Prison

Capital Prison.

When this prison was built, inmates were classified by how dangerous they were. The most dangerous criminals were generally held in the deepest cells, while humans—creatures considered "harmless little animals" by the demons—were naturally locked up in the outermost level.

These imprisoned humans were far luckier than the demon criminals. At the very least, they could see the two bright moons reflecting each other in the Demon Realm's sky through their windows.

Unfortunately, the Villagers imprisoned here had no mood to admire the view. No one standing before the guillotine would be in the mood to look at flowers and grass.

The Villagers were collectively locked inside one cell. The cell was spacious enough to hold over a hundred people, but its conditions were more than these "harmless little animals" could endure.

The stench of rot and dampness filled the entire prison. From time to time, the roars of monsters echoed nearby, keeping these hardworking, simple Villagers—who had never seen much of the world—trapped in tormenting fear.

"Lady Marina, do you think that Miss Mage can really escape the Demon Realm?"

The people imprisoned here were not just the Villagers from that village, but also the surviving merchants and servants from the caravan.

"I don't know, but she may be our only hope."

The owner of the caravan was Marina Jones, an old woman of seventy-nine. Time had left far too many marks upon her—not only wrinkles and graying hair, but also her calm, detached way of facing life.

Ma Linna was perhaps the calmest human in the prison. The servants around her were as anxious and terrified as the Villagers. Some guards, believing they would never leave this prison alive, had even begun revealing their darker sides to their own kind.

Fortunately, the prison guards were cold-blooded enough to deal with those scum who had bared their fangs at their fellow humans first.

Thanks to the mutiny among her guards, Ma Linna's caravan had dwindled from more than twenty people to only herself and one servant. All the goods had vanished as well.

For a merchant, this was a disaster enough to break them. Yet Ma Linna remained calm. She had spent the latter half of her life enduring disasters. Ever since her husband had suddenly died for unknown reasons, followed by her only child leaving her due to a serious illness, she had said goodbye to the luxurious life of a noblewoman.

To shoulder her husband's business, Ma Linna had spent years traveling far and wide as a struggling merchant. Just when she had bought a property in Nolan, the Magic City, and was preparing to rise from a poor peddler into a proper merchant, fate had smiled maliciously at her once more.

Ma Linna had survived tragedies as miserable as losing both home and family. A mere threat of death, of course, would not frighten her.

But that did not mean she had given up hope of survival...

"Even if she really escaped the Demon Realm, she probably won't come back."

The servant spoke in a voice of near despair.

The Villagers imprisoned here understood magic only at the most basic level—using magical elements to start fires or make ice.

As for offensive magic, being able to conjure a small fireball was already impressive. Ma Linna was no different, much less capable of magic as advanced as teleportation.

Their only hope was that Female Mage. She was the only person to escape this prison, and before fleeing, she had promised the Villagers' pleas that she would "definitely find reinforcements and rescue them!"

Many clung tightly to that thread of hope as though it were a spider's silk, but Ma Linna knew that spider's silk was still spider's silk. One tug, and it would snap.

The strength displayed by the Demon Realm's prison guards earlier had already proven it. Among the guards she had hired were mercenaries qualified as Demon Hunters, yet they had not even lasted a minute before the Demon Realm's prison guards slaughtered them.

Like chopping vegetables.

That young Female Mage had even less chance of escaping the peril-filled Demon Realm.

So Ma Linna had begun considering whether she should write a Last Will.

At that moment, footsteps suddenly echoed through the prison again. The desperate cries and sobs in the cell turned into silence out of fear.

More than thirty Villagers turned their eyes toward the dim corridor as masked prison guards dragged in a new human and threw her into the cell.

When the Villagers in the cell saw that human, their frightened cries turned into furtive whispers.

Because her appearance was simply too... captivating. Beautiful could not describe what the Villagers felt. Captivating was the most fitting word.

I Nuo could feel the eyes of the humans in the prison upon her. She had lived beneath such gazes all her life, so she was long accustomed to them.

Your name is Belle. You are a warm, curious, and brave human girl.

Joshua's voice still echoed beside I Nuo's ears. I Nuo did not understand why Joshua wanted her to play this human role, but she still dutifully did her very best.

I Nuo walked to a low window in the cell, rose onto her tiptoes, and looked outside.

"Child... why were you captured and brought here?"

Ma Linna sat beside the window. Looking at this beautiful young girl, and thinking that she might soon be killed by demons, filled her with regret.

"I don't know... My village was raided by bandits. Father and Mother told me to run... After I escaped into an Oak Forest, I was caught by a group of demons."

Joshua had made up I Nuo's background for her. Sure enough, once they heard that her village had been attacked and her parents had told her to flee, many of the Villagers present showed pity and sympathy.

Especially since I Nuo's performance was flawless. She perfectly portrayed an innocent little girl who knew nothing and desperately wanted to return to her village.

"What a poor child. Those damned bandits should be hanged from the gallows!"

"They deserve to die."

I Nuo's similar experience quickly earned the Villagers' empathetic trust, along with their outrage toward those damned bandits. Ma Linna beside them also wore a sympathetic expression.

"I'm sure your parents will be all right."

After thinking for a moment, Ma Linna used those words to comfort I Nuo.

"They'll be all right... I... before I ran away, I saw those bandits take my parents..."

I Nuo stopped there. Her voice trembled slightly, and the rest was easy enough to imagine.

"If you want to cry, child, then cry. You'll feel better."

To Ma Linna, I Nuo was clearly forcing herself to hold on. I Nuo wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, perfectly embodying the meaning of pretending to be strong.

What a strong child. Looking at I Nuo, Ma Linna rediscovered a maternal instinct she had not felt in a long time.

If her child were still alive, they would surely be about her age now, wouldn't they?

"If you don't mind, may I know your name?" Ma Linna asked.

"Belle."

I Nuo answered according to the script Joshua had given her.