Regained Freedom

We entered the tower, or rather, the guard dragged me inside. Then he pushed me further while locking the door. I nearly lost my balance but prevailed and managed to stand my ground. The tower appeared to be a simple room for leisure with another door that led inside the wall and a spiral staircase around the tower that led upwards. There weren't any partitions, which surely made both ascent and descent a gut-wrenching experience. I noticed this critical flaw in the design with just my side eye, since my whole attention remained on the man standing in front of me. The fact that he locked the door was not a good sign, but luckily my hands were not tied. The guard was armed not only with a halberd, but also with a sheathed short sword that rested by his side. Fighting him was not an option, and my only escape was the dangerous staircase. Quite a predicament to be in.

As I considered my courses of action, the guard suddenly halted my whole thought process with a simple gesture of his hand and words, "Relax for a bit, I will not harm you."

Of course! Relax! An obvious thing to do after an armed man leads a stray teen away from the public's eyes. I ignored his call and instead tensed up more, my eyes observing his every tiny movement. If it all came to the worst, I would definitely jump him!

"Goodness gracious, you really are one cautious fellow, but that's a good thing," he said and walked past me, breaking our eye contact. I instinctively jumped away from him, only to see the guard fumbling around in one of the cabinets. From inside the drawer, he took a bottle of water and a glass cup, then poured the water in and pointed at it.

"Have a sip, and then we will chat."

My throat had been sore for a very long time, from all the way back in the basement of the world I came from. Usually, I would not risk it and simply decline, but my body acted way before my instincts, thus I dashed towards the cup and dried it in two bountiful gulps. The guard watched me with a smirk, an awful sign, but now it was too late to panic.

"So, not only do you not have any documents, but you are also dressed like neither a peasant nor a noble. And from whom did you steal those keys?"

My eyes widened in surprise, and I murmured, "How did you know?"

The guard cackled at my words and explained, "You just told me! These keys probably belong to one of our janitors or guards, we all have replicas like that. But you know, I understand that you are trying to survive out here, but you could ask us for help first. But thank you for the experience of escorting a criminal. It has been a while since we caught any in Wülgenville. This town is a rather safe place, although it acts as a hub for traders."

He was casual, way too casual with the likes of me. Who in their right mind would open up to a pickpocket like that? What was this man planning?

"By the way, my name is Heindrich. What is your name?"

"...Dusk," I said cautiously. "What will you do to me now?"

The man hummed in thought and pointed at me, "In a normal situation you would be obligated to pay a fine, but since you do not have goods, or else why would you steal, then you should be forced to do manual labour. But it is such a pain in the ass to report, so I will let you go this time. But before I release you, I would like to know you better. We do not really talk much with traders while on duty, moreover, I really can't get over how curious your clothes look. I have never seen something like that. What material are they made of? Where are you from?"

He kept yapping about myself and my clothes as if we were good friends and not a criminal and a law enforcer. His futile attempt to lower my guard would not be sufficient. Release me with a slap on the wrist after I was done talking? Bullshit! But fair enough, I would play his game for a little.

"I am from… a place far away. You said this town is called Wülgenville? What country is this place part of?"

The man looked at me dumbfounded for a while, then burst into hysterical laughter, "Oh god, you are one hell of a humorist, pal! A place far away, you say?... Is this some kind of riddle? Sorry, I am not quite good at them."

"No, this is not a riddle. I come from a really, really far place. Perhaps, it is not even mapped."

My world was indeed quite far, but talking about dimension or whatever travel would not lead me anywhere. In the end, no one was crazy or delusional enough to believe my real origin. I also wondered what kind of place he considered far away. Perhaps, this could have a connection to the god I needed to slay. Of course, I was not stupid enough to go on a hunt just because Solitaire asked me to, but it would not harm to actually learn about it at least something.

"Not mapped, you say… Well, there are not many good maps of places beyond the monster realm."

"Beyond the monster realm?"

"Yeah, from other regions. I doubt you come from places like that, correct?"

"What if I do?"

"Then I am scared that I would need you to stay here for a little longer. I will be right back!"

The guard stood up and marched towards the other door in the tower. He disappeared behind it, leaving me alone. Monster realm was not a term I expected to hear, in the same way, it was suspicious how he left immediately after it was mentioned. I felt like I was testing my luck a bit too much now. I did not want to deal with this guard any longer. Good thing he was considerate enough to leave me time for escape.

I dashed towards the locked door and looked outside through a small window enclosed with iron bars. Even if it was just glass, I doubted I would be able to squeeze through it. As I looked at the size of the keyhole, I understood that a normal lock pick would not do, even if I had one. Then, my eyes turned back to the table, and I noticed a set of keys. The very one that I had stolen from the old man! I grabbed them and first came to the door where the guard had left. After rustling them for a while, I found the one to lock this door.

Then, I went back to the exit and as soon as my search for the right key resumed, I smelled a fragrant aroma and heard his voice, "Hey, what are you doing?"

He put something on the floor and pulled the doorknob, which did not yield and kept him inside. Cold sweat ran down my forehead as I continued my search for the right key.

"Wait, Dusk, do not!"

Great attempt, however, useless. I did not wish to waste any more time talking with him only to be beaten up, thrown out of town, or whatever he was planning to do. I wanted my freedom back, which he had snatched away so blatantly. And the key I held now must give it right away. I finally managed to open the door, and the first thing I did was run away as fast as humanly possible. The voice of the guard kept distancing, meaning he did not have his keys at hand. Perhaps the ones I took from the table were his after all? Oh well, lucky me!