CH 172

Chapter 172 – Prison Break

“Don’t say that. I made preparations for this as fast as I could, alright?” (???)

“From the looks of it, your negotiations seemed to have ended in failure.” (Ze’ev)

“Yeah. That’s why we’re taking rough measures now.” (???)

“Are you sure this is okay? If you get caught doin’ this, you won’t be able to stay in the capital anymore, you know?” (Ze’ev)

“I told you, didn’t I? I don’t have any attachments to the imperial capital. I…am an adventurer.” (???)

“Then why are you hiding your face?” (Ze’ev)

“Well, heroes hide their faces at times like this, don’t they? It’s pretty cool, don’t you think?” (???)

“…Your aesthetic sense hasn’t changed one bit.” (Ze’ev)

The person who suddenly appeared seemed to be more concerned about his heroic appearance than about not being caught. What a strange guy.

“I’ll free you first. You’ve taken a pretty bad beating, huh?” (???”

“Hah, this is nothing compared to the wounds I got when you and I went hunting for that S-Rank bastard that one time.” (Ze’ev)

“Hahahah, I was prepared to die that time. The two of us were dangerously close to dying… Alright, you’re good now. Can you stand?” (???)

“Oh right, do me a favor and let that guy go too,” Ze’ev requested, pointing to Hakumen.

“Hm? …Eh? You.. aren’t you Hakumen-dono?” (???)

Ah, he didn’t seem to realize.

“If you know who I am, then you must have also been in that conference room at the time. And judging by your familiarity with Ze’ev-dono, I’m guessing you are… Julaf-dono?” (Hakumen)

“…?! I-I didn’t think my cover would be blown so easily…!” (Julaf)

No, it’s actually pretty easy to guess. I knew right away, actually.

“Julaf, release him.” (Ze’ev)

“Well, if you say so.” (Julaf)

Julaf released Hakumen from his restraints.

Ooh, with this I might be able to safely retrieve the [Copy Doll] in the end. Although we had already assumed that we would lose it.

“Alright, let’s hurry up and get out of here—” (Julaf)

Right as Julaf said this, someone stood up behind him.

It was Grievea, who had been knocked down earlier by Julaf. He was holding a knife in his hand.

“Julaf, watch out!” (Ze’ev)

Ze’ev took a step forward to save him, but the damage he accumulated must have been too much on his body, since he suddenly fell over.

Grievea’s blade was closing in ruthlessly on Julaf, but…

“Wha―?!” Julaf exclaimed. But he didn’t cry out due to pain.

His voice was full of surprise. After all, it was Hakumen who was now standing in front of Julaf, protecting him. The only thing was, the knife that Grievea was holding stabbed perfectly into Hakumen’s stomach.

“Ugh… You bastaaaaard!!” (Ze’ev)

Then, Ze’ev moved once more. He pushed through his fatigue and slammed a fist into Grievea’s face.

The iron mask was shattered in the process, demonstrating the tremendous force behind the blow. Grievea crashed into the wall, and this time, he even went right through it.

“Hahahahaha… Serves you right…!” (Ze’ev)

At the very moment that Ze’ev avenged Hakumen…

“…O-Oi, Ze’ev!” (Julaf)

Julaf’s anxious voice rang out from behind him.

“What’s the matter…?” (Ze’ev)

Ze’ev was stunned when he saw what Julaf was holding in his hand.

“Why are you holding a doll?” (Ze’ev)

“N-No, this was… Hakumen-dono…” (Julaf)

“…Huh? …What do you mean? Did you come here after having one too many drinks or something?” (Ze’ev)

“N-No! This doll really was Hakumen-dono! Look, there’s even a knife stabbed here!” (Julaf)

“…! It wasn’t stabbed in there by you… was it?” (Ze’ev)

“Of course not! …Was Hakumen-dono not a garbel?” (Julaf)

“Oi, oi, so what even if he wasn’t? Hakumen-dono’s true form is a doll… A doll… So what if he is…?!” (Ze’ev)

Ze’ev’s mind seemed to be in a state of utter confusion. I, who knew the explanation to all this, let out a sigh from the other side of the monitor.

The [Copy Doll] would malfunction and revert back to normal if it took heavy damage. Without a doubt, that knife just now had caused this to happen.

“Ah, damn. It can’t be retrieved in one piece anymore.” (Bouchi)

The reason why Hakumen covered for Julaf so quickly wasn’t because I instructed the [Copy Doll] to do so. To some extent, the [Copy Doll] would act in accordance with the persona it copied, so it must have been within my range of actions considering Hakumen’s personality.

In other words, if I had been there myself as Hakumen, there was a high chance I would have done the same thing.

I owed Julaf for freeing me of my restraints, and I guess the [Copy Doll] decided that it was against his principles to abandon him and let him take that hit.

“H-how about we take the doll with us and get out of here for now?” (Ze’ev)

“That’s true. We wasted a lot of time. It wouldn’t be surprising if the other guards have noticed by now. Let’s hurry and get out of here, Ze’ev!” (Julaf)

And thus, the two of them decided to escape the prison before anyone else noticed the commission.

They were able to leave the underground prison, but as soon as they made it out of the palace, they were confronted by a certain number of people.

“―Hey, where do the two of you think you’re going? Hah?”

The people who appeared were the Four Heavenly Beastmasters. It was Tanbu, the monkey garbel among them who spoke on their behalf.

“Ugh… They found us…!” Julaf said regretfully.

“Ze’ev, you better go back to your cell quietly,” the lion garbel Ouza, who had the biggest build among the four, said as he glared at Ze’ev.

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