Chapter 7: Waking up in Jail

The girl awoke in a daze. What? Where am I? She tried moving her arms but was stopped by the cold steel surrounding her wrists. Her hands were still cuffed behind her back. Oh that’s right… I got arrested. Despite her predicament, she wasn’t scared or angry. All she felt was regret that she couldn’t accomplish her goal.

The chain between the metal rings of the handcuffs were only about 5 centimeters long so she couldn’t move her arms very much but the chain on the legcuffs were around 50 centimeters long so while the prevented her from running, she could still walk. The girl got up from the bed and walked around her cell to get a feel for her new surroundings.

The cell was a 2.5 meter square and was surrounded on three sides by a hard black stone material that the girl recognized as penitite cement. Penitite is a hard mana repelling stone found in the Deurfaek Mountain which her home country also bordered. The penitite stones are broken down and added to cement enhancing the durability and strength of the blocks as well as making them impervious to magic. However, she did not recognize the metal used for the bars of the cell.

As for the inside of the cell, the girl saw a sink and a toilet on opposite side of the bed and a little bookshelf near the bed filled with books. In the middle of the room was a chair facing the bars presumably for when the prisoners were to be questioned. This cell isn’t as bad as I thought it would be… In all honesty, she had thought she would be thrown into a sewage infested hole in the ground or some other horrific place. After all, she had tried to assassinate their king. Instead, all she could think of was that it was an ordinary jail cell. She went back to the bed. I wonder what they plan to do with me.

She didn’t have to wait long for an answer though. A few minutes later, the girl heard a door opening and an elderly jailer walked in carrying a tray with bread and soup.

“You’re awake. Here’s your breakfast. Come here and stick your hands through this slot so I can unlock your handcuffs.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll break out of here now that those handcuffs aren’t sealing my mana?”

“Doesn’t matter if you can use mana in here anyways. Those bars and those cuffs you’re wearing are made of Adamantite Steel. The strongest Mages and Warriors wouldn’t be able to break out let alone a little girl like you. Although I will have to lock you back up when you meet the king, you don’t have to worry about it with little old me.”

With that, she food tray through the slot. “Eat quickly. His Majesty will speak to you after you eat.”

“...What’s the king of this country like?”

“He’s young but talented and charismatic. He’s not quite as brilliant as his father or grandfather but he’s running things pretty smoothly. He also cares about his citizens and neighbors. He’s a good man but as a king, that could be a great strength or a crippling weakness. Or at least that’s my opinion. But enough about that. Why would a noble lady like yourself try to kill the king? You're so young and pretty, too. Even if you had a grudge against him, wouldn't someone like you usually send someone else as an Assassin?”

“I don’t recall mentioning anything about being a noble.”

“Come now dear. I’ve lived through the reign of three kings already. Judging from your words you’re not from Leferon. I don’t know what country you’re from but it’s generally quite easy to spot one by seeing how they eat for example. Oh if only my granddaughter could have a fraction of your demeanor.”

“Thank you for talking with me.” After the girl had finished eating, the old jailer handcuffed her and left, leaving her alone to collect her thoughts. About half an hour passed and the door to the dungeon opened again. This time, a handsome blonde haired man wearing a white suit appeared in front of the cell.

“Good morning, Princess Emilia Forthon. As you probably know by now, I am King Arthur Leferon, King of Leferon. We met last night but I guess this is the first time we’re meeting each other face to face. Hope you found everything to be alright. I would have put you in a more comfortable cell but all of them are made like this.”

“Who?”

“No need to play dumb. I’ve read the battle report and after a bit of digging, I think I have enough evidence to prove my assumption. The jailer already helped me to confirm you’re not from Leferon. Since we know you’re not from here, the only other place you could be from without showing up on our immigration and visitor logs would be if you were from Forthon since we have a traveling treaty. To further my point, Leferon and Forthon accents are indistinguishable just like yours is to ours. You’re a Dual Class user and one of the Classes you use is the Mage Class. Reports from Forthon say that Princess Emilia is a magical prodigy and that she’s a Dual Class user. The reports don’t say what your second Class is but I’ll say it’s safe to assume it’s Assassin after yesterday’s event. Finally, it took a bit of digging but Princess Emilia is rumored to have an extremely rare Divine Phoenix as a contracted beast. Quite the coincidence that’s the one you have isn’t it?”

“That doesn’t prove anything. It just means that I’m a Mage Dual Class user from Forthon. There’s probably a hundred people who match that description. Besides, you have no real evidence that the princess has a Divine Phoenix if it’s just based on rumors.”

“I guess that’s true but you’re forgetting the most damning piece of evidence. You used another ability in your battle. Gathering so much mana into your body that your hair turns silvery white is the bloodline ability of the Forthon Royal Family. I also know that the Forthonian king is an only child and that twenty years ago his queen died in childbirth. After that, he started to isolate himself and his country from the outside. Thus the only two people alive with the Mana Overcharge ability are you and the King of Forthon.”

“I guess the secret is out although to be honest I wasn’t really trying to hide it anyways. I failed to kill you so I can’t go home. I’ll tell you my story on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Kill the madman who’s controlling my father.”