The Demon King's Castle's underground prison, where criminals were confined, was located outside the castle itself.
It was situated in one of the four spires connecting the castle walls surrounding the Demon King's Castle, and its entrance was guarded day and night by Death Knights, who felt no fatigue due to being undead, taking shifts to maintain airtight security.
As I followed Camilla, who was walking ahead, towards the prison, the Death Knights guarding the entrance spotted us and placed their hands on the Zweihanders still in their scabbards.
It seemed like a warning, implying they would attack if we came any closer.
Camilla glanced at the Death Knights and then said to me,
"As you can see, unauthorized individuals cannot enter the underground prison."
"Then whose permission do I need?"
"Someone already recognized as a superior by the Death Knights, for example, the Demon King-nim or…"
"Kaldraash! Camilla! You're back!"
"…someone like Vanessa over there needs to grant permission."
Speak of the devil, and she appears. Vanessa arrived at the most impeccable timing, fully armed as usual, carrying a helmet-a tin one-in her right hand.
After shaking hands with her, I asked what she had been doing.
Vanessa replied with a confident attitude, tapping her armor above her gauntlet,
"I'm the Demon King-nim's Guard Captain, so I was on patrol to prevent any ill-intentioned individuals from infiltrating the castle."
This guy is incredibly diligent.
Usually, a Guard Captain would be shuffling papers behind a desk and delegate patrol duties to someone else, wouldn't they?
As I was admiring this, Camilla next to me said with an exasperated expression,
"They nearly assassinated the Demon King-nim just a week ago. Since the Guard Captain failed her duties, she naturally has to do these menial tasks."
"Waaaaah! You shouldn't have said that!"
Ah. Right.
Even though it was just a few days ago, it felt like ages ago, and I had forgotten.
From my position as one of the main culprits in the assassination attempt, I looked at Vanessa with newfound eyes.
"You managed not to get fired after causing such a mess. If it were me, I would have lopped off your head right away… Ah, you've already been decapitated."
Come to think of it, Dullahans are immune to execution by decapitation.
There's nothing that can be done about it.
"That's so mean! I'm already self-conscious about it!"
Vanessa then stopped acting dignified, hunching her shoulders and pretending to cry.
It was quite jarring to see a Dullahan, known as the Fairy of Death, acting like this.
In battle, there's no opponent as troublesome as a Dullahan.
Anyway, I couldn't keep joking around with Vanessa forever, so I got straight to the point.
"Vanessa, I have business in the underground prison right now."
Vanessa stopped pretending to cry and asked in a puzzled voice,
"Business? What kind of business?"
"I just came from seeing the Demon King-nim, and he ordered me to interrogate the Hero's party imprisoned in the underground prison."
Vanessa let out a shrill exclamation, "Ah~"
"If it's something like that, I'll gladly help."
Vanessa said so and gestured for the Death Knights guarding the tower entrance leading to the underground prison to move aside.
The Death Knights, who had threatened us like rabid dogs moments before, now meekly moved aside at her words, like a flock of docile sheep.
She showed me the keyring attached to her waist and urged me to hurry.
I blinked.
"Weren't you on patrol? Are you coming with me?"
"The underground 3rd floor, where the Hero is imprisoned, is where only those sentenced to death or life imprisonment are held. A guard must accompany anyone going down there. But the guards have all clocked out for the day, so I'm going to fill in."
Given the reason, it was indeed unavoidable.
As I followed Vanessa towards the entrance of the underground prison, Camilla tugged slightly at my collar from behind and asked,
"Was sending me out of the room earlier related to this?"
She hadn't heard the last conversation between me and the Demon King-nim.
So, as soon as I left the office, she must have become suspicious when I immediately suggested going to the underground prison.
Actually, the Demon King-nim hadn't mentioned anything about interrogation, but there was no need to tell Camilla the truth.
"Um… it's classified information."
I said that and vaguely brushed it off.
It's a kind of rational falsehood.
Underground Prison.
The image most people conjure when thinking of an underground prison is a dirty, unpleasant, and gloomy space.
Unlike modern times, where there was no legal need to guarantee the human rights of criminals, the basement, untouched by a single ray of sunlight, was truly unfit for habitation.
The 1st floor, reached by descending a short flight of stairs from the entrance, consisted of multiple cells lined up along a long corridor.
Each cell was about 10 pyeong (approx. 330 sq ft) in size. The only entrance was an iron door, and apart from a small opening with iron bars and a food slot at the bottom, everything else was sealed shut, preventing even a single ant from escaping.
Peeking inside through the bars as I passed, I saw prisoners clad in tattered rags either sleeping against the walls or huddled together playing cards.
The sight of about 10 people crammed into each room was surprisingly similar to modern prisons.
According to Vanessa, those who committed minor offenses in the vicinity of the Demon King's Castle, or public officials caught engaging in corruption such as accepting bribes or illicit solicitations, were confined on this 1st floor upon capture.
After passing dozens of cells and walking down the corridor for about 10 minutes, the stairs leading down to the 2nd floor finally appeared.
"This is where the 2nd level begins."
As Vanessa descended the steep stairs, she explained the types of prisoners confined on the 2nd floor.
"Unlike the 1st floor, where offenses are relatively minor, the prisoners on the 2nd floor are those who committed felonies. Murder, assault, looting… well, you get the idea, right? Prisoners of war from the Kingdom's Army are also brought to the solitary confinement cells on the 2nd level. If humans are placed in the cells on the 1st floor, they'll be lynched by other inmates and die quickly."
Unlike the 1st floor, where prisoners lived communally, the 2nd floor, being the confinement area for serious offenders, had all single-occupancy rooms.
However, the rooms were quite small, about 3 pyeong (approx. 100 sq ft).
It was just large enough for a well-built man to barely stretch out and sleep.
Otherwise, the structure was not significantly different from the cells on the 1st floor.
As we walked, observing our surroundings, we eventually reached the end of the corridor.
Perhaps the tunnels on the 2nd floor were dug deeper than those on the 1st, but it felt like we had walked quite a distance.
Vanessa, who was in front, tapped a stone wall at the dead end.
"And from here onwards is the 3rd level. The Hero you wish to meet is also imprisoned here."
With that, the wall Vanessa had tapped slid inwards, revealing a hidden staircase behind it.
Vanessa turned back to us, who were following behind, and said,
"Personally, I call this place Avici Hell. Once you enter, you can never leave until you die."
Her words struck me as quite profound.
Unlike the stairs connecting the 1st and 2nd floors, the spiral staircase leading to the 3rd floor was considerably long.
We must have descended about 10 meters deeper underground.
Just as I was starting to lose my sense of direction from walking so much, the exit leading to the 3rd level finally came into view.
Drawn to the light like moths, we approached, and a wide corridor lined with closely spaced torches revealed itself before us.
Vanessa, leading the way, raised her right arm and pointed towards the end of the corridor.
"The imprisoned Hero is over there."
Camilla, standing beside me, swallowed nervously, her expression tense.
For the Demon race, the Hero was their sworn enemy.
Having been their comrade until very recently, she knew well the resentful and hateful gazes they directed towards the Hero, who had borne the brunt of it all.
Unlike the upper floors, where corridors and cells were separated by iron doors and walls, the prison on the 3rd floor used only iron bars to distinguish the corridor from the cells, much like a police station's holding cells.
As we walked towards the Hero's room, I spotted some familiar faces.
"You! Kaldraash! You son of a bitch! What nerve do you have showing your face here!"
Even after nearly a week of imprisonment, the blonde female warrior was still full of energy, glaring at me. The Sage with blue hair was drawing patterns on the floor with a look of utter resignation, and the Cleric who worshipped the Goddess of Courage was facing away, praying solely to the wall. They all seemed surprisingly well.
I playfully waved my hand at the female warrior, who was as strong as a gorilla, and headed towards the cell at the very end of the corridor.
Finally stopping, Vanessa gestured to the side.
"This is where the Hero is imprisoned."
Hearing her words, I naturally turned my head.
"Oh."
There sat the Hero, looking battered and bruised after only a few days, with shackles fastened to his limbs, sitting on the floor.
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