The Runesmith

Chapter 656: Strapped In.

“Mary.”

“Commander Wayland, is that you? We received your confirmation signal, but have not heard anything since. Lord Arthur has been worried.”

“I am here now. Tell him I have something for him, and I am taking it to the interrogation room. Meet me there with your people. We will need to extract some information.”

“I understand. I will be there shortly.”

Roland moved through the underground tunnels that connected his workshop to Arthur’s estate. Slung over his shoulder was a bound man, the same one who had tried to assassinate the gnome mage alongside the other adventurers. The man was called Eleven, a member of the Red Quill assassins.

“These guys go to some extreme lengths to keep their people silent…”

Within his left hand was a blood-covered molar. The tooth had been yanked from Eleven’s mouth after Roland incapacitated him with lightning energy. It contained a poison potent enough to melt even a tier three class holder into mush. It was not his only failsafe. Beneath his tongue was an occult rune that would have reduced him to the same sludge as the other assassins. It was a far more powerful spell, but Roland had already disabled it and managed to capture the man alive.

“I cannot take too long. They have probably already sent out a search party for me.”

Roland moved at a brisk pace, thinking of the dungeon and Agni, whom he had left behind in his small underground hideout. He had used the teleportation gate there to return to Albrook with the Red Quill member. Although he doubted anyone would suspect him, he did not want to draw unnecessary attention. This man could shed light on the previous incident in the noble district of Isgard involving Arthur and perhaps reveal who ordered the attack.

“Wayland, what happened? Who is this man, and why is he like that?”

“Oh, this? It is simply to keep you safe. If he ever gets loose, he could probably kill all of you if I am not here, so be careful.”

Arthur, along with Mary and several other maids, arrived just as Roland placed Eleven on a particular table. The man was bound with metallic cables forged from the same alloy as Roland’s armor.

The chamber they stood in was not meant for comfort. Metal walls reinforced with layered runic magic absorbed mana and canceled out all sound. At the center stood a heavy table bolted to the floor, surrounded by containment pylons that shimmered faintly with restrained energy. This was not a place for conversation. It was a place for answers.

From time to time, they captured spies and criminals who could not be handled through normal means. This facility had been created for those who were exceptionally dangerous, the kind who, if they escaped, could cause countless casualties, like this ‘Blood Dagger Master’.

In each corner of the chamber stood a golemic camera, with another fixed directly above the chair. The room was monitored constantly for any movement or sign of escape. The single entrance door could only be opened from the outside. If someone somehow managed to break free, the chamber was designed to flood with a paralyzing poison strong enough to knock out even a sea serpent. If that failed, the room could be filled with high-powered elemental spells that would purge whoever or whatever remained inside.

“So, why did you want me here? Who is this man?”

Arthur stepped closer, his expression hardening as he studied the unconscious assassin. The man was bound at the wrists and ankles and had yet to wake. It was obvious that this was an interrogation chamber, one meant to extract as much information as possible, even at the cost of the prisoner’s life.

“Do you remember the assassins who attacked us in Isgard?”

“The melty ones?”

“Yes… the melty ones. He is one of them, a high-ranking member. They go by the name Red Quills and may have been involved in certain incidents connected to the Valerian household.”

“To my house?”

Arthur stood still for a moment, considering what Roland had revealed. His eyes narrowed as a thought formed, one Roland had not voiced because he lacked solid proof.

“Are you saying these Red Quills might have been hired by someone within my own family?”

“That is a possibility, but we will not know until we investigate further. This man appears to be among their elite, though we cannot confirm that without extracting information first.”

Arthur’s usual cheer faded. Roland had implied that there could be a connection between this assassin and one of his siblings. There was also the incident involving Arthur’s mother, the attack that had taken her eyesight. The culprit had never been caught, and these assassins might have carried out the deed. If they could obtain the client list, Arthur would have all the leverage he needed to remove one of his enemies from the Valerian house and have a proper target for his revenge.

First, however, they needed information from this man, and that would not be easy. Assassins like him were trained to endure extreme punishment. Even if they were physically abused and tortured for weeks or months, they would not break. At best, they would offer false information that could not be verified. Fortunately, this was no ordinary interrogation chamber. They had more tools at their disposal than pain alone.

“My Lord, please leave this to my maids and me. We will get everything out of him.”

Mary stepped forward as she noticed the anger rising in Arthur’s face. The other maids followed, pushing in several tables. On them were various potions, elixirs, and magical devices designed specifically to extract information. They had used similar methods before to question Ermes. Truth serums and carefully crafted illusions were among the techniques these women had mastered, and some of them seemed to take a certain pride in their work. Their leader, a bespectacled maid, stepped forward. ℞₳ɴÔBË𝙎

“Commander Wayland, leave this to me!”

She spoke with a strange glint in her eyes, and Roland simply nodded.

“If you require a stronger serum, consult Rastix or Sebastian for additional magical devices. I must take my leave for now.”

He said this to the glasses-wearing maid, who seemed to be struggling to suppress a grin. Roland had witnessed her work before and knew she was somewhat of a sadist. While he disliked these sorts of people, in a world like this one, she was someone they needed. A lesser evil he had to accept to get through.

Roland glanced at one of the tables as he spoke. On it lay something that looked like an oversized pair of tweezers. One of the maids picked the instrument up and began idly opening and closing it, which instantly made Roland feel an uncomfortable, almost physical threat to his manhood. He quickly turned to face Arthur.

“Lord Arthur, we should let them work.”

“… I understand.”

Arthur nodded, though his gaze lingered on the man called Eleven. It was clear he wanted to drive a sword through him to force him to speak, but he restrained himself, knowing that would be a mistake. Soon, he and Roland stepped out, and the heavy door slid shut behind them.

“So, what have you been up to these past few days, my Knight Commander?”

“There were a few miscalculations on the way to the dungeon, but I believe I am back on track now.”

“Miscalculations? Seems like a fortunate miscalculation.”

Arthur recovered quickly and even chuckled when Roland mentioned the bump in the road in the form of a group of assassins. He folded his hands behind his back as they walked down the dimly lit corridor and reached a fork. One path led back to the mansion, the other to Roland’s workshop.

“These Red Quills, do you think one of my brothers or their mothers could have sent them?”

“That’s a possibility we can’t discount.”

Roland nodded as he delivered the uncomfortable truth to his noble friend.

“While Theodore remains our greatest foe for now, we can’t assume the others are innocent. Even Julius.”

“That’s what I was afraid you would say, especially with his arrival so close at hand.”

Arthur let out a long sigh as the weight of it settled on him. With this revelation, they were almost back to square one. They had recently begun to count Julius among their allies, but they could not afford blind trust. There was also Tybalt and even Ivan, any of whom could have ordered the attack, along with the nobles aligned with them.

“Let’s hope our assassin sheds some light on this. I’m getting tired of knowing so little.”

Roland nodded in understanding. There were far too many unanswered questions, and trusting anyone outside their circle would be a mistake. They had to remain vigilant.

“Any leads from the dungeon you’ve been tinkering with?”

“The assassin appears to have been targeting a Guild Inspector. I’m looking into it.”

“Do you think there’s a connection?”

“It’s possible. The man named Agthak seems suspicious, and the people tied to him warrant further investigation.”

“I’ll have Mary look into it.”

They exchanged a final nod, each aware of what needed to be done. Arthur would welcome Julius for now, but he would keep most of their secrets to himself. Trusting his brother completely was a risk he could not afford. Mary’s intelligence network was growing as well, and with some luck, they might examine the stronghold from the outside and uncover old ties among the people living below.

“Good luck, then, High Knight Commander.”

“Of course, my Lord.”

With personal guards still standing nearby, Roland could not be entirely casual with Arthur. The two soon parted, each fully aware of their responsibilities. Arthur’s role as the noble lord was essential. He maintained their public image while Roland worked behind the scenes, with Mary handling the more unpleasant tasks.

There was no need for the lord to brief him. The moment Roland arrived through the teleporter, Sebastian had already forwarded all the relevant reports. He knew about the trouble his brother Robert was facing in Aldbourne. Their newly acquired region had drawn unwanted attention from Theodore, who was seeking revenge for the loss of part of his lands.

The reports described a surge in theft and an increase in violent attacks from outside forces. Robert and Lucille were managing the situation, but their resources were stretched thin. Trade in the area had suffered, slowing progress and forcing Albrook to cover the deficit from its own coffers. Still, not everything was bleak. A solution was within reach, and this might even present an opportunity.

If he took an hour or a bit longer before returning, it should be fine. He would simply claim that he had chased the culprit all the way to the second ring.

Roland glanced at the tooth in his hand before placing it inside a secure lockbox in the workshop he had entered after taking his leave. He intended to analyze the substance within, first through Sebastian and then by passing it on to Rastix. The alchemist might be able to reverse engineer it and create a potent poison if needed, or perhaps even develop an antidote to protect anyone exposed to it.

After accessing one of his monitors, he saw his wife asleep at home. The day and night cycle of the super dungeon seemed to mirror the real world. Even though he wished to join her, his work was not yet finished. Instead, he activated the teleportation gate and stepped through it, not toward the Isgard dungeon but to the lower levels of the Albrook dungeon, to the same area he had outfitted with multiple automatic turrets to hunt monsters.

“High Knight Commander!”

“At ease.”

He acknowledged the sentries posted there and continued forward. He moved quickly, using his glider to gain speed as he headed toward the previously discovered culling tunnels, which were now filled not with monsters but with craftsmen.

‘They seem to be almost finished. They truly love building trains.’

When Roland arrived, no one greeted him. The area was crowded with dwarves from the union. Even their leader, Master Runesmith Brylvia, was present, and she seemed quite busy. Bamur the Enchantsmith and Dunan, two of his former adversaries, were also there, as their expertise was essential to getting the project running.

“Master Brylvia, I heard you were about to test the Rune Train?”

He raised his voice to be heard over the noise of dwarven craftsmen hammering and shouting at one another. When his voice echoed through the workshop, Brylvia stopped striking a dwarf who had set a piece at the wrong angle.

“Ah, Master Wayland, is that ye?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Oi, a new suit? What’s that, the seventh one now?”

He did not answer. He had accumulated quite an armory of suits, and more would likely follow. The armor was hidden beneath a robe, but to a craftswoman like her, it was easy to tell who stood beneath it.

“Something like that. I heard you’re nearly ready to test the Rune Train?”

Brylvia snorted and wiped soot from her brow, leaving a darker smear across her cheek.

“Aye, this one’s a proper beauty.”

She jerked a thumb over her shoulder toward the large metallic machine standing on thick tracks. Roland’s gaze lifted as he studied the dwarven mechanism. It dominated the tunnel with its massive frame. As he examined it, the other craftsmen paused to do the same, as though proud to have someone admire their creation before it was powered on.

It was not sleek like elven constructs, nor ornate like human craftsmanship. It was brutal, solid, and built for a single purpose. The locomotive’s body had been forged from layered dwarven steel plates, each riveted into a thick armored shell. The front ended in a reinforced wedge shaped like a battering ram, engraved with overlapping runes that shimmered faintly red. There were no exhausts or pipes to vent heat like the trains from his old world. This one ran entirely on runic batteries, with an engine that used magic to cool the friction.

Runes covered nearly every visible surface, designed to be thick and resistant to deterioration. In time, they would be concealed to protect the secrets of this revolutionary machine that required no mana fluid. For now, it was enough that it functioned.

“It looks ready for a test. How is the track assembly progressing?”

“My lads are still hammerin’ away at it, but in a few days they should reach Aldbourne, aye.”

Roland nodded, knowing he could not complain. The dwarves had worked with remarkable speed, focusing first on assembling the train. Laying the tracks would be easier by comparison. Once the prototype was operational, they could present it to Halbrecht for assessment. With the professor’s support, they could secure funding to build a fully operational underground railway. First, however, they needed to demonstrate its advantages, and trade between Albrook and Aldbourne would serve as proof of concept.

Roland circled the locomotive slowly, running his gauntleted fingers along one of the outer plates. He felt the faint vibration of dormant energy beneath the steel. It was ready to be activated, and after a quick inspection he found no flaws in its construction.

“You did well to follow the schematics. Everything seems satisfactory. Have you tested the main engine yet?”

“Tested? Nah, we always leave that bit for the end.”

“So this will be its first true activation?”

“Aye!”

It reminded him of earlier creations, some of which had exploded or nearly caused him serious harm during their first activation. The dwarves were confident in their craftsmanship, but this train was different. It combined older technology with his rune battery system. That was one reason he had insisted on being present. If the contraption exploded, he would be able to raise a barrier to shield the craftsmen from the blast.

“Show me then. Turn it on.”

“Ye heard the man. Time to give this wee one its first proper breath.”

Brylvia roared with laughter, finishing her sentence with a wide grin. The dwarves around her cheered, some raising their hammers while others hurried toward control consoles bolted into the tunnel walls. Thick cables ran from housings along the locomotive’s spine into temporary regulator pylons driven deep into the dungeon floor.

Roland stepped back, his cloak shifting as he extended a thin layer of mana around the machine. A transparent barrier shimmered for a moment before fading from sight. If something went wrong, he would have less than a heartbeat to reinforce it.

“Begin with a minimal charge.”

He called out.

“No more than twenty percent to prime the rune. See if it activates without issue first. Then we will test it on the track and see how fast it can go.”