In the Castellan’s residence of Benson Town, Clyde discussed how to pass through the blockaded area with Anna, the young lady of Earl Gerard’s family. However, Anna herself had no power despite being a magician. Honestly, she had just come out to play this time and hadn’t at all participated in battle.
“Lord Clyde, as a matter of fact, you can discuss this with Marquis Charles. I heard from Sivia that the Needham Plains are an undeveloped wasteland. If it were not for his needing Douglas Clan’s support, Marquis Charles wouldn’t have cared about that area.”
“Eh, Sivia is Marquis Charles’s daughter?”
“Yes, Master, didn’t you know that? Ya, it hurts! Don’t pinch me. I was wrong.”
On Anna’s big bed, Clyde hugged a completely bare blonde beauty and intimately chatted with her while his hands explored her body. Anna’s complexion was a little red, and she had a charming expression. She didn’t stop Clyde’s claws, showing her tacit consent. In any case, she couldn’t stop Clyde’s wicked actions even if she had wanted to.
According to her information, the beautiful magician Sivia, Princess Alyssa’s other close girlfriend, was Marquis Charles’s daughter. He had saved these rather aloof ladies from assassination in the royal palace of Adrian Empire. She also had a particular friendship with Clyde. Until now, he had not learned this important information because he hadn’t asked about the backgrounds of these ladies in the past.
“Master, you can only resort to the secret passage if you want to pass through the blockade. Although I don’t know where that secret passage is, the lord of this place should know.”
“Anna, isn’t your father the lord?”
“My dad doesn’t particularly care about war. For the most part, my big brother Gerald is in charge of military affairs. The former lord of this place used that secret passage to flee him.”
As it turned out, the mayor of Benson Town had fled with many valuables from Earl Gerard’s encirclement. Although most of the mayor’s family members had been taken hostage, the mayor had successfully escaped. At that time, Anna’s big brother, Viscount Gerald had personally led the troops to search the entire mayoral residence, but he hadn’t found even a trace of a secret path. Anna suggested for Clyde to seek this secret path; otherwise, he could only use military power to forcibly pass through toward the Needham Plains.
“Anna, a matter that even your Big Brother Gerald couldn’t accomplish, do you think I can do it?”
“I don’t know, Master. I was just suggesting that you give it a try. If that doesn’t work, you can lead your troops to forcibly break through. My big brother’s main force is focusedly suppressing the southeast direction, so you should strike the northwest direction because the defenses of that place are not great.”
“Well, I hope to pass through peacefully. Where are the family members of the former mayor? Take me to them. What, is it an inappropriate place?”
“No. Master, please follow me.”
Anna’s complexion was a little red. She had originally wanted to request for Clyde to leave so that she could wear clothes and then lead him. However, considering their relationship, she also didn’t feel very conflicted about this. She wore her clothes piece by piece in front of him, letting him enjoy the entire course. After Anna changed into her magician attire, she took Clyde to the prison beside the mayoral residence, Kelifu Prison.
Kelifu Prison was a large prison that could hold over ten thousand people. When the former mayor of Benson Town had been in power, he had ruled Benson Town with heavy-handed policies. To put in plainly, he had been a small local warlord. This prison was one of the tools for his brutal rule. After Earl Gerard had arrived, the former mayor had realized that the situation was turning sour and fled alone with gold, silvers, and treasure, abandoning over 2,000 troops.
For the residents of Benson Town, although the small warlord had been overthrown, Earl Gerard was also not good. With Miss Anna leading the way, the guards at the entrance of Kelifu Prison let them pass without inspection. They didn’t feel that their Miss bringing someone into Kelifu Prison was inappropriate. They thought that Clyde was merely an escort guard, so they didn’t check his identity.
“Anna, why are there so many people in this prison? As I recall, Victor Alliance doesn’t practice slavery!”
“Master, you may not know this, but although many people say that Victor Alliance’s nations all are very upstanding, we are free to take prisoners.”
“It seems that I lack experience.”
Despite being prepared in advance, he was still shocked after entering Kelifu Prison. This prison with the capacity to hold ten thousand people was actually full. Allegedly, even during Mayor Benson’s rule, Kelifu Prison had never reached full capacity like this, only half at most. In just a short time under Earl Gerard, it had reached full capacity. It seemed that both parties weren’t moderate lords.
The people locked up in Kelifu Prison were family members of the fief’s residents and were being detained indefinitely as ransom hostages. Victor Alliance didn’t practice slavery on the surface. However, kidnapping hostages for ransom and similar actions belonged to a gray area. It didn’t violate the alliance’s laws. Many local Suzerains were proficient in this method to make a fortune. Everyone had a tacit understanding to keep silent about this matter. Therefore, the dark side of Victor Alliance had never been exposed to the light.
Kelifu Prison was dark and damp. Although it was unclear whether all the prisoners locked up had truly committed crimes, the prison was full in any case. However, even after looking around, Anna and Clyde couldn’t find the family members of Benson Town’s former lord. Could it be that they had also escaped? Thus, they could only ask Head Warden Brown who was drinking wine. Upon seeing Clyde and Anna, he was a little shocked. He couldn’t believe that Miss Anna would come to Kelifu Prison, this kind of place.
“Miss… Miss Anna, how come you’re here?”
“Well, I just came to look around casually. Where are the family members of Benson Town’s mayor? How come I don’t see them? Don’t tell me that they also escaped?”
“This… I’m also unclear about this. It’s His Excellency Gerald’s responsibility. I don’t have the right to get involved in it.”
From a glance, Prison Warden Brown was not a good person. Approaching him, Clyde could smell a heavy alcoholic stench on this fat man. A short while ago, this fatty had clearly indulged in excessive drinking. Anna frowned, seemingly finding this a problem. However, it was not good for her to reprimand him in front of Clyde. After all, Brown was still her family’s subject.
He noticed that Warden Brown had a wretched appearance; the warden even took advantage of when Miss Anna was not paying attention to ogle her plump ** with his wicked eyes. Afterward, he quickly lowered his head, pretending to see nothing. When facing her questions, he spoke evasively as if to conceal something. Just then, Clyde suddenly pulled her sleeves and hinted something with his gaze. Miss Anna readily took the hint and bade farewell to Warden Brown.
“Since I can’t find them, forget it. I was just asking casually. I’ll return first. If you have any information, remember to notify me immediately.”
“Miss Anna, this subordinate will certainly do it. You can rest assured.”
“That’s good. There’s no need to send me off; I have my guard.”
After Miss Anna turned around, a relaxed expression unintentionally appeared on his face as if he had passed some major test, which didn’t escape Clyde’s eyes. Brown thought that Clyde was just a guard brought along by Miss Anna, nothing more; therefore, he had not been guarded against him. All his precautions had been directed towards Miss Anna. As a result, he had slipped up in front of Clyde.
“Master, why did you…?”
“Anna, are all the family members of the former mayor women?”
“Yes, when the mayor fled, only the women were left behind.”
“Then, your big brother Gerald, is he lascivious? Also, that fellow Brown, what are his usual preferences?”
“Big Brother is not lascivious. He is occupied with military and political affairs all day long. He doesn’t have the leisure time to care about these. As for that fellow Brown, he is lascivious and indulges in excessive drinking. Master, did you notice any issues?”
After coming out of Kelifu Prison, Clyde sorted out the information with Anna and roughly guessed the truth. When he had looked around Kelifu Prison, he had noticed something wrong. Among the people imprisoned, all the women were either advanced in age or with country-woman level looks. Their appearances were ordinary, and most were ugly. There was not a single woman with above average looks, which was very suspicious.
After learning the warden’s character, Clyde roughly guessed what was going on. He glanced back and noticed that the guards at the entrance gate of Kelifu Prison were repeatedly looking toward them as if to confirm whether Miss Anna had left. It was very likely that they were trusted subordinates of Warden Brown who were entrusted with monitoring Miss Anna’s movements.
“Anna, return by yourself first. After you leave, I will sneak back in. If you are here, that fellow Brown will be cautious, and it will be harder to expose the truth.”
“That… I will listen to Master’s arrangements. Master, if you have any requirements or orders, you can come look for me at any time.”
Anna gave a charming smile and parted with Clyde at the next street corner. After seeing Miss Anna leave, the guards at Kelifu Prison immediately made someone enter, most likely to report to Warden Brown. None of them noticed Clyde, shrouded in Dark Mist Magic and blending into the shadows. After coming back, he looked for a place to infiltrate Kelifu Prison and carry out a secret battle.
