Summary: As Carson waits for his own death by execution, a kind yet unexpected lie reveals his real fate after being released from the jail.
It’s currently midnight at the Silent Tower. The tower is completely silent at this time as suggested by the name, except some people at the upper floors of the tower itself.
Inside one of the cells at the floor below the top, a single prisoner is gazing at the sky outside of his own cell.
“Guess it’s my last day being alive. But hey, that last meal here is pretty nice...” He mumbled to himself as a brief smile is seen on his face. “Glad I have no one to worry about before dying.”
As the prisoner is monologuing, a Magic Council Captain stands in front of his cell. Even though the captain’s size is considered short compared to your average captains, an X-shaped scar on his face along with his red glare is enough to intimidate the criminals.
The captain clears his throat. “It’s your time, Carson Calding.”
“Oh. Guillotine time already?” The prisoner; or Carson replied as he turns back to the captain. Although he seems too relaxed for someone who knows he’s about to get executed, the captain notices a slight sadness in his tone.
But the captain didn’t reply. Instead, he simply unlocks Carson’s cell and escorts him outside of the room. They then walk toward the upper floor, which is the top floor of the Silent Tower.
After arriving at the top floor, Carson notices 2 people who got him arrested in the first place. One of them was a person even shorter than the captain, wearing the merchant’s outfit. He just stares at Carson with mixed feelings. And for the other one with the eyepatch and leather armor, he just looks at Carson with a tired look.
“Damn, this feels like that battle over again...” Carson chuckles as he’s escorted in the middle of the floor, towards the two people Carson noticed.
The captain then simply lets Carson go while talking to the two. “He’s now safe enough to be sent back with you two. If he attacks anything in the way back home, we’ll send the soldiers to get him back here.”
“What...?” After hearing that, Carson seems slightly confused as the captain continues talking to the two.
While they’re talking, the merchant looks at Carson for a brief moment before continuing with the conversation. “Huh, you actually convinced him that he’s getting executed tonight?”
The captain nods and looks at him, right before Carson interrupts the conversation.
“ACE, WHAT THE FUCK?!”
The captain; or Ace himself just looks at Carson for a while, leaving an awkward silence between them. “You heard it.”
“Why would you even lie about that, huh?! You little-” Carson yells as he’s about to punch Ace right in his face, before getting interrupted by the eyepatched person.
“Let’s get back to Ironport,” the eyepatched person said as he grabs Carson’s shoulder.
“Who even are you-”
“Virgil Barion.”
“I-” As Carson is trying to process what to reply to the sudden introduction, he gets dragged by Virgil downstairs. The merchant who came with Virgil also went down after them.
Captain Ace who’s still at the top floor then bids a farewell to the three as they’re going down. “Good luck, you three.”
After exiting the tower, they continue to head towards Ironport. And of course, Carson is still ‘dragged’ by Virgil.
“Tonight’s sky is pretty clear, don’t you think?” The merchant comments as he observes the sky above the three of them. “Oh yeah, we’ve been walking for a while and I haven’t mentioned a thing about myself. I’m John Salore!”
“Cool,” Carson sighs while still being stuck with Virgil and John. “So now, what the fuck is this whole ordeal? Are you two my new parents now?” He said as he glares at the two.
“Pff- No.” John chuckles as he heard what Carson just said. “So basically, Ace asked us to help you with the redemption process, since he’s seen some remaining hope in you. I don’t really know what the hell is up with him but yeah, you’re with us now.”
“Uh… Ok? What do I have to do now?” Carson asked.
“Maybe actually start living in towns and not going apeshit in the forest?” John replied in a slightly playful tone. As for now, Virgil just looks at the two while hoping that Carson won’t start an all-out fight before arriving at Ironport.
Carson then inhales deeply as he’s about to yell at John, before being stopped by John himself who casually continues the dialogue. “Just be chill in Ironport. You wouldn’t like getting sent to Ace for crimes again, he might actually execute you if you somehow fucked this up.”
Virgil replies to John after hearing that, “Eh, that sounds too vague.”
After hearing that, John then continues. “Oh. Most of the time we’ll basically drag you around Ironport since we’re working there. And on our day-offs, we might check out other towns too. If you’re wondering about the place to sleep, I still got an empty bedroom in my house.”
“Cool, so what’s next?” Just right after Carson has finished this question, they’re already inside Ironport. To be more exact, they’re currently standing in front of a house. “Wait, since when-”
“This might sound cheesy, but yeah, welcome to the house!”
Notes:
So yeah, here’s my first short story here. B)
If you’re familiar with the characters in this story, this is basically a part of Carson’s backstory. So Carson acts slightly different from the comics.
Also formatting the story in forum is 
Since I don’t have any more comments here, I hope y’all have a good day/night!