I tried to meditate to speed up my mana recovery, but the lingering thought of me possibly having consumed someone's flesh and blood just now made it too hard for me to clear my mind. The rest period was long enough at least, so I think my body could withstand another three or four hours of work.

As for the bowl of gruel I set aside earlier, I quietly placed it back onto one of the trays while nobody was paying attention, and someone else took and ate it. The food was hardly touched, and the prisoner was probably too used to eating much worse food that he did not suspect that I spat some of the gruel back into the bowl earlier.

"Alright, back to work, all of you!"

One of the guards shouted out loud after the 15 minute break ended, and all the prisoners promptly got up and picked up their tools again.

I don't know how the guards didn't seem to feel bored just watching us work for hours. They were simply just staring at us without showing any hint of emotion, and none of them were talking to each other the entire time. Were the capable of telepathy, or were they just content with watching people do (almost) menial work all day long?

It was really hard to keep track of time due to the lack of a visible sky, but I reckon another three or so hours had passed by after the food break. I should probably consider myself lucky, as one of the guards blew a loud whistle just when I was ready to give up from mana exhaustion again.

"Tools down! Get in line!"

Upon hearing the guard's shout, all the prisoners tiredly tossed their tools back to the pile they got them from, then stood together nicely in one long line. Following suit, I dropped my pickaxe off and then headed for the back of the line.

The line moved very slowly, so I peeked ahead to see what was holding it up. It looked like the guards were doing a very thorough search of every prisoner's body as they got to the security wall. I reckon it was to check whether someone was trying to smuggle out any of the tools, or any sizable chunk of iron ore that could be used to secretly make weapons or damage either the guards or prison cells. Not counting me, there were 33 prisoners in the line, and it took at least one full minute to search each of them.

I felt like the whole search process could be sped up if all the guards forming the wall took part, but speaking up would probably get me lashed again. Regardless, it was finally my turn after over half an hour of waiting.

"Never seen you here before."

I was probably the only living human here in Badoth, and we were probably dozens of kilometers away from the border, yet they never noticed me being different until now?

"That's because I-"

"Shut up and turn out your pockets."

Damn, I thought this was finally a good chance to talk to them, but they still wouldn't let me.

Amber said most of the things I needed would be provided by the army, so I left most of my money and belongings back in Sachiru before we departed. The only things I could take out of my pockets were my wallet, some pebbles that found their way into my clothes as I tumbled down earlier, the badge that general Denato gave me, and the card that commander Mavuto issued to me.

Ignoring the minor demons that were trying to secretly pocket the little amount of money inside my wallet while I wasn't looking, the other demons suddenly opened their eyes wide and muttered to each other when they examined the badge and card I took out.

One of them, presumably the warden, finally spoke up after looking at my card for a while.

"So… Your name is Blaze, right?"

"That's correct."

Finally, I'm able to finish a sentence without getting whipped!

"None of us have seen you before, so it must be your first day here. How exactly did you land yourself in jail?"

"I got chased by a rabid dog into the sewers, got lost in a cave, and fell down a pit that was probably connected to this underground prison."

"You didn't act against the kingdom?"

"If by 'the kingdom' you mean Kitrod then yes, I'm guilty of defecting over to the Badoth side. I haven't done anything illegal on this side of the border."

"And you currently reside in Sachiru town?"

"Yes, that's where I was brought to two weeks ago."

"How did you manage to come all the way here, then?"

"I got sent to Border Town because of the draft. There were no jobs that needed my help so I got permission to come to Ladita town earlier today."

"Would you explain how you obtained this badge and card?"

"General Denato gave me the badge in person so I wouldn't run into trouble by being misidentified as an enemy, and commander Mavuto had the card issued to me in recognition of my contribution to the battle against the dragon at Border Town the other day."

At this point of the questioning, the minor demons started having puzzled looks on their faces.

"One of you, go verify this information with the communication network!"

As for me, I'm just relieved that I was finally given a chance to say everything I needed to say.

"Sorry about the harsh treatment today. You can have your items back now."

The warden immediately handed back my card and badge, while my wallet was passed through a few hands before finally making it back to me. The wallet appeared to be… thicker than before. I could have sworn there was less money chucked inside my wallet earlier. Either these guards forgot how much money they tried to pocket earlier, or they were giving me some hush money so I could keep quiet about this incident.

"Please come with me."

After the other guards led the line of prisoners away, the warden took my wrist and led me through the dark tunnels. It was hard to tell where I was going because of the lack of light, but it felt like I was going in a slightly different direction from where the prison cells would have been located.

We eventually stopped in another brightly lit area, and the warden showed me into what appeared to be a small office room. It was simply decorated with a potted plant by the door and a painting of nature hanging in the back of the room. After letting go of my wrist, the warden pointed towards a small desk and some chairs there.

"Please sit."

After I sat down on one of the chairs, the warden pulled another one over and placed it opposite me, so that he was now sitting face-to-face with me on the other side of the desk.

"This world is problematic."

"Hm?"

"No matter what reforms or discoveries are introduced, people still find ways to complain."

It seemed like the warden was about to start a monologue, so I decided to let him continue talking without interrupting. Maybe I'll just insert a few "mhm" and "ok" remarks every now and then.

"Our king has done so much to prevent tyrannical oppressive rule like in Kitrod, but that ended with people not taking the laws seriously…"

The people seemed quite well behaved from what I've seen so far, though.

"…Which is why the system of allowing disputes to be settled by fighting was introduced. The parties having a dispute have the option of turning down a fight, but the fear of 'accidents' occurring to the weaker parties at least got people to behave a little more whenever someone significantly stronger was in town…"

Well that explains a lot.

"…Although, that has led to other problems. The king has put in a lot of effort of eliminating racial discrimination, but the system that favors power caused this land to end up with racial segregation instead. You've probably noticed that by now, right?"

"Yes."

He wasn't wrong. From what I've learned so far, it seemed like most towns only had one particular race or a group of species with similar traits making up the majority of the population.

Living in a town where residents are significantly stronger would run one the risk of getting harassed or extorted, so it would be best to live with others of the same race so as to stand a chance at winning fights. In the case of Sachiru town, orcs and goblins could live together since goblins were so small and weak that they couldn't damage orcs, while orcs were so large and slow that they couldn't accurately hit goblins either.

"Over time, the citizens of Badoth came to the misconception that each race could only hold certain jobs, or that they were limited to certain positions in society. When the majority of the population lives with that wrong assumption for too long, it slowly becomes accepted as common sense."

That would explain why people only ever seemed to select strong individuals and races for top governmental positions.

"One natural consequence of that is that jealousy and unhappiness begins to grow within the populace over time, and that would lead to increasingly frequent cases of civil disobedience and revolt."

I think I'm starting to figure out where this monologue is going.

"Normally, anyone who poses a threat to the established systems in this land would have to be quietly removed from society. Because of the ongoing war, they get sent to underground prisons like this for forced labor, since executing them would be a waste."

Yep, he's going to vent his frustration at this prison warden job.

"Of course, shoving all sorts of dangerous individuals here adds a lot of pressure and stress onto us, since the things those people say could change how the other guards think. This place is connected to the underground communications network, too, so we absolutely can't let revolting thoughts spread."

"Is that why you won't let anyone talk?"

"Yes, and I'd like to apologize on behalf of everyone for that harsh treatment you received earlier. There's also the fact that the number of prisoners keep increasing, so we also have to resort to extreme measures to thin out the crowd."

"I don't think you need to apologize… It wasn't wrong to assume that a complete stranger like me was a suspicious fugitive."

"Still, we should have at least checked your belongings first. That badge you have shows that you are affiliated with general Denato's army, and its pristine condition suggests you didn't steal the badge from anyone. You are on the side fighting to uphold the king's ideals, yet we mistreated you earlier today under suspicion that you were against them…"

Oh, so that's what the badge signified.

"In any case, this world isn't perfect. There will be a point where political unrest becomes too great to suppress. I don't know how Kitrod manages to keep their large state stable, but there is a civil war looming in Badoth. Whether the civil war will take place during or after this war against Kitrod is anyone's guess."

There was a knock on the door, and one of the guards brought in a tray with a teapot and cups atop.

"The happiness you see on the surface is all but an act. Education for the masses is essential for creating model citizens and capable leaders, but fear and distrust also spread faster as the people become more aware of what they are living with."

"Um…"

"The people are living in fear. The rapid growth Badoth territory has had over the past 70 years is amazing, but this society is on the brink of collapsing."

I started wondering whether Amber was an absolute idiot or a complete loyalist. After all, she never showed any signs of distrust or fear. She was always so cheerful.

"Could I ask why you're telling me all this? Isn't it dangerous to let an outsider like me know about the problems in society?"

"It's nice to have someone to vent my frustrations to every now and then. You seem to be trusted by both general Denato and commander Mavuto, so I figured you most likely won't turn against us."

"Well I guess that's true. There's nothing to gain if I did that."

After all, I'm already not welcomed in Kitrod, so revolting would leave me with nowhere to go.

"Anyways, you must be thirsty from all that work earlier, so please have some tea. We rarely ever have visitors since this is a secret prison, so it's quite a waste if we can't make use of the exotic plants used for brewing this tea."

The warden poured out two cups of tea, both filled almost to the brim, and offered one to me.

"There's no blood in this, is there?"

"Haha… of course not. We have access to underground springs, so the water we used for brewing tea is what you would call mineral water."

The tea color was quite clear, but had a faint earthy fragrance and a bitter and equally earthy taste.

"This is a rather unique flavor. What kind of plants were used?"

My mouth felt a bit dry, so I kept sipping more tea from the cup.

"The seed and flowers of some plant called borra-something. I can't really remember the name."

Ah yes, borrachero, a dangerous nightshade plant that could be used to make a forbidden drug that caused hallucinations, amnesia, and temporary deprivation of free will. The victim under its effects could be easily manipulated, and would have absolutely no recollection of what had happened.

The kingdom of Kitrod gave alchemists like me a list of plants considered so dangerous that any attempts at researching or using them would result in execution, and this flower was on that list.

"As for why I ranted to you, it's because you will never tell the outside world what I told you today."

I tried to give a friendly smile to the warden as the room around me appeared to be spinning.

I blacked out not long afterwards.