Time to put on a show!

"Strange, how did this place end up like this?"

"I remember it wasn't this dark last time I came with the Archbishop."

Holding the ancient lantern, Herbert raised an eyebrow in puzzlement at the darkness ahead, where he could barely see a meter.

Now, after trying to win Freime over, he had crossed the second section, Deepwater Prison, and reached the third section of Foreign Races' Prison.

The Lightless Prison.

Within this completely pitch-black, lightless space, two dangerous Magical Beasts were imprisoned separately—a dark elf archmage and a Vampire Prince.

Incidentally, Herbert hadn't seen either of these Magical Beast girls last time.

For some unknown reason, the Archbishop had led him straight through here, entering the fourth section, Lava Hell, without greeting the prisoners.

He hadn't dared ask, either.

This was Herbert's first serious attempt to explore the place, only to discover that things might not be as simple as he had imagined.

He raised the lantern above his head. Its faint light barely dispersed the darkness within a one-meter radius; beyond that, the dense darkness obscured everything.

He couldn't see, hear, or smell anything-he couldn't sense a thing.

"Who turned out the lights? Someone get a Holy Knight to turn them on... Oh, wait, I'm the Holy Knight."

Where was the damned holy light?

Herbert tried every method he could think of, only to discover that the light from the Holy Mark could dispel the darkness, but merely widened the circle a little.

It brought his visibility to an astonishing-two meters.

That was absolutely useless!

If it had merely been dark here, Herbert wouldn't have felt quite so lost.

But the problem he faced now was-being lost.

Not only had Herbert failed to find even a trace of the two Magical Beast girls, he couldn't even find the way to the fourth section!

He had already spent more than ten minutes walking quietly with his lantern, yet still hadn't reached the end of the path.

That alone would have been fine. At worst, he could keep going; he would reach the end eventually.

The problem was that he might never reach it.

Because whenever he turned around, he could see the way he had come in.

He... had been marking time in the same spot all along!

Tsk, so after meeting a Pen Fairy Harmonic God, now I was stuck in a ghost loop?

After being sent back to the same spot for the third time, Herbert finally gave up trudging blindly onward and seriously considered the situation before him.

"The laws here... seem to have changed?"

In the lightless domain, the eyes could not see.

One could retreat, but not advance.

Every prison in the Misty Monastery was actually a special demiplane that had been partitioned off. Though they appeared to accommodate their prisoners' living requirements, each had unique restrictive laws behind it.

For example, the Deepwater Prison's restrictions on Freime were extremely harsh. Even under normal conditions, nearly all the water elements had been stripped from her cage, leaving a mighty legendary Sea Monster barely able to maintain a sphere of water just large enough to hold herself.

But now, the restrictions here seemed to have been changed to target him.

Was that right?

Talk about turning the whole order upside down.

Herbert narrowed his eyes as several thoughts flashed through his mind.

If his guess was correct, something had probably gone wrong here.

But at least the situation hadn't reached the worst possible point.

Because if the other party truly could control the laws, he would already have been sent off to start another life.

The other party hadn't shown herself or communicated with him at all, acting as though nothing had happened.

"Are you trying not to tip your hand, hoping I'll give up when I realize I'm outmatched?"

As long as you didn't show yourself, I'd assume the problem was me?

That was... reasonable enough.

If Herbert really were just a young noble who had only recently become a Holy Knight, he certainly wouldn't force his way through a situation like this. He would surely assume he wasn't strong enough and retreat.

Herbert pondered for a moment, nodded, and turned to leave without hesitation.

When in doubt, get out!

There was no rush, anyway. I'd focus on winning over the Dragon and the mermaid lady for now.

The sections ahead could wait until later!

But just as Herbert was about to pass through the barrier back into the Deepwater Prison, his steps gradually slowed until he stopped completely.

"...Tsk."

He was a little annoyed.

Sure, he was currently weak and helpless, if blessed with a healthy appetite. Sure, he really couldn't beat the other party right now.

But still!

"I'm the warden. You're the prisoner."

Herbert looked back at the impenetrable darkness and curled his lip in displeasure.

"What gives you the right to walk all over me?"

No.

His protest might not accomplish anything, but if he really left so obediently, he knew it would keep eating at him.

Even street punks knew to throw out a couple of threats before leaving.

He was a jailer, at least. He had to put on some kind of show before he left.

But what kind of show?

"I can't exactly bite a lighter, can I? I don't even have one... Hmm?"

Herbert turned back to study the darkness before him, suddenly sensing something.

He set the lantern on the ground and slowly approached the boundary between darkness and light, narrowing his eyes at its unnaturally smooth edge.

Herbert considered for a moment, then tentatively extended a finger and gently touched the boundary of the light.

Nothing happened.

His finger felt nothing, and when he pulled it back, it hadn't turned into bare bone.

"..."

After a moment of silence, he turned back and extinguished the lantern. Following a brief hesitation, he shut off the Holy Mark as well.

In an instant, he felt himself involuntarily merging into the darkness.

Drowned in nothingness.

Devoured by loneliness.

Strangely, however, apart from those sensations, Herbert felt no discomfort at all.

This place was actually no different from the world outside.

In the darkness, Herbert's eyes shone, faintly veiled in golden light.

Though he still couldn't see anything, he could vaguely "sense" the path ahead.

Not only that, he also had a faint feeling that someone had their eyes on him.

Someone in the darkness had been watching his every move.

Hum-

The Holy Mark lit up instantly, and the feeling of being watched vanished without a trace, as though what had just happened had merely been an illusion.

But Herbert wasn't that naive.

So when you gazed into the abyss, the abyss gazed back at you, right?

"I understand now."

The corners of his mouth lifted. He gave the darkness a bright smile, waved, and declared:

"I'll be back."

With that, he picked up the lantern and strode away without waiting for any response.

The moment he left, the darkness fell still once more.

Only after a long while did a soft chuckle emerge from the darkness.

"He actually left without the slightest hesitation."

"Hehe... What an interesting fellow."

Understood what?

To be honest, Herbert hadn't understood anything at all.

As he was now, he couldn't begin to understand the details of the changes in the third section, but that didn't matter.

He didn't need to figure out the reason behind them. Confirming that something was indeed wrong was enough.

And so, what he needed to do next was already perfectly clear...

"Report it. I'm definitely reporting it!"