A Wish to Grab Happiness - Book 13: Chapter 320

Chapter 320: Increased Resentment

As soon as I stepped out of the food storage room, the smell of iron mixed with mold grazed my nose. An unpleasant scent that made me want to twist my eyes just by lightly touching my nose. Still, it was a scent that I remembered smelling once.

Then, in my ears, a sound resounding from the bottom of the earth, like a groan, quietly resounded continuously. Yes, it repeated over and over again.

What a gloomy and cruel place this was, indeed.

It may be similar wherever I went. It was a prison after all. Just standing here made me feel like crawling up from the bottom of my stomach. I didn’t want to stay here for long. If I could, I’d rather refuse to even approach this place.

As expected, this place was where the resentment of the old believers had accumulated, and curses had been set up continuously from the past. I let out a strong, heavy breath from my lungs and hit the corridor with my foot.

「Vestaline. I think it’s better for you wait inside. This is not a pleasant place, you know.」

Naturally, I muttered so. No matter how much I exhaled, the weight that was packed in my lungs was not going to go away.

Like me, Vestaline breathed heavily while wearing the guards’ uniforms stripped from those we’ve killed.

I couldn’t find a quick option, so I couldn’t even say that it was uncomfortable to wear. I wondered if Vestaline’s heavy atmosphere was due to that strange attire, something she was never meant to wear.

「…I am surprised. You are able to imitate a gentleman. 」

While speaking with sarcasm, Vestaline let the wind carry her voice. It slightly stopped the groans that rang in my ears.

「That’s right, Vestaline. Humans are surprisingly gentlemanly at times, and yet they can be villains too.」

I shrugged my shoulders and replied. Vestaline didn’t change her expression, so I didn’t know what kind of emotion she was holding in her chest, but her voice sounded strangely firm.

「I appreciate your concern. But I’m still the head of hundreds of mercenaries, Lord Lugis. If I withdraw now, I’ll stain the face of the mercenaries.」

Withdrawing was unacceptable. Saying that, Vestaline placed the battle-axe on her thin shoulder.

She was sincere, or rather serious. I could understand well that she was a person with a completely different nature from me. How wonderful.

That’s why she shouldn’t approach a prison. This place was a far cry from Vestaline’s nature.

Vestaline continued to speak while hiding her voice.

She asked what I intended to do next. Should we release a large number of prisoners, or should we quickly work to recruit Belfein’s mercenaries waiting outside?

There was a lot of enthusiasm in those words. Vestaline, who seemed calm, may be a little impatient and agitated after all. In spite of everything, in the middle of enemy territory, just the two of us were pulling the curtain.

I answered while forcibly closing Vestaline’s mouth, who continued to speak in quick succession, to suppress the momentum.

「Let’s leave the flamboyant show for later, Vestaline…We’re in a position where we can do whatever we please without being distracted by the opponent for a while.」

Oh yeah. Whether it was releasing prisoners or calling the mercenaries, there was something to be done first. There was nothing more foolish than bringing in an actor when the stage was not ready.

Either way, I should create a stage where everybody can go on a rampage. For that reason, we had some things to do first.

Besides, it was a bad idea to free the prisoners now. The prisoners wouldn’t listen to us seriously. On top of that, if things went wrong, there was even the possibility that they would rather follow the guards instead.

Prisoners obeyed guards. This was that kind of place.

While lightly biting my dry lips, I looked up at the top floor of the North Tower. Certainly the prison Lord’s room should be there. First, we shall go grab him by the neck.

From the depths of the basement, I could still hear the shuddering groans.

—

Her finger burst in front of her. At least, it seemed that way to Ninz.

Pleasantly, she felt no pain for a while because the sight caught her eyes for a moment.

Her blood splattered, staining even her own cheeks. Unlike the VIP prisoner’s room, the dark interrogation room was strangely bloody.

…And after a moment it came.

Desperate pain, as if the nerve of the finger had been forcibly pulled out with a needle.

Without a break, that horrifying pain attacked her fingertip over and over again.

The guard used a device for torture that tightened each finger with an iron hammer. Another finger burst. Blood spewed out, and the broken bones gouged out from the flesh.

Accompanied by a shock that split Ninz’s throat, a muffled voice resounded. It repeated several times over.

「Prisoner 2066. The sooner you confess, the easier it will be. Hey, c’mon. There’s no point in acting weird.」

The guard’s strangely sticky voice hit Ninz’s ears. Ninz let her purplish hair stuck to her cheeks and sharply pointed her eyes of the same color as she said the following.

「…Sorry, but can you speak in human language? I don’t have the peculiar hobby of talking to violent beasts.」

Said Ninz, shaking her chained limbs. At the same time, a sharp, violent pain once again hit her fingers.

With this, all the fingers of her right hand became useless. She had a slight sense of touch, but it didn’t feel like it belonged to her. Ninz had the feeling that the bones of her right hand had been shattered.

The male guard said while swinging his hammer in frustration.

「Do you understand your position? Your companion confessed, you’re an old believer. The method of execution has already been decided…But hey, I’m a human too, so if you flatter me a little, it’ll be your last time alive. Until then, I’ll be kind to you, okay?」

Clearly angry words. Ninz was about to laugh at how easy it was to understand.

Another guard inserted the torture device into her restrained left hand. The useless right hand was thrown into the air while spitting out blood.

Ninz opened her purple eyes wide. She then stared at the male guard in front of her. She could clearly see that the man’s shoulders were shaking.

「Really, you guys are so easy to understand, so blind and stupid. I know why you’re trying to trick me.」

Said Ninz, shaking her braided purple hair and sneering at them.

「Anyway, someone in the Great Holy Church must have committed a huge mistake. That’s why it’s finally becoming difficult to avert the eyes of the people. That’s why they need to create a villain! I can imagine who will be the…!」

Before she could continue her words, she was hit hard on the cheek. The guard’s fist hit Ninz’s cheekbones, causing her to vomit blood.

Perhaps, the guard had never heard such words from a prisoner. After all, all the prisoners here were obedient.

Like performers fulfilling their roles, they played the role of prisoners. It felt as if they were being manipulated by something.

The guards had never seen a woman like this before. One of the guards forcibly grabbed Ninz by the chin and turned her head to face him, staring deeply into her purple eyes.

「Look, I hate those eyes of yours. If you’re a prisoner, then you should have dead eyes. Let’s crush them miserably, yeah!」

Rather than controlling himself, the guard just spit it out in a yelling voice.

At those words, Ninz opened her mouth, gritting her teeth with the pain that ravaged her body.

「…I told you, speak in human language. 」

She said those words and sighed heavily.