Inside the underground dungeon beneath Themisphere palace, Jack was sitting inside one of its cells. It had been half a day since he sat inside there. He reckoned it was close to nighttime now, but he couldn't be sure. There was no window for him to look out from.
He also couldn't access his storage bag or contact any friends using his messaging system. Even his equipment's ability was nullified. He had been staying still for a while in the dark but he didn't turn invisible from his Cloak of Shadow's ability.
He had been looking around the jail for something he could use. There was nothing. The entire cell only had a wooden bed on one side.
He even tried to scratch the rune diagram on the wall, which received Peniel's mocking. A rune diagram couldn't be disabled in such a crude way. Unless he had enough strength to destroy the wall completely, it was not possible to erase the rune. This prompted Jack to punch the wall and received another of Peniel's scoldings. His hand was hurting at the time so he didn't quite catch what Peniel was saying.
When he looked out from the jail bar, he couldn't see anyone stationed in this basement. The fact that they didn't need a warden spoke of the sturdiness of this jail's structure. Jack tested this by kicking at the metal bar as hard as he could. It didn't budge.
In the end, he sat back and contemplated what had happened today.
His thought went to Prince Alonzo again. The event had happened so fast. He still couldn't believe that the prince was gone. He honestly considered the prince as his friend. He was very sad that this happened. Who had murdered the prince? Who could profit from his death? Both Therribus and Rhemos were already gone. Losing the prince would just cause turmoil in Themisphere.
Was this an act of foreign powers? Seeking to throw this country into chaos? Was it the World Maker? Seeking to weaken other countries, paving the way for their conquest?
However, now that he thought back at the events earlier today. One thing was nagging him. It was the thing that person had said. Was he involved with what happened to the prince? He hoped not.
Jack thought he won't find any conclusion with such limited information. He decided to just stop thinking about it for now. He looked into his status window. Although his other game functions were blocked, this data access was not. Probably because it didn't contribute to any battle or tactical advantage.
During this week where he attended the rehearsals. He had regularly used the training cave and conquered the guild's legacy dungeons. Although the exp points gathered from those avenues were not as beneficial as the war, he still increased one level to his Brave Swordsmaster. He was now level 63 for that class.
He then turned to the quest page. When he found Alonzo's body earlier today, he had heard an update notification on his kingdom faction quest.
*
Throne of Themisphere (Chain kingdom faction quest)
Difficulty: SSS
Rewards: ???
Resolve the situation of Themisphere's throne.
*
Part 6: Investigate Alonzo's murder
Difficulty: SSS
Rewards: 2,000,000 exp, 100 gold coins, 50,000 merit points
Find out and punish Alonzo's murderer.
*
He was now staring at this quest's info. The description had changed from supporting Prince Alonzo in ascending the throne to resolving the situation of this kingdom's throne. Which involved finding and bringing Alonzo's murderer to justice.
This quest was designated SSS difficulty. This meant that this was most likely the end of the kingdom faction chain quest. He wondered then, was Prince Alonzo always meant to be assassinated? Only after it happened that an SSS difficulty quest popped up.
Did Wilted write this scenario into the game's original program? No, she did mention that the prince Alonzo she knew wouldn't have risen and fought his brothers for the throne. So, she shouldn't be aware of this quest.
While he was contemplating, Jack heard the sound of the main door to this underground dungeon being opened. Then he heard footsteps approaching. The footsteps were rather short and heavy.
Not long after, Warren came to view.
"You...," Jack uttered. It had been some time since he last saw this person. He thought with Therribus gone, this magistrate should have been sacked from his post. It seemed that Warren had cleverly stayed under the radar that Alonzo hadn't dealt with him.
Warren was grinning widely. It didn't take a brilliant mind to see that this magistrate had come down here to gloat at Jack's misfortune.
"What do you want?" Jack still asked him, though.
"Hmph! I'm just here to see your face. The great outworlder. The one who had even been bestowed the title of the Hero of Themisphere. Such a hero. I have known this will happen. The crown prince was right. You outworlders only care about benefits. It was foolish for the third prince to ever trust your kind. He reaped what he sowed for his blind trust. That fool!"
"Watch your tongue! That's your prince you are sullying!" Jack scolded.
"A prince that you murdered!" Warren fired back.
"I did not do that!" Jack lunged forward, attempting to grab Warren's collar. But Warren seemed to have expected that. He had stood just an arm's length from the prison bar. He took a step back when Jack's arm shot out.
'Damn it!' Jack cursed within. He had been wanting to test his luck to see if Warren had the keys to the cells down here. It seemed that this magistrate was not that dumb.
"Every proof point to you as the perpetrator. You won't escape from this," Warren continued their argument. "There is nothing you say that will convince the court otherwise."
Jack had returned to the bed. He lay down on it. After he failed to catch Warren, he was no longer interested to continue their talk.
Warren could see that Jack was no longer entertaining him. Still, he continued to speak, "Hmph! You can pretend as if you will somehow get out of this, but let me tell you something. The court is already in session discussing your crime. It is a closed session, but I'm a good friend of one of the judges. He assured me that deciding you as the murderer of Prince Alonzo is a foregone conclusion. What they are still discussing is what to do with the rest of the outworlders."
Jack sat up upon hearing this. "What do the other outworlders have to do with this?" He asked.
"Hmph! As I said, your kind is a dangerous race. A plague to our world. The third prince should have seen this at the time that failed assassination was attempted on him in this city. It was clear already at that time that the perpetrator was an outworlder. Why he could still believe in your kind after that happened is nothing I will ever understand."
"It is because Prince Alonzo was not a petty person such as you!" Jack responded.
"A fool is more correct!" Warren retorted.
"Wasn't that assassination attempt carried out by Prince Therribus to discredit the outworlders?" Jack asked.
"Hmph, why did he need to do that? Leaving your kind on your own machination was enough to let everyone see you for the pest you are."
"Are you saying that that assassination from before is not carried out by Therribus?"
"I am certain it is not," Warren replied.
Although he disliked this magistrate, he believed Warren's words just now. After all, Warren had no benefit in lying to him in his current situation. Not even for a gloating purpose.
"What do you think the kingdom will do to the outworlders?" Jack asked about a different issue.
"As I said, it is still being decided. But from my friend's info, I can say that the most likely decision will be to push for a regulation to outlaw your kind. We will exterminate all of you and bring you back to the first level, then dig a hole, throw all of you down there, and lock you all inside for the remaining of your miserable lives."
"Not everyone agrees to such a decision, certainly?"
"Of course, some object. Like your good friends, Duke Alfredo and Duchess Isabelle, but they are but a minority. Your kind's fate is sealed!"
"What about royal advisor Mason? Certainly, he has a say in this matter."
"He comes to your defense. But as I said, a small voice in the crowd. It won't overturn what will happen."
Jack just sat there thinking about all this while Warren watched with a gloating smile.
Seeing Jack's continued silence, Warren resumed his mocking, "Enjoy your limited time here. After this, maybe you will even miss this jail, hahaha!"
"Well, a spectacular chat! I want to sleep now. Please excuse me if I don't see you out," Jack said and lay back on the bed.
"Hmph! Try to cover your worry with your jokes all you want. Hehe. I will be there when they execute you. Me and my boy, Walter, if you still remember him, will be the first in line when you are thrown into the hole we will be preparing. Hell, we will also help dig that hole if needed."
"Really? How can Walter dig with only one arm? Or have you finally managed to get that boy to regrow his arm?" Jack asked.
"Hmph! Joke all you want! We will see who laughs the loudest in the end!" Warren banged the prison bars before walking away.
Jack sat back up after Warren left.
"Shit," He cursed. This matter had gone from bad to worse.
