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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Reward and Punishment
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“Yes, hello, Sir Garet.”
The attendant introduced himself as ‘Billy’ and glanced toward Sergeant First Class Kein. He said he was on an errand, adding an unprompted message.
“Sergeant Steven has ordered the prisoners to be sent back to the main building. And he asked for you, Sir Garet, to come see him.”
“Aha.”
While he spoke with the attendant, unfamiliar guards approached the new prisoners.
Soon, all the prisoners except Helios had left.
Sergeant First Class Kein also disappeared with his subordinate guards, grinding his teeth in frustration.
‘Just you wait, you damn rookie.’
The look on Sergeant First Class Kein’s face was nothing short of murderous.
‘He must have latched onto that fox, Steven! I won’t let this go…!’
The actual target of his fury didn’t even notice his rage-filled expression.
Only a few of his subordinate guards cautiously watched his mood.
“Prisoner Helios.”
At the leisurely call of his name, Helios slowly raised his head.
He looked exhausted, but a closer look revealed that his gaze was anything but.
Mint liked eyes like these.
‘The eyes of a survivor.’
Mint liked anything that survived for a long time. Ordinary people died too easily.
Of course, he was the main character, so he would have passed such a minor trial with ease even without her help.
Nevertheless, Mint was pleased.
“Hey, earlier… Hrk!”
Helios stopped mid-sentence, startled.
A hand had roughly grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him forward.
When he looked up in surprise, the face of Mint, wearing the guise of ‘Garet,’ was extremely close.
“It’s not ‘hey.’ It’s Sir Garet.”
“…”
“I would appreciate it if you would finally memorize my name.”
Mint gave a faint smile.
Helios couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man’s gently curving, kind-looking eyes.
Mint’s hand dug into Helios’s hair, messing it up.
“Very well done.”
“…”
Helios found his mouth hanging open.
At first, it was clearly a warm, somewhat comforting sensation.
But it didn’t take long for him to realize he was mistaken.
‘What in the world is he doing?’
Mint’s hand was making a mess of Helios’s hair. Was he trying to pull it out or just rumple it? Either way, the purpose was unclear.
On top of that, it even hurt.
“…What the hell are you doing?”
“Praising you.”
With such a rough hand?
“It’s in the guard manual, Article 7: ‘A Guard’s Attitude Toward Prisoners.’ Appropriate praise and rewards can sometimes be effective in taming prisoners.”
“…What kind of praise is this!”
“Ahem.”
What one must understand here is that Helios was a good deal taller than Mint in her ‘Garet’ guise.
To avoid restricting her own movements, Mint had set the height of her virtual persona, ‘Garet,’ to be only slightly taller than herself.
Because of this, Helios, with his collar grabbed, had to bend his knees and hunch over considerably.
As if displeased with the angle while holding Helios’s head, Mint narrowed her gentle eyes.
“Tsk, I don’t like this.”
*Thump.* Mint had only tapped Helios’s leg lightly, but it buckled without resistance.
He suddenly found himself on his knees.
“Ah, that’s better.”
Helios was bewildered. *What? What is this?*
“…What is the meaning of this?”
“It means you’re at a much more convenient height to be touched. You’re too tall.”
Helios was so dumbfounded he couldn’t speak.
“Let go! You treat a dog like this, not a person…! Treating a person like a dog!”
“You’re not wrong. They call prisoners ‘stray dogs’ here. Correct.”
“Let go of me!”
Mint looked at Helios and pressed down firmly on his head.
‘What should I call this? Cute?’
It was because the struggling Helios felt quite… cute.
*Can a person’s hair be this soft? Or is it because he was an imperial noble?*
Plus, despite being in a filthy prison, he had a refreshing scent.
Mint found it fascinating and pressed down again and again.
Helios’s resisting hands couldn’t pry Mint’s hand away.
Inwardly, Helios was panicking.
No matter how drained and exhausted he was, how could he fail to remove this one hand when their difference in size was so great?
‘He doesn’t even seem to be using much strength.’
There wasn’t even the shimmering light he’d seen when Garet had saved him from the violence before.
In other words, it didn’t look like he was using Kia.
Of course, this was just Helios’s misconception; Mint was using a faint amount of Kia.
“Now, now, Prisoner Helios. Accept it quietly.”
“You, what kind of power is…!”
“Yes, yes. Your hair is very nice.”
“Shut up!”
But in the end, Helios was just a beginner who had only started to sense the energy of Kia.
He couldn’t overcome Mint’s strength. Or so he thought.
*Grab!*
Mint’s eyes widened for a moment.
Helios had broken free of Mint’s power and grabbed her wrist.
“I told you to stop.”
Having straightened his back, it was now Helios who seemed to be pressuring Mint.
Mint was surprised.
Even though Mint had been using hardly any strength, she had still been using Kia.
‘A prodigy is a prodigy, I guess?’
Mint blinked.
His hand was warm.
Then again, his fever probably hadn’t subsided yet.
“More importantly, keep your promise. You said you’d tell me if I survived. How to make the shield.”
“If you survive, I’ll tell you how I made that shield.”
A small smile touched Mint’s lips.
“Of course. A promise must be kept.”
At the same time, with a *thud*, the position that had just been reversed was flipped once more.
Helios felt a throbbing in his knees. Before he knew it, he was kneeling again.
His head was forced up.
“This instructor aims to be a guard who can be trusted with promises and rewards.”
Mint’s white-gloved hand hovered so close to Helios’s chin it was almost touching.
“And I don’t appreciate insubordination.”
“…!”
There was no hand holding his chin, yet it felt like something was lifting it. This was definitely Kia.
“I’d like my dear dedicated prisoner to pound that into his thick skull.”
*Smirk.* Mint, in her ‘Garet’ guise, smiled.
Now, hurry up and grow, you brat.
* * *
I am an excellent guard who always keeps promises and gives rewards, thereby building trust.
At least, I resolved to appear that way.
Becoming such a guard requires effort.
First, I wake up in the morning and read the manual repeatedly.
Recently, I’ve changed my routine a bit and have also been reading the condensed summary of the manual that Sergeant Steven gave me.
The sergeant had included some rather useful information here and there.
[※Note!
Sergeant First Class Kein, who is in charge of the lowest-grade prisoners, is a severe hard-ass.
But a new guard needs to know how to properly assert their own opinion. Pretend to follow his orders, but try doing things just a little differently than he says, or express your own view! You’ll see something amusing!]
Advice like that.
[※Warning!
The Sergeant First Class in charge of the low-grade prisoners has a terrible temper. When he uses his unique Kia, take refuge in the room to the left!]
Useful bits of information were recorded.
There was even a section about the Warden, and I was impressed by how detailed and accurate it was.
‘Usually, a Sergeant is a guard with over two years of experience.’
After four years, or if they’re particularly competent, they’re promoted to Sergeant First Class.
But this information seemed to be too much for someone with only two to four years of experience to know.
‘What kind of person is he?’
The question made me tilt my head for a moment, but I soon lost interest.
My goal, after all, is just to get the main character to the top of the tower.
So now, a month after the main character’s arrival, another routine has been added to my daily life.
“You understand what Kia is by now, don’t you?”
“…”
The tower’s trials are held once a week, so a month passing meant there had been four more trials since the first.
The main character, as expected, easily passed the subsequent tests and rose to the 4th floor.
In truth, the lowest-grade floors were simple once you got the hang of them, just like the 1st floor.
The only difference on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors was the type of animal that appeared.
“What is Kia?”
“…The energy source that constitutes this world, spread throughout it. Or the source of power.”
“Good. You’re not an idiot.”
“…I’d have to be a real moron not to know after hearing the same thing for a whole month.”
A grumble escaped him.
“If I had known I’d only be listening to theory lessons a child could understand, I’d want to go back in time and strangle myself.”
“Suicide is forbidden in prison.”
“…”
Helios raised an eyebrow.
His expression was clearly displeased.
After observing him for a month, I concluded that the main character was a peculiar human.
He dislikes this and he dislikes that. He’s uncomfortable if I do this, and displeased if I do that.
Therefore.
I concluded that since he dislikes everything I do, I’m free to do whatever I want.
