A Wish to Grab Happiness - Book 13: Chapter 322

Chapter 322: The Prison’s Devilishness

I looked forward while hitting the corridor of Prison Beulah.

Even though it looked like a large-scale fortress, the number of personnel, including guards and subordinates, were only a few hundred at most. Therefore, the inside of the facility looked strangely lonely.

The sound of insects flying around, and the rustling of the wind were much livelier than the sounds of people living in a prison.

「How unusual. The water here doesn’t freeze even during the dead snow. 」

Vestaline whispered softly as if to break the tension that was lying in the air. I was sure it was the sound of water hitting our ears.

The Gharast Kingdom had most of its territory in the northern part of the continent, so many of the rivers and lakes transformed into a frozen land during periods of dead snow.

Even the Augus River, the largest river in the Gharast Kingdom, which bordered with the East, transformed into a frozen ground at this time of year.

In other words, the only exception was the ice-free moat in Burial Prison Beulah.

Strangely enough, the water moat here continued to undulate and flow without freezing, even in times of dead snow.

After all, this place wasn’t originally a prison where prisoners were thrown, but a relay fort that connected the front line. It would be meaningless if the moat was frozen when the enemy attacked.

People said the previous King, who was called the King of Architecture, created an ice-free moat with the best of his magic skills.

Well, those people were probably not wrong.

There was an undeniable heat and a certain brilliance of the architecture this King had built, but at first sight it looked very strange.

But anyway, I didn’t want that talent to be used in the direction of creating such a worthless thing. The chilly wind that pierced my skin made my lips quiver.

「Someone must be working hard to keep the water from freezing. It’s pitiful when you think about it.」

I shrugged my shoulders and answered like that to avoid sharing my knowledge of the past. Vestaline did not appear to be offended that much but sighed profusely. It seemed that she had become quite accustomed with me and my answers.

I didn’t know if that made me happy or not.

I picked up the sounds of nature, while my fingers were drenched with guard’s blood from time to time. Then, I turned my feet toward the base of the north tower. Strangely enough, the prison was silent. For some reason, my spine froze.

Suddenly, I had a bad feeling.

I wondered why the guards were not patrolling the area around the northern tower. The guards I met earlier were strangely sparse.

Why was it easy to wander around the prison? Wouldn’t it be safer to have more watchful eyes?

It would be great if it were luck. However, I was fully confident that I had been abandoned by the Goddess of Fortune. A baseless chill slowly stroked my spine.

Finally, the connecting corridor leading to the northern tower was reflected in front of me. If we crossed it, we would go straight to the prison Lord’s room.

I stopped my legs. My fingertips twitched and bounced.

Vestaline was staring at my profile, wondering with suspicious eyes. Her serious eyes asked me what was wrong.

However, there was no time to worry about her gaze. I moved my fingers to the treasure sword at my waist. My breath filled with heat, turning into a white mist that stroked the air.

I didn’t understand why. It was unclear as to why. But there was only a strange certainty.

…Right now, there was someone waiting for us with a mouth wide open in the connecting corridor.

Still, I couldn’t see anyone in the connecting corridor. However, a fierce aversion leaned against my viscera like a heavy weight.

There was no way I could forget it, and the scent I had smelled many times before spread through the corridor. No wonder the mercenary Vestaline didn’t notice.

This was an undeniably magical scent.

It was so intense that even though it just came into my nostrils, it had a force to grab my brain.

I felt this scent during my time as an adventurer, and during my past journeys. A very, very bad smell.

But I had never been able to react so sensitively to it. Was it okay to call it growth, or was it that I had changed in some way?

I took a step forward while gripping the treasure sword that caused a wriggling tremor. Leaving Vestaline behind, I took another step forward.

That’s all I could understand. This place was another world. It was the inside of the devil’s stomach.

Shortness of breath, as if I were struggling underwater. A demon that had slightly exceeded the allowable amount of magic pushed me into its stomach.

I took a step forward. Second step, third step.

I forgot for a moment. My lungs stopped breathing as if they had lost their function, and my skin was so tight that I couldn’t stand it.

I took the fourth, fifth…sixth, seventh, eight step…and we reached its viewing area. Those invisible eyes were looking at Vestaline instead of me.

Before I could even breathe, I reflexively bounced off Vestaline from her path and swung my arm. Pushing away the vivid pain running through my joints, the purple blade drew a line in the sky.

The dark purple light flickered in the air, and stroke down the one that approached Vestaline without even allowing her to resist. I could see that Vestaline’s eyes were wide open.

*roaring sound*

An unpleasant reverberating sound pierced my ears. It was not the sound of iron rubbing against iron. The feeling that remained in my hand was also disgusting, as if I had touched something soft.

What was this thing? I slightly frowned my eyebrows.

While taking half a step forward to close the distance, I re-positioned the treasure sword diagonally.

The identity of the threat was already in front of us. A human figure stood above the corridor, as if it had suddenly appeared from the ceiling.

「Please do not expose such hostility. Even so, I made adjustments so that you could die cleanly and comfortably without any regrets. I played it so well, and yet, here you are. No, no, this is a compliment. Bro, even though you look human…」

A cheerful voice that didn’t suit the scene. The one whom I hit with my sword was a child with two large, coiled horns on his head.

No, children did not have that kind of appearance. I had no idea what its essence was.

After all, that voice sounded strangely like that of an adult with a tinge of sorrow, and the innocence emanating from a child was almost nonexistent.

Besides, looking at the winding angle and the completed form, I was certain that it was far from being a human.

The magical being continued its words in a truly mysterious way.

「…Hmm. No, you’re human after all. Yeah, you’re extremely well-made for a human. I’m very curious about how you created that attack, Bro.」

「Is that so? Then, you deserve a round of applause. If possible, I would like you to show respect and open the way for us.」

While saying so in a light tone, I took another half step forward while holding the treasure sword. I felt that the pressure given to me by that alone had increased in density.

No, it did not just feel like it, it was the truth.

The magical being with the coiled horns was looking in our direction while distorting its line of sight. I didn’t know if those eyes were truly looking at me, or if they were looking at something else.

「I am not the one who has problems with you. Apparently, the prison Lord is very angry with you guys.」

Compared to me, the limbs that were quite small were taking a stance with their bare hands. If I looked at that figure from the side, it looked like a child who showed no threats.

Yet, I knew that it was not true.

From its joints, the magical being was overflowing with evil intentions similar to magic beasts. From the corners of its eyes down to its breath, the evil being showed signs of oppression that could be called tyranny, telling me that its short stature was not what it appeared to be.

I tilted the treasure sword and muttered to Vestaline, who stood beside me.

「Vestaline. It looks like we’ve been spotted by a troublesome thing. Sorry, but can you go ahead and grab the prison Lord by his neck?」

To be honest, it was not like I could accept everything that this demonic nature had said right now. However, if the two of us were to be stranded here, then death would consume us both at the same time.

Even the guards, who had acted as if they were lethargic up until now, would desperately come running if we made a fuss during this fight.

It didn’t matter how much we swung our sword and battle-axe if that scenario happened. The fighting strength was too great. It would be two against several hundred. It was clear that it was not something even worth talking about.

The goal had to be achieved as soon as possible. If the prison Lord was caught, no matter how the situation rolled, negotiations would go well to some extent. No, it would go as expected.

However, Vestaline did not move her body even after receiving my words. She even gave off an atmosphere that seemed like she was throwing everything away and said the following.

「…I can’t do that, Lord Lugis. 」

At the same time as she said those words, Vestaline turned the battle-axe around and repositioned it so that it would be carried on her shoulder.