Chapter 139: Another Chance

Alleyway Near the Prostitutes Lodging

On the quieter side of town, far from the chaos and fighting, Rondo Stoneale walked through a narrow alley with several wolf guards at his back.

His steps were uneven. One hand kept pressing against the bandages wrapped around his severed fingers, gripping them tightly as waves of pain pulsed through his arm. At the very least, the mayor had given him some basic treatment. Rondo knew why. He was still useful.

Now he was leading them toward the prostitutes’ lodging. The second place he suspected Solo and the others might be hiding after finding the inn empty.

“Hey, dwarf,” one of the wolf guard officers called out, his tone light, almost amused. “You remember the mayor’s order, right? If you fail to find those demons…”

A grin spread across his face.

“We get to hack you apart.”

A few of the others chuckled.

Rondo didn’t respond. He simply clenched his jaw and kept walking, enduring both the pain and the mockery.

But beneath it all, his mind held onto something else. A chance.

The mayor still didn’t know that one of those “demons” was the Murican leader. He was too occupied with his own coup to notice. If Rondo could capture Solo first and hide somewhere until the church people come, everything could change.

Tonight, he was willing to risk it. Even if it meant getting rid of these wolf guards afterward.

As he turned into another alley, his gaze drifted ahead, and then stopped. A group was moving in the dim light further down the path.

They hadn’t noticed him.

“Wait,” Rondo muttered, raising a hand to signal the guards behind him.

He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the silhouettes. Recognition came gradually, those are the girls working under him. And at the front—

the cape, the build, the unmistakable green skin and tusks. The Murican Prime Minister. Solo.

A slow smile spread across Rondo’s face. Finally, he found him.

---

At the front of the group, Solo walked beside Candy while the other girls followed closely behind. Through his smart glasses, a live feed from the drone showed the road ahead. The path was clear. No guards, no fighting.

“We should arrive at the port in twenty minutes,” Candy said.

Solo nodded. “Good. Nothing ahead of us.”

Then his comm crackled.

“Kii… kii…”

A gremlin-like voice came through.

Solo frowned slightly. “Hm? What’s wrong, Drone C?”

“Kii kii kii!” the voice continued through the comm.

Solo didn’t understand the language, but he didn’t need to. The gremlin had spotted something. He tapped a button on his smart glasses, switching the feed from Drone A to Drone C.

The new view snapped into place. A group was moving toward them from behind.

Town guards. And leading them—

a dwarf.

Solo frowned. “What? How the hell did he find us?”

He turned to Candy.

“Your pimp is coming. And he brought town guards with him.”

Candy’s face immediately went pale.

“W-what should we do?” she asked, her voice tight.

“You take the girls and keep moving. Don’t stop until you reach the port,” Solo said calmly. “I’ll hold them off.”

Candy hesitated for a moment, then gave a quick nod before turning away. She hurried forward, calling the others with her. The girls followed closely behind.

Solo waited until the last of them passed him. Then he touched his earcomm.

“Ground team, it’s time for you to move.”

“Kiii,” another gremlin voice replied, almost cheerfully.

---

Bastolle Prison, Lower Cell

Poomba paced back and forth inside the cell, his hooves clacking softly against the floor. Timun remained seated, watching him with a tense expression. Both of them looked uneasy after Ximba and Musafa had been taken away by the warden.

Footsteps approached. A prison guard appeared in front of their cell.

Both Poomba and Timun looked up.

Then, without warning, the guard collapsed to the ground. They both flinched.

And then, two figures stepped out from behind the fallen guard.

“W-W-W-What the heck?! This is not Mr. Solo!” Ivy exclaimed, pointing at Poomba. “This is literally a boarman!!”

“Shit—shit! Where the hell is he?!” Irving grabbed his head with both hands, clearly panicking.

“C-Captain…” Ivy muttered, her voice dropping, “don’t tell me we broke into a prison because of a misunderstanding…”

“But then why the hell were those guards saying they were looking for us back at the hyena hideout?” Irving shot back, still trying to process it.

Inside the cell, Poomba and Timun exchanged confused looks as they watched the two humans spiral.

“Uh… are you here to free us?” Timun asked carefully.

Ivy and Irving both turned toward them, then glanced at each other.

Irving shook his head.

“No. We don’t know how much trouble we’ve already caused,” he said with a sigh. “We’re not adding more by releasing criminals.”

“But we’re not criminals!” Poomba protested.

“Oh, shut up, you pig!” Ivy snapped. “I say that all the time too!”

Irving rubbed his face tiredly. “Let’s regroup with Kovalski and Bella… and get the hell out of this prison.”

Without another word, the two of them turned and walked away from the cells.

“Wait! What if you free us… in exchange for this?” Timun suddenly called out.

He pushed his hand through the bars, revealing a red pendant in his palm.

Irving and Ivy stopped. Both of them turned to look at it.

“It’s a ruby,” Timun added quickly. “It’s worth a lot.”

“Timun?! That’s your Hakuno! His Royal Highness gave that to you!” Poomba protested.

“It won’t mean anything if Prince Ximba is dead,” Timun shot back. “Show them your Matoto too, Poomba. We don’t have much time.”

Poomba hesitated, but Timun was right.

With a reluctant motion, he pulled out his own pendant from beneath his robe and shoved it through the bars as well.

Now there were two hands sticking out. Two red gemstones gleaming.

Irving and Ivy stared at them in silence.

“…Do you think they’ll actually buy it?” Poomba whispered nervously. “They look like trained soldiers… not criminals…”

“Do you have a better idea?” Timun whispered back, just as tense.

And then—

In the next instant, Irving and Ivy were already back in front of the cell.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Ivy said with a bright smile, already rubbing her hands together. "Of course we would help victims of a broken system."

“Exactly. We can’t just turn a blind eye to people being wronged by a corrupt system,” Irving added, equally sincere—at least on the surface—as he reached down and took the keys from the unconscious guard.

Without hesitation, he unlocked the cell and shoved the door wide open.

Poomba and Timun could only blink in disbelief.

---

Alleyway Towards the Port

Rondo and the wolf guards moved from alley to alley, carefully trailing Solo’s group. They kept their distance, far enough to stay unseen.

“Don’t you think we’re a bit too far from them?” Rondo muttered to the officer ahead of him.

“You dwarves don’t know anything about stalking prey,” the officer replied flatly. “Leave it to real hunters.”

He gestured toward the guard at the very front, who was leading the group with his nose close to the ground, tracking the scent left behind by Solo and the girls.

“Now be quiet.”

They continued forward, moving in silence, their steps measured and controlled.

As the frontmost guard took another step, his foot suddenly caught on something thin stretched across the alley.

He paused and looked down.

“Hmm?”

BOOOOOOOM!!

The explosion tore through the alley, engulfing him and the guard behind him in a blast of fire and debris.

Rondo and the others reflexively ducked, ears ringing from the shockwave.

“W-What the hell was that?!” the officer barked, trying to regain his bearings.

Before anyone could answer—

Zap. Zap. Zap.

Bursts of energy beams cut through the air, striking another guard.

Each impact detonated on contact, small but violent explosions that were more than enough to throw the heavily built wolf guard off his feet.

He didn’t get back up.

“Over there!” one of them shouted, pointing down the alley.

They followed his finger—

and saw him.

Solo.

He was positioned behind a stack of water barrels, using them as cover, a Dwargonian beam rifle braced in his hands. Thin trails of smoke curled from the barrel.

Zap Zap Zap Zap

Another burst of shots rang out.

This time, the wolf guards reacted quickly, diving behind walls, crates, and whatever cover they could find.

Solo didn’t press the attack. The moment they broke line of sight, he moved.

He slipped out from behind the barrels and began retreating down the alley, already putting distance between them. As he ran, he tapped his earcomm.

“Good job with the trap.”

“Kiiii,” a gremlin voice chirped back.

“Get ready. I’ve got their attention now,” Solo said.

A grin slowly formed on his face.

“I’ll bring them to you.”