"Wake up!" My eyes shot open to the sight of the two guards. Right, these guys. I fixed my posture by sitting up straight. How much longer until we reach our destination? I looked out of the paneless window to see the streets of Wothya.
I turned back to the two guards. "You're not that interesting. Convicts usually talk to us, plead their case and all of that," The smaller guard told me. I sighed. I tucked my legs in and brought my hands to my front. 'I cannot talk without the artifact,' I signed. The two guards looked at each other confused. Damn, I wish more people knew Ancala...
The cart soon came to a stop, and the door was opened. The smaller guard exited first, while the larger guard got behind me and helped me out. I didn't exit the castle much, so I didn't know exactly where I was, but I could have guessed this was a jail. How could I tell? It said jail in large letters above the building.
"Good morning," Another guard said, opening the doors for the two. We entered the prison, and I was let go. They entered a room in the back, leaving me alone. Are they dumb or what? I looked around, and saw that most of the cells were full, mostly of what I could assume were petty criminals. Nothing like what I was in for.
Soon, a person in a black robe appeared from a door at the end of the hallway. "Balere Angelo, I'm assuming?" A manly voice asked me. I couldn't pick out any fine details about the man, except that he was much larger than me. I nodded. "Follow me, if you would please." He turned and entered the door at the end of the hall. I joined him and followed him down a dark, creepy hallway.
Finally, we entered a damp hallway with empty cells. The man opened a cell door for me to enter. I walked into the cell and sat down on a bed. "You aren't able to speak, is that correct?" I nodded. "Maybe that is for the best. The king will come at some point. When that happens, your speaking artifact will be returned to you, but until then, you should get comfortable." They turned and slammed my cell door shut. I wonder when I'll be fed... Wait, will they even feed me?
"So, you were stuck in here, too?" A person in another cell queried. I ran to the cell bars, clutching them. "I overheard that you can't talk, so just knock once for yes, and knock twice for no." I knocked once. "You must have done something to seriously piss off the king to end up in here, right?" I knocked once. He laughed. "I've been in here for a while, I'd say at least three years. That's when I stopped counting, anyway."
This guy's been in here for a while. "As the guard said, make yourself comfortable. I'm sure you'll be here for a few days. I was told the king would come to see me years ago..." I heard him turn over in his bed and fall asleep.
I walked back over to the bed, trying to make out anything in the room. Damn, I wish that the guard had left the torch...
I was given three meals daily: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That cycle repeated six times until the guard came with a key in his hand. I was sprawled out on my bed when the guard appeared in front of my cell with keys in his hand. I heard him open the cell door and walk in, making me sit up. "The king is ready to see you."
"What? He's seeing him before me?" The man in the other cell questioned the guard. "He was ready to see the prince first." I stood up and walked toward the guard. He began to lead me out of the cell and into the dark hallway.
Once we got out of the hallway, it took me a minute to adjust to the light. "Hurry." I finally got used to the light and was brought to a room with natural light.
"If you would sit down, the king will be here in a few seconds." The room had three chairs, two on one side of a table that spanned most of the room's width. I sat down on the side with only one chair.
The door opened behind me, so I shut my eyes. I heard two people walk past me and sit in the chairs opposite me. "Why're your eyes shut?"
I opened them and saw Vito and Rexana. I opened my mouth to respond before I remembered that I didn't have the artifact. Damn it... "Did they take your speaking artifact?" Rexana asked. I nodded quickly. "Give me a second, and I'll be back." Vito walked out, leaving Rexana and me alone.
"So, how have you been?" She asked. I waved my hand horizontally to say that it was fine. "That's good..." She looked down solemnly. I could tell this wasn't her idea, but I feel like she had a hand to play in this.
Vito walked back in, handing me my speaking artifact. I took it gratefully before he sat back down. "It's been six days," Vito started, "I suppose you must be wondering why this is happening." He queried. I cleared my throat before saying, "Why in the hell did this happen?" I said, malice lacing my voice.
The man before me pulled out a few papers and put them on the table. I looked at them, and they were papers from school. Sadly, they were all low grades.
"Do you notice a pattern in these?" I looked up at him like he was stupid. "They're all failing?" He nods. "Before I decided to let you go to school, I spoke with Laurence and Servus. They both agreed to an agreement. If you happened to have final grades by this time, I would begin handling things my way. Up to now, those two have been the reason you've been going to school and training in the castle."
"OK, that makes sense, I guess... So, your way of handling things is arresting me?" He curled his bottom lip and raised his eyebrows while nodding. "I had to have a reason for you not to be seen in public anymore, and so my solution to that is having you be arrested. That way you don't have to use the artifact that lets you change your hair and eyes."
"People would then recognize me as Balere Lowell, though. Do you have a solution for that? What would I even do if we went through with this?" He raised a hand to stop me from speaking before pulling out a box, and in it, a single gold earring. "I had the best artificers create this just for you. Take this with a grain of salt, as it most likely won't happen again. In exchange, I would take your necklace."
I took off the necklace, and my hair returned to its natural violet and my eyes returned to green. I took a deep breath before taking the earring in my hand. The last time I pierced my ear, it hurt like shit. I was given a needle and immediately poked a small hole in my left ear. It stings, but it doesn't hurt that much.
I ignored the small amount of blood and imbued mana into it. I reached up and could still feel my horns, but judging by the face Rexana was making, something had happened. "They're still there, but they are just invisible. Since blood was already drawn from piercing your ear, it has already bonded with you."
"I'll take your word. Now, your plan?" Vito's emotion didn't falter as he stood up. He walked past me and opened the door. "You're going to get some real-world experience. You're going to go explore the wilderness, make some allies who are worth a shit, and level up along the way. We'll have a guard go with you to the entrance of the city, and then it won't be sunshine and rainbows."
"Daddy, are you sure about this?" He nodded confidently. "You are to begin making your way back when you reach the age of fifteen, the age when you're allowed to enter The Tower. Is that understood?" I stood up and walked over to him. I looked up at him skeptically. "Nothing is ever this perfect, what's the stipulation?"
"Oh, you know, be a certain level, meet important people, flee the kingdom within the next thirty days, or else you'll be executed, be a good Samaritan. Got it?"
"You're just gonna gloss over the leave the kingdom thing?" He smirked devilishly. "Don't worry, you'll be given enough to make it out by that time. It'll be easy and fast. Time will fly faster than a jiffy. Cross my heart and hope to die."
I scoffed and walked out of the room, the two of them following after me. The large guard was waiting nearby. Vito gave him a bag before patting him on the back and walking out.
Rexana walked in front of me and knelt. "You be careful while you're out there, alright?" I smiled and nodded. She left quickly, leaving me alone with the guard. "Let's get going, alright?"
Once we got to Salyar, we walked to the opposite entrance before the guard stopped and handed me the bag. "Here you go. You will be returning, right Prince?" He seemed so nice, even though he was a little rude a week ago.
"It will be a few years, but I'll return." I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he was smiling. "That's good. Do you know what name you'll use as an alias while you're out?"
I turned, the bag resting on my shoulder. "Not sure, but I'm sure you'll be able to tell that it's me."
And so, I started on my lone adventure.
???
"It seems the boy is leaving on his own. Shall we have someone keep an eye on him?" An underling asked. "Yes. We don't want his potential to be reached, after all..."
I turned and revealed my hand to be holding a rusty bolt. "He was chosen by the gods."
End of Volume One; Rehab In Another World