Volume 6: Prison Wolf Chapter 1

Deep in the underground of Alban Prison, there was a little-known special cell. 

In this place where even the sunlight couldn’t reach, Fuyu Sagara was enjoying a rare moment of tranquility after a long time.

Beside her bunk bed, the fairy Kimberley stretched out and relaxed.

“Nevertheless, what a gloomy place,” Kimberley remarked.

“Well, it can’t be helped. Prisons are like that,”

“But still, there should be some limit, right? I mean, I’ve been confined in a cage for a long time too, but even that place was much better than here. In this world, you can never reach the top, but maybe you can’t see the bottom of the abyss no matter how much you look down,” 

Fuyu was intrigued by Kimberley’s knowledgeable and witty remarks, so she listened attentively.

“Kim, you seem to have a broad perspective on the world,” 

“It’s not that much, really. I just enjoy observing humans. Though, it was because of that obsession that I ended up captured by humans and became a fairy in a cage. By the way, Fuyu, why are you here?”

Kimberly boldly posed a question to Fuyu, one that Barton would hesitate to ask.

“For murder.” 

“Ah, is it for that? I heard you killed some perverted guards.”

“Yes, that’s right. But it’s a story from even before that. I have killed the crown prince of this kingdom,” 

Kimberly’s face twitched uncontrollably, and she instinctively moved a little further away from Fuyu before speaking with a trembling voice.

“I-I see. So, you killed the crown prince… Well, considering you’ve slain the Demon King, I guess the crown prince is nothing to fret about…”

Without showing any concern for Kimberly’s fear, Fuyu’s gaze fixated on a distant past.

“There was no other choice. My powers were sealed with that stone, and I had no desire to bear a child with a man I didn’t love.”

“A stone? A child?” 

“The stone is a massive rock called the ‘Shipstone’ which was brought with me from the Land of Asuka when I was summoned. For some reason, being near that stone restricts my power as a hero. It’s likely that they used it in this prison cell and even in these handcuffs. Even though I had already exhausted most of my power when I sealed the Demon King.”

“So, Fuyu, you can no longer unleash the same level of power as before?”

“That’s correct. That power was bestowed upon me solely for defeating the Demon King.”

“I see. Then, what about the child you mentioned?”

Fuyu shook her head with a sense of frustration.

“The royal family of this kingdom wanted to infuse the blood of the Hero into their own descendants. It seems they had hoped for my abilities to be inherited by the royal lineage. That’s why they sealed my powers with the stone and forcibly tried to make me have a child with the crown prince,”

“That’s just awful…” 

“There was no other way. I killed the crown prince by strangling him with the chains of my handcuffs,” 

“Fuyu is not the one at fault! It’s the members of the royal family in this country who are rotten to the core. Is that how they repay their savior?”

Fuyu’s expression softened as she observed Kimberly’s flare of anger.

“They haven’t given up yet. About once a year, they approach me with proposals for conceiving. They’re waiting for me to change my mind while I’m imprisoned. Perhaps when I become much older and unable to bear children, they might consider releasing me. But that’s still far off,” 

Fuyu chuckled self-deprecatingly, but Kimberly stood up, seething with anger.

“This is outrageous! Fuyu, let’s escape from this place right away!” 

In the face of Kimberly’s raging fury, Fuyu remained calm and collected.

“Even so, my powers are sealed, and how can I escape from here? Not only are there magic seals, but fragments of the “shipstone” are embedded in the prison and the passages. I can’t even remove a single iron bar,” Fuyu explained.

“Even if it’s impossible right now, I’m sure everything will be fine if Barton helps us,” 

“The prison guard Wolf? It pains me to burden such a kind-hearted person,” 

Fuyu replied with a smile tinged with resignation, but Kimberly had a different reaction.

“Let’s consult with him tonight, if possible. By the way, Barton is so slow. It’s almost dinnertime, isn’t it?” Kimberly said.

“Hmm, he’s about fifteen minutes late from the usual schedule,” 

“That guy always has terrible timing and gets caught up in trouble right away. It’s been like that since forever,” 

“Is that so?” Fuyu responded.

“Just the other day, Mary—oh, Mary is Barton’s wicked and sly older sister. She’s such a despicable person that it’s hard to believe the two share the same blood. She got hanged and died recently,” Kimberly explained.

“Hanged?” 

“Barton doesn’t have any family left,” 

Kimberly’s previous cheerfulness vanished in an instant, and she lowered her shoulders as she explained Barton’s circumstances.

**************

TN: I’m pretty sure Fuyu deep down hopes that Wolf would help her, otherwise she wouldn’t have told Kimberly the truth.

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