4. Black Thunder

"...You."

Is this what it feels like when the air freezes?

The Princess's aura changed. It wasn't the look of a cold-blooded monarch executing someone. It wasn't the look of a crazy Princess acting out in sudden, manic rage either. It was a look I'd never seen before—an expressionless Princess, as if all emotion had vanished.

A silence so thick you couldn't even hear breathing filled the room.

'Why is her reaction... like this?'

Is it because I smiled? No, even so, I'm busting my ass to save your life, so it's not like I can't ask for a little praise.

I was still held by the knights by both arms, just rolling my eyes and trying to read the room.

"Gack!"

At that moment, Princess ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Bella approached me and grabbed my collar roughly. She gripped it so hard that my breath hitched.

"Say that again."

The expression on Princess Bella's face, seen up close, was different from what I expected. Her red eyes were shaking as if an earthquake had hit, and the hand gripping my collar was trembling slightly.

"Say it... say it again."

Her voice sounded like she was gritting her teeth, barely swallowing her anger. But up close, Princess Bella's expression was the exact opposite of her voice. It was a look of someone terrified, twisted by fear.

I was bewildered by the discrepancy. Why on earth is she like this?

Was there something wrong with what I just said? No matter how much I think about it, there isn't. If anything, I stopped an assassin, shouldn't I be getting praised?

I don't know why she's like this, but life is about doing what you're told.

"Everyone, the Princess..."

"SHUT UP!!!"

The Princess's voice rang throughout the room. Everyone looked here at the sudden high-pitched scream. No, actually, everyone had been looking here the whole time.

Princess Bella shoved me away roughly.

The knights took the hint and released my arms, and thanks to that, I rolled nicely onto the floor.

"Haa... haa..."

As I lifted my head while lying on the floor, I saw Princess Bella clutching her head, gasping for breath. Princess Bella's eyes were still shaking like crazy.

'I'm the one who got grabbed by the collar and rolled on the floor, so why is she the one acting like a bitch...?'

Anyway, she's a total psycho.

I stopped an assassin and saved her life, only to get treated like this. It makes me want to join the revolutionary group right now and help destroy the Empire.

"Your Highness."

The Captain of the Royal Guard tried to approach the Princess, but Princess Bella waved her hand irritably, signaling him not to come closer.

The Captain stopped in his tracks at that gesture.

"Captain."

Princess Bella took a deep breath and lifted her head again. Her body was drenched in sweat, as if she had struggled to force down the confusion from a moment ago and return to her usual self.

"That... yes, that place would be good. The Imperial Palace basement... the deepest part, throw him into the Black Prison."

At those words, the faces of the knights and servants in the room turned pale.

The Black Prison, the Empire's worst prison. The prison that every criminal avoids, where you can only leave once you're dead.

I listened to the Princess's words and calmly looked at her face.

The Princess was trying hard to act normal, but I could see it.

'How much time have I spent rolling around with that crazy bitch.'

She was hiding her face behind a mask of cold-headedness, but I could see it. A precarious face that looked like it would collapse at any moment.

'Why on earth?'

She must have received countless assassination attempts. Of course, today was a close call, but the Princess Bella I know wouldn't be this shaken up. I have no idea why she's so agitated.

"Captain, let's go."

"Yes."

The Princess left the room as if she had reached her limit. At the same time, I was forcibly transported while held by the knights.

Unlike the Princess who was heading to that bright, high place, I was heading to the exact opposite, the underground.

The deepest part of the Imperial Palace, the worst prison, the Black Prison. No matter how heinous the criminal, if they were told they were going to the Black ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Prison, they would fall into despair, throw a tantrum, or even piss themselves.

But I was incredibly calm—no, I actually had to bite my lip to hold back the laughter leaking out.

'The worst prison? The Black Prison?'

I smiled as I recalled the name. The Black Prison, that's the starting location where the protagonist begins after the game's prologue ends.

I thought I was originally going to be locked in the Imperial Palace, but our crazy Princess put me in the starting location.

'Let's never see each other again, you crazy Princess.'

I'm not even curious about why the Princess suddenly reacted like that just now.

'She's just a crazy bitch doing crazy bitch things.'

Princess Bella was an unpredictable bitch even in the game, always hell-bent on killing the protagonist at the drop of a hat. It's better for my health to think about how to survive than to worry about a woman like that.

"Hey, fellas, let's pick up the pace."

The two knights transporting me looked at me like I was a lunatic, but I don't care.

Once I arrive at the Black Prison, I'm going to escape from this place.

My connection with the crazy Princess is over now.

The game's beginning starts in a dark and damp prison.

Yes, the Black Prison. The Empire's worst prison.

Clatter.

Two knights throw my body into the cell like a piece of luggage.

Click.

At the same time, the sound of the lock engaging.

The knights started heading back the way they came, as if staying here for even a second was terrifying.

"Could you not throw me so hard..."

I rubbed my aching waist and got up. At that moment, a disgusting stench rushed in.

"Ugh..."

Not only the musty smell of mold, but a stench that couldn't be described, like rot and filth mixed together, pierced my nose. I reflexively gagged.

I endured the disgust and barely managed to cover my nose and mouth with my sleeve, but the smell still pierced through.

"Fuck..."

Rustle, rustle.

The sound of bugs crawling in the darkness can be heard.

Water droplets dripping one by one from the ceiling, darkness where you can't see an inch in front of you, an interior that you can't even tell if it's a prison or just an abandoned cave.

'Ah.'

Now it finally feels real. In the game, I just thought of it as a reasonably dark, atmospheric place, but now that it's reality, it's just terrible.

'You want me to spend my whole life in a place like this?'

I think I understand why criminals of the Empire would have a seizure when they were told they were going to the Black Prison. I don't want to stay in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a place like this for a single day, no, not even a second.

I looked around while holding my nose. There isn't a single piece of furniture to be found, and there's a small pit dug in the corner of the room.

Am I supposed to relieve myself there? This is driving me crazy.

I think I know why Bella, that crazy Princess, put me here.

"You think it's better to make me suffer here than to kill me comfortably, right?"

But that thought won't come to fruition. Of course, it's painful, but I won't die or go crazy here.

"I've seen it so much in the game that it's practically my hometown."

Die and restart, die and restart. After repeating it so many times, I used to say in the game that I had returned to my hometown every time.

"Of course, it's not like my real hometown."

My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and as I looked outside, I couldn't see any guards, only the iron bars of other cells in the distance.

Now, here's the problem.

How does the first character escape from here when they enter?

There are no tools, and no guards are visible. Escape seems hopeless, but in fact, the way to escape is simpler than you'd think.

I approached the iron bars. And I grabbed and shook them lightly. The bars didn't budge.

I didn't mind that and slowly scanned the floor.

'It was around here...'

As I scanned the floor, something caught my hand. I started digging at the spot with my hands. Then, a brick covered in dust appeared. A brick that had become very loose over time due to lack of maintenance.

I pulled out the brick. Once I pulled one out, the brick next to it also came out easily, and after pulling out bricks for a while, a hole big enough for me to pass through was created.

I didn't hesitate to shove my body into that hole and escaped the cell.

"Whew..."

I brushed the dust off my clothes and looked around.

I got out of the cell, but I haven't gotten out of the prison yet.

'This space itself is no different from a giant cell.'

Since it's underground, to get to the surface, I have to use the exit the knights came down from. Naturally, the security at the exit is beyond strict; it's just completely blocked by a single rock.

'Well, I'm not going to escape right now anyway.'

In the game, this Black Prison is the tutorial area.

Thump... thump...

The ground of the Black Prison shakes.

I can feel something approaching from far away.

A tutorial area is meant to teach you the controls and the game system. And that system also includes combat.

The footsteps are getting closer.

I picked up a broken wooden board lying nearby. A wooden board that was easy to hold in one hand, as if it were meant to be used as a weapon.

'Even this is the same. No, wait, it's in better condition than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the game?'

In the game, it was almost all rotten and would break if you swung it a little, but this one looked quite intact.

I swung the wooden board and thought.

The monster that appears as soon as you escape the cell.

'A Rune Bear that has been starving for a long time.'

Normally, it's a giant bear that uses mana, so you couldn't even catch it with early-game character stats, but this guy, the boss of the tutorial, is different.

'Because the setting is that it has lost almost all its mana and strength from being locked up for a long time.'

So its attacks are slow and its durability is weak. It's at the level where the protagonist can knock it down by swinging the board a few times.

'That much is easy.'

Above all, the yellow trajectory I saw when dealing with the maid. Since I even have the beginner's combat guide system, there's no way I'll lose to a skinny bear.

Thump! Thump!

The footsteps got louder, and now its shape started to become visible.

A massive build with blue light shining through its fur. A shape like a giant bear.

'Wait, blue light?'

Clearly, the Rune Bear in the tutorial couldn't even walk properly, let alone have blue light.

'Come to think of it, its size is also strange?'

It should be skin and bones because it's clearly starving. That Rune Bear is thin, but it's not at the level of a skeleton.

It doesn't have much mana, but it exists, seeing as it has a blue glow.

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

'Don't tell me I arrived earlier than the game's start time?'

I looked at the wooden board in my hand.

A wooden board that was perfectly fine, far from being rotten.

At the same time, I looked at the Rune Bear that had now fully revealed itself. A Rune Bear that was thin, but still looked too healthy to be considered skin and bones.

Rather, it seems excited to see food after a long time, drooling from its mouth.

"Uh... am I fucked?"