Released from Prison

I realized that no matter where you go in the world, connections and backing are the most important thing. To think that turning a perfectly healthy young man into minced meat in front of so many people would end with nothing more than a fine. It had been a mutually agreed-upon duel from the start, and Hoon was the one who had applied for it first. Moreover, he had definitely died before he could shout the word “surrender.” Although I had clamped my hand over his mouth, the arena regulations contained no rule against doing so.

When I stepped out of prison, Ricardo was the first to greet me. What greeted me was a warm punch.

“...That hurts, hyung-nim.”

“It’s punishment for making everyone worry. My wife was worried about you too.”

“Is it okay that I killed someone?”

“Why are you acting like this is news? It was a duel from the beginning. And it’s not like this is your first time killing a person.”

Werner had been killing people ever since the days of Dragnity Fantasy 1. Heretics who worshipped demons, black mages who had fallen after making deals with them—beings like that.

Normally a young boy would be shaken after taking a life, yet Werner had shown no agitation at all after his first murder. On the contrary, it was his comrades who had been the ones worried and concerned when he first killed someone.

Originally Werner had been so soft-hearted that he was even afraid to deliver the final blow to a wild animal he had caught. Yet standing before the corpse of the man he had killed, he spoke calmly.

Werner had been the boss of the slum children, including Irina. He had witnessed death countless times. According to Irina, the moment seven-year-old Werner appeared in the slums he had already killed an adult who tried to rape him.

The party members worried about Werner’s twisted mind. At the same time, some feared that instilling too strong a sense of life’s value would make the boy too soft. After all, countless people had died from being stabbed in the back after showing sympathy or mercy to enemies in truly critical moments.

So Werner’s comrades took turns teaching him the value of life.

Hero Zeke, Saintess Media, and Archduke Melchior gave him this lesson.

But Heavenly Demon Oh Cheon-yeong, Phantom Thief Squar, Knight Commander Ricardo, and Blood Queen Melissa taught him this.

Young Werner accepted all of these teachings. He learned that every life is precious. Therefore, even if someone insulted him, mocked him, caused him loss, or stole his achievements, Werner endured. He could not kill them himself, and if he told his older brothers or sisters, they would surely become angry and beat the offender. Because life was precious, he suppressed his own power and endured everything.

He also learned that those who must be killed, must be killed. Human traffickers, bandits, serial killers… he slaughtered without mercy anyone who harmed “others” rather than himself. Because life was precious, he came to believe that those who harmed it must die.

The two contradictory teachings became entangled within Werner’s view of life, and that entanglement soon became a scale. With his philosophy of life transformed into a scale, Werner willingly threw his body into danger for the sake of others and suffered injury. And because he did not define evil itself as life, he created even more enemies.

To Zeke, Media, and Melchior, Werner proudly boasted of protecting precious lives.

Everyone clutched their foreheads at the fact that he had lent a sum large enough to buy an entire mansion with neither collateral nor a promissory note.

And afterward, Werner boasted to Oh Cheon-yeong, Squar, Ricardo, and Melissa like this.

Werner proudly displayed a black orb compressed with dark magic that contained the bandits. Of course, even after doing something like that he received praise for a job well done.

So at the time, no one realized. No one knew that this scale would one day become the weapon that killed Werner.

In the moment of absolute crisis, Werner faced a choice in which only one of Airi or himself could survive. Had he been his old self, he would have chosen himself without hesitation, but that choice now hung upon Werner’s scale.

The teaching that innocent life is precious made Airi’s life weigh heavily. The scale measured the value of Airi’s life—even more worthy of love than his own—even higher. The teaching to scorn the lives of those who deserved death made his own life light; no matter how much trash he had killed, he had still taken many lives. And the teaching to kill without hesitation for the sake of what is precious led to the conclusion that he should die for the child of his first love, who was more precious than himself.

Thus the scale created inside his heart became a dagger that stabbed Werner’s own chest.

“Hyung-nim, I’m hungry.”

The prison meals had been decent, but the portions were far too small.

“All right. Let’s head back to your house first. Your lovers are waiting.”

“Lovers, you say…”

“I never imagined my little brother would become this promiscuous. The women raising such a fuss to save you must be your lovers. One older woman and two younger ones… Ah, isn’t one of them a bit dangerous?”

“She’ll be having her birthday tomorrow, so it’s fine.”

“The moment a prerequisite gets attached, it starts sounding weird.”

We traded jokes like that as we returned to the mansion.

Ricardo dropped me off and immediately left again, saying he missed his wife. On the way back in the carriage I had heard that they named the baby after me—Bernia and Alten. I wanted to argue that if they were going to copy the name that much they should at least pay copyright fees, but then I remembered they had given me the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mansion, so I figured I had already received sufficient compensation.

When I opened the door to my copyright-fee mansion, three women greeted me warmly.

“Master! We’ve been waiting! We thought about charging in together with Glacia, but Camellia unni stopped us…”

If they had actually done that, the situation would have spiraled beyond repair… This wasn’t the French Revolution.

“Welcome back, Sir Werner. I merely offered my opinion. The one who insisted on breaking down the prison was only that child. I simply applied quiet pressure to the other side.”

That still didn’t sound quiet at all…

“You’ve grown quite haggard. Shall we start with a meal?”

Yes, just as Camellia said, food came first. I was so hungry I felt like I might die.

I followed them to the dining room… and an army of dishes impossible for one person to finish had completely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠conquered the table.

“Ah, we’re fine, so Master, please eat a lot by yourself.”

Fuck, were they trying to stuff me full? No, they really were trying to stuff me full, but it felt less like feeding me rice and more like feeding me shit… Wasn’t this the same food torture they did in the military?

I had no choice but to eat until I was full and leave the rest.

“Glacia’s cooking is amazingly good. Camellia unni and I helped and tasted it while we were at it—it was incredibly delicious!”

Leaving behind handmade dishes prepared to celebrate my release would look terrible.

“Hahaha… I’ll enjoy it. And thank you for preparing the meal with your own hands, Lady Glacia.”

Mantaro-nim, please lend me strength so that I, as a fellow glutton, may conquer this feast.