Brainwashed Then Woke Up To Find My Childhood Friend a Hero

4. I was imprisoned in the blink of an eye!?

I immediately denied it.

“Hey, accusation!? What are you talking about?!”

I raise my voice loudly.

But the man says,

“Oh? Then let me tell you, the first point is that you were setting up a tent at the back gate for the defense of the Demon Forest.”

I instinctively raise my voice.

“W-What of it!!”

The man raises the corners of his eyes sharply, intimidating me as he speaks.

“And yesterday, a command was issued from our Great Sage in the Magician Empire.”

The man shows me a piece of paper.

It reads:

“Due to the presence of numerous demon races and monsters scattered as a result of the battle with the Demon King’s army, strict caution is required. Therefore, passage through the back gate is permitted only during the daytime. However, since monsters and demon races, particularly the Dark Knights, possess excellent camouflage abilities and can hide among ordinary citizens, immediate inspections must be conducted upon finding suspicious individuals.”

In other words…

I suddenly feel the blood drain from my face.

The man looks at me with a sneer and says,

“Ah, that’s right. Your magical energy has been detected as that of a Dark Knight. That is the most serious accusation.”

I was left dumbfounded, unable to adopt a defiant attitude.

The man, seeing my state, seemed to declare it a certainty as he filled out what appeared to be a report and showed it to me.

“Someone like you, connected to the Dark Knights, will be imprisoned immediately. What’s wrong? Are you trembling with emotion?”

I stopped thinking altogether.

◇◇◇

The next day, I was brought to the prison, pulled by a sturdy iron carriage.

The enormous prison exuded an intimidating, almost murderous aura.

Once I was taken out of the carriage and entered, I saw magical tools I had never encountered before lined up, with several inspectors seated beside them.

I underwent various inspections using those magical tools.

Afterward, I was made to walk down a seemingly endless corridor and was confined in a cell.

“Make the most of your short life!”

The interrogator who accompanied me to the cell said that and left.

I was left in despair, unable to do anything.

Seeing my state, a woman from the opposite cell called out to me.

“Hey, hey, new guy, what’s wrong? You look so down!”

The woman asks me with an unusually high energy.

I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.

“Ah… yeah, I guess so. I was told I became a criminal without realizing it, and now I’m stuck in this despair and detachment, feeling nothing…”

I respond carelessly.

Hearing that, the woman bursts into laughter.

“Ha ha ha! No way! This is the number three cell of the great magical prison, where only serious criminals are held! There’s no way you’d end up here for some petty wrongful accusation!”

She says it in a mocking tone.

I get irritated by her words and retort,

“How would I know about that! I was traveling, slept by the back gate, and woke up in a detention center! I don’t understand anything!”

I say this while hiding the fact that I’m a dark knight.

The woman narrows her eyes at me.

“Oh? So you came through the back gate, which means you passed through the forest?”

She asks, as if sizing me up.

I’m surprised by the change in her demeanor but reply,

“Yeah, that’s right. I was traveling all alone.”

As I say this, the woman smirks.

Then she whispers softly,

“I can work with this…”

I think I heard her say that.

Since her voice was so quiet, I reflexively ask,

“Did you say something?”

At my question, the woman seems to snap back to reality and speaks up,

“Hm? No, don’t mind that. More importantly…”

She shifts the conversation and asks me,

“How about joining our group?”

The woman is staring intently into my eyes.

I was just imprisoned, and now I’m being invited to join a group?!