The End of a Dreadful Imprisonment
The happy prison life I'd been looking forward to was nothing like this.
The cell was still dark, cold seeping into every corner — but the soft bed I was leaning against more than made up for the discomfort. The clean, smooth walls carried a faint herbal scent instead of the reek of mold. And around my wrists, instead of iron chains, something like soft silk ribbons had been tied.
If only these damn ribbons weren't here…
The ribbons clung snugly to my arms without causing the slightest discomfort, and two kinds of magic had been cast on them: a location-tracking spell, and a behavior-correction spell of the sort used to force compliance from slaves and the most heinous criminals.
In a gesture of unexpected kindness, the restrictions they'd placed on me — unlike those on other slaves or criminals — were limited to the basics: "no self-harm" and "no attacking others."
Any of the criminals suffering in the other cells would have thrown a fit over the blatant double standard if they'd seen it.
Lucky bastards.
I'd come here expecting a daily routine of being chained up and miserably abused by the guards. Instead, I found myself envying them.
"Mealtime."
A cold voice drove itself into my ear. A guard in a sharp, well-cut uniform approached and passed food through the bars.
Whoa… those are huge.
Even in that ugly uniform, a figure like that… Second biggest I'd seen since transmigrating into this world.
A new recruit?
"Hmm… such a shame. I finally get locked up in prison, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to be this comfortable."
I put on a faintly insolent smile and looked up at her from where I lay on the plush bed.
"Hehe, eating's such a hassle — won't you feed me? Since you're already doing me favors, might as well throw in a little extra generosity!"
Our new recruit's face twisted slightly, but that was all. Without a word of reaction, she set the meal down.
Two months ago, right before the golden summer break began, I'd been dumped in this place. Since then I'd tried needling the guards, baiting them into attacking me — and they hadn't so much as pretended to listen.
I thought once I was in prison I could finally enjoy a few hobbies…
And of all things, her looks were exactly my type, which only made the disappointment sharper.
I pushed the mild letdown aside and started eating. Warm bread and soup — surprisingly good for prison fare, but still…
What is this, a reward?
A guard's duties included watching to make sure I actually finished my meals. So the new recruit stood over me the entire time, staring down with eyes full of contempt and revulsion.
After nothing but stiff, blank-faced guards until now, she was a ray of light!
The righteous, justice-obsessed type, maybe? Seeing how much she hated me…
Should I push her a little more?
Two years ago, I had transmigrated into the villainess of a game I'd been obsessed with. Lady Yeon Bennet — a duke's daughter who, without ever properly learning martial arts or magic, used nothing but her noble status to torment everyone around her. Before transmigrating, I'd thought she was just an incompetent third-rate villain. Shockingly, she turned out to be one of the few people in this world who possessed a unique ability.
My breathing was growing faster. My senses sharpened; vitality surged through my whole body.
This wasn't enough…
I needed a stronger stimulus.
Unique Ability Masochist has been activated.
A little perverted, sure, but…
I had no choice but to immediately disperse the unique ability I'd finally managed to activate after two whole months.
Our nameless new recruit had arrived with shocking news.
"What did you just say?"
"You need to go through the release process. Finish your meal and get ready."
She answered in an irritated tone and showed me the signature in the document officer's section, but I had no attention to spare for that.
Release…
The things Lady Yeon Bennet had done had been deliberately spread across the entire world, and my notoriety was currently at an all-time high. Of course it had all been a frame-up — but the only people who knew that were the Academy Headmistress, Duke Bennet, and a handful of others.
In the present situation, I was about to walk free from prison after living in comfort, without receiving any punishment at all. That would inevitably raise suspicions that House Bennet had intervened. It would be a fatal blow not only to my image, but to the duchy's reputation as well.
I'd expected something when they told me to go rest for a while — but I never thought they'd just release me this recklessly…
"So that means my status has been restored?"
From a distance, the muttering of other guards who'd heard about my release drifted over.
"Is this for real? They're just letting that bitch walk?"
"I heard the duchy moved on it. Direct intervention from higher up."
"Even so — she barely spent any time here. Getting to lounge around and then walk out? That's way too soft."
I deliberately ignored their chatter and checked the documents.
Bella Staren.
A name that rang a bell. But I couldn't place where I'd seen it right away. I rummaged through my memory until it finally clicked.
A beautiful face, a decent background, and overwhelming combat power for her age. She'd been famous as a promising talent who would carry humanity's future — only to die on the battlefield early in the story, leading into a funeral episode for the protagonist's party. A tragic MacGuffin meant to show the cruelty of war.
She should already be dead by now. And yet she was still alive.
I snorted and muttered under my breath.
"Bella Staren? Our proud senior who used to shine on the front lines… how did you end up rotting away in a dump like this…?"
The eyes of the woman watching me twitched.
"You'd do better worrying about your own situation than mine."
"Hmm? What situation am I in? I'm getting released any minute, aren't I? You'll be stuck here rolling around with the criminals."
Bella looked at me with cold eyes, then turned her head away. The attitude of someone who no longer saw any value in responding.
Her lack of reaction only made me laugh harder, as if I found it even more entertaining.
Still… I'm glad.
The fact that she was alive was proof that what I'd done hadn't been in vain.
Bella still couldn't quite believe she was alive and moving.
If nothing goes wrong, I should be able to rest and heal for about a year.
Barely two months ago, she had been fighting monsters on the very front lines of the war. A battlefield where someone died every single day. And when her turn finally came, it hadn't been anything special.
Her mana core cracked, her body so wrecked she could barely twitch a fingertip. Monsters closing in to finish her off.
And then — a miracle.
Right before her eyes, the mid-to-low-tier monsters that had dominated the battlefield mere seconds earlier suddenly died in droves. Without any warning. From that moment, the entire battle reversed.
Humanity could have seized an overwhelming advantage, but the situation was so incomprehensible that they held back and carefully assessed what was happening. The investigation results were hopeful. The high-tier monsters were still alive, but — sensing their disadvantage — they had retreated deep into the contaminated zones.
Once it was confirmed that the current situation wasn't some elaborate ploy of theirs, humanity immediately reclaimed the lost fortresses and tightened the front lines.
And then… a small measure of "breathing room" opened up on the front.
For the sake of morale, the council ordered wounded soldiers and long-serving troops to rest in the rear. That was how Bella was reassigned to the rear.
The place she was posted to was Bastille Prison — a facility that held evil-god worshippers, those corrupted by contamination, and criminals of equivalent severity. A place the criminals themselves called "hell."
And in that place, one particular inmate lounging about as if she owned the world.
Bella's mood sank the moment she recalled that face. Lady Yeon Bennet — picking meaningless fights, deliberately provoking people. Bella had known she was a notorious delinquent noble, but the reality exceeded her imagination.
Had her displeasure shown on her face? Count Mortana, the warden, looked at her and spoke.
"I've heard the news. I'm sorry a hero like you had to go through something like that."
Bella shook her head.
"There's no need to say that, Warden."
Count Mortana had worked as warden of Bastille Prison and seen countless criminals. He knew better than anyone how much tragedy human greed could bring. That was why he no longer wanted to watch Bella — who had fought on the front lines for humanity — be insulted by some worthless criminal.
"How about trying something more rewarding somewhere else?"
"Pardon?"
Bella didn't understand for a moment.
"I'll write you a letter of recommendation. It'll be far more fulfilling than cleaning up after scum like this."
Something more rewarding…
The count's words echoed in her heart. Bella naturally looked down at her own hands. Her roughened palms still bore the countless marks of gripping a sword — marks that proved the blood and sweat she'd shed on the battlefield, and that stood in stark contrast to her current life of tending to criminals.
"Something more rewarding… what exactly do you mean, sir?"
She asked carefully. Count Mortana smiled as he answered.
"Go back to the Academy you graduated from."
"The Academy…?"
Bella's eyes wavered slightly.
"If someone with your wealth of combat experience became an instructor, humanity's future would be all the brighter."
She fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. The count's proposal was appealing. But fear came with it. Could someone who had been wounded and withdrawn from the front lines… truly have the right to teach anyone? Could her experience actually help others?
"Would you give me a little time to think it over?"
She asked carefully. The count nodded.
"Of course."
But he already knew. Bella had made up her mind.
"There is one condition, however."
Count Mortana spoke with a faintly reluctant expression.
"Take that headache with you to the Academy."
I was running now, savoring the fresh outdoor air for the first time in two months.
"Ugh, I got my hopes up when they called it the worst prison in the world…"
I'd expected as much when the Headmistress told me to go rest for a while. She probably didn't want me treated the same as the other criminals — but that consideration was completely wasted on me.
Which is to say… after transmigrating into a body with this perverted ability, my tastes had gotten a little strange. Absolutely not my fault… I'd just trained a bit too hard to get stronger and ended up slightly consumed by an ability with the bizarre name of Masochist.
Mmm…
Fine…
The truth was… I was a little curious about the tortures the other criminals received. Purely for ability training, of course. No other reason.
Come on, humanly speaking — when a criminal locked in prison acts that insolent, shouldn't a guard at least slap her around a few times, restrain her whole body and dump her in a lightless solitary cell, throw in some torture, or at the very least call her a piece of trash while whipping her?
To cave to pressure from above and wait on a sinner like me hand and foot… For a prison with such a vicious reputation, the guards' guts were far too small. And if they were going to do me favors, they could have at least skipped that awful behavior-correction magic. Thanks to that, I hadn't been able to enjoy my hobbies — no, develop my ability — for two whole months.
After running for about an hour, I finally reached my destination. The guards were probably frantically searching for me by now. I felt a little bad, but… I was getting released anyway, and I had somewhere to stop by first, so I'd just left a bit early.
If you didn't like it, you shouldn't have undone the behavior-correction magic.
Without her ability active, she was just the incompetent villainess young lady, Yeon Bennet. But… once Masochist was triggered, she could leave mere guards in the dust.
Hehe, how long has it been since I last got to enjoy this hobby?
I looked at my broken left pinky and smiled with satisfaction. A powerful force far beyond what Bella's contemptuous glare had given me earlier was circulating through my body. That warm sensation filling a starved soul! After two months of pent-up frustration, it was only natural.
I usually broke a finger lightly just to loosen up, but today felt far better than usual.
Still, I can't go meet Annie looking like this…
I pushed the regret aside, concentrated mana into my back, and activated the regeneration magic circle drawn there.
Unique Ability Masochist has been deactivated.