I Became a Leader in a Wretched Prison - Chapter 183

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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 183

* * *

After Mama’s funeral ended, I was immediately dragged to Helios’s mansion.

Though I say dragged, it was no different from voluntarily following along on my own two feet.

Since I already had the brand anyway, I had no intention of staying far from Helios.

I had already told Pontos about it too.

“…Living together?”

“Yeah. I’ll visit sometimes. Don’t die.”

“…Fine. I give up trying to understand.”

For some reason, Pontos looked slightly tired, but he said he understood.

It wasn’t something that required Pontos’s understanding or permission, but it worked out well.

After returning to Helios’s mansion, I learned something.

‘He’s really busy.’

Helios was actually someone who was incredibly busy without a moment to spare.

When I thought about it, it was natural.

He was the head of a massive noble house. Wasn’t the Alpeion Ducal House truly the foremost among the families representing the Empire?

Even Pontos, despite claiming to be retired, was busily handling various matters.

An active Duke would be on a different level entirely.

I accepted it. If push came to shove, I could just barge into his office and Helios wouldn’t say anything about it.

“…I’ll restore your status soon, so just bear with it until then. This isn’t a request, it’s a plea.”

Though he called it a plea, since Pontos had sighed and practically begged me ‘not to cause any trouble,’ I was quietly just breathing.

Really, I was.

“Next.”

So, the sight of knights collapsed at my feet wasn’t something I had intended.

The whole story went like this.

To begin with, because Helios had hidden me away deep in the mansion like he was keeping me under lock and key.

The knights who could see me were very limited. And most of them were skilled or veteran knights.

Another common trait was that they were loyal to Helios to an almost fanatical degree.

‘This is kind of interesting.’

Actually, maybe it wasn’t that surprising? Helios definitely overflowed with qualities of a leader.

He was like a hero from a fairy tale who would save the world.

Though to some people like Haira, it seemed regrettable that he had become twisted after meeting me.

‘If a person is too righteous and pure, they’re useless. They’re just perfect for dying young.’

Anyway, it seemed there were newcomers among the very few knights who could see me.

The incident started when that youngest knight spoke to me.

Though I was still disguising myself as Limnades’ illegitimate child at Pontos’s request.

When Helios called me, he naturally called me ‘Master.’ His attitude was nothing but respectful.

It was the same whether people were around or not.

Because of that, a knight who couldn’t contain his curiosity asked.

“…Are you really strong enough for our Duke to call you master?”

I heard later that this was picking a fight. I didn’t really understand such things and gave a cheerful answer.

“You can experience it directly.”

Thus the sparring that wasn’t really sparring began, and from the moment I ignited my Kia, it called for the participation of not just the youngest knight but other knights as well.

And that’s how we arrived at the current situation.

‘Hmm, not bad.’

Normally I wouldn’t have cared. But these were Helios’s knights.

Besides, knowing that Helios was busy, I was feeling slightly bored.

No. This was closer to dissatisfaction.

“Wh-what kind of power is…?”

I tilted my head while looking at the knight whose shoulders were trembling as he looked at me.

“You should use formal speech, Sir Knight.”

I said calmly while stepping on the back of that knight’s colleague.

“Helios will scold you.”

The knight shut his mouth tight.

He seemed worried now. About how Helios would react.

Well, even if I beat up his knights, he’d probably just ask ‘Are they useful?’ and be done with it.

It was just as I was thinking that.

Clap clap clap.

I heard applause. A somewhat familiar sound. A persistent clapping sound close to a steady beat.

It was the same applause I had once given Helios, which earned me the question of whether I was crazy.

When I turned around, someone was standing there.

Come to think of it, I had seen Haira and Seth while I was confined.

And today I met another familiar face.

“Greetings, Boss.”

It was Ged.

“It’s been a while.”

He had shaved his beard and looked quite decent.

So rather than a former prisoner, he looked like a proper soldier.

I stared at Ged intently, then lifted my foot.

At the same time, the Kia that rose from my hands lifted all the fallen knights as well as the knights who were still conscious into the empty air.

I simply swung my hand, and the knights went flying with screams of “Aaahhh!”

They probably landed safely somewhere deep inside, at the end of the direction the knights had come from.

Even if they didn’t land properly, they’re Kia Users so they’re sturdy enough that this much wouldn’t even faze them.

“Oh my, um… Is it okay to throw unconscious people like that?”

“They won’t die.”

“Ah, I see.”

Ged burst out laughing.

“Hahaha. I heard the story from Haira, but you’re still the same, Boss.”

I dusted off my hands and turned my head.

“It’s been a while.”

Since he was an adult, the word ‘growth’ didn’t quite fit. But at least as a Kia User, he showed remarkable improvement.

“Did Helios work you hard?”

Moreover, scars were visible here and there on Ged’s body wearing short sleeves, and there were unfamiliar wounds remaining on his face too.

“Hahaha, the prison break wasn’t exactly easy. But I handled it like a man, didn’t I?”

“…”

Prison break. I quietly mulled over those words in my mind.

“Boss seems to have been doing well.”

This seemed like it could be sarcasm, or it could be a natural greeting.

Certainly his heartily smiling face had a different shadow cast over it than before.

It was also a face that had gained more experience than when he was in prison.

It was strange that he seemed to have more worries now in the free world than when he was in prison, which had contained all the world’s evils.

“Interesting. Still calling me Boss?”

I shrugged my shoulders as if telling him to look at my appearance.

Since Helios had found out, there was no way Ged’s Group wouldn’t know my real name or identity either.

That’s why Haira had been acting sharp, and why Seth had been glaring at me like that.

“Well, you’re right. You probably aren’t Boss anymore, but calling you Elder Sister all of a sudden would be awkward too, wouldn’t it? I don’t know what to call you. Haha!”

“That’s true too.”

Haira seemed to have figured it out on her own and called me ‘Lady Mint.’

Either way, whether it was Boss or some other title didn’t really matter much.

“You don’t seem to particularly resent me. Am I mistaken?”

“Ah, I understand what prompted that question, but I’m not like that, Boss. Uhaha.”

Ged placed both hands on his waist.

Soon his laughter disappeared and a serious expression appeared.

“Could I come a little closer?”

“…? Do as you like.”

Ged stepped a few paces closer. He brought his hand to his lips and lowered his voice.

“Recently, about half of the superiors who had me thrown in prison fell from grace. Whether they lost their honor or lost something important. They lost something.”

Ged’s eyes expressed curiosity.

“Among them was one particularly vicious superior. That person recently had their precious treasure stolen, and their mansion was struck by lightning.”

Well. It just happened to turn out that way by coincidence.

“Moreover, it doesn’t end there – I heard that the military supply and defense industry corruption that family committed in the past has been exposed, and the wronged victims have filed for retrials. Punishment is unavoidable.”

Since they committed theft.

“Something that could never happen has happened.”

Marquis Limnades. My oppa becoming like this – theft was petty, so I had proposed to bury it justly.

Among the collectors I had been searching for, there were those who had sent Ged to prison in the past.

It was a coincidence.

“You’re the boss, aren’t you?”

I didn’t answer. I hadn’t intended to help Ged, but as a result, I had done him a good deed.

“I briefly wondered whether unintentional good deeds still count as good deeds.”

“That’s possible. Then let me ask the question differently, Boss.”

A cheerful voice asked me.

“Did you truly know nothing at all about the identities of those who made me a criminal?”

I didn’t answer this time either.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

“It was just a coincidence.”

After settling into the Information Guild, I investigated ‘Minte Limnades’ and the Limnades Family, and at the same time, Helios and even Ged’s Group.

I looked into everyone’s personal information.

The information I learned in that process was unavoidable.

“Whether it was a coincidence, or whether you had some intention. Setting everything aside, even if Boss had no interest in me whatsoever.”

“….”

Ged stood at attention.

He bowed his head deeply in a neat and respectful manner. It was a disciplined greeting.

“Thank you.”

“….”

“And I also thank you for teaching me and my party long ago.”

I quietly looked down at Ged. Without the prison uniform, he looked quite…

“Very much like a soldier. Ged.”

Ged straightened his back and smiled.

“…You made me want to live as a soldier again. You and Boss did.”

* * *

I didn’t exchange many more words with Ged. Just as the conversation with Ged was about to continue, someone came running.

It was an attendant.

When he said Helios was looking for me, instead of following the attendant, I used Kia to quickly arrive before Helios.

Helios wasn’t surprised to see me appear.

Rather, he was glaring at his desk with a thoroughly angry, no – irritated to the point of indignation expression.

“Helios?”

“Master.”

Helios raised his head.

I felt a brief sense of déjà vu.

Though it wasn’t as bad as when he glared at me during our first reunion.

His jaw clenched tight, making his neck muscles and veins bulge. Separately from that, his gaze was filled with hostility.

“A letter has arrived for Master.”

“…For me?”

Was it from Pontos? Did he send a letter telling me to live at the Limnades Estate?

Otherwise, there was no reason for Helios to be angry.

And the moment I saw the letter, I hesitated for just a brief moment. Though I didn’t show it in my expression.

“…Imperial Palace.”

It was a golden envelope.

The official seal bore the image of a serpent symbolizing the Imperial Court, carved in a form that seemed ready to writhe at any moment.

The moment I saw the name, I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

“Hades.”

It was a letter that arrived under the 2nd Prince’s name.

[To the lady I long for.]

Along with the name ‘Mint’ written in elegant handwriting.

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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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