Curse the Mainframe! 385 Guards

With the guards taken care of, Alec was able to easily locate Nicholas. He just had to trace it down to the place where he heard them dragging the teen earlier on.

Now, outside the 'door', he could hear the teen's laboured breaths. They were at times steady, at other times unsteady, which made Alec feel a little confused.

It sounded like he was having a nightmare, yet his heartbeat was much too soft for that to be the case. He didn't seem to be in distress.

Using the key that he'd taken from the guard, he opened the door up with ease.

He entered the cell that was different from his.

Unlike his cell that had been modified to use 'dripping' as a form of subtle torture and way to block his Magitype, Nicholas didn't have any such additions.

Instead, it just looked like a plain dungeon cell. If those could be called plain, that was.

Other than the shackles on his arms, as well as the manacles on both his feet, there didn't seem to be much that was stopping him.

Without him realizing, Alec's brows furrowed lightly.

Didn't those guards say that the intensity was going to be upped? Instead, Nicholas just looked like he was unconscious or sleeping.

Alec stepped closer, and Nicholas must have sensed it, because he sucked in a sharp breath, and his eyes shone with a sharp light, almost piercing when his eyes opened.

When he caught sight of Alec's familiar face, the teen blinked a few times, and the previous ferocity in his eyes he softened a little, appearing more mellow.

The previous sharp and bloodthirsty edge in his eyes faded away so quickly that anyone other than Alec would have wondered if they imagined it.

Alec looked at the shattered remains of a few sets of different shackles and his frown became a little more pronounced, causing Nicholas to startle.

There was still a deep-rooted fear of the person that had put another person under mind control without a single problem.

"Er… it wasn't me," Nicholas said before Alec said anything.

Alec raised a brow, and his normal smile came back.

It only served to make Nicholas feel cold. And more than a little guilty. "Okay, maybe it was me, but it wasn't me at the same time…"

Alec didn't have to listen to his stuttered confessions. "Well, get yourself out, then."

Nicholas' hands flailed comically in the shackles. "I can't!"

Alec tilted his head, and Nicholas deflated without another word.

"I just can't…"

They didn't have time to quibble about it now, so Alec just took one side in both hands and tore them apart without any problem.

Nicholas' mouth dropped open. He squeaked. Not in fear. Definitely not in fear. "No way! How much strength do you have, to be able to do that?!"

"You can do it too," Alec said absently as he worked on the other hand. "With magic."

"What?" Nicholas said, tilting his head with confusion, then he tilted his head the other way. "What?" he repeated again.

Alec noted that the teen was doing it rather naturally, as if he was listening to someone else talk there that wasn't in the room with them.

Alec quickly broke the manacles on the teen's legs. "I heard you broke out four times already?"

There was a pause in the air.

"Yeah… kind of," he said, hedging.

"…" Alec let him go for the time being. "Forget it. Hurry up, we don't have much time."

"Much time for what?"

The two of them dashed out of the room, and Alec grabbed one of the guards who were still sleeping soundly on the ground.

He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a familiar-looking set of shackles, causing Nicholas to make a confused sound.

"Do they just carry those around with them? That's so fucking weird, dude." Nicholas' voice dropped to a whisper, looking around with cautious eyes.

Alec made an affirmative sound.

He swapped clothes with the guard before him as he gestured at Nicholas, who got the idea.

While Nicholas changed his clothes, Alec grabbed the sleeping guard and dragged him back into his former 'cell' and chained him up in the same place.

The guard would not have a good time when he realized that he was in the same position that Alec had been in previously.

Nicholas did the same to his guard without Alec's help, and the two gathered once again.

"How much did you see?" Alec questioned the teen.

"Not much. I barely made it up the stairs that one time before getting a glimpse around. They quickly dragged me back down without any hassle. The customer that I thought was trying to help me was actually part of them," he said bitterly.

Customer?

Alec immediately broadened his hearing senses, and he realized that he could hear the gentle sounds of customers talking as well as the salespeople conversing.

They were located under a shop!

Or rather, the shop was the basis of their 'dungeon'.

Were they in the headquarters?

Somehow, Alec didn't feel like they were. Instead, it felt like this inspector, Lilith, had acted on her own, trying to achieve merits.

In that case, this shop was part of Lilith's assets was used to provide funds for the company? That made more sense than this being the headquarters. There weren't enough people here for that to be possible.

"How about a lift, or other stairs?"

Nicholas shook his head. "I didn't have time to see. But there's only one way in or out in this place. And that's up one set of stairs."

Alec nodded.

Since the two guards were already taken care of, Nicholas didn't have to worry about anything.

The only reason he'd been able to get out that last time was because the guards had been changing shifts, and there had been a gap.

The two causally walked up the stairs, the guards' uniform still on their body. Because of the cap that was part of their uniform, they didn't appear suspicious at first glance.

Up the stairs, the voices of the people because louder and more audible. There was a quiet elegance to this place, and the customers that appeared all looked either wealthy or noble. Some of them were walking around with assistants in tow, or walking with friends.

The place was decorated with much luxury, but it was a type of lowkey luxury that was prominent throughout the place. It was tasteful and looked very classy.

While there weren't many people, it was still considered bustling knowing how these 'nobles' didn't like to mingle with other people.

No one paid any attention to the two who were in the guard uniforms. In fact, it was very normal. The uniforms were seen throughout and outside the place, guarding the place well from any attacks or attempts.

While Alec looked around casually, Nicholas was feeling anxious and jumpy.

But he had learnt his lesson from that time in the academy, and he reigned in his extra emotions.

Instead, seeing how calm Alex was, the teen tried very hard to emulate him, studying each person and each place, like he was keeping an eye out for any latent threats.

Because the place was spacious and spread out, it wasn't easy to find something. Even the entrances and exits were hard to locate.

Finally, Alec caught sight of what appeared like a door that led upwards. It was protected by what looked like a scanner.

Further looking around, he realized that most employees there had a single card on them. Similarly, the guards also had a card.

Alec reached into his pockets and pulled out the same card. Then, he placed it back inside very naturally.

A little smile curled onto his lips, and Nicholas had a bad feeling looking at his smile.

Chapter end

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