A Wish to Grab Happiness - Book 13: Chapter 316

Chapter 316: All the Performers ran Simultaneously

Burial Prison Beulah. Located in the southeastern part of the Gharast Kingdom, it was truly a paradise for dirty mice and insects.

It was always cluttered, and there were hardly pieces of food fallen to the ground. Why? The floor was surrounded by water ditches, and the humidity was moderate, perfect to enjoy a good night of sleep full of nightmares.

Besides, no one cared if you ran around the stone-floored corridors as you please in search of crumbs. Prisoners and guards alike were accustomed to such filthiness.

Due to such an environment, mice and insects usually behaved as they liked. It was their home after all.

However, it seemed that it was different today.

The guards, who usually didn’t care about the cleanliness of this place, cleaned up the floor and wiped the dirt off the corridors with cleaning tools.

Of course, there used to be a very small number of people who did that duty, but today, everyone seemed to be cooperating. It was as if people had changed.

With such a situation, the mice also retreated in a bad mood. The unfamiliar smell of disinfection hit everyone’s nose, including the mice.

After the floor and the interior was somewhat presentable, the sound of hitting the stone floor resounded inside the prison. Tapping the floor was an upper-class habit.

The guards lined up to welcome that person.

「…The moss that sticks firmly in the walls can’t be removed in an emergency. If you want to hide the dirt, at least you should do it a little better.」

The man who was greeted said so in a severe voice, and the prison floor slammed again. The chief guard followed the man and led him to the innermost room.

The clothes of the man who walked arrogantly were not elegant, but they were strangely extravagant and unsuitable for a prison.

Not only that, but his behavior and words were too different from those around him. He seemed to be floating alone in the air.

It was natural to be different, since almost all prison guards came from vulgar commoners. Some did not even know what a scholarship was.

But that man was different.

He was a member of the aristocratic class and the head of the prison Beulah. The prison supervisor was named Palome Bashar. A person who had been entrusted with full authority over the prisoners of Beulah by the Gharast King.

However, it was only true on paper. In reality, Palome rarely stayed in this prison.

After all, maintaining a prison like this didn’t really bring any profits. The best he could get was the title of a patriot. In that case, it would be much more profitable to put effort into managing the territory.

Originally, Palome didn’t want to come to this place.

While chewing something bitter in his mouth, Palome moved his big legs into the prison warden’s room.

This place seemed to have been cleaned with much more effort, and it still looked better than the other places that had been cleaned in a hurry.

Still, Palome squinted his eyes and touched his mustache in frustration. Then, he turned to the chief guard and said the following.

「How is that young woman? 」

Young woman. The chief guard knew all too well what Palome meant when he said that pronoun.

As if he had prepared an answer, the chief guard lined up his words.

「Yes. Prisoner number 2066 is treated with respect in the VIP Prisoner’s Room. So far, no problems have occurred.」

It was a word that simply expressed the current state. There was nothing more.

Prisoner number 2066, the prisoner’s name was Ninz. She was the adoptive parent of the Great Sinner Lugis, and at the same time, the adoptive parent of the Great Saint Ariene.

Everyone had a hard time dealing with those facts.

Considering her relationship with the great sinner Lugis, people from the Great Holy Church could not turn a blind eye to her existence.

However, if those people recklessly touched her body and reached the holy maiden’s ears, what awaited them would be their own destruction.

That’s why Ninz, like a handling tumor, flowed down from one prison after another, until finally reaching Beulah, the Burial Prison.

To put it bluntly, Palome was pressed to have this woman in his prison.

Without eye contact with the chief guard, Palome moved his beard and spoke. He spoke in a way that seemed to contain something.

「…Why? She is the adoptive parent of the great sinner Lugis. There is no doubt that she is related to the old faith. Get her confession out right now.」

It doesn’t matter what means you use. Hearing those words, the chief guard unintentionally raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes. For a moment he was at a loss for words, wondering what he had just heard.

After all, it was none other than Palome, the head of the prison, who told him to treat Ninz with respect when she first came here. Why was he saying the exact opposite now?

Involuntarily, he asked if it was okay. Palome’s voice was released as if swallowing the chief guard’s words.

「Neither good nor bad. It’s already happened. That woman has nothing to do with the Saint, she’s just an evil old believer.」

While saying so, Palome continued his words. It was one of the many routes he had considered during the carriage ride up to this point.

「There was a tip from within the Old Believers that they would sell her off. When they pressed for a confession, that person admitted its guilt and was finally executed in the royal capital.」

Palome was fixated in that scenario, so he reminded the chief guard as well.

The chief guard made no further objections. No matter what Palome said, his words were the only truth inside this prison. Rather, if the chief guard interjected Palome’s orders, he might even be blamed afterwards.

When the chief guard respectfully bowed his head and left the prison guard’s room, Palome let out a sigh. He didn’t seem to have the rudeness to let it out.

Only his line of sight suddenly turned into something dangerous.

…How can we recover from the failure of the Great Holy Church.

—

Valerie Brightness ran along the road, leaving heavy hoofprints on the snowfield. Thousands of soldiers and cavalry followed behind her in the same manner. The heavy sound of military boots was thrown into the sky, even amid the dead snow.

Was it because of the skillful handling of the horse’s reins? Valerie’s horse steadily pushed through the way.

A loud voice resounded behind Valerie, who was riding her horse with such a great momentum that almost left the soldiers behind.

「…General! General Brightness! Please loosen the reins, or some of the soldiers will stay behind!」

The owner of the voice, Neymar Gloria, was out of breath, but still gracefully controlled her horse and chased after Valerie.

After that, Valerie’s gifted eyes must have finally caught sight of the surroundings. Neymar could see Valerie stop her horse and look back behind her, looking as if everything was normal.

Before Neymar could catch her breath, Valerie told her.

「What’s wrong, Adjutant Neymar? 」

Really, Valerie said so while shaking her short hair as if she was asking a normal question. Neymar opened her eyes wide and spit out the words.

「As you can see, if we continue with the same momentum, some of our soldiers will stay behind and give up. Therefore…」

In the middle of her words, Valerie nodded slightly, as if she was swallowing Neymar’s words. That ended the conversation.

This exchange had also happened for several times before. And then, completely unaware of it, Valerie pushed forward again.

Perhaps this time as well, she didn’t understand what the problem was and what was essential. Before she knew it, Neymar began to harbor a dim, yet deep suspicion towards Valerie.

Valerie Brightness was an undeniable talent. Neymar could tell just by looking at how she handled a horse and her body.

More than the old general, Richard, whom Neymar had previously accompanied, she had a distinctive and refined atmosphere around her.

Unlike Richard’s fierce presence, Valerie had the danger of penetrating the opponent with a single glance.

Indeed, looking at it, Neymar understood why she was appointed to the corner of the protective fort that was responsible for slaughtering magical beasts.

Possessing an infinitely calm and infinitely strong individuality, Valerie was sure to become a stronghold for the soldiers. That was the most necessary element when facing enemies and monsters.

However, Neymar also thought the following. Valerie was too strong as an individual.

Perhaps she was selfish, but there were glimpses of her consciousness that said that if she could do it, then there was no reason why others couldn’t do it too.

It was not an act of arrogance, but it was her disposition. She really did not understand why others could not follow her.

From that point of view, the general named Valerie was completely different from Richard. Nature was too diametrically opposed.

Breathing out white mist, Neymar ordered the soldiers to take a short break. No matter where they went, they couldn’t stand their legs as they were now. And it was also necessary to wait for those stood further behind. Perhaps this was also Neymar’s role.

Neymar narrowed her eyes, and for a moment the cunning old general’s face crossed her mind. Neymar’s fingertips held her bow with great strength.

…It seemed that Neymar was something like mediation in a place like this.

Neymar knew that her canines had snapped with a strangely sharp sound. She couldn’t help but regret her own shallowness that got stuck when she heard about profits, even if only a little, from the Fomor family, a high-ranking aristocrat family.

「Adjutant Neymar, we are going south from here. 」

When the soldiers who stood behind had finally arrived, Valerie said in a voice that only Neymar could hear.

“Understood”, Neymar replied while giving instructions to the soldiers. She heard that they were originally supposed to head for the eastern border, but were they meant to stop along the way?

However, there was no major strategic point south of here. There was probably only one prison at most.

When Neymar said so, Valerie responded with a small nod as before.

「…That’s right. Our unit is heading to prison Beulah. 」