I'm really not a dragon.

"Some birds cannot be caged; every feather of theirs shines with the light of freedom!"

The warden recited these words, shaking his head and sighing with emotion.

"If the person who said those words weren't right in front of me, I would have thought it was an opera written by a great poet from the Grand Theatre of Sorrow!"

Suen straightened her chest slightly and said modestly, "It's alright! I can handle operas like this with ease."

Suddenly, the angry shouts of law enforcement officers rang in my ears.

"Who gave you permission to stand up, Third Serious Criminal? Put your hands behind your head, squat down, and behave yourself!"

Su En's straightened back hunched over again.

The warden smirked, unable to suppress a sigh.

"To be honest, I really admire you guys. You managed to escape from the anti-magic prison without being discovered immediately. You're the first person I've done this in my tenure. Before me, no prisoner had ever done it without outside help."

"You were supposed to be an indelible stain on my career! But in the end..."

Warden Artorias, looking utterly impressed, pointed at the three men and shook his head repeatedly: "Three people with no sense of direction, I really don't know where you got the audacity to escape!"

That's really awkward.

They had anticipated everything, except that all three of them would get lost.

Suen turned to look at the dwarf, who silently looked at the barbarian. The barbarian... well, there was no one beside him.

The barbarian looked around and said with a miserable expression:

"We were wrong, Chief! Please let us go back to prison. We won't run away again!"

"Ha, dream on! Lock you all up again? I won't make the same mistake twice!"

Since you don't intend to lock them up, you haven't said you'd release them either?

Suen quietly raised his head and asked cautiously:

"Your Excellency Warden, what do you intend to do with us?!"

That's a good question.

The warden fell into deep thought.

To be honest, after the prison break, he was actually afraid to let Suen and the others board the transport ship.

They can escape from the anti-magic prison, so how could a wrecked ship possibly hold them!

He had no choice but to execute the three men directly.

Ultimately, Su En and the others are just suspects; all three may be murderers, or none of them may be.

Even if he defied public opinion and submitted his charges to the court of the Fourth Duke, his law enforcement officers would still try to stop him.

The fact that the three were assigned as pioneers already made the paladins very unhappy.

The warden was at his wit's end. "I have no idea what to do with you all?"

Suen's brain was working frantically.

The warden didn't know what to do with them, ultimately because he didn't know who the killer was.

Perhaps the killer is one of the three—

After careful consideration, Suen rejected this possibility.

After spending the last few days with them, he simply couldn't imagine that dwarves and barbarians, with their intelligence, could become serial killers!

Those who frequently commit murder know that it is not only a physically demanding task, but also an intellectual one.

From handling corpses and dealing with murder scenes to selecting prey and evading capture, everything requires intelligence.

As for him, that's even more impossible. He's just a perfumer's apprentice, only good-looking enough to catch the eye of a noble lady.

Therefore, by process of elimination, the murderer is likely still at large.

Once we find him, we can clear ourselves of suspicion!

The only problem now is that the killer is very cunning, and law enforcement throughout the city has tried everything but haven't been able to find him.

Suen tentatively asked, "Your Excellency Warden, would you be interested in hearing my proposal?"

"Oh, do you have any suggestions?"

The warden glanced at Suen and sighed silently; he didn't expect to hear any good advice.

He had even considered giving up.

At worst, we can send the three of them to Thurte as pioneers.

At worst, the three of them might go through countless hardships and make a name for themselves in Thurte, but they would still harbor resentment over the injustice they suffered back then.

At worst, the three of them could return to Baldur's Gate like kings returning home, lead their mercenaries into his mansion, and stab him to death against the wall with a single sword stroke as he turned gray at the temples.

Damn, why does it feel so bleak the more I think about it!

Sun had no idea that the warden had even imagined his own funeral in that instant. He said:

"Sir, the murderer is cunning; he could be among us, or he could be elsewhere. So why not let us, as suspects, search for the murderer?"

"?" A group of people stared at Su En in surprise.

One law enforcement officer couldn't help but complain, "Are we making criminals look for other criminals?"

The warden raised a finger, signaling for silence. "You may continue."

Su En cleared his throat. "The murderer is among us. We'll keep an eye on each other and find something. If he's not around—that will clear us of suspicion."

"Besides, our ability to escape from the anti-magic prison speaks volumes about our strength."

"If you really can't find the murderer, then you can consider sending us to Chuert to pick cotton."

The warden's eyes lit up.

That's a good suggestion.

However, there's one thing I forgot to mention: dwarves and barbarians have more or less close relationships with the deceased before their death, so they might actually be able to discover something.

Hmm, this plan is feasible. Even if the murderer cannot be found, he can still give the Duke's Court an explanation.

However, some additional measures need to be taken to ensure that the three are genuinely looking for the murderer, rather than slacking off while plotting their escape.

"A very good suggestion, Mr. Sun Sidler, excellent."

The warden smiled and patted Suen on the shoulder: "Get up, all of you, get up!"

The leader's amiable demeanor made them feel flattered and overwhelmed.

Suen breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the warden had listened. Perhaps, the few of them wouldn't have to go to Churt to be slaves.

boom!

Suddenly, he felt a dull pain in his toe. Looking down, he saw the dwarf stomping on his toe in exasperation.

The dwarf gestured in a famous mouth shape: "And the payment!"

remuneration?

After spending so much time in prison, I almost forgot that there was such a thing as payment in the world.

Suen hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Your Excellency Warden, how much will it cost?"

"What money?" the warden asked, puzzled.

"Private detectives at Baldur's Gate earn two dragon coins an hour. We're searching for the murderer all day, so we should earn at least sixteen dragon coins a day!"

The warden stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought, and said:

"Unfortunately, the prison's finances are tight, but you can share in the killer's bounty."

"And a bounty!" the dwarf asked tentatively. "How much?"

"The bounty is in Waterdeep's currency, totaling 8 Sun Gold. In addition, the daughter of the chief captain of the Lower City Councilor, Flame's Wonderful Shipping Company, has been murdered. Therefore, Captain Flame, in his personal capacity, has added an enchanted half-body armor as an extra reward."

In the Sword Coast region, most currencies are interchangeable. Dragoncoins are the standard gold coins, originating from Waterdeep, and can be exchanged for ten silver coins or one hundred copper coins. Above dragoncoins is another currency unit, the Suncoin, with one Suncoin roughly equal to ten dragoncoins.

Add a set of enchanted half-body armor.

Suen seemed to see countless gold coins falling from the sky, piling up into a small mountain.

The barbarian was still using his ten fingers to calculate just how much money this was.

The dwarf had already knelt before the figure, and said tremblingly, "Thank you so much, sir! We will definitely catch the murderer!"

It is human nature to be arrogant at first and then humble.

The warden smirked.

"Very good, but you need an overseer and a magical contract to ensure you are truly hunting down the murderer!"

For some reason, Su En had a bad feeling.

"Lady Lysera Spidershadow, please step forward."

A familiar figure emerged from among the law enforcement officers.

Her violet eyes swept over Suen and the others, then she put her hands behind her back, nodded to the warden, and said, "Leave it to me! I'll keep these slaves in check."