"Get in there!"

The bald man who was wearing armor said as he threw me roughly without a care using his brute strength onto the cold stone floor. How mean. 

"You better stay in there or else you scum!"

The skinny guard with long hair also threw in some hurtful words after I got manhandled by the two. Well, I couldn't blame them. I could only keep my mouth shut and take the light beating they gave me afterwards. I was weak after all.

After a few minutes, seeing as I could not resist in the slightest, they stopped as they were tired of expending their stamina on me, and turned around to leave. Though I really want to punch them while their backs were turned, I stopped myself as my weak strike would no naught but provoke them into beating me up again.

As I watched them leave, with my bruises and wounds hurting almost as if I fell down from a flight of stairs, I look around the room I was in. I wasn't even sure you could call it a room.

The walls and ceiling were cramped. Compacted together to make you feel like the room was too small, just a little bit higher than a normal person's head. All around me were stone, stone bricks to be bluntly specific. Crude, but it looked hard enough that a grown man's punch wouldn't even move it.

There was a small opening at the top of my head. Circular in shape, had three iron bars lined up inside of it. It could be called a window, but a hole would be more fitting. A small ray of light went through it, which meant that it was still daytime. If you look through it, you will find that you were closer to the sky than the houses down below.

It seemed that even in this other world, they built prison cells above ground like some of the jails back on Earth. 

Yes, it was obvious once you look at it. This was without a doubt, a jail cell. Evidence of this was the small stack of hay that was starting to stink due to not being changed for a new stack, a wooden bucket located at the side of the room, large iron bars lined up along the locked doorway, and finally the most obvious thing. This cold, dark cell wasn't the only one. 

Across the hall, there were multiple rooms just like this one. I could faintly see some human-shaped silhouettes if I squint just enough. Torches lined up at each interval, slightly bringing a little illumination unto this dreary place.

How did I even end up in this place? I've been asking that same question myself for the whole while I was being dragged against my will by the two men who were part of the city guards earlier.

After looking around the room and confirmed that there were no hidden weapons or traps or anything like that, I plopped down, and squatted just below the opening leading to the outside, and calmed myself down. I started to think.

What happened a few minutes ago was...

♦♦♦♦♦♦

"Alright.."

I decided to leave the problem about me blurting out a term from my world that made Elise-san and Gerald-san look at me strangely, and followed the instructions of the guard who brought the crystal orb.

It kinda looks like the orbs used in fortune telling, but there was something strange about it. When it came near, I felt an ominous power emanating from it. A slight headache was beginning to surface but I managed to not let it show on my face. Even though I wanted to ask who made this or where this orb was from, I doubt that question wouldn't appear weird to the people in this world.

So, learning from my earlier blunder, I refrained myself from digging my grave any deeper than it already is. I obediently tried to place my right hand on the crystal orb which felt like it was repelling me slightly. I could feel the force making me stay away getting stronger as my hand neared it but ultimately, in the end, I successfully placed my right palm on the surface of the smooth, pure white glass.

"Now, with this let's.......huh?"

After I followed instructions, the guard holding the orb suddenly exclaimed in a loud voice after seeing the reaction. When I finally noticed, it looked like a lost cause..

That is, because when my right hand touched the surface of the orb, the latter suddenly shot out a golden light. Soon after, as if rejecting that light, the ring on my right finger suddenly reacted and shook. In the next moment, a deep mist-like black fog started creeping up from my finger, all the way to the glowing orb.

As I was panicking, I tried to pull my hand off of the orb but for some strange reason, my fingers were stuck to its surface. I used all my strength, though my strength was measly, to forcibly rip off my right appendage. 

But all this lead to no avail. Even the dumbstruck Elise-san and Gerald-san could only hold their mouths from opening wide, releasing surprised gasps from time to time. With the guard stunned, and my strength not being sufficient, the dark fog finally reached the orb, and started to surround it, swallowing the light and dying it with a deep shade of black. In less than a few seconds, the last streak of golden light finally dissipated, taking the orb with it.

When everyone regained their senses, the fog already retreated back into the ring, but the orb was nowhere to be found. All that was left were wide eyes and shocked gazes. If I could turn back time, I would have ran far away, right at this moment. Though, I knew that was impossible.

I could only stare in wonder towards the mysterious loot ring that caused this fiasco. But before I even got to explain myself, the guard suddenly stood up after calming down, and shouted in an accusing tone..

"A-a-arrest this man!"

"Ehhh!?"

With a swift motion of waving his finger, pointing right at me, a few dozen guards wearing heavy plated armor suddenly rushed towards me out of nowhere. Did I do something wrong? Were the thoughts in my head at this time.

Quickly, I moved to escape towards the exit. But it seems they were one step ahead of me. A part of the men were blocking my path of escape. In light of this, I tried to ask for help from Gerald-san and Elise-san, but when I turned back towards their direction..

A blade was pressed towards my neck. If I moved even a millimeter closer, it would get pierced by the large long sword that the man I met a while ago, Gerald-san, was brandishing before me. In contrast with his playful but serious attitude before, he seemed really disappointed and angry now, judging from the extreme change in his expression.

I wanted to ask what made him this way but before I could speak, Gerald-san opened his mouth, seemingly seething with rage. But not towards me for some reason..

"H-how, how could I not notice? You were an enemy all along! How could I let you get this close to Ms. Elise!? I thought you were a decent man, but it seems I was mistaken. You bastard, you were planning to kill us under the guise of a common traveler!"

He yells at me while looking at me like trash. A complete change from before, when he thought of me as an acquaintance. I had to say something!

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"No! You're wrong! I didn't do anything! I don't even know what happened! Please believe me, Gerald-san!"

As I was being restrained by the city guards, I tried to prove my innocence..

"Shut up. Don't call me by my name, you worthless follower of the 'Dark God Cult'! Don't resist or I will have to kill you myself! I'm really an idiot aren't I? I almost let a great danger walk freely into one of the kingdom's cities.."

Gerald-san squeezed out the latter part of his words of ridicule, which was directed at himself, while shivering.

"I-is Kyouya-sama really a part of the organization against 'Savanium-sama'? I can't believe it.."

Elise-san who was at the far back, mumbled a question directed at no one, with a name I was unfamiliar of. Regardless, I couldn't get through to her right now, so I just keep the name in mind. For now, let's try again.

"I'm not part of that cult, please don't do this! I'm innocent!"

But my words fell on deaf ears. It seemed that after Gerald-san said his piece, he looked away in anger, and completely ignored my pleas. Taking this as the signal, the guards dragged me away. Of course I moved, and struggled within their grasps. But with my measly strength, shaking them off was nothing but a pipe dream.

After a while, I could only let myself get pulled away from the two humans that I met after arriving in this world. We arrived at a tall, dark building with many guards stationed all around the area. I deduced that this might be their headquarters. But there was nothing I could do with that information, even if I knew it, so I put it aside.

I could only wait in silence, while the guards talked to men who seemed to be their superiors. I guessed this from hearing their respectful tone of voice while they were conversing with each other. Adding to the fact that the latter seemed much stronger than the two combined. As soon as that was over, they picked me up again, and dragged me through a guarded doorway, leading into a stairwell leading upwards.

When they reached a long hall of iron bars, they picked one nearest to the stairway, and threw me in.

♦♦♦♦♦♦

That's how the events went, probably..

Now, back to the present. Where I am currently sitting in a squatting position, breathing in and out. I was trying that meditation thing I once saw on television. They said that it will let you feel relaxed and calm, making you clear your mind of earthly worries and problems. Though one could say that this sounds like running away from reality, it surprisingly worked wonders for me. 

After I finished recounting the events that lead up to this point, I started to figure out a solution. Even though I could complain about my plans of sleeping in a nice inn, eating delicious food, and having a peaceful life right now, I decided not to think about it, and planned my next course of action.

In the case of using brute strength to forcefully escape through the stone wall, jumping from a high building, and running away to another place to hide from the authorities, it seemed simple and easy to do. But that would only be the case wherein I could activate 'Lord of the Night' again. I still haven't examined it thoroughly so I don't know of any side effects or backlash it could bring me soon after escaping.

Putting that aside for now, there is also the plan of getting a lawyer to prove me innocent. But even I think that would just be a suicidal venture. In the first place, do they even have a justice system here like they do back on Earth? Even if there was such a thing, I doubt any lawyer would fight for my case anyway. I would be bound to lose because there were multiple witnesses, and two of them were nobles. Either way, both would be disadvantageous to me.

Finally, I could wait this out, and let nature run its course. Maybe after some days, they will test me again, and this time I would be sure to not use my right hand which held the ring, and instead use my left one. Thus, proving my innocence and letting me go free to live my peaceful life!

Realistically, that sequence of events' chance of happening was even lower than seeing a pig fly, so this might never happen the way I wanted it to. Instead, they might find out the cause was the ring on my finger, and take it off. But even I couldn't take it off, even when I try to do it right now. After seeing that this was useless, the guards would then decide to cut off my finger, or much easily, my whole right hand. Even worse, I would not get released, but executed the next day. I've seen how cruel the olden times were towards criminals in movies so that might be a huge possibility.

"*Sigh*"

I release an exasperated sigh towards my hopeless case..

I guess there was no other way than to break out of here. But, if I want this to go well, I had to make the necessary preparations, and gather information. Although, I had no way of doing the latter while trapped in this cell.

Just when I was thinking that, loud steps and voices could be heard coming closer, climbing up the stairway..

"Let me go already, I won't fight anymore.."

"As if we'll believe you! You tricky thief!"

"Alright, we've reached his cell, welcome to your new home, scumbag."

The unfamiliar voices were not the guards who dragged me in here, but was another duo of armored men. In the middle of them, held down by their arms, was a light-skinned man with a hat on his head.

He looked to be a playful person, with curly red hair, and emerald-colored eyes. Even when he was forcibly pushed forward into the cell right across mine, he still had a relaxed demeanor. Wearing nothing but leather clothing, he was dusting himself off, standing upright after he got locked inside.

After the guards confirmed that he was securely inside the cell, they left with grumbling voices..

As they walked down the stairs, both of our eyes followed their movements for seemingly different reasons. I was confirming whether they had left, while I didn't know what the other guy's reason was.

Soon after their noises and presence were far away from here, we exhaled a sigh of relief at the same time. Due to this, he finally noticed me, and locked eyes with mine. His light green eyes looked mischievous as he studied me for quite some time. Just when I was about to turn back, he said..

"Hey there, the name's Dazel!"

He greeted me quite frankly, like I was a buddy. So I reflexively replied back..

"Kyouya, call me Kyouya.."

And so starts my new prison life in the other world..