Escape

Arthur opened his eyes as the bright light from the teleportation magic faded. He slowly stepped out of the magic circle. However, Arthur found himself in a strange place that was far too crowded—not the forest filled with trees that he had hoped for.

In front of him stood Hugo and his troops. The only sounds were the clanging of sharp swords clashing and the scent of sweat filling the entire field.

Arthur's hands were clammy with cold sweat. He reached for the hilt of his sword, but doubt crept in—should he start fighting? He felt this wasn't the right moment.

Of course not. Now, Arthur sat behind cold, dark iron bars with other prisoners, willingly. The only sound was Arthur's breath fogging up from the cold of the dungeon. There was no noise at all, and even the guards seemed to be nowhere. This place was boring and depressing... it truly lacked the meaning of life.

Then footsteps could be heard from behind the wall that blocked Arthur's view from the next room.

"Hey, kid... Did you just arrive here?" rasped a man's voice from the next cell.

"Huh? You didn't even notice when the guard brought me here?" Arthur replied in surprise.

"Hahaha, sorry, I dozed off," the man answered with laughter and jest.

"So, how did you end up here?" Arthur asked, leaning his body against the wall.

"You're quite rude, young man. You should speak to me with respect," the man replied arrogantly.

"Hey~ Who do you think you are that I should show you respect? Besides, am I not the hero here? I should be the one receiving respect," Arthur said with pride.

"Hahahaha... Kid, you're full of surprises. Do you think I would believe such nonsense? Of course not." The man laughed loudly.

"Can you all please be quiet?!" A girl's voice came from behind the wall next door. Arthur, hearing this, began to wonder in his heart—was that the person he was looking for?

"Oh, looks like there's one more. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Arthur Retirt," Arthur said, enjoying his rough mattress, then rising from his slouch.

"Old man, what's your name?" Arthur asked mockingly.

"Hey, how old are you? Just calling someone old like that," said the old man.

"Sixteen... I think," Arthur touched his own face, uncertain.

"Ahahahaha... You even doubt your own age. But... formalities aren't really necessary," the man replied casually.

"I'm Pertkins, seventy-three years old, a lower-class noble in the Kingdom of Roland." Pertkins stretched out his small hand through the bars to greet Arthur.

"Ah, what an interesting surprise," Arthur replied.

"So... what about you, young lady?" Pertkins asked the other prisoner.

"Yeah, I'm curious too," Arthur added.

"It doesn't matter who I am. Besides, it doesn't mean we can actually face each other," the girl said nonchalantly.

"Oh well," Arthur tried to brush it off.

For three days, Arthur and Pertkins shared stories with each other. They had become like close friends, and even the guards sometimes joined in their banter. The days passed leisurely, and the girl even laughed a few times at the useless chatter from the two men.

"Hahaha, so, Hero, I've been wanting to ask this for a long time—what exactly are you doing here?" Pertkins asked, puzzled to see someone like Arthur.

"I'm here because I was asked to find someone," Arthur replied while playing with the magic circle he had created.

"Well, it can't be helped. If you still don't want to tell me... let's continue the last song—" Pertkins, who was engrossed in conversation, was suddenly cut off by Arthur.

"No. Forget it. Your voice is even worse than the whinny of a breeding horse," Arthur said firmly.

"Hey, that's rude!" Pertkins exclaimed, annoyed but eventually calmed down. "So now, what should we do?" He lay back comfortably, unsure if it was day or night.

Suddenly, the sound of a cell door opening echoed from Arthur's cell. He walked out, approached Pertkins' cell, and opened it.

"Isn't it obvious? We're escaping," he said with a smug expression, looking at Pertkins, who was sweating profusely.

"What?!"

"You little brat, you never said you could open these iron bars!" Pertkins was extremely angry.

"You didn't ask," Arthur replied, averting his gaze, indicating he didn't care.

Then Arthur opened the next cell and looked at a young girl with a hairstyle that was familiar to him.

"Alright, you..." Arthur scrutinized her.

"Uh, you're Tiara's twin sister, right?" Arthur said.

"Uh..." The girl gasped, unable to speak.

"No, thank you. You look like Hugo's minion who's spying on me," he said, averting his eyes from Arthur.

"You crazy girl! Even after being helped you still complain. Just go to hell!" Arthur was annoyed.

Here is the translation of the text to English:

The good Pertkins tried to prevent Arthur from hitting the girl. "Hahaha, come on, young man. It's not good to fight with a girl," he said casually.

"Aw, hahaha... You're really a good man, Arthur. Just call me Talia," said Talia, laughing as she walked out of her cell past Arthur.

"Well, what's the plan now, Arthur?" Talia asked, looking at Arthur who was standing behind her with an amused smile.

"This bastard..." Arthur tried to hold back a punch, but his expression remained annoyed.

"All right, follow me," Arthur led them out quietly. But as Talia stepped out of the prison gate, the detection device on her thigh activated. The loud sound from the device startled the guards, who immediately ran down the stairs toward the dungeon.

Arthur and Pertkins could only stare at Talia with annoyed faces.

"Huh?!" they exclaimed in unison, looking at Talia.

"Hey, what's with that sarcastic look?! How was I supposed to know it's a tracking device?!" Talia said angrily, furrowing her brow.

"Ah, well, just hurry and hide!" Talia dragged them to another place. Sneaking around, they peeked into the weapons room guarded by several soldiers.

"Look there, we can grab—" Talia hadn't finished speaking when she realized Arthur had disappeared. She panicked, but Pertkins gestured to her: Arthur was already inside with the unconscious guards.

"What are you waiting for?! Quickly grab your weapons!" Arthur shouted while carrying a lot of weapons.

Now they were all armed—Pertkins with his axe, Talia with her bow, and Arthur with weapons from inside a chest.

Both of them looked at Arthur in surprise.

"What?" said Arthur.

The three of them quickly ran to look for an exit. Occasionally they encountered soldiers but managed to handle them easily.

Their steps gradually slowed down. They were tired, but the sound of guards' footsteps was approaching from all directions—there was no time to rest.

"Quick, get into that room!" Talia said promptly. She dragged them into a locked room with a magical pattern. Before long, Arthur used his reconstruction magic to unlock it. They entered, and Arthur locked it from the inside again.

Sweat dripped from their foreheads, and their heavy breathing made everything harder to manage.

Soon they heard the sound of chains from the other side, and someone emerged from the shadows, chained feet, a muscular body, and a scarred face—the image of a warrior appeared walking towards them.

"Who are you?"