Everyone was taken to a mountain that was in the east direction. The mountain was connected to a mountain range consisting of six mountains.
At the base of the mountain, there was a hidden entrance. Dirroth activated something with a talisman. After a slight rumbling sound, a path opened up from the mountain wall at the base.
'This is big,' Arkhen thought as he saw that there was a big cave hall inside the mountain. It was hollowed from the inside.
After everyone entered inside the mountain, Dirroth closed the hidden entrance and a magic formation appeared over it briefly before disappearing.
This mountain cave hall was very big and there were even prison sections made of metal.
Dirroth put those fourteen people from the cargo carriage into a single big prison cell while he put Arkhen, Meya, and Gereld in another prison cell, which was a bit smaller.
'It looks like this is their base,' Arkhen thought.
Dirroth stood outside the prison cell where Arkhen, Meya, and Gereld were imprisoned. His gaze was directed at Arkhen as he asked, "So, who are you?"
"Hmm? Why do you want to know?" Arkhen asked as he raised his eyebrows.
"Princess Meya was riding the wolf with you. Of course, you must have some important identity in the kingdom. Who are you?" Dirroth asked with an indifferent expression.
'Wow, ok. That makes sense,' Arkhen thought with a speechless expression. 'But I guess it would be better to make myself important…hmm.'
"Ask them," Arkhen said as he turned to the royal siblings.
"Ahh, he…" Meya was startled at Arkhen suddenly directing the question at her and her brother.
"He is my sister's fiance," Gereld said with a solemn expression. "He is the youngest prince of Ravenwolf Kingdom. Do you see that wolf? That's his royal mount. I bet you haven't seen such a wolf before."
'Hey, this guy is greater at the art of bull shitting than me,' Arkhen was impressed.
[Seems like the case, my lord. Hahaha]
Dirroth was startled hearing that and narrowed his eyes, "Ravenwolf Kingdom? That's thousands of miles away from here. What is the youngest prince of that kingdom doing here?"
'Oh, so there's actually such a kingdom,' Arkhen thought, a bit surprised.
"We went to visit the Ravenwolf Kingdom for their exquisite wolf breeds and their Lordly Wolf Combat Art," Gereld said as he turned to Arkhen and continued, "Prince Arkhen's eyes caught my sister's beauty and her talent while my sister also liked him. Since Prince Arkhen wanted to stay with her longer, he decided to visit the Bariat Empire and is now staying at our Grand Duke's mansion."
'I guess it's time to get into the character of a prince,' Arkhen thought as he inwardly grinned.
"That's right," Arkhen said with a nonchalant grin as he went behind Meya and raised his arms before putting her between his arms and hugging her.
Meya's face turned red as she ducked her head and saw Arkhen's cuffed hand touching her stomach while her back leaned against Arkhen's broad chest.
Gereld's lips twitched seeing that.
Arkhen looked at Dirroth and laughed as he said, "If I die, then you will most certainly receive a fate worse than death. Me and Ruan, that wolf, are bound by life. If I die, Ruan will also die, and the hidden power of the wolf will imprint on you. With that imprint, my father can track you to the end of the world. You can't run."
*Awooo!!*
Dirroth's expression was the same. There was no change from the start till now. Nobody could guess whether he believed Arkhen or not.
A second later, Dirroth took out a comm crystal, which is generally a communication crystal used to communicate with someone far away if both comm crystals have shared each other's energy once to record the connection.
However, there are range limits. If one is too far, the comm crystal wouldn't connect.
"When are you coming?" Dirroth asked as he talked to someone through the comm crystal.
"I want the full amount right now along with that promised item. Also, only send one person to the location I told you about. If I detect more people, I will release everyone and inform the truth to the Grand Duke Lanker," Dirroth said before he cut off the contact and put the comm crystal back into the storage ring.
"Our plan was not to kill you in the first place," Dirroth said plainly. "After handing you over to the person who gave us this job, we are free. You can threaten him or do whatever you want at that time."
"Who?" Gereld asked with a somber expression. "Tell me the real culprit. I will give you double the amount he promised you."
"You might be able to give me the amount but not the thing I want," Dirroth said with an indifferent expression.
"What do you want?" Arkhen asked with a faint smile. "I might be able to give you."
A hint of anger appeared in Dirroth's eyes as he heard that. However, he quickly calmed down and said, "What I want is a one-of-the-kind thing. Only that person possesses it."
After saying that, Dirroth waved his hand and created a barrier around both prisons. "You all! Keep an eye on them."
"Can you guess what's the thing he wants?" Arkhen said as he turned to Gereld.
"Can you first get away from her?" Gereld said.
"It-It's fine…" Meya said with a slight stammer. "I feel more safe this way. But I have changed ok? Don't think too much, brother."
Gereld was speechless.
"Focus on the main topic," Arkhen said, rolling his eyes at Gereld. "I feel like the one behind this is from your kingdom."
"Hey! Stop talking!" one of the men said as he took out a whip from his storage ring and cracked it.
"Relax," Arkhen said with a smile as he looked at the man. "Do you know the thing your boss wants? After all, it is a one-of-a-kind item. The other party might not give it so easily."
"Shut up," the man said with a cold expression.
'Velshi, can you make it such that I can speak with Gereld and Meya via telepathy?'
[If they don't resist, it will take 278 reality motes. The telepathy effect will last for 10 hours]
Arkhen felt a bit of pain to lose this many reality motes but he decided to do that. First, he bend his head down and lightly bit Meya's ears to show that he was flirting but then whispered in a low voice, "Meya, don't resist when something magical happens.
Gereld wanted to say something seeing that but held himself back.
'Velshi, connect Meya and me first.'
[139 reality motes deducted]
'Don't act surprised. We are connected by telepathy. So we can talk via this mind connection,' Arkhen said.
'Wow. How did you do that?' Meya asked. Her eyes showed a brief shock. She actually almost uttered a startled sound but held herself back hearing 'Don't act surprised' right at the start.
'Cooperate with me to add your brother to this telepathic conversation.'
"Gereld, don't resist. Don't resist whatever they do, ok?" Arkhen said as he turned to Gereld.
"What?" Gereld asked in confusion.
"Brother, I want to live. Let's not resist," Meya said.
"I said, stop talking!" the man said with a frown.
"Bastard, shut up. It's not like we will escape just by talking! Your boss told you to watch us, so do just that," Arkhen said with a snort. "If you want to kill me, then go ahead. But stop throwing your weight over here."
"You!!" The man's face turned red from anger, but he didn't dare to do anything else. "Tsk," clicking his tongue, he left and told others to watch them.
The people in other prison cells were speechless and somewhat impressed. Was this guy truly fearless and didn't care about his life?
The other imprisoned people were doubtful regarding Arkhen's identity while Neil and Jakal knew for certain that Arkhen was not a prince. Naturally, they were not stupid enough to reveal his identity when they had a chance to leave and live.
"Don't resist," Arkhen said to Gereld again before he asked Velshi to make a connection.
[139 reality motes deducted]
Gereld felt something entering his head. At first, he was cautious and tried to resist, but then remembered what Arkhen and Meya said and understood.
Arkhen—, 'Can you hear me in your head?'
Gereld—, 'What is this power? How did you do that?'
Meya—, 'Hi, brother.'
'…'
Arkhen—, 'Anyway, I think someone from your kingdom wanted you kidnapped for some purpose. If you get caught in their hands, there's no chance that you will survive. We have to escape right now, and I have a plan.'
Meya—, 'Wow, you already have a plan?'
Gereld—, 'What plan?'
Arkhen—, 'Before that, I want to know what that guy wants. What exactly is that one-of-a-kind item? Can't you try to guess?'
Meya—, 'Suppose the person who wants us is from our kingdom, then we have to think if there's any one-of-a-kind item in our kingdom. If there is, then who has that item?'
Arkhen—, 'Exactly.'
Gereld fell into deep thought hearing that.
After thinking for a minute, his eyes lit up.
Gereld—, 'One of a kind item… Also, that man's emotions were not stable when he mentioned it. So that item can only be one thing!'
Arkhen—, 'What?'
Gereld's expression turned extremely solemn when he remembered the detail of that item.
Gereld—, 'That is… a necklace with a crystal called Dawn of Synthia.'
Meya's eyes turned wide in shock as she also remembered about it.