I Became a Leader in a Wretched Prison - Chapter 45

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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 45

I was as indifferent to my own emotions as I was to others’.

It seems I wanted Helios to reach the Summit with a clear mind.

Even though that was impossible.

“I’m curious about something too. Why do you use honorifics with the guy who’s forcing your body around? Your Master feels left out hearing informal speech.”

“…Did it bother you?”

“No, not really?”

“…Saying that with a face that doesn’t look hurt at all makes it completely unconvincing.”

Helios said this and briefly lowered his head. His lips twitched.

“…I thought there was no need to act like a child in front of my Master.”

I didn’t quite understand. What did he mean?

“Don’t tell me acting like a child means getting cranky and angry like you do in front of me? If that’s right, then you’re already a newborn.”

“…”

Helios’s face flushed red. Even though the sun was setting, his reddened cheeks were clearly visible.

“I, I know that.”

“If you know, then why do you act that way.”

“…Master is the one making me act like this!”

See. Why is he being prickly again? Helios looked at me, then his lips twitched once more.

Why was it? I couldn’t look away. His eyes seemed somehow different from before.

“You told me to climb to the Summit of the Tower, right?”

“I did.”

“You told me to make colleagues.”

“Mm, I did say something similar.”

“But you never said to belong anywhere.”

For just a moment, I had that thought for the first time in a long while. The regret that I couldn’t read others’ emotions well.

“Mama knows. That’s what caring is. You just forgot because you came here when you were too young. Your emotions.”

A voice I didn’t particularly want to remember whispered tenderly in my head.

“I will faithfully carry out whatever Master commands, even if it’s unreasonable.”

“…”

I could see the sunset behind Helios. For a moment, I thought it was dazzling.

“Because Master taught and protected me without any compensation or reward.”

“…”

“This was the first time in my life for such a thing, and I want to cherish this first.”

I felt strange. Helios’s words sounded like ‘I want to cherish you.’

It’s not without compensation. You just don’t know it.

“…Why are you making me say unnecessary things?”

“What? You’re the one who did it.”

“….”

As I stared at him silently, Helios rubbed his face roughly, then brushed past my shoulder and left first.

“I’m going ahead.”

I stared at the spot where Helios had been standing. I scratched my cheek.

I hadn’t done anything, but I felt a little sleepy.

I slowly closed my eyes.

Helios, you’ll reach the Summit someday. And then you’ll regret saying what you said today.

When you learn the truth and feel regret, I won’t be here anymore.

I looked back toward the path we had walked. I could feel gazes from the crowd still gathered there.

Gazes filled with desire directed at Helios.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Your prison cell life is going to get a bit rough now.”

I guess I raised you too well.

* * *

“Master. I’m asking this seriously, so I’ll pass on any frivolous answers.”

My prediction naturally became reality. Helios, overwhelmed with fatigue, muttered in front of me.

“Should I have just treated them rudely from the start?”

“Well.”

After diligently searching my memory, I recalled the affiliations of the High-Grade Prisoners who had been hiding among those who came to find Helios.

“They’d probably like it if you were feisty.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

“Oh. If you want it to be a joke, should I say it is?”

“….”

Helios’s face turned pale. Seeing him like that was slightly irritating.

Yesterday we cleared the 32nd Floor.

On the 31st Floor, what Ged feared appeared. On the 32nd Floor, what Haira feared appeared.

Since Haira had been abandoned in a forest as a child and got lost, we were dropped into a Giant Forest.

The boss was a cannibalistic wolf, and defeating it wasn’t too difficult.

The problem was that every time we came out of the Tower, my disciple received tremendous love calls.

‘Certainly, as the difficulty increases, the attention grows with each floor we clear.’

This kind of fame wasn’t entirely unhelpful to Helios. From the 40th Floor onward, this fame could be useful.

The problem was Fams like Chika from the ‘Tower Committee’ who were trying to recruit him by force.

I had blocked their approaches as Helios wished, but even this had limits in public settings.

‘The Warden must have been really fed up to secretly contact me telling us to tone it down.’

I got an earful.

“How about just joining somewhere decent? I’ll recommend a less bad place.”

“What’s the criteria?”

“Hmm, at least a place that doesn’t do human experiments?”

“….”

Helios’s face contorted. I reached out and smoothed away his wrinkles.

Helios flinched but didn’t push my hand away.

“If you keep frowning like that, you won’t get a girlfriend.”

“…What does it matter? Are you even interested?”

“No?”

“….”

For some reason, Helios looked dejected.

“This is when you’re supposed to retort that you have the kind of face that never lacks for women.”

“…I don’t particularly want to live a life where that matters. And maybe what I want isn’t a popular life? For example….”

“I’m listening.”

“Gender is…. Never mind.”

He’s sulking again.

Lately his emotional ups and downs had definitely gotten more intense. Enough to make even me, who doesn’t understand much, tilt my head in confusion. Enough to make me look twice.

“…Obviously if I join somewhere, I’d train with Master less often, right?”

“Yeah. It would probably be less than now, right?”

“I won’t do it. I wasn’t thinking about it before, but now I absolutely won’t do it.”

But Helios couldn’t handle the mounting stress, and a moment later he banged his head against a tree.

Seeing this, Ged, who had been training nearby, quietly approached.

“Um, Boss?”

Not just Ged, but Seth, Haira, and Brett too. The other party members came along as well.

“What?”

What was surprising was that not only Helios, but none of Ged’s Group had joined a Fam either.

“This Ged! Where would I go when Boss is here!”

“Why? Go ahead and join. I don’t mind.”

If I think about whether I treated them well, I only remember beating them up.

Or like Helios also detested, I only did crude training like sticking spears in the Pit and throwing them in.

“Is joining a Fam really that important?”

“It’s not important right now.”

“Ah…!”

“But if you guys go to the 40th Floor, something that makes it important will definitely happen beyond that.”

Ged’s face, which had brightened, became dejected. I rested my chin on my hand while sitting.

“Just join. It’s better for you guys to join.”

“But we have Boss…!”

Recently, Ged had awakened a new ability. It was the ability to make his body as hard as iron.

For him, who already had Musculoskeletal Kia, this ability mixed with some Elemental ability would definitely be of greater help to his position.

“I have no intention of training you to match your positions and ability attributes. And it’s better for you to meet people with similar types and exchange knowledge.”

I made it clear from the beginning that I had no intention of taking responsibility for Ged’s Group.

They no longer seemed hurt by this.

“Join a suitable Fam. Whether you listen or not is your choice, but it would be better if you did.”

“Then, we’ll listen!”

“M-me too!”

“….”

I shrugged my shoulders.

They came asking me to choose a Fam for them to join.

I looked through the papers that Ged’s Group handed me and picked them out one by one.

“…Um, hyung, do I really have to go here? The name is weird. ‘Potion Trading Company’?”

“You’re a healer. This is where people with Healing Kia abilities gather.”

“But why potion?”

“Because healers are human potions.”

“….”

After somehow picking them all out, quite a bit of time had passed.

“Oh, come to think of it, hyung. The person who gave me this business card revealed that they were a High-Grade Prisoner….”

“I’m listening.”

“I heard something interesting. They said there might be some changes among the guards.”

Since it was about guards, he seemed to have brought it up to me. I looked at Seth’s face.

“Well, the ‘Guard Captain’? Anyway, some high-ranking person who was away for a while has returned.”

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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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