Chapter 564: Warden

Turns out his pants were wet because of the blood from his exploded arm, not because he peed himself. He let his arm stitch itself back together as he stared at the person who almost poked a hole in his head. The man wasn’t that tall; he was only a couple of inches taller than Julius. He didn’t have any bulging muscles of note either. The swordsman was slim and lithe, wearing nothing but black pants and a black shirt. However, the man still wasn’t breaking eye contact with Julius. He didn’t care that Cain was still holding his wrist either.

“Enough, Zane. He is not a threat, calm down,” the Emperor instructed the man sternly before turning to Julius. “My apologies, Zane can be a bit overprotective. I should have deactivated some of the enchantments before I said anything to you.”

Julius nodded as he accepted the apology. He suspected the enchantments were triggered by his sudden anger and desire to punch the Emperor in the face. In that respect, he didn’t find the predicament all that unreasonable. He would have been more disappointed if the Empire hadn’t had such protections in the first place.

With that said, he didn’t like the look Zane was still giving him. He was glaring at Julius like he had murdered his dog or something.

“Zane!” This time, the Emperor barked out the man’s name, also realizing the look the man was giving Julius.

Finally, the man stopped staring and turned around. He gently removed his hand from Cain’s tight grasp and bowed deeply. “Are you okay, Your Majesty?”

Julius was surprised at how deep the man’s voice was for his stature. It was like hearing two massive boulders grind against each other.

“Yes, I am fine. And if I recall, you were instructed not to disturb us under any circumstances.”

“The enchantments detected hostile intent toward your person. I cannot ignore such an issue,” the man stated plainly.

The Emperor glared at the man. “He is a Tier 3.”

Zane didn’t flinch and met the Emperor’s accusatory gaze calmly. “With the company of two Tier 6s.”

The Emperor clearly wanted to say something to the man, but held his breath for a few moments before addressing him again.

“You are excused. Do not interrupt us again. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Zane said with a deep bow, walking over to his sword before picking it up and sheathing it in its scabbard. The man strolled over to the door, but not before he gave Julius one last apathetic glare.

When he left, an opaque barrier slammed into place where the door had been, sealing off the room once again.

“Sorry about him. He is good at his job, but is a little too zealous at times,” the Emperor apologized sincerely.

Shockingly, it was Cain who waved him off. “It’s quite all right. Julius’s life wasn’t in any actual danger.”

Julius didn’t know if he was seeing things, but he could have sworn he saw the Emperor look a bit more warily at Cain. Perhaps, he was surprised at how easily Cain had protected Julius from Zane.

“Are you alright?” This time, it was Reinera who had run over to him. Concern was evident on her face as she carefully inspected his arm.

He watched as the flesh of his arm slowly healed over. “Yeah, I am good. I just lost control for a moment,” he said to her.

“That is my fault. I should have been more tactful in how I told you,” her father stated firmly.

“I understand. From your point of view, he is an enemy of the state. I don’t like it, but I understand why you have taken such measures,” Julius said calmly. He was still angry knowing that Edwin had been imprisoned and “interrogated”, but his focus skill helped him rationalize the situation.

Reinera looked between the two of them with narrowed brows. “Wait, I am confused. Why would you be so upset? Is it because—”

“Yes, Edwin is likely being brutally tortured and having his mind ripped apart,” Julius said, feeling his eye twitch despite holding back most of his emotions.

“This is why I would like you to take me to him immediately,” he said toward her father with the most respectful expression he could put on his face at the moment.

“Of course. I can’t since I have to meet a foreign delegate in half an hour, but I will have Zane escort you there.”

“The same guy who almost pierced my brain with his sword?” Julius asked without amusement.

“Yes. Unfortunately, he is one of the few people who actually has the clearance to enter the facility as well as the clearance to remove any contained there.”

Julius appreciated that the Emperor avoided saying 'prisoner' and instead said 'individuals'.

“That is reasonable. However, I would like to warn you that if he makes another move against Julius, that will be the last thing he will do.” This time, it was Freya who spoke out. She had a smile on her face, and her voice was light, but for some reason, Julius felt a chill run down his spine.

“Ow,” he muttered and looked over to see that Reinera was clenching his healed arm hard enough that his bones creaked.

It would appear that she noticed the same thing and was looking at Freya with worried eyes.

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“Don’t worry, Zane will not do a single thing. I will make sure he listens to all of your requests. Also, take this,” the Emperor said and passed something over to Julius. “The guards at the facility will recognize it, and you shouldn’t have any problems. You can also use it whenever you have any issues with any officials of the Empire.”

Julius inspected the item he had been handed over. It was a slim golden badge the size of his palm. The same shining sun emblem that was on his Contenders' Crest was placed on the top right of the badge. Additionally, he could feel a subtle working of magic that he hadn’t detected on his crest. He shrugged and put it away for the time being.

“Thanks, if it’s not too rude, I would like to leave as soon as possible. You know, considering that Edwin might be getting tortured as we speak,” Julius said with a forced smile.

The Emperor did a good job at hiding his grimace, but Julius still spotted it.

Julius couldn’t lie; having Zane act as his bodyguard felt more satisfying than he would have thought. He didn’t have anything against the guy, despite almost being killed by him. Still, it was like seeing a totally different person.

The moment the Emperor gave Zane orders to follow any of Julius’s requests, the man was as tame as a puppy. Well, as tame as a puppy who wanted to bite Julius’s head off, if the dispassionate look had any meaning behind it.

The man had already led Julius, Freya, and Cain through a secret tunnel, where they boarded a carriage before heading to wherever this facility was.

Julius still didn’t let go of . While he felt like he had gotten a handle on his emotions and understood the unfortunate circumstances of the situation, he didn’t want to risk blowing up again.

“So what tier are you?” Julius asked Zane while they rode in the carriage.

The man pretended that he didn’t hear Julius. However, Julius didn’t care.

“The Emperor instructed you to follow any of my requests, isn’t that correct?” Julius pointed out, keeping his facial expressionless.

The man finally turned to look at Julius. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like the man wanted to kill him anymore, but he could feel that Zane didn’t particularly like the idea of following Julius’s orders.

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Well, what tier are you?”

While Julius already had a good idea, he wanted to confirm it. Plus, he felt like he would annoy this man a little bit. Offending a Tier 6 might not have been a good idea, but he was feeling a little bold today, especially after this same man had almost killed him.

His focus skill was active, but it wasn’t perfect. He needed to let off some steam and frustrations.

“I am Tier 6.”

“Oh, that is surprising. How did you find yourself employed by the Emperor? Was there some kind of recruitment process?” Julius asked as he snacked on some cookies. It had already been a long day, so he was stress-eating.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you,” Julius commented.

“He found me half dead, scavenging through trash after a horde of Tier 5 beasts slaughtered my family and town,” the man said without any emotion.

“Oh.”

Shit. Now Julius felt like an asshole.

A few awkward moments of silence pervaded the carriage.

Julius fiddled with his snacks for a few seconds before reaching into his bag and holding out a cookie to the man.

“You want some?” He asked.

Julius half expected the man to swat the food out of his hands, but to his astonishment, Zane gently grabbed the cookie from his hand and took a small bite.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, and eventually they reached their intended location. It looked like the rest of the buildings around it, but Julius waited patiently while they exited the carriage and walked through the building’s gates.

A pair of guards was standing in front of the building, but they seemed to recognize Zane immediately, giving deep salutes to the man upon their approach. They still checked the badge Zane offered, though.

Once everything was good, they entered the building, and Julius was taken aback by how much mana suddenly wrapped around his body. Apparently, they took security pretty seriously around here, because he felt dozens of various enchantments activate, attempting to scan his body.

With how sensitive his senses were, it felt like he was being fondled by mana. However, he braved through it and let them finish the scans. After he was done, he was forced to remove his storage ring and leave it at the front desk, but Zane was required to do the same, so he didn’t mind it.

A man led them through another set of security checks, and it took them almost 30 minutes to finish. Julius stayed patient, though.

Eventually, they were led into an office where they were seated in front of a stern-looking older man.

“What are you doing here?” The man didn’t even bother looking at Julius or the others for very long. His eyes were solely for Zane.

“I am here on the Emperor’s orders. You need to release prisoner E283 and hand them over to us,” Zane said calmly, cutting straight to the chase.

“What are you going on about? I am not just going to hand you over a prisoner just because you say so,” the stern man said with a scoff. “And who are these people? This is not some observatory or a petting zoo. This is one of the most secure holding facilities in the Empire, not a place for a field trip.”

“Warden Gunton, I have been granted full permission by the Emperor himself. You do not have any say in this. You are merely being informed of the decision,” Zane said bluntly, and Julius winced.

He knew right from the get-go that this Warden Gunton had a bit of pride the moment he walked in. However, it would seem that Zane didn’t see that. Or just didn’t care enough to bother with it.

“Secondly, these are esteemed guests of the Emperor who also hold the Seal of the Royal Crown. They are here because you are holding one of their comrades in one of your cells.”

“I don’t know what type of game you are playing, Zane. You might be able to push around others because you’re the Royal Family’s lapdog, but you can’t come into my territory and boss me around. Seal of the Royal Crown, hmmph. As if the Emperor would just hand something of that importance to a kid and his parents,” the warden looked pissed off and was practically snarling at the end.

Julius didn’t even flinch when the man’s aura blared out. He was used to much more powerful auras. It was powerful, yes, but compared to Cain, it was nothing. Cain liked to use his aura on Julius like he was shooting a water gun at a cat. So it was safe to say that he was unfazed.

Speaking of Cain, he and Freya didn’t seem to pay much attention to this man either. They were just looking at Zane to handle it with impassive stares.

Julius internally sighed. He wondered how much longer this would take. He wished he could speed this up as Zane and the warden bickered.

Finally, it seemed that Zane had enough and turned to face Julius.

“Show him,” he said with a nod toward the warden.

“Show me what?” The warden scowled.

Julius didn’t bother to waste any more time and removed the seal from his pocket. It had been a bit of a surprise when the guards hadn’t removed it from him, nor did they seem to even detect the seal, but considering how much complex magic was built into the thing, it wasn’t too unexpected.

The look on the warden’s face when he finally saw what Julius was holding in his hands was priceless. The contempt and mockery on his face was instantly replaced by one of utmost professionalism.

The change was quite jarring.

The warden stood up and bowed slightly to Julius.

“How may I help you, honored guest?”

He heard Cain stifle a laugh from the side that Julius pointedly ignored. Honestly, he was just glad that they finally seemed to be getting somewhere. Perhaps, now, he could finally go and save Edwin.