TFR 412

Prison of Terror [Part 1]

"What should we do?"

In the dim carriage with only a small skylight, the detained magicians looked anxiously toward Joanna.

Originally, Joanna and the magicians should have already finished bombarding the Royal Capital, completing their mission. The magicians' ships, which were anchored in Port of Simmons, were supposed to be able to leave port just like that and return to the Empire. They shouldn't have been exposed to danger as the plan was only to launch long-range attacks from the far away Port of Simmons. The current situation where they were surrounded by the Kingdom knights and escorted somewhere in a carriage was clearly beyond their expectations.

...and in a state where they couldn't use magic, at that.

The magicians couldn't use magic.

The creeping fear was gradually making them all the more anxious. It was completely unthinkable for a kingdom with no magicians to have the technology to seal magic.

They, who had been studying under Joanna for a long time, took pride in being the world's leading researchers in magic and the most knowledgeable about it.

'Has our plan been leaked to the Kingdom?' They still couldn't believe what transpired several hours ago. That freckled boy, who seemed to see right through everything, was terrifying to the magicians.

However,

"We will do nothing and wait."

Joanna didn't instruct them to escape or explain why they couldn't use their magic; she simply told them to wait.

Hearing her reply, her subordinates became discouraged.

"Hmph, don't worry."

Joanna couldn't make out her men's faces in the dim light of the carriage, but she could tell they were feeling down. She laughed and assured them that there was no need to worry.

She was by no means just acting tough. Because when she thought about it carefully, she understood that they were not in that grave of a situation. They were indeed experiencing an irregularity at the moment, as they were being detained by the Kingdom's authorities with their magic blocked. However, they had accomplished their primary objective: the bombardment of the Royal Capital. They had done what had to be done. And next...

"We should simply wait for the troops."

...was just that.

That was what Joanna and her subordinates could do left at present. The sun had set, meaning the Imperial Army had invaded the Kingdom by now. Joanna thought that the Barony of Skyte, where the Imperial Army had teleported using the magic circle, must now look as devastated as the Royal Capital did when the artillery shells fell.

Nothing would change the outcome that the Kingdom would belong to the Empire. Nothing could change it in the first place.

"Hmph."

Joanna's lips curved to a smirk again.

"We are magicians, alright?"

Joanna and her men were the cream of the crop, even among the valuable magicians the Empire had gathered from everywhere. In what world was there a country that could mistreat magicians? No matter what happened, they didn't need to worry about being killed.

What's more, this country was a kingdom that hadn’t seen a magician in over thirty years. It was a place that desperately wanted magicians more than any other. Although highly unlikely, if by some chance the army were to lose, Joanna was confident that she and her subordinates would not suffer greatly. That was just how much value a magician had.

"Y-Yes, indeed. Surely the army will save us, won't they?"

Joanna's subordinates were relieved, their bodies void of energy, rocking gently with the shaking of the carriage ...completely clueless that the carriage they were riding was racing through the Royal Capital, which should have turned into a sea of fire.

Joanna's overly optimistic thoughts would soon be proven wrong.

Even if one were the world's most valuable magician, hell in this world would still be waiting with its gate wide open.