Ch.210210. This is Why They Say It’s Darkest Under the Lamp…

“It’s best to enter when the door opens…”

Looking at the exterior of the prison up close.

The windows were narrow and elongated, most covered with thick iron bars.

Some windows were even obscured by dark curtains, making it difficult to peek inside.

Guards were stationed outside, but as Wortman had said, security seemed lax.

Most were yawning or nodding off drowsily.

Creeeeak-!

That’s when it happened.

A group of guards appeared, opening the door.

“Hey, get up. It’s time to change shifts.”

Not missing that moment, I carefully entered the prison.

As soon as I stepped inside, the air felt so cold it gave me chills.

Walking down the long corridor, despite my careful steps, the sound of my footsteps seemed to echo loudly, making me tense up.

‘Is this the staircase?’

Upon reaching the central area, I found old, creaky wooden stairs leading downward.

I put strength into my toes and slowly descended on tiptoe.

And then.

Upon reaching the basement, cells with iron bars lined both sides.

As Wortman had said, one guard stood watch at each cell, and unlike the laxness outside, the guards inside were watching the prisoners with sharp eyes.

‘The fortunate thing is…’

Due to the nature of Pandera territory, there weren’t many prisoners.

Therefore, the occupied cells weren’t packed tightly together.

I stepped forward slowly, focusing intently on finding Berik.

Thud-! Thud-!

By the way.

What enjoyment do these guards get from their job?

Are they a collection of voyeurs?

How can they just stand there watching prisoners without doing anything else?

Swoosh-!

There were five people imprisoned in total.

However, Berik wasn’t among them.

Just as I was about to turn back, thinking I might have missed him…

‘What’s that?’

A dark space.

I thought it was just a wall on all sides, but wasn’t that a small light leaking through?

Creeeeak-!

Opening a door just wide enough for my body to squeeze through, I stepped inside.

A single cell.

And two guards keeping watch.

‘Berik must be in there.’

I could sense it instinctively.

Each cell had one guard on duty, but this one had two assigned—it just felt right.

“Who—”

“Hypnosis.”

After instantly knocking out both guards with hypnosis, I turned my head to the right.

There, Berik spotted me from inside the cell and flinched.

“W-who are you?”

“Would you know if I said Selden Alphonse?”

Berik’s eyes widened as he abruptly stood up.

Then he approached, gripping the iron bars with both hands.

“A-are you the young master of the Alphonse family that Jawill Wilson serves?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

His pleased expression quickly changed to one filled with wariness.

“…But how did you know I was Berik?”

As expected, Berik is different from Jawill Wilson and Wortman.

His suspicion is reasonable.

Berik would naturally think that Selden Alphonse couldn’t recognize him immediately.

I straightened my back and stared intently at Berik.

“The mole beside your nose.”

“You could have made that up after seeing my face just now, couldn’t you?”

“…Then how about this? Jawill Wilson killed Brond and his companions. Even Village Chief Loris doesn’t know this information, right?”

As I twitched my eyebrow, Berik gulped nervously.

“Y-you really are Lord Selden Alphonse. Is Wortman safe?”

“Yeah, he came with me but I told him to wait out front.”

“…That’s a relief. I was worried that Wortman might suffer because of me…”

“Don’t worry, he’s fine.”

Berik smiled gently before his face turned serious.

“But there’s something more urgent than rescuing me.”

“I know. From what Wortman told me, you said the missing people might be alive?”

“No. It’s not that they might be alive—they definitely are alive. I confirmed it with my own eyes.”

“…And you’re certain Village Chief Loris is responsible?”

“Yes, it’s definitely Village Chief Loris’s doing.”

If we could just rescue the missing people, we could remove Loris from his position as village chief.

I curled up the corners of my mouth.

“So where are the missing people now?”

“They’re currently in Village Chief Loris’s house.”

“What? What do you mean? When I went to Loris’s house, there wasn’t any space where missing people could be kept.”

As if he had anticipated my reaction, Berik gripped the bars more tightly.

“There’s a hidden space in the basement.”

“A hidden space?”

“Yes, I’m certain because I saw the missing people with my own eyes.”

It was surprising enough that the missing people were alive, but how did he know about a hidden space in Village Chief Loris’s house?

With an intrigued expression, I tilted my head.

“How did you find the missing people?”

“Among the missing was a man who had a girlfriend.”

“And?”

“I met with the girlfriend and she had an item that the missing person used to carry.”

“Oh, so you cast a tracking spell using the missing person’s item?”

“That’s right. Through the tracking spell, I discovered that the missing person was in Village Chief Loris’s house and found the hidden space.”

“And that’s when you got caught?”

Berik nodded with a dejected expression.

“If I had been just a bit more careful, I wouldn’t have been caught… I was too excited about discovering that the missing people were alive…”

I chuckled and waved my hand in the air.

“No, you did everything you could, so there’s no need to blame yourself. Anyway, what were the missing people doing there?”

“I was caught right after finding them, so I’m not sure exactly, but they were making something.”

It feels like the final puzzle piece has fallen into place.

So he was brewing Majangcho in the basement of his own house?

They say the darkest place is under the lamp…

Makes sense, since Wortman also mentioned that Village Chief Loris stayed holed up at home except for public activities.

“…I think I understand now.”

“D-do you mean you know what the missing people are making?”

“That’s for me to figure out. How were the missing people’s conditions?”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Did they look like they were being held captive?”

It’s possible.

Village Chief Loris and the missing people could be in this together.

After all, making Majangcho could bring in enormous amounts of money.

Berik’s eyes flashed as if he understood what I meant.

“They were definitely captives. One of the missing people spotted me and said, ‘Please save us.'”

“So they’re being forced to make something against their will?”

“Yes, and they weren’t even being fed properly—most of them looked emaciated.”

“So all three missing people are alive?”

“Yes, I think you should rescue the kidnapped people before me. If Loris discovers I’ve escaped, he might kill them to eliminate evidence.”

I had similar thoughts.

Seeing Berik like this, he seems not only skilled in magic but also quite sharp-minded.

He’s a talented individual worth having, like Wortman.

Is that why Village Chief Loris kept him alive?

Perhaps he thought it would be a waste to kill him and wanted to try persuading him later?

Looking pensively at the unconscious guards, I continued.

“These people won’t know there was an intruder when they wake up. It’s hypnosis magic, not sleep magic.”

“Ah! I understand. So I should act as usual?”

“Yes. Bear with it a little longer, even if it’s frustrating.”

“I’ll be fine. Please make sure to rescue the kidnapped people safely.”

“Where is this hidden space?”

“There’s a wooden table in Village Chief Loris’s house. If you move the table, you’ll see a handle underneath. Just pull it.”

If it were Jawill Wilson, he would have raised his voice saying, “Young master, what are you doing? Rescue me first!” But why is this friend so different?

Moreover, his composure was remarkable despite being in a life-threatening situation.

“By the way, how did you get caught by Village Chief Loris? I need to know so I can be careful too.”

“…I really don’t know. I didn’t make any noise loud enough for Loris to hear…”

“Hmm… you mentioned earlier that ‘they weren’t being fed properly, so most looked emaciated.'”

“Yes, they were so thin that you could see the bones in their faces.”

“When you say ‘most,’ that means two out of three were emaciated, but one was fine?”

Berik shifted his gaze around as he searched his memory.

“Ah… I don’t know why, but now that I think about it, one of them wasn’t thin.”

“So that means…?”

“But why are you asking about that?”

With a faint smile, my eyes flashed.

“…I have a pretty good idea now.”