'What's going on? Why are they referring to Fenrir with an honorific?'

They were prisoners, so surely Ren would suspect something off from their treatment.

|Be careful,| Ren sent a whisper into the wind, hoping that Fenrir would hear it.

The lights carried by the guards melted into the shadow. The place fell into a tranquil gloom.

"They're gone now right?" after a while, XiaXin, who restarted the light of the magic lamps, came to Ren's cell. "You said something just now— what do you mean by the two suspicious people? What do you mean by, we now have a baseline?" sitting down, she continued eating her food. It wasn't like she didn't care about Fenrir's safety but, the humans in Heaven's Dynasty were all small fries to begin with.

"Do you really want to know?"

XiaXin nodded her head.

"It's His Highness."

XiaXin frowned, "His title as the prince has already been withdrawn right? There isn't a need to call him that anymore, besides.."

Ren shook his head. XiaXin probably expected more news about Darwin.

|Nina, DoQian, you guys come eat, I'll be on guard.|

|But it's not your turn yet, | NiNa flew over when she heard that. Her wings beating frivolously.

|It's fine, it's better if you eat first. Something might happen later, so please prepare your stomach.|

NiNa gave a cute nod, before dashing away. It wasn't another10 seconds when DoQian was thrown into the cell alongside her.

Ren distributed their share of food. After saying their thanks, the scene of two tiny pixies holding rice grains the size of their hand was indeed comical. Ren had already gotten used to seeing them like this after living with them for more than a decade now, but, XiaXin couldn't help but stare at them each time.

The pixie siblings were cute, very, very cute. Vehemently cute.

Nina felt heavy, she looked around but noticed nothing off. The weight on her was lifted, but she could never discern why it would appear in the first place. XiaXin was skillful at looking away, acting as if she paid no mind— Nina never had the chance to catch her stares. Well, DoQian, never really cared.

While the pixies warmed a conversion with XiaXin, Ren came to the outside of Fenrir's cell.

{Zephyr Sensing}

He leaned against the iron door while waiting.

It was a while later when a golden coloured delineate shone on his hand. His eyes jolted open.

'The king wants to make a deal with us?'

|

|

Fenrir followed behind the two knights, having steel shackles cuffed around his wrist. He could escape if he wanted to but, he thought to see how the situation would play out before anything.

The reasons why Fenrir and the elves continued to stay in the prison was because they needed a place to stay and-- the prison cells were the most affordable choice. They also did not want to encounter Darwin's people as of late. Not until they accustomed themselves to how things worked in Heaven's Dynasty.

Magic torches lit up each junction. Fenrir could smell the mould and stench of rotting food. Back in their three-blocked cell, Ren removed the foul smell, so it was so stifling where they stayed.

Fenrir was brought to a large open chamber. The structure was cylinder in shape with a pillar in the centre that rose to the main keep above. Stairs coiled around it, spiralling upwards. A few jagged corals, and molluscs lining the stone walls surrounding the chamber.

Fenrir's cell was in the lower regions of the underground prison, so he had to follow the guards up. The stairs, which looked more like platforms were absent with railings. They could tumble four stories to the bottom if they weren't careful.

"My name is Aldrich," the knight spoke. Fenrir expressed his doubts inside his heart. "His Highness Sartus is willing to release you from prison."

"I will see how the discussion goes," Fenrir understood that everything had a price to it. His freedom had to be repaid by something of equal value. Just what was the king thinking?

It wasn't like Fenrir held prejudices towards the people here, in Heaven's Dynasty. Instead, he thought the entire kingdom had been well managed. The people's rights were taken care of, security and safety of the kingdom had been maintained, and most importantly, no war.

They reached the section where the stone stairs became replaced by rickety wooden steps. This was a design choice. If the prisoners escaped in masses, one would only need to shoot a flame arrow at the wooden stair to ignite the escape route.

Aldrich was out front followed by Fenrir while Keaton stood behind. Every step they toom caused the wood to creak.

Fenrir noticed that there was something wrong with the next wooden step, he skipped past it.

Keaton however, didn't notice it.

"Ugh?!" his foot sank into the rotting wood. He swayed to the side and the wood broke. He was about to fall off when a chain flew over, circling around his arm.

Fenrir escaped from his binds, altered the form of the chain and threw it around Keaton's arm.

Injected mana into his arms--

{Strength Augment}

He hoisted Keaton who was dangling in the air.

The wood below Fenrir was about to give away. It could not support the weight of both of them.

{Elemental magic: Earth}

A small stone platform erected from the side of the wall to overlap the creaking wood.

"Keaton!" Aldrich, who realized the situation had been fairly late in his reaction. He heard the cracking sound of wood and looked behind, shocked to find that Keaton didn't fall.

"Thank you," Keaton was shaking but that didn't stop him from voicing his thanks to Fenrir. If he had fallen, it wasn't likely he would die, though, that didn't mean he wouldn't suffer serious injuries.

Aldrich wanted to say something but felt something stuck in his throat. Seeing the situation as it was, he couldn't picture what had happened. There was an out-of-place stone slab that was big enough to hold Fenrir and Keaton. Also, a chain wrapped around Keaton's arm while Fenrir's hands were free.

"I should remember to call the carpenters to fix these," Keaton looked at Aldrich with a pale face.

Aldrich stared at him dubiously.

It took him a while to process it all. Fenrir removed the metal binds, no, he manipulated those binds. Then he coiled the chain around Keaton to pull him up-- generating a stone platform to replace the wooden plank all at the same time.

This wasn't a joke. Aldrich realized how much power these unorthodox mages possessed. If he wanted, Fenrir could kill him in an instant. Aldrich felt a chill at the thought.

Fenrir released the chain bound to Keaton and locked the chains back between his wrist as if nothing ever happened.

"Do you need to do that?" Keaton asked, almost about to roll his eyes. Fenrir did a perfect Houdini trick.

"It would be less suspicious in this way, won't you agree?"

"Your right, " Keaton laughed. "Thank you once again."

Aldrich could understand the King's request somewhat after seeing Fenrir's action. He would've never imagined a prisoner like Fenrir to not hold a grudge against the kingdom.

They reached the keep. This was the first time that Fenrir had actually scrutinized the interior of the upper prison besides the dungeon-ous cell areas. The place was well organized, guards roamed the halls with uniform equipment. Though, many lights were illuminating the place, which felt a little excessive for a prison. The walls were made up of large interlocking bricks with wooden beams as the foundation.

Aldrich split up mid-way, leaving Keaton to escort Fenrir to the other side of the interrogation room.

"I wish you luck." Keaton looked at Fenrir one last time before allowing him inside the interrogation room.

|

|

"Sire, the person you wish to see is here," Aldrich rushed over to inform them.

"Will," Prince Herlock gave a glance and Will disappeared— not really.

Then the door on the other side opened and entered a man.

A man that Will knew. Will fortified his concealment spell and suppressed his urge to kneel.

Fenrir Shun. He had wide shoulders and a sturdy body still burning with vigour and vitality. His hair had grown a little more grey since the last time Will saw him. Squarish chin with prominent sideburns. If it were not for the uniform he wore, nobody would've thought of him as a prisoner holed up inside the dungeon for almost a month. His hair was well-kempt, with limp chains dangling between his wrists.

King Sartus stood up, "I would like to first voice my apologies."

Fenrir didn't sit right away. He looked right at the king. "Your Highess, the apology should be mine. It was my blunder."

Prince Herlock, was confused.

"Sir Fenrir, you have surprised me. Please accept my apology, I have misjudged your intentions before."

"I have no issues with that."

"Then I have a proposal," King Sartus started. "I wish to grant you amnesty."

"It will depend on the terms Your Highness."

Astonished, King Sartus glanced at Aldrich, then a stack of papers was presented. "Please take a look at it yourself, If you have any requests, feel free to share them."

"Thank you, I am humbled by your presence," the stack of paper slipped to Fenrir's side through the small cut-out in the glass panel. He received the documents and knit his eyebrows in secret.

One thing came to mind.

'Too many words.'

Fenrir had no trouble speaking in human language, but when it came to reading— he wasn't that proficient. The best thing he could do at this point in time would be to call XiaXin up to help as this was her expertise.

"Your highness, may I ask if this applies to all three of my companions or just me alone," Fenrir noticed that there were three copies of the contract at the back, which was a relief.

"It applies to all three of you."

"Your highness, then may I ask for my companions?" using this roundabout way, Fenrir thought it would be too shameful to reveal his language shortcomings.

King Sartus thought for a while. "I'll first ask you a question in regards. Are you angry at me for putting you three in custody," King Sartus could already tell these bunch had clearly escaped from prison just from Fenrir's face alone. Whatever it was, he had to keep his vigilance.

"We do not. Our goal precedes emotional flaunts," Fenrir thought the prison served as a decent living space. They didn't need to worry about money and their identities being found out. This was especially true when they did not have identity certificates and most paying jobs require them.

"Aldrich, go bring them."

"Yes Sire."