When I hesitated, the man poked my cheek with a sinister laugh and got up from his seat as if that was all he came for. He closed the iron-barred door behind him.

Cracking a whip lightly, he walked down the corridor and sat with crossed legs on a chair at the end. At the same time, Lux, who knows when he slipped in, peeked his head out from my sleeve.

“Hoo! I thought I was going to suffocate! I hid well, didn’t I, squeak?”

“Yeah, you did well.”

“What was that human yelling about just now? It felt awful, squeak!”

“He just said he would check regularly.”

“What about ‘Miss Yujen’? What’s that, squeak?”

“Not ‘Yujen.’ It’s ‘Yujin.’”

“He and you were saying ‘Yujen,’ though, squeak.”

“Not Yujen, it’s Yujin.

“But how did you understand it? Can you understand what others say?”

“Not really, squeak.”

“But why did you mention ‘Miss Yujin’ just now?”

“I just heard ‘Miss Yujen’ a lot, so I asked, squeak!”

So, it seemed that Lux only picked up on the name ‘Yujin’ and didn’t fully understand the rest of the conversation.

“Well, what else could it be? It’s Yujin’s name.”

“Oh, I see! That man’s name is Yujin, squeak!”

“It’s just ‘Yujin.’ ‘Nim’ is an honorific.”

I whispered, trying not to raise my voice.

“Honorific, squeak?”

“Well, it’s just a respectful term.”

Explaining further was difficult for me, so I mumbled.

“Can I use honorifics, too? I want to be Sir Lux, squeak!”

I certainly didn’t anticipate such a request.

“Do I need to tell the truth?”

“What truth? Do you have something to hide from me, squeak?”

“That… it’s the honorific I just taught you. It’s something good when others do it for you, but if I do it, it feels embarrassing.”

“So, did that man and I do something embarrassing, squeak?”

“Yeah.”

“Gasp! No! Not Sir Lux! I’m not an embarrassing mouse, squeak!”

“Alright, alright.”

I gently stroked Lux, who was bouncing around wildly, as a sign for him to calm down.

Come to think of it, didn’t I just speak inwardly?

“Lux.”

“What squeak?”

As a test, I called Lux, who responded with an expectant look.

“Do you know what I’m thinking?”

“squeak?”

Lux seemed to catch on that I had a reason for asking such a question.

Just thinking without explicitly communicating was enough to convey the message…

If I kept questioning this, it would be endless. If I went back far enough, the fact that I came back to life itself wouldn’t make sense.

“Do my thoughts also get transmitted?”

I stared at Lux intently.

However, Lux just asked, “Why are you asking, squeak?” without showing any particular reaction.

“Did you hear the thought I just had?”

“What are you talking about, squeak?”

If the intention is not to engage in conversation, does it mean the transmission won’t occur?

Having reached a conclusion, I felt a bit relieved. It would be challenging if every thought were connected to Lux.

“I’ll untie the rope again, squeak.”

“Well, there’s something else I’d like to ask, is that okay?”

“What is it, squeak?”

“It won’t be difficult.”

I conveyed to Lux what I wanted, and upon hearing my words, Lux cocked his head in response.

“Is that all, squeak?”

“Yes.”

“Alright! I’ll be back, squeak!”

With a cheerful voice, Lux replied and swiftly descended from my shoulder, disappearing beyond the iron bars.

* * *

“Why isn’t he coming?”

I anxiously stared beyond the iron bars. Quite some time had passed since Lux left.

What I thought would be an easy task was taking longer than expected, and worry crept in.

“Could he have been caught by someone else? No, that’s not possible.”

I vehemently denied the horrifying thoughts, but the uneasiness remained.

I had asked Lux to check the activities outside. For now, my goal was to leave this place, and it seemed helpful to know about escape routes and personnel.

However, as Lux didn’t return, regret seeped in. All I wanted was for him to come back safely.

“I’m back, squeak!”

Lux exclaimed with a fresh voice as he appeared. Seeing the mouse rushing into my arms, I felt relieved.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Heh! There’s no way I’d get hurt just going out for a bit, heh! I did something embarrassing again, squeak!”

“It’s okay. Unlike that man, it’s cute when you say that.”

“I am a bit cute, squeak!”

Such a modest mouse.

But at this moment, Lux’ appearance brought comfort.

“I was worried. You took so long to return.”

“A brave mouse like me finds patrolling easy! Don’t worry! But focus! I’ll tell you the patrol results, squeak!”

I concentrated on Lux’ announcement.

“There’s a man at the building entrance. And three men are wandering around the building, squeak.”

“Is that all? Were there no fences or walls around?”

“Of course, there were! They were incredibly high and sturdy, squeak!”

“Well, that complicates things….”

Although I anticipated some difficulty, it seemed escaping would be challenging.

Even if we managed to avoid the guards, if we couldn’t climb over the walls, we would be caught soon.

A gloomy feeling overwhelmed me.

“Since I’ve gained this ability, it would have been great if I could transform into an animal.”

If I could turn into a bird or a cat, escaping would have been much easier.

“Still, don’t be too down! Once we get out of here, we can easily climb over the walls, squeak!”

“You can climb over the walls?”

As soon as I questioned, the response came as if it had been expected.

“I heard from a magnificent lady mouse while wandering around. There’s a fairly large hole in the wall, covered with unused boards, making it hard for humans to notice, squeak.”

So, the suggestion was to pass through the hole in the wall.

“Do you know the location?”

“I don’t know! But if you ask the lady, you might find out! I’ll be back, squeak!”

“Just a mome—”

Before I could stop him, Lux disappeared swiftly. Left alone, I sighed helplessly.

“He’s given up.”

* * *

“Mealtime, little ones!”

Chunks of bread flew in through the iron bars.

“If only they would untie our hands during mealtime.”

I complained briefly as I looked at the bread lying on the floor. Not only was it unhygienic not to be served in a dish, but my hands were tied, making it difficult to pick up. Moreover, the bread was not only tasteless but also tough. It took considerable effort to chew and swallow.

I couldn’t help but think that starving might have been a better option, but eating was inevitable.

If there was something I could unleash, it was the frustration I felt about that scumbag.

I watched as Eugene threw bread to another cage.

“Already a day has passed since then.”

Since I arrived, a few more kids had been brought in. And Sadal was one of them who refused to eat the bread and stood up.

Eugene immediately brought the child out and mercilessly beat him.

I had to close my eyes and turn my head away from the gruesome scene.

In that moment, I was certain.

That man was indeed the Eugene I knew.

In reality, I had encountered him before returning to the past when I visited Mallon Manor.

“Even back then, he had a low and vile personality.”

Moreover, his tendency to brag was beyond measure!

He exaggerated his past exploits as if they were heroic tales, especially the stories related to Grand Duke Belroc.

“Claiming to have severed the arm of Belroc, the Grand Duke infamous for being a mad killer?”

Eugene boasted about it as if it were a proud achievement. The reason for such boasting lay in the fact that Grand Duke Belroc was an exceptionally skilled mage.

Mages used their arms to transfer mana and create magical arrays, making arms a crucial conduit for casting spells.

That’s why mages often claimed that their arms were as vital as their lives.

Whether this knowledge was accurate was uncertain, but Eugene’s bragging was fueled by the fact that Grand Duke Belroc received the blessing of the ‘Phoenix,’ a secret passed down only to direct descendants of the imperial family.

The problem was that he used this immense power to kill someone, and rumors spread about it throughout society.

“Do you know how insane Grand Duke Belroc is? He even killed my wife? Because of that, I was on top of the succession rankings, but I was driven away.”

The vivid image of Eugene, smirking, placing his index finger on his temple, and playfully spinning it around, was still fresh in my mind.

“After that, he continued to kill our people, that crazy man has no limits. Once he targets someone, it’s the end.”

“….”

“But, I! I severed Grand Duke Belroc’s arm!”

With that, Eugene enthusiastically recounted in great detail how he turned Grand Duke Belroc into a cripple.

After killing his wife, Grand Duke Belroc indiscriminately attacked and raided the Dark Zone.

Because of this, various places were on high alert and prepared defenses against him.

In the city of Lysellirante, where Eugene was, they hired a magician to create a barrier that outsiders could not pass through.

In a dire situation, Eugene came up with the idea of a barrier and successfully lured the Grand Duke into it, severing his arm. According to him, it turned the Dark Zone into a festival atmosphere.

Having lost an arm, the Grand Duke couldn’t use magic, and Eugene believed he wouldn’t be able to wreak havoc in the Dark Zone anymore.

“For my achievements, I gained recognition and received the trust of Count Saint. And see this burn?”

“….”

“This is the medal I received at that time.”