From the hardships of my being as Dusk the Snatcher I could ever be proud of my one and only achievement, I had never been in custody. No matter how dire the situation became, how much we were surrounded, I always managed to slither by and find myself a way to freedom. Of course, other gang members did not appreciate it and I used to be punished severely for leaving my "friends" behind. Even though I usually felt pathetic while laying on cold concrete with my whole body covered in bruises from the usual disciplinary commitment of higher up members, those particular beatings I suffered through with nothing but a faint smile on my lips.
This was the first time for my eyes to witness the cold stonewalls of prison cells, or rather it was a dungeon deep underground. The damp atmosphere of this place was suffocating with the foul stench of sweat and iron. The only thing that separated me from freedom were thick iron bars of the cell. There was no toilet inside, only one bed with a mattress that could only be described as tolerable. Naturally, no bookshelves or entertainment to speak of. All our items were confiscated, which included Nila's suitcase and my knife, however, not money that I secluded within my clothes and Solitaire's stone. Seems like people truly see no value in this gem, which was a bizarre sight, but at least I would not die from lost contact with that snarly phantom.
"Why didn't you update your damn documents?" I hissed to my neighbouring inmate who only pondered for a while, "I really did forget about the existence of that paper, those ten years surely flew by real quick."
Nila had been wandering around the Schöltum region for a total of 25 years from her own words, however, her entry permit lasted for a grand total of 10 years. As a result, her documents were overdue for 15 years. I doubt a couple of years would cause such an issue, but she had been around illegally far longer than legally, thus she was imprisoned.
"I really can't get over this, why? Just why didn't you update your documents…"
I was at a loss for words. Once again, after placing my trust in someone else, I ended up in the worst possible place. Nila, however, did not try to apologise, instead she exhaled, "May I ask you one question, Blake. I understand the reason why I ended up here, but why didn't you have documents on hand? You are a resident of the Schöltum region, so they should have let you pass without issue, no?"
I was taken aback by this question, I thought for a second, then gave my vague answer, "You know perfectly well why I could not show those damn documents!"
"I doubt you shoved your security number into the faces of your victims. There could be several people with your name around the region, I do not think they would just arrest anyone bearing your name. And how did you plan on escaping this region in the first place? If you purposefully did not take documents, what was your plan in going through the check-up of Wiskoschia?"
Her questions made perfect sense, I must have looked like a delusional idiot taking this all into consideration. I never had a chance to have a look at the passport or whatever endemic residents of Schöltum had in their possession, thus really could not tell what would be written on them. As a result, my only option to not look like a complete moron was to say the truth, "Fine, I did not have those documents in the first place!"
"That checks out…" she whispered and remained silent. I could not tell whether she was indifferent or genuinely upset by my words, since I was not able to see her face. Although I doubt I would be able to tell even if she was in front of me all along.
After a few more minutes of hush, that was weirdly unsettling as if there were no other prisoners around, I heard heavy footsteps coming from the direction of Nila's prison cell. Even though just at a side glance, I noticed the uniform of that man, reminiscent of the military one, however, with a coat of dark green colour. It was different from the uniform of governmental workers and guards that we saw in the city and the castle. It was elegant, yet quite threatening with the beard and straight gait of that man.
He stopped at Nila's prison cell and said in a hoarse voice, "Nila the elf, it had been a while since we last met."
"Do I know you?" She asked, to which the man smirked and said, "When I was a mere cadet, but now I am a warden of this prison. My name is Bram."
"Warden Bram, then, it is a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps, you could let us go?"
The warden did not say a word, instead he stood there and flipped a notebook, judging by the sound of it. After a while, the pages halted, and he cleared his throat to say, "Your entry permit has been overdue for 15 years, besides that, you attempted to smuggle rune enhanced staff as well bones and of protected species within the Schöltum region along with hallucinogenic plants."
"...Is that so?" she said in a guilty tone, which was rather surprising to hear. Was she truly not a witch? Then, the warden continued, "For your crimes you will be convicted for 15 years."
"Not half as bad I suppose, but I really did not expect for all of this to be against the rules…"
Nope, she was not a witch, but just a clueless idiot! How in the world could you have been living in a country for 25 years and know jack shit about local laws!?
The warden did not interrogate her further, but instead moved forward, showing himself in his full glory to me. Only now I noticed him wearing an eyepatch, which made his presence even more intimidating. I gulped and involuntarily stood up, the warden was observing me with his hands behind his hand. A sheathed sword dangled from his side.
"W-what is it?"
The warden stared at me down for a little while longer, but then closed his eyes, nodded and said in a stern voice, "Blake… or rather, Dusk the arsonist. I am lucky to meet you in person, as I was told that you are dead. There is a lot I would like to say to you, but most importantly… Your execution is scheduled for next week."