The Sorcerer's Handbook Chapter 93: Gerard Westminster

In the Central Hall.

The death row inmates were crowded together, greeting the new arrivals with laughter and jeers.

"Yo, if it isn't Edmund, the Enforcent Secretary from the Tax Bureau. I told you, sooner or later you'd co in here to join ."

"Brothers, this guy has a grudge against . Don't fight over him. I'll let you have the last five Death Matches, but the first five? Let have my fun, alright?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, it's one big shot after another. So does this an Andrea's Everlasting Wine Club is completely wiped out? The mayor didn't leave a single one alive! Brutal!"

"Caimon City has already beco Fernandez's kingdom."

The seasoned inmates reveled in the spectacle. Compared to their gloating, the newcors remained restrained. One by one, they followed the guards' instructions and pressed their fingers onto a bronze roster.

Ashe muttered from his hiding spot, "Strange, I didn't get this kind of welco when I first ca in."

"That's because you're special."

Ashe turned to see Necromancer Harvey standing beside him. As always, Harvey loved to talk and slipped into conversation as if they were old acquaintances. "The Four Pillars have a notorious reputation. You're the first cult leader of the Four Pillars Cult in a century. Until your access is fully adjusted, the prison won't let you anywhere near other inmates."

"Access adjusted?"

Harvey pointed toward the bronze roster. "That's the Sinner's Directory. When we enter, we press our fingers on it. From that mont on, the prison takes control over us. They can control every aspect of us, like attack permissions and our mana output."

Ashe frowned. "Weren't those controls already disabled when we were arrested?"

"They were. Before we entered the prison, the Heresy Court controlled them. Once we arrive, that authority has to be transferred here."

"That sounds unnecessarily complicated."

Harvey replied calmly, "It has to be done. If the Heresy Court retained control, it could remotely lift our restrictions. Any trouble we caused here would fall on the prison staff, while the Court took the bla. Neither side wants that.

"There's also another reason. The Heresy Court's processors are too far away, so over ti, the restrictions could degrade."

Ashe blinked. "Restrictions can degrade?"

"All shackles rust eventually," Harvey said.

Without warning, he stepped into the crowd and grabbed a snake-lizard by the collar. "Habrune. Where's Narbel?"

The snake-lizard froze. Its scales lightened visibly. "Archibald... how do you rember ? You shouldn't rember ."

Ashe took a mont to recall Harvey's full na. Archibald Harvey.

It was such a long na that he had only rembered the surna. But what did the snake-lizard an by "shouldn't rember"?

Harvey's gaze hardened. "I'm a necromancer. I can always reach into a soul if I need to. mories may fade, but they never disappear completely. Where is Narbel? Why didn't she co with you?"

For a brief mont, Ashe wondered if Harvey bore a grudge against her. This was a death row prison. It would only make sense if he wanted his enemies in here.

However, the snake-lizard's next reply shattered that thought.

He said bitterly, "Why do you insist on rembering her? You are just making things harder for yourself."

Harvey pressed. "Did she betray you? Did she escape? Or—"

"She's dead."

The words fell heavily.

"Andrea fell. During the escape, the hunters caught up with us. She was shot through the head. There was no saving her."

Harvey's lips trembled. "You promised . The boss promised . You—"

The snake-lizard added, "The boss is dead too. I was the weakest. That's why I got caught first. The Heresy Court sent an entire enforcent brigade. Fernandez let us run on purpose. They wanted us wiped out completely. To him, we were nothing more than ants."

Harvey snapped. "I don't care. I don't care what you did. I don't care at all!"

His face twisted with rage. His knees gave way, and he sank to the floor. He gritted his teeth as his eyes reddened. "Impossible... that was Narbel... how could she just—"

No one intervened. Not even the guards. With the chip restrictions in place, the most anyone could do was grab a collar. Violence was impossible.

The scene passed quickly, dismissed as forgettable drama. Ashe felt a flicker of curiosity about Harvey's past, but asking now would only invite trouble and likely drag him into another Death Match. Seeing that it was almost ti, he headed toward the cafeteria.

A group of crew mbers and Bloodrage Hunters were already on one side of the cafeteria, having their als. The prisoners, aware of their place, gathered naturally on the opposite side. Shattered Lake Prison no longer had true troublemakers. Even if a few still existed, they could neither stir up conflict nor trade insults. Under these circumstances, approaching the hunters served no purpose. No one was about to wander over just to offer greetings.

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Ashe had barely sat down when a well-mannered young man took the seat across from him.

Ashe rembered seeing him at the roster earlier. "New here?"

"Yes," the young man replied shyly. "Hello. My na's Baraka."

"Ashe."

Ashe had been here long enough to develop caution. As the saying went, the nicer soone looked, the more dangerous they could be underneath. A shy deanor ant little in a place like this. The man across from him likely carried a list of cris longer than his own.

Ashe asked, "So, why are you here eating?"

Baraka blinked. "Because... It's lunchti?"

"On your first day here, aren't you supposed to be confined to your cells and wait for als?" Ashe asked.

"No. They showed us our cells, then let us move around freely. There were no restrictions."

Ashe quickly understood. Solitary confinent on the first day was a special privilege reserved for cult leaders like him.

"So you're here because of political struggles, too? That young and already a political prisoner. Impressive."

"No, no. Actually... I'm a writer."

Baraka got even more bashful when he ntioned his occupation.

Ashe raised a brow. "A writer? Is it really that strict outside? Can you be sentenced to death just for writing a book? Does it contain political or adult content?"

"I haven't even started writing it yet."

"Huh?"

"I finished my last novel a few months ago and ca up with a brilliant new idea. I discussed it with my editor, and they told that if I insisted on writing it, they'd have to report to the Heresy Court. So they suggested I write it in prison instead, to avoid endangering the publishing house."

Ashe blinked. "And that's how you ended up here?"

Baraka nodded. "After I explained the plot, the Heresy Court sent a mory specialist to examine . Based on the tribunal's ruling, I was sentenced to redemption for 'endangering public safety,' and my thoughts were due to be purified during the Blood Moon Tribunal."

"Couldn't you just... not write it?"

Baraka lowered his head. "The mory specialist said I hadn't truly repented. My mories were filled with details from the new novel. They decided that as long as I lived, I'd find a way to write it anyway. And they weren't wrong. I'm not a creator, but just a storyteller. I can't let a good story rot in my head."

Ashe gave him a thumbs-up. "Good luck. I support you. By the way... any romantic or adult content?"

"No."

"Then I'll support you spiritually. I'm not really into books anyway."

As they spoke, Ashe finally spotted Iger entering through the doorway. He placed his tray in the collection area, dumped the untouched food into the slop bucket, then hurried over and threw an arm around Iger's shoulder.

Ashe asked quickly, "Have you eaten? The hunters are almost done. The signal's about to appear. Where are Ronna and Ronald—"

"They won't be coming."

"What?"

"I told them the plan's canceled."

Ashe showed neither surprise nor panic. He simply looked at Iger in silence.

Iger said, "Ashe, you know how the contract works. I can't go against your will unless it's absolutely necessary. And it's not like I truly resist it. If I did, I wouldn't have proposed a plan I've spent years refining.

"For , this plan has always been a stage I wanted to step onto. You just happened to fill in the final gaps. Even without your wish, I might still have gone through with it. I can't resist an opportunity like this."

He placed both hands on Ashe's shoulders. "Believe , like you, I want to get out of this cesspool, where even the air suffocates. But it's not going to be today."

"Why?"

"Because every critical part of the plan is now impossible. Too many unexpected variables have surfaced this week. I didn't account for them. Reality has drifted too far from what I imagined."

Just then, a commotion broke out near the entrance. The first group of hunters finished their als and began filing out, while another group entered the cafeteria.

Ashe glanced over and sighed. "The signal's here."

Iger shook his head. "No. That's a danger signal. You're about to see the first unstable factor."

Suddenly, every Bloodrage Hunter stood and bowed in unison toward the doorway. "Greetings, Captain!"

"Good afternoon."

A white-haired hunter wearing a black half-sleeve stepped inside. His gaze swept across the death row inmates, and a smirk curled his lips. He said casually, "Trash, good afternoon."

One prisoner scowled. "I'll report you to the Heresy Court—"

The hunter sneered. "Perfect. One insult, one month's pay docked. That's two insults, which ans two months gone."

He snapped his fingers. "But I like the number three, so let's make it even. How does it feel to be insulted by while being unable to insult back? Not pleasant, is it?"

He laughed loudly. "I love watching trash get angry and helpless, with frustration written all over their faces."

Another prisoner spoke through clenched teeth. "I'll rember you. You'd better—"

The hunter replied lightly, "You'd better indeed, since many of you were personally arrested by ."

His eyes glowed blood-red as his gaze swept through the cafeteria. It felt like a blade cutting across skin, forcing a chill into every inmate. Ashe rembered their last encounter, and the sensation of a sword piercing his chest surged back with vivid clarity.

The hunter said with a mocking tone, "I am Bloodrage Hunter Gerald Westminster, Hunter No. 307791 of the Heresy Court."

He then added with a grin, "When you et the Blood Moon Lord, don't forget to send him my regards."