Fortunately, I was finally able to decide to escape with Diana.
In a way, this was thanks to Mary and Emily’s help.
Thinking back to Diana’s reaction in the cafeteria, it wouldn’t have been easy to talk to her otherwise.
Anyway, if she joins us, we can only focus on escaping from here now.
“Honestly, I don’t want to be here long.”
Prison is fundamentally that kind of place.
A place where people who don’t want to be in an undesirable space undergo ‘rehabilitation’ together.
Of course, for prisoners who seem unlikely to be rehabilitated, they are just stuck indefinitely in society’s most hellish locations.
That is what a prison is.
Even though I had just come in two days ago, the environment was already so harsh that I wanted to go back to the academy.
“Mmm… Ken… hehehe.”
Raphne, who was lying next to me on the first-floor bed of our cell, tightly hugged my neck and giggled.
It seems that Raphne doesn’t really care where she is as long as I’m there.
Despite her grumbling, she’s sleeping peacefully.
“Still, I don’t want to leave Raphne in a place like this for long.”
Anyway, the goal is to escape as quickly as possible.
So, what would be the best method of escape?
Classic escape methods come to mind first.
The most obvious ones are chopsticks or a spoon.
It’s an old-fashioned method, but typically involves digging through the brick behind the bed or behind a poster with utensils.
Doing so would lead to the other side of the wall.
That’s a method of escaping by digging like a mole.
“But it seems impossible.”
I’ve heard that most prison facilities have magical barriers that absorb physical damage.
While common areas like the shower room don’t have such measures, if I were to dig through the shower wall, I’d be caught immediately.
“Hmm…”
I realized that I couldn’t come up with any decent ideas just by thinking alone.
“Digging through the wall seems to be difficult.”
Thus, I had a meeting with Diana in the corner of the cafeteria during breakfast the next morning.
Now she, too, is a companion who has boarded the escape ship.
Surely, her knowledge as the person who has lived here the longest among us will be helpful.
“Hmm… Can’t we just break everything?”
Raphne muttered as she overheard that, looking confused.
From her standpoint, being the strongest, it seems she doesn’t understand why we want to escape quietly.
“It’s not just about getting out, we need to live safely… Causing a ruckus during the escape would bring soldiers after us immediately!”
“Surely, that’s something Adrian can manage somehow, right?”
“…Hmm.”
It’s true that Adrian, being a prince, could probably just give an order for us to be released.
But escaping together means having Diana with us.
She is a major criminal who has committed a huge crime and still has about 50 years left on her sentence.
If they could stop pursuing us due to Adrian’s order with her escaping, they wouldn’t even let us in here.
That’s why breaking everything is out of the question.
“Hmm, anyway, you want to escape quietly, right?”
Diana, who was listening to our conversation, asked with a smile.
“The best option is to steal the guard’s keys… hmmm.”
She then crossed her arms and pondered.
…Wait, keys?
“If we just have the keys, can we escape? What about the guards in the watchtower?”
“Hoho, I’ve spent so long here. With just the keys, I can open locked doors and sneak out without being caught.”
Diana, confidently answering, eventually sighed, sounding somewhat disappointed.
“But is stealing the guard’s keys easy? Even if we manage to get them, won’t we be caught immediately?”
“…”
At her words, Raphne and I exchanged blank stares.
“Huh?”
Diana tilted her head, not catching the meaning of our gazes.
Oh, right.
I suddenly realized how much easier escaping becomes when the guard is on our side.
In all the prison escape movies I’ve seen, the guards are always the villains.
They’re the hindrances to the escape.
That’s why we end up going through all the trouble of digging a molehill.
“Adrian, you really had a plan.”
I wondered why he put Emily as the guard, but it truly is a wise allocation of personnel.
“Keys?”
“Yes, just a moment’s loan is enough.”
Afterward, during cleaning time, I approached Emily, who was supervising the cleaning, and whispered discreetly.
During this time, both prisoners and guards are engrossed in their tasks, making it a good opportunity to slip out of sight.
“Here.”
Jingle.
Emily casually handed me a bunch of keys, seemingly unconcerned.
“Eh!”
I immediately split the keys in half right on my hand.
“AAAHHH! W-What are you doing, Ken! I’ll get in trouble!”
“It’s okay Emily, I’ll fix it quickly.”
“…Huh?”
Then, using my magic, I reattached the broken keys into one piece.
After checking the category of my crafting skill, I immediately smiled.
“Emily, could I borrow all the keys related to the doors here?”
“…Are you planning to break each one and then fix it?”
With a dumbfounded look, Emily’s words were spot on.
Fixing as a concept is not limited to weapons alone.
Things tend to break in everyday life beyond just weapons.
In fact, there are far more mundane items like farming tools or kitchen utensils than weapons in daily life.
And my crafting skill also gives me the ability to repair those items.
Finally, I can duplicate anything once I have repaired it.
I then moved together with Emily to a secluded area away from people’s sight and received all the keys to the exits.
Zing.
After finishing repairing the last broken key.
“Emily, can we have a meeting with the prisoners right now?”
“Right now?”
“Yes, me, Raphne, and Diana—three of us.”
With the preparations complete, all that was left was to decide on the timing to execute and plan what to do after escaping from prison.
A meeting about that is needed.
The execution time was naturally set for dawn when all the prisoners would be asleep.
I was to unlock the door and walk out directly.
If any other prisoners see us, it would cause chaos.
So, I lay on the bed, waiting until all the prisoners fell asleep.
“…Raphne, do you really have to cling to me like that?”
Even while that was happening, Raphne wrapped her arms around my neck and gazed at me with wide, innocent eyes.
“But I think this will be the last time, so I feel a bit sad.”
“I’ll hug you a lot once we get back to the academy.”
“But, when that happens, you won’t be the soft Ken anymore. …I mean, solid Ken is good, too.”
Though the terms “solid” or “soft” could easily lead to misunderstandings,
Raphne seemed to be regretting she wouldn’t be able to hold onto me like this soon, as this was likely the last time she could.
…Sometimes, female transformation, too.
No, I’ve been overly inclined to satisfy the preferences of my fiancées lately.
Let’s try to hold back on the SM and yuri to the best of our abilities.
Of course, if they desperately want it, I’d be willing to comply, but I don’t have to push myself to do it.
“Zzz…”
After some time, the snores of the other prisoners echoed,
And soon after, Mary approached our cell, signaling that all the prisoners had fallen asleep.
Creeeak….
From there, it was straightforward.
I opened the cell door using the keys I duplicated with my skill and unlocked Diana’s cell too.
Of course, her roommate couldn’t come with us, so Raphne knocked her out and I bound her with the chains I created.
“Great job, Ken! I never thought you could copy keys using your crafting ability! With this, we won’t get caught for sure!”
“Eep, you don’t have to praise me so much… hehe.”
“Ken, your mouth is twitching.”
No one dislikes praise.
Of course, this was all thanks to Emily and Mary infiltrating as the guards.
If it hadn’t been for them, we would have had to escape through a much more complicated and difficult method.
Just like in Guardians of the Galaxy, where they caused all sorts of trouble to escape.
We likely wouldn’t have been able to escape this quickly without causing that level of ruckus.
Afterward, we joined up with Emily at the building’s entrance and followed Diana’s lead towards the main gate of the prison.
Clearly, she has an excellent ability to navigate such facilities, having planned a palace coup.
“Diana, what will you do after we get out?”
“W-W-What do you mean?!”
Why is her face turning red? I didn’t ask anything strange.
“Nothing, I just thought you could live normally after getting out.”
I was hoping she wouldn’t engage in anything like terrorism again.
Though our time was short, her personality seemed quite nice compared to the crimes she committed.
I feel like she might have some grievances against the palace after dealing with Adrian.
Countries frequently have that sort of thing.
“I was just curious about what you’d do after getting out.”
I cautiously asked as we headed toward the main gate.
The path we were walking was a hidden route safely out of the watchtower’s view.
The atmosphere was light enough for casual chatter.
In response to my question, Diana turned back slightly, her cheeks pink.
“Ho-Homemaker sounds nice, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, does that mean you have someone in mind?”
“N-No, it’s not decided yet, but I’m thinking of trying, hehehe…”
Diana giggled, swishing her orange ponytail like a tail behind her.
I wonder who it is, but it seems there’s a man on her mind outside.
“If you can get married and live peacefully, that would be great.”
I sighed in relief.
After escaping together, it would be troublesome for me if she had another terrorist act planned.
“I’m also good at being a homemaker.”
“Me too, me too.”
At that moment, Raphne and Emily got excited, as if a competition had joined in on Diana’s future goal.
Finally, Mary clung to my arm and smiled.
“Well, I’ll go out and earn some money. Together with Ken.”
“W-What! That’s unfair, Mary!”
“Then I’ll work too! One homemaker is enough!”
With Mary’s surprise statement targeting the niche market, Raphne and Emily quickly switched their remarks.
Hmm, it still feels a bit much for me to have my women working.
I’m quite an old-fashioned guy.
I don’t want my wife working if I can help it; that kind of man.
As I watched the three girls teasing each other playfully, Diana tilted her head in confusion.
“You four seem quite close. Given your cooperation, I suspected as much.”
At her question, Raphne, who was hanging on my back, answered.
“Yes, because all three of us are Ken’s fiancées.”
“…Exck.”
Raphne’s words made the other two nod, and Diana looked shocked.
“Three of you are the ones I previously heard about….”
Why doesn’t it occur to her that I’m a girl?
It’s surprisingly open-minded of her.
As Diana was shocked, we soon arrived at a gap in the prison’s outer wall.
It was an area that had collapsed during a heavy rain, and no repair work had been done yet.
One by one, we slipped through the hole and exited the prison.
After walking for a while, we arrived at the nearby forest, and with a sigh of relief that our escape had been successful, we all smiled together.
“Ahh~, that guard was fun. I could have stayed a few more days.”
“I’m actually glad it’s over. The environment was harsh for Ken and Raphne.”
Everyone relaxed their tense faces, talking leisurely and laughing.
Diana seemed somewhat hesitant as she stole glances at me.
It seemed she wanted to say something to me in particular.
More importantly, I had something to say to Diana.
That was about the information on the Demon Sword.
With our escape successful, it was time to return to the original plan.
Just as I was about to open my mouth to query the somewhat conscious Diana.
“I still feel a bit sad. Being a girl for Ken is now over…”
Raphne said, pulling me into a hug.
“…Girl?”
At her words, Diana flinched, tilting her head.
Then Emily nodded along.
“Right, right. Ken as a girl was really cute. Sometimes it feels like it wouldn’t be bad to change back like this.”
“Going on dates with four girls doesn’t sound bad either.”
Lastly, Mary agreed with a shy blush.
Hmm, I didn’t think they would be so fond of my female transformation…
I suddenly began considering the idea of transforming into a girl sometimes.
But then.
“Eh? W-What are you all talking about?”
Diana, looking startled, gazed between us, finally landing on me.
Her eyes were trembling.
“Ah, come to think of it, you don’t know.”
To Diana’s question, Raphne smiled and answered, taking off the pendant from her neck.
“Here, take a look at this.”
She immediately placed the pendant around my neck.
As a result, a soft light emanated from my body, and the curse of female transformation was lifted, returning me to my male form.
“It’s a relief that the prisoner outfit fits.”
Just as Emily said, if the size was wrong, it would have been troublesome in many ways.
Fortunately, the large prisoner uniform fits me just right as a man.
“W-What! W-What!”
However, while everyone watched, Diana suddenly stiffened and looked at me as if she had seen a dragon.
“Oh, I haven’t explained. I’m Ken Feinstein. I had to become a girl for a brief reason… Huh?”
Understanding that she was genuinely shocked, I was about to explain slowly when.
“W-Why….”
“…What do you mean ‘why’?”
It appeared Diana was even more shocked than I thought.
She lowered her head and shook it vigorously.
When I reached out my hand to calm her down,
“This is a lie, NOOOO━!!!”
She immediately turned and ran away.
Huh? This felt oddly familiar.
“…Ken, did you do something? She seems really shaken.”
At that moment, Emily, who had a similar past experience, approached me sideways and asked.
No, I really don’t know.
