Chapter 8

“There’s an issue that needs to be investigated again, so don’t hesitate to open it.”

 

“Ah, if it’s such a thing…!”

 

At Kellerhan’s words, the guards showed noticeable signs of relief. It was a scene where you could see how much he usually grabbed his subordinates.

 

“Then, I’ll be going now.”

 

“Excuse me…!”

 

When he was about to enter Rudger’s Mansion, a security guard in the corner called him urgently.

 

“T-The little girl in the back…”

 

I felt like I could hear a remark like, Children can’t enter Rudger’s Mansion.

 

The eyes of the other guards also reached me late.

 

It was as if their eyes shouted, ‘The Mad Dog is pretending to be friendly and holding a child’s hand?!’

 

Don’t get me wrong.

 

He was just holding me tight like a leash so that I wouldn’t run away.

 

I told myself this but it couldn’t reach the guards.

 

Kellerhan looked at my hand that was clasped in his with a new look.

 

Do you want to let go?

 

As soon as I thought of that, he opened his mouth to the guards.

 

“Don’t mind this.”

 

“Yes!” They took their eyes off me at once.

 

He pulled my hand and I followed him into Rudger’s Mansion. Unlike the beautiful exterior reminiscent of a temple, the interior of Rudger’s Mansion was breathtakingly strict and spooky. The ceiling was high, but it looked stuffy because there were thick and monotonous tapestries all over the place, and the wall was revealed as it was intentionally not finished.

 

Magic lamps developed by the magicians who pledged to work for the Empire were lighting up the interior, but the lights were fainter than the moonlight on a cloudy day.

 

Clack, clack.

 

With every step I took, my shoes and the stone floor collided, creating a gloomy stone. Kellerhan led me without hesitation as he was familiar with Rudger’s Mansion. We went down to the basement where there was a prison that confined criminals.

 

Batalli Dodna was imprisoned on the third floor, which was most severely monitored, especially for his crime.

 

All of the above stories were explained by Kellerhan.

 

“Barmuth is not just a place to capture criminal. It’s also my job to monitor them so that they’re properly punished and will never harm the good people of the Empire again.”

 

No matter how often he visited Rudger’s Mansion, I thought he knew too much about places that weren’t his authority, but he solved my question.

 

Kellerhan took the key from the knight guarding the three basement levels and entered the long hallway. The first floor was also creepy, but the corridor on the third basement floor was so dark and chilly that it made me miss the first floor.

 

The doors, which ran at regular intervals on the wall of the long hallway, had a flat hole that could barely fit in a child’s hand.

 

Perhaps death row prisoners were imprisoned over those doors.

 

“Do you think it’s natural for criminals to be punished?”

 

As I walked down the hallway gulping, Kellerhan suddenly asked.

 

“…Isn’t it obvious?”

 

I answered a beat late because I was concentrating my whole mind under my feet. I heard Kellerhan laughing in the dark.

 

“In most cases, it’s natural to be punished for committing a crime. But there are times when it’s not natural.

 

Is he talking about Batalli Dodna?

 

I was well aware of who Batalli Dodna was.

 

He was a terrible criminal who had been talked about for years even after being executed.

 

It was said that he burned three villages. As a result, hundreds of people screamed and burned to death in pain.

 

I trembled to recall the terrible crime Batalli Dodna committed.

 

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It was natural to be punished for committing such a crime. Even if there was a sad story, it couldn’t be helped.

 

While I was thinking about Batalli Dodna, we arrived at the prison cell at the end of the hallway.

 

The prison cell was a bit unusual, but unlike the other doors that made it difficult to look inside, the iron bars with a clear view were located in the front.

 

“You lobbied the Aristocratic Union. I don’t know where you found such a connection.”

 

Batalli Dodna, who was wrapped around a chain, raised his head at Kellerhan’s words.

 

Batalli Dodna was a middle-aged man with a shaggy beard. Perhaps because he had been on the run for a long time and couldn’t get proper nutrition, he looked like a skeleton.

 

“Is it your business? The lobby wouldn’t have worked anyway, because it was blocked by your hand.” He answered Kellerhan’s words with a cracked voice.

 

His eyes shined black.

 

If there was a person who went well with the words ‘like a criminal’, that’d be Batalli Dodna.

 

I felt chilling and stepped back unconsciously as I looked at him. On the other hand, unlike me who was scared, Kellerhan looked very relaxed.

 

Well, it’s his job to deal with such criminals.

 

“It’s the brats from the law department, isn’t it? If you give me the name of the judicial officer who visited you, you can see mercy to the extent of getting your neck hit with a single knife at the time of execution.”

 

The Judiciary was a different judicial body from the Supreme Court, and unlike the Supreme Court, which tried to be fair, it was on the side of the nobility.

 

“I don’t know.” Batalli Dodna gritted his teeth. “You know that my life has become a piece of chess on the political board. But I swear to the Lord that I did nothing.”

 

“Well, okay.” Perhaps Kellerhan never expected to find out who was behind it, so he quickly gave up on the topic of justice.

 

“Your execution date has been decided.”

 

Batalli Dodna showed his first agitation at Kellerhan’s words.

 

“Next week.” Kellerhan said with a smile. “The execution will take place next week.”

 

I became anxious and looked up at him. Looking at it this way, Kellerhan was the villain, not Batalli Dodna.

 

“In the meantime, it’d be better to breathe the air of this life to your heart’s content.”

 

At those words, Batalli Dodna’s face contorted.

 

I noticed that Kellerhan was deliberately provoking him.

 

Why?

 

Just to show me that criminals could be this scary?

 

Kellerhan hadn’t been paying attention to me from the moment he stood in front of the cage. Batalli Dodna seemed to have not even noticed my existence because he was completely distracted by Kellerhan.

 

In a word, the two of them were talking, completely excluding me.

 

But it was clear that Kellerhan wanted to show me Batalli Dodna.

 

If that wasn’t it, there was no need to bring me here with all the trouble.

 

However, I thought it was a little strange that Kellerhan split up his busy time and even went out with me just to show this. Showing these typical criminals and scaring me didn’t match with the human nature of Kellerhan I knew.

 

I thought he’d show me something more terrible than a criminal trapped in a cage, considering it’s Kellerhan.

 

The moment I thought that far, Batalli Dodna spoke in a faint voice that was different from before.

 

“Lina… What happened to my daughter?”

 

The moment I heard that, I realized what Kellerhan intended to do by bringing me here.

 

“You have no right to know that.” He said indifferently in a cruel tone.

 

Upon hearing that, Batalli Dodna’s face was distorted like a ghost. He jumped from his seat with explosive power that I couldn’t believe he was a prisoner who had been locked up for a long time.

 

And he rushed to Kellerhan.

 

He was chained and couldn’t reach the bars, but it was threatening enough.

 

Clank! Clank!

 

The chains were pulled tightly and the sound of them hitting each other rang loudly.

 

“Tell me!” He cried.

 

“Didn’t I say that criminals don’t have such rights?”

 

“You know that I burned them to death because they tried to sacrifice my daughter to the Black Magicians in the first place!”

 

Batalli Dodna was like a wounded beast. He had been able to remain calm so far because he suppressed his feelings to ask about his daughter’s whereabouts.

 

“I just wanted to save my daughter!”

 

His chains pierced his body, leaving a red mark. But he kept shouting as if he didn’t know pain.

 

“If you have human emotions, let me know where my daughter is!”

 

Kellerhan still didn’t say anything.

 

Batalli Dodna really dropped his head.

 

“Please… If Lina is dead or alive…”

 

He muttered in an earnest voice as if he was praying. Kellerhan shook his head. It cut off Batalli Dodna’s last patience.

 

“You can’t do this to me even though you know how us father and daughter were treated by the villagers. You are just a hunting dog of the imperial family who hunts powerless people under the name of law.”

 

His eyes were bloody. He shouted at Kellerhan with anger.

 

“You mean bastard don’t even know what justice is!”

 

It was a huge insult.

 

Still, Kellerhan looked down at Batalli Dodna with an icy face and wasn’t shaken at all.

 

Rather, I was the one who was agitated. It was my first time seeing such raw, unrefined, and harsh anger in front of my eyes, so my whole body stiffened on its own.

 

Unconsciously, I clenched on Kellerhan’s sleeve. He looked down at me with the same cold eyes as he did to Batalli Dodna.

 

“I think it’s enough.” He said so, leaned down and hugged me.

 

I wanted to get out of Kellerhan’s arms, but I couldn’t do anything because I was overwhelmed by the rage that Batalli Dodna radiated.

 

Kellerhan grinned as if he knew I would and crossed the hallway. Entering the guest room on the first floor, he put me down.

 

“Well, it’s only small refreshments but…”

 

“There’s no need, so get out.”

 

The guards, who were wandering at the entrance, thought about what to do and ran away.

 

I was looking down at the tip of my toes when I heard Kellerhan closing the door and sitting opposite me.

 

“Do you still want to be a part of Barmuth?” He asked. “You saw that. The moment you become a part of Barmuth, you have to receive that passionate hatred.”

 

He poked me on the shoulder, and I was forced to raise my head.

 

“You will be called awful names like mean hound.”

 

His red eyes stared at me with a cold gaze. He was waiting.

 

I could be afraid, I could say I can’t stand it, I could run away without my tail.

 

But I didn’t.

 

Earlier, I was briefly nervous because I was overwhelmed by the sight I had seen for the first time in my life, but when I left that space, I felt calm again.

 

I made eye contact with Kellerhan. A look of surprise appeared on his face.

 

What was so surprising? If I was going to return just being scared to this extent, I wouldn’t have even started in the first place.

 

I looked straight at him and opened my mouth.

 

“So, where is Batalli Dodna’s daughter?”

 

He flinched at my question.

 

I’ll be honest. I don’t know much about Barmuth. I had never seen a criminal in person in my life. Therefore, it couldn’t be said that I understand all Kellerhan’s worries.

 

As I expected, he showed a terrible appearance of Batalli Dodna in front of me.

 

“Batalli Dodna was arrested, but did you save his daughter?”

 

But at least I know what Kellerhan is like when he deals with laws and principles.