Arcane Era-Chapter 48: Locked In

Theo slowly opened his eyes.

The musky smell around him felt familiar, and the surrounding darkness was an intimate reminder of a time best left forgotten. As his eyes slowly got accustomed to the world around him, he realized the truth.

"I see." Theo whispered, feeling the weight of shackles restraining both his hands and legs.

He was in a cell... once again.

The small, tight space of his cell felt claustrophobic, and the dirty stench that wafted in the air disgusted him to no end, but his body didn’t take very long to acclimate to the maladies of a prisoner.

Looking around him, Theo could already notice many similarities the place had with his residence at Sarvos.

’It almost feels like I’m back there...’ He sighed. ’Looks like this is an underground dungeon as well.’

Right as he was still observing his surroundings, he heard sounds—footsteps and the voices of people conversing. Quickly deciding what to do, Theo decided to pretend he was still unconscious and rested his back on the wall.

He made sure to keep his eyes partly open, even while remaining still, so he could get a proper visual on the incoming people. Since his cell was dark, they wouldn’t be able to tell if his eyes were fully or only partly closed. He remained that way until the voices grew louder and their owners finally made an appearance.

There were two men, each having hooded vests that had a unique symbol of a skull that was surrounded by stars engraved behind them. Theo assumed the symbol belonged to the Mercenary Crew, and so the men were undoubtedly members.

Still, he remained silent.

After all, a more curious sight appeared in the form of the prisoner they were transporting.

’Arlet?’ Theo instantly recognized him. ’He was also captured, huh?’

Arlet was dragged into Theo’s cell, unable to struggle since he was already stripped of his Arcane Instruments. His face had bruises, one of the lenses of his glasses had shattered, and his suit seemed to have experienced a lot of damage—showing just how hard he must have struggled before being caught.

"Urgh!" Arlet made a grunt as his body was flung to the ground.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot with anger, but he made no attempt to struggle against his oppressors. Theo figured they had to have Armaments of some kind, and since Arlet was stripped of his own Arcane Instruments, he was powerless against them.

All he could do was cooperate, if he didn’t want any beating—or worse yet, to get killed.

"Little squirt killed two of my friends... arrogant bastard!" One of the Crew Members mumbled, glaring at Arlet. He raised his fist to punch the boy, but the other stopped him promptly.

"Remember our orders. We’re supposed to keep him alive as long as he cooperates. Apparently, his family is pretty rich... so we can use him for ransom or something."

"Tch... whatever!"

They tied Arlet in shackles, just as they must have done for Theo, before leaving the cell.

One spat on his face before walking out of the cell, though, clear anger still written on his face, while the other snickered loudly. "The world has changed now. Those who looked down on us are now beneath our feet, and this is just the beginning of the new order!"

The two left not too long after, echoes of them saying "Hail the Mercenary King!" piercing the air.

"..."

Theo silently watched Arlet, still pretending to be unconscious.

’Should I say something?’ Before he could decide, he heard a gruff, downtrodden voice softly filter out of Arlet’s lips.

"They’re wasting their time..." He muttered. "What ransom? Those jerks would just ignore me the same way they ignored my mother back then."

Theo could sense deep anger from his voice, and at that moment, he felt like he had something in common with the prideful rich kid before him.

"How did you get caught?" Before realizing it, Theo spoke out, his eyes now wide open. "You didn’t leave the hall after losing?"

"You were awake...?"

"Yeah. I overheard everything you said, sorry."

"...." For a moment, Arlet didn’t say anything.

It seemed like he was recoiling from both shock and embarrassment. However, it only took him a few seconds to fully collect himself.

"It’s fine." Sighing, he alternated glances between at the chains that bound his hands and the metal bars that firmly stood not too far from him. "I didn’t leave. I wanted to see the final match, so I returned to the audience seat after getting treatment.... What a mistake that was."

"I... see."

"I was being transported with the rest, but one of the higher-ups recognized me—the lady with the smiley-face mask—and she instructed them to bring me to this place, where the other prisoner of priority is."

"I guess that’s me?" Theo mumbled, already noticing the curiosity etched on Arlet’s face.

"There were other dignitaries and ambassadors, yet they didn’t consider those to be prisoners of priority." He narrowed his eyes and stared squarely at Theo. "What makes you so special?"

"I could ask you the same. Is your family that rich? I mean, having not one, but two Armaments is crazy. Plus, you were also brought here for ransom... your family must be stacked."

Arlet sighed and shook his head. "I’m not special at all... and those Armaments are more like severance packages than any form of goodwill from my Household."

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"It’s nothing you should concern yourself with. Just know that they’ve overestimated my value to the Bouli’jer Household, and those people could not care less about my death. In fact, they most definitely want that outcome." Arlet’s voice sounded grim, and with every word he uttered, his frown intensified.

It was almost like he was glaring at an invisible enemy.

"I see... well, I think they may have overestimated my value as well." Theo said in response, a sigh escaping his lips. "I’ve spoken to Lord Shen before, and I was also escorted to the Ak’ashi Guild by The Zenith... though I don’t think that makes me more valuable than the ambassadors or other important figures in the Guild."

"Y-you... have talked with Lord Shen?" It seemed that was the only thing Arlet gained from Theo’s exposition, and his stupefied face showed just how amazed he was by that achievement.

"Yes."

"How? Is there something you did? How do you think I can talk to him?"

"Why would you want to talk to him? Ah... you’re also an admirer of Lord Shen?" Theo smiled, reminiscing on how Kaycee often gushed about the amazing, flawless, and unrivaled Supreme Lord of Tyranny.

According to him, his name ought to have been The Supreme Lord of Prosperity.

"The thing is... I do admire him." Arlet sighed, his face turning even more serious. "But, more than that... I need to forge connections with him."

"Why?"

"So he can support me... so he can be my sponsor."

"Sponsor? Why do you need a sponsor? You’re already rich, aren’t you?"

"I’m not rich. My family is wealthy, but that wealth has very little impact or use for me." Arlet groaned as he explained the situation to Theo. "The reason I came to the Ak’ashi Guild, and applied for the Combat Exams, is because I want to build enough merits and climb up the ranks as fast as possible so I can meet up with Lord Shen and give him my proposal."

"You want him to sponsor you... in exchange for what?"

"That... I cannot say." Arlet shook his head. "It has to be discussed between me and Lord Shen, but I always assumed he wouldn’t meet with just anyone, and that I would have to work very hard for at least a year before I could get the honor... but... your situation changes things quite a bit..."

"I’m not very sure about that."

"Do you know a special way to talk to him? Is there any way I can quicken the process? I promise to make it worth your while..."

Theo could see the desperation on Arlet’s face, and he could already picture the disappointment he would express once he learned of the truth. Still, he had no choice but to tell him how things actually went and the way things stood at the moment.

Once he was done, Arlet fell silent for a few minutes, processing everything he had heard.

"So even you are trying to prove yourself to Lord Shen in order to have another audience with him... I see." He finally mumbled. "Does that mean he knows of my intentions? Why else would he pit us against each other at the last minute?"

"Perhaps... but I don’t think we need to be so concerned about meeting with him now, when there are more important things to worry about." Theo responded.

"Hm?"

"The Ak’ashi Guild is under invasion by a group called the Mercenary Crew. They’re led by this guy called the Mercenary King, and..." Theo explained everything to Arlet—including everything he and his friends discovered about the group.

"Why didn’t you report them?!"

"Don’t you think we tried? We even spoke to Liyah’s sister! We tried getting more evidence, but... you know how that went."

"Ahh... I see..." Arlet mumbled. "This is actually more serious than I originally thought."

"Yeah... and it seems we’re both trapped with no way out."

Right as Theo said this—whether by sheer coincidence or the divine hands of providence—a loud bang echoed within the space and everything around them mildly quaked.

"H-huh...?!" Theo’s eyes widened as he felt the strange impact and suddenly heard familiar voices amidst the noise.

"This way!" He heard someone say, and then the footsteps got louder.

Before his mind could fully process what he was experiencing, two shadowy figures suddenly appeared in front of Theo’s cell. The boy was considerably taller than the girl, who wore a colorful dress and had a teddy bear strapped to her outfit.

"You guys!" Theo instantly beamed as his vision cleared and he saw both Kaycee and Liyah standing beyond the metal bars.

He was wrong.

There was a way out!

And that came in the form of his most trusted friends.