Chapter Seventy: Prison Break

"Wolf!!"
"Master, what are your orders?" The werewolf Wolf responded instantly to Jia Zhengjin’s call, hurrying to stand before him.
"Have the bodies of the villagers been recovered?" Jia Zhengjin asked, clutching his lower abdomen.
Wolf glanced at Jia Zhengjin’s awkward posture, puzzled as to why his master was hunched over, hands shielding his legs. "All bodies have been recovered! In the forest, due to the beast attacks and the appearance of Migaro, thirty-six villagers were lost in total! We’ve pieced together those devoured by Migaro as best we could and sewn them up as much as possible! Also, there’s a force of a hundred men not among the villagers—they’re Alex’s subordinates. They’re all being watched by the kobolds now!"
"Have the kobolds keep a close eye on Alex and his men. Then personally escort the villagers home," Jia Zhengjin ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
"Perrin!" Jia Zhengjin turned to the blue-haired girl standing expressionless at his side.
"Present!" Perrin’s gaze shifted to his face.
"Please stand guard at the entrance and don’t let anyone in," Jia Zhengjin said, his face reddening with embarrassment.
"Understood!" Without a flicker of emotion, Perrin strode to the gate of Jia Zhengjin’s residence and stood at attention, ramrod straight.
"Wolf, get the villagers out of here quickly!" Jia Zhengjin left this final instruction and dashed back into his house.

A startled cry sounded from within. "Lord Keen, it’s still daylight!" Tina exclaimed.
"I can’t wait any longer!" Jia Zhengjin’s voice replied.
"No, please!"
"Tina, today is our wedding day!"
"But... but..."
"Weren’t you prepared for this before?"
"It’s not the same as before..."
"I get it—you’re worried the villagers will hear? I’ve already sent Wolf to take them back to the village!"
"But there are still so many people..."

"Tina, I can’t take it anymore! I took the wrong medicine earlier; you have to save me! Otherwise, your husband is going to explode!"
"Oh my goodness! How did it come to this?"
"Bear with it, let’s try to keep our voices down..."
"Ah—!!"
As the sounds of passion drifted from the residence, Bolint and Landis stood hand in hand at their own doorway, faces beaming. "Wonderful—Lord Keen is enjoying a loving moment with our Tina!"
"Sounds like Lord Keen is quite formidable. Can little Tina handle him?" Old Harlin waddled over with a grin.
"You old rascal, eavesdropping again? Off you go!" Bolint waved him away and took his wife’s hand. "Shall we enjoy a little intimacy ourselves before heading to the fields?"
"Old scoundrel!" Landis blushed and slipped inside the house.
"Heh heh..." Bolint followed her in, locking the door behind him.

"Back to your room!" Eve covered her son Amber’s ears. "Nothing for you to hear."
"Heh heh..." Amber chuckled, heading inside at his mother’s urging.

In the cell, Alex stood by the window bound like a roast, his face pressed to the cold bars as he shouted, "Damn it, damn it, damn it! How can you treat me this way? I’m the future captain of the town guard! Damned foreigner, let me go!"
It shouldn’t be like this! He should have been the one capturing the foreigner and the traitors, earning the nation’s rewards for his achievements! Instead, he was a prisoner, forced to listen helplessly as the foreigner and Tina—who should have been his father’s bride—cried out in pleasure nearby.
Those shameless adulterers! Alex longed to break free and slay them all, but escape was impossible.
His men were locked up in the kobold den, surrounded and cowed into submission. Relying on those useless fools to rescue him was out of the question.
His gaze landed on Perrin, standing tall and proud before the house, sword at her side.
The woman he loved and hated—who had hurt him so deeply and caused his downfall—might be his only hope of escape!

He took a deep breath and shouted with all his might, "I’m thirsty! Bring me some water! Do you hear me, foreigner? I want water! You can’t mistreat prisoners!"
At first, no one paid him any mind, but after his repeated cries, Jia Zhengjin’s exasperated voice finally drifted out from the house, "Perrin, give him some water!"
"Yes, sir!" Perrin went to the storeroom, grabbed a wooden bowl, and headed to the river to fetch water.

"Perrin, I’m allergic to wooden bowls! Can you bring me a porcelain one, or at least a clay bowl?" Alex pleaded.
Perrin hesitated, but seeing no harm, she returned to the storeroom and selected a ceramic bowl made by Jia Zhengjin. She filled it with water from the river and placed it before Alex in his cell.
"Perrin, my hands are tied—I can’t drink by myself," Alex said with a bitter smile.
After a moment’s thought, Perrin simply lifted the bowl and fed him.
"Thank you," he said after a few sips, forcing a smile. "Just leave the bowl on the table—I might need more later."
"All right." With no expression, Perrin set the bowl down.
"Perrin, are you really not under his control?" Alex pressed on. "He hasn’t cast any spell on you, or dosed you with some potion?"
"No," she replied, shaking her head.
"Perrin, while he’s... distracted, can’t you let me go?" Alex begged. "Come with me—we’ll return to the town guard’s barracks."
"Stay put," Perrin said, and walked out, locking the cell behind her before returning to her post.

"Perrin, I’ll win you back—I promise!" Alex turned his bloodshot eyes to the ceramic bowl on the table. He hopped over, gripped it in his teeth, and smashed it to the ground.
He lay down, fumbling for a thin shard with his bound hands, and began sawing at the ropes.
He intended to cut himself free, lure Perrin in, knock her out, then storm the house and seize the foreigner—forcing him to release Alex’s men and put everything under his control!
Now that Perrin had pledged herself to the foreigner, he could force the man to hand her over—she belonged to him, and only him! Red-eyed, Alex swore to reclaim Perrin and kill the foreigner to avenge his father!

"I can’t take it anymore, Keen! Please, no more! I’m done!"
After ages, just as Alex was about to saw through his bonds, Tina’s desperate pleas echoed from the house, followed by their muffled voices whispering things he couldn’t make out.
A while later, Jia Zhengjin’s voice called out, "Perrin, come upstairs for a moment!"