Nahan flexed his hand, his figure shifting to mimic one of the unconscious individuals. Though Yuder couldn't see his reflection, the unfamiliar clothes on his body confirmed that the illusion had taken hold.
Pocketing the personal items of the unconscious men, they grabbed the water containers and made their way into the cave. Outside, the fog had been so thick that visibility was near zero, but inside, the cave was unexpectedly brighter. The path, clearly man-made, led them deeper in, and suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows—a man they had not encountered before.
"Huh? Who are you guys? Back already from fetching water?"
Yuder remained silent, as did Nahan. The man's expression quickly twisted with irritation.
"I get it. Didn't even bother getting water, huh? Probably spent the time smoking your pipes instead. Well, you're caught now! Today, I'll finally show the Warden how useless you guys are. Hand over your water containers! Let's see them!"
The man rolled up his sleeves, confidently marching toward them. In an instant, Yuder subtly used his power, filling both his and Nahan's previously empty water containers to the brim.
Had Nahan staggered under the sudden weight, their ruse would have been exposed. But Nahan merely glanced at Yuder before standing firm, unshaken by the heavy load.
"I've always hated you lot. Just because you've got some trivial powers, you think you're special? You're no better than the ones locked up in there. Nothing but frauds, every last one of you…!"
The man, who had been charging toward them, froze mid-step as his eyes fell on the full water containers.
"...Huh?"
"Can we go now?" Yuder's voice was low and indifferent, cutting through the man's confusion.
"Uh... uh, yeah. How'd you manage to fill them so fast?"
"We're leaving."
Without waiting for a response, Yuder began walking, discreetly emptying the water containers once more. Similar encounters occurred as they progressed, but no one saw through their disguises.
The scornful glares from others offered Yuder a glimpse into the place's secrets.
Imprisoned deep within the cave were several Awakeners. The man they'd spoken to earlier had mentioned the Warden, who was "selecting" these captives. The individuals Yuder and Nahan were impersonating were Awakeners specifically employed to protect the Warden, who seemed to be involved in dangerous activities.
'Just based on the revealed information, This place isn't what it seems,'
Though his expression remained neutral, Yuder was internally astonished. In his previous life, he'd known of nobles who enslaved Awakeners, treating them as mere commodities.
Back then, such dealings were akin to purchasing skilled slaves from foreign lands—a practice cloaked under the private dealings of the powerful, far from public scrutiny.
But only two years had passed since Awakeners had first revealed themselves to the world. Yuder had never heard of a family rounding them up on such a large scale this early on.
'Selection, huh? What are they planning to do with the chosen Awakeners? In my previous life, the Apeto family had always been loyal to the emperor and never caused any major incidents involving Awakeners…' Yuder furrowed his brows
Could the Apeto family really be involved in something like this?, Yuder's thoughts flickered back to Nahan's earlier words: "In the East, it's common for Awakeners to be falsely accused and disappear after being arrested."
If those who were caught went through similar fates, it meant that at least two noble families in the eastern region were engaging in these activities—targeting Awakeners for nefarious purposes.
'I wonder if Kishiar was aware of this.'
If Kishiar had known, given his straightforward nature, he would've surely mentioned it before sending Yuder. Since Yuder, who had lived years longer than Kishiar, hadn't known about these occurrences in his previous life, there was a strong chance Kishiar hadn't either. This realization led Yuder to a chilling conclusion.
'Either they never achieved their intended goals with the kidnapped Awakeners, or they did so quicker than expected and shut these places down before I could notice them.'
In Yuder's previous life, the missions assigned to him were almost always the most perilous, whether it was dealing with monstrous threats or hunting down rebels. After becoming the Cavalry Commander, the emperor had explicitly ordered him not to concern himself with anything outside his direct missions. Yuder was forbidden from taking independent action without permission.
Even without those commands, Yuder had had little time to focus on anything else, preoccupied with managing the Cavalry—the most dangerous group on the continent.
It was only years later, after he began suspecting that there might be hidden motives behind the events unraveling across the world, that he'd allowed himself to look outward. Now, he wondered what exactly had been going on in those blind spots—what they had been trying to achieve by kidnapping and 'selecting' Awakeners.
"...A fork in the path," Nahan's quiet voice snapped Yuder out of his thoughts. True to his word, they reached a fork. According to the information they'd gathered earlier, the left path led to the prison, while the right led to where the Warden and others stayed.
"To the left." Yuder quickly decided, crouching down to pick up a few pebbles and placing them in his pocket.
The path to the prison was steep and winding, with few magic stones for light. The darkness forced them to feel their way along the walls as they moved forward.
"Who's there?"
After some time, they came across three Awakeners sitting in the middle of the path. Yuder recognized them as underlings of the Warden from earlier and felt a twinge of unease.
'They must know the people we're disguised as… They'll figure us out soon.'
If they were discovered, knocking them out would be an option, but fighting Awakeners was never straightforward. If they failed to neutralize them in one hit, it would cause an uproar.
As Yuder considered throwing one of the stones in his pocket, the seated Awakeners spoke with bored expressions.
"Number 2, Number 4. It's not time for the shift change yet. What are you doing here so early? And what's with that water container?"
"You said you were going out for a smoke. Don't tell me that red-haired old man started a fight again."
'They… use numbers instead of names? Lucky.'
Relaxing his grip on the water container, Yuder calmly replied, "Yeah, something like that."
"I knew it. That crazy old man. Does he think we enjoy being here? I would've killed him if he'd tried that on me."
"The conditions are awful. After fighting to the death, we're stuck down here without any sunlight or proper treatment."
"Exactly. My arm's still aching from that wound."
The three Awakeners began complaining all at once, as if they had been waiting for an opening to vent their frustrations. From the dark corridor ahead, Yuder heard faint, unsettling sounds—something like a suppressed groan from a beast. The others didn't seem to notice, continuing their conversation, but the noise put Yuder on edge.
"What's that sound, Number 3?"
"I'm Number 1. Number 3's with the Warden."
He randomly picked a number to draw the others' attention to his question, But Yuder had guessed wrong, so he quickly adjusted. "Sorry, I've got a condition that makes it hard on seeing in the dark. Number 1, what's that noise?"
"Oh, that? It's the noble kid we captured earlier, whining again. Didn't know you had a condition like that, though."
'Ah, So, I'm Number 2.' Yuder nodded his head, locking the information away as he tried to recall more about the role he was playing.
"Yeah, I mentioned it before. Must've slipped your mind. So, has he been like that the whole time?"
"Since we caught him, yeah. It's so annoying. Doesn't that brat know when to quit? He's wasting his energy. He'll die soon enough. Out of all the prisoners, he's the most pitiful."
"If it weren't for the Warden's orders, I'd have shut him up myself."
Kiolle da Diarca seemed to attract no sympathy even for a stranger he had just met. He found it impressive how the young man had managed to irritate them so much.
'Impressive if nothing else.'
Kiolle's continuous, despairing groans seemed to ease the tension among the Awakeners. Their suspicion toward Yuder and Nahan faded as they continued their trivial complaints. while Yuder was casually agreeing with their trivial chat, Yuder casually pointed inside as if he found something.
"Wait, is that guy…?"
"Huh? ...Eek!"
"What the—! Ugh!"
Although Yuder's voice remained calm, his ruse worked. The three Awakeners instinctively turned their heads to look. In that moment, three pebbles flew through the air, striking them in the back of their heads. They collapsed silently, crumpling to the ground.
Yuder glanced down at the unconscious figures and signaled to Nahan, who had been quietly standing by.
"Number 4, check their pockets quickly."
"I'm Number 4?"
"I'm Number 2, so you must be Number 4."
Though Nahan looked as if he might argue, he kept silent and knelt to search the pockets of the fallen Awakeners. He soon found a bundle of keys. Yuder took the keys without hesitation and led them forward.
Before long, they came across several small rooms with heavy iron doors. Each door had iron bars at the top, allowing a view inside.