[ Chapter 21 ]
The woman, whose face turned red, stood up from her seat without finishing her meal. She was easy to read, as her face turned red at the slightest touch, and her body stiffened like a scared deer at the slightest anger.
One could say that she was simple. She was an easy woman to understand.
What could have made her this way?
“Deon.”
It was then.
“Today, let’s go have some fun. I guess you can endure a few days like this since you’re a shinsu.”
“Fun.
Quietly lost in thought, his gaze remained fixed on the woman disappearing between the doors until the very end.
Perhaps it was today.
“Is it today?”
When Deon asked, the man licked his lower lip and chuckled.
“Yeah, If you’re talking about that woman, it’s today. Are you going too?”
“Deon. I have a whistle, and now I have fellow officers. If you want to get out, go by yourself. I’ll stay here.”
As Deon recalled the words she had said, he couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh. Her colleagues, huh. He didn’t know what kind of colleagues she was thinking of, but at least ordinary colleagues didn’t make lewd jokes or get drunk toward their colleagues.
“…I want to be accepted as a member of this group.”
But if the woman’s colleague meant something else and was asking for understanding, Deon’s gaze shifted. No, if that were the case, Deon would have torn apart all the men who took advantage of her. He couldn’t bear to see anyone else taking advantage of her in any way. And if she looked happy while being taken advantage of by someone, he couldn’t bear to watch.
But if that wasn’t the case.
“It’s not that. What should I do?”
As he recalled the innocent question of the woman who was like a smart child, a subtle tension entered his jaw.
“I think they said it starts at 11 pm.”
“That’s what they said…”
“I’ll go first.”
Feeling frustrated about the rejection earlier, Deon had wanted to see her cowering with fear, but it seemed like that wasn’t going to happen.
“What? Deon, the first one is always Rob. You gotta go for the second one. Go for the second one!”
Ignoring his words, Deon left the restaurant.
◆
“…crazy man.”
I stormed out of the restaurant and my pace quickened. I walked aimlessly until I leaned against a locked door and slumped down. My ears and cheeks still burned from earlier. I had tried my best to survive in this world, but it seemed like my efforts were in vain.
It’s better to confide in me rather than that guy.
“…Ha!”
A disappointed laugh escaped me as the terrible shape of his mouth came to mind again. He was a man who knew exactly how to bring people down. Of course, if even this was something he learned from Lemony, I had nothing to say. But honestly speaking, I had no obligation to endure such humiliation from him, not even as someone who was not Lemony.
I felt a little sorry for him, knowing his feelings from the perspective of the reader. When I was being chased by Ian, I hoped I could get along well with Deon, who rescued me. But that was an unrealistic thought. Should I become Lemony for real then?
The spacious room felt unusually quiet. I moved to the bed and covered myself with the blanket, letting out a sigh. No, I couldn’t do that. I could use Deon to survive, but I didn’t want to go too far.
As a reader, I knew too well the wounds Deon had received from Lemony. This was a matter of conscience.
With nothing else to do, I sat huddled on the bed, when a knock came from outside.
“…Rob?”
“Lemony, you weren’t sleeping, either.”
When I opened the door, a burly middle-aged man with a restless look on his face looked down at me and smirked. Despite the neatly trimmed blonde hair and bulging muscles, wrinkles of time were visible around his eyes.
He was dressed in prison garb, the kind that guards wear when they sleep. With his thin clothing, his skin was more exposed, and Rob looked older than usual.
“May I come in?”
“…I don’t mind, what’s the matter?”
After glancing at the messy blanket, I nodded and let him in. It was 9 p.m now. It wasn’t time to sleep, but it was late for anyone to visit.
“I just came to talk before it’s too late. I couldn’t concentrate because I was worried about what you said at the restaurant.”
Ah, it bothered you, huh? I thought you were just joking around.
Rob pulled a chair from near the tea table to the bedside and rested one arm comfortably on the backrest, motioning with his hand to someplace. It was a bed.
“Sit down. You were curious, weren’t you?”
We were not on such comfortable terms.
However, I was hesitant to refuse, and I sat on the edge of the bed without saying anything, wondering if we were going to have a deep conversation alone together.
Of course, not comfortably, but only at the edge of the bed.
“Is the conversation at the restaurant about my job?”
“Yes, it is.”
I awkwardly smiled.
“I thought you were just brushing it off since you didn’t give a clear answer.”
“Oh, no. The guys around here like to play pranks a lot.”
Then, as if to signal understanding, Rob wrinkled his nose and lit the cigarette he had been holding. Tuk-tuk-tuk. The loosely packed tobacco he had scattered with thick fingers tumbled onto the beige carpet.
“I’m talking about myself. When this prison was in chaos for the first time, I thought all the officers in the Dreys Prison would die. The communication network between the Northern and Southern Empires was also cut off, and the inspector group that came every six months was far away to come.”
As the smoke-filled air lingered, a muffled voice came out from Rob’s lips. His blurry gaze, fixed on the empty space, conveyed many thoughts.
“To be exact, it was until I fought with the prisoners. But when one of my subordinates, a fifth-class officer, changed so much, I realized that this prison was no longer a fight between prisoners and officers. Do you know how I felt at that time?”
It was difficult for me to answer easily, so I remained silent. Then, as if he knew that would happen, Rob continued to speak.
“I felt like this was a real lawless zone. Before that, the Dreys Prison was notorious, but at least there was a law, rules, and hierarchy. There were people who suffered, but there were also people who enjoyed their position.”
The ash fell again.
“I thought everything fell apart with the appearance of the monster.”
I realized that he was easily sorting our hierarchy through the smoke he was casually blowing in front of me.
“So I created it again. A society where there are rules and hierarchy, and where those who suffer can also benefit at the same time. That way, people’s fear will be directed not to the monsters, but to the power. If you have to choose between the two, isn’t the latter better?”
Hmm, it’s hard to say. Would Deon really think that power is better? Choosing anything from the man’s face that naturally came to mind was difficult.
“I think it’s natural to feel scared going down below the 4th floor once you come here.”
“Of course.”
Rob nodded sympathetically at my words and used the heel of his shoe to put off the remaining cigarette.
“Lemony, do you know when you feel that a person lives like a human being?”
“Um.”
As I snapped out of my thoughts, I began to feel a bit bewildered.
It wasn’t a bad conversation; it was my first normal conversation, experiencing the world through Lemony’s eyes. However, I couldn’t figure out the connection between what was happening in the restaurant and our conversation.
“When you have food and a place where you can sleep comfortably…is that it?”
“Well, that’s something even animals need. To live as a human being, you need something more , for example,”
As expected, I tried to nod vaguely, knowing that it wasn’t the case.
“Something like appropriate entertainment.”
I felt something cover my knees as I sat on the bed. When I looked down, I saw a thick, furry finger touching my suit pants.
“Of course, Miss Lemony has something to do. It’s something that only Miss Lemony can do.”
My face hardened when I thought of the answer that the man who was cutting onions around the restaurant. And Rob, who noticed my changed expression, stopped as if to soothe a child.
“Here, people will never hurt you. Don’t worry about that. They will treat you with humanity. “
“….Humanity, you say?”
“Exactly what is humane treatment…”
“Men are risking their lives fighting down there on the 4th floor, but you don’t have to cook or clean. You just have to take care of five people a day. Isn’t that reasonable?”
My breath caught in my throat. My heart felt like it had frozen, and I was trembling all over. After taking a deep breath, I managed to calm down and looked up with a gaze that had been focused on the ground.
“… If I fought for my life too? If I wanted to cook or clean?”
Haa.
Then, a slight sigh came out from across, as if the person was feeling uncomfortable. Rob, who had been suppressing his facial expression to manage it, forced a smile and lowered his head.
“It’s poison to have a woman like you around.”
However, his hand was still gently stroking my knee.
“…..To be honest, yeah. Let’s say you join the cooking team. There are 51 men here, and the only women are you and Rose. Naturally, a strange atmosphere might arise if someone among them has strange thoughts toward you. And if there is someone with impure intentions toward you, it may create an oppressive atmosphere. Yeah, let’s say someone has pure intentions toward you. In that case, it might trigger a competitive spirit among the men…”
“As for having impure intentions,”
My voice cracked in surprise.
“Rob, is that you?”
It seemed like his soft blue eyes flinched as if he had been hit in the back of the head.
But I had to say what needed to be said. Why?
First.
“Don’t touch me, sir.”
I’d rather die than survive by doing such a thing. After all, I can’t feel pain.
And secondly.
“It was said that sometimes animals are better than humans, and that’s right.”
I jumped out of the bed, which felt like a prison, and blew the whistle loudly.
“Deon, come here and grab this person by the collar right now.”
After giving the order, I quickly tried to leave the room with a stern expression, but rough hands grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him. As a result, I was forced to be trapped in Rob’s embrace and let out a feeble scream while trying to bite his wrist.
“…haha, hahaha, hahahaha!”
A burst of crazy laughter erupted from above.
“Do you still think your damn dog will listen to you?”
I felt a strange question out of nowhere, and the man who grabbed me by the hair with his overpowering strength had madness in his eyes.
◆
Thank you for reading!
