"Is this the guy?" Auran asked while sitting down with a plate of food. It was lunchtime, and the prisoners were provided with the same tasteless meal they had been given in the morning with few extra addings.
"Yes, his name is Nimuk. He arrived two days before you two, and he's possibly the only person among the prisoners who knows the latest situation in the world outside these walls," introduced Marian, referring to the fish-faced man who sat beside them with his own plate of food.
Getting up, Auran scooped food from Henry's plate and piked up the only piece of meat in it—a piece of unknown meat that was as tasteless as soup.
"Nimuk, I don't think it would be hard for you to tell us about the surroundings of this place and other interesting things you heard before coming here," said Auran, placing the piece of meat he took from Henry's plate onto the fish man's plate.
"Hey, I was gonna eat that!" Henry retorted, but was naturally ignored by Auran.
"Not a problem at all," said Nimuk, then he began explaining.
According to his words, the prison where Auran and the others were held was located in a separate region from the local government, which was ruled by a titular figure known as the Iron King.
A few years ago, it was discovered that this planet had a massive amount of tatagen underground, which led to a drastic rise in the technomancy field. At present, technomancy had grown to the point where almost all other fields had gone extinct, leaving it as the sole future path.
The geniuses born in the technomancy field had greatly contributed to this development. Among them, five figures in the government were hailed as the prodigies of the century.
"Just as I expected, this really is technomancy," Henry muttered while he gazed at the collar around Marian's neck.
"Now tell us more about the landscape around this place and how people go in and out of this isolated area," Auran asked.
This time, Marian answered.
"Actually, there's a long-distance travel portal used to transport passengers and goods. That's how I first arrived here—with the ones who betrayed me."
"Do you know where it's located? Is it nearby?" asked Auran.
"Closer to the Malv Field. Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, the distance between this prison and the Malv Field is very far," Marian replied.
After hearing Marian's answer, Auran turned to Nimuk, who also nodded his head.
"There are only two long-distance transport portals that I know of—one is in the kingdom, and the other is in the Malv Flower Processing Department," he said.
Afterward, Auran fell into thought, and the whole table became silent.
If what they knew was the truth, then even if they somehow escaped from the prison, they would still have to travel a long distance before they could leave this planet. Which, in reality, increased the risk of getting caught.
At that moment, breaking the silence at the table, they heard a commotion from the hallway outside the cafeteria. Peeking to see what was happening, Auran saw two identical figures being escorted by surrounding officers walking past the cafeteria.
"Oh, the first place in the prodigy ranking," Nimuk exclaimed.
"What are those bastards doing here?"
"Right... these rich assholes think this is a zoo."
"I heard from an officer that they came to stay for a week. After that, they'll leave on their massive ship owned by their family."
"A ship owned by a family? How rich are they?"
Listening to the rumors being whispered among the other prisoners, Auran returned to his table and sat down.
"A ship comes in a week... and we have a week to prepare."
At his words, the others looked at him in confusion.
"Thanks for the information, Nimuk. I think that's more than enough," said Auran, signaling the end of their conversation.
"Huh? Hold on, you mean I'm not in the team?" Nimuk looked at the others and at Auran, utterly confused.
"Team? What team are you talking about?" Henry asked with even more confusion.
"Isn't this a prison break team? I thought the whole point of asking about the surroundings and other things was so you could learn more and be cautious about your escape plans. That's the only reason I was willing to tell you everything—because I thought you were trying to escape," Nimuk answered.
The three—Henry, Marian, and Auran—looked at each other.
"Well... yes, we are indeed trying to escape. And as a group, too," Henry admitted.
"Oh, okay then. I'm in," Nimuk said instantly.
Afterward, the group of three became four, and Auran said no more about the prison break plan until lunch was over.
Once lunch ended, the four of them returned to the mining area where, eventually, they descended underground to mine.
With a mining tool in hand, Auran began working.
"Look at this Tatagen... no wonder these guys abandoned all the other fields and stuck with this one."
"Indeed," Henry replied. "The main disadvantage of technomancy is the lack of proper material. That's also why it isn't as advanced as the other fields in our world. But here, with enough supply, it's developed into a whole new level."
Henry was mining beside Auran. Nearby were Marian and Nimuk, who were listening silently, as they had nothing to offer in a conversation about magic or technomancy.
"But... you can break this thing, right?" Marian asked. The thing she mentioned was the necklace. Auran answered only after a short silence.
"It depends on your ability."
"What?" Marian was baffled. "What do I have to do?"
"Well, Henry is the one who sacrificed his own food for benefit, and this guy"—Auran gestured at Nimuk—"was the one with the information. And you're the one with muscle, so I want you to break one of these things so I can get a closer look at it," Auran explained.
"You want me to get electrocuted?" she asked, with a glare and disbelief in her eyes.
"If you can, sure. But if not, just make someone hit you as hard as they can to see if that breaks it," Auran offered as an alternative.
Marian seemed to understand after hearing his suggestion.
"But if that's the case, can't we just make two others fight until they break each other's necklace?" Henry chimed in from the side, shifting the direction of the plan.
"Yeah, we could do that too... but I just want to test how much this beastly woman can take as a punch," Auran said without the slightest bit of shame on his face.
"What?!" Marian, who was a moment away from being fooled by Auran, was enraged, but all she could do was slam her mining tool down on the surface of the ground with full force, breaking a few chunks of debris as a result.