Episode 19: Prison
Having become acquainted with the knights, Luke began to frequent the training grounds from that day on.
Alexia, who gracefully wielded her sword against the powerful knights, was so irresistibly charming that no amount of admiration could quench one’s thirst for her presence.
No, she was simply captivating no matter what she was doing. The sight of her swinging her sword was especially full of life, with a halo seeming to shine behind her.
Just having Alexia around made Luke’s view about thirty percent brighter. No, it might even be fifty percent brighter.
(Today is also precious…!)
The unit leaders, Julius, Klaus, and Marius, might have intimidating looks, but they had gentle hearts.
Keeping up with their relentless training was tough, but in the Valten household, Luke wasn’t even allowed to train with knights despite his wishes, so he was just happy to participate.
“Ha!”
One early morning, amidst the sweat and heat of the knights in the training ground…
Julius swung his great sword down, shattering the ground without even grazing Luke.
“Damn it!”
Before the flying sand even had a chance to settle, Julius swiftly launched his pursuit.
Julius gritted his teeth as Luke, nimble as ever, danced away from his slashes, dodged his sweep, and evaded his thrusts.
When another slash was unleashed…
Luke blocked the attack with his blade and countered, slipping under Julius’s thick arms and circling behind him, delivering a slash to his neck.
“You have great muscles! Luke-sama!”
“It’s all thanks to Julius and the others.”
Both Julius, who got hit by Luke’s skill, and Luke, who scored the point, looked delighted. Julius satisfiedly scratched his nose.
“Well, it’s definitely worth the training.”
Luke had no odd pride, so he absorbed what he was taught without any strange habits, making it easy for him to train. Klaus, looking impressed, remarked.
“Plus, Luke-sama is really good at dodging attacks. I’d love to learn from him.”
Though Luke wasn’t particularly strong, he was light and quick on his feet, adeptly dodging enemy attacks. He even had a special technique that allowed him to avoid blows so closely that even the attacker wouldn’t notice.
His skill in deflecting attacks and taking defensive stances was so impressive that the knights found themselves wanting to ask him for lessons.
“Where on earth did you learn such a skill?”
When Klaus asked, Luke scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.
“Haha… due to family circumstances…”
It was hard to explain that constantly being ambushed by his younger brother was a part of daily life that taught him how to survive.
However, perhaps due to that upbringing, his body had naturally learned to evade attacks with exquisite precision and to always take a defensive stance when hit.
Adding to that, under the rigorous yet precise training from the veteran knights like Julius, Klaus, and Marius, Luke was steadily improving.
Marius, grinning as he patted Luke on the shoulder, said,
“Well, a man can become as strong as he wants for the woman he loves!”
“Yes!”
The knights were fully aware of Luke’s romantic interest.
After all, they were present when he proposed on their first meeting. There was no hiding it.
Despite it being an unrequited crush that seemed out of reach, the knights were not obstructing him; they seemed to support him instead. Perhaps they found it amusing.
“Unfortunately, the young lady is over there today.”
Julius teasingly pointed below.
A large lake glistening with clear water was barely visible through the morning mist. Fluffy white clouds floated by, connecting the mountains and the lake like a ladder.
In the very center of the lake was an oddly oval-shaped island with an imposing mansion that resembled a fortress.
It was difficult to see from this distance, but nestled within the high brick walls appeared to be a black building in the shape of an X. Quite an unusual design.
“What’s that building? What is it?”
Luke innocently inquired, prompting Klaus to smile broadly.
“That’s the prison.”
Built on the island jutting out into the lake was a prison for confining criminals.
Inside the particularly high fortress walls, iron fences were tightly secured to prevent escape attempts. Barbed wire stretched above the fences, and there were no bridges over the surrounding lake.
The prison’s X shape allowed for a view of all four cells from the central observation post.
—Now that I think of it, Luke smacked his knee.
“I’ve heard there’s an impregnable prison in Rietberg…”
The Margraviate of Rietberg, located deep in the lush mountains far from the royal capital, was also a cold penal colony where offenders were sent.
The very existence of a prison filled with notorious villains and heinous criminals amplified the image of Rietberg as a lawless den.
“That’s right, that’s it.”
“Apparently, about a hundred years ago, the royal family built a prison here without asking for permission.”
“And the Margrave at the time protested vehemently.”
The Margrave of Rietberg was furious that his territory had been turned into a penal colony without consent, but in the end, he decided to take on both the built prison and the prisoners that were sent there. Truly admirable, just like Alexia’s ancestor—brimming with masculine spirit.
Even now, the prison is managed by the Ministry of Justice under direct control of the Perleburg Royal Family, but the actual supervision is largely handled by the Margrave’s family.
Julius chuckled with a smirk.
“I’m from there too.”
“Huh?!”
Klaus and Marius, also amused, raised their hands saying, “I am too!” and “Me too!”
The knights, who looked like menacing criminals, were actually former inmates?
“Here, look at this.”
Julius rolled up his sleeves.
From his arms to his shoulders and back, there were tattoos vividly illustrated. The tips of his sleeves had shown hints of what was beneath, but up close, it was truly striking.
“This is a remnant from my mercenary days.”
“I’ve got one similar!”
“Every mercenary group has different patterns carved into their skin.”
It was common for skilled peasants to enlist as mercenaries and travel around earning a living. Not only did these tattoos strengthen their sense of unity, but they also helped identify which group they belonged to.
Many of them lacked formal education, so they didn’t use letters but instead relied on patterns and designs for identification.
If someone left their mercenary group to join another, a new mark would be added, so over many years of moving around, their backs and legs could be covered in tattoos.
“…I did reasonably well as a mercenary, but one time, I took on a suspicious job that was obviously illegal, just for the quick cash…”
Julius spoke bitterly while running his hands through his messy hair.
—At that time, he had a vague awareness that he was doing something he couldn’t show his face for. He realized it, but turned back was not an option.
Turning a blind eye to his conscience, Julius found himself rolling downhill into a nasty criminal organization.
“But I was quickly found out, the entire organization was rounded up, and they threw me into the Rietberg prison.”
It seems Klaus and Marius were caught at the same time on similar charges, ending up in Rietberg prison through similar circumstances.
Though the three appeared so alike that one would assume they were triplets, they had no blood relation—just a curious coincidence.
While there were several other prisons in the country, discovering they had been sent to the Rietberg prison, notorious as a remote hellhole, left all three feeling hopeless. They even thought their lives had come to an end.
However, once they arrived, it was nothing like they had anticipated.
They had braced themselves for a living hell, yet they found themselves guaranteed three basic meals a day and a roof to sleep under, even if the meals were simple.
As prisoners, they were not allowed outside and had to stay in locked cells at night, but they weren’t cuffed or chained to iron balls.
During the day, they had to do prison work, yet the tasks resembled vocational training—things like farming, carpentry, and light production work—indicating an intention to equip them with skills for life after serving their sentences.
Interestingly, despite its grim reputation as the hellhole of the frontier, the recidivism rate for those released from Rietberg was surprisingly low.
For Julius, Klaus, and Marius, who had been living lives filled with betrayal and cunning, thinking they could live quietly behind bars, bound by discipline, was wholly unexpected.
“But for some reason, it just made me really angry… My hometown was poor, and we barely had anything to eat. Families were struggling, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to resort to crime out of desperation. So why… why was life in prison better than my hometown? It made me furious…”
Overcome with an indescribable anger, Julius often displayed rebellious behavior towards the guards, getting thrown into solitary confinement several times.
On one such day…
Alexia came to inspect the facility.
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