I was herded into a carriage just as Franz told me. It was the kind of special escort carriage used for transporting serious criminals — even I knew that.
More than ten sturdy iron horses were hitched to it. Behind the lead carriage, four boxy, utilitarian escort vehicles were linked together, each one built with nothing but metal durability in mind. With this many horses, they'd be able to pull the whole thing with ease.
Guided by Franz, I peered into the lead vehicle.
The interior was outfitted like a VIP room. Cushioned chairs, a bed, even a refrigerator. The contrast with the exterior was staggering.
"Th... I had it specially modified. You don't have any other demands, do you?"
"Huh? Hmm, hold on, let me think."
Nothing's lacking.
As I double-checked the inside of the carriage, Franz slapped the wall and spoke.
"D... Don't think about it! We have a long journey ahead — there's no time for this!"
Come to think of it, he had said something about that. If it weren't a long trip, they wouldn't have gone to such extravagant lengths.
They were also assigning a large guard detail...
"Are we leaving the Imperial Capital?"
"Of course we're leaving! Do you even know where you're being taken!?"
I didn't. Not at all. But given the way he was talking, I was apparently supposed to already know.
Why would he think I'd know where I was being taken without anyone explaining it to me?
But the most important thing was that I'd been acquitted. No matter what stops we made along the way, as long as I'd be released in the end, that was fine by me.
I let Franz's words wash over me and said, just to be sure.
"If we're leaving the capital, you should assign more guards. You know how these things go — something terrible usually happens."
"I... I know that without you telling me! We've assembled our full fighting force, and you're not the only one being transported this time!"
So there were other guests as well. What a pain.
Well, if Franz said it would be fine, then it probably would be... He seemed to hold a fairly high position, so the Imperial Army would take responsibility for protecting us.
I stifled a yawn and addressed Franz, who was still irritable for some reason.
"Then I'll head in. Take care of the rest. Oh... um... do you have a sleep mask?"
"An eye mask! Get in already!"
I entered the carriage and had an eye mask and earplugs put on.
A silent world of darkness. Before long the carriage started moving, but there was almost no vibration. Since they'd mentioned modifications, that must be why.
Being this comfortable was making me drowsy. I groped around until I found the bed and rolled onto it. The plush feel of it brought on a thick, irresistible wave of sleep.
I let out a huge yawn and surrendered completely to the sensation.
§ § § A specialized restraint suit that immobilized the limbs. The handcuffs and shackles fastened as a final precaution were apparently custom-made — not a single part of the body could move.
They'd likely been built to withstand even an opponent who'd absorbed massive amounts of Mana Material to enhance their muscles.
On top of that, there was a presence right in front of him — a guard soldier, no doubt.
Perfect restraints, total helplessness, and on top of all that, an additional layer of precaution — Bloodsoaked Jack, the former Level 6 Red Hunter, clicked his tongue.
Tch. As expected of Zebuldia, to lock me down this completely... They've done this before.
Bloodsoaked Jack was a former hunter who'd made his name in Pepri, a small country that couldn't even be compared to the Zebuldia Empire. Pepri had few Treasure Halls and almost no high-level hunters, so when Jack rose from Level 6 to Red Hunter, the country deemed him a threat and sought cooperation from the great Zebuldia Empire.
Jack had been confident he could easily escape the prisons in Pepri, which were utterly unequipped to handle a high-level hunter. That confidence had been his undoing.
And on top of that, to be locked up in a prison built just recently, specifically for dangerous criminals...
A bare, utilitarian carriage. Violent shaking rattled his inner ear. Even with the eye mask and earplugs, Jack could more or less tell what was happening outside. Since he knew the departure point, concentrating would let him figure out roughly where he was being taken. Though whether that information was even useful was debatable...
Right before being loaded into the escort carriage, a Zebuldia guard had said this to him: This carriage was never meant for someone as insignificant as him. His transport was just a coincidence.
The tone was insulting, but it probably wasn't a lie. Even though Jack had been feared in Pepri, he knew full well that far more terrifying criminals existed in this world — people whose abilities couldn't be countered with something as simple as a restraint suit.
He didn't know who was being transported in this escort carriage. But Jack was about to be locked up in the same prison as that kind of person.
Jack, who'd operated in Pepri, was a complete outsider with no connections to criminal organizations anywhere near Zebuldia. Under no circumstances could he afford to anger people like that.
However, if he played his cards right, there was a chance he could gain more power than ever before. He didn't know what the latest prison was like, but there was absolutely no way they could lock up the kind of criminals who could dismiss Jack as a nobody in massive numbers.
After all, there were genuine monsters out there who could destroy Treasure Weapon restraint suits with their bare hands.
The problem was that Jack, having had all his personal belongings confiscated including the restraint suit, had almost nothing to work with...
He sat down and thought about what to come. The violent shaking and the gaze from the soldier in front of him meant there wasn't a single moment of peace.
But as he let his thoughts wander while riding out the intense vibrations, the carriage lurched violently and came to a stop.
Something had happened — the gaze he'd felt from the soldier in front of him vanished. The soldier had jumped out.
The carriage shook repeatedly. Even through the earplugs, he could hear the sound of swords clashing.
"What!? Wh... What's going on? What's happening!?"
He called out with the only thing he could use — his mouth — but received no reply. From the trembling of the ground and the air, he could tell something serious was unfolding.
But with his entire body restrained, Jack could do nothing.
Shit... An ambush? Are they going to just leave me here!?!
Attacking a Zebuldia Empire escort carriage was unbelievable, but... Could it be an accident? Or were they trying to rescue the important prisoner being transported?
Either way, at this rate, he might get caught up in it and die.
He braced himself and endured, but the fighting showed no signs of subsiding no matter how long he waited. In his helpless state, only his heart hammered away like a wild drum.
Then, a soldier came in from outside and forcibly dragged him out by the arm. He could hear a panicked voice through the earplugs.
"Get out!"
Jack was tumbled out of the carriage almost bodily. At nearly the same instant, a blast of hot air rushed past where he'd been.
A tremendous crash. The shockwave rattled his inner ear. His vision was sealed shut, but his senses told him what had happened — the escort carriage he'd been riding in just moments ago had been blown away.
Screams and shouts. The presence of magic. The stench of a battlefield and the sound of countless blades striking each other.
In his sealed, pitch-black world, rolling about pathetically, Bloodsoaked Jack screamed.
"Some... Someone, at least take off this eye mask! Hey, are you even listening!?!"
His scream was swallowed by the roaring chaos.
§ § § Imperial Capital Zebuldia. In a room within the Imperial Palace, Franz Argman responded to the report from the transport unit carrying Thousand Transformations with a grimace.
"So they fought them off. Well done. For someone to try to attack our escort carriage — Zebuldia is really being underestimated."
*'They were probably trying to break him out before he reached Prison Island. They figured attacking the carriage was better than assaulting the island itself... and honestly, Captain, you're right — we've been underestimated.'* The voice coming through the Resonance Stone belonged to Hugh Legrand of the Zeroth Knight Order.
He'd been caught up in the Missing Persons Incident himself, but had seized the chaos of the Imperial Capital–Treasure Hall merger to free the victims, earning him a place among those credited with resolving the crisis.
Despite his youth — and with the fatigue from the Missing Persons Incident still not fully healed — he'd volunteered to accompany the transport unit. It was astonishing toughness.
The transfer to prison was the most vulnerable moment. If the transport unit was attacked and the criminals were freed, it wouldn't just be a blow to Imperial prestige. The Third Knight Order, which handled such assignments, had selected their best personnel, with additional support from other knight orders and trustworthy high-level hunters.
"Have you identified who was behind the attack?"
*'...It was definitely not Thousand Transformations. The man called Bloodsoaked Jack, sent from Pepri, is also not a suspect.'* This transport unit was carrying not just that one man but multiple serious criminals from other countries, including executives of criminal organizations with significant influence outside the Empire and individuals with personal vendettas.
"If they were Level 8 operatives, three carriages being blown apart would be just the beginning."
Besides, it made no sense for anyone to try to rescue Thousand Transformations when he'd voluntarily agreed to enter Prison Island.
"If anything, it's more likely that Thousand Transformations's life was the target."
Thousand Transformations and his party had achieved extraordinary results. Criminal organizations and bountied criminals who'd lost their comrades would have accumulated a significant grudge.
Hearing the news of Thousand Transformations's arrest and seeing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for revenge wasn't exactly far-fetched. It was a foolish move, of course — the target was a man the Empire itself had struggled with — but not an incomprehensible one.
*'Should we take additional measures?'* "No... Let it be. Let him do as he pleases. He's probably not even bothered by this, right?"
*'He hasn't come out of the carriage despite all the commotion. It seems like he's sleeping.'* He's sleeping during an ambush?!
Franz seethed as Hugh continued.
*'But even if Thousand Transformations is safe, the other prisoners might lose their lives...'* "These are criminals that no other country could handle! We're transporting them to Prison Island because they surrendered and we have no other choice. Having them rescued would be a major problem, but losing their lives is... unfortunate but unavoidable. The other countries wouldn't complain."
The Zebuldia Empire was a nation of law. And in Zebuldia, unless you committed something as extreme as merging the Treasure Hall with the Imperial Capital — a truly extraordinary event — you wouldn't be sentenced to death. This was the same in other countries: if you executed criminals too easily, they'd fight to the death when captured, leading to even greater harm.
Therefore, while accidentally killing a criminal during capture was permissible, striking a compliant prisoner who'd already surrendered their weapons was absolutely not.
The criminals being transported this time were exactly the kind of people Franz would've loved to execute immediately.
*'But there's only one carriage left — the one Thousand Transformations is in. What about the other three?'* "What else can we do? They'll have to be put in the same carriage as Thousand Transformations... Could this also be part of his scheme?"
*'Understood. What do we do after that?'* "...I don't know. Just don't interfere with his freedom. Tell the other criminals to behave as well. Those were Princess Seren's demands."
No matter how many times he went over it, it made his blood boil. They'd managed to reach an understanding on the matter of throwing Thousand Transformations into Prison Island, but the rest of Princess Seren's demands were equally infuriating.
He'd arranged for a comfortable temporary detention room and carriage as a stopgap, and the current level of special treatment was already unprecedented — but being told to maintain it in prison as well was a headache.
Eastseal Prison Island existed solely to contain serious criminals. It was a special zone, partially removed from Imperial law, and so dangerous that even the number of guards was kept to a minimum. It was essentially a place of exile.
Well, but... he was always comfortable even without anyone doing anything for him.
The call with Hugh ended. Franz rubbed his ailing stomach and turned to the next task at hand.
He'd need to arrange a delicate negotiation with Marquis Alter, who managed Eastseal Prison Island. And just in case — in the extremely unlikely event that Princess Seren infiltrated the prison island — contingency plans had to be put in place as well...
§ § § What... No way, is this really happening!?!
The other carriages had been destroyed, so he'd been told he'd be riding in the sole surviving one.
The scene that awaited him behind those words left Bloodsoaked Jack speechless.
The space was so distinctly different that he could tell even with his vision sealed off. The perfectly regulated air conditioning, the soft carpet under his bare feet, the clean air against his skin — everything was different. It was like... a high-end hotel.
"Wh... What is this? You're treating us way too differently."
At Jack's quiet murmur, the knight replied dismissively.
"Of course. The people in this carriage are Level 8, you know. If you don't want to die, behave yourself."
"Wh... Level 8!?"
Impossible... High-level hunters became exponentially rarer as the levels increased.
A Level 8 hunter didn't even exist in Pepri. Jack had been able to coast freely up to Level 6, but even if he'd never been caught, he never would've reached Level 8. That was how much trust and track record was needed to get there.
And for a hunter like that to fall to Red status — it was almost unbelievable.
What could they have possibly done? As Jack stood there in shock, the knight spoke loudly for all to hear.
"I'll say this for the others too, since the earplugs aren't enough to block all sound. If you don't want to die, stay in line. Thousand Transformations isn't causing trouble because it's part of a deal. You know that ordinary handcuffs, shackles, and restraint suits don't work on a Level 8 hunter, right? That's why we haven't disarmed him or put him in a restraint suit. By the rules, we only apply handcuffs and the eye mask with earplugs."
Impossible... Only handcuffs and an eye mask with earplugs? That was practically nothing.
Even Jack could escape from handcuffs on his own. The eye mask and earplugs were even more pointless — there was no way they could suppress a high-level hunter's heightened senses.
That was essentially the great hunter nation Zebuldia admitting it had given up on restraining this man. He heard the sharp intake of breath behind him. The other transported prisoners were probably feeling the same way.
But something was odd. Throughout this entire conversation, the man called Thousand Transformations hadn't reacted at all. And there was none of the oppressive aura that high-level hunters typically radiated.
What was going on?
"Oh, Thousand Transformations is asleep right now. He didn't wake up at all during the attack. Just... try to get along with him and not upset him, and you'll be fine."
The knight said this as Jack broke into a cold sweat, mind racing.
Thank you for watching the second cour of the anime!
— Tsukikage