Chapter 67 Work Experience [4]

Chapter 67 Work Experience [4]

".....Nothing here."

Leon glanced around a few times before nodding and directing his gaze elsewhere. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

He was taking his job seriously.

Although he technically didn't have to be here considering that he already had a job, he chose to participate.?Mainly because his 'instincts' told him that something was going to happen here.

What exactly, he wasn't sure.

That was why he was looking around and taking note of everything.

It was so that he could detect the abnormality and stop it before it was too late.

"What are you doing?"

As he walked, a figure suddenly walked up to him. The inmates jeered and whistled at her appearance. Leon couldn't blame them.

Her aura alone made her unique, and her appearance was hard to rival.

"Here."

Unaffected by all of this, Aoife handed him a small notebook.

"The Professor asked me to hand this to you. If you find anything that you think the prison needs to work on, then you can write it on here."

Surprised, Leon raised his brows.

Aoife raised her other hand to show a similar notebook.

"I've got one too."

"...I see."

Leon took the book and casually flipped over its contents.

It was empty.

"Is it going to be anonymous or do I have to write my name?"

"Whatever you want. The Professor said that it doesn't really matter."

"Oh."

If that was the case...

He took out a pen and started to scribble a few things. A dumbfounded Aoife looked at him with wider eyes.

"You've already got complaints?"

"Several."

The prison was generally well run, but there were still things that it could improve on. Having observed for over the past few hours, he had already made a short list in his mind.

"Overcrowded. The place has far too many inmates. There are over five inmates per cell. A situation like this is bound to create problems in the future. The nutrition is also not up to par with the meal composition missing a lot of fiber and protein. Ideally, it would be best if..."

He didn't shy away and started to write all the complaints he had.

Bang———!

He was suddenly distracted by a loud banging sound. When he raised his head, he saw Aoife looking in the same direction as where the noise came from.

He followed her gaze.

"....Ah."

There, in the far distance, they spotted Kiera glaring around at everyone who was looking in her direction. The two of them weren't spared from her glare as she had a gaze that seemed to say, 'What? Mind your fucking business.'

"Crazy bitch."

Aoife muttered in a voice audible enough for Leon to hear.

Leon was taken aback.

'Did I hear, right...?'

The usually quite and refined Aoife swore?

".....You don't like her?"

For quite a while, Leon noticed a strange tension between the Aoife and Kiera. Sparks flew whenever the two interacted with each other.

"I don't."

Aoife's words served to confirm this.

Leon was curious but decided to keep his curiosity to himself. It was none of this business, and he wasn't sure if his inquiry would annoy her.

But much to his surprise, it was her who elaborated...

"Do you know what the first thing she did to me when we met?"

".....No."

How would he know?

Aoife massaged her temples. From the frown on her face, it appeared that the memory was a rather unpleasant one.

"She told me to fuck off and threw a middle finger at me."

"Oh."

That sounded oddly a lot like something Kiera would do...

"So if you ask me whether I like her, the answer is no. I don't like her. She's crazy."

Bang———!

Tak. "So are yours."

"What makes you think I'm not doing it on purpose?"

"Same goes for me."

We went on to bicker like that for the next few minutes. Eventually, the area around us became quiet.

Strangely, the silence didn't feel at all uncomfortable as we both focused on the game.

Tak. Tak.

Though it had been a while, I still remembered how to play, and was able to keep up with his moves. Just barely...

This went on for the next few minutes until I eventually broke the silence.

"Are you planning on escaping?"

His hand froze halfway and his head flicked up. He looked at me with a look of genuine confusion.

I didn't lift my head and continued to stare at the board.

Judging from his reaction, it was clear that he knew something.

"I won't stop you."

That was the decision I had come up with for myself.

"You can escape. I won't do anything."

"....."

I couldn't quite tell what reaction he was making since I wasn't paying attention to him, but I was sure it was filled with surprise.

For the past week, I had been debating over the situation in my mind.

I was still uncertain of the goal of the mission, however, from what I knew, it was something related to the second calamity.

Things would surely become clearer to me with time.

However, if possible, I wanted to let him go. Of course, it wasn't because I felt pity for the Professor. I did to some extent, but not to the point where I'd help him escape the place.

.....I just needed someone on my side.

"I can more or less tell why you did the things that you did. You were either promised a cure for your memory problems or threatened with your family..."

Which one it was, I wasn't sure.

However, when I lifted my gaze to observe his reaction and saw his eyes quivering, I knew that I was right.

I continued.

"It would be unfair for me to stop you. I know exactly how it feels to lose someone important to you."

Just slightly, my voice layered.

The Professor's expression cracked and his arms started to tremble.

I reached to hold it.

"You must resent the people who did this to you, right?"

The mana inside of my body started to drain. I kept my face composed and continued to make contact with him.

I felt a little disgusted with myself. Using my powers to manipulate his weakness, but... it had to be done.

For the sake of my goal.

I had to do it.

His expression started to distort and his fists started to clench. A fit of visible anger.

I continued.

".....That's why I won't stop you. If possible, I want to help you."

What was my end goal in all of this...?

I realized quite a while ago that the organization that I was dealing with was a lot more dangerous than I thought.

Even now, I was clueless about the extent of their powers, and given how they had managed to manipulate a professor and succeed in getting five inmates out of one of the top prisons in this world, I knew they were powerful.

For this reason, I needed allies.

People who could help me from the inside.

Having seen all his memories, I knew exactly what type of person he was. What he cared about the most, and how desperate his situation was.

It was for this reason that I believed he would make for the right person to use.

I squeezed his hand and my mana drained further.

I instilled even more anger within him.

"I'm sure you have some resentment against the people that did this to you. That forced you to do things that went against your morals. I fully understand where you're coming from, and that's why I want to help you."

Finally, I let go of his hand and he lifted his gaze to meet my eyes.

I smiled.

"Let's help each other."

Please...

"Tell me everything that you know about the situation. In return, I'll offer you my help in taking revenge."

Join me.