The Divine Wolf... or?

Before Ark left the arena, he was handed a token with a particular mana signature engraved on it. This was his token to get into the palace since anyone with a mask would just be able to waltz right on in if they didn't add a way for him to verify himself. Ark had no idea about what Oscar had planned for him, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care at all.

They would probably have no future interactions with each other after today, and Ark would gladly let it stay that way.

Before going to the palace, Ark made sure to buy some refreshments, he wanted to be in good condition if he was to go through a mission like this. After buying a lemonade just like the day before, Ark headed off to the palace. Comparing it with the palace of Steoteya made it seem a little lacklustre, but in reality, the palace of Estridsen was truly splendid, yet a little ordinary at the same time.

The true splendour of the palace lay in its sheer size, not the actual design.

When Ark arrived at the large gates, he was a little surprised. The courtyard he could see beyond the gate was not very welcoming at all. Even though it was apparent that they had done what they could to cover it up, scorch marks littered the place. Ark also noticed that the lower part of the dark-steel portcullis had actually melted a little at the tips.

It took a second before he connected the dots, but when he did, he couldn't help but comment this young hero he was going to save, it seemed like he had caused plenty of trouble.

The guards noticed this suspicious figure with a mask approaching the gates, but before they could either say or do anything, Ark shoved his token in their faces, before continuing his walk into the palace's courtyard. Since he already knew where the royal family held their prisoners, Ark didn't waste any time.

Their small prison was actually placed in a very peculiar spot, as far away as possible from the main gates as possible, which sounded reasonable on paper, but in reality, it was a very weird choice.

Indeed, if you wanted to escape using the main gates, then it would be in a good place, but which criminal would ever escape using the main gates? The exit of the prison was actually right next to one of the stairs leading up to the walls of the castle. Numerous guards patrolled the walls and they had archers and scouts in some of the smaller towers that stood on the wall.

Normally prisoners were either criminals or political prisoners, whichever the case, the best place to escape was usually with the help of these very stairs. If you knocked out a guard or two, then all that stopped you from leaving the place was basically if you had a rope or not. And considering that most escapes weren't done alone, that wasn't a particularly tough criterion to meet.

Ark arrived outside of the small prison fairly quickly, and to his immediate surprise, only a few guards patrolled the area, with only four actually standing guard outside of it. A foul stench quickly assaulted his senses as he drew near, and he almost retched. Keeping his stomach at bay, Ark kept approaching, alarming the few guards in his proximity.

Before they could do anything, Ark disappeared like a phantom, reappearing every now and then, knocking out guards left and right.

The four guards who stood outside the prison were all knocked out in a single go, and Ark quickly entered the prison. Considering what it was, the relaxed security of the place couldn't help but make Ark fear for the worst. Straining all his senses except his sense of smell to the max, Ark delved deeper into the prison.

Wherever he looked, he saw prisoners in dire straits, with blood here and there, scars littered across their bodies, and some even had entire limbs missing.

Even though he would like to imagine that these people totally deserved everything they seemed to have been through, Ark had a feeling that it wasn't that simple, this country seemed pretty messed up after all. When he neared the end of the small prison, Ark noticed a slightly larger cell at the end of the hallway he was in.

In the cell, a young man was chained up by both his feet and his hands to the wall behind him. His dispirited expression, as well as his dull eyes, made Ark question if this was the man he was looking for, but upon seeing the vibrant and striking red hair, he was sure beyond doubt that he had come to the right place.

Seeing Ark approach him, Arduin's eyes lit up for a second or two, before they went back to the way they were before. Ark noticed this small change and was honestly a little puzzled. The bad feeling he felt before returned, this time worse than before. If he wasn't on a mission, he would just have turned around right then and there. Something uncanny was at play here, Ark just didn't know what.

"T.. tu.. away... lea-"

Hearing the young man's slight mumbling, Ark had no idea what to make of the situation.

"Huh? Sorry, I couldn't hear you, can you speak up a little?"

The young man turned quiet, Ark didn't hesitate, and just directly used ice magic to first break his way into the case, before breaking the chains keeping the young man shackled. The young man had no power to stand by himself, and Ark quickly caught him before he could land on the ground. Before he could do anything, Ark could feel the young man's breath as he started talking again.

"You should've turned away, and left when you had the chance to..."

Before he could fully comprehend what was going on, the sound of footsteps was already rapidly approaching their current location, and Ark felt like he had a sudden epiphany. It seemed like this mission would be a little harder than he anticipated. The young man fainted after he said the words, with a bitter smile on his face.

Ark put the young man on his back and stood up. The sound of footsteps was already way too close, and when Ark was just about to step out of the cell, he could clearly see numerous guards swarming toward his current location, and since he could feel their killing intent, he was sure that they wouldn't let him off lightly if he was caught. Since that was the case, Ark decided to just not get caught!