Chapter 72: Alone
"Darling, you should stay awhile!"
"Gahaha! You know I can't do that, I have to take watch of the prisoner!"
"You're so cool and dependable, darling"
"Gahaha, of course!"
In a colorful tavern, a rugged man can be seen leaving its doorsteps. The man was being escorted out by a beautiful lady with a huge bosom and a somewhat elongated and pointy ears.
The rugged man's whole body shivered in delight as the beautiful lady slightly touched his groin while he was leaving.
"You… tch, now I have to come back here after my shift!", the rugged man laughed robustly as he gave the beautiful lady a last kiss on her neck.
"Okay, remember to come back, okay?"
The beautiful lady slightly leaned forward as she waved her hand, making her huge bosom swing delightfully. There were also other beautiful women behind her, who was also waving their hands towards the rugged man, "Visit me next time, okay?", one of the women from behind said.
With that, the rugged man once again laughed as he excitedly left the colorful tavern.
Walking for about half an hour, he arrived inside a small but somewhat cosy house. He fixed his clothes and patted his pants as he entered. Making sure to rub his eyes until it was tinted red.
And then, after making sure everything was how he wanted to look, he entered the house.
"Ah! Father!"
A small girl welcomed him with a wide hug. The rugged man could not help but chuckle as he caught his daughter in his arms.
"Mommy! Mommy! Quick, daddy is home!"
With the daughter's shout, a plain-looking woman appeared from one of the rooms in the house. "Oh, Albert. Did the prisoner kept you guys again?", the woman quickly handed his husband a wet towel to clean himself, "I swear, ever since the castle caught that prisoner, they have been keeping you unnecessarily busy!"
"Do you want to eat before going to bed?", the wife continued as she helped wiped the sweat on his husband's neck.
The rugged man sighed as he shook his head, "Afraid not, darling. I'm only here for a new set of clothes, still need to go back and cover Jonas' shift"
"What!? But you just got back, daddy!", the little girl hugged her father, not wanting to let go.
The wife could only sigh with his husband as they looked at each other. "I'll get you a set of fresh clothes"
"Thank you, darling", Albert smiled at his wife and he lifted up his daughter who was hugging his leg tight.
"Daddy has to go, okay?"
"But you just got home!"
"But daddy has to keep the bad people locked up, you know that, right?"
Hearing her father's words, the daughter could only pout her lips as she looked to the side.
"This people… is very bad?"
"Oh yes, this person is very dangerous as well"
"R-really? What does he look like? Does he look scary!?"
"Oh yes, very very scary, he is bigger than daddy and has hair covering every part of his body, he has huge scars and tattoos and he eats little children for dinner…. GRAAH!"
"KYAA!"
Albert laughed as her daughter covered her face in fright.
"Albert!", his wife came rushing as soon as she heard her daughter scream, "Stop scaring her!"
Albert continued to laugh as he gently placed his daughter down. His wife then handed him a new set of clothes.
"Thank you, darling", Albert kissed his wife's forehead as he took the clothes from her. He then placed a bag of coins on her hand.
"Here's what I earned from this week. You use it to buy our daughter some new dolls"
"R-really!?"
"N-no sweetie, you already have too many dolls"
"Whaat… But daddy said…"
"Why don't you let mommy cook your favorite food tonight instead?"
"O…okay"
Although reluctantly, the daughter nodded her head.
"You take care out there, okay? And tell Jonas he's a prick once you see him"
Albert once again laughed, "I will tell him you said that. He's sure to make a big deal out of it again"
The two of them laughed together as if they were remembering a funny memory, the daughter had no idea why her parents were laughing as she looked at them back and forth, but still, she also joined her parents and laughed as well.
After a few more seconds, Albert finally bid farewell to his family to make his way to the castle grounds, with them waving him goodbye.
On his way to the castle, he stopped by a place that was selling fruit and bought 2 pieces of green fruit.
"Here, I made sure to save these two for you", said the vendor, "Make sure to come back again tomorrow, I have a fresh batch of your favorite tomorrow"
"You know I will", Albert said as he grabbed the two pieces of fruit from the vendor.
It took him almost another half an hour before he got to the castle's underground. It was dark, with only a set of torches that were lined up on the wall to light it.
There, a bearded man was sitting there, carving a tiny piece of wood. Behind him is a steel gate, presumably the cellar where the castle prisoners were kept.
"Albert, you're late!"
The bearded man said as he noticed Albert on the stairs.
"You know me, my family keeps me up at night, you should try getting married", Albert said laughing as he approached the bearded man.
"Pluck you assicles, we all know you spend more time in Liana's. I swear, you are starting to smell like a whore house"
"That's the smell of love, my friend"
"If that's love, then Ben is probably the most loved person in the world"
"BWAHAHAHA!"
The two laughed robustly, their laughs echoing through the halls of the dungeon.
"So, how is our prisoner?", Albert then abruptly stopped his laugh as he sent a serious gaze towards the bearded man.
"Do you even need to ask? Still the same. Quiet as a mule", the bearded man said as he stood up, looking towards the other end of the dungeon cell.
Albert released a breath of frustration. "What is the Lord planning with our friend, anyway?"
"No idea. Hey, as long as we're getting paid handsomely, I ask no questions"
Albert scoffed as he slightly glanced at the bearded man.
"Anyway, I am off. Have fun here", the bearded man said as he patted Albert's shoulders.
"Just go already, this job is boring as it is", Albert waved his hand. But before the bearded man can exit the dungeon cellar, "By the way, Jonas, my wife said you're a prick. HAHAHA!"
Jonas could only grunt as he went up the stairs, exiting the dungeon cell.
Left alone, Albert could only release a long sigh as he sat on the chair, placing the set of fresh clothes on the table and the two fruits he bought from earlier.
After spending a few minutes fiddling with the carved wood that Jonas left on the table, Albert groaned in frustration as he stood up and grabbed the two fruits.
He opened the steel gate and dragged his chair inside, the sound of the chair scratching the surface of the rough floor echoed through the hall.
Small droplets of water could also be heard reverberating in the air.
He passed by several cells that were barred by steel gates. The prisoners that were inside watched him as he walked, getting rowdy and shouting names at him, some even trying to chew the steel bars.
But Albert just ignored them and continued to walk until he reached another steel gate, which he once again unlocked. This gate, however, was a lot thicker than the one before, with fewer gaps on it.
And once again, he continued to walk.
Unlike the prisoners from before, the ones that were barred here were silent. They just looked at Albert as he passed by their cell. Some of the prisoners were even chained to the wall, but even then, they were quiet.
Finally, Albert reached the end of the hall and placed the chair right in the middle.
"So, I see you're still pretty comfortable here"
On his right, there was a huge man, with his body hair almost filling up his entire body.
He was so huge, that he almost filled a 4th of the space of the cell that was holding him. The huge and muscular man just looked at Albert as he continued to speak. His muscles looked like they were pulsating as he sat there in silence.
Albert then sat down calmly on the chair as he ate one of the fruits he bought.
"I bought you a fruit, see? I will give you yours later. The vendor said that they'll have a fresh batch of fruits tomorrow, they said they'll have your favorite!"
In response, the huge prisoner just made a sound like he was clearing his throat.
"Is it your favorite? I do not know. I honestly have no idea… so why don't you just tell us? Just tell us anything"
Once again, there was only silence from the huge prisoner.
"Why are the higher-ups so adamant in keeping you lock up? Whatever did you do that was so bad that they keep you lock up in here with these other bunch?"
Seeing as only silence replied to him, Albert could not help but release a wry sigh. But still, he continued to talk.
"You know… my wife, she's pregnant with our second child", Albert released a slight chuckle, "Me? Another child? Can you imagine that? I was thinking maybe I should stop visiting Liana's now to save up."
Albert laughed and smiled, but the huge prisoner really seemed to have no plans on answering as he now turned his back on Albert.
"Remember when you first arrived here? My daughter was still this small", Albert made a gesture with his hands in the air, like he was holding something, "She was this sma- Oh wait, you can't see"
Albert then suddenly got off from his chair... kneeled on the floor. He pulled a handle that was on the floor, slowly sliding it to the side, opening a small hole.
A damp air immediately wafted from the dark hole as soon as Albert opened it, waving his hair.
Once again, he motioned his hands, making sure that it was above the small hole.
"As I was saying, she was this small when you arrived…", Albert slightly chuckled.
"…and now she is as tall as you when you first arrived here", Albert's expression became serious as he released a sigh of disappointment.
Albert then dropped the other fruit that he bought inside the hole, "Here you go, don't eat it all up in one gulp, okay?"
"…"
"Aren't you going to at least say thank you this time?", Albert turned his head and carefully placed his ear on top of the dark hole. He was waiting for a word from the prisoner that was below the floor, but all he got were the sound of chains hitting each other.
Albert could not help but once again sigh, "Fine. Good talk", Albert then sat on his chair, leaving the hole open, "You don't mind me staying for a while, right? It's quite boring eating alone"
Albert then continued to eat the fruit he had, "Just call me when you want something, okay?"
"…"
This time, the only reply he got from the prisoner below was the sound of fruit being chewed.
Once again, not even once did Albert get a response from the prisoner that was locked down below.