The night was deep and there was barely any noise left to be heard from the busy day. It was silent, serene, and dark, with only the lights from houses and the street lamps giving sight to the patrolling guards.

Although the whole town was resting, the guards weren't. They must keep the populace safe during their most vulnerable state. It was a tedious job with a heavy responsibility but the guards didn't complain because it is their duty.

One of the places the guards never leave unattended was the prison. Filled with tough and dangerous criminals, the prison was a place which the guards have the heaviest responsibility, because if ever there was a prison break, not only the guards' life but also the citizens' will be put in danger.

And on this particular day, one of these prison breaks will occur, making one of the most dangerous criminal escapes.

「Hey, I heard that your wife is pregnant, congratulations!」Guard 1

「Ah, yeah...」Guard 2

「Hm? You don't sound happy.」Guard 1

「I'm just worried about the expenses. I don't really have enough money for my wife's birthing expenses, and there's still the child raising after that. Haah... I might need to switch to adventuring one of these days.」Guard 2

The guard sighed with his eyes looking distantly.

「You've got it rough, huh. Then how about I let you borrow a part of my savings, we're not really in dire need of it right now.」Guard 1

「Ah, you don't have to. It's not really your responsibilityー.」Guard 2

「Hahaha, what kind of responsibility are you talking about? It's only normal to help a friend in need.」Guard 1

「No, that's still kind ofー」Guard 2

「Then you can think of it as a congratulatory gift from me. And if you're still feeling guilty from borrowing money, then you can pay it back once you can.」Guard 1

「Ah... Thank you, really...」Guard 2

「Hahaha, what are you talking about? Anyway, we should probably check on the prisoners. Our superiors will scold us is we just stay here.」Guard 1

「Right.」Guard 2

After their idle chat, the guards patrolled the prison, cell after cell, making sure that everything was fine and there was nothing suspicious brewing.

Little did they know, the cell nearest to them while they were talking contained a criminal with a dangerous ability, Gabal.

A few minutes later, the guards returned back to where they originally were and continued their idle chat.

「Hey can I leave you alone for a while?」Guard 1

「Where are you going?」Guard 2

「I'll just use the restroom. Don't worry I'll be quick.」Guard 1

「Alright.」Guard 2

As one of the guards left, Gabal saw the opportunity to strike and started his plan for his escape with a conversation, although he and the guard were separated by a door.

「Hey, you. You need money, don't you?」Gabal

「Stop talking! I won't release you no matter how much you offer.」Guard 2

「Oh, really...?」Gabal

「How many prisoners do you think have tried to bribe me? You should give up, you'll never get out of this prison.」Guard 2

What the guard said was the truth. Everyday as they patrol the prison, countless prisoners would try to bribe them, but so far, none of them had succeeded... up until now, at least.

「Hm? Even if your wife and future child's life is on the line?」Gabal

「How did youー」Guard 1

「I heard it all. Although eavesdropping isn't really my thing, I was just a little concerned about your situation, just a little.」Gabal

「And what can you do with that information? Even if you know all that, there's no way I'll succumb to your temptations.」Guard 1

「Hahaha, you're too serious. I'm just offering you a hand, won't you listen to my offers?」Gabal

「Talk all you want but you'll never get out of here.」Guard 1

Or so he said, but deep inside, he was mustering all his will just to resist Gabal's 『Temptation』, and Gabal knows of that full well. With just a little more push, the guard's will will surely break.

「You know, not just the birthing fee, but the money for the child raising as well. I can give it all to you. All you need is to open the locks and set me free. It's just that simple.」Gabal

「...」Guard 2

「Well, if I'm feeling a bit generous, maybe I'll give you more than that. Hmm... How does 3 platinum coins sound? With that amount, you will not have any problems providing for your family for years. You can even start your own business.」Gabal

「...」Guard 2

「Hmm... If you're unsatisfied we can raise it to 4 or 5 if you want. Hm? What do you think? That's already 13 years worth of your wage, you know?」Gabal

「...」Guard 2

「Then how about a million kiels? You know how much that's worth, right? All you do is to set me free. That's simple, right? After that, you can ensure the safety of your wife and your future child.」Gabal

「A million...」Guard 2

The guard could not resist anymore and had already fallen into Gabal's trap. He was no longer conscious and his actions were all by Gabal's whims.

「Hmm... you broke faster than I thought. Now, unlock the door and my cuffs. My shoulders are already getting stiff.」Gabal

Just as Gabal ordered, the guard unlocked the doors and freed Gabal. And just as this was happening, the guard that went to the toilet had returned.

「I'm backー」Guard 1

「Hm?」Gabal

「Hey, what are you doinー」Guard 2

The guard unsheathed his sword from his scabbard, but before he could brandish it, Gabal already took the first step and knocked him out unconscious, while the guard under his control was kept as his puppet.

「Now, time to find Algerio-sama.」Gabal

After grabbing the keys from the guards, Gabal walked around the prison leisurely, whistling while checking each of the cells for Algerio.

On another cell, Algerio was staring blankly at the wall, cursing Fritz every moment on the back of his mind. The more time passed the more he desired to kill Fritz. He was losing his mind.

"Curse you, Fritz! Curse you!"

This thought was circulating in his mind every second ever since he was arrested. And every second, he found more reason to hate Fritz.

But just about he was crazy enough to bash his head on the walls of the prison, the doors opened and a familiar figure appeared before him. It was his butler, Gabal.

「Sorry for the delay Algerio-sama, it's now time to escape this horrid place.」Gabal

When Gabal appeared, the intense desire to get revenge from Fritz had surfaced on Algerio's mind. He could not have been much happier.

「Looks like you already have another puppet.」Algerio

「I picked him up near my cell.」Gabal

「Hmm... Then tell me, Gabal. Can you convince the other prisoners to join our side?」Algerio

「That would be a simple task.」Gabal

「Just what I wanted to hear from you. Well then, let's not waste time any further. Let's free all of them.」Algerio

「As you wish.」Gabal

Cell after cell, Gabal and Algerio manipulated the prisoners to join their side, and since they wanted nothing more than their freedom, it became a simple task for Gabal to control them.

Although there were guards along the way, they made sure to knock each of them unconscious and prevented the town from noticing the undergoing prison break.

Thankfully, because the prisoners were under Gabal's control, none of the guards' lives were lost. It was because Gabal also wanted to control them.

「This should be the last ones.」Algerio

After freeing most of the prisoners, they finally arrived at the deepest part of the prison where the most dangerous prisoners were kept.

「Hm... Looks like it's the Crimson Skull bandits... They're supposed to be executed tomorrow. How lucky of us.」Gabal

「Do you think you can control them?」Algerio

「It would be tougher since they're all stronger than me, but I could still pull it off. After all, there's nothing more tempting to prisoners than a taste of freedom.」Gabal

「Well then, you do your job. I'll make sure than no one interferes.」Algerio

「Understood.」Gabal

After leaving Gabal to do his job, Algerio ordered the other prisoners to keep watch and make sure to knock all guards unconscious.

「What do you want?」???

A man tightly chained to the prison walls asked as he saw Gabal enter his cell. He knew full well that Gabal was a prisoner just by looking at his outfit.

「Hmm... I just want to have a chat with you.」Gabal

「Don't waste my time, get straight to the point.」???

「Haah... How serious... Then, Merzin of the Crimson Skull, do you want to escape this place?」Gabal

「And what's the catch? I'm sure you won't do this for free.」Merzin

「It's just a simple task, nothing big. We just want you to kill the town lord, Fritz Landevar.」Gabal

As Fritz's name was mentioned, the glow in Merzin's eyes sharpened and one could clearly say how much he loathes Fritz.

「I'm listening.」Merzin

While the town was sleeping soundly, an evil plan was brewing inside the prison. But rather than striking directly, the prisoners awaited daybreak so that they could blend in easily with the crowd.

【【A few hours later】】

Knock Knock Knock

「Hey, open up.」Guard 3

A guard knocked on the prison doors. It was already daybreak, and so, it was already time to switch shifts.

「Something wrong?」Guard 4

「Yeah, they're not responding.」Guard 3

「Maybe they slept on the job.」Guard 4

「Haah... Just what are they doing?... They're going to get punished when our superiors find out.」Guard 5

「Anyway, we should probably wake them up. We're going to get scolded too if they're found out.」Guard 4

「Tell me about it...」Guard 3

Knock Knock Knock

The guard tried knocking once again, but there was still no response. He tried again and again but it was the same every time. Finally, sensing that something was off, the guard unsheathed his sword and opened the door forcefully.

A loud crashing sound echoed in the air as the door was broken in a single swing, and when the prison was finally opened, the absence of the guards gave them both a shock and a bad feeling.

Quickly, the guards checked the prison cells and just as they feared, there were no prisoners in any of them.

「Quickly, sound the alarm! The prisoners have escaped!」Guard 6

【【Grey's Perspective】】

Another morning has arrived, and as I awoke, I hoped that Yuna would not act like how she did last evening.

With such thought on my mind, I prepared myself for the day and fixed the bed. And as I went out the room, coincidentally, Yuna also went out of hers.

「Ah, good morning.」Grey

「Un, good morning.」Yuna

When I greeted Yuna, she replied to me like how she usually does. It seemed like she was back to her usual self.

「Are you heading to the kitchen now?」Yuna

「Yeah, I need to help Rhodes-san out. Because if I don't I'm afraid that he will not be leaving me alone.」Grey

「That seems likely. He's really passionate about cooking, after all... Hm... do you want me to help you out?」Yuna

「That would be great, but are you sure?」Grey

「Yeah, I'm free anyway.」Yuna

「Then you have my thanks.」Grey

With Yuna's help, me and the chefs prepared breakfast. And as this was happening, Rhodes-san kept bothering me to teach him new recipes.

Honestly, it was very tiring. I even noticed that the other chefs wanted to help me, but they were just too scared of Rhodes-san.

Upon finishing our dish, Yuna and I headed out of the kitchen and I headed to the bath to clean myself. After that, I then headed to the dining room where I saw two unexpected figures...

「Oh, Grey!」Kris

... it was Aria-san and Kris-san.

I wonder why they're here...

I looked at Yuna as I asked that question to myself, but when I looked at her, she just simply shook her head.

「They said they have something important to tell you, so I let them in.」Fritz

「We actually wanted to tell you in the guild, but since there's the possibility that you won't be going there, we took the initiative to tell you while you're still at the lord's mansion.」Kris

「I see... So, what did you want to tell us?」Grey

「It's about the opening of the labyrinth, the positions have been decided.」Kris

Positions...?

「Looks like you really didn't know... Positions are where we will be starting from, when the labyrinth opens. High-rankers like us are decided to be placed in the front so that if ever there's a monster that too strong for the others, we would be able to get rid of it before there can be any casualties.」Kris

Seeing the confused look on my face, Kris-san heaved a sigh and then explained what he meant in a brief and easy to understand manner.

「Other than reducing the casualty rate, it also allows the activation of Labyrinth Torchstones so that the others will know what is ahead of them. While it benefits the ones behind us, we can also gain from it since we can access treasures before anyone else can. So it's a win-win for both sides.」 Kris

So in other words, we are the adventurers and soldiers' vanguards, there to make sure that all high-ranking monsters are killed.

「Parties can also coordinate with each other. So if Yuna-chan and Grey-kun wants to coordinate with us, we can travel together.」Aria

「Ah, I appreciate the concern, but Yuna and I would be traveling just by ourselves. We want to see how far we can go by ourselves.」Grey

Although the real reason was different, I can't say it in front of Aria-san and Kris-san. Though, I really appreciate their concern.

「That's too bad...」Kris

「Hahaha, don't let yourselves get down by it. There's plenty food to eat, so cheer up!」Gustav

「That's right. Also, the food is getting cold, we shoー」Fritz

「Fritz-sama! There's an emergency!」Sebastian

Fritz was about to initiate breakfast when suddenly, Sebastian-san opened the doors and announced an emergency.

「What is it?」Fritz

「All the prisoners have escaped!!」Sebastian

CHAPTER 39 END