The Invisible Cage

Linsey froze.

He liked to think he had seen quite a few beautiful girls, and he had seen even more in games.

But when such a stunning girl looked directly into his soul in the real world, Linsey could not help but be shaken.

"I... yes, this is your dinner."

"Tomorrow is Harvest Day. Tonight is the eve of the celebration, and the village prepared some food for you too."

Linsey's shock was genuine, but his experience from having lived another life gave him a solid foundation, and he recovered quickly.

He immediately regained his composure. "Also, hello."

Linsey walked into the mill and handed her the food.

At the same time, he examined the astonishingly beautiful girl.

She sat on a sack in the mill, wearing a suit of bright silver armor, though no sword hung at her side. When Linsey entered, the girl rested her cheek on one hand and watched him with a smile.

Something about this felt off. "Thank you."

While Linsey was still thinking, the girl thanked him, but did not rise from the ground.

She briskly took the food and began eating while seated on the sack.

The Law Knight who had come to the village today...

The village's guest...

Connecting those two pieces of information, a bold thought surfaced in Linsey's mind.

"Are you... that Law Knight?"

"..."

"Pfft—"

The mill fell silent for a second before the girl's laughter broke the air.

"Hahahaha!"

Linsey's question seemed to have struck upon something utterly ridiculous.

The blonde girl clutched her stomach and laughed wildly. Then her violent movements made her choke, and the food she had just swallowed got stuck in her throat.

"Cough! Cough, cough, cough!"

Seeing this, Linsey knew he had guessed wrong.

He hurried over and patted her back, only for his hand to strike metal armor with a crisp clanging sound.

"I only got your identity wrong. Was that really so funny?"

"No, sorry." The blonde girl rose from the ground, shook her head at Linsey, and smiled. "It was just a little sudden to hear the words Law Knight applied to me."

Linsey stubbornly continued, "If you're not a Law Knight, then you must have come with him, right?"

This time, the girl did not deny it. Instead, she admitted Linsey's guess.

"Mm, there's nothing wrong with putting it that way."

"But child, you aren't asking this merely because you're curious about my identity, are you?"

The girl's question went straight to the heart of the matter.

And when she asked that last question, her gaze became intensely aggressive.

Linsey did not know whether it was an illusion, but the curiosity and desire to explore in her eyes seemed to turn into something tangible, filling the entire mill.

After giving it serious thought, Linsey decided not to lie and answered honestly, "I want to know how to become an Awakened."

"..."

"I was wondering how Bargett could let an Awakened child with no ability to defend himself come near me. So you're a child who awakened on his own."

Trouble! With just one answer, Linsey sensed danger.

But just as he was considering how to get away—

"Don't worry. I mean you no harm."

The blonde girl did not step forward to threaten or restrain Linsey.

Instead, she sat down openly on the ground and even patted the floor beside her, motioning for Linsey to come sit with her.

Then she explained frankly.

"Simply put, I'm the prisoner of the Law Knight you mentioned. He is secretly escorting me and keeping me bound here."

Linsey swept his gaze around the room.

The mill was completely empty, and there were no chains or restraints on the girl. What kind of prisoner was this? "Bound? Prisoner?"

The blonde girl saw Linsey's confusion and responded with actions instead of words, reaching toward the nearby wall.

Crackle!

In an instant, golden light erupted from the mill wall, and the girl's fingers were knocked back by the glow.

Linsey stared at the incredible scene in shock. "Th-this is... what?"

The girl explained without hiding anything.

"The Law Knight's Law. It is what binds me."

Linsey could not help asking, "Is there no other way for you to escape?"

"There is." The girl glanced at Linsey, her eyes slightly teasing. "If I pinned you, little Awakened, to the ground and drained the source essence from your body, escaping would not be a problem."

Only then did Linsey recall their earlier conversation.

He suddenly realized something. "Wait, you said I'm an Awakened just now. What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what it says," the blonde girl replied. "You've already awakened."

"Huh?!" How could Linsey accept something like that? "What kind of joke is that? I'm an Awakened? How is that possible?"

But the girl countered with absolute certainty, "Think carefully. Today is the day to sense source essence and awaken on your own. There must be something unusual about you that you haven't noticed yet."

"There's no way I could be wrong about that!"

Linsey was about to refute her, but the next second, he was speechless.

Because today, he had awakened the memories of his past life.

No matter how many wondrous experiences existed in the world, this was surely among the greatest miracles.

"See? You've figured it out yourself."

Linsey's silence delighted the girl.

But she did not mock his slowness. Instead, she immediately advised him, "Still, child, I must remind you. Self-awakening is an exceptionally precious talent. You must make good use of it."

Linsey caught the key phrase in her words.

"Self-awakening?"

The girl continued explaining without reservation. "Once every ten years, the world's source essence becomes active, and those with outstanding talent can awaken at that time. Those with lesser talent can also awaken by sensing source essence with the help of a powerful person."

As she spoke of the latter, the girl pointed at herself.

"Long ago, I was one of those people with somewhat poorer talent, who could only awaken with someone else's help."

The girl had made herself very clear, and Linsey's question changed accordingly.

"Since I've already awakened, why don't I have any special abilities? Master Bai Lin and the Village Chief can both do all kinds of incredible things."

Linsey's question amused the girl again.

Laughing, she punched the mill's mottled wall, but golden light stopped her the very next second.

"Tsk!"

The girl glared fiercely at the golden lines on the wall.

Then she turned back and continued explaining.

"Communicating with source essence only means that you possess the energy to use techniques."

"The marvelous abilities of the various schools still require each person to train and cultivate their own techniques before they can manifest any real effects."

He had mana—or rather, an energy bar—but had not learned a single skill.

Linsey immediately understood his situation from the perspective of a Game Player.

A new question followed.

"Then where can I learn techniques?"

The girl gave him a reassuring answer.

"Once you become an Awakened, you have your entire life to explore the techniques that belong to you. Or, with the talent of self-awakening, you can join a school. Believe me, that talent is very welcome. In any case, it isn't a problem..."

At that point, the girl suddenly raised her brows.

She looked toward the center of the village, and the topic shifted.

"Child, you should go back."

"The Law of Laws imprisoning me has been triggered several times. Bargett will definitely come check. His stubbornness has been twisted by the Law until he has almost lost his humanity. If he sees you here, you'll be in serious trouble."

The Law Knight truly was not someone Linsey should provoke.

Linsey knew it was time to leave.

But before saying goodbye to the girl prisoner, he still had two questions.

"You said just now that you could control me and drain my source essence. Why didn't you do that?"

The girl answered candidly.

"If I forcibly took the source essence from you here and escaped, the Law Knight would decide that you had helped a fugitive. He would then brand this village as a camp of rebels and begin purging the rebellion."

"Even if I escape, I would never do so at the cost of other people's safety!"

Linsey asked his second question. "What crime did you commit?"

Before a child, this prisoner had not lied or tried to deceive him. She had even offered quite friendly advice.

From the entire exchange—

Linsey truly did not think she was some vicious criminal.

"What crime did I commit?"

For the first time since they met, the girl scratched her cheek in discomfort, then propped up her head with her right arm. "Uh... intending rebellion and overthrowing the dynasty?"

"But honestly, I don't really think that counts as a crime."

At that moment, the girl rested her cheek in one hand while pulling the food tray toward herself with the other, picking up a piece of bread and stuffing it into her mouth.

And because of that motion, with both arms spread apart—

Linsey saw the emblem on the chest of her armor: a longsword, thorns, and a law book intertwined.

—The Thorned Law Sword.

The emblem of King of the Righteous, ruler of the City of Law in The Annals of the Young King Xingzheng.

The emblem of this world's ruler was on a prisoner? And the person escorting her—

Was the very Law Knight who should have served that ruler!

Linsey did not want to dwell on a question that so obviously courted death.

After saying goodbye to the girl in the mill, he immediately headed toward the village, his thoughts in a complete mess.

"Awakened, Law Knight, rebellion..."

As Linsey muttered and returned to the village center—

He saw that the enormous elk made of straw, a symbol of the harvest, had already fallen to the ground.

A knight stood with one foot on the elk's head, his bearing stern and imposing!