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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Warden's Deal
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The power of Kia made all things possible.
Thus, if you lined everyone up by rank, you’d find the old, the young, men, and women.
And I possessed immense potential and talent for this power.
Enough to overwhelm everyone and stand at the apex the moment I awakened it.
As a side effect, I forgot some of the common sense necessary for social life. But what could I do?
It was now the third day since I’d declared I would try to find my long-lost social skills and live with a bit of common sense.
‘But what in the world does cleaning have to do with common sense?’
I did it because I was told to, but becoming a person of common sense was no easy task.
‘What’s the point? I can’t even break out, let alone get released.’
I tilted my head.
“So, Warden. May I ask what business you have with me?”
“Insolent girl. It’s not common sense to bring up business first in front of an elder.”
“It seems you now call anything that displeases you a matter of common sense.”
“That's your delusion.”
“Yes, sir.”
The words were frivolous, but Ralph never called for me without reason.
The old man, busy enjoying his power, had no reason to summon me during these peaceful times.
It had to be a job that those who treat me like a dog would order.
Unless, like a few years ago, a massive brawl had broken out that needed suppressing.
“Anyway, Mint. Cut it out, just cut it out.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“You think I don't know you deliberately provoked those thugs you beat to a pulp today?”
I subtly broke my 'at ease' stance and stood nonchalantly.
“Those promising youths who aspire to become rapists the moment they walk in would be better off as fertilizer for this land.”
It was an audacious posture to take before the Warden, but for me, it was fine.
The privilege of an old-timer.
“You're a funny one. A girl who killed thirty-two people at the age of twelve thinks she has the right to punish a single rapist?”
“Then I'll change it to: if you're weak, you die.”
“Just like that?”
“I came to this position so I could live as I please.”
“...”
“Give me a break. My Amy screamed, you know.”
“Amy?”
“You see. So, the right one is...”
“...Enough. Shut up.”
I picked at my ear.
“Didn't you say it yourself, Warden? That this is a place where people live, so there's right and wrong, but whether I abide by it is my choice.”
Unfortunately, since my common sense packed up and left long ago, I’ve been relearning things one by one recently.
‘It's been almost ten years. I should start preparing for my release.’
I can't stand what I can't stand.
The faint remnant of 'Bakha' inside me was screaming, so I had to listen.
The Warden and the guards would have preferred a leader more to their taste—someone violent...
...or someone who would lick their boots, mad with power. Or even a complete lunatic. But it was me who rose to the top.
“In return, haven't I been a good dog, barking my heart out whenever you need me to?”
“When did you ever bar—”
“Woof! Woof woof! Woof woof woof!”
“...”
“Woo—”
“Alright, just shut up!”
I could feel the Warden looking at me with his usual 'what kind of psycho is this' expression.
Thus, unable to even be released, I had established myself as the prison's biggest headache. But today's conversation was different.
“Do you want to get out?”
I wiped the nonchalant look from my face and looked at the bald Warden.
I stared at the Warden, whose expression had become just as serious, then languidly tilted my head.
“What kind of false hope are you giving this poor lifer?”
The Warden rested his arms on the desk and propped up his chin.
“I'll have you declared dead on paper. In return, you have to do a job for me.”
“I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, sir.”
Some opportunities truly do arrive as suddenly as a lie.
Though inwardly stirred, I didn't let it show and quietly waited for his next words.
In this prison rife with deception, a place full of blackmail and bluffs, what you needed were precise words.
An inescapable promise.
“Help me, and I'll get you released.”
“What shall I do, Master?”
“...”
For a moment, disbelief flickered across his face again.
The man who was like a king in this prison gave me my orders.
“A VIP will be arriving here soon.”
It’s not like nobles never end up here. Case in point: me.
I'm a noble, after all.
Of course, it's rare for them to come this far, but it's not unheard of.
And 'VIP' meant a particularly precious noble among them.
“The new inmate arriving soon—make sure he survives in this prison.”
“Is survival all?”
The Warden shook his head.
“Can you make him the leader?”
“...”
They call it a prison, but this place is lawless.
It was not a promise one could make lightly.
Nevertheless, I extended my hand.
“Leave it to me.”
A green light flowed from my hand like a thin thread.
The Warden grimaced with a grunt but extended his own wrinkled hand.
A golden light flowed from the Warden's hand.
The moment our fingertips touched, the different colored threads tied themselves together.
It was an oath made with Kia.
An oath that would make one's heart explode if broken.
“When the job is successfully completed, I will ensure your release. Your existence will be erased, and you'll be given a new identity.”
With dark stars fixed in my eyes, I beamed.
Weren't they disgustingly bright?
After the oath was sealed, the Warden, as if leaving a bad taste in his mouth, shook his hands off and spoke.
“However, the place you need to go is the men's prison in the west wing.”
Huh? Is my hearing going bad? I thought I heard something strange.
“...Unfortunately, my biological sex is female.”
Wasn't the VIP a female noble? Well, it didn't matter if she wasn't.
And I didn't mind going to the west wing, but as I said, my gender was female.
“So you'll have to hide it.”
“...Warden, by any chance, is the thing dangling between your legs detachable?”
“...What did you just say?”
“How am I supposed to attach something that isn't there?”
“I'm telling you to disguise yourself, disguise!”
The Warden snapped. Right, a disguise.
But was that an easy thing to do?
“We'll take care of all the preparations. You just get ready to disappear.”
“Yes, well.”
The 'Mint' who was unnecessary to the plan would disappear.
I nodded without any lingering attachment.
A few more details were discussed after that, but nothing was as important as the reward I'd first heard.
My hands trembled slightly, even when still.
I can finally get out.
If I can just solve this one thing.
* * *
The Warden began arranging for my identity to be erased, which wasn't a very difficult task.
I organized my belongings in my cell.
I had stayed there for a whole ten years, but I had no great attachment to the place.
“I'm going to be away for a while.”
At my words, a beauty with pink hair blinked.
She was a beauty despite the burn that covered a third of one side of her face, a woman with brown eyes.
“Ah, finally getting executed? Is that it, Boss?”
The beauty's name was Ramona. Her specialty was 'poisoning.'
She had a knack for creating poison with corrupted Kia.
“Tell me the details, hmm?”
“Shut up, Ramona! What is there to tell? Damn it. I knew this day would come. It was weird you didn't get taken out sooner after pulling all that crap in front of the Warden.”
“My, Deril, what a thing to say.”
The woman with short red hair, almost a pixie cut, was Deril.
Her build, rivaling that of a grown man, was a characteristic of her musculoskeletal enhancement-type Kia.
“What about me? How many times has the Warden used 'errands' as an excuse to get rid of a leader he didn't like? It's obvious you're finally getting replaced. The boss just lasted unusually long.”
Ramona and Deril were prisoners designated as 'High-Grade/Class 1' by the guards.
Within the high-grade, there was 3, 2, and 1. Like grades given to livestock, the lower the number, the higher the rank.
In other words, the two of them held the highest rank below the leader.
“That's what's happening.”
“What's happening? Explain it properly. Are you dying? Are you really kicking the bucket? Or what, are you getting released?”
Deril said the last part with a look that suggested it was obviously not the case.
Why does she think I'm not getting released? A little disappointing.
“Oh my, so is it death by hanging, or flogging? Or the electric chair? Which one is it?”
“Hm. Think what you will.”
Ramona's eyes curved as she gave a soft smile.
“It's difficult to talk about, isn't it?”
When I didn't answer, Deril threw a fit.
Ramona's gentle prodding only made her more frantic. It was a familiar sight.
I paid them no mind and turned my head.
There, a woman was cowering, watching us warily.
“You heard? That's what's happening.”
Brown hair, a neat face, a kind impression.
It was the new inmate, 'Haira'.
“Um, what do you mean by that...?”
“Normally, I'd spend about a week with a new inmate, showing them around.”
“...”
“Because this place is so rough.”
This person, she's pretending to be wary, but she's not scared at all.
I noticed with my sharp intuition but pretended not to and continued speaking.
