They boasted about the success of the mission and showed off the bag of gold coins they received as payment.

When Alric first requested the help of two men from his gang of any level, no one wanted to go, worse when they heard it was to break into Ironside prison. They thought the new leader was a mad man.

But now that they saw Waller return, more so with a sack of gold their jaws hit the ground.

his lips were as loose as gossiping schoolgirl, he spread the story among the gang over and over.

Hearing of their boss fighting a paladin with his brute strength had thrown them further into disbelief but the bag of gold was hard to dismiss.

Waller at first was worried shitless when he volunteered to take the mission.

But his five year old daughter was sickly and he did anything he could find to pay for her medication. He had robbed, stole and murdered to keep her alive, to him this was just another fight he had to endure for her sake.

Sure he felt guilty after all he had to kill quite a few innocent guards while breaking in, but the pay off was too good not to smile. He reflected on the strength of the boss and his sureness in every move.

He wanted to be like that, sure that every move he made was right, but lately he felt lost.

It was only when he followed the sureness of the new boss did he feel like he was always right, and this pay off was proof he needed to stifle all of his self doubt.

Waller jiggled the sack of gold as he smiled and walked out to the herbalist’s shop.

The rest of the gang looked at his leaving back and felt guilty for not accepting the mission from the boss. If they ever got the chance again they would jump on the mission in a heartbeat.

-

“What do you mean they are still nowhere to be found?!”

King Paradox sat on his throne exuding a domineering spirit expected of a king. The queen sitting beside him scuffed at the representatives that knelt before them.

“It has been forty eight hours!

twenty five prisoners do not just disappear into thin air!”

The King who normally was calm and collected could not help but grow furious at the incompetence of his subjects.

“Do any of you know what kind of light this shines on our Kingdom?!

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

When we can’t even keep our own prisoners in check?

The other Kingdoms are laughing at our incompetence!”

“Your Highness we understand this, but according to our investigations a very low tier teleportation magic was used.

So low in fact it had no exit point for us to trace.”

The representatives groveled even lower into the palace floor trying to appease the King as they pleaded and explained.

“Are you saying they are most likely dead?” The king brashly rebutted.

“Yes your Highness.

If they had exited anywhere within the continent we would have been able to track them by now.

And to go beyond the edges of the continent would take so much mana that it is virtually impossible.

We hypothesize that it was a teleportation spell gone wrong and they died in the rift, your highness.”

The king stroked his chin as he became somewhat less furious and pondered what they had just told him. While it made logical sense, something about it did not sit right with the king; however he could not argue with such logical reasoning.

“Very well, regardless I still want the City guards to be on the lookout for anyone with the dragon’s Claw.”

With that decree the representatives were dismissed and the queen gave a raised eyebrow look to her husband.

“I will summon the royal investigator.”

The King gulped,

“As much as I abhor asking that crazy witch for help, I'm afraid you are right this time.

We need her.

If there is anyone who can get on the trail of the prison break perpetrators it is definitely her.”

The Queen gave the King Paradox a sharp expression.

“The matter is not something we can take lightly.

Our allies are looking for a weak point. If we move on this matter without a firm stance it will leave the kingdom looking weak, inviting the whole continent to question our strength.”

“Shut up woman!

You feel I don’t understand the intricacies of ostentation to a kingdom's reputation and security?!”

Paradox was fumingly angry, in truth he wasn’t angry with his wife but it was just the multifaceted nature of everything that happens within a kingdom.

He disliked how cautious he had to be to maintain the security of his nation. Paradox looked over at his wife and saw the look of distance in her face. He had to pull back.

“uh… I mean…” Paradox gave up on the pretenses and continued,

“There are just too many things affecting our kingdom now. We don’t have enough strength within the kingdom to fight and have to be cautious of everyone around.

Running a kingdom with only three pillars of strength is stretching us too thin.”

Paradox spoke to the queen in a sincere manner before continuing.

“Ever since we lost that family a few years ago we haven’t been able to recover our military strength. If the other nations ever find out how weak we are now… I’m afraid…”

The queen maintained her look of distance regardless of the King’s sincerity,

“Hmpf!

I warned you about this years ago! But you felt your power was all that was needed and look at you now!

You always act like you’re God or something just because of your little power but you forgot the difference between man and God.

A God has the ability to be omnipresent… which is very much lacking in you.”

The Queen scoffed at the King's incompetence before getting up from her throne and flashing her hair at the King.

“If you need me I will be in my chambers”

King Paradox wanted to stop her but as always she was right.

King Paradox swallowed his words before falling into deep thought.