“Seeing light for the first time in 10 years is a scary thing. Fainting was the natural thing to do.”, I said to my over watcher, “Trust me. Out of all the A0 prisoners, I was probably out for the shortest amount of time. Only 25 or so minutes! I can just imagine that baby Jakofry! He’s supposed to be a ruthless murderer, but I bet he was out for a whole hour!”

The guy looked annoyed. I wonder why? Probably it was because we’ve been standing in this bloody dusty courtyard for 45 minutes now. Maybe I should lighten the mood? Might as well pursue this conversation.

“You must be scared of me now, but no worries uhhh what’s your name?”

“…”

“Right uhhh let’s say…Bob? Yeah Bob. Well no worries Bob, I’m not planning on hurting you. I just uh, wanted to paint a good image of myself in your eyes you know?”

“…”

“Cause you’re kinda the first guy that I’ve met in ten years.”

“…”

“I mean there was Dorando back in the cell, but he was just a do-“

“Shut up, the others are arriving.” Bob hissed.

It took a while for me to react, but I quickly shut the hell up. After all no sane man would want to piss his friend off in their first conversation. However his attitude was quite unpleasant, so I reminded myself to definitely scold him for that afterwards.

Two more minutes passed and finally the sounds of footsteps approached from behind us. As the new arrivals took places beside me, I found myself unable to turn and take a look. High level movement restriction spell huh. I sighed, disappointed. Few moments later, a man who had been standing next to me without my knowledge stepped out, took five more steps forward then turned to face us.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I am here today to offer you a deal. A deal so worth it, that I, without a moment’s hesitation, can say that it will be the best deal you have encountered in the past ten years, six months and twenty two days.”

The man chuckled. I laughed with him. It was a great joke and I would’ve clapped as well if I hadn’t been held by the restriction spell. Seeing me laugh, the man smirked and signalled for his assistant to come to him. After a bit of discussion he looked in my direction and spoke.

“Prisoner 145, I see you have a sense of humour. You’re lucky. I like a man with a sense of humour.”

I wasn’t sure who he was talking to. Was it me?

“I’m talking about you, short and lean. Prisoner 145.”

I’m short and lean. Must be me.

“Are you talking about me sir?”

“Yes Mr.145, I’m talking about you. Glad to know that you have manners as well.”

“Oh yes sir! Of course! I would never dare speak impolitely to a superior!”

Many of those standing around me snickered at my enthusiasm, but they’re the dumb ones. After all I was the one who was getting cozy with the boss.

“Good for you 145. Since you have been so polite you get to see the contents of the deal first.”

Saying this, he handed me a sheet of paper explaining the details. There wasn’t much to read, just three short lines.

[Wreck havoc in neutral district marked on the map until Zerian troops arrive on site. Make sure to keep casualties to a low unless otherwise instructed and strive to remain alive until troop arrival. If you follow these instructions and perform well, Zeria will cleanse your record of all criminal acts and cease pursuit.]

Upon reading the conditions I frowned. Despite usually being a happy go lucky guy, I still recognized when something was too good to be true. Freedom in return for cause havoc, for example, sits smack bang in the middle of the “too good to be true” territory. A really easy way to tell “too good” apart from just “good”, is to put yourself in the shoes of the other party. So let’s see, shall we:

1. Prisoner 145 is an A0 ranked prisoner capable of slaughtering the entire military force of a small nation.

2.Prisoner 145 has actually already slaughtered the entire military force of a small nation and that’s why he was captured by Zeria.

3. Prisoner 145 was very, very hard to catch.

4. Prisoner 145 may turn around and attempt to kill the King.

5. Prisoner 145 will get a clean record by killing more people?

Yeah. Very good for me. Very no good for Zeria people. I’m happy go LUCKY, not happy go STUPID. But I don’t have a choice in the matter do I? Just one look at the man and I could tell I was correct in thinking so. In fact even if it was just him and I right now on a battlefield I still wouldn’t have a choice. I hadn’t touched a weapon since I was 15. I’m at most B rank now, and this man was no doubt a polished A1 approaching A0. Since I’m gonna have to do it, I might as well be happy about it. So I signed the paper with a grin on my face and shook the man’s hand as though we had just finished an intense bargaining session.

“Very good deal don’t you think, Prisoner 145?”

“Yes sir, an outrageously good deal. You weren’t even joking!”

“Hahahaha! Of course I wasn’t joking. Who do you think I am?”

“Uh.”

“I’m general Rhazul…You know, the guy who stopped thirteen out of the fifteen A-rank monster invasions single-handedly five years ago?”

The general looked extremely proud of himself and puffed up his chest. His assistant who had been standing in perfect form until now, clapped at his magnificence.

“I was in jail sir.”

“oh.”

Rhazul looked like he had been punched in the gut by an earth elementalist. I knew how he felt. Attempting to look suave and smooth only to get shot down by lowly criminals must have hurt a lot.

“But no worries sir, I’m sure you’re powerful and amazing! It’s just I want to know when I’m leaving and where I have to go to leave.”

No response, Rhazul was still dazed. Was status and fame that important to this guy?

“Um sir? When do I leave and where do I go?”

His eyes returned to focus but it seemed as though he was still recovering from his shock.

“U-uh yes, you’re going today. In a few hours your will be transported via raigo carriages to the outer edges of the neutral zone. Of course you will be blindfolded and spell-bound for the trip…….”

Once his explanation was finished, my over-watcher loosened his binds on my movement and I became able to walk slowly. However I still couldn’t identify any of the other prisoners as we walked out from behind the line and not the front. Oh well, at least I’m being released. This was cause for celebration!

Hello! I'm Aspiringnewbie/Beebaboop and just like last chapter, if you liked it please leave a comment! If you are inclined to do so, please visit my site: https://aspiringnewbie.wordpress.com/. There the chapters will be released slightly faster and it'll be easier for me to respond to your comments as I'm still new to the format of Royal Road. :D