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4. Sinalore’s Terrorist

The extravagant epithet attached to him as the most outstanding talent in the empire was indeed true. Assuming that the Duke had clashed with the Prince purely based on talent, it was accurate to speculate that the rebellion had undoubtedly succeeded.

Being detained was not a problem at all. Calix looked down at his hands and chuckled softly.

‘But using abilities makes the instigator too obvious, doesn’t it?’

If it happened, would Mel be in trouble? If she found out that I came for a visit, the Prince wouldn’t just leave her alone with his temperament.

“Ah, it’s time to work. I’m off. Take care.”

The conversation among the guards disturbed his contemplation. Calix narrowed his eyes, and the oblivious guards continued to chatter as they pleased.

“Where did you work before?”

“At the labor yard.”

“Damn it. I wish I could go there and wield a whip or two. It’s irritating to be stuck in a room just because you’re a noble.”

“You’re a brat. You should have applied to be a torturer then.”

The labor yard.

As a person with abilities, Calix was not conscripted into forced labor like ordinary inmates. Being a noble, he was exempt from labor anyway, but still.

The ability was a blessing possessed by a tiny minority within the empire. It manifested only in those descended from royal bloodlines or chosen by magicians through certain means.

The types of abilities were diverse, and once acquired, there was no limit to their development – though it wasn’t easy – so the severity of punishment for crimes committed by ability users, even for the same crime, varied greatly. Torture under the pretext of reducing magical power was a prime example.

Therefore, Calix had limited opportunities to grasp the layout of the prison’s exterior geography.

Moreover, Sinalore was so fortified that with each change in the head warden, another layer of walls was added.

It seemed abundantly clear to him that escaping without using abilities would be exceedingly difficult.

“I feel like I’m going to die from exhaustion.”

There was laziness in the murmured voice.

Calix preferred a quieter approach. At least, by Margaret’s standards.

The woman he had seen definitely didn’t seem to enjoy causing a big fuss. Moreover, her attention was generally focused more on Florencia than on the assassins of Alcatraz. Even if he managed to get out, depending on the method, there was a possibility of being rejected with complaints.

‘It’s too risky.’

It was frustrating. But in reality, he was quite enjoying planning his escape. Calix decided to see this situation as a kind of entertainment.

Basically, the criteria he set were as follows:

One, it should be done quickly.

Two, attention should not be drawn to Margaret.

Three, avoid shedding blood as much as possible.

Calix chuckled as he pondered the last condition internally. He wasn’t sure if it would be possible.

Even when he complained of pain from the wounds inflicted in the torture chamber, Margaret merely smiled lightly, handed him painkillers, and left. Even though it would have been screamingly painful if seen by ordinary people or other detainees.

Margaret didn’t deny his misdeeds, so she seemed to consider them part of his punishment.

“I can’t argue with that.”

Calix muttered to himself as if in self-deprecation. Their conversations generally went like this.

‘You were quiet.’

‘..Even after seeing my appearance, you’re speaking so calmly?’

‘I have committed sins.’

Margaret said it would improve soon anyway. She acted as if she knew very well how strong he was. Therefore, there was no surprise at his unrealistic healing ability.

Calix narrowed his eyes. If he were to kill someone again, inevitably, he couldn’t be sure that Margaret would be as forgiving after he left as she was then.

He could only hope for another lack of reaction from Margaret regarding his ability and criminal actions.

“Well, leaving that aside… What should I do?”

If the goal was simply to escape, then perhaps even with just a spoon, a successful escape would be possible.

As a prisoner working in the labor yard, he might be able to steal an extension. Prisoners working outside might know the geography to some extent.

Above all, the escapade from this incredibly boring prison would naturally gather many accomplices. Perhaps there were quite a few precedents for the act of escape itself, even if he wasn’t the one. However, such methods were easily caught by instigators, so Calix had to deny his assumption.

“…Ah.”

Alternatively.

The former Grand Duke chuckled coldly at the plan he had come up with.

Once a traitor himself, he and his comrades were powerful enough to destroy parts of the palace. Moreover, he still had quite a few material resources that hadn’t been confiscated.

For example, gunpowder.

Yeah, there’s no need for me to escape alone.

“I should have done this sooner.”

Calix Hamel, a high-profile criminal with the ability of destruction, a former Grand Duke, a traitor, and a terrorist.

“All we need is some evidence.”

The goal was set. Calix looked down at his restraints and twisted his lips.

* * *

If there was one thing to consider most important to shift the responsibility of the escapees onto the prison itself, it would be the dispersion of attention. Calix was more aware of this fact than anyone else.

The more flashy it was, the easier it was to distract attention. That’s why he preferred chaos caused by explosives and bombs rather than mere combat with a sword. There would be enough people rushing out of the collapsing building with no clue whatsoever. Eventually, finding the root cause would become even more confusing.

Calix was certain that fixing the situation would take quite some time.

For this, there were more tools to prepare than he initially thought. Of course, the capacity of the escapees to obtain them would be limited, but still.

Obtaining tools and items in Sinaloa was more difficult than in other prisons.

As a prison that housed special criminals and heinous offenders, it was inevitable that strict standards were applied. It was regrettable. Therefore, all that Calix could easily obtain were things that could be used in the dining hall. (Food distribution in Sinaloa did not discriminate by status) He chuckled.

But there was a comforting point, that Calix Hamel held the position of former Grand Duke and the leader of the rebellion.

In fact, most of the prisoners in Sinaloa were his subordinates who had been imprisoned for failed rebellions, and some members of the Glacies guild who had been involved were also imprisoned together, so they got along well.

Since conversations with those involved in the rebellion were prohibited indoors, they had to convey their intentions through simple gestures or hand signals.

Calix actively took advantage of the fact that his accomplices were proficient in learning codes.

Prisoners of different backgrounds quickly spread their unique codes and signals among themselves.

The most commonly used one was a code based on dots and lines, which was quite useful as it could convey intentions with simple gestures like blinking.

[Gold. Escape. Cooperation.]

Calix learned that Margaret was bribing the guards, along with where they were hiding the gold coins. He gathered accomplices, hinting at it.

Once the location was known, incidents of stolen gold coins piled up swiftly, as expected.

The involved parties, namely the corrupt guards who had collected the bribes, grew anxious.

“You’re no different from us, accepting bribes is a crime,” Calix said with a fierce grin, addressing the guard who had taken Margaret’s bribe.

“You’re cleaner than those traitorous scum, at least.”

“So, aren’t you curious where that money is?”

“…”

The guard remained silent. Besides the guide who had been bribed by Margaret, the other recipients of the bribes included the guards in charge of Florencia and the Grand Duke, as well as all the guards in Alcatraz. There was no debate about the abundance of gold coins circulating within the prison.

“Prisoners who turn themselves in will be exempt from labor. Let’s not increase the sentence unnecessarily by getting caught during room searches.”

A series of threats and inspections took place within the prison. However, the amount of gold coins discovered was much less than anticipated.

They began investigating prisoners who were struggling financially outside the prison, although it was futile.

For inmates serving life sentences, the most valuable currency was not gold coins but something like food and medication, including tobacco and sugar. The prisoners idolized Calix, a nobleman, for having such things – tobacco, alcohol, and food were somewhat provided to death row inmates or high-ranking nobles as a pre-death privilege – and they faithfully followed the instructions given to receive rewards.

‘It’s surprising how careless they are. And downright evil,’ Calix thought. The answer to why the guards didn’t immediately take the valuable jewels and gold coins to the bank was right in front of him. He pondered the rarity of the platinum coins in his hand.

Government officials’ salaries were roughly specified. Therefore, it would have been suspicious for a knight of lower noble birth to have so much currency on hand. Margaret didn’t provide such detailed considerations to those with a commoner’s level of economic power. Thus, the guards couldn’t exchange the numbered currency or jewels, or the difficult-to-fake platinum coins or checks, which they couldn’t cash at the bank along with their salary, at the public institution, the bank.

Indeed, it would have been difficult for them to simply take these items out while Castiel Reload was suspicious of bribe-taking.

“Isn’t it true that excess leads to error,” Calix muttered grimly.

Regardless, the prisoners distributed the stolen gold coins among themselves and hid them little by little in their cell. For example, they would tear off wallpaper or remove floorboards to dig a hole underneath to bury the coins.

Calix was somewhat satisfied with the creativity of his accomplices, who used the spoon’s head as a makeshift weapon and purposely ordered oversized work clothes from the labor yard to steal items and bring them back.

It wouldn’t take too long for a group to form within the prison and for a system to be established. Calix leaned back leisurely, leaving them with the instruction to await further orders. As for the torture they would endure, by now, it was just a familiar routine.

* * *

The sober spirit showed no signs of loosening. I still had to endure the dull days in the annex of the palace, and my father, who used to come occasionally to cause a disturbance, was now completely reduced to pleading in front of me.

“Mel, my beloved daughter. How many times do I have to say that it’s thanks to you that Eilish hasn’t collapsed yet?”

I didn’t find this preamble amusing after hearing it several times. I ignored him with a blank expression and glanced through the stack of documents in front of me. The bundle of papers brought from Glacies surprisingly contained detailed information written in neat handwriting.

‘More detailed than expected.’

The documents were filled with descriptions of promissory notes used by the Imperial faction, noble factions, and neutral nobles.

I found myself convinced anew of why Florencia could afford such extravagance to the point of people becoming tired of it. Continuing to respond to my father, who kept repeating the same thing, as I always did, I finished reading the documents.

“It doesn’t seem like you think so.”

Surprisingly, my sister seemed to lack any noble qualities when it came to sophisticated businesses. So, she ended up in the crime guild’s loan-sharking business. I sighed mixed with ridicule as I looked at the list of debtors.

It was quite shocking to realize that there were actually quite a few nobles who readily accepted her exorbitant interest rates without questioning how she acquired the initial capital for the business.