Chapter 11

In the town of Mith was an underground dungeon used as a prison. All the survivors of Herish Village's terrible battle were chained here.

In the tumultuous days after that incident, no one had paid much attention to what would happen to the prisoners. In one large chamber, three men had been hung up with thick iron chains. Their bodies were covered with bruises, but their eyes were filled with rage and determination.

At this moment, a visitor entered the prison. He wasn't hiding his face at all. It was Locke, who had come here on official business. As the administrator in training, he had been sent by Trive to take a look at the prisoner's conditions.

When he entered the chamber, the three brothers saw the young boy and instantly had the desire to tear his body apart. This was the young man who had promised he would bring them justice. Instead? Disaster had followed instead.

The chains tightened as the three tried to pounce at Locke, but he just nonchalantly stood there with a poker face. Only when the three brothers tired out, Locke turned towards his guard.

"You can leave. I need to interrogate them. No whispers will leave this room, understand?" Locke confirmed.

The guard nodded and disappeared. Only when Locke was sure that he was alone with the three that his face turned to a sorrowful one in the blink of an eye. Seeing this, the three brothers were confused.

Locke kneeled on his knees and kowtowed to them. "I am sorry." He whispered, but only loud enough for the three to be able to hear them. "I failed to protect your family and the village."

"Do you think you can continue to fool us?" The eldest brother asked.

Locke displayed a bitter expression. "The day that I met you, an attempt was made on my life." He said while showing his body still covered all over in casts. "I didn't think that Trive would be so ruthless! He had both your sister and myself killed that night. Then he maneuvered the Baron to declare war with the village, got the eldest son crippled and their mother executed to take the blame. Now he has become the Baron in running! I am powerless to bring you justice!" He said with the perfect amount of inflection and micro changes in his pitch to appeal emotional enough.

The three elder brothers were confused on who to believe. But the news they received from Locke indeed shocked them. However, Locke was not yet done.

"I can't provide you with justice, but I can help set the three of you free. Your valiance in battle has been acknowledged by our neighbouring Barony Katich. After I free you three, make your way there to seek refuge." Locke said.

The three opened their eyes in hope, but that hope quickly disappeared. "What is the point of being free?" They asked.

"I have realized that in this world, there is no justice. The strong eat the weak and the cunning trick the simple ones. You three are strong, but you need to become stronger. Return when you are strong enough to take revenge on Trive, for your sister and for your village!" Locke said passionately that got the three men teary eyed.

Locke didn't wait for them to respond. He took out a glass bottle containing an orange liquid and poured it over the chains on their hands.

"This will burn your hands. However, you must bear it. When midnight comes, the chains will crack and you can leave." Locke left them a key to this chamber and another to the dungeon. "I hope you succeed in your trials." Locke said with a profound look before he left. The three brothers remained behind, wheezing from the burn of the acid seeping through the chains onto the skin of their wrist. However, they could see the chain dissolving and hope kindled in their hearts.

After his work in the prison, Locke then took his new horse towards Herish Village. He still had to assess the damage ane come up with a reconstruction plan for the village. If it was infeasible, then Locke would have to advise Trive to abandon the village. Obviously, Locke was going to tell this new Baron in running that rebuilding the village was impossible.

When the horse reached the village, it looked just like the last time he visited. The air smelled fresh and birds were everywhere. However, no sounds of people could be heard. No, that wasn't right, Locke could hear one pair of footsteps. He brought his horse into the clearing, to see a girl standing there, dazed and naked. She was looking at the sun with her arm outstretched, as if trying to catch it in her palm.

When Locke arrived, she turned around, without any shame at her nudity and stared at Locke. She didn't know who he was, but she felt a weird tug in her chest. She didn't know who she herself was, but she knew only one thing. She had to follow this young boy.

Locke, on the other hand was stunned. Not because of the nudity. As a bastard child of a Baron, many servants and their sisters would try to tempt him. He had seen his fair share of nude women over the years, but this... It was the girl he had had killed! The victim of his schemes, the root of the chaos in the Barony of Mith. How was she alive?

"Are you a ghost?" Locke asked cautiously. He couldn't explain the phenomenon and he knew magic existed, so he calmed down and began speculating.

"Ghost? What is that? Am I Ghost?" The girl said innocently, which gave Locke all kinds of wrong signals. He quickly understood what it was that was giving him those puzzles. For someone with such a tragic life, her attitude was too... Innocent.

"I am Ghost. Who are you?" The girl asked.

"Locke." He uncomfortably replied.

"I am Ghost. You are Locke. Ghost and Locke are friends?" The girl continued.

Locke began to perspire. He could play circles with a cunning fellow, he could trick a simple minded fellow, but he did not have the programming to converse with an innocent soul as this. Plus, he wasn't yet completely soulless. Seeing her face, alive, had created a peculiar feeling within him. Guilt. He wondered if this was a chance for redemption?

"Raise a life for taking another, huh?" Locke mumbled to himself.