The Punishment Hall (8)
The Punishment Hall (8)
Monica's shoulders slumped.
"Why would you make a request like that...?"
"Because I'm confident?"
"It's because you haven't seen that place yet, Inquisitor. It's full of truly dangerous prisoners, I'm telling you."
"Is that so? You must have had a hard time, Warden Monica."
"I-it's not that bad... hehe... I'm not the administrator to begin with, so all I did was help out sometimes."
Monica smiled adorably. I followed her deeper into the cellblock.
The innermost part of the Punishment Office. A place that lay beyond dozens of brutal iron bars, deeper still.
Monica looked back at me. Her smiling face quickly turned serious.
"Inquisitor Zahard. Do you have no intention of turning back?"
"The inside must be pretty awful, I take it?"
"It's a place where the word awful doesn't even begin to cover it. Cellblock 10 is a prison holding only death-row inmates serving life sentences. There are only five prisoners, but... they're made up of serious offenders even the Empire avoids. The guards normally go in as a five-person squad. Going alone is impossible."
"Hmm... is that so?"
"I don't think it's possible to rehabilitate them within a month. How about withdrawing your statement now and going back? If you find another way and keep at it, Director Veronica would surely show some leniency..."
"She didn't look like that kind of person to me, though?"
"...Right? Director Veronica withdrawing a statement. That's a ridiculous notion."
Monica let out a sigh.
"You must not disobey Director Veronica in the Punishment Office. Her word is law here."
The thick iron door opened. The sound of metal scraping against the floor made an unpleasant noise.
"Director Veronica said not to provide any help other than passing along information. I want to help you too, Inquisitor, but... she has a surprisingly strict side... you must never disobey an order she gave while she was in her right mind. She's someone who values principle above all, so..."
"Are you worried about me?"
"Huh? Ah... w-well, of course I am? Cellblock 10 is extremely dangerous. If you got hurt for no reason..."
"There's no need to worry."
I stepped into the dark cellblock.
"I may not look it, but I've survived in a place dangerous enough for the Empire to issue a no-entry order."
"That Paramer you mentioned before..."
"Yes. That's right. That's me!"
She finally recognized it! Yes! I'd thought at least one person would have heard my name!
"I've heard about Paramer. That it's an incredibly dangerous place..."
"Well, it wasn't all that hard..."
"To have made it out of there safely... that's amazing! Just coming back alive is a miracle!"
Judging by how she still thought of it as a dangerous city instead of knowing it had been saved, Monica seemed to be just as much of a country bumpkin.
Never mind.
I cracked my knuckles. Cellblock 10, huh...
How nostalgic. I'd never been here as a priest, but I had come here as a different character in the game. Back when I played as a criminal, I think.
All but one of them were lunatics, but they were useful. Once you built up a certain amount of affection, they became lunatics you could handle.
"What should I do first?"
"Shall we start with meal distribution?"
Monica pulled over the distribution cart. Inside was a large amount of water and food.
It was far too much for a simple meal for five people.
"Cellblock 10 is separately prohibited from outside activity. The prisoners don't do any work either. But there is one unusual thing."
"What is it?"
"The prisoners' meals all have to be handled by the guard in charge. The prisoners can't move because of their restraints. The only way for them to eat properly is for a guard to feed them."
Monica crossed a room far too large for only five people to use. She stopped first in front of the first cell.
Monica picked up the documents. She jotted down a light note.
"Prisoner number IS-01. Valkan. A wolf Beastfolk. His teeth are especially sharp, so you need to be careful."
I stared steadily into the darkness. Something beyond the shadows looked back at me.
A restraint suit covering his entire body. His ash-gray hair was slightly long. A long scar across his right eye made his warm-looking face sharper.
"His crime is cannibalism of his own kind. He has a bit of a voracious appetite. He's wearing a restraint suit, but you mustn't let your guard down. His physical abilities are exceptional. The guards who've had their ears and necks torn off are countless. One of them had his throat bitten and his artery torn, and was sent straight to the infirmary."
I opened the bars and went inside. Along with a musty smell, filth was piled up inside.
Seeing it in person, it's even worse. A beast cage would be in better condition than this.
"Don't they clean separately?"
"...It's less that they don't and more that they can't. All they do is occasionally haul out the filth. The resistance is too fierce, and you never know which way they'll lash out..."
"Heave-ho."
I took out soup from the distribution cart. I ladled it into a bowl, then dipped a spoon in.
"I-Inquisitor?! You can't just act all of a sudden like...!"
"Valkan, was it?"
He glanced at me. With his whole body bound, his eyes—the only part that could move freely—stared straight at me.
I popped off the gag covering his mouth. As his sharp teeth were revealed, I immediately heard him growl.
"I'm Zahard. Open up. I'll feed you."
"......"
"I didn't put any poison in it. Here."
I thrust the spoon out. Valkan watched me warily, then opened his mouth.
He even chewed with a crunching sound, as if he meant to devour the spoon itself. He must have been quite hungry.
"How long exactly have you been starving him?"
"Th-the ones managing Cellblock 10 are supposed to be Warden Rupes's subordinates..."
"Anyone can see he's been starved. If you don't even feed them because you're scared, that's..."
I pulled my hand back. Valkan's sharp teeth snapped at empty air.
Well, look at that. He bit right away.
"That doesn't taste good, you know? Behave and eat your food."
I forced the soup into his mouth. Good. That concluded the first meeting. I scraped the soup into him until it was gone, then moved to the next cell.
"...You're quite skilled at this."
"This much is nothing."
The second cell smelled even worse. The amount of filth was enormous too. A massive build. A lizard large enough to be called a small giant lay sprawled on its side.
Monica pinched her nose. She frowned as well, unable to endure it.
"How exactly is Warden Rupes managing the cellblock...!"
"Does Warden Rupes manage all the male cellblocks?"
"No. There are ten cellblocks in total. Rupes is someone who went around saying he didn't want to work, so Director Veronica personally put him somewhere out of sight. But even so... this is practically abandonment...!"
Let's see. I picked up the documents.
"IS-02. Rakkum. Age unknown. Race Lizardfolk... crime is heresy?"
"He's an unusual existence even among heretics. Rakkum. They're ones who believe in the Lizardfolk's folk religion. I heard he's of the bloodline of a chieftain who was brought in after resisting the Empire."
"I'm surprised they didn't kill him."
"He's one of those who survived by chance when the Punishment Office director changed. His execution was indefinitely postponed for administrative reasons. Once the execution period had long passed, the previous directors just left him alone. There's also a theory that if a Lizardfolk dies, a terrible spirit appears, so the execution was postponed. He's the only docile one in Cellblock 10."
Monica tapped the bars. The lying lizard rose.
His dirty scales rustled. Rakkum yawned lightly and hung onto the bars.
He'd looked big from afar, but up close he was even bigger. Whoa. He must be about three meters tall.
"Warden Monica."
"Rakkum. Are you all right? When was the last time you received a meal?"
"Three days ago. It's been a while. Can I still not get out?"
"...Yes."
"Understood. Could you hand me my meal, young guard?"
I gave a polite bow.
"I'm Zahard."
"...This guard has manners. But I am Lizardfolk. From your standpoint, I'm a prisoner. There's no need to show me courtesy."
"Why not? As someone younger, I'm simply showing courtesy to an elder."
Slit pupils looked at me. The corner of his mouth rose.
"I like you. Young guard. Zahard. Could you hand me my meal?"
"Of course."
"No need to feed me. I'll eat on my own."
The only prisoner without a gag.
Rakkum is the same as ever. The only sane one among those locked up. Now then, shall we see?
The problem: number three.
"......"
Someone was muttering in the darkness. The room was relatively clean. But the entire white room was packed full of unknown notes.
Found her. The mad shaman. The criminal who blew away an entire church branch with explosion sorcery.
An Eastern-style shaman who survived by threatening that if she was killed, an automatic explosion spell would activate and blow up everything around her.
"Prisoner number IS-03. An unusual human said to have come from beyond the sea. Her name is Tsubaki, and..."
Something suddenly clung to the bars. Pupils without focus. Dirty black hair.
Saliva dripped from the gag. It plopped onto her compressed chest, making the already filthy restraint suit even filthier.
I popped off the gag. Words immediately burst out.
"New guard. Interesting. What? Explosions. Like?"
"I like it."
"Really? Restraint suit. Uncomfortable. Untie. Help. I'll give."
"Cut the nonsense and here."
I reached through the bars. I shoved bread into her mouth.
"Eat first."
"Mmph mmph mmph."
Black hair. Quite long. It was covered in filth from rolling around on the floor, and the teeth eagerly tearing into the bread were extremely sharp.
Grinding teeth. Shark teeth, you might call them. From the way she wolfed down the bread, she was very much the woman I knew.
A mad shaman who loved blowing up human bodies. A woman who'd been driven out of the eastern continent, crossed to the west, and committed crimes.
Explosion Maniac Tsubaki.
A woman whose defining trait is that if she doesn't periodically blow up a person, she reaches a frenzy state. Back when she didn't know how to control it, she was a woman who always caused accidents if you brought her along.
But I know. I could recite this woman's strategy with my eyes closed.
For now, well, I don't have the items, so there's no particular method available.
I straightened up. Monica looked at me with eyes full of suspicion.
"By any chance... is this not your first time working as a guard?"
"Why?"
"You handle the prisoners extremely well. Even though they're all death-row inmates who deserve to be killed at any moment, you don't show any fear."
"What use is an inquisitor who's afraid of prisoners?"
"That's true, but..."
The fourth.
I glanced inside the bars. A woman glanced back at me. Her restraint suit was clean. The filth was also neatly arranged inside the bars.
The unusual thing, I suppose, was the muzzle covering her entire lower face. Unlike a gag, it wrapped around the whole lower half of her face like a dog muzzle.
She opened her mouth, but no voice came out.
She was smiling, but no sound carried.
"Prisoner number IS-04. Eve. Her crime is a mass suicide plot. There's no direct connection, but the church believes she is undoubtedly the ringleader of the plan. There's no direct evidence, but... they used the fact that every village she passed through disappeared as proof."
Her hair was a mix of black and white. She grinned at me. She was saying something, but I couldn't hear it.
"Her voice carries something unknown. The muzzle blocks her voice at the source."
"How do you give her food?"
"The front of the muzzle can be turned and opened. But before giving her food, you mustn't forget to put on earplugs."
She pulled earplugs from the distribution cart. She put one pair on herself.
"Would you like to give it to her yourself?"
"Yes."
I turned and opened the muzzle. Eve instantly whispered a flood of words.
But since I was wearing the earplugs properly, most of the voice was inaudible. Even if I could hear it, mental contamination wouldn't affect me anyway.
I shoved meat into her mouth. She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes sparkled, and she nibbled the meat and swallowed.
She looks docile, but she's the scariest woman here. She is indeed the culprit of the mass suicide incident.
The reason no evidence remained was thanks to the hypnotic voice she was born with.
Eve was a person who sincerely believed that death alone was the savior who would redeem everyone.
Her weapon is digging into people's weaknesses and persuading them to kill themselves. But she also has a strategy. You just have to persuade her twisted mind in return.
That can wait until later, I think... good.
Shall we go meet the last one?
The bars rattled. I stared blankly at the woman hanging from the bars.
A voluptuous body. Breasts that looked ready to burst. Her eyes looking down at me were filled with hearts.
Horns growing from her head. But half of them were cut off. Her white hair shimmered faintly in the darkness, as if moonlight had melted into it.
Something could be seen floating above her head. An angel's halo that a demon could not possess.
A Halo.
"...A Demon Species that the First Punishment Office once researched, but whose usefulness has now been discarded."
A real demon.
A heteromorphic creature that crossed over from another dimension.
"We call 'this'... Amar."
The Demon of Love, Amar.
Everything that should be here is here.
Then shall we... do this properly?