Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

No, I guess it’s a bit much to call it a prison?

A huge monster is trapped, or a large-scale criminal thought to be dead is being tortured in a labyrinth.

The royal dungeon filled with all kinds of rumors.

‘···The hot water comes out faster than at our house?’

The facilities are too luxurious to be called a prison.

It felt like I was in a 5 star hotel suite.

There are three rooms, and the bed is so big that I can roll sideways on it twice.

There was also a large bathtub in the bathroom…

“···Not bad·”

Of course, not all dungeons are like this.

Well, the place I’m in is a special cell set up in a corner of the basement floor.

A place where those who are criminals but respected by the royal family are imprisoned.

Well, actually, imprisonment itself is not the purpose, but rather it is just for show.

anyway·

“Baron Yandel, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Within hours of beginning his imprisonment, a visitor came to visit him. It was the very same old knight he had met just a few hours before.

He was surprised to see my patriotism.

Asking if life in prison is uncomfortable,

If you need help, just tell me anytime.

Currently, the Noark people are imprisoned on the 5th floor underground and are being interrogated by intelligence agents. During the interrogation, it was revealed that the deputy commander was able to survive thanks to ‘Jeongsu’.

He treated me kindly, made small talk, and then said something meaningful at the end before leaving.

“···I’ll be going now. As I said before, don’t think about anything else for two days and rest. The Marquis may not have taken any special action against you because of another intention.

“···Huh? What does that mean?”

“It means that you may have wanted to escape. Even if the period is only two days, it does not lessen the crime of escape.”

Grandfather King Knight said he had something to do and left, and I also started to think a bit more.

‘That certainly makes sense, I suppose.’

No wonder, the Marquis treated me in prison very well. If he had known my personality, he would have put even more restrictions on me to prevent me from escaping.

He was locked in a special detention cell and was not restrained.

Honestly, if I wanted to, I could just tear the door down and go outside right now····

“···Are you there?”

Somehow, not long after the king knight grandfather left, a second visitor came.

What is this place? Is this a place where anyone can come if they want?

I thought about it and it was kind of funny, but…

‘Actually, if you think about it, it’s not just anyone.’

There were just a lot of people around me who had enough positions to enter the royal dungeon.

Like the second visitor who just arrived.

“Ragnar······”

“It’s been a while… Are you uncomfortable anywhere? I heard it’s different from the prison I thought it was, but I can’t see inside very well from here….”

“It’s probably just as you heard. There’s nothing particularly uncomfortable. I think the food will be good enough.”

“Ah… is that so? That’s good…”

“So what’s going on here?”

When asked about the purpose of his visit, Ragna hesitates and then puts a wrapped box into the gap where he puts his food.

‘what?’

Confidential documents, letters that need to be delivered secretly, etc.

With that in mind, I opened the package in silence and checked the contents.

But, how did this happen?

“···cookie?”

The small box was filled with cookies, but there was nothing special about it.

Oh, did you put something like a note inside the cookie?

The thought suddenly occurred to me and I quickly picked one up and put it in my mouth to chew.

“I heard that there won’t be any desserts served during the meal… I tried baking it myself, but how is it… Do you like it?”

“Huh… Huh? Oh, it’s delicious!”

“Haha, I can hear you well even if you don’t shout like that.”

“······”

I thought the Marquis had ordered me to come, but it really seemed like he just wanted to give me something to eat and see my face.

So, we were just chatting about trivial things across the door, and I thought I’d ask him about that since we met.

What I saw in the secret study room

A drawing of a woman believed to be Ragnar’s biological mother.

Does he really know about that woman’s existence?

I thought about asking him once, but decided not to. I think the Marquis would have hidden wiretapping devices all over the place—

“No, wait a minute”

Suddenly, a lightning strikes my mind.

“···Why are you like that?”

By the way, did the Marquis ever speak to me?

I felt a little sorry, but I ignored Ragnar’s question and recalled my conversation with the Marquis.

‘I didn’t do it’

As I looked back, it became clearer.

The Marquis at that time did not do it.

[So… you really found them while searching our family?]

Even though he must have heard all the news about what happened within the family,

[Two days, exactly two days of discipline]

The Marquis didn’t even mention it, let alone look at it.

About that ‘secret study’ that I entered without permission

Not a single word, really

Even if it’s just a passing remark, it’s likely that the topic will come up at least once.

‘···Wasn’t it such an important secret?’

It’s not something to hide, even if someone finds out.

So that’s why the Marquis didn’t react that much?

It’s not an entirely unreasonable assumption, but my past lives have told me:

‘No, that can’t be true’

Rather, it’s the opposite.

The reason the Marquis never mentioned this was because the ‘secret’ was so important.

And if this assumption is correct,

‘···I might be the most dangerous one·’

Maybe now is not the time to worry about your colleagues in District 7.

“···Why on earth are you doing that?”

Ah, of course, it was a delusion that I couldn’t honestly tell Ragnar, who was also the daughter of the Marquis.

thus····

“···My stomach hurts!”

“···yes?”

“I have to go to the bathroom! Oh, and I’ll enjoy this cookie! Thank you!”

“Yes? Ah··· Yes······”

End the conversation with Ragnar at this point using the Barbarian evasive maneuver.

After Ragnar left, I actually felt a little sick and went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet.

And how much time has passed?

Degururur

Something that looked like a grenade rolled in through a distribution port that could only be opened from the outside.

Flash-!

It explodes and emits a bright light.

‘Flashbang…?’

At first, I thought so, but the light wasn’t so bright that it blinded me, and I didn’t feel any damage to my skin where the light touched it.

‘Who is it···?’

I don’t think it’s an attack.

Just in case, I took out my hammer and approached the door, when I heard a voice from beyond.

“Is it there?”

Jerome Saint-Red, First Royal Knight Commander

No, to be exact, it was an ancient demon that took over his body.

“I came to tell you something urgent.”

He was the village chief.

***

The royal prison is not a playground for children.

I don’t know how many visitors they plan to have each day, but the third visitor was the village chief.

“What are you doing now? What was that just now?”

“This is a magical tool used by the Royal Intelligence Service. It instantly spreads a powerful magical wave, disabling magical tools in the communication system.”

Well, to put it simply, is it an EMP grenade?

“I took this measure in case there were any ears listening, so I hope you understand.”

Well, I thought there was a good chance there was a wiretapping device, so it doesn’t matter.

“Okay, what is the matter that needs to be conveyed urgently?”

As soon as we got to the main point, the village chief immediately spoke only about the main point, as if it was true that he was really in a hurry.

“It’s about to start”

…No, but isn’t this just talking about the main points?

“Starting? What do you mean?”

“The day everything burns”

“No, what does that mean—·”

At that moment, I tried to ignore the sound of my anxiously beating heart and asked as calmly as possible.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaahh …

The vibrations transmitted from the ground continued for several tens of seconds.

Ddddddddddd-!!

Soon the entire prison begins to shake.

The ceiling cracks and the walls that support it break, dropping debris.

At that moment, I was panicking and grabbed the iron gate to ask the village chief what was going on.

The village chief spoke first.

“Get out of here quickly. It’s not safe here anymore.”

“No, so explain it to me—!”

“That’s all I can tell you right now. Survive. Then I’ll tell you something too.”

“You have to tell me something, at least a little bit about the situation, so that I—!”

“It’s almost time. I’ll hear about the situation from the person behind me.”

Soon after those words, the village chief’s departure was heard from beyond the iron gate.

and····

Tada da dat-!

I feel the sound of very urgent footsteps quickly approaching where I am.

He was not a village chief or a knight grandfather.

Well, at first glance, it was clearly the sound of an ordinary person’s footsteps, unrelated to martial arts.

‘Is it Ragna···?’

The first thing that came to mind was her, but surprisingly, this visitor was the fourth new visitor.

Boom, bang, bang!

“Mr. Yandel!! Mr. Yandel!!”

“Raven···?”

“Oh, you were here! That’s great! I’ll open it for you now—·”

“No need”

I went out, tearing open the door, which had no meaning in the first place.

“uh···?”

“Hurry up and get to the point. What’s going on up there right now?”

“iced coffee···!”

Raven, who seemed to have come to his senses upon hearing my voice, quickly began to brief me.

“Thunder! Thunder has fallen on the Palace of Glory!”

‘Thunder’·

The official name of one of the three ‘magic weapons’ held by the royal family.

“I heard from Mr. Yandel on the way to the palace that the Palace of Glory has collapsed and the commander-in-chief, the prime minister, is in danger of death! Everyone is in a state of panic and is evacuating···!”

I grabbed Raven’s shoulder and squeezed it.

I don’t know what I saw up there, but my body was shaking like an aspen tree.

“Hey, we shouldn’t be standing here like this! We should get out of here quickly! If it, y-you fall one more time, this place won’t be safe either—!”

“Calm down, Raven.”

“but···!”

“Even if I calm down·”

“······”

Let’s speak strongly. Raven also kept her mouth shut.

Well, that doesn’t mean the tremors in my body have gone away.

It was a lot better than the panic I had just experienced.

“District 7… Is there any news on what’s going on in District 7?”

“I, I don’t know. Uh, there was talk of starting the Beefron sweep operation before the thunder fell…”

Well, yeah… that’s right…

After that I checked one last thing:

“Do you have any more information on what happened to the Prime Minister?”

“Huh? No! I don’t know if he’s alive or dead, but I heard through the wire that he was definitely in the Palace of Glory when the thunder struck!”

“I see…”

Even as I answered like that, I had a gut feeling… no, I was sure of it.

The Marquis will be alive

No, maybe it was the Marquis who caused the ‘thunder’. There is some circumstantial evidence that he may have conspired with the Noarks.

“Just give me some time.”

“Huh? What time is it? We shouldn’t be here. We should go outside—!”

“Just a moment, just a moment will do.”

After saying those words, Raven kept her mouth shut and continued thinking.

An exhibition where every second counts.

It didn’t take long to finish thinking and come to a conclusion.

‘No matter how much I think about it·’

Running away like this is the worst thing you can do.

Running away right now or going outside to join up with your colleagues in District 7 would all be possible in the current chaotic situation.

Common sense would suggest that it would be a much safer choice, but

Thump·

There’s something called a ‘golden time’ for everything, right?

Depending on how you respond initially, the subsequent results can vary greatly.

Yeah, so···

“You go first, Raven.”

“···Huh? What are you talking about? Are you crazy? Mr. Yandel doesn’t know the situation up there… No, where are you going!”

Raven was startled as she watched me start to walk.

That would be the case.

If you follow the hallway I’m going through now, you’ll come across a staircase that leads down further underground.

and····

“It was the 5th basement floor······”

“B5F…? Why are you going there!”

According to the King Knight’s grandfather, he is trapped there.

The Noark special forces that were captured along with the surrendered ‘Maan’

With all abilities sealed and wearing restraints.