The prison city of Olpasbet was undoubtedly a city where the majority of the population consisted of prisoners.
However, not all residents were prisoners.
Among them, there were those who weren’t prisoners and owned their belongings lawfully.
The innkeeper was one such person and, aside from the lord’s employees, was considered to be among the higher-ranking individuals in this city.
Olpasbet, with its many travelers, had a high demand for inns, and the visitors, mostly wealthy people who came to enjoy the city’s damp atmosphere, spent generously.
Thus, the inn was expensive, and the meals were far from cheap.
At first, the innkeeper doubted whether this shabbily dressed traveler and prisoner could afford the costs, but when a few silver coins appeared from Aslan’s waist, the food was served without hesitation.
There was a roasted whole bird with boiled eggs.
Alongside it, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, radishes, and a unique root vegetable resembling ginseng were included in a red stew.
It was a lavish meal that could be called extravagant outside of a noble’s table, and it was set before the girl.
The girl, despite her earlier wariness, began to focus intently on the meal.
She hastily tore apart the bird, pulling pieces into her mouth, peeled and ate the boiled egg, and practically gulped down the stew, satisfying her hunger.
Her ravenous behavior drew glances from other travelers dining or drinking at the inn, but the girl paid no heed as she continued eating.
Aslan also didn’t pay much attention to the stares.
Instead, he seemed lost in thought, barely moving as if deep in contemplation.
In front of him hovered a semi-transparent window.
[Main Quest in Progress]
[Escape with Angela Tail]
He knew the girl in front of him was Angela Tail.
The retainers chasing her had called her Angela Tail, and the quest notification had appeared right after he saw her.
Rather, it would have been strange if she wasn’t Angela Tail, so he hadn’t given it much thought.
What troubled Aslan was why a main quest related to the girl had appeared after seeing her.
This kind of quest hadn’t existed in the game he played every day for 12 years.
Even sub-quests and all possible routes of main quests were something Aslan had explored thoroughly, making this particular quest unfamiliar.
Moreover, he had no guesses. He had lived detached from the main quest for 12 years without knowing the reason, so there was no way for him to understand now.
With no clear leads, hypotheses, or reasonable conclusions, Aslan decided that pondering further was meaningless. What mattered was not missing the current opportunity.
Escaping together with the voracious girl in front of him was the primary goal, and this flow wasn’t bad.
To escape together, trust and goodwill were necessary.
If spending a few coins on a lavish meal could secure that, Aslan considered it a worthwhile deal.
Of course, he didn’t intend to simply feed the girl and send her off. Closing the system window, Aslan turned his gaze toward the girl.
The girl was a typical prisoner of Olpasbet.
Having been incarcerated for not long, she wore relatively clean but tattered clothes and had a shiny white restraining collar around her neck.
But even though her imprisonment hadn’t been long, she didn’t seem to have lived comfortably before either.
From the moment he met her, it was evident she had a rough, savage disposition, a wary personality, and thin limbs.
The surname “Tail” indicated she was from the commoner class of Belus Alphen, allowing Aslan to easily deduce that she was impoverished.
That explained her hostility and high alertness towards the retainer.
The issue was that commoners rarely left Belus Alphen.
Perhaps it was a clue to the main quest, so when Aslan noticed the girl slowing down her eating, he finally spoke.
“Would you like more?”
The girl shook her head. The food in front of her was already finished.
“Well, can I ask you something?”
“…Sure.”
Despite her gruff tone, the girl’s expression relaxed with satisfaction, and the wariness in her eyes lessened. Hungry people often crumble easily to food.
“What’s your name?”
“…Angie.”
Angie. The abbreviation of Angela put Aslan at ease; he had worried she might not be Angela Tail.
“Angie, that sounds nice and easy to call. I’m Aslan.”
“…Aslan, yours is nice too.”
“Thank you. So Angie, you don’t have to answer if it’s difficult, but how did you end up here?”
Olpasbet was fundamentally a prison city.
Although it utilized prisoners for service industries and mining, its core was still a prison.
Imprisoned criminals ranged from ordinary offenders to those who had angered nobles or rival nobles defeated in disputes.
Angie didn’t look like a noble, so Aslan guessed her imprisonment had its own story or pain behind it.
He was right. The girl fidgeted uncomfortably with her plate.
“…I lost and got dragged here.”
While she didn’t specify whom or what she lost to, Aslan didn’t push her.
Instead, he asked a question based on what he could guess.
“Were the people you fought alongside under the red flag or the blue flag?”
The red flag belonged to Count Warpol, the blue flag to Count Scherlukunde. These two counts, where Aslan himself had participated in Netchnagi, were constantly at odds over territory disputes and often employed mercenaries in battles along their border.
Given that Angie was imprisoned in Olpasbet, it was plausible she had served under Count Warpol, but Aslan believed listening was important at moments like these.
However, Aslan had already deduced several facts.
For instance, the girl likely wasn’t a direct mercenary under Count Warpol.
She was a pauper, unlikely to have received proper combat training or much experience, making it improbable she worked directly under the count.
“…Yeah, that’s right.”
The girl finally nodded, her eyes lighting up as if recalling something.
Aslan understood how she ended up here.
It probably started with a mercenary group visiting Belus Alphen.
The mercenaries must have been recruiting new members, and the ignorant paupers of Belus Alpen would have made perfect targets.
The promise of battle rewards, regular pay, and the chance to leave Belus Alphen by joining the mercenaries would have felt like a lifeline to some, and Angie must have joined them.
“But they lost, didn’t they? And since the other mercenaries aren’t here…”
Aslan refrained from voicing his guesses and instead coaxed the information out of the girl.
“So, where are your comrades? You seemed to belong to a mercenary group.”
At Aslan’s question, Angie’s expression darkened. Her biting her lips suggested a grim conclusion about the mercenaries’ fate—either they fled or all perished.
Since only the girl remained here, Aslan quickly deduced and preemptively said before she could speak.
“You don’t have to say.”
The girl looked uncomfortable at first but gradually calmed herself after a moment.
The girl was a prisoner. Olpasbet always recruited prisoners, so those who captured her must have handed her over for an appropriate ransom.
Aslan organized in his mind what he’d learned from the girl and what he could infer.
“…Still, no connection to the main quest.”
She wasn’t a character likely to appear in the main quest, nor was any event tied to the main quest involved.
Yet, Aslan had clearly seen the girl’s name floating in the main quest.
Since the game also started the first main quest with an escape, Aslan briefly wondered if it was due to this fact alone—but it was too absurd.
If that were true, it would mean the girl in front of him was the protagonist.
Shaking off the thought, just as Aslan was about to dismiss it, someone suddenly burst into the inn.
“There you are.”
A deep voice echoed, and the lively inn fell silent.
All eyes turned to the entrance, and Aslan turned around upon noticing Angie’s stiffening expression.
“It seemed suspicious that a traveler brought her here, but it’s true, isn’t it?”
It was the retainer.
The warrior who had chased the girl and tried to recruit her under his banner stood at the entrance with a few men, staring silently at Aslan and the girl.
“So, whatever this traveler tempted you with, don’t accept it easily. Even without resorting to such tactics, I, Harold Crow, protect those who deserve protection. There’s no need to accept corruption from this city.”
Identifying himself as Harold Crow, the warrior walked confidently into the inn.
Standing slightly over 2 meters tall, the warrior created a stir as soon as he entered.
Travelers near the entrance, wishing to avoid unnecessary trouble, quietly moved away, leaving the innkeeper with a sour expression at the lost customers.
“And you traveler, I don’t know what desires you’re trying to fulfill with this girl, but if you know better, give it up.”
Realizing the remark was directed at him, Aslan felt slightly annoyed.
The retainer seemed to misunderstand that Aslan was enticing Angie with food and money to satisfy some sinister desire.
Most travelers in Olpasbet were like that, so the assumption wasn’t entirely unfounded, but still irritating.
“…Troublesome.”
Being misunderstood despite having no such intentions was unpleasant.
Rising from his chair, Aslan gestured lightly for the girl to stay seated before turning around.
“Is it righteous to beat up one girl with multiple men, yet wrong to show compassion by buying her a meal?”
Aslan stared firmly into the retainer’s eyes as he spoke. The retainer twitched slightly at the words and approached.
A soft sound of his tail brushing against the wooden floor resonated, and his steps halted a short distance from Aslan.
Harold squinted and spoke.
“Traveler, there are things you may not understand. As a traveler, you cannot possibly grasp our ways.”
And with that, the retainer’s tail subtly lifted. Aslan followed the movement with his eyes and narrowed his own.
“If you won’t back down, we’ll have to resort to force.”
Harold was taking an offensive stance. Observing the retainer poised to strike, Aslan glanced down and reached for his waist.
A mace hung there.
The realization startled the onlookers.
Until Aslan’s hand moved, no one—not even Harold, who was ready to fight—had noticed the weapon at his side.
Lowering his gaze, Aslan spoke.
“Try it.”
The low murmur was chilling. It wasn’t defiant anger or intimidation but a cold warning that sent a chill down one’s spine.
Aslan disliked fighting. He avoided it, disliked killing, but if a fight was inevitable, he wouldn’t hesitate.
Thus, the coldness and menace in his voice were beyond imagination, causing Harold Crow to flinch under the heavy aura.
Harold Crow was a warrior.
Crow was the surname granted to warriors of Belus Alphen, and those bearing this name trained rigorously from childhood.
An experienced warrior could assess the strength of opponents and gauge the outcome of a fight.
And the seasoned warrior’s instinct leaned heavily toward one side.
Staring into Aslan’s icy green eyes, Harold swallowed hard.
Silence enveloped the inn as Aslan and Harold faced each other. Even the innkeeper, who had been muttering, watched anxiously.
The silence was broken by Aslan.
“I’ve rented Angie. But I assure you, nothing will happen against your sense of righteousness.”
Renting.
Paying the lord to employ a prisoner as a servant during one’s stay in the city.
With the lord involved, Harold had no authority to intervene.
After silently observing Aslan and Angie for a moment, Harold turned and left the inn.
Only then did Aslan remove his hand from his waist, adjusting his cloak to conceal the weapon.
*
Outside the inn, Harold Crow wiped his forehead and exhaled deeply.
The breath held for so long matched the size of his body, and the exhale carried a faint scent of tension.
The bald man who followed Harold outside glanced sideways at Angie sitting inside and asked.
“Master Harold, why retreat? A warrior of Master Harold’s caliber should be able to handle someone like him…”
“No.”
Dismissing the subordinate’s words, Harold looked at his palm.
Warriors don’t sweat. Yet his palm felt as if cold sweat might seep through.
Shaking off his hand, Harold spoke with a pale expression.
“If we fought, we’d all die.”
His calm declaration shocked the subordinate, who widened his eyes, while Harold glanced back at the inn as he moved forward.
“I don’t know how such a monstrous figure appeared, but renting doesn’t last forever. Let’s prepare for the next move.”
The subordinate closed his mouth with a bitter expression but didn’t press further.
After they left, Aslan thought.
He really needed to formalize the rental before they returned.
