Chance locked eyes with his sworn brother, sharing the most sincere smile.
"If there's anyone who can survive as a crawler, it would be you, Gart…
"But who knows? Maybe Father Earth and Mother Heaven will finally bless you with some humble pie after spending some time down in the dungeon."
"Tra, ha, ha! Just cause they're gods doesn't mean they create miracles every day," Gart commented. "The way I see it, either they're not so all-powerful or not so all-loving. Why else would they have given a nobleman like yourself the blessing of pickpocket?"
"Hey, I don't know the gods personally," Chance laughed it off with a playful shrug. "But the divine blessings are real. That's a fact. And they've got to come from somewhere, like it or not."
Smiling and nodding, Gart added, "Well, next time you talk to them, ask them why they hate me."
"Come on, none of the gods hate you! There's no way–"
"If it's not hatred of the gods that left me with no blessing, then at least ask them why they ignored me at best. Just cause gods exist doesn't mean I have to kiss their feet and give the almighty deities my money. Not when their greatest sign of love, their blessing, never reached me."
Shaking his head with a slight, knowing grin, Chance replied, "Well, just cause they didn't help you doesn't mean you have to make enemies of the entire pantheon."
"Well… you've got me there. Tra, ha, ha, ha!"
A reflexive laugh overtook Chance. "You're still laughing like an old coot? You should've grown out of that a long time ago.
"Besides, now that you've shared some of your fee-fees, we've got to wrap this up. We can't have it look like a newly appointed nobleman is sympathetic to an exiled crawler, not if you want me secretly digging around for the truth."
Chance retrieved a simple silver ring from his magical storage pouch.
Gart snatched the ring the moment it appeared. "You really did save it! How the hell did you swipe such valuable contraband–"
"It was all thanks to you keeping Diobor and his cronies busy at the courthouse. Otherwise, there'd be no way for such a pricey item to disappear before it was processed and shipped off to the auction house."
The next moment, a dim flash of mana covered the silver ring as the cloth-covered barrel disappeared at the touch of Gart's finger.
"You really saved it. This alone was worth all that courtroom bullshit…
"And once again, I'm in your debt." Gart shrugged with watery eyes. "I'm sorry I won't be able to finish your ring, now that I've been… Actually, how many hours are left till dawn?"
"Roughly seven hours, I'd wager," Chance answered. "Why do you ask? I doubt Vara will be back in town by then."
In response, Gart just patted his brother on the shoulder.
"I think you should come back for my send-off. Maybe bring me a pair of good boots as the official parting gift?" Gart jokingly tapped his bare toes on the cold stone floor. "If anything, some might get suspicious if you didn't bring me a gift they could all see for themselves."
An excited smirk overtook Chance's face as he thought it over.
"Well… I guess we can make it work if we put on a little show. But only if you'll have a parting gift for me."
"It'll be finished in time. Though it might not be as powerful as mine, you'll have to excuse the slight drop in quality given my sudden time constraints."
"Fine. Then I'll guess this isn't goodbye, just yet."
"Not yet."
Once more, the brothers yanked each other into a brutal embrace, smacking their backs as loudly as possible before Gart dispersed the cell's sound-blocking bubble.
Knock, knock!
"Open the door!" Chance forcefully bellowed as he put his gauntlet and helmet back on.
"And as for you… You've brought this on yourself, either through your own deeds or your shitty bad luck."
As the guard opened the cell door, Gart put his ignorant, teasing face back on.
"Oh yeah? That's rich coming from you, the brother who left me hanging in court while the nobles and their lackies framed me–"
SMACK!
"That's enough shit out of your mouth!" roared Chance, punching Gart down onto his spilled food tray with a bloody lip.
"Count yourself lucky that I'm visiting a convicted murderer at all. I'll bring you some things at dawn, as repayment for saving my life back when we were kids."
"Fine…" Gart spat out some bloody dribble from his busted lip. "Consider dawn as our final farewell. Who would want a cowardly brother like you, anyway?"
Thwack!
An armored kick drilled the downed Gart in the side.
"To think I once looked up to you… Pathetic."
Without another word, Chance slammed the door behind him and snatched the key from the stunned, spectating guard to lock the door himself.
"... Leave him be. He's had enough food and water."
Shaking from shock, the guard looked back to his infuriated captain. "Y-yes, sir! We won't serve him any food or water till his departure–"
"No need to spare a rat breakfast," Chance sternly ordered. "I told you. He's had his fill."
"Y-yes, sir, Captain Chansard!"
Already walking away, Chance stopped one final time as mana radiated from his golem arm. "... It's Captain Tanner."
"R-RIGHT! Yes, sir! Captain Tanner, sir! How could I forget–"
"This is the only forgiveness I'll grant. Forget it again, and you'll be joining that convict on his little trip."
"It won't happen again, Captain Tanner! I'll also make sure no one else forgets! You can count on me, Captain Tanner!"
"... Very well."
The sound of heavy, frustrated steps filled the stone corridor. Only the guard's pounding heart could overpower the nobleman captain's exiting footsteps, at least according to the guard's ears.
Silently, the guard breathed in and out… gradually calming his racing heartbeat and his tumultuous thoughts.
He glanced back at the closed cell door out of instinct.
Despite Captain Chance being a talented, rising star among soldiers and guards, he was known as a man who could control his temper. Even when dishing out strict punishments for rulebreakers, the captain never went overboard.
And yet, for the first time, it was a cursed orphan sentenced to death that finally cracked the captain's heroic demeanor.
A few words slipped from the guard's slow gasps.
"What the hell did that cursed bastard say to him…? Just how desperate and pitiful can a guy be?"