đźź Chapter 9 :
Simon finally stood up after everything that had happened. Once he processed the chaos around him, he began to speak:
"When I walked out of prison this morning, I was finally happy… happy to leave this rotten city behind. Earlier, I had received a recommendation from a man named Boral to help promote tourism here. But it turned out he tricked me—threw me in prison on a false charge of counterfeit money. They were using that fake currency for money laundering, handing it to tourists to divert suspicion. Then, once we were released, they sold us off to nobles with forged documents."
What a shock… I never expected those two to be involved in something like this. If I had waited out my sentence, I would've ended up in the hands of some noble. Everyone else looked just as stunned. Simon continued:
"As for why I'm here right now, it's because someone kidnapped me this morning… that big guy over there. I remember him well. He was the toilet guard—the one who used to hand us that green candy after we finished cleaning."
Good thing they didn't sell him off right away, or else we'd never have discovered this. Even though Simon left his cell around ten in the morning, he had to wait over three hours at the prison office to receive his release papers—or so I heard from some guards near my cell. That meant he actually left around noon. Which meant the only suitable time left to carry out my plan was in the evening
The interrogating guard looked at him and asked:
"Do you have any proof of what you're saying?"
Simon replied:
"Yes, I do. Look at that desk over there. It holds all the forged documents for prisoners who were jailed on counterfeit charges. Those papers are reused to sell each inmate once they're released. They'd take the personal info recorded at the prisoner's first intake and use it to forge the necessary documents for the sale.
This city has an unforgiving law—anyone caught with counterfeit currency is instantly jailed. No trial, no investigation, not even a thought about innocence. Because of the city's long history with this crime, the authorities are merciless about it. And since people despise counterfeiters, no one cares what happens to them. That gave the guard the perfect chance to steal their information unnoticed."
He had so much information that everyone was overwhelmed by the shock-especially their fellow guard, Grot
"How do you know all this?"
That question came from me, from Ren, and even from the guard himself—we were all floored by his knowledge. Simon looked back at us and said:
"That tied-up guard wouldn't shut up. He bragged about all of it while he had me captive. Since no one was really paying attention to him, he spilled everything as if he was in complete control."
Grot, huh? That explained it all. No wonder Boral had called him arrogant.
The guard stood and turned to the others:
"Now it all makes sense. Gather the documents from that desk. Arrest the traitor Grot and the man working with him. As for you three, follow me to the officer's office. We'll explain how Grot tricked you."
Finally, the truth had come to light. A genuine look of relief spread across Ren's face. I had only been here for a month, but he'd been stuck much longer, so of course his joy ran deeper than mine.
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🟧 Narrator's POV :
On the other side, Raynar and the two inmates Rick and Zeke were running with uncontainable joy—especially since no one was chasing them. The chaos stirred up by Takeru and Ren completely covered their escape, to the point the guards even forgot the cook had vanished.
The three were following Raynar's map to the exit. He actually had two maps: one from thirty years ago—utterly useless after all the city's changes—and another from twenty years ago, which had only officially become outdated last year. Unfortunately, Raynar had been in prison at that time, so he had no idea.
The exit he was aiming for… now had a house built over it. And not just any house—the officer's own house.
When they finally reached it, the three climbed the tunnel with pure excitement, unaware of what awaited them above. The officer hadn't sealed the old exit after building his home; instead, he had deliberately left it intact, anticipating that some inmate might eventually try it. And indeed, the time had come.
But that wasn't all—he had built his private office right around the exit. He was sitting there with his deputy, who had never trusted the idea.
"You know, officer, I don't think building your office over this spot and leaving the old tunnel open just to catch escapees is going to work," the deputy muttered.
The officer smiled confidently and replied:
"You underestimate me. One day, a rat will crawl out of here, and then you'll see I was right."
"And why do you think that'll happen?"
"Don't be ridiculous, deputy. There's only one exit in these tunnels, and it's this one. If the prisoners don't try to escape on their own, I'll make sure to encourage them."
"So you're not really confident they'll come here on their own?"
"I am confident. But even confidence doesn't always take you where you want to go."
"You really are pathetic, officer."
While they were bickering over the tunnel, they had no idea their trap had already worked.
The first to emerge was Raynar, brimming with joy and shouting, "The family curse has finally been broken!"—which, in truth, wasn't a curse at all, just a streak of inherited stupidity.
He found himself face-to-face with the officer and his deputy. The three of them had very different shocks: the deputy was stunned that prisoners had actually come out; the officer was stunned that his plan had actually worked; and Raynar… was stunned yet again that his plan had failed.
Then came Rick. Then Zeke. Their smiles slowly dissolved into faces of terror.
The officer looked at them with a cold smile and said:
"Remarkable. My plan worked… visitors from the prison."
The shock was so great that none of the three could utter a word. The officer quickly had them restrained again.
The deputy wondered why no guards had been chasing them. Both the officer and the deputy waited a moment, expecting more inmates or perhaps even guards to emerge from the tunnel, but no one else appeared.
They decided to check further, and the officer opened the door to return the inmates to their cells. But just as he did, someone opened it from the other side, slamming the door into his face and breaking his nose.
At that moment, neither he nor his deputy realized that the people who had just entered carried all the answers they had been waiting for.