CH 11

“I don’t think I’ve ever said I’m going to social circles or anything.”

Everything was in a flash. Jace’s admiring face turned white at some point, and the sound of air escaping from his throat came out.

“Is it a characteristic of nobles to treat living things as objects?”

Co-cough. Naturally, the man floating in the air chirped like a fish that had risen to the surface. He was strangled by Deon’s grip, and his shoulders and upper body turned dark red with blood.

“Le-Lemony. Lemo…”

“Why do you call this woman? She’s a noble. Then you should call your servant.”

As Deon, who cut off the waist of the man’s words, tilted his head slowly, a little boredom was felt from his sharpened gaze.

It was not an emotion that could come to mind in the man who is leading the situation now.

That’s right.

“Are human tribes originally like this?”

Deon was feeling an aversion to humans.

When he released his grip, the man fell to the floor like an object.

He didn’t pay any attention to the fainted man, he turned his head and walked toward the stairs. The shackles tied to my right hand made me move along.

Maybe because of the height difference, he and I walked the same way, but there was a big gap.

“….that person is strange. Never mind.”

She dragged along and spoke out hastily, but Deon pretended not to hear.

“Obviously, there are people who feel human compassion for you.”

However, at the next words, he belatedly stopped.

I wonder if his anger has subsided a little. I raised my head with a little hope, and at the same time as my breath stopped, my whole body hardened.

The surrounding air felt like it had fallen below zero. When I came to my senses, his blood-colored eyes, which were overflowing with anger, were staring at me coldly.

“It’s called compassion.”

Crossed the line.

That’s what his face said. Only then did I realize that I was Lemony once again, and I exhaled with difficulty. It was a word from the reader’s point of view, and from Deon’s point of view, he may think it is a mockery because he heard such a word from a prison officer who has been harassing for him for five years.

“I-I just meant to go quietly to the control tower.”

Having swallowed my saliva, I managed to squeeze my voice.

“I’m sorry.”

It was a meaningless remark. Now that I possessed Lemony, the only emotions I could communicate with that man were hatred and contempt.

I was staring at the needlessly luxurious carpet floor, biting my lower lip, and the low voice ringing in my ears gave me goosebumps.

“You know it well.”

I could feel his face, which was hovering in my ear, leaning toward me. I closed my eyes tightly to the pressure and fear from the strong body, and suddenly I heard a rattling sound from his right hand.

“If you know, move.”

1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor.

In the suffocating silence, only the footsteps of the two resonated awkwardly. The sharp eyes made my shoulders shrink for a moment, and I felt lighter and lighter every time I went up one floor or another.

If I get to the control tower, maybe I can escape from Deon.

“…..shall I open it?”

And now that we have reached the 4th floor.

Standing in front of the control tower office, I carefully asked permission.

In the middle of both doors, tightly blocked by iron gates, it was written “Control Tower” in the common language of the Lismold continent. Perhaps because I possessed Lemony, I could read the text naturally.

Perhaps because she is an aristocrat, she knows both the official and western languages, so I thought that information came naturally to me.

Still staring into the room at my question, he nodded unexpectedly lightly.

Knock.

Now, if I only opened this door, I could meet people who sympathized with me and protected me. The excitement and tension of meeting a stranger at the same time tightened my stomach. I slowly opened the door with a knock, feeling my heart pounding.

When I opened the door, the first thing I saw was a man’s arms grotesquely folded.

……the prison officers were dead.

◆

When a person is too surprised, the thinking circuit stops.

At first, I thought the door was made of thick iron and heavy. However, as I pushed the door open with all my might, I had no choice but to find out the cause of the door’s weight immediately.

The man’s arms were folded grotesquely between the cracks in the open door with a loud noise. Something white popped out through the skin of the forearm that went back to the other side. When I realized that it was a bone in the elbow, my whole body hardened.

I took a few more steps and entered the room deep enough to close the door to the Control Tower. And looked around with unfocused eyes.

There’s a woman who died with a broken neck. Here is a man who died with his leg bitten off. Like mollusks, it’s hard to tell the gender of the body drooping on the sofa’s armrest.

If there is one thing they have in common, it is that they all tried to fight with weapons. Guns and long swords had been abandoned without their owners among the rubble that had been swept away as if a storm had passed.

Fortunately, no one seemed to be the head of Day and Yvonne, but only me and Deon were alive here.

And blood. Blood streaks spread in the shape of a spider web, like throwing a red paint canister on the floor.

“It’s already been stolen.”

A brief commentary popped out of the silence. After confirming the kill with an emotionless gaze, he wandered around as if he knew it, then touched the drawer and rummaged through something.

But I didn’t notice him.

I just happened to look away and saw the back door where blood was buried. Maybe he tried to open the door and run away, but the blood that started from the inner door handle was connected to the floor. It’s like the traces of a giant orc-like monster grabbing a person’s feet and dragging them.

My heart was beating wildly.

My reason was rejecting the unbelievable scenery, but my frightened body was already trembling.

“No, no, no…”

It’s not over yet. I haven’t found Yvonne and Day yet.

“Follow me.” 

I felt like I was possessed. I had to make sure that there was a ray of hope in this hell. Deon obediently followed after picking up something from the drawers without permission.

But either way, I opened the bloody doorknob.

According to the original, this place consists of a total of three rooms. One is the drawing room where we are. The second is Yvonne’s personal office, which is used as a control tower in Building A. The third is an emergency passage from the 4th floor to the 1st floor.

“Yvonne’s body isn’t there yet. So they’re not all dead.”

I had to hypnotize myself.

There’s still a possibility. That there is still a corner for me to live in. This fear of not knowing when I will die will soon end.

“Lemony, Lemony?”

“Yvo-Yvonne…?”

But when I opened the door, what I saw was Yvonne who looked pale.

“That’s a relief, are you from the 7th floor? What about the others? What about the others?”

Yvonne, who shook her hand abnormally, grabbed me by the shoulder.

“What do you mean? He told me to come to the 4th floor… “

“So everyone else is dead!”

Fear permeated in her eyes, which screamed and grabbed me roughly by the shoulder. Then Yvonne’s eyes glanced over my shoulder. It was clear that she had seen dead comrades.

Then she came to her senses and suddenly swallowed her dry saliva and walked away holding my hand.

“You can live if you leave now.”

“Yes?”

“This, this prison is crazy. It’s not a place where either prisoners or officers can live. Le-Lemony. Let’s run away. If you go where the prisoners are, instead of us, the prisoners…”

However.

“Yvonne.”

Yvonne’s iris, which was gibberish and moving, turned straight for a moment.

“…Yvonne…”

Something feels strange. As I stepped back, strongly shaking off my shoulder, I felt Deon’s upper body as hard as a rock from the back of my head.

“….Kha, keuak….Khaak… C-crazy….”

He didn’t push me or protect me, he didn’t budge from the spot. He just watches Yvonne going crazy without any reaction.

Soon after, Yvonne’s abnormally deformed eyes swung upwards, her right arm bent abnormally, and her body, which had crossed her legs in an X shape, collapsed.

Only then did he touch Yvonne’s body with his foot without much emotion, as he was slightly pushing me out.

“They’re all dead.”

A slow nod of the head turned toward me. What the tall man over 190 cm said was not to himself, but to me.

◆

All dead. Ah, they’re all dead.

“It’s a little futile. Actually, I was curious about how you would change when you went where your colleague was.”

Among the corpses, only I survived. The original has changed. Maybe it has changed because of me.

“…whether to turn into that crazy bitch again, or wake up and be obedient to me.”

He approached me and laughed quietly. Deon, who stared at me for a moment to see if my bewildered face wasn’t bad, put something he was holding in his hand into his mouth. I could feel the sound of drinking liquid in the distance, but that wasn’t the problem.

“Prison officer, give me a damn order.”

Everyone is dead except me.

“Come on, I could listen to you like a dog.”

They’re all dead. All I have to do is die.

“Hurry up.”

As if it were foggy, Deon’s cold voice gradually faded away. My heart drops to the tip of my toe.

I could feel my fingers and toes freezing because I couldn’t feel the blood. The overwhelming fear of death began to dominate me.

“….Fuck, how did I get here…… how did I, I…”

Suddenly, my vision was blackened by a black shadow. I felt a huge man approaching me, but the loneliness and fear of surviving alone made me paralyzed by the dizzying sensation of jumping from the sky.

Why did it turn out like this?

How long can I survive with the prisoner who hates and despise me, where I don’t know when he’ll kill me. 

What will happen after I survive? So what if I succeed in breaking out? How do I get to the Empire after I break out? So what if I move? Is Deon still chasing me?

It was then.

Wait a minute. Lemony can’t feel pain.

A faint reflected light rose in the pupils that had lost focus at the sudden voice of temptation.

Yes. I’d rather die.

I’ll never know unless I die. I might return to my original body. Even if I didn’t go back and just died, it was a life where I didn’t want to see anyone. Maybe it was a blessing from heaven.

“Lemony.”

It was then. My stretched wrist was dragged roughly by someone.

“I have no last words…”

“Kill me, Deon.”

As he roughly wiped the unknown liquid from his mouth, he froze in an instant.

“….what?”

However, I, who was staring blankly at Deon, raised the corner of my lips. This can put an end to everything.

Piii-

I squeezed out my last bit of strength, and at the sound of the whistle, an unbelievable grip gripped my neck. I closed my eyes as I looked at the man whose face was crumpled mercilessly.

It was a peaceful blackout.