Chapter 145

Prisoner number 3011, Noctane, patted his belly.
“Ugh.”
Today’s meal wasn’t great. Usually, I’m fed a fluffy nutrition bar that doesn’t taste like much, but it’s been a while since I’ve had meat.
Even if it was a substitute meat from a factory somewhere. Meat had a way of seducing people with its form, and he savored the last remnants of flavor in his mouth.
“It must be next month again.”
Rations were distributed on a monthly basis to keep prisoners sane. If the whip was for routine blood draws and medication, the carrot was for special treats.
Noctane scratched between his teeth as he left the common room. As soon as he stepped through the door, he saw a massive pillar reaching to the ceiling. He stood still and stared at the white column.
“I think I’ve been here for two years.
It’s a bit of a learning curve.
Even as he gets used to it, he is sometimes surprised by the disparity between it and the prison in his hometown where he was once incarcerated. For him, Philstein was still special and bizarre.
We all know what you’re working on at Philstein, no, at Ishrad. Rarer still are those who don’t know. Among the lesser citizens, there are those who sincerely believe that research in the Ivory Tower will save the continent.
It’s a kind of faith.
A concrete object rather than a god.
“It doesn’t feel like a prison….”
It’s more like an important machine than a prison. The prisoner is the fuel, and by burning his body, he becomes part of the machine…….
I clicked my tongue and walked back to my room, dragging my clean slippers behind me.
“That’s awkward, that’s awkward.”
Some of the prisoners were quite content with their imprisonment. Noctane wondered very much about their brain structure. They’re not treated badly, but they’re allowed to run wild on the outside, aren’t they?
At least for Noctane, he was confident. If he goes out into the world, he’s sure he’ll succeed. It’s not all bad. After all, he had lived a wealthy life before his imprisonment.
“The problem is, there’s no way to jailbreak it.
After a lot of thinking, I realized that I couldn’t do anything from the inside. I realized that I couldn’t do anything from the inside; I could only wait for something to happen from the outside.
It was an unexpected endurance.
The opportunity came without warning.
“Number 3011, come out!”
“What? What is it? I just ate.”
“Stop fooling around and come out. It’s a visit.”
Visits?
For a moment, I wondered if I had misheard. Noctane is not an Ishrad; he was transferred to Pilstein two years ago. Like pigs being sold.
I don’t have any friends outside of prison.
But who the heck was that?
“I don’t know the details.”
The guard explained bluntly under my questioning gaze.
“He’s a guest from out of town, and suddenly he wants to meet the prisoner.”
“But why me?”
“I told you I don’t know. Maybe you were picked at random. Or maybe you stood out from the crowd, or maybe I’ve always known you.”
The guard openly expressed his annoyance.
It’s not surprising. Being a guard at Philstein was a shunned profession. Prisoners, the subjects of research and experimentation, are not to be messed with. If something goes wrong with a prisoner, the researcher is blamed.
In a way, it’s the most forgiving position.
If I had entered the academy, I would have been treated better than I am now. It was rightly said that if the head is bad, the body suffers. The jailer shook his head as he remembered his youth.
“Okay, follow me. And just so you know, …….”
“Stay out of trouble. Keep it confidential. I know, I know.”
Noctane had never seen it before, but he recognized it. The research being done at Pilstein is hardly humane, and nothing good will come of it if it gets out.
I flicked my ears and followed the guard. Noctane’s cell was on the third floor, the visiting room on the first. I took the staff elevator down, and after a short walk, I was at the door.
“Go in, and don’t say anything rude.”
“Deposit.”
I entered through a door opened by a guard. The visiting room looked like any other prison. A grate separated the inside from the outside. A structure that emphasized the disconnect from society.
Beyond the grate was a pair of men and women.
“What is it, Pekatum?
His muscles tensed as he noticed the horns on the woman’s head. It brought back memories of being beaten by Pekatum long ago. He hesitantly pulled up a chair and sat down.
“Hey, um.”
I alternated between male and female faces. Strangely, I was more drawn to the men than the Pekatum women. Dark hair, dark eyes. Their unusual appearance gave off a strange aura.
A little, uncomfortable.
Noctane averted his gaze, and immediately realized that he was afraid. It was an embarrassing and mysterious experience to realize that he had been frightened by someone else, even with Pekatum right in front of him.
The man broke the silence.
“Noctane Bayos. Hailing from Floria. Pretty colorful rap sheet. Dealt in illegal drugs, unlicensed firearms, counterfeit money.”
“Yeah. What.”
“You’re not cheating.”
“Is it necessary? If crying makes you get less time?”
The trial is long over. Noctane was destined to die at Filstein. The experiment went wrong somewhere, and his death would be ruled an accidental death. It was decided.
If you don’t want to end up like that, you have to hold on to something. Pekatum’s nonchalant demeanor aside, this nameless man might be Noctane’s last hope.
So we have to make it interesting somehow….
‘Oh, fuck. What the fuck is this guy doing.’
Despite his relaxed expression, his eyeballs are rolling busily. He’s checking the location of the CCTV, and when he’s done, he smiles slightly.
I don’t see a cordon, I see thorny vines.
“Oh, yeah. Oh, speaking of Floria, there was an attack there a while back. Have you heard about it?”
“Did you hear, I don’t have a TV or a newspaper, and I don’t really care.”
“Really? I thought you’d want to hear about your hometown.”
“I’m sure there are some, but not me. None of your business.”
Seriously. I’m not attached to my hometown. Every country is a society of people. You just need to be able to live there and not feel like a stranger. Once you have something in your hands, attachment will follow.
The man listened to Noctane’s reasoning in silence. There was no further conversation. Just a repetition of questions and answers, the intentions of which were unclear.
It was as if the person asking the question wasn’t interested. This made Noctane frustrating and frustrating for me, because it meant that I wasn’t engaging him.
As if to prove it, the man quickly got up from his seat.
“That’s enough for today.”
He couldn’t even hold on. That night, Noctane did not sleep well. He had foolishly missed his best chance. Regret and irritation with the man overwhelmed him.
From that day on, the prison became a bit of a ruckus. There were several other prisoners who had the same experience as Noctane. The man went from prisoner to prisoner indiscriminately, as if looking for something.
Sometimes it was a one-time visit, sometimes it was three days in a row. Noctane was the former, and he would often badmouth men for wandering around the prison for nothing.
Then one day.
I was reunited with the man in the visiting room, as I had been summoned to do the first time. There was a different head count than last time. In addition to the Pekatum woman, there was a young man by his side.
“See you again.”
He greeted him lightly, and then winked at his coworker. The young man takes the cue and closes his eyes. After a dozen seconds, he opens them again and nods his head in approval.
……What did I just do?
I didn’t understand what he was doing. But I didn’t have time to take it all in. The man takes out a pen and paper and starts scribbling.
“I’m late to introduce myself, but I’m Yi Hyun Kim.”
State your name and hold out a piece of paper.
“You’ve been playing tricks on the CCTV. But the recorder should be working fine. Answer back with a reasonable amount of gestures that don’t sound unnatural.”
This is followed by the following sentence
“I have a proposition for you. I need your strength, and if you help me, I’ll get you out of here.”
Noctane’s eyes widened.
But it wasn’t time to freak out. If you’re down, you have to make the effort to catch yourself and climb back up. He was ready to put in the effort.
“Ah, yes, but why are you here today. Are you so curious about cell life?”
I pointed my index finger at my throat as I spoke. A restraint that blocks the use of spells. Despite my frustration, Kim’s face didn’t show the slightest hint of frustration.
“I know your password.”
It was a sentence that made me laugh out loud. This was no ordinary man. It was suspicious, but Noctane had deeply hoped for an upheaval like this.
“What are you going to do?”
I didn’t even have to think about it.
* * *
Once again, Pereira’s spell came in handy. The ability to temporarily filter the CCTV, causing it to transmit a still image. Before the effect wore off, Kim finished talking to Noctane.
Noctein.
He’s not actually a character in the episode Ishurad. He’s actually going to be rotting in prison for a long time to come. At least five years, if not more.
“It will come out eventually.
In the game, the carnage wreaked by the Legion leaves continent after continent in ruins. By the end of the game, few countries remain intact. This is when every talent becomes invaluable.
So how would Philstein be treated if all the prisoners were able-bodied, a goldmine of talent? It was a natural progression of the times that prisoners would be paroled and utilized as soldiers.
One of these is nootropics.
He joins as a four-star agent late in the game when the rap’s reputation is on the rise. Naturally, Kim knows what he’s capable of.
The key units in this operation are ‘Kim’ and ‘Asterique’.
And Noctane is a supporter to help Asterique.
“It was a pain in the ass to get in and out.
They purposely made the prison look like a rat race. This was to confuse Kim and make it difficult for him to identify who he was trying to contact.
There have been other harvests along the way.
“First of all, it’s safe to say that the godmother is not here.
More than two weeks later, we still haven’t heard anything. The Legion remains silent. Edwin tells me the Elder hasn’t done much either.
He’s trying to stay as still as possible. As expected, he wants to wait for the lap to leave. Catching the tail has become realistically difficult, but that doesn’t disrupt the plan.
“Wheat sugar, wheat sugar.
As of today, all the preliminary work is done.
Now, if you give them an opening, they’ll take it.
* * *
It’s been three weeks since the Celbrox Labs arrived in Ishkarad, and Kamael Rothfer has been working tirelessly to keep tabs on the labs. He crouches down, ears pricked up.
In the lab, he kept a public schedule. Dustborn’s Kim, on the other hand, has been bouncing around the prison like a madman. He thought he might have a mole for the Legion.
“You’re doing a lot of bullshit.
Indeed, there is. But a few words are not enough to reveal who they are, and in Kamael’s eyes, they are nothing more than an unnecessary act of impatience for no gain.
It was an exhausting day in many ways, but that was until today.
“You’re already gone.”
“Yes, because you can’t be excused forever.”
“I see. I wouldn’t want to be away for too long.”
“As I relayed to you earlier, Synapse and Agent Asterike will be staying behind, and if you have any information regarding the Legion, please feel free to contact me.”
“I will, and I thank you for your kindness.”
Camael and the Professor say goodbye. A handful of agents will remain behind as liaisons and contingents, while the rest will return to the lab.
“Asteriskera.
I’ve heard of that Pekatum. She’s been monstrous in Kilikia in the past. I’m wary, but I’m only an individual, and Edwin told me of her weaknesses the other day.
‘You can’t control your spell.
He seemed to rely on specialized equipment to cast his spells, which didn’t contradict much of what he’d heard before. Kamael had heard of Asterike’s strange sword before.
Edwin also said that the equipment was created by Kim’s spell. This is unverified information. I don’t understand the connection between the two.
What’s certain is that Asterique’s favorite sword is nowhere to be seen, and the annoying Kim and Rap are finally leaving Ishurad.
Also, the operations team is small, with only about 10 people.
That the most powerful Pale Asteriske remains in Ish’ladd.
“I hope you can get home safely.”
Shortly after the departure of Celbrosics Labs.
Kamael signaled to the waiting Legion troops.
“Don’t let any of them out alive.”
-Edwin Berenice?
“Of course.”
He snorted.
“Since the Godmother murdered our comrade and disappeared, what obligation do we have to take care of the son of a bitch?”
-Okay, what about the prison?
“If they don’t come back, we’re not going to stand idle in the Celbrosys Labs.”
Now that the Summit had turned the continent against the Legion, it was clear that it would become increasingly difficult to operate. Rap alone would soon be sending more troops.
In the end, it’s a race against time.
“Maybe we can even do it at the same time.”
It should be a one-two punch.