Chapter 27 - Alisha Decision

***

The next day.

Dimension Justice Fortress Prison.

There were five iron cells in the place, three rooms were already occupied, Aaron was inside one of them. 

The other two prisoners were locked up for treason. They cooperated with the Night Liberators group to sabotage the Dimension Justice group.

Unlike Aaron, he was locked up on the reason for the red title with the word murderer above his head. Just seeing it was enough to convince people that Aaron was completely guilty.

"So, who was the person you killed? Was it a weak person? Was it a woman? A loser like you would kill that kind of person, right?" asked a prisoner in another cell.

"I expected it. You're too stupid to come here with a murderous title like that. Soon Alisha will hang you!" threatened another prisoner, intimidating Aaron.

Aaron chose silence, sitting cross-legged while leaning his back against the cell wall. Aaron was the only one wearing an anti-magic necklace among the three prisoners.

Alisha was anticipating Aaron because she was afraid the young man's magic power would make him escape.

Aaron's eyes were still looking straight at the system panel that appeared before him, the abilities status menu. 

Since the few days he managed to level up, Aaron had not allocated ability points to several statuses to increase his CP.

He didn't care about the scorn from the two prisoners beside him. Aaron prefers to focus on allocating ability points according to his needs, especially to increase magic power and the chance of critical damage in each attack.

[Status Abilities]

[Name: Aaron Lewis]

[CP: 56943]

[STR: 32]

[AGI: 56]

[INT: 69]

[LUK: 31]

[DEX: 36]

[Ability Point: 0]

'Hmm... increasing status doesn't have a significant impact on my CP. The only ones that help a lot are the talents and servants,' Aaron explained.

'Aerith promised me Rasputin's soul if I reach the 35th level. I need to level up quickly.'

Aaron remembered the Soul Elixir, a useful item to increase Servant EXP. He picked up a bottle and pressed it for a long time, the item details appearing before him.

[Item Details:]

[Name: Soul Elixir]

[Grade: 2]

[Description: Able to increase Servant EXP by 1000. Item only works if the servant is activated]

"There's no use for it now, Jack got seriously injured and has to be deactivated for five days."

"I'd better save it for later."

Aaron stood up and stretched his body. The small move from Aaron made the two prisoners who had been scoffing at him start to step back away. Aaron responded with a giggle, realizing how cowardly they were.

"H-He's going to kill us!"

"Guards! Please stop him; he's looking at us furiously."

'What a bunch of stupid cowards. Doesn't he know that I can't kill them with this necklace around my neck?'

The prison guard looked at Aaron, who was just as scared as the other two prisoners. Still, he had to do his job, which was to keep the situation inside the prison favorable.

"Please don't do anything stupid, Aaron. Alisha can kill you fast," pleaded the prison warden. Aaron nodded in understanding.

The iron door of the prison opened, the warders were seen bowing their heads as if they were saluting a person. Aaron looked to the side, watching Alisha come to visit him for the first time.

"Aaron."

"Alisha."

"Open the cell door," Alisha said. A warden said yes.

The cell door opened; Aaron was silent with both hands still shackled in chain cuffs. Alisha entered and sat on the chair previously provided by the prison warden.

"What did you come here for?" Aaron asked.

"I heard the story from Isabella. She said that you were the one who brought her out of David."

"I actually didn't have that intention. My intention was to level up and become strong. Isabella realized my purpose and used me to get rid of David," explained Aaron, telling his own version of the story.

"Yet, Isabella won't be able to be free without your help. Am I right?"

Aaron sighed, not answering the question and preferring to remain silent while folding his hands, "Is that all you want to ask? You wasted your time by coming here."

"Not only this. I heard that you killed the captain of the Night Liberators on the second floor. Is that true?" asked Alisha, surprising many people.

"Denis is dead? He was a strong man on the first 10 floors; it's hard to match him."

"A young man like him killed Denis? That really doesn't make sense."

'Oh gosh. What exactly did she tell Alisha?' Aaron complained.

"I won't judge you. Your actions were obviously to protect your friend."

"There are very few people who would dare to challenge Denis, even to the point of killing him. This news probably spread to the branch of their group on the tenth floor," Alisha replied.

"They can use the teleportation stone to every floor to check every place. This could trigger a war between the groups," Alisha explained, looking at Aaron with sharp eyes while crossing her arms.

'She's talking like this; there must be some hidden purpose. What exactly does she want?' Aaron asked.

Surprisingly, Alisha asked the guards to leave while taking the other two prisoners. The woman wanted to have her own place to talk about important things with Aaron; no one except Aaron was allowed to hear it.

This certainly made Aaron confused; the warders carried out their orders without arguing as they dragged the two traitorous prisoners out of prison. 

It was completely deserted inside the prison, leaving only Alisha and Aaron alone.

"Why did you ask them all to leave?" Aaron asked.

"Listen, Aaron. The Dimension Justice Group can't take such a big risk. If we protect you, the possibility of a group war is inevitable," Alisha replied.

"So, you're asking me to leave?"

"Correct, until the murderer's title on you is gone. You can return here again."

"Isabella and Clara must be very worried if they find out I left. Can you handle that?" Aaron asked.

"For them, I'm sure I can handle them."

Aaron saw a look of determination on Alisha's face. He cleared his throat. If it was her decision, then Aaron would have to agree to prevent anything bad from happening to the Dimension Justice Group.

Alisha threw a white slip and a digital map to Aaron. Alisha explained that the White Slip was a detection slot where someone could be detected with it.

Meanwhile, the digital map she gave contained the secret hiding place of the Dimension Justice Group. Even though it was outside the fort, it was safe from the attacks of dangerous monsters.

Aaron accepted the object because he could not help but agree to Alisha's request. There was a possibility that the people of the Night Liberation Group would search for his whereabouts up to every fortress.

The best option was to evacuate him to another place temporarily. Alisha also did the same thing to Isabella. After all, this case happened due to Isabella's betrayal of David.

Alisha stepped close to Aaron, removing the mana barrier necklace from Aaron's neck. Not forgetting, she also removed the chain cuffs that shackled his hands.

"Can you guarantee Isabella and Clara's safety?!" said Aaron, successfully circulating mana throughout the veins in his body again.

"I promise you, they will be fine."

Aaron nodded. Alisha invited Aaron to go outside. The two stepped together until they became the center of attention of many people. Yet, Alisha did not intend to take Aaron to the main gate but to the south.

This was done on purpose so that Isabella and Clara would not see Aaron's leaving, it would not create a crowd, and so on.

Aaron saw a woman standing there holding a black bag filled with enough food for Aaron. The woman handed it to the young man after he reached the south gate.

"That's a five-day supply of food. It should be enough for you if you're good at saving food."

"Thank you."

"You know what to do, right?" asked Alisha. Aaron glanced at the woman.

Alisha's words were true. Aaron's presence with the title of murderer in the fortress was not welcomed by them, especially the members of the Dimension Justice group. They looked at Aaron with cynical gazes, full of hostility.

"I will return quickly and safely. Take care of them for me, Alisha."

"I will. You don't have to worry, Aaron."