Called "Mama" by Hawk, the Mother of Chaos looked round and dopey, but her movement speed was anything but slow.
Before long, the group arrived near Baste Prison, at a town named Dalmary.
As usual, Hawk Mama parked outside the town while everyone walked in.
But the moment Charles stepped into the town, he felt distinctly uncomfortable. A closer look revealed the anomaly.
There was a bug crawling on the wall—its bizarre color, shaggy body, and ferocious mouthparts made it obvious it was a dangerous poisonous insect.
Most importantly, Charles sensed a faint trace of magic from it—and he had seen the very same kind of bug outside the town.
If he wasn't mistaken, these bugs were being controlled by someone. And the one controlling them should be a Holy Knight stationed at Baste Prison.
Charles had paged through a few travelogues and some unknown person's notes in the Boar Hat and had learned quite a bit the original story glossed over.
Aside from the higher-ups like the Great Holy Knight who commanded all Holy Knights, and those like Gilthunder who guarded the royal family, most Holy Knights operated in knight-squad units.
The Seven Deadly Sins were one such unit—albeit a special one with only seven full Holy Knights.
A normal knight squad was composed of three to ten full Holy Knights plus a varying number of squire Holy Knights.
Knight squads were the kingdom's most basic combat units. One such squad was currently garrisoned at Baste Prison.
The Weird Fangs—four Holy Knights within. Naturally, the notes didn't record their abilities.
There really were a few like that in the original story. What were their powers again? Charles honestly didn't remember. In any case, they were the type you could swat aside at will.
Sure enough, it wasn't just him—Stella and Meliodas had also noticed they were being watched and were quietly on guard.
In that surface-casual, inwardly-tense state, the group entered a restaurant.
In any world, ordinary people are easily swayed by prejudice. The townsfolk had been scared off by Diane, a member of the Giant Clan.
For some reason, the owner of this place hadn't fled, and even welcomed them warmly.
Diane poked her head in through the window and looked at everyone inside. "We're already at Baste Prison. What do we do? Charge in and bust Ban out?"
Meliodas waved a hand. "That'd work too—but someone might come to us first."
Charles nodded. Those bugs had already given their position away. For the Weird Fangs, the most rational response would be to prepare in advance and fight the group with the home-field advantage of Baste Prison.
Baste Prison had originally been a fortress built to respond to war at any time. Only under the current king's rule—when Liones faced no wars—was it converted into a prison for high-profile criminals. For the Weird Fangs, it was absolutely a sturdy stronghold.
But Charles already knew the Holy Knights' nature—they'd come to them.
Power breeds arrogance. How could those long-revered men of the kingdom possibly deign to put others in their eyes?
Just then, the restaurant owner came over with a tray and set steaming dishes on the table.
As he placed a plate of fried rice in front of Charles, Charles grabbed his wrist.
"Hey, boss, here's a tip: if you're going to poison someone, don't use something with such a pungent smell. Or put it in a strongly flavored dish. Otherwise it's way too easy to notice."
The owner's face changed drastically and he struggled hard. But Charles's hand was like an iron clamp; he couldn't break free.
Elizabeth set down the utensils she'd just picked up, startled. "There's poison in the food?"
Meliodas also put down his cup, his expression darkening.
This was indeed his negligence. Then again, even the lowest of the enemies he'd faced rarely stooped to such despicable means as poisoning—he truly hadn't been on guard.
Thankfully there was Charles. It wouldn't matter much for him—he couldn't truly die anyway—but Elizabeth was different. He didn't know what he'd do if she ingested poison.
Charles tightened his fingers, drawing a scream from the proprietor, and said coldly, "Talk. Who ordered you to poison us?"
"I did!"
A middle-aged man came out of the kitchen. "He only poisoned you to help me, and the poison was mine. If you need someone to answer for it, come for me—please let him go."
Meliodas hurried to stop Diane from flipping the restaurant and looked at the man. "Who are you, and why did you poison us?"
Face drawn and miserable, the man said, "My name is Dana. I'm this town's doctor. Poisoning you was an order from the Holy Knight at Baste Prison.
He took my daughter. If I didn't do it, my daughter would…"
With that, Dana collapsed weakly to his knees. "Take my life if you must—just, I beg you, please save my daughter."
Elizabeth stood aside with an indescribable sorrow on her face. She was the kingdom's princess; Holy Knights who should have protected the nation had done such a thing. She couldn't help but feel responsible for failing to stop them.
Charles released the proprietor and looked to Meliodas. "Manager, what now?"
After a moment of silence, Meliodas said, "Forget it. We were headed to Baste Prison anyway. If we run into her, we'll rescue your daughter."
Charles noted the look in Meliodas's eyes. He wasn't moved by any eagerness to help the uncle who'd tried to poison them—this decision was entirely for Elizabeth's sake.
He didn't want to see Elizabeth wracked by guilt and pain, so he was willing to act.
Just then, a grating, dreary voice sounded.
"Oh, it failed? That won't do. We can't let word get out that a Holy Knight used a young girl to coerce citizens into helping him."
Charles snorted, shifted, and kicked out in front of Dana.
In that instant, a man in silver-gray armor wearing a horned helmet with a jester's faceplate appeared—only to be booted straight through the wall and sent flying.
Meliodas rubbed his chin. "Invisibility, huh? No wonder you caught him, Charles."
Charles waved it off. "Nothing special. He hid his form, but sound and scent can still be noticed if you're sharp enough.
Doctor Dana—this is the one who threatened you into poisoning us, right?"
Meliodas curled his lip. "Going after civilians without hesitation really does suit that sneaky kind of magic."
He drew the short staff at his waist and swung to the side.
The Holy Knight, struck hard, could no longer maintain his transparency; the trident in his hand shattered, and he himself was sent flying.
Now that they knew the enemy's ability—and had seen how to crack it—Meliodas could naturally handle it too.
"Since the other side has already come knocking, let's answer in kind. Move out—we're going to flatten Baste Prison."
(End of Chapter)
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