A flying ship was approaching slowly toward a land area surrounded by walls built to rival the sky.
The captain of the flying ship gazed at the landing area with emotionless eyes as he maneuvered the ship and landed safely.
Clank!
When the doors of the ship opened, a few officers stood straight, saluting. From the ship, two figures with strikingly similar faces stepped out.
"It's good to have you back, sir. I hope your journey was a successful one," said one officer with a dignified expression, saluting the two similar men.
"I, Alric, did have fun," said one of the twins.
"I, Galric, also did have fun," said the other.
"Now move away. Your unsightly body is blocking our view of this wonderful experimental field," said Galric. Then the two gazed at the massive land area, which was actually a prison holding a large number of prisoners.
"My apologies, Commissioners, if my child's behavior made you uncomfortable," came the voice of a grown man from the side of the ship.
"Eh! Grand Technician, you're here!" the officer hurriedly saluted again, looking at the ship's door.
"Haha, how could I personally come here with the load of work I have on my shoulders?" From the ship stepped out a man holding a gadget that emitted a sound.
"This is the latest invention of our department—long-term sound transmission device. Since this is a suitable situation, I decided to try it myself. What do you think?" the voice of the man asked through the device with a light laugh.
"It's like a real person's voice. I really thought Your Highness had personally arrived," the officer admitted honestly.
"Well, there are still a few things to develop in this device. By the way, what happened to the item my two little boys invented recently?" the Grand Technician asked with curiosity.
"Oh, it's already being used on prisoners. Although... there are still a few staff who don't agree to changing to something that hasn't been authorized by the king for restraining prisoners," said the officer.
"I see. It's not rare for people to feel fear when dealing with criminals, but they'll soon adapt. After all, the new device was designed and crafted by my own two sons. There's no possible way that anyone in this prison could break out with that necklace on their neck," said the man from the device with pride in his voice.
"I agree, sir. The two young masters are leading prodigies in the technomancy field. It's our good fortune to be able to assist with their first project in the field," the officer said with a flattering tone.
While the two adults were talking to each other, the twin brothers' eyes observed the mining fields filled with criminals.
Suddenly, one of them looked at a wristwatch he wore.
"Oh! Some idiot just got electrocuted."
"Which turn? Which turn?" asked Galric hurriedly.
"First turn," Alric answered.
"Tch, boring," Galric's interest soon faded. "Why isn't there anyone bold enough to try it two or three times?"
"Now, now, brother, don't forget the main purpose of our visit over trivial things," Alric warned.
"I know, I know. Although the mana suppression necklace does work—preventing the use of mana—it won't last forever and needs to be changed every two months. But if we're able to find a solution to that problem… haha, the use of this thing would be unimaginably devastating for any proper magician," Galric muttered.
"Shh! Don't say it out loud. If Father hears us, he'll lecture us again about the 'Laws of the Magus' nonsense."
"Oh, sorry. I got excited for a bit," Galric replied, then the two looked back sneakily at their father and saw that he was still deeply engaged in a conversation with the officer. They sighed in relief.
"For now, we just have to observe them and analyze their movements."
"Yes, and we need to be careful of anyone breaking through our mana-suppressing system and using it to cause a massive explosion to escape from this prison."
At the end of Galric's words, the two brothers looked at each other's faces.
"Kha-ha-ha, that's a good one."
"I know, right? As if that was even possible."
The two laughed heartily at their joke.
On the other side, the conversation between the officer and the Grand Technician came to an end.
"Then, Commissioner, I leave my sons in your care for this week. Just let them observe the process of their work—and don't let any criminals get close to them, especially the dangerous ones."
"Understood, sir. Please be at ease, I'll look after them with the utmost care."
Afterward, the ship that brought Alric and Galric departed, and the two followed behind the officer into the prison department.
. . . . . . . .
With a slight movement, Henry opened his eyes. What he felt first was numbness across his body. Then he saw Auran sitting close to him.
"You're awake—exactly after forty to fifty minutes from the electrocution," Auran said.
"Augh… What happened?" Henry asked while sitting up and rubbing his head.
"You don't remember?" Auran asked, trying to see whether Henry was asking sincerely or just trying to start a conversation.
Afterward, Henry fell into thought and suddenly looked back at Auran.
"Did I get electrocuted?"
"Correct. Thanks to you, I learned that this device around our necks not only has a method to block our mana, but also has its own protection mechanism—which apparently becomes increasingly deadly if tampered with repeatedly."
"It does…" After hearing Auran's explanation, Henry's hand reached for the necklace but halted halfway.
"It's a common mistake… could happen to anyone," he muttered.
"We need to be careful not to touch it, then," said Auran, who was lounging on a chair.
"Where are we?" It was at that moment Henry observed his surroundings and realized that they were not in their jail cell but in a cleaner place.
"Treatment room. Although nobody interferes in fights, there's still a treatment area for those who manage to survive after one," said Auran nonchalantly.
Getting up, Henry put on his prison uniform again, and afterward, the two of them left the treatment area.
"Where is Marian?" Henry asked as he walked with difficulty.
"She went to get something important," Auran replied, offering a helping hand to Henry.
The two of them came out from the treatment room, where they saw Marian approaching from the other direction. With her was another figure—one with scales all over his body and a face resembling a fish.