After parking their carriage at nearby inn and providing payment for a week's stay, the duo of Mayid and Master made their way to the guard post. As promised, the ptoo, handsome ptoo, guard ptoo, was ptoo, waiting for them. Earle let his emotions get the better of him, starting to gather mana, determined to give the guard cancer. But he was hit with a flash of inspiration, and concentrated intensely. Just as he was about to create a name for his new masterpiece and cast it- nom. Rami stretched its head through Earle, giving him a good view of every layer of its brain, and chomped down on the concentrated mana.

  "YOU! ALWAYS YOU!"

  This was the fourth time in his life that his magic failed to cast. The first was due to his eldest brother, the second was due to Mayid, the third was due to the intangible void monster, and the fourth was also due to the intangible void monster. Worse even was that he likely lost his chance to mark his name down in history; he could feel that the spell would be powerful, beyond whatever magic most could ever hope to wield. It would've brought his journey to an abrupt end, accomplishing the goal he set out to achieve. But he lost it to a beast, and now he would suffer the consequences.

  He began to bleed from every orifice and healing all the while. A feeling of weakness lingered throughout his body. He was probably bleeding internally, too. His vison was blurred, his hearing was muffled, his olfactory sense was blocked, and all he could taste was the coppery taste of blood. His lower body didn't fare any better, but thankfully his pants were already soaked in blood. Then he realized something. His pants were blown apart and soaked in blood. Well, now the rest of him was too, but it wasn't the best look. He'd have to make do. He didn't bring anything with him aside from some money in his rush to leave.

  Earle trudged forward, relying on the glow of the guards sword through his obstructed vision, leaving a trail of blood behind him. The guard was startled for a moment, hurriedly running over. He stopped in front of Earle and started waving his hands in front of Earle's face, moving his mouth in a fluster. Earle couldn't understand a word he was saying.

  "Ooo, aaa ooo oay? Aa oo eee eeee?"

  It was amusing to see; Earle's mood was swiftly lifted, seeing the guard speak like a monkey. He waved the guard off and continued to walk forward, reveling in his bewilderment. Mayid said something to the guard before following him. It looked like she snapped her fingers. After she did, the guard calmed down a bit and joined them. The bleeding stopped by the time he made it to the guard post, but he still couldn't hear much of anything. Mayid would have to be his mouthpiece here. She likely wouldn't say anything to incriminate him, so he was fine.

  "Ee ee uuu, uuu eeeoo ooo ooo ooo. Uuuu aaa eee eee aaa."

  "Indeed. Forgive me, but I forgot to ask for your name."

  Stolen story; please report.

  "Ee? Aaa Oeh."

  Oeh. A fitting name indeed, for such a man. Oeh guided them to the captain's office.

  "Aaaeee! Eeee aaa uuu uuu aaa aaa aaeee aaaooo!"

  The captain looked unfazed at the sight of Earle, bloody and very clearly having gone through a battering. Mayid must've done something to make him look normal. The captain spoke with Mayid for a bit, looking slightly disrespected by how Earle seemingly refused to talk to him. As Mayid spoke, the captain's expression slowly got worse. He yelled something and three more guards entered the room. They forcefully grabbed Earle's arms, pulling them tight behind his back and binding them. He thought he felt something break.

  "Ow! What was that for!?"

  It looks like they found them to be very suspicious. They guards kicked him to the ground, mounting him, and started a thorough search of his body. It was quite heavy, having a guard in full gear sit on him. Breathing was hard. He didn't know if he could get enough in his lungs to stay conscious. They took all he had. The only thing he had on him was money, though. Quite a lot of it, actually. The guard that grabbed it took a quick peek inside his money pouch and hid it underneath his chest plate, pretending to scratch at an itch. They treated Mayid much more nicely in contrast. They guided her out of the room. She looked just as confused as Earle was.

  "Wait! You must have misunderstood something! Just tell me what's going on and we could clear things up!"

  "Aa ee ee eeuuuaa aa aaee ee."

  Ah. He couldn't explain anything if he didn't know what he needed to explain. The captain shook his head in disappointment, making a gesture to shoo the guards away. Maybe he realized his mistake! Earle could get possibly get out of this conundrum!

  "Aaa eee aaee."

  The guards picked him up, grabbed him by the shoulders, and guided him out of the room in a much more violent manner. He passed by Mayid who was seated in a drawing room, together with Oeh, and went further into the building. Oeh looked nervous, like a young boy in love. Anxiety filled his heart. If such a handsome man were left alone with Mayid, and clearly showed interest in her, wouldn't he lose her? He wasn't given much time to worry about it. They went deeper, and deeper still, down staircases and through winding passages, passing cells that were long neglected, filled with rotting, emaciated bodies and, further in, bare bones. They walked for a long time. This tunnel definitely wasn't restricted to just the outer walls.

  Their trek only ended when they reached a purple door with runic carvings. This was maximum security for sure. The question was, what had he done in order to warrant the treatment? Sadly, there was no real way for him to figure it out. Before they tossed him in the cell, they blindfolded and gagged him for good measure. This was shaping up to be a wonderful experience. He was starting to rethink his decision to join the Kingdom's army.

  He was left alone in the silent darkness. He couldn't tell how long it had been, but his mouth started to get dry. His arms, still bound, started to lose circulation. He could feel a dull, aching pain from one of them. Definitely something broken there. Someone came and opened the door, pulling out his gag, tossing it aside, and stuffing some liquid down his mouth. He coughed and choked on it. The taste was terrible. Once they were done, they put his gag back in and left. They didn't even bother giving him a new one; this one was covered in dirt, now.

  This had better not last long.