[ Chapter 37 ]
“You said you wouldn’t say anything strange!”
“It’s you who finds it strange, not me. I was just trying to give some advice.”
Deon replied bluntly and immediately approached the watcher.
“In a more refined manner.”Just then, as he swiftly pulled the giant vines that bound me, I was brought closer to Ian until our noses almost touched. I held my breath. Ian attempting to meet my gaze wasn’t uncommon, but he had never gotten this close to me.
“Lemony.”
Noticing my frightened expression, a tiny glint passed through his vibrant golden eyes.
“It’s been a while since I’ve eaten, and…”
“Enough.”
The low bass voice halted his abrupt action.
“There are plenty of corpses outside, if you’re going to act like a mosquito, go down there.”
Veins bulged on the back of the man’s hand as he grabbed Ian’s wrist. But Ian still stared at me intently.
“Like I care.”
These people were fighting again. I was pondering how to intervene this time, when, simultaneously, a dagger that had been separating us was plunged into the opposite wall. Time seemed to freeze for a moment. My heart, gripped by fear, began to flutter as I could only manage to open my mouth in response.
Ian was the one who favored using daggers, but he was holding my wrist now. So then who…?
“That’s enough.”
As if answering my thoughts, someone appeared with perfect timing.
Luxurious red hair resembling roses draped over the woman’s collarbones. Her distinct facial features had transparent green eyes surrounded by fluttering reddish eyelashes.
“You’re both disgusting.”
After blatantly glaring at the two men, she aimed the rifle slung across her back at us, as if it wasn’t over yet.
At a glance, she was no ordinary person. She was the heroine of this world, Leilia.
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We had to make an effort to clear up Leilia’s misunderstanding.
“So you four are colleagues? Who believes that?”
“So you four are comrades? Who would believe that?”
Leilia consistently had an unpleasant expression. Sitting arrogantly with her arms folded and one leg crossed over the other, she exuded a sense of wariness and arrogance.
“You said Lemony, right? You can be honest with me.”
But her anger seemed to exclude me. Whispering softly enough for only me to hear, the one who had been leading me by the wrist suddenly smiled gently. I hadn’t expected my first meeting with the female lead to unfold like this. I glanced at Deon and Ian with a perplexed expression.
“It’s true. There seems to have been some misunderstanding about the scene earlier.”
“What misunderstanding? That silver-haired guy said he was going to eat you? Did I hear wrong?”
Ian smirked awkwardly. I had nothing to say. Her words were indeed accurate.
“Or was it a misunderstanding that the dark-haired man told you not to move and to join him?”
“You didn’t mishear, but you don’t need to worry about it.”
The belated watcher who intervened murmured something about calming down, but no one paid attention. Just then, someone grabbed my wrist from the opposite side. It was Deon.
“Rather, the ones who need to be cautious are us. How will you explain your duplicitous attitude of suddenly throwing a dagger at us, and now acting concerned?”
“Hmm.”
The woman propped her chin and stared at us. Even if it was the first time seeing Deon, she should have been frightened, but she unflinchingly met his red eyes without a hint of fear. I certainly remember Leilia not being an easy-going personality, even in the original work.
Building D was where monsters with different language systems gathered. In this place where communication was impossible, what she chose was force. She taught herself how to use a gun and climbed to the top of the food chain.
“Shall we start by revealing each other’s names and affiliations? It seems like it would help clear up the misunderstanding.”
Forcing a smile as I interjected in their confrontation, Ian, seeming to understand my intention, briefly stated with a displeased expression.
“Building C, first-class prisoner. Ian.”
“I came here as a watcher for the Southern Empire and was trapped here. Cedric Bill.”
Come to think of it, it was the first time I learned the watcher’s name. Fortunately, he also seemed to respond to my words, smiling faintly while staring intently at me.
“I’m Leilia, a first-class prisoner in Building D. Of course, this happened because of some circumstances.”
“Deon, first-class prisoner in Building B.”
Deon frowned as if disgusted, but he wasn’t a man who behaved inappropriately in group settings. He also seemed to realize he needed to cooperate with Leilia.
“I’m a first-class prison officer in Building B, Lemony Christina.”
After the hasty introductions, I went straight to the main point.
“You know that Dreys Prison has become a mess, right?”
“I heard almost all the officers died? I’m relieved you survived, Lemony.”
I couldn’t say anything to her smiling face. I bit my lip and cautiously asked.
“Do you know anything else?”
“Other than you being Lemony?”
Oh no. Relia’s expression puzzled slightly when she met my gaze. Perhaps she didn’t know about the stories related to monsters.
“Currently, all the prisoners and officers from Building A to C have turned into monsters. We escaped from them and came to Building D.”
At those words, the bewildered woman’s expression hardened slightly.
“Isn’t that something the wardens should be managing?”
“We don’t know about it either. So we decided to escape from Dreys Prison first, and then head to the Southern Empire.”
The atmosphere changed. The woman, who had been cheerful, seemed to be taken aback by the situation.
“Don’t you need keys?”
“We have two. That’s why we came looking for Leilia. If we have yours too, we can escape.”
“……Haah, I see.”
Leilia, who has been murmuring for a moment, closed her mouth. Seeing how she was acting freely, the first-class prison officer in Building D must have already died. Now Leilia was the owner of the 7th floor.
“Since it’s late today, let’s get some rest and meet again tomorrow morning.”
She sighed, as if she didn’t want to believe it, and started to untangle and tie up her messy hair again. In the process, her slender, fair neck was exposed, momentarily entrancing me. Wow, she really is the female lead. Naturally lowering my gaze, I noticed her lush, dense eyelashes.
Certainly, Relia suited Deon and Ian. But Deon, who still didn’t know his fate, stood up abruptly.
“If the conversation is over, let’s stay in the room we were in earlier.”
He couldn’t wait for Leilia to finish tying her hair and suddenly grabbed my wrist. Then, Leilia, who couldn’t afford to miss it, held the hair tie she was holding in her mouth and grabbed my other hand.
“Lemony, let’s sleep together. It’ll be more comfortable than sleeping with those three men.”
“I think that would be more comfortable too.”
I hurriedly chimed in, worried another argument might break out. The three men retreated with disgruntled expressions. After dismissing the men, Leilia and I moved to the room, revealing the bedding on the old bed.
“Are you okay?”
Suddenly sitting on the bed, she wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
“Are you naturally skinny, or have you lost weight? Why are you so thin?”
“……Huh?”
I had never received such warm concern from anyone while possessing Lemony’s body. Flustered, I blushed, which made her giggle as if I was cute. She got up and brought something over—it looked like a clear broth made from boiled fruits she had brought from outside. Though simple, it was precious food at a time when rations were dwindling.
“Shall we have a girls’ party?”
Leilia drank the broth straight from the bowl, with a casual demeanor unfitting her glamorous appearance.
“What are you waiting for, eat up.”
“Thank you.”
As expected, the original work itself is a survival story, so there’s no time for delicacies. Following her lead, I awkwardly brought the bowl to my lips, and from across, I felt her satisfied gaze upon me.
Was Leilia always like this? I knew she had a strong personality, but in the original work, she was always getting pushed around by Deon and Ian, so I didn’t think she was suited for survival.
“By the way, the journey here must have been very difficult. Especially since an officer and prisoners came together, it must have been even harder.”
“To be honest.”
I said, wiping the soup from my mouth.
“It was quite difficult.”
“See? It must have been even harder without command magic, but you managed to survive somehow.”
“Oh, the command magic didn’t wear off.”
“Huh?”
Leilia’s eyes widened. Hmm. I decided not to elaborate further, thinking it might be better not to discuss it in detail.
“I’m not sure either. It seems like only the two of us couldn’t break the contract…”
“That shouldn’t be possible.”
Leilia still looked curious. But maybe she didn’t want to pry further, as she gracefully concluded the conversation with a smile.
“Well, if you could use the command spell, you probably would have made it here alive. That’s fortunate.”
Wow, she’s kind. This was the first time I’d seen this side after possessing Lemony.
“I’d say, I’m really glad to have met Leilia.”
“Of course! Who are we? We’re the ones who survived here until now.”
Naturally excluding the three men from the group of survivors, Leilia got up and rummaged around. She seemed to want to give me many things, feeling a sense of camaraderie as a fellow women. If Leilia had met another female character in the original work, would her personality have changed like this?
“Leilia, what’s that?”
I was beaming, feeling like I’d made a new friend, when Leilia suddenly pulled out a rifle from the old box she was rummaging through.
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Thank you for reading!
