-Sorry, I can’t answer that.
-And may I know why ?
-Because I already said everything you need to know about me.
I stated flatly, speaking in a matter of fact way as Sonnia glared at me slightly disgruntled, but at the same time accepting as she knew that she couldn’t do anything about my silence since we had agreed to not say anything if we didn’t want to answer.
Of course I also knew what it was that bothered Sonnia so much that she would ask me of my identity, after revealing the Airship presentation and when it was going to happen I let Sonnia think for herself about the implications of such event.
Being [Merchant] it didn’t take long at all before she knew the reason as to why the Airship was going to be presented on this prison island and so soon at that too.
War was the immediate answer as only war would need so much money in such a short amount of time, but from the look of Sonnia’s face even though she guessed it she wasn’t completely buying it since all of this hinged on the fact that what I was saying was true which is why she wanted to know who I was for me to be able to get such sensitive information.
Obviously I couldn’t tell her how I knew of this information, if I told her that I was the creator of this world which was originally just a game, then Sonnia would likely immediately label me as a crazy person and maybe even consider somehow going against the escape plan, after all the only reason she became my slave was to save Milky.
For one reason or another Sonnia felt miserable, be it because she was now inside a prison where life looked hopeless or because of something else, she was a person who couldn’t walk anymore without the support of another person which in this case was Milky, Sonnia recognized this too and did a great deal of hiding it but the more I watched her the more it was getting obvious to me that she was a walking wreck.
Though for now keeping it for myself was for the best, I still needed her help.
Telling her a lie was an option too, like saying that I had coincidentally heard it from someone else, but knowing that she had a high level of [Deception] I would be immediately found out adding to the fact that I only lied about my identity up until now adding more lies would simply be inviting more trouble.
But at the same time not telling her anything was bad too.
I cleared my throat.
-Cheer up would you, I know that you are suspicious but it can’t be helped, I can’t say what I can’t say, but know that I am not connected to any of this nor does anyone but you two know that I have this information, in the end I am still a nobody so you should think of it like that, no point in pondering about who I am when we haven’t even got out of this hell yet, and besides everything I say will be proven after 1 year so you can just wait until then, I am not demanding you to believe everything I say but at least go along until we actually get to it, not like you or Milky have anything else to do.
Sonnia thought for a bit, she seemed to be conflicted as if trying to read into my words, but none of what I said was a lie at least not in her ears, and the points I made were fair as well, everything would be answered when she sees the airship 1 year from now on and other then waiting she couldn’t do anything.
Sonnia sighed.
-Fine…you win, but at the very least can you tell me more about the reveal ? In particular who it is that are going to participate in it ?
-Oh, I see that you found the heart of the matter Lady Sonnia.
I smiled, lightly applauded her but from her expression it didn’t look like she was flattered which is why I stopped and simply told her what she wanted to know.
Indeed the banquet was special not only because it was secret but also because of the people who were going to attend, secret was very different from public, since the intention of the Gastel was to get huge amounts of money from this reveal to fund their military it was obvious that they had to reveal their intentions to some people to get their approval, nobody invests into something they know nothing about which poses another problem in the way that they couldn’t just invite anyone to such banquet, they only wanted those who had money and those who could also keep their lips tight and looking at these criteria’s there was only one demographic that fit.
-The [Merchants]..
-Exactly, since it is the [Merchants] who control most of the money on land it is obvious that the empire would choose them to become their investors/customers, and since the [Merchants] also care about their reputation immensely it is almost guaranteed that they aren’t going to easily spread such information willy-nilly when its revealed in the banquet, furthermore since this island is within the jurisdiction of the empire and in the middle of the sea it is easy to guard and hide from any prying eyes with proper protection, the guests are also all guaranteed complete anonymity meaning no one other then the organizers themselves will know who was invited plus as a extra precaution the [Merchants] will all come disguised which we can use as once we get inside the Airship we can hide within the crowd and then exit together once the Airship lands, perfect no ?
I clapped my hands showing her a sly smile as I laid out my escape plan or at least a crucial part of it, Sonnia looked at me still a bit dubious but also lost in thought before rubbing the area around her left wrist where the magical tattoo or prisoners brand was inscribed, looking at it I couldn’t read what it said no matter how hard I tried, either because the language of this world was foreign to me or because the [Contract] skill that was used to inscribe this particular contract was above intermediate level.
Either way I didn’t need to deduce anything to understand what Sonnia was worried about next, in fact I was waiting for this moment, reaching for my neck I took off the pendant that I was wearing this entire time before showing it to Sonnia with my hand stretched out.
The pendant was the item that I found together with the metal lever or baton when I went out looking for it, it was a quest item for one of the quests on this island.
Of course Sonnia didn’t know the purpose of the pendant as a quest item and what it did which is why she could only cluelessly reach for my hand and take the pendant before feeling it up and looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face.
-This is ..?
-The key to remove the brand on both of your wrists, we will use this pendant to have your and Milky’s [Prisoner’s Contract] absolved, once we do that nobody will be able to track you guys down or notice when we leave the barrier since nobody will be alerted without the brands on your wrists ! Neat right ?
I asked acting nonchalant as I spoke in a casual manner as if it wasn’t a big deal, of course the reaction was as expected with Sonnia’s expression together with Milky’s turning completely shocked as their eyes went wide the moment they heard about what the pendant could do for them, Sonnia especially seemed very intrigued as she looked at the pendant even more trying to understand what made it so special as to be able to remove the [Contract] on their wrists as I claimed, but no matter how much she looked even with her [Magic Sensitivity] she couldn’t find anything exceptional about the pendant which was understandable since the pendant was a completely ordinary metal pendant with nothing magical about it.
Sonnia also could only conclude as much before I snatched it away from her and put it back on.
She was annoyed by my action but chose to ignore it before asking me the obvious question.
-How is that pendant going to remove the [Contract] ? From what I know only soldiers ranked between Captain and Colonel have the right and authority to absolve the [Contract] of prisoners like me and Milky since the [Contract] is made by the Gastel Military, the wardens stationed here are at most Sergeants, only the prison director is a Captain and from what I am guessing it ain’t going to be him who is going to just let us free.
I nodded at her assertion glad that she was well informed about these things while also showing a carefree expression that was laced with a smile.
-Don’t worry about it ! Since I said its going to happen its going to happen ! Right now I think we talked enough, we should quickly eat our food before it gets cold and start hunting again ! Even if we talk right now nothing is going to happen, our number 1 concern isn’t our escape at the moment even if it is our end goal, we need to get stronger Sonnia lets worry about those other things we once we get there okay ?
Sonnia for a moment gave me the stink eye there, but in the end decided that it was enough too.
-I’d like to refute but since I can’t find any hole in your argument I respectfully withdraw for now Master~.
She said, slumping her shoulders with a light sigh before looking back at her bowl of meat which had gone slightly cold but still lukewarm, in fact it seemed to be better this way as Sonnia didn’t have to worry about getting burned now that the meat wasn’t as hot as it was before.
My portion was also done at the end, at first I didn’t think too much about the taste of the food but once I realized that I was for the first time eating with somebody else then myself, it made the food seem a bit more delicious then before even though it was still very bland, maybe the taste because of the way the girls ate so vigorously in front of me.
A Place Of Legends 