Babu took slow, measured steps toward the soldier, his hands raised in a gesture of peace. "Come on," he said, his voice calm and measured. "Mila came here of her own free will! We didn't capture her!"

The soldier leveled his gun at Babu, his expression stony. "Put your hands up and get down on your knees," he ordered.

Babu protested, "It's just a big misunderstanding--"

But Hiroshi cut him off, his tone resigned. "Panda. You're wasting your breath. They're here to follow orders. They won't listen to you or me."

I nodded in agreement. "Hiroshi is right. Let's do what they say for now."

With a heavy heart, I lowered myself to the ground and raised my hands as the soldiers commanded. Babu and Hiroshi followed suit, but it was clear from the frustration etched on their faces that they were chafing under the indignity of being treated like criminals.

The soldiers quickly relieved us of all our weapons and gear, and then handcuffed us one by one. Lezlie, who had been unconscious, was also handcuffed and placed in a separate carriage with Babu and Hiroshi.

Meanwhile, health magicians attended to Mila, examining her carefully before placing her on a high-quality horse-drawn carriage. Though they didn't handcuff her, she was separated from us and taken away.

As the carriages began to move, I stole a glance at Babu and Hiroshi. They sat in stony silence, lost in thought. I knew that we were all wondering what fate awaited us.

It wasn't long before Lezlie stirred. Confused and disoriented, she looked around, her eyes wide. "What happened?" she asked. "Where are we?"

Hiroshi's words hung heavy in the air, casting a pall over our group. "In short," he said, his voice low and resigned. "We are captured by sea people. Looks like we're being accused of kidnapping Princess Mila. And the king is probably thinking about punishing us. But at the moment, nothing is still certain. We may even be in a trap."

Lezlie's voice broke the brief silence, her disbelief evident in her tone. "But why? Mila came here of her own free will. And she also didn't pose any danger to us."

I added, "It seems that the situation is more complicated than we thought."

As we approached the kingdom of the sea people, we couldn't help but notice the sea people's intense gaze fixated on the carriage. The crowd's hostile energy was palpable, and we could feel the weight of their disapproval before we even entered the castle.

When the horse-drawn carriages came to a stop, the cages slowly opened, and we hesitantly stepped out. The sea people's hostility was immediately apparent as they began to jeer and hurl insults at us. It was as if we were criminals who had committed heinous acts.

The crowd's taunts and chants grew louder as we made our way into the castle. When we finally met the king and his two men, we were met with a stony silence. The King's expression was stern and unyielding as he signaled his soldiers to halt.

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With a heavy voice, the King accused us, "You just deceived me with your lies and kidnapped my daughter. I can't say I wouldn't have expected this from you, but I still won't forget your betrayal."

Our future now hung in the balance as we stood before the angry monarch, unsure of what punishment he had in store for us.

Lezlie spoke up, desperately trying to convince the king of our innocence. "Mila wanted to come and infiltrated the vehicle in secret from us. We had no intention of kidnapping her, and it's not logically right for us to take responsibility for her actions. Please reconsider your choice once more," she pleaded.

The king remained unmoved, countering her with a sharp retort. "And do you have any evidence to prove your innocence? Even if Mila opposes this situation, she may have been subjected to your mind washes. You probably just tried to hide so much for the tears. But I must say, you will never reach my daughter again."

Hiroshi interjected, attempting to clarify their intentions. "If our goal was to get the water, we would have achieved it by now," he explained.

The king was confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Hiroshi elaborated. "The water was already on the mountain from the very beginning and it was there for people to take it. But what we didn't plan for was the elite soldiers' presence. If we had betrayed Mila, we would have already done so."

The king remained unconvinced. "I'm sorry, but as I said, I can't believe you. If you have one last request from me, tell me. Otherwise, I will no longer listen to you," he declared.

Hiroshi responded with a proverb. "As they say, it's harder to dissuade people from what they believe in than to believe in something."

The king ordered the soldiers to lock us up in the dungeon and spread the word of our capture to everyone. "After my daughter's wedding in two days, they will all be executed," he commanded, leaving no room for discussion.

We were dragged away by the soldiers, and before we knew it, we were chained to the walls of the dark and damp dungeon. The situation felt surreal; we had done nothing wrong, yet we were being punished for a crime we didn't commit. It was a hopeless and helpless situation, and we could only wait for our fate to unfold.

My body felt heavy, and my mind was racing with thoughts of how I could escape this damp and dark dungeon. The chains were tight around my neck and arms, leaving me in a vulnerable position, unable to break free. Desperation was setting in, and I found myself struggling to get out of the restraints, only to be met with resistance.

Suddenly, a voice called out from the shadows, breaking my concentration.

"Don't bother, those are high-end Titanium chains. Even an Epic would struggle to break free from them," the voice said.

But I wasn't ready to give up just yet. "I don't care, I need to get out of here as fast as I can," I said.

"Why are you in such a rush?" the voice asked.

I explained to the stranger how my friends and I were wrongly accused of a crime we didn't commit, and how the king planned to execute them in two days' time. "I can't allow that to happen," I said with a sense of determination.

"Even if you get out of here, what do you think you can do?" the voice asked, skeptical.

"I have to try. I can still convince the king that we are innocent," I replied.

But the stranger's response wasn't what I was expecting. He emerged from the shadows, revealing himself as an old man. "I've tried that too, kid," he said with a sad smile.

Confused, I asked him what he meant. The old man explained that he himself was in prison for a crime he had not committed, but that he was here of his own free will. "Even if you fight him and win, the king's stubbornness is hard to break," he said in a resigned tone.

The words hit me hard, and I realized that the situation was even more dire than I had imagined. But I couldn't give up hope, not yet. There had to be a way out, a way to prove our innocence and save our lives.