"Father!" I called as I walked downstairs to the main room. There, I saw my father talking to Uncle Luke and Grandfather.

"Oh Ruby, come here," Father said when he noticed me. I sat down near him.

"What do you want, Ruby?"

"I want to visit a prison," I declared. All three of them looked surprised.

"Uh... Ruby, why do you want to visit the prison?" Father asked, sounding worried.

"I want to see what a prison looks like," I said firmly.

"But prisons are dangerous," Father hesitated, reluctant to give permission.

"Clavis, I'll accompany Ruby," Uncle Luke said as he buttoned his clothes and walked to the front yard. "This kid will probably go even if you don't permit her."

I chuckled softly.

"Fine," Father relented, "but don't go far from your uncle, okay?" he warned me.

"Okay, Father," I agreed.

Uncle and I waited for the carriage. After almost 10 minutes, it still hadn't arrived.

A maid came running to us, out of breath. "Master Luke, the driver got into an accident. He'll probably need two more hours."

"Okay," Uncle Luke said, then started walking. I followed behind him.

After an hour of walking, my legs began to feel numb. Leaning against a tree, I asked, "Is it still far?"

"At this pace, probably four more hours."

"What?" I was clearly surprised.

"If you were an adventurer, you could walk for at least six hours straight," he said, stopping to wait for me.

"I want to be a mage, not an adventurer."

"Who knows what will happen in the future?"

"Fine then, I'll use the mage way!"

I cast a magic circle on myself and started floating. Then I grabbed Uncle's clothes.

"Drag me."

"Hold on tight."

He then started running, moving very fast. I grabbed his clothes with all my might and closed my eyes to focus on holding on.

"We have arrived."

I opened my eyes to find us standing at the city gates. They were so big and high, I could hardly see the top.

"Wooow!"

We walked to the standing guard, who looked terrified by Uncle Luke's body size.

"Ah, hello sir, welcome," the guard said, straightening his back.

"Where is the prison?"

"Ju-Just walk straight until you see a fountain, then go left. You can ask the guard there to guide you."

"Many thanks."

Uncle then walked through the gate. I stopped floating and followed him on foot. Looking behind, I saw the guard's relieved expression.

"How's your mana?" Uncle asked. I immediately turned to face forward again.

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"Still somewhat full. My mana's recovering while using the magic," I said, scanning my surroundings.

I noticed something odd about this city: I saw no kids or women, most people looked like criminals, and guards were everywhere.

"This city is called 'Prison City' by people. All criminals are imprisoned here, and they learn necessary skills to live after their prison life is over."

"How come they don't do prison breaks or try to escape?" I asked, amazed.

"The leader of the city is one of the zero-tier knights, Number 7, The Soundless Massacre."

"Sounds strong."

"She is."

We arrived at the prison building. I felt something watching me. Suddenly, Uncle pushed me behind him. I was thrown pretty far. In an instant, a woman appeared with a rapier, stabbing at Uncle's head, but he managed to catch the blade.

I couldn't see their movements at all, especially the woman's. She seemed to materialize out of thin air, as if copy-pasted into existence.

"Yo Luke, long time no see!" said the woman while pulling her rapier back. She then appeared a little farther away as Uncle punched in her direction.

"Can you stop this nonsense gag every time you see me?"

"I promised Number 3 I'd poke your head."

She then looked at me and suddenly appeared in front of me. I could see her clearly now. She had a slender body, small chest, long untied purple hair, and purple eyes that shone like gems. She wore a white-colored uniform.

"So cute! Is she Clavis's daughter?"

"Yes."

"Kyaaa!!"

She lifted me, and I appeared in front of Uncle Luke. I saw it briefly—she was just moving incredibly fast.

"Why are her eyes red?"

"She's a Fire mage. Her mana pool is so big that her eyes changed color when she was still a baby."

"Really?"

I wanted to tell her to put me down.

"Put her down, Cassia."

Oh, thank you so much, Uncle!

"Okay, if you say so."

She put me down, and I turned around to see her.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Cassia, no family name. I'm Number 7 out of 9."

So she was Number 7. No wonder no prisoner dared to escape.

"Hello, my name—"

"Wait, let me guess... Yeah, Ruby! I remember Julianne told me once. Am I correct?"

"You are correct."

"Yes!" She then jumped and pointed her finger at Uncle.

"So, why did you two come here?"

"My niece wants to see what a prison looks like.

"Yes, yes, I'll be your guide for today!" she said happily.

She then walked in front of us, and the guard opened the door for her.

"Welcome to the biggest handmade crafting factory in the kingdom," she said while spreading both of her hands and spinning around.

My eyes were welcomed by many prisoners sitting at tables sewing, hammering, sawing, and doing many other tasks.

"Wow..."

"Cool, right? When I was young, I often robbed people, mugged rich folks, stole food from stalls, and did all sorts of bad stuff. Then I got caught and thrown into prison. After that, I want to built this city so economically struggling criminals could learn how to make money without doing bad deeds," she said while guiding us through each sector.

"When you were young, you sounded so naive. I can't believe you actually managed to make it true," my uncle chuckled.

"Of course I could do it!" she said, hitting her own chest proudly.

"What about criminals who do bad deeds for personal satisfaction?" I asked, curious.

"Let's go to the basement."

She guided us to the lower floor. The atmosphere was so different from above; I could smell iron in the air, probably blood.

"This prison has 5 tiers: understandable, should not do, menace, unforgiven, and god's wrath."

"What kind of thing does a person do to get god's wrath?" I asked again.

"Summoning evil gods, massacring for fun, violent torture—it all depends on the case."

"Are there such criminals here?"

"Thankfully, currently only one. We shouldn't talk about them."

"Oh..."

"Actually, you came here to meet someone, right?" She hit the nail on the head.

"...Yeah."

"Who is it?"

"A kid who got jailed just yesterday."

"Oh, let's go to Menace."

We descended many floors and arrived at a dark corridor. However, I could see a cell with light. She then walked to the cell.

"There he is."

He was sitting, staring at the light, not moving, not breathing.

"He's been doing this since coming here," she said with a sad tone. "He holds his breath until he faints. When he wakes up, he holds his breath again. I've heard his story from the guard. I don't think killing him will make things better."

"Hey, Sister Seven, can you move him to another cell?" the prisoner behind me screamed. "I'll faint too if I keep seeing him do that over and over!"

"Shut up, you naked dancer!" Cassia said, pointing her rapier at him.

"Hiii!! I was drunk that time!"

"Sister Cassia, Uncle Luke, can you two leave me alone? I want to talk to him," I asked them.

"Sure, let's go, Luke."

The two then walked away.

"You, can you hear me?"

He slowly looked at me.

"Yes."