I Became a Prison Officer of the First-Class Prisoners

Posted by Lilac, Released on June 9, 2024

[ Chapter 41 ]

“How’s your wrist?”

“Yeah, it’s getting better.”

The last time I saw him, his expression seemed a bit dark, but maybe that was just my imagination. Ian was back to his usual self as if nothing had happened.

Still, something about him had definitely changed. Even though he had been cooped up in his room for days, he never came to see me.

“And why are you comparing your pain to others’? Pain is pain.”

I was a bit curious. The words he spoke, which sounded almost like a rebuke, felt like a comforting gesture, momentarily breaking down my preconceived notions about Ian. Yet, whenever I did run into Ian, he only asked about my wrist and ended the conversation with a slight smile.

And there was another man acting differently than usual.

“The pain…”

It was Deon. The man who claimed to despise me so much came to see me two or three times a day.

“It’s getting better.”

“It hurts a bit.”

The routine was generally the same.

Deon would press on my wrist to gauge my limits whenever he had the chance. Sometimes after shooting practice, sometimes on days without any practice, and other times when Cedric, noticing my wrist’s condition, would hurriedly infuse his divine power to alleviate the symptoms.

Through these forced experiments, we confirmed one hypothesis: I was more likely to feel pain when my condition wasn’t good.

His red eyes, slightly sensitive from recalling the past, stared at me.

“It seems like it’s been happening more often lately.”

I couldn’t know Lemony’s past, but seeing Deon’s almost certain demeanor made me think that perhaps Lemony didn’t feel any physical pain in the past, no matter how severe. If that was the case, the point at which she started feeling pain was when I got used to Lemony’s body.

‘Is it because of the possession?’

I wanted to discuss this with Deon, but unfortunately, I had to ponder it alone. I couldn’t tell the man who demanded I prove I wasn’t Lemony that I was possessed. If possession was the cause, things would get complicated. The longer I stayed in this body, the more sensitive to pain I might become.

“It hurts a little.”

My thoughts were interrupted by a slight pain. As usual, Deon was fiddling with my wrist. The pain was there but not enough to make me grimace.

“Then now…”

“Ow!”

But as soon as he applied a bit more pressure, an electric shock-like sensation surged through my wrist, causing me to yelp. I quickly pulled my hand back, but my face, unaccustomed to the pain, had already twisted as if I was about to cry.

“…It should be normal for me to enjoy your pain.”

…What did he say?

I was too startled to catch his words, so I asked again. His inscrutable red eyes stared at me for a moment. His once sharp gaze had softened slightly, perhaps with some reluctance. ut that was only for a moment.

“Apply a cold compress.”

A glass filled with cold water touched the back of my hand, the chill seeping into my bones. As I watched my furrowed brow, Deon’s face returned to its usual indifference.

“Just stay like that for 10 minutes.”

Both Deon and Ian were truly hard to figure out. Despite this, I managed to maintain a somewhat normal life, thanks to Leilia and Cedric. In the mornings, when everyone was awake, I practiced shooting. At first, I could only hit large rocks, but soon I could hit smaller ones too. Though I experienced muscle pain, wrapping my wrist with a bandage provided some protection.

Feeling more confident, I challenged myself with a pistol, which required a bit more focus than a shotgun. Rainy days were important to me for many reasons. While my escape was delayed due to the weather, my survival skills improved significantly.

And now.

“Gather around, everyone.”

The sky had cleared to a bright blue. Finally ready to depart, we gathered around a large round table, presumably in the office of a high-ranking officer, and unfolded the map. I could feel Deon and Ian glancing at my wrist, but they said nothing.

“Oh, by the way, those vines won’t attack unless provoked, so don’t worry.”

But the two men’s persistent gaze was broken by Leilia’s words.

“…..If you’d told us that earlier, we wouldn’t have had to squeeze into that tiny shed to sleep. Thanks for the heads-up on departure day.”

As Ian’s sharply laugh while putting both hands on the desk, Leilia blinked her innocent-looking eyes and shrugged.

“Really? I forgot to mention it because I couldn’t see them? Sorry.”

Her blue eyes, reminiscent of early summer, crinkled prettily like a crescent moon. Her lips curled up naturally, revealing neat, white teeth, enhancing her pure and gentle aura. Her smile almost seemed to carry a soapy fragrance.

So this is the visual of a female lead. Even as a woman, I was stunned. I thought Lemony looked pretty good herself, but after seeing Leilia’s smile, I understood why she was the female lead.

“Oh, one bastard is enough.”

However, Ian merely twisted his lips in disgust.

Leilia certainly wasn’t an easy personality. As in the original work, she who held the keyword “troublemaker female lead” blatantly showed her displeasure whenever she encountered Deon and Ian, whom she had seen at the vines.

So, in this situation, it was fitting for me to mediate.

“Well, since we’ve gathered three keys, we can just go straight to the main gate.”

“Since the buildings are arranged in a circle, we can go straight from Building E to Building A where the main gate is located.”

When the previously silent Deon chimed in, the others turned their attention to us. Fortunately, the topic changed.

“By the way, what else is in Building E? It seems each building has its own characteristics.”

When Cedric asked, everyone’s gaze naturally turned to me. Right, they probably thought I would know as a warden. Although I wasn’t actually a warden, I was familiar with the original story, so I let out an awkward laugh.

“Building E is a bit complicated. So if possible, I’d prefer not to enter the E building and go straight past it.”

“Why? What’s the matter?”

Leilia asked while tying up her hair.

Well, how should I explain this? On the map, each building was marked with a symbol representing it. Building A had a cross, Building B a person, Building C a coin. And passing the poisonous plant of Building D we were in, the last symbol for Building E was an eye.

The eye symbol carried various implications. The problem was that the creatures confined in Building E were invisible to the eye.

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“From here on, it’s better we go in a line. Stay alert, something could jump out.”

Deon, who had previously led purge squads or knight orders under the Khan Federation before being imprisoned, naturally took the lead. After refilling our water from a stream near Building D, we officially headed towards Building E.

I was told there were monsters in Building D that couldn’t speak. This included trees, dirt mounds, and even beautiful poisonous plants, so we had to stay on high alert as we walked.

So I tied my hair with the string Leilia gave me and forcibly shortened the sleeves of the prisoner’s uniform I received from Ian to fit my arm’s length. The torso was large but the short sleeves looked awkward, but I had no choice. I had to minimize distractions to focus on shooting.

Holding the shotgun with both hands as I walked, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone had faced monsters at least once, so we all knew light conversation was unnecessary.

And around the time when the sun was highest in the sky, something happened.

“Stop.”

Deon’s low voice broke the silence from the front.

“There are two ahead.”

Ian, who was walking at the rear, noticed the presence too and approached Deon, passing by me. His voice, which I hadn’t heard in a while, made me flinch, and I immediately took a sniping position.

“They’re standing still.”

“Indeed. Do they have no intention to attack?”

The two men acted as if there was something there. I peered around from behind them, but saw nothing.

“…Are they far away?”

Fear of the unknown is worse than fear of reality. Even though I knew Deon and Ian were in front of me, I wanted to confirm.

“They’re right in front of us. You should be able to see them now too.”

“I don’t see anything.”

“Those black leaf-like things attached to that tree, you don’t see them?”

“I see that, but…”

As I spoke, curiosity got the better of me and I narrowed my eyes. I could definitely see a 2-meter shape of a leaf attached to the tree. Initially, I thought the tree was diseased due to its blackness, but listening to Deon, I noticed the texture was entirely different from the rough, hard tree bark. It was smooth like snake skin but without any sheen, covered with fine, invisible hairs giving it a matte finish.

“Is that a living creature?”

“It’s been moving all this time. If you blink, it shifts from one tree to another, getting closer to us.”

Asking out of curiosity, I belatedly realized my question was foolish. This was Building D.

“It’s like a fool hiding its head, thinking it’s completely hidden.”

At that moment, Ian chuckled as if amused. Hiding its head? Hearing Ian’s words, I looked again and finally realized what it was. I froze in place.

The 2-meter black leaf-like form was actually wings. More precisely, the crouched wings of a bat trying to conceal its body.

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