Kays Translations

Chapter 51: Life in Prison

The arrest warrant issued for Tauro was unjust, but once it had been issued, there was nothing he could do.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Leo, the branch chief, came out of his office after hearing the commotion. When the staff explained what was happening, he flew into a rage, but the adventurers present desperately restrained him. They couldn’t allow him to attack the territorial soldiers.

“You know resistance won’t be tolerated. Anyone who interferes will be arrested. Now hand Satou over quietly.”

Tauro was shaken, but he couldn’t let the other adventurers get into any more trouble on his account.

He calmed Nei, who was trying to stop him, handed her the short sword at his waist, and stepped forward.

“Tauro Satou, you’re under arrest.”

In front of everyone, the soldiers shackled Tauro, seized both his arms, and dragged him away.

“Don’t worry, Tauro! The guild will do everything in its power to get you out!”

Leo’s voice rang out behind him.

So did Nei’s anguished cries of his name.

Tauro was imprisoned as a suspect.

The interrogations continued day and night.

“Your father is a bandit. That much is a fact!”

The interrogator asked him the same question yet again.

“As I’ve already explained, I was a registered adventurer long before I learned that. I only found out during the scouting quest immediately before the subjugation quest, and I reported it to the guild. I’m not one of the bandits.”

“But your father escaped without being arrested. You must have let him get away!”

“When he’s believed to have escaped, I was fighting alongside the other adventurers.”

“Then you must have leaked the information to him!”

“If I had, the surprise attack itself would have failed…”

“Shut up!”

The shout was accompanied by a punch.

It was always the same.

Whenever the interrogator found himself at a disadvantage, he beat Tauro into silence, asked another question, and struck him again.

He also urged Tauro to confess and put an end to his suffering.

But a confession would mean death.

Banditry was punishable by hanging as a rule.

Tauro’s spirit was close to breaking, but he chose to endure, believing that Leo, Nei, and the other adventurers would save him.

When the interrogation ended late at night, he was returned to his cell.

It was a solitary cell underground.

At first it had been damp, moldy, and filthy, with rats and insects crawling everywhere, but Tauro had cleaned it with [Purification].

When a guard noticed, he replaced Tauro’s shackles with a special pair that sealed his mana.

Tauro could no longer use [Magic Storage], leaving him with nothing decent to eat.

After a short sleep on the cold stone floor, he was taken for interrogation again at dawn.

The beatings began first thing in the morning.

Tauro was never without fresh wounds.

Leo’s direct appeal to the lord of the territory came to nothing, and the days continued to pass.

Paulo, manager of the Garfish Trading Company’s Saisi branch, also took action when he learned of Tauro’s arrest.

He wrote to the company chairman, asking him to seek help in the royal capital, and sent the letter to company headquarters by express rider.

—The Royal Capital.

Two weeks had passed since Tauro’s arrest.

Murdai Garfish was in a room at the royal palace.

It was the prime minister’s office.

By calling in the Garfish Trading Company’s connections and spreading plenty of money around, he had finally secured an appointment with the prime minister that day.

“Your Excellency, Prime Minister and Duke Barriera, thank you for granting me an audience despite your busy schedule.”

“Skip the preamble. I’m busy, so tell me what you need in one minute. Work has been piling up lately. It’s been a long time, but I have almost no time to spare.”

“Y-yes, Your Excellency! It concerns Tauro Satou.”

“Satou? Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in some time. Is he well?”

“Tauro has been arrested on false charges and is being held in prison. Please, I beg you to help him!”

“What? Tell me everything. You there—rearrange my schedule!”

The prime minister issued the order as he handed a subordinate the documents he had finished signing.

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