The Black Sky Pirate Laughs Beneath the Moon. The Crimson Mage Howls at the Stars (17)

＊ Rurusha ＊

A thin, hard bed and a single toilet. That was all there was to Rurusha's cell. She had been charged with high treason, a crime she had absolutely no recollection of committing. She had told them everything during questioning, but—here she was, locked away, with the iron door that served as her only way in or out still firmly shut.

"What in the world is going on...?"

She had been unable to sleep on the first day, overcome by frustration and anxiety. On the second day, however, the exhaustion from conquering the labyrinth caught up with her, and she slept all day. Now, on the third day, she finally had enough composure to calmly consider her situation.

She knew there were people who did not want her to succeed. But her efforts were not for her own sake; they were for none other than this Empire. She had believed that if she achieved results by conquering the labyrinth, people would understand her—

"And this is what it comes to?"

She had asked to speak with her subordinates, but that request had also been denied. She was told that because her subordinates and Rurusha were already in league with each other, their testimony would lack credibility. The official conducting the interrogation was convinced that Rurusha was "a traitor who had sent no messengers and intended to make the military force her own." He refused to budge, insisting that she "produce proof that she had sent someone."

She had sent messengers with regular reports and requests for assistance, yet all seven of them had disappeared. Some of them disliked Rurusha because she was a woman and half-Human, but it was strange that every single one of them had become unreachable.

"Did someone abduct them...? It's difficult to believe they went missing inside the labyrinth. The paths weren't particularly complicated, and there was nothing there when I withdrew."

She sighed. There were things that needed doing before they locked her away here. The lives of those seven messengers were at stake...