Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

Chapter 221: Chapter 220 Former Partners

Chapter 221 -220 Former Partners

…

In the prison of Yuan City’s garrison, Farrelan was incessantly tapping the rusty iron bars with the sole of his shoe.

“Let me out, I have important news to tell your leader!”

“Are you people from the Paradise Sect? May I ask which manager is in charge?”

“Hey, at least say something back!”

But after bustling about for a good while, he was disappointed to find that no one seemed to be watching this semi-underground prison at all. The jailer had locked him in and then vanished, never to appear again; nor did anyone patrol the prison. It was as if the guards did not care in the least whether their prisoners escaped.

As a detective who had weathered many a storm, Farrelan of course had ways to escape, like the two soft copper wires hidden in his shoe sole which could easily pick the old-fashioned lock on the door. But the problem was that this wouldn’t solve anything fundamentally—if he couldn’t reach the dock before sunset to meet up with his companions, they would, according to the agreed plan, contact the fleet drifting offshore and demand his release through an armed threat.

However, by now Farrelan had gained a new understanding of the power of the Paradise Sect, and a violent conflict would be the worst option for the investigation team. He had to inform the other three of this intelligence report; otherwise, the situation could become uncontrollable.

Escaping prison was clearly not a wise choice either. Farrelan might be able to pick the lock, but he was not sure he could stroll out of the prison confidently during broad daylight. Before being brought here, he had noticed the surrounding environment, and it was apparent that the layout of the garrison was quite logical. The camp had only one entrance, so unless he could become invisible, the act of picking the lock and escaping would only make it harder for him to justify himself.

“You might as well stop making a fuss; this isn’t a prison. Can’t you just sit tight?” At that moment, a lazy voice suddenly came from next door. “If you haven’t done anything wrong, they won’t make it hard for you.”

The voice sounded oddly familiar.

Farrelan briefly recalled that this was the person who had ridden the carriage with him earlier!

“You were caught too?” he asked, moving towards the stone wall with a frown.

“Caught too?” The person was taken aback. “You know me?”

“The sightseeing carriage that left from the North Gate at noon today!” Farrelan couldn’t help reminding him.

“Ah… so it’s you, foreigner! Hahaha… We really are fated,” the other party suddenly perked up. “I’m called Brute, what’s your name?”

“I understand now… You went to steal from the mine.” He didn’t answer, but instead asked coldly, “It’s all because of your illegal activities that I got caught!”

“If picking up unclaimed items scattered on the ground counts as stealing, then call it that,” Brute admitted cheerfully. “Too bad luck wasn’t on our side this time; we ran into a patrol soon after we started. As for you…”

Farrelan was momentarily stunned by the other’s candor. Good grief, was this man not afraid of dying?

“Arguing with me is pointless. In the Earl’s jurisdiction, all natural resources belong to him. Stealing important items like the Glowing Stone is a serious crime. Aren’t you worried about being hanged?”

“The Earl might want my head, but the Paradise Sect isn’t so eager to sentence people to death. Don’t worry, someone like me who hasn’t even touched a fragment of the ore will be detained for, at most, a day,” Brute replied nonchalantly. “Those who have truly committed serious crimes are locked up in the police cells.”

A day?

Farrelan was taken aback. Was Paradise Sect’s control so lax? Wouldn’t that mean the law and order here would be chaos on a massive scale?

Wait a second… When he wandered around the city earlier, he had thought the place rather orderly. How was this possible?

“If theft of valuable items isn’t considered a serious crime, then how does the Paradise Sect control the gangs?”

“Who dares to claim to be a gang these days? After dealing with the Heretical Cult, the first ones they cleaned up were the old city district gangs. After half a month of purging, the gangs are thoroughly finished!” Brute seemed quite pleased with this situation, “I used to hang around the old city district myself, and I’ve long been displeased with them!”

Farrelan simply did not know what to say.

Half a month to solve the gang problem?

Even in Miquelster, the capital of the Kingdom with the most meticulous and stringent law enforcement, they cannot claim to have completely eradicated the gangs. After all, in a sense, they have become part of the grassroots order. If he had heard such a statement elsewhere, Farrelan would have scoffed, but since his arrival at the Magnificent Castle, he had seen too many unbelievable things, and this had made him somewhat resistant to the unbelievable.

He decided to put his doubts aside for the time being, “How long will we be detained?”

“One to two days, I suppose, and if all goes well, we might be out tomorrow. They even provide meals,” Brute replied with nonchalance.

No wonder the guards here were so lax.

It turned out they didn’t really take the people detained here seriously at all.

“You must have been in here before, right?” Farrelan whispered, “Is there a way to leave earlier? Like paying bail or something.”

“Stranger… Are you some big shot who can’t even stand a day?” the other scoffed, “Save it, as far as I know, there isn’t. If you’re really that bored, you can read me the paper. I guess you’re someone who can read.”

“They have newspapers in prison?”

“First, this is not a prison, it’s a detention center. Second, take a look at the right corner of the wall, isn’t there a wooden box there?”

Farrelan looked where Brute directed and indeed spotted a square box hung on the wall.

He had only thought about getting out and failed to notice this inconspicuous item.

Walking over and lifting the lid, he found indeed that there was a roll of newspapers inside.

They were clearly out of date, the earliest one being five days old, and due to the dampness of the cell, the papers inevitably gave off a musty smell, probably undesired even as a makeshift table shim outside.

Farrelan casually flipped through them and immediately understood the implication of having newspapers in a cell—the contents were all related to crime, solving cases, and sentencing. Presumably, the person who came up with the idea intended to warn the detainees by making examples of these cases for them to heed. His intentions were commendable, but unfortunately, he had overestimated the literacy level of the criminals.

“Hey, aren’t you going to read?” Brute shouted from the other side.

Farrelan had no interest in humoring the other man, as sunlight that streamed through the high window and was slowly turning a dark red, signifying the end of twilight. With time slipping away minute by minute, he had no mood to read stories.

He tossed the newspaper casually on the floor, intending to knock on the iron door again to try his luck, when a partially covered photograph on the newspaper caught his attention.

Farrelan hesitated before squatting down to spread out the newspaper, revealing the photograph in full.

The photo was part of a group portrait with the headline “Heretical Cult Annihilation Feature: Brave Pursuers of the Heretical Cult’s Trail”. In the center of the image stood a man and a woman—the woman was unfamiliar, but he could name the man at once.

Kort Dane—his former partner.