Chapter 2: Jailed
Mathew tread carefully, the entire building in which his study was located had a good amount of guards, and they were all in panic.
-" An assassin? Lock the dammed doors! Don't let anyone out!" Mathew hastened his steps as he heard the anxious shouts of the guards.
Mathew only had small pieces of Sigebert's memories to guide himself through the building, but, to his luck, the original owner of the body was familiar with a small hidden passage that he used to visit a small lake when he was stressed.
He quickly found the hidden passage and crawled out of the building, he had no idea where the governor envoy was, so he could only wait around the building.
Mathew's heart raced as he watched people enter and leave the building, Sigebert hadn't any memories from this envoy, so he could only wait and bid his time.
Before long, a luxurious carriage arrive at the entrance of the building, and a man adorned in luxurious robes entered the building, Mathew was sure that he was the envoy, as no one from this city had the need to walk around with so many guards.
Mathew waited patiently for the man to exit the building, and followed him back to the place he was staying. He felt anxious as he approached the envoy's villa and knocked on the door.
-" Go away! The Governor Envoy is not taking visits now!" A guard shouted without even opening the door.
-" I'm an official from this city, the magistrate was sent a few documents for the governor envoy." Mathew quickly made up a reason for his visit.
The guard sighed as he opened the door and looked at Mathew, he was full of caution at first, but, after seeing the token tied into Mathew's robe he finally relaxed. " Hand over the documents!"
-" I was ordered to deliver this to the envoy himself." Mathew's expression was firm, he needed to meet the envoy to make sure that he understood what was happening in the village.
-" Wait a moment then." The guard closed the door and returned a few moments later. " The envoy is waiting for you."
Mathew only grew more nervous as he was escalated to the envoy room, he hoped that he could deal with this situation and avenge Sigebert.
-" Sir, the man is here." The guard knocked on the door and announced Mathew's arrival.
-" You may enter." The envoy gave his permission, and Mathew entered the room together with the guard. " What did Nicolaus send? It's better to be something to bother me so late at night."
Mathew sighed in relief, in his mind the most dangerous part had already passed. " May we speak alone?" Mathew gave the guard a fleeting glance as he asked.
-" He is a man of my trust, you can speak now or leave." The governor envoy had an annoyed expression, he was tired of his voyage and was finally preparing to have some rest.
Mathew bit his lips, he didn't know even where to start. " I brought you some documents that show some tax evasion in this village."
-" Tax evasion?" The envoy's eyes widened. " Nicolaus wasn't the one who sent you, right?"
-" Yes… Nicolaus doesn't know that I'm here, he even tried to stop me from meeting you."
-" Give me the scrolls!" The envoy jolted up and snatched the documents from Mathew's hands and began to read them. " That little shit! Bring Nicolaus now!" The envoy was furious as he gazed at the scrolls.
Mathew was relieved, he never expected that this would be so easy, however, the envoy's next words made him shake in fear.
-" And take this idiot to jail!" The envoy threw the scrolls on the ground and stomped on them. " Nicolaus! How dare you try to scam me!" The envoy was enraged, he received a few gold coins each month as part of the corruption scheme, but, he now realized that what Nicolaus paid him was only the scraps.
Mathew's body had frozen from the shock, he wondered if there ever was someone honest working for the government.
Mathew didn't even react as the was dragged out of the room and led to the local jail, he regretted going to visit the envoy, and most of all, he felt scorned for transmigrating only to end up in this situation.
The local jail was pitch black, the walls were made of big blocks of stone that stopped all the light from entering, and the ground of moist dirt. His whole body shivered as the cold air of the jail entered his body.
-" A new one? What you did do to end up here?" A voice rang out from the cell next to him. " Did that fat pig steal your land too? Or did you complain about the heavy taxes to the city magistrate?"
-" I tried to warn the governor envoy of all these things." Mathew shied as he now realized how naive he was.
-" Oh? We have a righteous one here!" The man chuckled in surprise. " Did you seriously think that the envoy didn't know? Good Lord! Just by taking a walk on the village's street, you would understand that something is wrong in this dammed village."
-" I didn't have time to think… " Mathew blamed the situation he was thrown in, he never had time to seriously ponder about his situation.
-" The only way that you could resolve this was going directly to the provincial governor." The man stopped mocking Mathew as he realized that he wasn't fairing too well. " I bet that even the district magistrate is part of this scheme."
-" Tsk! Everyone working in the government is a corrupt bastard! That this provincial governor must be the same!" Mathew lashed out at the man's comments, the corruption in his original world, and in this one had made him completely disillusioned.
-" Boy… Homer is a true man!" The man didn't like to be shouted at and reciprocated with another one. " Governor Homer is a respectable man!"
-" I wonder how a respectable man got so much corruption under him." Mathew was scared by the man's shout, but, he didn't back down. " How do you even know if he is a respectable man or not?"
-" I met him! Back when I was young, he was the leader of my army division!" The man's voice was filled with pride as he spoke about his younger days. " If Governor Holmer knew about this! None of them would escape!"
Mathew found the man's trust in the governor laughable. " Why didn't you go warn him then?"
-" I need proof! You can just accuse an Imperial official of a crime, are you dumb or something? Shouldn't you know this as an official?" The man answered Mathew's question and threw one back to him.
-" I-I-I" Mathew froze as he couldn't find an excuse, " I was too hasty, I had all the evidence I needed, but, I was too hasty." Mathew knew that he had wasted his only opportunity to deal with the situation.
-" You had the evidence?" The man was astonished, he always thought that the Precinct Magistrate had gotten rid of the evidence. " What happened to them?" The man was shaken, he never had the will to go against Nicolaus as he knew what the likely outcome was, but, if an official brought forward proof of corruption the governor would surely investigate it.
-" It doesn't matter anymore, the scrolls are in the hand of the envoy." Mathew had lost all hope, he was just waiting for his end. " There is no way to recover them."
-" Fuck! How can you be so dumb?" The man shouted in rage, he always thought that a person needed to be at least smart to become an imperial official." Are you sure that you can't recover them? Did the envoy destroy them?"
Mathew was about to repeat his answer to the man, but, he realized that the envoy would surely safe keep the scrolls." He won't destroy them… He discovered that Nicolaus was undercutting him, so I bet that he will keep them as blackmail for the future."
-" So there is this hope." The man laughed happily as he grabbed the bar of his cell. " Hey if I get you out here, can you recover them?"
-" Impossible, the envoy's villa is filled with guards." Mathew shook his head, he knew that sneaking into the envoy's place would be too hard for him.
-" What if I make them go out?" The man had a diabolic grin, his arms swelled up as he tightened the grip on the cell bars.
-" Go out?" Mathew was confused about what the man was saying. " And how do you plan to do that?"
-" Rebellion! A prisonbreak!" The man shouted loudly awakening every other person in the jail.
-" Are you crazy? Don't you fear what they will do to you?" Mathew's eyes widened, the man seemed very normal by the rest of the conversation, but, Matthew now thought that he was a lunatic.
-" What they will do? I have been locked inside this cell for two years now! And for What?" The man continued to shout, he wanted to entice the other people who suffered injustices. " For speaking out against the corruption in Nicolaus' administration! Enough is Enough! The population was to rise up!"
The jail warden came rushing down to the cells as he heard the noise, and he arrived just in time to hear the man's speech. -" Simon! Don't cause trouble now!" The Jail Warden was in disbelief, the man had always behaved during his time in prison, and he didn't understand why he wanted to revolt now.
-" Behave? Did everyone hear that? This pig is telling me to behave!" Simon continued to shout, and he put even more of a show as he saw more and more inmates awakening due to his shouts. " Why don't this pig of a warden go tell Nicolaus to behave? Why isn't the corrupt magistrate in jail, instead of us!"
-" Simon is right! Everyone had enough! Let's get out of here!"
-" I had enough! All I did was complain to Nicolaus about the taxes that I was paying and he threw me in jail"
-" Let's go! I don't care if I have to become a fugitive! I won't stay another day in this dammed jail."
Mathew froze as he saw how discontent everyone was, SIgebert almost didn't have any memories of interactions with the common people, so he never really knew how upset everyone was.
-" Freedom!" Simon shouted as he tore the iron bars of his cell open and proceed to free everyone else.
The jail warden shuddered in fear as he saw Simon leave his cell, he threw his spear on the ground and ran away. He always feared that this day would come, as Simon was the strongest cultivator in the whole village, and only stayed in jail in fear of the Imperial Law.
-" Go now! I will make the envoy come himself to deal with me." It was only now that Mathew saw Simon, and was surprised to learn that he was pretty old.
-" I won't waste your sacrifice!" Mathew clenched his teeth as he ran out of the underground jail.
Mathew felt adrenaline rush through his body, and just as he was about to leave the jail, two men with spears blocked his entrance.
-" Halt!" One of them screamed as he pointed the spear toward Mathew, who almost froze from fear.
- " Out of the way!" Mathew bit his lips as he threw away his fears and gazed hatefully at the guards.
Mathew was about to hit the guards when he felt a strange energy coursing through his legs, and his speed suddenly increased. His face was completely pale as he didn't understand what was happening
Mathew's speed was so fast that the guards were sent flying away as he ran past them, but, he could barely control his legs and smashed into the jail's gate.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone