It was just an iron-barred door; how could it possibly stop Sio?
As long as one makes proper use of game mechanics, the door…
can be opened from this side.
If the prisoner were a Nord barbarian or an Orc, they would naturally find it difficult to use finesse to open the door.
But Sio was different!
Little Dog was a petite and agile Breton; she could easily reach her hand through the gaps in the bars and grab the latch to pull it open.
With the lock undone, a gentle push was all it took to leave the cell.
Perhaps Sio should have had a full set of equipment, but right now, she only had a set of prisoner’s rags.
This was easy to understand!
Once a prisoner is caught, their personal belongings are bound to be confiscated.
But what did that matter?
If there were still jailers in this abandoned prison, as long as she dealt with them, wouldn’t their weapons and equipment become Sio’s?
At that thought, Sio lowered her stance and tiptoed up the stairs.
A jailer in Imperial attire sat slumped in a chair, giving Sio a start when she first saw him.
But the jailer looked thin and remained motionless.
Sio plucked up her courage to move closer, only to find that beneath the armor was just a skeleton; there was no telling how long he had been dead.
Well, since it’s an abandoned prison, it’s only normal for someone to have died here~ The armor clearly didn’t fit, and besides, wearing a military uniform haphazardly would only invite trouble—no one would believe a girl with Sio’s build would be a soldier.
But the weapon was usable!
She couldn’t very well throw punches like the brawlers of Winterhold, could she?
She picked up the Steel Sword from the table; it felt surprisingly well-balanced in her hand, not having become blunt or rusty over time.
Without stopping to give it a few practice swings, Sio only wanted to find an exit and leave this place as soon as possible.
But just as she crouched down again, intending to sneak away, she heard a faint groan coming from her side.
…Ugh, that sounds pitiful.
Like someone who’s just been given a sound thrashing.
Looking toward the sound, Sio saw a prisoner behind iron bars.
His hands were bound in shackles, and his once-sturdy body was covered in horrific scars from torture.
Dried blood mixed with dirt made it hard to imagine the torment he had endured.
Who is this guy…?
Curiosity drove Sio closer to the bars, wanting to get a better look at the prisoner’s face.
It definitely wasn’t because she really wanted to look!
For some reason, Sio felt her gaze drawn to him.
Perhaps after becoming a girl, she naturally paid more attention to tall, well-built men like this.
“Once I get out, I’ll kill you Thalmor with my own hands…” The male prisoner didn’t see Sio clearly and instinctively took her for an enemy.
Even with a raspy voice, he still possessed an unyielding will.
This made Sio take a step back, but she quickly put on a sly smile and squeezed her face against the gap in the bars, winking at him.
“You’re in no position to threaten me like that~” Sio teased him with a giggle.
She had a sharp tongue; after all, her disadvantage in height had to be compensated for in other ways, or else wouldn’t she be treated like a piece of cake?
“Once I rip out your spine, I’ll…
wait.” The man looked up fiercely, intending to maintain his defiance with a savage glare, but he finally saw the person talking to him.
It was a petite girl with smooth, short white hair.
She didn’t have pointed ears, her face wasn’t that gaunt, and her skin wasn’t yellowish.
“Well…
though our ancestors could technically be considered elves, right?
We Bretons only came to be after the Nedes and the Ayleids intermarried and crossbred…” Perhaps in this world, Sio didn’t know much about local customs and folklore, but she knew quite a bit of this historical lore—the luxury of being a veteran player.
“…Then you’re definitely not an associate of those Thalmor, right?
Let me out; I’ll be useful.” This mysteriously appearing girl was the final straw for him to grasp at.
Changing his previous fierce attitude, the man’s tone now held a hint of plea and expectation.
“Hold on a second, let me see how to pick this lock…” “Better be quick!
There’s no telling when those Thalmor will return…” Sio simply treated the man’s words as background noise and began looking for a way to pick the lock.
There were no prisoners in the other cells.
Or rather…
no prisoners now.
At least, not until a Necromancer raised those skeletons.
But Sio could see Lockpicks scattered on the floor, indicating that someone had once tried to escape.
Her own arms weren’t long enough; even if she could reach through the gaps in the bars, she couldn’t reach the Lockpicks.
Luckily, she had an animal companion!
She just needed to summon the Spirit Wolf inside the cell and have it fetch them!
The summons in the original game were never this intelligent~ Taking the Lockpick, Sio tried to insert it into the keyhole and move it slowly.
The moment the wire touched the lock cylinder, time around the girl froze once again, and a lockpicking interface popped up before her eyes.
…It even thoughtfully labeled a progress bar for the lockpicking at the very top.
She just had to adjust the Lockpick to a specific position to succeed.
This “Easy Lockpicking” convenience mod is so useful!
She really wished more convenience mods were implemented in this world…!
It could be considered a kind of “cheat,” right?
“Okay, done!” Sio pushed open the iron door, walked quickly to the man, and followed the same procedure to unlock his shackles as well.
The man collapsed to the ground.
According to a standard plot, Sio would surely have reached out in time to support him, and then the two would start exchanging information…
But the size difference between them was a bit too large!
Even though Little Dog hurriedly reached out, the man’s center of gravity as he fell meant Sio couldn’t support him at all; instead, she was pinned underneath him.
She let out a muffled groan, her face turning bright red, and her eyes even started to roll back.
The man struggled to his feet, looking somewhat awkwardly at the little thing lying on the ground.
Even though his wounds hadn’t healed yet, he still reached out to pull Sio up.
The two stared at each other for a moment, the atmosphere sinking into a delicate awkwardness.
“…Sorry.” “I’m…
fine!
You just sit tight and don’t make a sound, no matter what I do!” Sio clutched her chest and gasped for air; she had almost been crushed to death just now!
But compared to just being pinned down, the wounds on the man before her were more urgent.
Fortunately, besides the Healing spell that could only be used on herself, Sio also knew Healing Touch, which could be used on others.
It didn’t matter if she didn’t have any Health Potions!
A soft, bright yellow light slowly covered the man’s wounds from Sio’s palm.
Although it couldn’t dispel the pain, it allowed his injuries to heal rapidly.
“There~” Sio patted the man’s shoulder, giving him a look with a sly yet sincere smile.
“First, why don’t you tell Miss Sio why you’re here?” The girl sitting on the floor tried her best to straighten her back, perhaps thinking it would make her look a bit more…
“imposing.”