Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Underground Exploration (1)
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The tomato fields had grown remarkably quiet.
Only the rustling of plants swaying in the wind could be heard.
"……."
To think that the ring the warden had given him was actually a wedding ring.
The faces of the inmates, who had harbored faint hopes, darkened considerably.
"This black tea is quite sweet. Is it because of the water here?"
Camillia savored her tea, relishing the silence.
Once she had drained her cup, she rose from her seat and approached me.
Her stride was confident, like a lioness who had firmly established dominance in her territory.
"Derek Minster."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"I don't know what methods you used, but it seems you've managed the inmates well."
"You flatter me."
The princess lightly placed her hand on my shoulder.
Her gaze was a touch kinder than before.
"Indeed, it's good to see you doing so well. You've drawn a clear line with the inmates."
"Isn't that the warden's duty?"
She seemed satisfied that I hadn't yet formed any unduly close relationships with the inmates.
But I, unaware of that, simply took it as praise for my effective prison management.
"The inmates may be paroled soon enough, so keep up the good work until then."
"Understood."
The princess nodded slowly, preparing to leave.
But then her eyes caught the strands of stark white and black hair clinging to my uniform jacket.
"However... even if it's for the rehabilitation program, dressing an inmate in such attire is a bit much."
"Ah, my apologies. We didn't have clothes in Anje's size, so even the largest ones ended up like that."
Now aware of the truth, Camillia placed a hand on her hip.
Like a boss pleased with her subordinate's conduct.
"So that's how it was?"
Her mood lifted, she fixed her gaze intently on the collar of my dress shirt.
Then, extending her fingers, she gently straightened it for me.
"By the way, how are preparations for the upcoming tournament going?"
"I'm making full use of physical training hours and after-work time for practice."
Camillia pretended to study my face while deftly rolling her eyes over my thickened forearms and legs.
It was clear I'd grown noticeably stronger after consuming her elixir.
True to her Swordmaster prowess, she instantly recognized that I was training diligently on the side.
"Good. If you achieve fine results in the tournament, you'll be able to get even closer to me."
Closer, she said.
That must mean my status would rise accordingly.
"Understood. I will continue to strive."
"Yes. And make sure to prepare well for the eve-of-tournament banquet as well."
The eve-of-tournament banquet.
Right, there was such a thing.
I recalled it was being held at the Northern Duke's grand mansion.
"You already have such a gloomy impression— at least dress properly for it."
Her tone was scolding, but the princess's expression was utterly serious.
As if she regarded me as someone important.
"Well... it would be nice if you could hide that melancholy under your eyes too..."
She admired my face like a sculptor eyeing a statue.
Then, with a soft chuckle, she flashed the enchanting smile befitting the game's top beauty.
A masterpiece smile she'd never shown to anyone else.
"But someday, I'll erase that myself, so we'll let it slide for now."
Her eyes brimmed with the conqueror's confidence inherited from her bloodline.
The two inmates watched the scene in a daze.
The princess and the warden they saw looked just like a harmonious newlywed couple.
However, to Anje and Myoran, that harmony felt profoundly alien.
It approached them like a crisis, as if something precious was about to be stolen away.
As if mirroring their emotions, the sky had clouded over before they knew it.
And after the radiant princess departed, it grew even more melancholic, with raindrops beginning to fall lightly.
"I was going to train in the arena, but it's raining."
I stood by the office window, coffee in hand.
The patter of raindrops mingled with the scratch of Vice Warden Clea Rockhart's fountain pen.
In that peaceful quiet, I savored the aroma of my coffee.
With the princess taking the Holy See knights away, I figured calm would return.
Yet for some reason, an even stranger sensation began to creep in.
"The prison feels gloomier than usual. Is it the rain?"
"Yes. On days like this, the prison feels even more dreary. But it's not just the humidity."
"Does something new happen when it rains?"
"Yes. This level of rainfall is more than enough to trigger it."
In the few months since I took over as warden, we hadn't had any proper rain.
At best, a drizzle.
But today, it felt like it was pouring unusually hard.
Thanks to that, an unpleasant odor I'd never noticed before started wafting in.
"It's probably from underground."
"The underground? We just repaired it recently."
"Actually, there's a deeper confinement facility even further below that."
"'Was'? So it's gone now?"
Clea set down her fountain pen.
Her already sharp gaze seemed even more profound under the rainy sky.
"It's formally treated as nonexistent. It's a dangerous place."
Clea had now clasped her hands together, as if even thinking about it exhausted her.
"Several previous wardens were killed while exploring it."
"By what?"
Rumble...
Thunder suddenly roared outside the window.
In the momentarily darkened office, only Clea's blue eyes gleamed.
"I mentioned it before, right? This place was originally where heretics performed their rituals."
"Yes. That's why all the cells and underground spaces are so vast."
"Correct. But the deep confinement area is far larger than the spaces we use now. Like a labyrinth."
"A labyrinth..."
Back in my days as a knight commander.
I'd once investigated a secret underground city built beneath the capital.
The hidden city of Samarkand, said to have been created by Hakim Andalusia from the Eastern Continent's Samad Empire.
Even that labyrinthine city had taken months to explore.
Was there something similar hidden beneath here?
"When it rains like this often, or when too many inmates are held underground, the entities down there awaken and stir."
"With the rain and Holy See knights locked below, we've done the worst possible thing."
"Even so, what can we do? There are hardly any inmates here anyway, so we can just keep treating it as nonexistent."
"Hmm..."
If I were someone who became warden just to coast, I'd let it slide.
But my position was different.
Anje and Myoran still had quite a bit of time before parole.
If something blew up in the meantime, it'd be trouble, so better to eliminate potential risks.
"I think I'll go check it out."
"You're serious? Previous wardens died there."
I knew.
In a few years, massive floods would hit the empire.
From my past life's memories, Berryhill Prison was always destroyed—possibly linked to the deep confinement. Better to confirm.
"Yeah. Today I'll just take a quick look around, so don't worry too much."
"……."
Clea silently watched me rise from my chair.
Then she stood, retrieving a glowstone from her drawer.
She undid the chain from her monocle at her waist and fashioned it into a necklace with the glowstone.
"Would you mind lowering your head for a moment?"
"Huh?"
I complied without protest, and she draped the glowing necklace around my neck.
In the process, my nose nearly brushed her ample bosom beneath her shirt—quite awkward.
Still, thanks to it, I could keep both hands free in the dark without needing a lantern.
"That should do. The deep level has five floors, so please just scout the first one."
"Got it. Don't worry."
I flashed Clea a cheeky grin.
As expected, she responded with her usual stoic demeanor.
"I wasn't worried."
"……?"
As I tilted my head, she rummaged through an old file cabinet and handed me a manual.
"This is the map of the deep underground. It was passed down to previous wardens."
"Why didn't you give it to me?"
I examined the map with great interest.
It was remarkably detailed— a delight just to look at.
"Because you'd keep going back and die."
"……."
My interest evaporated instantly.
"Well, it's fine. Some wardens went in and came back from just the first floor. Go ahead."
"Alright. Mind the office while I'm gone."
Clea bowed politely.
Our vice warden truly was reliable.
'Well then, off I go.'
With the necklace from Clea, the sword from Anje, and the dagger from Camillia's confession magic at my waist, I stepped into the corridor.
Perhaps due to the steady drizzle, the hallway felt oppressively eerie.
The inmates who usually wandered about were nowhere to be seen today.
'They must've gone to bed early with the gloomy weather.'
After countless lives, my sense of fear had dulled considerably, so I didn't mind.
I was quietly descending from the warden's office on the second floor when...
Rumble!!
A fierce thunderclap revealed a woman's silhouette in the distance.
A chilling shadow with straight black hair.
With each flash of lightning, the silhouette drew closer.
The moment I instinctively stepped back...
"Warden."
Myoran, now close, gazed up at me intently.
"Whoa, you startled me. It was you, Myoran?"
"Where are you headed?"
"Just patrolling the underground for a bit."
"You seem more geared up than usual."
Her sharp eyes alternated between the glowstone and the sword.
"Yeah. Heading to the deep confinement today."
"Deep...? Oh, that place where you sometimes hear the screams of past wardens echoing up."
"Screams of past wardens echo up?"
"Once you're attuned to the yin energy, you can hear the voices of the dead now and then."
How casually she spoke of such spine-chilling things.
"Then it's definitely a serious problem spot."
Unlike my serious gaze, Myoran remained nonchalant.
Instead, her eyes lingered on the gear strapped to me.
The sweet feminine scents wafting from them mingled with a man's musk.
"Hm."
Displeased, she stepped right up to me.
By the time I noticed...
The freshly nineteen-year-old girl was lightly rubbing her cheek against my uniform.
"What are you doing?"
"You just look so worried."
'What does my worry have to do with rubbing your face on my clothes?'
As I puzzled over it...
Myoran had already passed me and was adjusting a peach pot by the window to shield it from the rain.
"Well, I'm off then."
"Do as you like."
The Sword Sage of the East quietly watched the man depart.
Then she murmured ever so softly.
"A bit more ripening, and he'll be worth taking along."
I passed Myoran without a second thought and entered the underground stairs.
Even after repairs, the damp rain made it oddly musty.
And the discomfort grew stronger the deeper I went.
By the time I passed the first floor where Anje and Myoran had been held and reached the second...
My brow furrowed deeply.
'This aura is just like Hakim Andalusia's underground city.'
Was the builder the same person?
With suspicion in my eyes, I arrived at a massive, rusted iron door.
Bound with thick iron chains.
I calmly inserted the key and opened it.
Rumble...
Sure enough.
Beyond the door stretched a stone corridor long neglected.
Rank with the stench of rust and all manner of decay.
Like entering an underground dungeon.
"I knew this place had bad vibes, but this is the worst."
I clicked my tongue and fiddled with Clea's necklace.
Blue light, like her hair, emanated forth, illuminating ahead.
'For today, just scout around. I'll prepare thoroughly next time.'
According to the previous wardens' map, there shouldn't be anything here.
Yet they were killed, meaning something horrific had entered deeper in.
To uncover its identity, I cautiously scanned the corridor.
Messages scrawled in red blood adorned the walls.
The gate is locked. I'm still alive, damn it!!
Are you too? What the hell do these bastard subordinates think the warden is?
Idiots. We should've abandoned any dignity the moment we were demoted here.
"Notes from previous wardens."
Perhaps clues to what happens here.
I scanned for more messages as I walked.
Why is the ceiling painted pitch black?
I, I want to live... Mom...
Fool. By the time you realize, we're all dead anyway.
I looked up at the ceiling following the messages.
Sure enough, the top was coated in black, evoking a night sky.
'Definitely strange. Why build a confinement facility like this?'
Such an environment would negatively affect inmates too.
As I pondered while scrutinizing the ceiling...
"Huh?"
I realized it soon enough.
The reason for the black ceiling...
Was a seething mass of black vampire bats clinging densely together.
Screeeeech!!
Shrieeeeeek!!
Hundreds of red eyes blinked in unison.
Spotting fresh blood, the horde surged toward me at once.
"Damn..."
I reached for my waist, aiming to slash them in one go.
But their overwhelming numbers made minor scratches inevitable.
I focused all my strength on the oncoming black swarm.
As collision loomed...
"Come on, then!!"
Suddenly, the bats halted their wingbeats and stared at me blankly.
"……?"
Vampire bats are famed for their keen sense of smell.
They should be mad for my fresh blood scent.
Instead, they circled me, sniffing my scent...
Then, all startled in unison, they fled.
As if detecting not just my scent, but something utterly horrific in yin energy.
Shrieeeeeek―――!!
Greeeeeeek―――!!
'What? Easier than I thought?'