Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

It had been no coincidence that they had run into Noin there.

They were headed to a special high security jail, so it did not matter if Alma was the empress, she had to enter with someone authorized, or if anything, being the empress was the reason why she needed to be guarded.

As a result, Noin, who also held the key to the jail, had to accompany her.

“It’s not like I’ll even see any action with this lineup…”

He briefly looked at Mira and Kagura behind Alma, two of the Nine Wisemen who could keep Alma just as safe as him. Then again, that was only evident to Noin who knew them. Anyone else only saw three defenseless ladies attempting to visit the jail. They would only be let in if they were accompanied by one of the Twelve Apostles like Noin.

The special jail was situated slightly to the north of the first floor’s center, inside of the guards’ barracks. Getting there meant passing through a security check by the barrack’s captain, who at first seemed hesitant to let Alma, Mira, and Kagura enter the jail, but let them in when he saw Noin.

Soon the three arrived at the entrance of the jail.

“Your turn to shine, Noin.”
“Alright, I’m on it.”

A robust metallic door blocked their way, and only a handful of people had the keys to open it.

Noin unlocked it, revealing a long descending staircase behind it. The special jail was situated deep below Nirvana’s imperial palace. That place was used to contain criminals with noble blood, or prisoners considered politically or militarily important.

The black tiles set onto the floor were not just for looks either, a spell that reported the position of those walking around back to the guards’ barracks was imbued into them for added security.

The walls and ceiling were white, and the cells were made entirely of iron bars with no walls, providing next to no privacy. Everything was well lit as well, giving ample visibility, making one forget this was a prison if not for the cells.

“This is far more lively than I was expecting.”

While not exactly noisy, the voices of prisoners talking could be heard constantly. Mira had expected a more desolate place for the jail, considering how rarely such a secure place would be used. But a decent number of cells were occupied.

“We’ve gotten a pretty big haul recently, thanks to you both.”

A mix of taunts and pleas for mercy came from the cells as they passed by as well, while Alma threw a playful look to Mira and Kagura.

As she explained, half of the prisoners were highly influential people whose ties to Chimera Clauzen had been exposed, kept there to allow for proper and careful investigations.

The other half were the assassins Mira captured before. There were so many of them who all came at the same time, that most of them had not been identified yet, so they were kept there for the time being.

“So they had spread this much here as well.”

Kagura’s scornful eyes surveyed the Chimera Clauzen members there. Even after some time, her feelings towards them remained the same.

“Seeing so many cells occupied feels a bit…”

Mira was rather bemused by the state of the prison, unsure of whether that was proof of how proactive the guards were, or just how far crime had spread.

They continued discussing things like that as they reached further into the prison, reaching yet another special area. It was an empty room, around six tatami mats in size. There were only the lights inlaid into the ceiling, and five steel doors along the solid stone walls.

One of those doors led to the cell where Jorg was held, as Alma explained while walking up to it.

“Let me open it.”

Noin followed right after, unlocking the door and opening it to reveal just how unique those cells were.

“Now this is really secure too.”

It was a long narrow room, more like a corridor, barely wide enough for two people to stand next to each other, going around ten meters deep. Three iron bar doors stood in the way of the other end of the room as well.

“But it’s still nothing compared to her room.”

Alma joked in return, while still being fully confident that no prisoner would ever manage to escape from there.

The walls were reinforced with a special metal alloy, making it impossible to dig out and escape. The iron bars were the same, resistant even to a raid boss, according to Alma. All of the locks required a different key as well, as Noin had to unlock each other to let the girls pass.

Only when they got to the last set of iron bars were they able to see Jorg.

He was in a straitjacket, completely restrained to a platform, his mouth gagged, a blindfold covering his eyes, and thick earmuffs shutting away all sound from reaching his ears.

And that was not all. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the deepest area were all covered in familiar symbols.

“Those symbols everywhere…aren’t they the same as those on Arresting Cloth?”

Mira had seen those symbols on the pieces of cloth she used to stop captives from using magic. They were providing a similar effect in this cell, though a bit more sophisticated.

“Yup, they are.”

Alma nodded, explaining how she had tested various methods before settling on that one.

Stepping past the last set of iron bars was enough for their effect to activate, acting the same as if one was wrapped in Arresting Cloth. Only the person holding the key remained unaffected.

So Noin alone passed through, picking up Jorg to bring him closer to the iron bars, within range of Kagura’s spell.

Jorg quickly caught onto what was happening, as he began jostling around and trying to resist, creating a mix of creaks and bumps as he hit the platform. Mira and Alma stepped back, startled by the sudden movements, but Kagura remained composed.

As the founder of the Fifty Bells, and the sole spellcaster able to use that interrogation spell, she had seen similar sights countless times, as she coldly stared at Jorg through the iron bars.

Regaining her composure, Alma nodded at Kagura, who replied in kind and held up a paper charm, activating her interrogation spell.