Reiji woke up in a prison cell on a wooden bed frame without a mattress. It was a small, dark room. The bed frame was placed in front of the bars in such a way that guards could see him without entering.
He pushed himself up slightly and winced, a sharp pain going off in his stomach. He touched it and realized it was bandaged up.
While he was sitting up he spotted one small window that was blocked off by metal bars and a wooden crate in the corner of the cell. The world outside was dark, the night was coming.
He stood up and slowly made his way to the prison bars. Once he was there he saw that he was on the first floor of a large prison that had another three floors above him. He also took note about what he was wearing. Dirty shirt and pants that were brown in colour.
After lifting his shirt to expose his stomach his hands pressed against the bandages and once he discovered a large spot that hurt a lot he pushed them apart until they revealed three cuts on his stomach. One small, the other bigger and then the biggest. They were stitched closed.
Reiji pulled out the threads holding them closed up in a great deal of pain, starting with the largest cut. He then pinched it closed and used his life force to heal it, leaving no scar. He repeated the process with the other two.
"Phew, finally, some time to think. Even though it's a bit cold here."
He turned and sat down on the bed frame, leaning forward and interlocking his fingers.
So, if I understand correctly we have monsters that are appearing in this world and apparently no one knows how. That lady didn't lie when she said she didn't know and Oldy also wasn't lying about anything. The lady also said that most of the appearances were happening in Solindrath. The logical start would be with what I know. That guy who predicted the coming of these things wrote his book 200 years back. The Frostgnasher has been around for 47 years give or take. Oldy said something about covering up Frostgnasher attacks until they decided we weren't worth it. Was he alone or was the whole kingdom taking action to hide these attacks? This means that the Frostgnasher might've been here for far longer than 47 years if the kingdom kept them hidden until 47 years ago. Oldy was also aware of the Frost people.
After a moment he started muttering under his breath, looking down at the ground.
"…Scenario one: The kingdom of Solindrath was aware of the Frostgnashers and hid their existence until 47 years ago when they publicly announced their existence. If this were true why would they hide them? Maybe try and kill them off before the situation gets out of hand? Try to figure out ways of avoiding them and surviving encounters so they wouldn't cause mass panic when revealed?"
Reiji looked up for a moment. After a moment he started muttering to himself again.
"Scenario two: They didn't keep it hidden for long and attained basic information about them, telling the people in hopes they would be able to find ways to survive faster than the kingdom could. These two scenarios go off of the fact that they didn't know how the Frostgnashers arrived and survival was their main goal but what if they had their dirty fingers in all of this? Magic exists and wherever I am, the government here seems to be well aware of it."
"Every one of you will step out of your cell and remain in front of it until told otherwise!"
One of the guards yelled as other guards started to open the cells up one by one. The guard who yelled the command was a sergeant. He walked over to each released inmate and wrote down something on the paper he held in hand. In his belt he had a small bottle of ink.
"...Third scenario: They were involved with the appearance of the Frostgnashers and went public immediately. Could've it been because something went wrong so they panicked? Or did they have a different reason to go public immediately? Scenario four: They were involved and kept it a secret, going public because…they couldn't control the creature? This leaves a lot of holes. It doesn't even have to be the government that is the cause of this. And what about the Frost People? Oldy knows about them and said something about keeping them a secret."
The guard who was opening up the cells was about to open Reiji's. He quickly stood up and walked over to the bars.
I have to play the idiot.
Reiji thought to himself and after his cell was opened he walked out and asked something.
"Do you know about the Frost people?"
He asked the guard plainly. The guard stopped and walked over to Reiji before punching him in the gut. Reiji, the amazing actor, dropped to one knee and faked a look of pain.
"Looks like you went insane looong before you got here. You'll speak only when spoken to!"
The guard screamed at Reiji before he walked over to the cell next to his and continued opening them. Reiji slowly stood up.
Doesn't seem to be publicly known. I've faced the Frost people for over four years. That's a pretty long time and they kept them hidden well. Unless it actually is publicly known but that guy looked at me like I went insane after asking that. They could've screwed up on the first try with the Frostgnashers and maybe are more prepared to keep the Frost people hidden? No, that's not it. From not being able to hide monstrous beasts to suddenly being able to do so with another intelligent species that's only slightly dumber than humans sounds amusing and impossible. I also haven't heard anything about the massacre at Thornwick and that other village near the capital.
Reiji heard that the sergeant was asking the names of the inmates before he came over to him and asked.
"Reiji Kurozuma."
Reiji quickly answered and the sergeant dipped the quill into the ink bottle on his belt and wrote a check mark. Reiji noticed that the paper he had was on a thin piece of wood so he could write on it. He moved past Reiji and kept asking names.
And to confirm my suspicion of them hiding the Frostgnasher's existence the blood forest would've been all over the country by now and combine that with how long it took us to get back to Vesmarra, one newspaper must've landed on Oldies door detailing the situation. To be able to hide such things means they have to have quite the competent staff working on it or a very experienced one. But this is a whole forest of blood, of course they would try to hide it as best they can.
Currently in Vaeltharion, the capital of the Solindrath kingdom:
A young woman bought a newspaper from a young boy. She took it and walked back into her home.
I was quite lucky, that boy's shift just ended.
She thought to herself, walking through the door and sitting on the chair in their kitchen. Her husband was playing with their toddlers when she opened up the newspaper.
THE CRIMSON FOREST
An unprecedented new ecosystem was discovered less than a dawnwalk from the capital.
This ecosystem is made out of trees and plants reddish in colour with vein-like shapes running on the ground of this "Crimson Forest".
Below this was another batch of text printed out in a smaller size containing more information. After reading through the page the woman put down the newspaper with shaky hands and looked over at her family.
"May the lord of blood and flesh protect us."
She said before sighing and standing up to go play with her children as well. Their home had all of the windows briefly open to bring in fresh air. After a strong gust of wind the page turned and revealed a new title.
THE FROST PEOPLE