Chapter 100

"Please stay calm and cooperate, and it will be much easier for us."

I was brought to a place that resembled an underground dungeon. Inside, there was a metal cage marked "For Mages," and I was to be locked inside. According to the touchpad, the bottom of the cage was an unusually thick block of metal. They must have increased the weight to counteract the Item Box.

"I'd be happy if you stole as much as you want from the lord's possessions and even if you escaped. But if you do run, please wait until we're gone. We don't want to be blamed and end up in here ourselves."

I heard a statement that didn't seem to come from a guard. Is the lord disliked even by the guards?

"Domour, if the lord's men heard that, you'd be sent to jail..."

"Whoops, that was close. They didn't hear, right?"

At least, within the range of my touchpad, there were only me, two guards, and a warden. The warden was laughing at the conversation, so he probably wasn't one of the "lord's men."

"Probably not. And if what you said is true, please leave quickly. You can't escape if you're caught."

When I said this, the two guards looked at each other and laughed.

"In that case, I'll take you up on your offer. I hope you can get out of here alive. And while you're at it, steal some evidence of embezzlement from the lord."

"Domour, you'll get caught eventually..."

The warden was trying to suppress his laughter. It seemed they thought it was a joke. After confirming that the warden had locked the cage, the guards waved and left. The warden turned the corner and seemed to be waiting further down. From my position, I couldn't see the warden, and he couldn't see me either. It was a double defense with magic-sealing handcuffs and a structure that blocked line of sight.

Just as I was thinking this, I heard a "snap" from my hands.

"Ah!"

Looking down, I saw that the part connecting the right and left handcuffs had broken in the middle and separated. They were no longer handcuffs but eccentric-looking bracelets that only slightly weakened magic. My voice must have been heard by the warden, but he didn't seem to react. He probably thought the cage was secure enough as long as the key was kept safe. Well, it wasn't entirely safe.

I placed my hand on the cage. It was made to be heavy, but the capacity of the Item Box depends on MP. My current MP was a number that was too large to count. When I focused, the cage was easily stored in the Item Box.

After confirming this, I headed deeper into the dungeon. The only escape route from here seemed to go through where the warden was stationed. However, this dungeon had another route leading somewhere else. The entrance was covered with a lid that was camouflaged to blend in with the surroundings, but the touchpad clearly showed the existence of the alternate route. I decided to check it out. If it was dangerous, I could turn back, and I might find something interesting.

I stored the lid in the Item Box and proceeded down the unlit underground passage. After moving about thirty meters, I reached a dead end. On the ceiling of the dead end, there was another camouflaged lid. I was about to store it in the Item Box... but I stopped. I heard a sound like a door opening from above, followed by a human-like reaction on the touchpad. One was quite fat, and the other was relatively thin.

"Indeed, impressive skills."

They were talking inside. I could hear everything clearly. I hesitated about eavesdropping, but then I realized that a room connected to a dungeon couldn't be normal. It might be a thief's hideout, though it seemed unlikely in the middle of the city. If it was a thief's hideout, it would be convenient to eliminate them and escape.

"Right?"

"Not at all. But this success is thanks to the reports of my subordinates. And that..."

"Of course not. The adventurer who came to save that detestable Dilmia... was it Kade?"

"Kaede."

Hmm?

I heard my name.

"Indeed, a troublesome matter. If Dilmia were to fall, we could monopolize the sale of Seuuyu."

"Well, don't say that. It's a blessing. They came all the way from Basis to take the blame for the embezzlement I committed! Hahaha!"

"Hahaha. Indeed."

...Interesting.

They were having quite an interesting conversation. And this passage was likely under the lord's mansion. The content of the conversation matched perfectly, and it made sense for the lord to have a hidden passage. It was probably an emergency escape route.

"Alright. I'll make a new ledger for that mage, and you help me."

"Understood. How much should we say Kaede stole?"

"Hmm. The amount of embezzlement and... he's a famous mage over there. Tel must be quite valuable."

"Then, shall we say all the Tel in the warehouse was stolen?"

"No. His Item Box capacity isn't that large. A hundred gold coins... about ten million Tel, I think he could carry."

"Indeed, a keen eye. Let's go with that."

A keen eye indeed.

The weight of a hundred gold coins is negligible, and I'm a magic swordsman, not a mage. By the way, a hundred gold coins is a million Tel. Each coin is worth ten thousand Tel, which is a large gold coin. Is that okay?

"Is that mage, Kaede, locked in the mage's cell?"

Also, it seems they haven't remembered my name yet. Their memory is as bad as their understanding of the value of gold coins. By the way, I don't know who Kade is, but Kaede is no longer locked up.

"Of course. No matter how strong, he's just a mage. With those handcuffs and the heavy cage, he can't escape."

He can escape.

Those handcuffs barely suppress magic, and their strength is insufficient. A Decibattle person, even a pure mage, might be able to break them. A warrior could probably break them by hooking a finger and pulling.

...There are so many things to point out that I'm getting tired.

"Hahaha. We spent a lot of money to make it. Even without a warden, he won't be able to get out until he dies."

"Indeed. If he can get out, we'd like to see him try."

...Hmm.

It seems the lords want me to come out. I'm getting tired of eavesdropping, so I'll fulfill their expectations.

"Hello, corrupt lords. I'm Kaede."

I carefully removed the hidden passage's lid and politely bowed as I entered the room.

"Huh? Who are you..."

"Why are you here!"

"Didn't you say to come out?"

It seems the lord didn't recognize my face, despite my polite introduction. Of course, he thought I was Kade.

"Wh-Why! That cage..."

The thin man was panicking. From the conversation, he seemed to be the lord's trusted subordinate. There were also two guards in the corner. Incidentally, the [Information Manipulation Analysis] categorized all of them as thieves.

"Is this what you mean?"

I took the cage out of the Item Box. The floor sank under its weight.

"What! How heavy is that thing!"

"Also, these handcuffs were defective."

I raised my arm and showed them the broken handcuffs. The security here was terrible. They even provided a route to the scene of the false accusation, which was quite considerate.

"So, can I kill you... now!"

"Ah!"

As I stepped towards the lords, the two of them dropped the documents they were holding and tried to run. I chased after them but didn't kill them. Instead, I stored the documents they dropped and the ones on the desk in the Item Box. The threat of killing them was just a bluff. Killing a lord from another country didn't seem like a good idea. However, I didn't want them to escape, so I cast a barrier spell at their feet.

"Ah!"

"Ugh!"

Caught by the invisible barrier, they fell dramatically. To prevent them from hitting the floor, I kindly cast a barrier near the ground to catch them. The barrier was much harder than the carpet on the floor, a manifestation of my kindness in catching them properly.

Ideally, I would like this country to investigate and judge them. Throwing them into the sea near Decibattle is an option, but it's not a priority. Tying them up in a busy street with evidence of their crimes or immobilizing the lord and delivering the documents to a well-regarded lord would be better. However, due to Seuuyu's grudge (though not as much as Seuuyu's), there might be some unfortunate accidents when capturing the lord. As I was considering how much to hurt... or rather, the scale of the accident that might occur, the lord suddenly spoke.

"Now! Attack!"

Hearing this, the guards in the corner simultaneously rushed towards me. They were both somewhat muscular, but compared to the adventurers in Decibattle, they were lacking. However, the lord seemed confident in his victory. He pointed at me and adopted a mocking stance.

"Fool, you were careless! No matter how strong an adventurer is, a mage who has lost his magic can't defeat a swordsman!"

It seems they still hadn't realized I was a magic swordsman.