[ Chapter 24 ]
“Got it. I’ll be heading out now.”
It seemed like the conversation was coming to an end. As I tried to stand up from my seat, a desperate low voice coming from behind stopped me.
“Stop.”
At the same time, a lonely wind blew. A giant green ivy, untouched by human civilization, surrounded the trees. It was a dense forest where not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate, but the blue light was reflected from the leaves here and there.
Where is this place?
It certainly wasn’t the Dreys Prison. However, contrary to my expectations, I naturally turned my head and stared at a boy.
“Don’t go.”
The boy had grabbed onto my sleeve before I even realized he was there.
“When will you come back? How long do I have to wait?”
With a puffy gaze, he looked at me and lowered his eyes for a moment before sticking out his lower lip.
“It’s because of you that I even learned the imperial language. Without you, it’s meaningless.”
Well, I’ve never taught you the imperial language, though. But the words didn’t come out of my mouth easily. The boy’s expression looked so earnest that I couldn’t help but feel faithful to my own emotions. The young boy had an innocent purity that was untainted by any circumstances.
“I’ll be back soon.”
That’s why the words came out like that, seemingly regardless of my will.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“When you come back.”
The boy’s hesitant face brightened up for a moment.
“Then I’ll introduce you to my family when you come back. They’re still baby black panthers who can’t transform into humans yet, but I’m sure they’ll like you.”
“Yes. That’s definitely going to happen.”
I couldn’t refuse such a child. Without even realizing it, I laughed softly and said confidently. The boy’s face turned red as he tried to turn away and furrowed his eyebrows.
“Um, that, do you know how you can find me again?”
The conversation, which was about to end, continued with the boy’s question.
“I don’t know. I happened to run into you while taking a walk this time, but what if I come here again and you’re not here?”
“Why did you say you’ll come back if you don’t have a plan?!”
The boy, who jumped at my words, gave me something.
“I’ll give you this so make sure to call me if I’m not here, okay?”
The boy gave me a slender, long, reed-like object that fits in the palm of my hand like a tree branch. I was staring at it absentmindedly when I suddenly heard a knock, which brought me back to my senses. I realized that I was packing my bags and the strange dream had momentarily distracted me. When I opened the door, a man who seemed ready to leave was standing there.
Ah.
It was such a strange dream. The face of the boy in my dream seemed to overlap with the thick-lined man.
“Deon.”
“Why?”
When I called him first after a long time, he tilted his face toward the wall as if he were surprised.
“Do you still hate me?”
“Is the dream I just had just my imagination? Without thinking, I asked him. He folded his arm and replied, lost in thought.
“You…”
“I never hated you in the first place.”
“I never liked you in the first place.”
Hmm, that makes sense. It’s Deon, after all. The familiar thrill of danger caused my heart to race as I nodded my head. It was just a dream, after all.
After a moment.
“I found the second key while meeting Rob. If we go to Building D and find the last key, we will be able to open the main gate.”
When I regained my senses and opened up the map, the locations of buildings A through E and their approximate paths were revealed. He studied the map closely as if he had never seen it before.
“Between Building C and D, there’s a river.”
“That river is also part of Building D.”
“….what?”
As expected, Deon was imprisoned in Building B, so he didn’t know about it. I explained while recalling the details from the original story.
“The monsters in Building B were able to speak the imperial language, right? But in Building D, there are monsters who have a completely different language system and cannot communicate. There are even aquatic creatures that are kept in check with iron bars in the river.”
It seems like the saying “the world is wide and there are many crazies” comes from here. I realized anew that various crazies of this world are gathered in the Dreys Prison.
“Also, there is a theory that they have confined prisoners in the river in case other prisoners who do not know this fact try to escape through the river. Of course, the prisoners who fall into the river are immediately taken to the torture chamber.”
In short, it meant that it was dangerous.
“Do you think the prisoners in Building D are most similar to the monsters?”
Deep in thought, I frowned.
“The prisoners in Building B and Building C could at least communicate with each other. But Building D is so isolated that there’s no way to even talk, and they probably don’t even know about the prisoner hierarchy…”
“Well, they’re all bastards anyway. There’s no need to compare.”
That was a correct statement.
“Then I’ll blow the whistle here according to the plan. Based on my hypothesis, the monsters will be attracted to the whistle and gather around here. We can take advantage of that and escape through the back door of Building C.”
“Put this on before that.”
I folded the map and put it in my pocket, preparing to blow the whistle as planned. But then he handed me something. I awkwardly took it. It was his prisoner uniform with the number 1001 written on it.
“I don’t know if it will be useful since many have already been transformed into monsters, but if you happen to come across any sane prisoners on the way to Building D, the clothes itself could be helpful.”
“…..Thank you.”
I unfolded the clothes in a daze and felt an indifferent gaze from the opposite side. He seemed to attach no special meaning by giving me his clothes. Was it just a preparation to prevent any inconvenience?
Anyway, it would be much more reassuring to wear them than not. With the prison uniform on top of the regular clothes, the loose collar easily passed through my face. His clothes were much bigger than I had expected. The broad chest area was so wide that the shoulder seam ran down to the wrist, and the large, thick sleeves still had space even when wrapped around my palm.
Along with the scent of the cool breeze, his unique and sturdy odor was also present. It could be considered a dress, I thought. But as soon as I unfolded the pants, I closed my mouth.
“I don’t think I can wear the pants?”
The purple pants were too loose around the waist and large enough to easily pass through Lemony’s thin upper body. Even when spread out by hand, the pants were so long that they barely avoided touching the ground only if folded three times.
“Wearing the pants is unnecessary since the top is already big enough.”
Staring intently at my leg, he raised the corner of his mouth crookedly and grabbed the heavy bag containing the food and water I was trying to get with one hand.
“Come on, first-class prisoner.”
Is it a joke? He was leaning against the wall near the door, staring at me as if wondering why I wasn’t coming. Was he angry because I didn’t respond to his joke? If it was a joke, maybe it would be better to play along. What should I do?
“…yes, officer.”
Ah, I don’t know. Muttering under my breath, hoping he wouldn’t hear, I walked out of the room. As I passed by, I felt him chuckle quietly.
“I’ll blow the whistle.”
Pretending not to have seen that, I went down to the central control room and blew the whistle vigorously. Then, I heard the sound of the monsters scattered here and there outside the window quickly gathering towards Building C.
The escape had now begun.
◆
As I opened the massive iron door of Building C, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, a painful screeching noise echoed through the empty hallways of the Dreys Prison. Then, belatedly, I could hear the screams of the monsters coming from the opposite side of Building C. It was just as I had expected. The monsters, who had responded to the sound of the whistle, had gone to the other side.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it was a cloudy day. As I stood surveying the situation, Deon approached me from behind and opened the door even wider, taking the lead.
“It seems we can just head straight to the river quickly. It will be difficult for the monsters to cross the river since they have a hard time with rational thinking. There might not be any monsters on the Building D side.”
I felt reassured by Deon’s back figure, which looked like sturdy armor.
“That would be great.”
“Still too early to say it’s good. Walk quietly and keep watching the back. Let me know immediately if you see anyone suspicious, whether it’s a prisoner or a monster.”
“Okay.”
A cold gust of outside air rushed in as I crossed over the fancy fence of Building C. The sky was stained red and a joyful breeze blew on the dry dirt that had not sprouted a single seedling.
The desolate atmosphere I felt in Building B suddenly overwhelmed my entire body. It was as if I was again reminded that this was a prison. It was lucky that a man named Deon became my temporary companion in this situation. How would it feel to live as a man with a strong physique and tall stature?
He was a man who had everything necessary for survival. As I gazed up at his broad back with envy, he caught my eye and warned me with a gesture.
Behind.
It meant not looking at him and being wary of the back.
“Ah yes.”
I nodded and grabbed the frying pan in one hand and held onto the edge of Deon’s robe shirt with the other, just in case. Then, I felt his body freeze for a moment, but it wasn’t enough to bother me.
As expected, Dreys Prison was empty. Something in the distance looked like a pair of scissors moving, but it was too far away, and even if it was a monster, it was unlikely to spot us.
It was when I turned my head muttering, “I guess the whistle works well,”
“…Deon?”
I felt the blood draining from my whole body. I stopped as I felt my legs stiffen and let go of the shirt hem I held.
“Why?”
I muttered in disbelief.
“…the garbage bag is moving.”
Deon, who looked displeased, hid me behind him. The garbage bag I mentioned was crawling like a worm somewhere. Deon seemed to be amused by the ridiculous sight.
“It seems like someone is hiding inside the garbage bag. Like someone from the past.”
I’m getting annoyed. I wonder if someone did it on purpose.
There was silence for a moment. Deon held my waist with his hand and stared at the garbage bag with a grimace. Then something strange happened. The garbage bags, which seemed to be bumping into things here and there as if they couldn’t see ahead, suddenly rolled toward us.
“Sa, save me….”
A man suddenly stuck his face through the opening of the garbage bag and began to sob.
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Thank you for reading!
