Chapter 250: 43rd Floor: Let's See the Prisoner (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 250: 43rd Floor: Let's See the Prisoner (2)
My embarrassment at showing Malcolm my event-exclusive sling-shot bikini was only momentary.
I quickly stood up and spoke with forced confidence.
"Turn. Around. This is merely appropriate attire for entering the water."
I faltered a bit at first, but I managed to salvage the Warden's dignity. Malcolm turned around with the creaking stiffness of a robot.
Aaaaaaaah!! He didn't think it was weird, did he? No, more importantly, how long was he there? Did he see what the eel did to me? No, that was underwater, so he couldn't have seen it, right?
A thousand thoughts raced through my mind, but I first dried myself off with a large towel and put my uniform back on.
"Ahem... I'm decent now. So, why are you here?"
"Ah... hahaha... Well, I was worried about sending you down alone, Warden. I-I swear I had no other intentions. What I just saw, I'll keep it a secret... no, what just happened? I don't remember a thing! Should we head down to the 9th floor now? Let's go, quickly!"
Malcolm shot nervous glances at me, trying his best to break the awkward atmosphere with an exaggerated tone and gestures.
"Ahem... The electric eel's original territory was 8-11, but I've decided to move it to 8-17. See that it's done."
"Oh, of course! I'll pass on the message right away!"
"Good. That's the right attitude."
He's not going to go around spreading rumors, is he?
It seemed excessive to resort to violence or kill him just to shut him up about seeing my sling-shot bikini.
I could only hope Malcolm knew how to keep his mouth shut.
The deeper we went, the wider the passages became, and the distance between floors grew.
I reviewed the documents as we descended to the 9th floor.
Hmm... A vampire?
And not just any vampire.
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• True Ancestor Vampire
Name: Kenain Blamish.
A mentally ill vampire who dreams of resurrecting his dead wife.
------
The description was far too simple.
Mental illness... well, there's no one here who isn't suffering from that, so I guess there are no special precautions?
"Malcolm. Do you know anything about the vampire on the 9th floor?"
"Ah, that guy? He's just a pitiful man."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well... you'll see when you meet him, but... he's an ancient being who's been here since this place was built. He seems to be trying to resurrect his dead wife, and he's the type of fool who will do anything if you tell him, 'It's for the sake of reviving your wife.' He's easy to take advantage of, but he's also a fool who's easily taken advantage of in turn."
"And?"
"Oh, there's also this. I heard someone once tried to touch his wife's corpse while saying, 'It's for the sake of reviving your wife!' and got himself killed. It was before my time, but apparently, he goes berserk if anyone tries to make contact with her."
Hmm...
For a moment, the thought 'Should I try it?' crossed my mind, but I decided against creating unnecessary variables.
After walking down the stairs in silence for about ten minutes, an exit came into view, revealing a castle with a gloomy atmosphere. It was completely different from the other floors.
Is this a prison or a castle?
The iron bars on the main gate did make it look like a prison, though. The gate, of course, was open.
"I'm just going to confirm the vampire is unharmed, and then we'll leave."
"Yes, ma'am!"
A True Ancestor Vampire... I could feel his energy.
He wasn't as strong as me, but he seemed to be the most powerful of all the inmates I'd seen so far. I suppose there was a reason he was locked away on the 9th basement floor.
Entering the castle, I saw ornate decorations and furniture, just like a real vampire's castle. But everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, having been neglected for a long time.
"Where is the True Ancestor?"
"He's usually in the bedroom on the second floor. His wife is there."
He's keeping her corpse?
We walked through the empty home with echoing footsteps.
The splendid paintings and decorations felt somewhat desolate with no one around.
When I opened the bedroom door at the end of the second-floor hall, I saw a man with long, red hair clinging to a motionless, blonde lover, as if embracing her. Based on looks alone, they were a handsome couple straight out of a popular romance fantasy novel.
The True Ancestor, with his red eyes, slowly lifted his head to look at us.
"Who... are you?"
His voice sounded weary.
Still, I had a job to do.
"I am the new Warden. From now on, you will act under my command. Understand? Everything is for the sake of reviving your wife."
"I understand..."
He had been staring blankly, as if ignoring my words, but when I said, "for the sake of reviving your wife," his eyes widened slightly, and he nodded.
His eyes were a bit hazy, but they still held a flicker of undying hope.
Thud.
I closed the door and left.
Once outside the castle, I spoke to Malcolm.
"That woman... is she dead?"
"Pardon? Ah, she looks like she's sleeping, but she must be dead, right? She's probably been like that for at least a few hundred years."
Hmm... For a corpse, she seemed rather full of life.
I decided to put the vampire out of my mind and continue downward.
As long as he didn't do anything strange, he might not have any impact on this Trial.
The Tower doesn't always require you to utilize every situation or uncover some hidden meaning when it presents a Trial. Sometimes, assuming there's more to it and poking around can bring you more harm than good. It was best to just let it be.
Finally, the 10th floor.
The inmate imprisoned here was...
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• Demon King Montraga
Leave him be.
------
Are these descriptions getting shorter and shorter?
At this point, I had no choice but to ask Malcolm.
"The Demon King Montraga on the 10th basement floor. What's his story?"
"Ah, you don't really need to see him. You couldn't release him even if you wanted to. They say he's the reason this underground prison was created and also its power source."
"The Demon King is a power source? And what do you mean, you can't release him?"
"It'll be easier to understand if you see for yourself. But there's really nothing to it. It'll just be a waste of time going back and forth."
"I'm going to see him anyway. Just in case."
A thorough Warden must be meticulous.
"By the way, who was the inmate that escaped from the research lab? Did he make it all the way down to the 10th floor?"
The reason I was here in the first place.
I was told it was because some prisoner who escaped the research lab had caused a riot. Since it would take a while to get down to the 10th floor anyway, and it might be related to this Trial, I decided to hear him out.
"Ah, you're finally giving me a chance to speak! Well~~ here's what happened!"
*
Malcolm didn't stop talking until we reached the 10th basement floor.
Filtering out his useless tales of heroism, the short version was that a slime had escaped during some experiment and opened the prison cells.
It was apparently thanks to its ability to freely switch its body between liquid and solid states.
The inmates who excitedly broke out mostly ended up killing each other, and the rest were all killed fighting the guards.
He said the former Warden and a currently surviving guard named Marta played a major role.
So it was him. Marta, the bloodthirsty madman.
When I saw him during the day, he seemed to be the most normal one after Malcolm.
Meanwhile, the research lab had locked its doors and hidden, suffering no damage whatsoever. The slime, he said, had since been recaptured and taken back to the lab.
He also said that, naturally, no one knew the slime had made it down to the 10th floor. In fact, this was the first time anyone had gone below the 6th basement floor since the riot.
"Hmph... Those lab rats need to be taught a lesson."
"Haha... W-we'd appreciate that, of course."
"That's enough. Focus now."
We arrived at the 10th floor.
Like the 9th floor, the 10th was no ordinary prison.
There was a colossal black rock emanating a peculiar energy.
And chained to it was the Demon King.
Large horns protruded from both sides of his head.
His skin was the purplish hue characteristic of the demon race.
Clad only in rags, his entire body was bound in chains as he slept.
"He's sealed. They say he's the Demon King who once drove the continent to the brink of extinction... but now he's just here like this. And apparently, no one can break those chains."
"Hmm... 'No one can break them.' Is that true?"
I feel like I could break them...
I'd have to actually try to know for sure, but that was just the feeling I got.
"Oh, absolutely! I'd bet my balls that no one can... ah, sorry. Anyway, absolutely, po-si-tively! No one can break them."
I wanted to try right then and there, but all I would gain from it would be Malcolm's useless testicles and a fucked-up Trial.
"I've confirmed it. Let's go back up."
It seems even the slime couldn't do anything about this.
The ascent was very peaceful.
However, Malcolm kept spouting pointless nonsense, so I said,
"Malcolm."
"And that's when I—bam! Oh, yes...?"
"Shut your mouth."
"Yes, ma'am..."
I felt a little bad for Malcolm, but once I said it, I felt so much more comfortable.
We ascended in silence. Malcolm said it was dinnertime and suggested we eat, but I told him I'd eat separately and returned to the Warden's office.
First, I should file my report.
I decided to write a response to the Special Order.
I started by listing all the inmates I had met today.
Orc Lord Grun.
Tentacle Monster Augusper.
Arachne.
Mutated giant species.
The electric eel.
The vampire.
The Demon King.
"I thought there'd be more, but it's not that many."
Now, to fill in the details.
I'll be honest. But I'll leave out the part about the electric eel.
The embarrassing memory flashed through my mind.
Damn it... How did that even happen?
Regarding the electric eel, I simply wrote that I tried to capture it but failed because it was too slippery.
As for the unidentifiable Tentacle Monster like Augusper, I honestly wrote that I was still in the process of assessing it.
Alright... Now I can eat a delicious meal by myself and go to sleep.
While the other guards ate their strange food, I enjoyed a delicious Korean Army Base Stew all by myself. I knew their food was strange because I'd smelled it on my way up.
The Iron-Blooded Prison Warden never dines with others.
What does that have to do with anything? I have no idea.
After I finished eating, a new Special Order had arrived.
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☆ Special Order
So the research lab isn't on our side. The guards' headquarters and the lab's headquarters must be different entities. Right, that's why they said not to touch them.
It's an unwritten rule not to mess with guys from other units.
It's surprisingly common for the department that produces results and the one that oversees it to be different.
It seems this underground prison is a joint operation between several nations or organizations.
And... right, I still don't know how the slime escaped from the lab.
I only know the result—that a slime got out and freed the prisoners. I know nothing about how it escaped, how it gained its abilities, or what's being done with it now that it's been recaptured by the lab.
Those lab rats are definitely hiding something. This is likely the key to clearing this Trial.
But there's no need to rush. I'll rest today and deal with it tomorrow.
I sent a confirmation reply and was about to go on a surprise inspection to make sure the guards weren't up to anything strange when I heard someone approaching.
Two people.
Malcolm and one other.
Knock, knock.
"Warden, the Research Lab Director is here and wishes to see you. What should I do?"
The Research Lab Director?
Good, perfect timing.
If I play my cards right, I might be able to kill another bird with one stone.
"Send him in."
Click.
The door opened, and a middle-aged man in a white lab coat entered, carrying a briefcase in his left hand.
His head was a perfectly clean-shaven bald, and while he was large-framed, he had a prominent potbelly.
This description might paint an unpleasant picture, but his warm, good-natured expression seemed to offset all his shortcomings.
"You must be the new Warden. My, my apologies for the late greeting~"
As I watched him silently, he was the first to speak, greeting me with an oily smile.
He's the Research Lab Director and he's older than me, yet he's willing to bow his head first. He's either up to something, or he's just a nice person...
I couldn't judge based on this alone.
He was clearly from a competing organization.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Lee Do-hee, the new Warden. I was planning to pay you a visit tomorrow, but you've come to me first."
It was a little embarrassing, but to be honest, I hadn't had much practice with pleasantries during Trials.
I usually just crushed everything with force, or my companions handled it for me, so I might have sounded a bit awkward.
"Hahahaha! Not at all. Ah, you may leave. We have things to discuss in private," the Research Lab Director said, dismissing Malcolm. He walked around the room a bit, then said,
"Ahem... This might be a long conversation, so why don't we sit? My legs get stiff at my age... ahem."
The Research Lab Director cleared his throat and naturally took a seat at the table.
It wasn't a particularly problematic action, so I sat down across from him as well.
"What is the purpose of your visit?" I asked, getting straight to the point.
Beating around the bush wasn't my style, and it certainly wasn't the style of the Iron-Blooded Prison Warden.
"Ahem... Please, let's not be so rigid. Aren't we in the same boat?"
But the Research Lab Director just smiled faintly and deflected the question.
"The same boat? What do you mean by that?"
"You receive orders from your headquarters to file reports, don't you? Don't they ask you to go to the research lab and act as a spy?"
"...How did you know that?"
"Ahem... As I said, we're in the same boat. I also receive orders to investigate your side, or to eliminate you if I'm discovered. I've been doing this for almost twenty years now; I know how things work."
Eliminate me?
Did that mean all the Wardens who had delved into the lab's secrets had been killed? If so, what about the previous Warden?
As my gaze sharpened, he seemed to sense the change in atmosphere and shook his head frantically.
"No, the previous Warden's death was truly an accident. We've never actually assassinated anyone. How could we just kill people? It's better to disobey the order and just take a pay cut. I-I'm not that kind of person!"
I didn't trust his words, but there was no point in doubting him here. I simply nodded and moved on.
"So, why are you here?"
"Ah, right. How about we exchange information with each other? To be precise, let's just exchange enough information for the reports we send to our respective headquarters. I'm only here because I enjoy the research, but you must have other dreams, Warden. You won't be here forever, so why not have a comfortable stay and then move on to a better place?"
Oh...
An exchange of information.
At first glance, it sounded perfect.
But there's no such thing as a free lunch. It was obvious to anyone that the lab's information was far more valuable than mine.
"Are you hiding something? This doesn't seem like an equal trade..."
"My... you're quite sharp. To be honest, I came here to ask for another favor as well. Would you perhaps be willing to actively cooperate with our experiments? If you do, I will provide you with all the information your headquarters desires, without any restrictions."
Cooperate with their experiments...
Would that be alright?