Chapter 4: Ice princess

Luther had been called to the warden's office for an important reason. High ranking person from the military had come to ask the warden a favor.

Luther went inside and saw this man chatting with Liz. The man's name was Robert Landew and he was a childhood friend to Liz. He rose up from the chair and said "Ah Luther. Long time no see. How has it been?" Luther said with a smile "Nothing special. My house got burned up a couple days ago, but other than that, things are fine."

Robert says "That sucks. Do I need to make a call for further funding?" To which Liz says "That's not necessary. I think we can manage building a house or two with our current budget."

Robert says "Is that so. In any case, as I have informed Lizbeth, there is a rogue soldier who goes by the name Tiara Jenins. She is currently awol, which isn't surprising considering her rogue status, and we need to capture her and punish her accordingly."

Luther asks "What does that have to do with me?" To which Robert says "We need you to go and capture this person." Luther then says bluntly "That isn't in my job description so I won't do it."

Liz smiles and says "See? I told you that he wouldn't agree." Robert scratches his head and says "You really are going to make me pull rank on you? The government funds this prison and military. I am someone who has power over the financial side of things to some degree. You want to build a house, which isn't exactly part of the appropriate usage of the funded money. Do you get what I'm getting at?"

Luther says "So if I want a house, I have to follow the request of a military officer. If I don't, I can say goodbye to my entertainment." Robert says "Something along those lines."

Luther then laughs maniacally and says "You think that you have the leverage to threaten me? I'm the mother fucking monster who the government can't do anything about if I get serious about something. You think a person like you can actually threaten the most powerful mortal to walk the earth? The audacity."

Inside Luther is thinking "That should cover my pride somewhat. Now let's act generous and give him a helping ha…"

Robert says "If it's that bothersome to you, then I suppose we have to find other means to finish the mission."

Luther is stunned and mutters "Wait… Why are you…" Robert says to Liz "I suppose you were right Lizbeth. We can't really ask someone as great as Luther to do menial tasks like this. Then, if you'll excuse me."

Luther shouts "Wait!" which stops Robert. Robert then asks "What is it Luther?" To which Luther says "I… I didn't say that I wouldn't do it. I was just… Yes! I was just making sure you all know where you all stand when asking me favors. Just give me something that is connected to this Tiara girl and I'll find her and bring her here."

Robert smiles and says "I knew that you were a generous soul Luther. Here, her hairpin." Robert gives a hairpin to Luther, who then uses a tracing type of spell on it in order to find the person who owns the item while his eyes are closed.

Luther stays silent for a while, and then says "Found you." Then Luther opens his eyes and says "One moment please." And he disappears like a smoke in a wind.

In an abandoned building, Luther appears behind a certain lady with snow white hair and silver eyes who manages to notice Luther's presence faster than most people.

When she noticed Luther, Tiara casted a powerful ice spell that normally would freeze the opponent in an instant.

Unfortunately, Luther just phases through the ice that covers his body and says "You've got to try harder than that."

Tiara jumps away, casts another freezing spell and starts to run away. Luther catches on quickly and grabs Tiara from her arm.

Tiara then uses a very powerful areal freeze, which causes all things around her to be covered in a thick layer of ice. Luther was pushed back a bit from the blast, which gave Tiara time to run away.

After catching her breath from a distance that she thought would be safe, Tiara muttered to herself "What on earth was that?" And then she hears a male voice in her left ear that says "That is indeed the question."

Tiara jumps, but this time Luther casts a spell that makes any attempt of Tiara casting spells ineffective. Tiara is surprised by this and during that confusion, Luther captures her and puts her in restraints.

Then Luther appears in Liz's office, where she and Robert were waiting, and Robert says "As expected of Luther. You manage to capture the ice princess without an issue. And now that she has been captured, I will place her under your care Lizbeth and be on my way. The paperwork regarding Tiara Jenins on the military's side will be dealt with shortly. Until then." Robert leaves the room and Luther gives Tiara to the two other guards in the office. He recommends that they put a magic restraining collar on her so that she won't cause any more trouble. And so Tiara is taken away. Shortly after, Luther excuses himself and leaves somewhere quiet.

When Luther is out of sight, he starts gasping for air as if he was holding back. He puts his right hand on his face and says "That was close. Even though it was a low income area, being so close to people with good karma made me almost lose sight of what I was doing there. If I played with that girl a little longer, I'm not sure if I could have held myself back. I need to make sure to not go to the city any time soon."

After gathering his thoughts, Luther goes to talk with the new prisoner.

Once there, he opens the hatch and asks "How do you find your room?" Tiara says "It is decent. It's better than I expected it to be."

Luther asks "Did you expect that before I came to get you or after you were caught?" Tiara answers "Before you came."

Luther says "So you knew you were going to end up in prison in one way or another." Tiara responds with "Yes. That is how the military views me at this point."

Luther asks "What exactly did you do to warrant this treatment?" To which Tiara answers "I let people that were classified as monsters go and refuse to follow orders to kill them."

Luther asks "What type of monsters?" To which Tiara answers with a short "Devils".

Luther then says "I can understand where you are coming from. After all, they do have a language system, are social creatures and can be reasoned with. But it is the difference in culture that makes society not accept them as friendly humanoids like elves or dwarves who comply with the human rules."

Tiara says "They are just like people. The fact that they prefer to mind their own business doesn't necessarily mean that they are hostile. When the government tries to keep their borders, they are free to use force. But when devils try to protect their territory, their home, they are treated like monsters to be exterminated."

Luther says "That is just how things are. Human greed is something that keeps the fires of conflict going. Not that other humanoids aren't similar in any way, but humans are one of the prime examples. Well, only other races that are greedier than humans are orcs, but they at least have some sense of honor in the way they get what they want."

Tiara is silent after this and Luther says "In any case, you got the wrong profession to protect devils' rights. Maybe if you focused on politics, you could have made some difference."

Tiara says "But the only thing I'm good at is ice magic." Luther says "If that is your term of good, then your standards are quite low."

Tiara says with a surprised voice "What do you mean? I was regarded as one of the best ice mages in the country." Luther chuckles and says "Then the standards of this country are quite low. A true ice mage can stop their target's spells with ease. Granted, spell jamming isn't an easy one to counter if you don't realize it early, but still you should have been able to counter it if you were a proper ice mage."

Tiara is confused and says "Why would an ice mage be able to stop spells? I get if you block things with ice, but to stop a spell in its entirety is absurd." Luther sighs and says "I suppose the standards of ice mages have been lowered over the centuries. When I was still roaming around the world freely, the ice mages were a real force to be reckoned with."

Tiara says "If that's how things were in the past, then I think it's the matter of people forgetting how to cancel other people's spells." Luther replies "That is a possibility. Maybe something in the magic theory has been lost since it was quite basic knowledge back in the day."

Tiara says "Speaking of which, how old are you?" Luther answers with a blunt "I don't know." Tiara asks "How do you not know? At least you should know a general range." To which Luther says "I mean that I have forgotten how much time has passed. The years when I was a child are blurry and I can't recall what year it was. I remember little things like my first girlfriend, but that doesn't help much. All I can remember is that it was a long, long time ago."

Tiara is silent. Then Luther says "In any case, our little ice princess should get used to the prison environment. Even though your crime wasn't that bad, I suspect that your family background will not let you get off easy."

Tiara says "So you know that I'm also a noble. That is fine, I knew what would happen when I didn't follow orders that day." Luther then gives a smile and says "In the meantime, do you wish to become stronger?"

Tiara says "What? Stronger? Of course I would love that, but how?" Luther says "I can give you lessons about the true ice magic during your stay here. I'm sure I can manage to convince the warden to let you be without the magic restraining collar. And during those lessons, I might be able to give you some guidance on how to change the fates of the devils. What do you say?"

Tiara says with a surprised voice "I would feel honored, but why would you do me this kindness?" Luther smirks and says "Of course I will lend help to those who I deem worthy. You have piqued my interest, so I thought you might be worth betting on."

Tiara bows to Luther and says "If you would be so kind, then I would be happy to receive your guidance." Luther smiles and says "That's good. I will inform the warden immediately so we can start as soon as possible. It might take some time to work out the finer details, but I assure you that I will come back with good news. Until we meet again."

Luther leaves and Tiara is left saying "What a noble soul. To be so kind as to help someone in my shoes. I will never forget this favor."

Meanwhile Luther thinks to himself "Good, after I convince Liz to let Tiara use her magic in order to train her, I will actually have something to kill my time with. And then there is the devil situation. As a fellow humanoid who has been branded with the label "monster", I'll do what I can to make their situation more comfortable. … Damn I'm smart. Killing two birds with one stone. No, maybe it's actually three birds since I will gain a temporary ally."

And so Luther went and gained permission to let Tiara be without the magic restraining collar as long as she didn't cause any issues. This process takes some time to make legal, so in the meantime, Luther went to visit one prisoner out of boredom.

Luther opens the hatch and says "Prisoner number 11116. Julius Garnet. Convicted of the crime of possession of child pornography and suspected of necrophilia yet to be proven. How's your stay in prison?"

Julius says "I'm quite fine, thank you. Though I'd prefer if I didn't get a stink eye every time I went out of my cell from other people." Luther says "Well that's what you get from fapping to children."

Julius says "I admit that that is my kink, but I would never touch a child." Luther says "You weren't convicted of any physical action, just from the possession of child pornography and the suspicion of necrophilia."

Julius says "I still don't get the reason why they think I have a thing for corpses. I mean, I worked at a morgue, but I never received sexual urges from it." Luther just says "That's up to the higher ups to decide, but if it gives you any comfort, I believe that you haven't done anything appropriate to corpses." Julius says "Thank you. At least someone believes me."

Luther then says "But you still are quilty from possession of child pornography." To which Julius says "I know. I am not going to argue about something that is true. Still, why did you come to talk to me? Not many want to be associated with a pedophile."

Luther says "At least you are self aware. Well, as for the reason why I came to talk to you is because of my own past. You see, I once had a girlfriend." Julius says "What about your girlfriend? Don't tell me…"

Luther says "We were seeing each other by the time when she was 17 and when I was 9. Needless to say, I was a dad when I was 11." Julius just says "Damn. How did it go? To which Luther says "It ended when I was around 14." Julius just comments "Figures. How did the kid turn out?"

Luther says "Surprisingly normal. She didn't pick any bad habits from either parent." Julius just comments "That's how it should be. Innocents are the best." Luther asks "What was that?" to which Julius says "Nothing much. Just thinking about how innocent children are the best."

Luther says in a suspicious tone "And you were only convicted from the possession of child pornography, right?" Julius answers with a smile "That's right."

Luther then says "I think I had enough entertainment here. See you around." Julius says with a smile "Any time."

Luther left thinking "I feel a little disgusted right about now. Well it was my idea of entertainment. *sigh* at least I don't remember much from that time with that girl."

Then Luther suddenly pauses and says "But what were their names, I wonder."