Lin Gui did not believe that the information he had disclosed or his righteous performance would show any flaws.
And the other party's expression indeed showed that he believed the identity of “Roger's nephew.”
Roger, who had always lived behind a mask in the Carter Royal Capital, had been exceptionally open after arriving in Avalon.
During several heart-to-heart drinking sessions with his friends, he had revealed many personal matters.
This included having a nephew who had been separated from him in his early years, a boy whose fate broke his heart.
These details unexpectedly aligned perfectly with Lin Gui's story.
This provided strong corroborative evidence for Lin Gui's lie.
However, even though the demon man believed this blood relation.
He ultimately waved his hand and gave the order:
“Take them all away.”
“Detain them for now.”
As soon as the order was given, the surrounding warriors immediately stepped forward.
Cold weapons were pointed at the three of them once again.
Whether in terms of strength or numbers, the other side far outmatched Lin Gui's group of three.
Lin Gui could have easily escaped with Theia and Eve.
But he did not do so.
Instead, he allowed the warriors to subdue them.
The warriors put special handcuffs on them.
These handcuffs could effectively suppress the flow of mana and internal energy.
Afterward, the three of them were taken to an empty house in the city.
Though the house was simple, it was clean enough, furnished with beds, a table, and chairs.
The windows were reinforced with wooden planks, and guards stood watch outside the door.
This was more akin to house arrest than actual imprisonment.
The demon man stood at the threshold, his blood-red eyes fixed on Lin Gui.
“Until Roger and Lord Gusion return to personally verify your story...”
“...you must remain here.”
“This is solely for the safety of Avalon.”
The demon man closed the door, and with a sharp click, a complex magic lock snapped into place.
Lin Gui leaned close to the gap in the door to inspect it.
The lock core was embedded with multiple layers of faintly glowing magic circuits, possessing a highly complex structure.
He estimated that it would take at least a High-tier Transcendent mage to pick it without triggering an alarm.
He looked down at the black metal handcuffs on his wrists.
They were heavy and cold, their inner surfaces etched with the same mana-suppressing runes.
With these on, he felt his mana output suppressed to an extremely low level.
It was probably only enough to cast basic Novice Magic.
“Hmm...”
Lin Gui stared at the handcuffs for a moment.
It seemed they were designed solely for suppression, with no additional alarm runes etched onto them.
Meanwhile, on the bed across the room.
Theia let out a sigh.
Yet, there was very little dejection in her voice.
“Sigh...”
“Who would have thought?”
“Locked up on our very first day in Avalon.”
She rattled her handcuffed wrists, her tone somewhat complicated.
It sounded almost like a sigh of relief.
Looking closely, a hint of relief and joy was hidden deep within her blood-red eyes.
She was under house arrest.
Yet, she had finally set foot in this city.
A place she had only ever seen in her dreams.
Her fellow half-demons were living out there, real and alive.
Free from exile, free from discrimination.
Just this alone made her feel...
...that all the danger and terror of the journey had been worth it.
Even though the residents had just rejected her so fiercely.
But... remembering that Forest Elf, Theia's eyes brightened.
This was only the second time in her life she had felt such a powerful urge.
An urge to draw closer, to understand, and to connect with someone.
The first time had been in the thickets of the Black Demon Forest.
When she met that cold-faced, black-haired, black-eyed wandering mage.
She tried to channel her internal energy.
The handcuffs on her wrists didn't budge, only tightening their suppressing force in response.
She let her hands drop in defeat.
“Eve, can you break these?”
Theia turned around, her eyes full of hope.
Eve offered a wry smile and shook her head.
Although she was a Low-tier Transcendent mage, her skills were focused entirely on healing.
Theia looked toward the other side of the room again.
Lin Gui had been examining the door lock just a moment ago.
But now he was gone.
She looked up, searching the room.
And finally spotted him up by the attic window, which hadn't been completely boarded up.
Lin Gui was crouched there.
He was quietly peering outside through a gap in the wooden planks.
“Lin Gui! What are you doing up there?”
Theia looked up and whispered urgently.
Lin Gui neither turned around nor replied.
His gaze was fixed on the street below.
Under the warm glow of a few torches, two warriors stood quietly on guard.
They kept a watchful eye on the house from a moderate distance.
“It seems that demon...”
Lin Gui muttered to himself.
“...doesn't actually want to lock us away.”
“Claiming to be a relative was a smart move after all.”
The door had a high-grade magic lock, yet the window had been left with a gap.
Perhaps that demon man believed that with the power-suppressing handcuffs on.
We wouldn't be able to do a thing.
A faint smile played on Lin Gui's lips.
He looked at the heavy black metal around his wrists, and with a single thought:
“Storage.”
His wrists instantly felt light.
The complex, mana-suppressing handcuffs vanished into air.
He had stored them inside his pocket dimension.
Next, he reached into his storage and retrieved his oak staff.
He mounted it sideways.
He looked down at the upturned faces of Theia and Eve and whispered:
“You two stay here.”
“I'm going out for a bit.”
As his voice faded,
the 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】 silently draped over his entire body.
Clutching his staff, he slipped through the gap in the wooden planks like a wisp of smoke.
He silently dissolved into the early morning shadows of Avalon.
In the room below.
Theia stared dumbfounded at the empty window.
She looked down at her own wrists, where her handcuffs remained firmly in place.
“He... he...”
She turned to Eve, her eyes wide with shock.
“How did he just get those handcuffs off?!”
Eve was also stunned for a moment.
Then, a soft smile played on her lips, and a glint of understanding flashed in her violet eyes.
“As for him...”
“He probably used...”
“...some new trick that we've never seen before.”
Lin Gui sat sideways on his oak staff, drifting through the night sky of Avalon.
The cool night wind brushed against his face.
bringing with it a long-lost sense of freedom.
Now that he had mastered 【Storage】, he no longer had to divide his attention to manipulate a mountain of supplies floating behind him.
Everything rested safely inside his pocket dimension.
Accessible with just a single thought.
It was incredibly liberating.
Lowering his altitude slightly, he looked down at the small city.
Avalon was indeed very small, home to fewer than a thousand families.
The houses were low and densely packed, but built in a wild variety of styles.
An ordinary stone-and-wood human cottage might stand right next to a semi-underground burrow dug by a gnome.
Across from a spacious beastkin shed, an exquisitely crafted elven treehouse might rise.
The architectural styles were wildly different, yet they coexisted in harmony.
Perhaps because the intrusion of the three outsiders had caused a stir.
Many houses still had lights burning in their windows despite the late hour.
Moving silhouettes were faintly visible behind the warm, dim light.
Lin Gui could easily guess what they were talking about.
They were discussing the newly arrived “descendant of the Demon King” and the mysterious mage claiming to be Roger's nephew.
He didn't stop to eavesdrop, nor did he descend.
Guiding his staff, he continued to climb steadily higher.
And his view expanded.
The outline of the entire town grew clear under the faint starlight.
A few main dirt-and-stone paths branched out like veins.
His gaze quickly locked onto one of them.
Specifically, it was the path leading toward the central area.
A tall figure with the silhouette of bat wings was walking down it at an unhurried pace.
It was the demon man.
Lin Gui hesitated no longer.
He drew the 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】 tight, concealing his form and presence completely.
He silently adjusted his direction.
He drifted down like a fallen leaf caught in the night wind.
He glided silently toward the dark figure below.
He followed quietly from behind.
Rate on N.U.
