Chapter 2: First Episode: Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 2: First Episode: Chapter 2
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Tuesday. The weather did not change for the better. The sudden storm a few days ago had caused the whole prison site to become terribly muddy. The soldiers of the Imperial Guard had already climbed out of their warm beds in the camp and began to do their daily, repetitive chores.
”Damn it! You maggots! Can’t you do things faster! You didn’t have breakfast eh?” A little captain rudely swung his whip, breaking apart the prisoners who had gathered together from different cells.
Ever since the day they set foot in this gate of Damorga, their life had already ended. The only ones who could enter Damorga in ‘glory’ were all criminals who had done heavy offenses. The Titan Law had sentenced them to life imprisonment! They could only waste their life away in the cells in the labor camp and the coal pit that was like a bloody mouth of hell. The officials in the Empire held on to the principles of the law and did the same to the families of the criminals. Therefore, among the long lines of the hard labor prisoners, the figures of old people and children of all ages were often spotted.
Then what about the women? No worries about them. They were all taken good care of by the soldiers in the Imperial Guard. They had their own site. What they did were simply to process the uniforms of the soldiers and some normal agricultural labor. Of course, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard still often loved to cause trouble for these poor women, but it was still better than the old days! Because there was a Brother ‘Balance’ in Damorga. When Brother ‘Balance’ was still a child, the situation in here was no different than hell. Every day there would be wails of women being humiliated; every day there would be screams of men who were on the verge of death. Now? It was MUCH better now! The prisoners now had their Brother ‘Balance’.
Brother ‘Balance’ opened his eyes at the trumpets of the army horns in the morning. It was another day closer to the day he would be free. Oscar let out a loud and clear whistle. His maids were already awaiting by his bed a long time ago. These times, when expensive clothes are worn on him in complex ways, are the most boring moments in Oscar’s daily life. But this did not affect his good mood for today. Yesterday he had a nice dream. He dreamt of Moranzo being put on dining plates by a few of his close friends. Everyone was using pure silver tableware to share his flesh and blood. That greedy yet fearful fellow should really be hung on the door frame for a whipping. Upon thinking about this, Oscar felt extremely hungry. He happily called the nickname of Countess Antonia. He wanted to invite his friends that shared his evil intentions for breakfast. The maids around him scurried away to the kitchen in the castle. The gatherings of the Brother ‘Balance’ O Neil Andrew Morisette were always grand and followed a strict standard, even though no one usually gathers his friends for a meal in the early morning in a prison.
The Emperor of the Titan Empire, Osli Alfa Morisette, aka Alfa III His Majesty was not a foolish one even though he had never once made it to the meetings that were held at 8 sharp every morning. But this was not unforgivable, for Alfa III His Majesty had too many gatherings and too many women. This caused him to have a habit of sleeping and waking up late since his younger days. However, this did not affect His Majesty the Emperor’s wise decision-making abilities. As the birthday of the Emperor approached, the Amnesty Orders from all places were all handed in to the Imperial Ministry of Justice.
Now, the high official of the Ministry of Justice, Sir Marquis Roment Huga Andeses held the list of names that were allowed amnesty in the report from Damorga, the largest prison in the Empire, in his hands. It was as expected of the Lieutenant General Moranzo Hanning, who was known to be meticulous and cautious, the list provided by this old friend was impeccable. Except for that honorable young man that was hand-picked by His Majesty the Emperor, after various checks, the sixty-three criminals on that list were simply unfortunate people. They didn’t matter much. Also, most of the criminals were all already old men who already had one of their feet in their coffins. For the women, the Ministry of Justice did not even have their criminal records. They were mostly poor women who were forced into jail because of their fathers, brothers or husbands. But this high official of the Ministry of Justice was puzzled by his old friend’s resignation request. He had taken good care of this generous Sir Count. He truly could not understand why this old friend of his would suddenly request for resignation. On the fiftieth birthday of His Majesty the Emperor, it was a bit too much to voice such a disappointing request. Since he did not understand the thoughts of his old friend, the high official of the Ministry of Justice, Sir Marquis Andeses had already received permission from the Emperor and sent an Imperial Envoy to his old friend. The purpose of this was to express gratitude to this respectable person who guarded the most atrocious criminals for the Empire. Also, the Imperial Envoy would also observe the largest-scale amnesty work in the history of Damorga.
At this time, there was still ten days left to the fiftieth birthday of His Majesty the Emperor. And so it was only ten days left to the final execution of the Amnesty Order!
”Ola! Everyone! For freedom! Let us cheer to that, alright?” Oscar’s breakfast was truly exceptional. Wine, roasted chicken, sauced duck and buttered bread that was baked until golden and crisp.
The seated people were all laughing as they downed the tasty wine in their glasses. Even though the situation looked just like the scenery of dancing devils, but to these people who had not experienced freedom for a long time, they still felt a little moved at this thought.
Some of the people gave their blessings to Brother ‘Balance’ O Neil wholeheartedly. Some even called his nickname continuously. Oscar were not a name that anyone could call, even though everyone here was Oscar’s brother, even uncles and grandfathers. Even though they all admitted they were criminals that had committed all kinds of crimes, but they all were as meek as a kitten when facing Oscar. If they did not say anything, no one would know what the young boss who sat at the main seat of the long dining table had done in the past. It was something extremely hard to imagine for a normal person, at least for a normal person who had some basic idea of what was right and what was wrong. The King of Sins said that he understood what crime was after meeting Oscar; Ricky the Liar said that he understood what deceit was after meeting the boss. As for Oscar, he said that he finally understood that crime was actually a form of art after meeting everyone else. The host and the attendees had a great time together as the breakfast gathering of the ultimate criminals ended in cackling laughter that sent chills down people’s spine. This was definitely not the last gathering they would have. When these people dined in the free air after this, every single time would symbolize the beginning of a great conspiracy; every single time would represent the agreement of a dirty trade; every single time would represent an evil plot full of bloodshed; every single time would symbolize the utter elimination of a certain influence.
Actually, Lieutenant General Moranzo Hanning was simply getting himself in trouble. When O Neil Andrew Morisette, the very honorable criminal was sent to his prison, it had been decided that he would be led around by this young man and his family. This was not something that was hard to understand. Just look at the name of this young man! Morisette was the ruler of the Titan Empire’s surname. Andrew’s family was the one leading the most troops in the Empire. This child’s mother was His Majesty the Emperor’s youngest sister, Princess Mica Alfa Morisette. And this child’s father was in fact the person whom Lieutenant General Moranzo Hanning most respected in his life. He was Duke Dortmund Andrew Nedgabel. This Sir Duke was one of only three marshals in the current Empire. He had made remarkable contributions in the war and received many medals for his contributions. His inherited lands included two provinces on the east side of the Empire. Twenty thousand Narcissus Knights had already sworn their loyalty to the Andrew family since four hundred years ago when the Titan Kingdom was just formed. In addition to that, this family had a history of marriages with another family which was of equal importance in the east side of the Empire for more than six generations. It could be said that Marshall Dortmund Andrew Nedgabel was the true ruler of the entire east side of the Empire. In what way Lieutenant General Moranzo Hanning could fight against such a family! All he could do was to be as lenient as possible to this young son of the Marshall and the nephew of the Emperor. This way, he could grow up quietly and the Lieutenant General could safely receive bribes of astronomical figures yearly from the Andrew family without any sense of guilt.
But, this little fatty named O Neil Andrew Morisette who was chubby and average-looking was never an honest child to begin with. The troubles that he got into in this prison were more than enough to write a book about. A general like Moranzo not only had to run after, but also wipe his ass for him. Also, Moranzo had to deal with all those assassinations aimed at him and all sorts of trouble he got himself into. It could be said that it was all thanks to this young master that Moranzo was turned into a calm soldier in any situation, from the average Lieutenant General he used to be.
Finally! Now this young master would be released! Ten years of anxiety and worries would soon be over! He could finally go home and peacefully count all his money! After realizing this, everything was not as difficult to accept as before. As for the other criminals that were released, he would let others worry about that! It wasn’t like the criminals in Titan were few to begin with, right? Even though there were not many who were like these few people, but it would not affect much with only these few! After accepting the suggestion by O Neil Andrew Morisette, Lieutenant General had never felt as relaxed as in this moment. The relaxed stroll; the friendly greetings with the Imperial Guards; the teaching of the young Confidential Secretary as a senior; the enjoying of the afternoon tea; and also a game of chess with the beautiful and smart Madame Antonia. Everything was just like a dream.
Good times never last. A document signed by His Majesty the Emperor was sent to his hands in the speed of eight hundred miles expedited. Lieutenant General Moranzo Hanning almost stabbed himself with a sword as soon after he read the document! He never thought His Majesty the Emperor and that high official of the Ministry of Justice at Dulin would value himself so much. A simple request for retirement actually brought him an Imperial Envoy that had a higher ranking than himself. This Sir Inspector who was known to be fair and just very much appreciated his work. But once he found out that the people on the name list in the hands of the Ministry of Justice did not actually exist, then... Would it still be that way? Everything that he had, his family, his honor, even his family name would not be spared. His Majesty the Emperor and the countless people who were ‘indebted’ by those criminals would tear him apart.
Lieutenant General Hanning had no idea what to do at all. All these years it was O Neil who came up with ideas. Now things had spun out of his control! He couldn’t just kill the person off just like the other criminals, right? Oh God! He could not wait to visit that young master.
Oscar was rather pleased to meet with this old friend whom he knew for many years. After all, Count Moranzo Hanning was not a bad guy. He was definitely stronger than those prison wardens of old who treated criminals violently and despicably. Therefore, Oscar simply enjoyed his performance as if he were a dog jumping over a wall for a moment, then he lost interest after that.
Oscar considered carefully what he was going to say. This Sir Lieutenant General whose courage was less than that of a mouse could not take any blow at all, even verbally. He had always wondered which Sir it was who had such ‘great foresight’ that had supported this kind of guy to sit on the managerial position of the scariest prison on this West Land. If the previous prison warden was not the father-in-law of this Sir, then Oscar would definitely question whether this was an intentional murder of Moranzo. However, the Moranzo who actually dared to list the lunatics in which even Oscar could not handle completely into the Amnesty list was impressive enough.
”Dear Sir Lieutenant General, about all the replies from Dulin, I have made enough considerations about them. Please rest assured that the moves by the Ministry of Justice are all within the expectations of my companions and myself. In past history, the Imperial Envoy had come to Damorga uncountable times already, even more so as this time it is for the important matter of the Sir General to retire from your position.” Oscar intentionally did not mention the Amnesty Order. To specifically poke the weakness of this unfortunate Lieutenant General, he almost could not contain the smile on his face.
Lieutenant General Hanning was dumbfounded. He had never talked about the matter of that letter to anybody. But this had also calmed him down a bit. It seemed that the situation at Dulin was all well under the control in the hands of this young son of the Marshall. Then, he was worried for nothing this time. In this world, other than the ultimate Light of God, it appeared that only this Brother ‘Balance’ was most powerful and influential. Especially since he successfully tamed the prideful criminals. At this moment, even Lieutenant General Hanning could feel the prowess of this young man.
After sending away the still-fidgeting Sir Lieutenant General, little Oscar could not help but examine once again this great plan that he managed to come up with all by himself. He called this plan ‘The Winning Escape’. He thought about every step and considered all the uncertainties that might happen. When he once again confirmed nothing would go wrong, the young man felt a little proud of himself, of his wit and also his strength.
In fact, little Oscar actually had the right to be proud. This great plan allowed him the first chance to utilize all the manpower, capital and wealth in his limited control without holding back. Even though his accomplices were in prison, their friends and companions were all over the West Land. Using the most secretive ways to communicate with them had already used up approximately one year’s time. There was no other choice. These were all masters who specialized in disguise and escape. To look for them, he had to pay a rather high price.
Next was the first part of his plan. And that was to use the opportunity of the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor, to fight for the quota for Damorga’s prisoners to be on the Amnesty list. Damorga never had much mercy on it’s prisoners. Everything began with difficulties. Moreover, this was to ask for the right to survive from the hands of the Most Supreme Person. If this job was not dealt with properly, then the hunting hounds by the side of His Majesty the Emperor would immediately sense the existence of a conspiracy. After all, the Secret Service in the Ministry of Justice had imprisoned so many ultimate criminals before; After all, applying for amnesty at the infamous Damorga, with it’s bad reputation, was definitely unsettling.
Finally, the friends of Ricky the Liar found a person who was most suitable to whisper in the Emperor’s ear. To be specific, it was a Countess who had kept a rather ambiguous relationship with His Majesty the Emperor for a long time. The older generations of this Countess had been in Damorga before. The still young and beautiful Countess at that time was able to take herself out of this mess under the protection of the Alfa III His Majesty who was still the prince at that time. Even though this Madame had made a name for herself after that, she still could not forget her father and uncles who killed their selves in embarrassment in the prison. Every year, she would go to Damorga to pay her respects to her ancestors. Thus, when the Liar’s friend brought a lot of shiny jewelry and a helpless expression full of tears to appear in front of the Countess, the Countess very quickly agreed to help him when he begged the Madame to save his certain relatives.