Chapter 18: 018 * Bonus Chapter *
Alex needed information to help convince the Church of Light to investigate the Royal Family. So he went to his only source of information, the person in the room to his left. He first needed to fully assess his situation. Alex activated the Sub-Skill Flaw and looked around him. He closed his eyes to make the people who were probably watching him not notice anything suspicious. He looked around and noticed a few things after an hour. He saw around 30 rooms, each 10ft by 10ft, with 15 rooms on each side and a long hallway separating them. Each room had a person imprisoned. Alex looked to his left and tried to use another Sub-Skill called Peer. The skill connected, and he was able to peer into the person's being. The information he got was as follows:
[ Name: Demin Coldfeather
Age: 38
Race: Human ]
Alex then tried to procure information that could help him.
What Alex didn't know was that Demin had felt it when someone peered into his existence. He simply smiled and hoped his gut was right.
"Did you find any evidence to prove your claims to the Church of Light?"
"Mhm, I did. I had some documents I hid somewhere. That might be the reason I'm still alive. They might keep us because they know we have backups, and they don't want to take any risks."
"How about you tell me about your life? I mean, the thing we have in abundance is time."
"Hmm, that would be a good way to pass time. Well, where should we start?"
"When you moved here, maybe?"
"Oh no, I was born and raised inside this city."
"Well, how about your childhood?"
"I had a great childhood—"
Demin was an only child and had loving parents. He grew up with money, so he didn't need to worry about much. He later inherited the family business, got a wife, had a son and daughter. Most of his narration would highlight his wife. It seemed he was boasting, and that was all. He kept talking about how beautiful and kind she was. He then went on to talk about his business and how he started his own family. While he seemed joyful and happy, Alex could notice a burning hatred. His voice would crack when he mentioned his daughter. He would sometimes pause when he went over the memories he had of her. Eventually, he stopped talking about her altogether, as Alex guessed it hurt him every time he did. That's when Alex knew how he discovered the secret that got him imprisoned here. Alex let him finish telling his story when he asked the question.
"Did your daughter die because of them?"
"Yes. Yes, she did."
"What did they do to her?"
"…"
"Alright, let's move away from those moments and just remember the good times. Let's talk about her favorite things to do."
"Well, she loved going to the park. We even had one near where we lived. She also loved digging, exploring, and learning. She even grew a tree in the park and marked it with her initials. Ahah! I miss those times. Th-that was also the last time I saw her in one piece."
"I see."
Demin stopped talking after that. Alex began to organize the information he had gathered. Demin loved and was proud of his wife. He didn't talk much about his son, and he missed his daughter. He was a shrewd businessman, so he wouldn't leave evidence anywhere obvious. He was also a doting father and husband, so he would leave the evidence somewhere that is special to him and his family. The tree is too obvious, and so is his house.
That's when Alex knew where he would hide his insurance. It would be the best day of his life, the day his daughter was born. His daughter brought out the best in him, something even his wife couldn't do. Alex knew from his story she was delivered by a midwife named Hilda Wild. His daughter was born inside the adventures guild room 18. He also mentioned making a journal of his daughter's life. Why Demin didn't go to the adventure guild, I don't know. Maybe he couldn't as he didn't trust them. While Alex was thinking about what to do next, the wall in front of him opened up. A man in all black attire walked up to him and fed him. The food was horrible and felt like paste. They gave him water afterward and then just left. The water was most likely drugged as his mind started to became distracted. The person who fed him didn't say a word, and his emotionless eyes made Alex suspicious. When the person who fed him left the room. The person in the room to his left said,
"I didn't know it was already time. They feed us every 8 hours, but they never talk. It creeps me out every time."
"I see."
Alex just sat there for the next three hours, waiting for something to happen, when he received a system message from Blossom.
[ Blossom:
What do you need me to do? I've already signed the contract, as I know you don't trust me. ]
Alex smiled. He did trust her; it's just better to be safe than sorry. He sent her three places to check, but told her to check the adventure guild room first. She was looking for a journal hidden somewhere. Once she had it, she should immediately give it to the Church of Light. He didn't have to worry about that anymore, as he put some insurance in the contract. She wasn't able to tell anyone or look inside the journal. Alex now just needed to think of a way out of here. The best idea he could come up with was to initiate a prison break. Of course, he had no idea how he would do this. He got the idea when he noticed the wall just open up. They must have a device to remotely open the wall, or the person watching us opened it for them. Either way, if we could disrupt or take away their control, we could open every door. However, Alex wasn't naive enough to believe the people here didn't have restrictions or didn't have something that sealed the prisoners strength. They probably had something to weaken their strength or disrupt their skills.
Alex's face lit up. He could use Stop to disrupt their control, as it most likely uses mana. This meant he had a way to open the doors. However, he needed to find a way to get rid of the bindings. That's where he was stumped. Alex still had time to think about what to do.
So the days went by. He would get fed, talk with Demin, and think about how to get rid of the bindings.
Just like that, a month had passed. He also found out a few more things. He noticed the same person would feed him. Also, he believed they were being controlled, or they were just puppets. If they were being controlled, he had a way out; if they were puppets, then he was back at square one. Sadly, he couldn't check without alerting his captors. Alex was tired. He had been here for a month, looking at a blank wall inside a dim room. His mind was worn out, and he was incredibly bored. So he went and talked with Demin.
"I hate this."
"Don't we all? We all want to leave here."
"So does anyone else talk here? Or just you."
"They have all been here for a while, so they have already lost hope and just keep to themselves."
"I see. So you haven't lost hope yet."
"I haven't lost hope yet, but I don't know how much longer I can hold on."
"That's fair. Keeping hope inside this place is hard."
Alex simply closed his eyes, wanting to go to sleep, when he felt a familiar feeling. Alex grunted from the pain of being shocked. The prisoners were deprived of sleep, as every time they fell asleep, they were electrocuted.
"It is really hard to keep yourself hopeful in this situation."
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A/N
Here's a bonus chapter as I work tirelessly to get out of this debt. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Have a good rest of your day or night!
If you like this book so far you should check out my other work, A Last Wish!
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