- In the Cafeteria -
Rei and Runar didn't find any fragments that day...
Still, neither of them seemed to care.
Rei was tense and on edge most of the day while Runar seemed as bright and dashing as ever... but after working with him for a whole week, Rei reached the conclusion that Runar is just keeping up a facade and that he's worried, too.
He thought so because Runar was unusually silent when no one spoke to him... and he was even looking at the other prisoners with a hint of…
Regret…?
Well, regardless, Rei decided not to think about it… he already has his fair share of complicated thoughts to deal with after all.
Heading towards the guard in charge of food, Rei took his food and looked at the guard a second more than usual.
'This might be the last time I see this guy...'
Rei didn't particularly like this guard since he always treats him like a kid, but still… this guy might be the only one here who seemed to care a bit about Rei.
At least enough to give him an extra loaf of bread and give him some advice.
"Hey kid, no luck today, huh?"
"Yeah… I didn't find any fragments today, not my lucky day I guess."
"Well, that's normal, so don't be so down, kid. It was already odd that you found three on your first day… here, I will even give you an extra loaf of bread, so cheer up."
Taking his two loaves of bread and the usual glass of water, Rei smiled and thanked him before going to sit in his usual seat next to Runar.
"So… feeling ready now?"
Runar asked as he took a bite from his bread, looking as elegant as ever.
"Yeah... you can tell me what the rest of your plan is now."
Rei answered as he took a bite from his own bread, too… his expression full of grim determination.
Runar nodded, then gestured to someone to come next to him...
Blinking, Rei followed Runar's eye, and who he saw coming to sit next to Runar was...
"Thomson!?"
Rei's eyes widened as he realized.
"Is he… working with you…?"
The muscular, bearded old man sat next to Runar and nodded... his gaze seemed to inspect Rei intensely.
"Yeah, I was… working with Runar from the start."
"Wait, so does that mean—?"
At Rei's dumbfounded expression, Runar smirked and nodded.
"All the interactions I had with Sir Thomson were acting."
Gazing at them with a blank expression, Rei remembered all the interactions they had this week silently...
"So what you did back then was… to test me..."
Thomson took a bite from his food, too, as he answered.
"Yeah. Rei, was it? Anyway… we were looking for an ally and Runar found you interesting, so he wanted me to try and steal your fragments to gauge your capabilities..."
Runar continued with his twisted smile.
"And oh, what interesting results did I get... not only did you act fearless and use me to stop Sir Thomson, but you even used a fragment to make me your ally and gather information from me."
"Oh? So you found out, haha, how embarrassing..."
Rei scratched the back of his head as he acted embarrassed.
Thomson crossed his arms as he said with a firm expression.
"You're a cunning kid... that's why I don't fully trust you, but for now, I will only say this, Rei..."
"I will make sure you regret it if you betray us... no matter what."
Turning serious, Rei looked back at him.
"Sure, I will keep that in mind."
Clapping once as if bringing them back to the topic at hand, Runar said.
"Alright, now that we're done with the introductions, let me share my plan with you."
Sighing, Rei nodded, his expression as determined as ever.
----------------------------------------------------
At Night -
Rei sat on the small sack of hay that's supposed to be his bed while leaning on the wall of his prison cell... his expression slightly wistful.
'I guess this is gonna be the last time I sit in this stupid cell, too...'
He didn't particularly think that he would miss this place... in fact, he thinks that he would definitely be happy to leave it without looking back.
'But still, this place was where I started my second life, so... I guess it means something to me, albeit small.'
Rei had spent a whole week here in this damned prison... and although he didn't make connections that were particularly deep enough with the people here to call anyone a real friend, he still cared about some prisoners enough to feel guilty about leaving the innocent behind.
Not all prisoners here were bad people after all, most of them were just unlucky refugees that found themselves here because some corrupt guard decided to accuse them of being spies for no good reason.
And most of the other prisoners were in a situation similar to Rei... because the kingdom didn't offer them jobs or ways to earn money, they had no choice but to steal to survive.
That's why although Rei felt slightly guilty about leaving the innocent behind, he doesn't feel any remorse about what he's gonna do now...
'Alright… guess it's time to start my part of the plan.'
Rei had told them that he had a method to get them out of their cells without making a sound, after all.
It wouldn't have been possible for someone that can't see in the dark to cut his prison cell's bars without making a sound or waking the guards, after all...
At how dark this place is, a normal person wouldn't even be able to tell when the guards are sleeping or not, let alone cut the bars perfectly without making sound.
'Huh… but then again, that's probably why no one ever tried to break out using this crazy method...'
'Anyway… I'm ready to escape this hell hole!'
Having steeled his resolve, Rei stood up and walked towards the bars of his prison cell and looked outside...
Naturally, he shouldn't be able to see anything in the darkness of the night considering there was no present light source in this place, but Rei could, and that's because of his [Moon bound] attribute.
'Alright, most of the guards are asleep...'
Having confirmed that the guards closest to him were slacking off like usual instead of keeping watch, Rei smirked and grabbed the bars of his cell that were on the brink of collapse.
And then...
-Crack...
He pulled them with all his strength, making a part of them disconnect in the middle and creating a hole that he can go in and out of.
'So far, so good… it worked without making much noise.'
Smiling slightly as he held the small part of the bars in his hands, Rei placed it quietly on the ground and got out of the cell through the hole he created.
Then once he got out, Rei looked at the guard sleeping next to him and hesitated...
'Logically, it's safer to kill him, but…'
Rei didn't think this guard deserved death... he was definitely an annoying guy, but that wasn't enough of a reason for Rei to kill.
Sighing, Rei decided not to kill him and just take the keys hanging on the guard's waist silently since he already knows where they are.
'Good…'
Rei managed to not make a sound when he took the keys.
Then he looked at the other cells...
'Let's start the dangerous part...'
Having taken the keys, Rei walked silently throughout the dark chamber and went to Runar's prison cell and opened it.
"Hey buddy… ready to start our crazy prison breakout?"
Rei whispered with a smile that Runar couldn't see because of how dark this place is.
"Rei... you actually did it... how?"
Runar asked, slightly surprised at how fast Rei managed to get out and come free him.
"Well… let's just say I have really good eyes."
Rei shrugged.
"Did you kill the guards?"
Not being able to see as well as Rei in the dark, Runar looked in the direction the voice came from and asked quietly.
"No…"
After staying silent for a moment, Rei answered.
"How soft, but… I understand. Let's go free Sir Thomson now."
Runar replied as if deciding it's not the time to judge Rei for his decision.
Rei nodded, appreciating the fact that Runar is willing to ignore it for now.
And then just as they got out of the cell, Runar grabbed a soul fragment that emanated a small blue light that he was hiding in his pocket and immediately covered the mouth of the guard sleeping next to them to prevent any noise or struggle, and then…
-Swish!
He stabbed the neck of the sleeping guard without hesitation.
"..."
'WHAT!'
Rei had to cover his mouth with his hands to stop himself from screaming as cold sweat dropped down his face and his hands started shaking.
Runar had just killed a person.
Just like that.
The guard didn't even have time to react or even realize that he was gonna die while sleeping...
Rei was able to see it all in the darkness because of his attribute... the way the guard's neck got stabbed without hesitation with the light-emanating sharp fragment...
The way his blood started dripping down from the hole in his neck quietly... Runar's calm, cold gaze as he stabbed the guard as if this wasn't his first time killing someone.
It was all way too fast and cruel for Rei to process everything immediately...
"I will take his sword and armor,"
Runar stated calmly, as if not bothered by the fact that he had just killed a man.
"Ah… eh? Uh, y-yeah..."
If Runar was able to see Rei's face in this darkness, he would've seen a terrified, confused, and scared face… but luckily, he didn't.
Then after dragging the corpse to his cell, Runar switched his clothes with it and came back wearing slightly rusty armor and holding a sword in his hand with the keys hanging at his waist.
"Let's go..."
After that, Rei barely managed to hold himself as things started moving too fast and in a blur...
He headed with Runar to Thomson's cell and got him out...
Only for Thomson to kill the sleeping guard next to his cell and loot the corpse, too...
There were around fifteen guards that were supposed to be on watch next to the cells in that chamber... and because of the darkness and the fact that most of them were asleep, it was very easy for Runar and Thomson to kill most of them.
And once they got their hands on more keys, they gave them to other prisoners after waking them up and telling them to help them kill the guards.
Of course, not all the prisoners were willing to help in this situation, considering most of them fear Kane and Warden and what they would do if they found out.
That's why Runar and Thomson decided to free only some select few that they were certain would help kill the guards silently.
And once they gathered around ten prisoners, they decided to attack the few guards that were awake head-on.
Rei was way too out of it to do anything, so after Runar looked at him silently as if reevaluating him… his eyes softened slightly and he told him...
"You don't have to participate in this fight, Rei. You did your part... but you might still have to dirty your hands soon to survive in this world..."
Runar looked at Rei with a firm gaze and said coldly before hitting his shoulder and heading forward.
"And when that time comes, Rei... I hope you realize that… you should never hesitate to kill to survive."
"…"
Rei blinked and looked at Runar's back silently as he thought...
'Why…?'
'Why did that feel like you were trying to tell that to yourself rather than me...'
Then the fight against the rest of the guards in this chamber started...
It was swift.
Runar and Thomson had led the fight.
There were around eight guards left and ten prisoners...
Runar and Thomson held their swords and took a stance, pointing their blades at the guards.
The guards didn't have much time to react as they were suddenly confronted with prisoners from all sides.
And although their numbers didn't have that much difference, their skill did.
The guards were more skilled than most of the prisoners... but there were two that had skill far superior to all of the guards.
Runar and Thomson were strong.
They were stronger, faster, and far more experienced swordsmen than all the guards combined...
So it only took five minutes.
Runar and Thomson alone killed half the guards, and the other prisoners managed to kill the rest.
The fight got some prisoners injured, but because of their bigger numbers and Runar and Thomson's strength and talent with the sword... they managed to kill the guards without much trouble.
"..."
Staring silently at the corpses next to his feet on the cold ground, Runar didn't say anything for a while...
Then as if steeling his resolve, he raised his head and looked back at the prisoners and said:
"That's only the start."
Raising his sword, he announced.
"Our next target is Kane. Follow me if you want to be free!"
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