Splash
Water dripped down Zane's face as he shot up like a bullet. He wanted to think his ceiling back at the apartment was leaking, but then he remembered he wasn't in his apartment, nor back on Earth.
I was in the merchant's guildhall trying to book a licence and a market stall, then I was knocked unconscious by that beautiful gentlet knight.
Zane muttered subconsciously as he quickly opened his eyes. He wanted to see where the water had come from.
He was in some stone building and...
What the fuck! How am I in jail?
Zane's mind raced as he looked at the iron bars before him. He then looked around—the room was empty apart from the surprisingly smooth stone slab he had been lying on. He was in a cell that appeared to have been carved into some stone cave. There were two lamps above the barred door illuminating the cramped space.
Zane's upper body was soaked, and now he was wondering where the water had come from.
Then again.
Splash
Zane looked up where the water came from, this time genuinely irritated. High above in the ceiling there was a square hole. Zane could see a blue-headed armored figure holding what appeared to be a metallic bucket, peering down through the opening.
The armored gentlet closed the hole with a metallic covering before leaving.
Clink-clank clink-clung
Zane could hear the sound of armor hitting what he presumed was stone floor above.
I never expected to end up in jail even once in my life. Jailed in a dream, probably. How did I even find myself here? Let me do a quick recap. I was living my normal life. Then I picked up a coin and acquired a system. Then I used the system's ability and found myself here. How the hell did I get jailed? Things were going just fine.
Clink-clank clink-clung
The sounds came again, this time from the corridor the iron door led to.
The sound of a key entering a lock echoed in the cubical cell. The door opened, then a fully armored knight entered with his sword unsheathed, pointing forward. The cell was lengthy, and he stood about two steps from Zane. The knight wore the same armor as the ones who had accompanied the lady.
The knight pulled up his visor, revealing a blue male face with sharp features. He then placed the cluster of keys on a hook-like ring hanging from his armored waist.
"You are being summoned by the council. Please don't do anything foolish again. This place is well secured and you cannot escape. If you try using your abilities here, you will be charged with treason and beheaded."
He then pulled out a black crystal from the brown satchel strapped to his waist alongside his sword sheath.
"I would advise you to place all graded memories you have in here."
The knight said while moving toward Zane slowly and cautiously. He extended his left arm, grasping the black crystal before Zane, while his right hand held the sword ready to strike if Zane made any sudden moves.
"Especially that red anger memory you tried to use on Lady Sylvia."
The knight added, extending his left hand even further, emphasizing for Zane to take the black crystal.
*So she's called Lady Sylvia.*
Zane thought, rooting the name deep into his memory where it settled like a precious gem.
Zane was utterly clueless. What red anger memory did he have? The only memories he possessed were the ones in the memory token. There wasn't any red memory there—the token only contained yellow, green, and orange colored memories. The yellow ones felt like joy, the green ones like peace, and he hadn't fully explored the orange ones yet. He had no red anger memory whatsoever.
Didn't the system mention that the memories in the token were grade 0? Zane didn't know if this was considered "graded," though the knight did use that specific word.
Zane reached into his pocket to retrieve the memory token, but he couldn't find it where he'd last placed it.
*The knights have probably taken it, or it fell off while they dragged me to this place.*
Zane thought as he looked at the knight's outstretched arm.
"I don't have any memories on me. I'm not a gentlet like you and cannot store memories in my body. I have an item that I use to store memories, but I can't find it. I had placed it here before you people attacked me for no reason."
Zane said, pointing at his pants pocket where he'd placed the token.
"Also, I have no anger memory. I don't know what you're saying about me attacking the lady. I never attacked her—matter of fact, she was the one that attacked me for no reason."
Zane spoke like a suspect explaining himself to a judge. His life was now at stake; he didn't want to get beheaded over some misunderstanding and thus had to make his case clear to the knight.
The knight stood there contemplating what this strange-looking person was saying. He had already been informed that the prisoner wasn't a gentlet. He looked like an ancestor—one of the dream-dwellers from the bubble realms. The knight had only ever seen an ancestor once, during his memory-harvesting mission for his knight inauguration. There had been only one ancestor in the dream bubble he'd entered, and that one had been different from this person. Though he already knew ancestors came in all varieties—there were all sorts of ancestors with differently colored heads and features in dream bubbles.
The knight had only heard that this ancestor-looking person had tried attacking Lady Sylvia; he wasn't there to witness the incident firsthand. Now his only orders were to escort him to the council chamber.
The knight retracted his hand and returned the black crystal to the satchel bag. He didn't know if what the man was saying was true, but he had already delivered the warning. His orders were to bring the prisoner to the council unarmed. The council members were strong enough to protect themselves—he was just following protocol.
"Okay then, follow me."
The knight said as he pulled the visor down to cover his face. He then placed his sword back in its sheath. The ancestor had no visible weapons and didn't seem to pose much immediate danger.
He opened the door and waited for Zane outside the cell.
Zane followed him and exited the cell. He watched as the knight pulled the keys from the hooked ring on his waist, locked the door, then returned the keys to their place.
He then started walking through the stone-walled corridor that led to a stone stairwell. They used the stairs to reach the floor above, then continued walking through another stone-walled passage. There were lamps hanging on the walls every few meters, and other corridors branched off from the main one at various junctions. The two followed this passage until they arrived at a heavy iron door.
The knight knocked on the door three times, then announced his presence.
"Rank 3 Knight, Fridger. Delivering ancestor to the council."
The knight, now identified as Fridger, said. There was silence for about a minute before the heavy iron door opened slowly with a deep grinding sound.
Beyond the door stretched a magnificent hall, easily 300 meters long and about 2 meters wide. Unlike the rough stone corridors they'd just traversed, this hall had polished marble floors that gleamed under the light, and the walls were made of precisely fitted bricks rather than raw stone. The lamps hanging here were far more elaborate—crystal and brass fixtures that cast warm, steady light throughout the space, making it feel almost palatial compared to the dark passages below.
Two knights stood guard by the entrance, and Zane could immediately sense they exuded much more powerful auras than Fridger—almost as strong as Lady Sylvia, though still not quite matching her overwhelming presence. Their armor was more ornate, with additional decorative elements that spoke of higher rank.
On the right wall, there was a windowed alcove where a blue-headed gentlet sat keeping meticulous records of entries and exits. The gentlet looked up as they entered, his quill poised over a thick leather-bound ledger. This place appeared to Zane to be some sort of high-security prison facility, far more sophisticated than he'd initially realized.
Fridger approached the counter and reached for the quill to sign the ledger. He made a quick signing motion on the paper, but realized the quill wasn't inked when nothing appeared on the page. With a slight grunt of annoyance, he dipped the quill into the ink bottle beside the slate, then repeated the signing motion more carefully.
"Come on, let's go."
Fridger said after finishing the paperwork.
Clink-clank clink-clung
The familiar sound of metal boots hitting stone—this time polished marble—echoed through the empty hall with a more refined resonance than before.
Zane observed the bookkeeper turning the records ledger to a fresh page as he started walking again, following Fridger down the impressive corridor.
These knights don't even seem to find me dangerous. Why did they attack me in the first place? Was it because I kept staring at that gentlet lady? Beautiful girls will one day be the end of me. I probably wouldn't be getting arrested if not for her. Why did they even send such a beautiful angel to arrest me?
Zane smiled despite himself as he thought about this, his legs moving subconsciously while his mind wandered.
I don't know what's wrong with me. I just freeze from a mixture of fear and admiration whenever I see beautiful ladies, especially angelic ones like her. It's like my brain just shuts down completely.
Soon enough, they arrived at a large, grandly carved wooden door located at the far end of the hall. The door was easily twice Zane's height and decorated with intricate patterns that seemed to tell some sort of story. The knight pushed it open—it wasn't locked—revealing a polished marble staircase that spiraled upward. There was another, broader hall separating the corridor where Zane stood from the base of the stairs.
The knight stepped into the broader hall and waited for Zane to exit the corridor. As soon as Zane stepped through, Fridger closed the door behind them with surprising gentleness, then proceeded to climb the marble stairs. Zane followed, noting how each step seemed to amplify the sound of their movement.
They followed the spiraling staircase upward, the walls here decorated with tapestries and more elaborate lighting fixtures, until they reached what Zane presumed to be their destination—the council chamber.