RAY VAN CAMARO

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It was sunrise when I was woken up by a heavy knocking on my door. I didn’t even get a chance to get out of bed before it was broken down.

King Arthureus marched in accompanied by Wrath, Greed, Sloth, and a handful of guards.

“Armstrong is missing!” the king roared.

I yawned and acted confused. “He escaped?”

“What do you think missing means? The guards found his cell door open and there was no trace of him. He disappeared during the night.”

“That’s impossible, no one is strong enough to break open the doors and it’s near impossible to pick the locks.”

“You’re right. The lock wasn’t broken, it was unlocked. With a key!”

“And you think I freed him? Why would I free a man I incarcerated?”

“To have him deliver a message. You’ve been spending an awful lot of time down there.”

“You put me in charge of finding criminals.”

“Someone helped him. The guards that were supposed to be guarding the staircase were knocked out.”

“Armstrong is an expert with the Drunken Fist, is he not?” I asked. “Guards in the dungeons are always drinking so it’s not out of the question to assume he took one of their bottles and drank it.”

“Now it just sounds like you’re making up excuses on his behalf.”

“I’m not. I’m just pointing out possibilities.”

Wrath spoke up. “Colonel Camaro has an alibi, Your Grace. He went down to the dungeons in the morning to do his usual interrogations. After that, he had dinner with Silver before heading to his quarters for the night. There were guards outside his windows and I was personally watching his door. Neither of them moved suspiciously.”

“And his Dolls? He could’ve used them.”

“We would’ve known, Your Grace. He didn’t summon any.”

Arthureus leaned over me. “If you have any part to play in this—”

“Then you will have to look for another personal aide. I know,” I said. “So believe me when I say I had no part.”

“Let’s hope that.” The king turned to his men. “I want a set of eyes on Silver. I want two guards escorting the colonel everywhere starting from now on. And when he’s in the dungeons, I want one of the Royal Guards to accompany him.”

“You should’ve had this much security at the start. It would’ve caused less confusion and fewer fingers pointed.”

The king’s face turned blood red. “I tried to treat you nicely and make your stay here as normal as possible. I guess old habits die hard.”

“It’s hard to live as normal as possible when I know a friend can die because I breathe the wrong way.” I rubbed my eyes. “How about this? I’ll organize a search to find Armstrong. I’d love to bring him to justice twice.”

King Arthureus glared at me and took his leave. “You’re on thin ice, Chariot. I suggest you not do anything lest you want to fall through.”

Don’t mess this up, John. We’re all doomed if you get caught.

No one knew I was able to summon my Marching Dolls regardless if I used an incantation glove or not. The circle on my head was completely unknown.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

So during the time when I wasn’t being watched on the days preceding John’s escape, I would snap, making sure it produced a flaccid sound and summon a Doll far away.

All eyes were on me, but no one was suspecting the individuals I could create. Or they actually bought that I couldn’t summon one without a circle.

I had the Dolls steal the key from the warden and put them back after John disposed of it. They were the ones that knocked out the guards and donned their armour. They were the ones that left the supply drops for John. They had done the dirty work in my stead so I could use the people watching me as an alibi.

And no one was the wiser.

The strength of the Marching Dolls was that I could summon many without having them borrow my gates. But if I summoned only one and focused my mana into it, it could go further than any summoning ever could. That was how I was able to have them go around the city kilometres from where I was.

Most escapees stayed nearby to avoid being caught out in the open. To play my part, I got into uniform and gathered up soldiers to search the keep. We were confused when John’s trail suddenly ended in the corner of the library.

“He must’ve doubled back to throw us off,” they assumed.

The librarian was heavily interrogated. She said she was half-asleep when she greeted someone in the middle of the night.

I ordered all soldiers on patrol to search residential and business buildings in the city to make sure John wasn’t hiding in them.

The search continued outside where the bloodhounds found multiple trails leading to different areas of the Capital. I divided our manhunt into groups to follow a different trail. What I found was that John had changed his clothes into the ones I left him and given different articles of his prison attire to slum-dwellers roaming the city.

These dwellers then roamed the city looking for jobs, scattering John’s scent. That ingenious move wasted about a day.

After it was confirmed that John wasn’t in the city, we moved our search outside the city walls and to nearby settlements. King Arthureus suggested we search Base Zero and accompanied us himself. The hounds picked up a trail when we walked past the Hideaway charm and the king was insistent on John hiding here that even after it was confirmed that the place was empty, he had us search it a dozen more times.

On the third day, the chances of finding him were close to zero and most of the soldiers went back to their usual routine. I was called to the throne room just as the sun rose.

“Heloise is gone,” King Arthureus said. “She left a letter to her landlord saying that she was leaving the city. It’s a bit of a coincidence she leaves right after John goes missing, right?”

“It is,” I answered. “But life is a long chain of coincidences, is it not?”

“Careful, Chariot, careful. I will not humour your mockery of me. Do you really think I don’t see what’s happening? You freed John to deliver a message to Heloise.”

“Now you’re just seeing things, Your Grace. Did the men you placed to watch her see anything suspicious?”

“No. According to them, Heloise went by her normal routine before just deciding to leave.”

“She was an adventurer for ten years and she peaked her tutoring job with Ilias. Maybe she wanted to live on the road again.”

“Without saying goodbye to you?”

“To be fair, I did the exact same thing when you put me in jurisdiction of Gilead. This might be payback.”

“She attacked the men trailing her.”

“Of course she did. She’s a veteran of sleeping with her eyes open and they were suspicious characters. If you were minding your own business and noticed someone following you, what would you do?”

“Do you really think I don’t know what strings you’re trying to pull? I don’t have proof that you orchestrated this, but I have instinct. We will catch them before they get to Seraphim or Port Town. I’ve sent men to chase after the ships that are heading west. I’m putting a bounty on both Heloise and Armstrong alive.” Arthureus slammed a fist on the throne. “You better tread lightly, Chariot. I’m sure you know what happens when you challenge orders. Your parents do.”

I clenched a fist and stared daggers at the king.

“Know where you belong in the order of things. Now go, and best pray this whole situation really is a chain of coincidences.”

They think Heloise and John were headed to Pops and Czeslaw to tell them about everything, but that was the obvious move. I’m not stupid enough to instruct them to head there.

My quarters had a window looking out to the east. If I squinted hard enough, I could see the mountain range that divided this country in half.

Ilias and Jaime are there and I hope they stay safe.

It was ironic that Ilias’ alias was Prince of Dawn. He was who they were after and he was sent where the dawn rose.

It was paramount that they don’t find him.

Just then, a sliver of light shone past the Peaks of Assaru to signal the start of a new day.

Armestis is descending into an age of darkness, but a ray of light rises with the dawn.