Chapter 395 Calamander Tower

Ryan did not answer immediately. He remained silent for a moment, keeping his gaze fixed on the merchant as he carefully considered the request.

Breaking someone out of a dungeon sounded easy when said quickly, but the details were never that simple.

’Basically, what he’s asking of me is to break into that prison. But, if I remember correctly, Blooming Wing is one of the human nations allied with the church.’

That was the real problem. Sticking his hands into the enemy’s allied territory required weighing the consequences before lifting a single finger.

’I’m not saying it’s difficult to achieve, but I must be careful if I accept. The way I do it could negatively interfere with my plans,’ he warned himself. ’Besides, that doesn’t solve the underlying problem Edwin’s son-in-law is caught up in either.’

There was no point in freeing a man if they were still going to hunt him down for murder the very next day. He paused mentally and brushed that detail aside.

’Though I won’t think about that for now.’

First, he had to see just how viable the rescue itself was. With that in mind, Ryan spoke, looking Edwin straight in the eyes. He did not soften his tone or show any rush to relieve the tension the merchant was carrying on his shoulders.

"What you are asking is quite bold," Ryan said, stopping right there without giving an answer to his request.

Neither a yes nor a no. He just left the sentence hanging in the air to see how the guild leader would react to the weight of his own demand.

After all, asking the demon king for a personal favor right after receiving an offer of protection was already pushing it quite a bit.

Ryan held the silence without blinking, waiting for the man’s next move.

Edwin did not answer immediately.

He stood still, swallowing hard as he assimilated the comment and reflected on his own words. The impulse that had driven him to speak seemed to suddenly run cold upon clashing with Ryan’s calm gaze.

He lowered his head slightly, measuring how far he could push without crossing a dangerous line.

"Yes... you are right," he murmured first in a low voice, before taking a breath to explain himself better. "I understand, Your Majesty. In truth, I only wanted to propose it. Of course, I will understand if you do not want to do it," Edwin continued, careful with every word. "Normally, it wouldn’t even cross my mind to ask for something like this, believe me. I know full well what it entails. But I thought of mentioning it because, in a short while, there will be a great opportunity to do something like this."

Ryan barely arched an eyebrow upon hearing that last part. The fact that Edwin brought not only a problem, but also a calculated window of time, changed the conversation a bit.

"A great opportunity?" Ryan repeated calmly, without taking his eyes off him. "Why do you say that?"

There was no disbelief in his voice, only practical interest.

If the Kallistia merchant leader was handling useful information about the movements in Blooming Wing, it was worth hearing him out before ruling anything out.

Edwin nodded once, taking the question as permission to spill what he knew.

"You see, Your Majesty..." Edwin began, lowering his voice out of pure habit. "I mean, I recently found out that the church is planning and organizing something big in the nation of the elves."

He stopped for a second to gather his thoughts, making sure to get straight to the point.

"Because of that, they are going to have to move important people over there," he explained quickly. "And security in the Calamander Tower prison won’t be as strict as usual. I was thinking about how to take advantage of that oversight," Edwin admitted, squeezing his fingers slightly. "I even thought about sending in two criminals myself to create a riot inside, allowing my son-in-law to escape."

He had clearly been turning the matter over in his head, judging by how easily he connected the facts.

For a merchant desperate to save his family, the idea sounded reasonable in his head.

Ryan listened to the explanation without interrupting, instantly connecting the dots when he heard the mention of the church’s movement in elven territory.

’I suppose he’s talking about the tournament the Dryad told me about,’ he thought to himself.

The pieces fit with what he already knew on his end. However, the solution Edwin proposed had a massive, glaring flaw.

"Doing that would be foolish," Ryan pointed out bluntly, cutting the man’s enthusiasm off at the root. "If they are captured and interrogated, they will undoubtedly talk, and you’ll just be putting a target on your back."

You didn’t have to be a genius to see how quickly two hired thugs would turn in the person who paid them as soon as they were subjected to interrogation.

Ryan kept a serious face on the outside, though on the inside his assessment was different.

’Though in reality, it isn’t a bad plan,’ he admitted silently, giving credit to Edwin’s idea.

Using a riot as a distraction to break out a single person made sense.

’But it isn’t something just any criminal could pull off.’

The problem wasn’t the plan, but the quality of the pieces Edwin intended to use.

Ryan’s comment was enough to deflate the little bit of spirit Edwin had mustered. The merchant let out a slow breath and his shoulders slumped as the reality of the matter weighed down on him once again.

"You are right..." he conceded quietly, losing confidence as he spoke. "I suppose it’s naive of me to think it would be easy. I mean, the person in charge of the Calamander Tower prison isn’t just any S-rank hero," Edwin explained bitterly. "It’s Azriel, a holy knight, captain of the second division of the holy knights."

He swallowed hard just mentioning the title. For someone like him, those names represented a wall impossible to vault over with money or common thugs.

"And it isn’t just him," he added, his tone growing increasingly subdued. "Vice-captain Cielle is always by his side. Even if one of them withdraws to Geizan to attend the massive event the church has planned, that pair, on their own, are very dangerous."