Rhode slipped into the prison on Queen’s Road with surprising ease.

Those towering walls looked imposing, but climbing over them didn’t take him much effort at all. It was more than twice as easy as he’d imagined.

Getting in was easy, though. Getting out was the hard part.

Rhode had spent a long time observing the place from inside, but he still couldn’t find a way to leave while bringing someone with him.

Just like he’d said at the start, he’d most likely have to force his way out later.

Was he really about to play berserker? The problem was, he didn’t have any berserker skills. His ability was Re-Stealth, not some kind of HP lock.

Thinking that to himself, Rhode kept sneaking along honestly enough.

To avoid being spotted by the patrols, he crouched in the shadows and watched the guards’ movements around him.

He planned to wait until he understood every patrol route before making his move.

“Can I really get out of here?” Rhode was starting to feel he’d been a little impulsive. “Only after getting in did I understand why a prison is a prison.”

“You haven’t even gone inside yet, so what nonsense are you talking about?” Black Sword said in a casual tone.

Rhode was still only on the outer perimeter of the prison, and he was already making it sound this hard. What was he going to do once he got deeper in?

“Didn’t you notice? These guards aren’t even close to being good enough to detect you.”

“Even so...” The boy’s mouth twitched slightly.

The problem was that if he made even one mistake, a whole crowd would be on him instantly.

“Believe in yourself. Someone once told me, ‘A person’s power is the power to believe,’” Black Sword said.

“What is that? That sounds exactly like the kind of cheesy line a heroine in a stage play would say.” Rhode couldn’t help but roast him.

There was no way he could let that one pass. The line felt way too familiar.

“Who even told you something like that... That’s literally just ‘pretty words.’” The boy muttered under his breath, quiet enough that only he could hear it.

“An ol—... ahem, a young girl named Lebi,” Black Sword said. He seemed like he was about to say something else, but forcibly changed it midway.

“Lebi?”

“Don’t worry about her. I’d guess you won’t run into her anytime soon,” Black Sword said carelessly.

“And if you really do meet her, just run.”

Rhode’s curiosity had definitely been stirred, but Black Sword clearly had no intention of continuing. Besides, Rhode was still inside a prison, so he didn’t press further.

After observing for long enough, Rhode finally began to move.

Even though he still didn’t fully understand what “presence” really was, he’d already been using some of the related techniques during his crow-catching practice.

He just hadn’t realized it himself.

In the darkness, Rhode’s stealth was so effective against these guards that it was practically invisibility.

Of course, if he went asking for death and stood right in front of someone, he’d definitely still be spotted.

He might even get riddled with bullets.

The guards in this prison weren’t armed with just swords and blades. They also carried Arcane Rifles, so Rhode had to be careful. Then careful again.

He waited until one of the men carrying keys went off alone to the toilet, then followed him and quietly lifted the key.

To be honest, Rhode was almost discovered while stealing it. But for some reason, Re-Stealth activated, letting him slip away successfully.

Even Rhode himself had no idea how his ability was triggered.

Sometimes he’d get spotted while sneaking and it wouldn’t activate. Other times, it would trigger for no apparent reason.

Maybe there was some hidden standard for what counted as “stealth” in the first place.

With the key in hand, the next step was unlocking the door and entering the prison proper.

Since this prison wasn’t very large, the door wasn’t some giant iron gate. It was more like the door to a normal house.

That actually made it harder to get in, because a guard was standing right beside it.

Without dealing with that guard, getting inside was impossible. But if he did deal with him, it’d be easy for someone else to notice.

What a headache. Why was sneaking in such a pain?

Rhode suddenly felt being a berserker might actually be easier. Just pop a one-man rampage and be done with it.

Too bad he didn’t have that kind of overwhelming combat power, so he could only do this bit by bit.

In most prisons, even someone who knew magic couldn’t just brute-force their way in. There were devices inside that detected magical power, and using it would trigger an alarm immediately.

He chose to stick close to the wall and use the building’s shadow as cover while approaching the guard.

To make the shadowed area a little larger, Rhode even secretly turned off part of the lighting. That way, the darkness completely “swallowed” the guard.

Thunk—

With lightning speed, Rhode covered the guard’s mouth and knocked him out.

It just so happened to be the moment when the guard above had looked away.

After knocking him out, Rhode didn’t open the door right away. Instead, he arranged the guard’s body so it looked like he was still standing watch.

Only after the patrolling guard above looked away again did Rhode open the door and slip into the prison interior.

Gently, without making the slightest sound.

At the same time, though, he had to move fast. If the guy whose key had been stolen noticed it was missing, he’d definitely go on alert.

And just like that, Rhode quickly entered the prison.

Creeeak—

Out of nowhere, a hoarse sound rang out. Rhode instinctively looked toward where it came from.

Only after realizing it was just the hanging lamp above swaying and making noise did he let out a breath of relief.

Compared to outside, there were actually far fewer patrols inside the prison.

That was unquestionably good news for Rhode. It meant he wouldn’t need to spend nearly as much time avoiding guards.

It was probably because the prison interior itself was small, and the routes were fixed. There wasn’t much open space for anyone to hide in.

Normally, anyone entering a place like this would be discovered almost immediately.

But they hadn’t expected the one coming in to be Rhode, a rather unusually gifted boy.

Rhode crouched in the shadows and held his breath.

A guard walked right past him. The man seemed to notice that something was there beside him, and immediately looked over.

But very quickly, that feeling of “something’s there” disappeared.

So the guard didn’t stop and simply continued his patrol.

“That scared me to death...” Rhode wiped away a cold sweat and muttered to himself.