I Became a Leader in a Wretched Prison - Chapter 114

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 114

 

Mint froze solid in place.

 

She couldn’t take her eyes off the single tear that streamed down his face, covered in dust and soaked with sweat.

 

“….”

 

“I can’t even imagine a life without you anymore.”

 

Helios whispered in a voice that was almost like a murmur.

 

He had collapsed as if falling into Mint’s embrace, burying his face in her nape.

 

With each word he spoke, a faint trembling like that of a young beast was transmitted.

 

Indeed, his situation was no different from that of a fragile, vulnerable creature. This appearance made him look all the more pitiful.

 

Mint knew nothing of sympathy. She was also unfamiliar with compassion.

 

Therefore, the hands that leaned against her shoulder and desperately grasped at her as if she were the only lifeline left in a ruined world, and these arms that struggled to bind themselves to her…

 

Were lovely.

 

She didn’t know if it was appropriate to use the word “pretty” here by ordinary people’s standards, but in her eyes, he looked beautiful.

 

So much so that she was more than willing to quietly offer her waist and neck to him.

 

Helios clearly didn’t look normal. His eyes had lost focus to begin with.

 

Will you remember these words?

 

Extracting and exhausting all the Kia from one’s body doesn’t simply mean using up all one’s energy.

 

It means pushing the body to its absolute limit.

 

As evidence of this, residue caused by Kia was slowly scattering from Helios’s body.

 

It was proof that he had molted one of the shells surrounding himself.

 

Mint quietly stroked Helios’s head.

 

Now I can stroke someone’s head like an ordinary person.

 

And I could probably tell you that you’re handsome without making you feel uncomfortable.

 

But.

 

Mint whispered softly with a detached expression.

 

“I still don’t quite understand the feeling of love.”

 

“….”

 

“I don’t understand it, but I want to have you, and I don’t know what to do about that.”

 

For a moment, Mint wondered if ‘Mama’ could have explained this feeling to her if she were still alive.

 

It was a meaningless hypothetical.

 

Mint already knew that Helios was not in a state to maintain his reason.

 

Mint light flowed from Mint’s body. Though Helios wouldn’t know it.

 

Her hair, which appeared brown to others’ eyes, was dyed the same mint color as the light surrounding her body.

 

It was a gift for him, but unfortunately, Helios couldn’t see it.

 

Mint quietly looked at the fragments of the crack.

 

Once again, she gazed toward the distant direction where the Prison would be.

 

If she returned to the Prison, a rising powerhouse who would turn the Tower upside down would emerge.

 

* * *

 

Helios slowly opened his eyes.

 

The clear blue sky was visible just as it was.

 

He tried to get up in surprise but failed. While lying down, he felt dizzy and lightheaded.

 

He squeezed his eyes shut.

 

“…Hey, you can’t move.”

 

Something cool touched his eyelids. A beat later, he realized it was a hand that had been cooled to just the right temperature.

 

Soon, the figure of a woman with a bright smile appeared in his vision.

 

Master still had the appearance of a woman with black hair, not ‘Garret’.

 

Helios was so pleased to see this form that his lips moved slightly.

 

‘My voice…’

 

Wouldn’t come out well.

 

“Do you remember? You probably can’t speak well, so just nod. Do you remember eliminating the rift?”

 

Helios barely managed to nod his head.

 

“What about after that?”

 

He shook his head with difficulty. He thought he remembered seeing the rift tear open, but after that it was blackout.

 

Unfortunately, he didn’t know about his own heartfelt confession. It was only natural.

 

His body, pushed nearly to its limits, had rambled on its own accord.

 

It could be called unconsciousness, or a dream dreamed with open eyes.

 

“I see.”

 

At that indifferent remark, Helios finally became aware of his position.

 

The soft yet gentle sensation beneath his head. Her figure positioned in his upward view.

 

He was currently lying with his head resting on Mint’s lap. The moment he realized this, he couldn’t help but try to get up.

 

His body ached and he couldn’t rise. More importantly, Mint’s hand pressed firmly on his shoulder.

 

“Don’t get up, just stay there.”

 

“Cough, how long have I…?”

 

“I’m not sure. About a day?”

 

So she had maintained this position for an entire day? Despite the dull pain, Helios felt heat rising.

 

“Your legs…”

 

“Ah, Master’s legs? How thoughtful. Thinking of that first.”

 

Mint gently patted his shoulder without causing pain.

 

“I was watching your handsome face the whole time, so I didn’t notice the time passing.”

 

At her leisurely voice, Helios felt anger rising despite his poor physical condition.

 

Here she goes again. Charming people and then trying to brush it off like nothing happened.

 

Hearing such frustrating words as soon as he woke up, it seemed he had truly opened his eyes. It was good that he could feel it clearly.

 

‘Are we going back like this now?’

 

The special examination was over. Now it was time to return and check the results.

 

At least that’s what Helios had heard…

 

The situation did not help them.

 

“Oh my.”

 

Mint clicked her tongue. Despite her slow voice, even in Helios’s slightly blurred vision, he could see her expression was far from ordinary.

 

“…Is something wrong?”

 

“Well, if you call it a problem, then it’s a problem.”

 

Mint’s expression hardened terrifyingly. A sharp sensation lingered on the tip of her tongue.

 

Mint opened her mouth while feeling a bitter taste.

 

“There was another rift here.”

 

“…”

 

“And it just moved?”

 

The movement of a rift. That was the final stage before explosion.

 

Mint’s ability could track rifts without much difficulty. Thus, she could learn even unwelcome facts all at once.

 

“And that rift.”

 

Upon hearing the story, Helios finally rose from his seat.

 

“It moved to the village we stopped by.”

 

* * *

 

This was absolutely something that couldn’t be overlooked.

 

When a rift explodes, it completely erases the entire area. People are no exception.

 

It was a massacre caused by nature.

 

“What should we do?”

 

There would be no time to delay. Helios asked urgently.

 

“Didn’t you say that even if a rift moves to a village where people live, it doesn’t explode immediately!”

 

That was what he had briefly learned. Mint nodded shortly.

 

Then she stared intently at Helios.

 

“Can you seal one more rift?”

 

“…I can do it.”

 

Mint chuckled.

 

“How impressive.”

 

Mint grabbed Helios’s wrist and shook it playfully.

 

“To be able to close another rift with hands trembling like this. Now the disciple could become the master.”

 

“…Don’t be sarcastic, there’s no other way!”

 

“Right, you’re correct. There’s no other way.”

 

Had there been such a case in the previous ‘special examinations’? At least as far as Mint knew, there hadn’t been.

 

Since it involved sending prisoners outside, the prison had carried out the Imperial Court’s orders while creating routes as thoroughly as possible without any disturbances.

 

It didn’t matter if prisoners died. But civilians must never be harmed.

 

But…

 

No, she can’t.

 

Even if she could eliminate them, she wouldn’t.

 

Because she’s the Warden’s hunting dog.

 

‘She’s not someone who would do things she wasn’t ordered to do.’

 

Mint gazed in the direction where the village was located.

 

“Really, there’s no one capable around here.”

 

“….”

 

“Except for me.”

 

Helios was startled. Honestly, he found it unexpected.

 

The Master he knew certainly seemed to care for him for her own reasons.

 

But at the same time, she appeared to have no love for humanity whatsoever.

 

Yet this person who didn’t care about others was saying she’d step forward to save civilians?

 

“Is Master someone who would save people? Without compensation?”

 

Helios said while enduring the throbbing pain in his ribs. He was certainly unable to continue fighting.

 

“Wow, how cold. Is that how you see your Master?”

 

The wind blew. Mint affirmed with a laugh.

 

“That’s right, I’m not interested.”

 

“….”

 

“But when it comes to rifts and rampages, I’ll save anyone who’s in danger.”

 

Conviction? It’s not something noble like that.

 

It’s just an old, outdated promise.

 

A promise that has been strangling Mint’s heart for years.

 

“Because Mama asked me to save them.”

 

People caught up in rifts. People caught up in rampages. Please save them.

 

You can do it, can’t you?

 

My child.

 

“And yet she herself died in a rift in the middle of nowhere with no one to save her.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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