries to keep him alive wasn’t entirely implausible.

“If that’s the case… Fine. But let’s pretend we never saw each other…”

“Finally, we’re getting somewhere. Now, would you kindly step aside?”

“Y-Yes, of course!”

Overwhelmed by the pressure, the mage tucked his tail between his legs and hurriedly backed against the wall. With the path clear, Zed walked forward without hesitation, followed by Allen and Leon, who struggled to maintain a calm facade.

“But,”

It was just as they were about to exit the interrogation room. Zed abruptly stopped, turned his head, and casually asked a question to the mage.

“Why are all the corpses missing their heads?”

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Clack.

The heavy wooden door slammed shut. The moment they stepped into the hallway, Leon’s tension dissolved, and his legs gave way, causing him to stagger.

“Haa… I thought my heart would stop…”

“Ugh, I’m covered in cold sweat too. I thought my heart would burst.”

Allen fanned himself and exhaled a sigh of relief. Zed, however, remained calm, fingering his earlobe as if nothing had happened. Earlier, during the standoff with the mage, he had felt his earring tremble nervously.

‘It’s alright, Harti. You handled it well.’

Zed soothed Harto by stroking the earring with his fingertips.

“Now, let’s go find the prince.”

They couldn’t delay any longer. Urged on by Allen, the group entered the dark labyrinth of the underground dungeon.

As expected, no guards were visible in the corridors. It was just past midnight, a time when guards temporarily left their posts for shift changes. Thanks to Isadora’s prior arrangements, the shift change was deliberately delayed.

“Prince Damien…? Where are you…?”

Allen peered into the dungeon and called out to the prince. But only an empty echo returned. Leon, on the opposite side, used the light from his magic ring to scan the prison’s interior thoroughly.

As they passed through the seemingly endless, empty prison, they slowly started feeling uneasy. Was Prince Damien truly here? Though he believed Isadora’s information couldn’t be wrong, he couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that sent a chill down his spine.

“This is a real predicament… There’s not just one or two prisons. How long will it take to find Prince Damien in this darkness…?”

“Yes, exactly…”

Just as everyone had stopped, feeling lost.

Ding.

Breaking the heavy silence, Harto sent a signal.

“…Harto?”

As Zed whispered softly, the earring dangling from his earlobe began to glow blue in the darkness. Though his body had transformed into a tiny ornament, he could wield his power freely.

Harto heightened his senses. The chill seeping from the cold stone walls, the scurrying of rats across the floor, the pulsing rhythm of water droplets falling through cracks in the ceiling…

Amidst all that noise, Harto tracked something foreign.

Plop, plop…

It was a warm, salty-smelling droplet.

‘Someone… is crying.’

Ding, ding

The earring swayed, making a sound. Zed walked without hesitation in the direction Harto led. When they reached a fork, Harto signaled without fail. He even pressed the cold metal surface against Zed’s skin to indicate the direction.

“Zed, are you sure this way? You know where you’re going, right?”

“Trust Harto.”

Despite Allen’s doubt, Zed answered firmly and walked purposefully through the darkness.

How long had they walked through the maze-like corridors? The place Harto pointed to was a solitary cell located at the very end of the corridor.

Ding!

“This seems to be it.”

As the earring shook, Zed stopped before the iron bars. The interior of the prison was pitch black, like a deep abyss, making it impossible to tell if anyone was inside.

“Are you sure this is the place? I don’t sense any presence…”

Leon swallowed dryly and adjusted the light from his magic ring. The soft glow emanating from the gem pierced through the iron bars, illuminating the prison’s interior.

Immediately afterward, the entire group gasped.

“Ah…!”

Leon nearly screamed. In the cold stone corner, the figure of a person covered in rags came into view. His unwashed appearance was horribly ravaged, and his parched, cracked lips were completely split. Transparent tears streamed down their his cheeks without pause.

“…Brother.”