Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, two days had passed.
Bang bang bang!
Someone pounded on the prison gate, and Grin slowly woke from his beauty sleep, yawning as he got to his feet.
"What now?"
The guard captain took out a key and unlocked the iron gate with a click.
"Mr. Grin, someone has posted bail for you. You may leave the prison now."
Grin went fully awake on the spot, eyes shining.
"Really? Hahaha! I knew Felt wouldn't forget me! With a contribution this huge, getting rewarded with a hundred or two hundred holy gold coins wouldn't be too much, right? I'm rich! I'm rich! Hahahaha!"
The guard captain hesitated a moment before answering slowly,
"Mr. Grin… the person who bailed you out is not the one you mentioned."
Grin blinked.
"Not Felt? Then who?"
The guard captain replied, "It was Roswaal L. Mathers, Margrave of Mathers Domain. He has already arranged a dragon carriage outside to pick you up."
"What?!"
Grin nearly jumped.
"The hell is this?! Roswaal bailed me out? We're not even acquainted!"
Could it be Emilia's doing?
After all, Reinhard would never claim credit for something like that, and he would naturally explain everything when returning the Royal Selection insignia.
The guard captain watched him with fresh surprise.
This Mr. Grin really was no ordinary person.
He even dared curse a margrave to his face.
Mathers territory was not a good place to live. It was dangerous enough on its own, but the truly maddening part was Roswaal himself, the rat hiding inside the machine.
If he went there, it would be like jumping straight into a fire pit.
After thinking it through, Grin spoke with sudden firmness.
"I'm not going to that pervert's territory. I'll stay right here in my cell. This place is fine. I've got food, I've got drink."
The guard captain nearly panicked.
He absolutely could not keep this old man in his hands any longer.
The prison's food expenses had already gone wildly over budget over the past two days, and Grin had even started asking for roast suckling pig or something equally absurd. The captain had never even heard of such a dish before.
"Mr. Grin, if you refuse to leave, then you will be sentenced."
"Then hurry up and sentence me. Start with two months. Oh, and did you prepare the roast suckling pig I ordered? I'm tired of red wine, so get me some beer instead. And vegetables too. A proper diet has to be balanced."
With that, Grin turned as if he meant to go right back to sleep.
The guard captain's face turned pale, then purple.
Easy to invite in, hard to send away.
And now this parasite had started worrying about nutritional balance in prison.
Grin was not someone they wanted to offend.
But Roswaal L. Mathers was even less someone they could afford to offend.
Soon enough, the balance in the captain's heart tipped.
Then, as if finally making up his mind, he gritted his teeth.
Better one sharp pain than a long, dragging one.
That was the only way.
"Very well. In my capacity as captain of the Seventh Unit of the Royal Guard, I hereby sentence you to labor reform in Mathers Domain."
"What?! That's abuse of power for personal revenge! I'm suing you!"
"Brothers, tie him up and load him into the dragon carriage outside the prison!"
"Hey, don't come any closer! Help! Otto, why are you sleeping like a corpse?! Ugh, I said I'm not going!"
…
Da-da-da. Da-da-da.
On the main road from the capital toward the borderlands, a high-grade dragon carriage rolled steadily through the night.
At the reins sat a peach-haired girl in a maid outfit.
Her attention remained on the road ahead, but the irritation in her eyes was impossible to miss.
On the opposite side, Grin sat hugging his knees, shrinking all the way to the corner, barely daring to speak.
In the end, it was the peach-haired maid who broke the silence first.
"I heard that you disguised yourself as Lord Roswaal and kissed the Sword Saint in the middle of the street?"
"Ah?"
Grin nearly coughed up blood.
"Does this country always spread rumors that aggressively?"
"You filthy rat who stains Roswaal-sama's reputation should have rotted in prison."
The peach-haired maid glared at Grin, baring her teeth as though she might really bite him.
Under Ram's stare, Grin felt a little guilty.
Still, he stiffened his neck and muttered back, "Like his reputation needs anyone to stain it. That guy's face is black as paint…"
"Hah. You've got some nerve, Mr. Possum."
Ram looked at him, her lovely face cold as ice.
Grin immediately sensed the danger, swallowed, and changed course at once.
"Paint… yes, especially his face. Very handsome. Great fashion sense. Knows makeup too. A perfect man."
"Hmph. Just a field mouse."
Ram rolled her eye at Grin, then turned back to the road.
You're the field mouse.
Grin cursed inwardly.
This sharp-tongued little devil could probably poison someone with a single mouthful of spit. So far, her only redeeming quality seemed to be her looks.
Pink eyes. Peach-colored lips. A short bob that brushed her neck. Bangs covering her left eye. A parting unlike most people's, with floral ornaments tucked near the ends.
She wore a black apron-style maid uniform, a white maid's cap, and a modified cut that bared her slender shoulders and traced the young girl's curves.
If he remembered right, this little demon was seventeen years old, one hundred fifty-four centimeters tall, and as for her measurements—
"Hmm?"
Ram seemed to sense his gaze.
"You miserable little fruit fly. Stare any harder, and Ram's clothes are going to catch fire."
"You've demoted me from rodent to beetle now? Ram, your personality is even worse than I expected…"
Grin's chest rose and fell sharply.
He was almost at his limit.
At that moment, he really did feel like knocking her out and driving the carriage off himself.
From the outside, Ram's sharp tongue might seem clever, even cute.
But when you were the one being targeted, the anger piled up fast.
"Men who grow up in the slums probably rarely get the chance to behold a woman as lovely as Ram. Ram will take pity on you and add a bit more material to your pitiful dreams."
The corners of Ram's mouth lifted stiffly.
Her eyes narrowed like a sly little fox.
That was not a smile.
That was mockery.
She was clearly enjoying provoking him.
Unfortunately, Queen Snow White's abilities leaned more toward support. In a real fight, they were not all that impressive.
Otherwise, Grin would have loved to teach Ram a lesson.
"Is this how a maid of Mathers Domain treats Roswaal's guest?"
"Hahaha."
Ram actually laughed out loud.
"Mr. Prisoner, it seems you still haven't realized your position."
"That's not right. Didn't Roswaal bail me out? The very least I should get is the treatment of a boarder."
"That truly is the mindset of a parasite. Still, Ram did receive your sentence from the guards. Let's see…"
She pulled a scroll from her pocket, waved it in front of Grin, and began reading with unmistakable delight.
"Grin Andersen. Illegal presence in the capital. Inciting the public and causing panic. Sentenced to three years of border labor."
Grin lunged to snatch it, but Ram moved faster and tucked the document away again.
"Ah, that bastard guard!"
Grin was on the verge of losing it.
He silently swore that one day he would buy a pair of sharp-toed boots and kick that guard captain's backside until it bloomed.
But right as the two of them were still bickering over the sentence inside the carriage, danger came crashing down without warning.
Woooo—
A clear, piercing whistle tore across the night, shredding the silence like an air-raid siren.
Then a massive black shadow spread overhead, little by little swallowing up the moonlight.