Chapter 25
This is utterly absurd. A person crawling out of a trash bag? Sure, I’ve hidden in one before, but I’ve never actually acted like trash the way this guy just did.
“…Who are you?”
I asked, bending forward, and Deon, who had been looking back and forth between the man and me, glanced down at the man with a bored expression. He clearly wanted to ignore him and walk away, but now that I had started the conversation, he couldn’t.
The man, poking his head out from the trash bag, swallowed nervously. Judging by the frills showing below his neck, he didn’t seem like an ordinary commoner. Was he a noble?
“Um, I’m an external inspector from the Southern Empire… Are you Lady Lemoni, by any chance?”
Southern Empire? External inspector? No way.
“You’re saying… you’re from outside?”
At his introduction, the air around us shifted. I asked again in disbelief, and the man nodded furiously as if wondering what the problem was.
In the original novel, the story was told from the prisoners’ point of view, so external inspectors were never shown. But as someone who had read it, I knew from the worldbuilding who he was. Dreys Prison was a joint facility built by both the Southern and Western Empires—designed by the South and staffed by the West.
Due to the overflowing number of inmates, the two empires had created this place together, and every six months, an inspector from the outside would come to check the prison’s condition. This time, it must be the Southern Empire’s turn.
“How did you get in? The entire prison should be on lockdown.”
At Deon’s sharp question, the inspector blinked innocently and looked at me.
“The door was open…?”
The door was open?
“Wait a minute. If you saw the prison was in this state, shouldn’t you have gone right back out to inform the Southern Empire?”
“Yes, I was going to…”
“You were going to…?”
The inspector’s expression became even more innocent.
“But when I closed the door, it locked behind me.”
…You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re an idiot.”
The dumb conversation ended with Deon’s insult. He slowly dragged both hands down his face, clearly exhausted. The inspector, on the other hand, looked genuinely wronged.
“I… I’m an inspector. I thought maybe they knew I was coming early since the door was open…”
Well, I guess no one could’ve expected the prison to be in this mess.
“For now…”
I trailed off, glancing at the man. Could he fight? Judging by appearances could be misleading, but with those frills, he didn’t seem too reliable. Still, his mere presence was a ray of hope. If he had entered through an open door, then that meant someone else must have also come in or gone out that way.
Who could it be?
In the original, the first high-level inmate to escape did so by scaling the wall. So maybe someone besides him actually escaped through the proper entrance. Either way, it seemed wise to bring this guy with us. He looked at me with such innocent eyes, and as an inspector, he likely had a communication stone to contact the Southern Empire.
If he didn’t return, the Southern Empire would definitely start looking into Dreys Prison. All things considered, it was better to keep him close.
“For now, come on out.”
“C-Can I really come out?”
Judging from the way he spoke, he might be the first man here I’d need to protect.
“Yes. With that pretty frilled shirt of yours, no prisoner will try to mess with you.”
I stood, stretching out my knees while glancing at Deon. I wasn’t sure what he thought, but since he didn’t object, he must have been thinking something similar.
“Th-Then I’ll step out…”
At that moment, I thought things were going smoothly.
“By the way, Lady Lemoni—”
It seemed trivial, but I’d gained an ally, and at least there weren’t any monsters spying on us at the moment.
“Her Excellency Christina has been secretly worried about you, did you kn—”
But just as he whispered in a voice low enough not to be heard by others, the inspector made a stupid sound and collapsed. The noise rang out in the quiet prison like tinnitus, loud and ominous.
“Just… get back in the trash bag.”
Even the small pity I had left for him vanished. At my words, the inspector—now wide-eyed like a rabbit—hesitated but then crawled back into the bag. At that moment, he unconsciously grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind his back.
“…Guard.”
A heavy silence loomed, circling like a crow. They must have heard. The monsters, sensitive to sound, couldn’t have missed that.
“Yes?”
“Stay as quiet as possible. If one comes near, bash its head with the frying pan. If you can’t manage that, scream. I’ll handle the rest.”
My heart felt like it dropped all the way to my feet. I clung to his back, trembling in the unsettling silence. Then, in the distance, the roar of a beast rose like smoke.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t see them, but I could feel the irregular footsteps growing closer.
Then came a sudden, bone-scraping screech charging toward us. KRAAAK! A bizarre shriek rang out from beyond Deon’s broad back. And then, someone grabbed my trembling wrist—it was Deon. He kicked a monster in the stomach with one long leg, his red eyes locking with mine. It meant: Get a grip.
His strong hand pushed me back, and the scene before me made me cover my mouth in shock.
I’d thought there were just two or three. But it seemed the other monsters in Block C had also awakened from the scream, now rushing at us with saliva dripping from their jaws.
Frying pan. Frying pan. I gripped the handle as tightly as I could, but my hands kept trembling. I clung to the hem of Deon’s shirt like he was my only lifeline—until I suddenly realized something was missing.
Deon was gone.
“Deon?”
I looked around frantically—only for a huge hand to grab the back of my clothes.
“Close your eyes.”
A shrill scream was muffled by his deep, low voice. He hoisted me effortlessly over his shoulder and, gripping the trash bag with veiny hands, hurled it at the monsters nearby. They collapsed like dominos, and the inspector burst out crying and ran after us.
“Wait! Wait for me!”
Deon didn’t even glance at him—he just ran.
* * *
HUUURRK—
As soon as I got off his shoulder, I gasped for air and dry heaved. I felt like I was going to die. If I could just vomit out the saliva pooling in my mouth, I might feel a little better, but unfortunately, my stomach was empty.
“Better to run than die. This is how you survive.”
Deon clicked his tongue and sighed. Had we run for about 15 minutes? It felt even longer.
If this were a novel, he’d be defeating monsters with a single punch. But this was reality. Or maybe the prison was just that much of a mess.
While I was hunched over, still dry heaving, I glanced at the man who looked perfectly fine. He was built like iron. Beads of sweat ran down the thick neck peeking through his black robe, but he just swept his hair back, as if he was only hot.
“Milady! Lady Lemoni!”
Someone came running, whisper-shouting in desperation. The inspector, somehow still alive, dashed over with his frilly shirt fluttering.
“He’s the type that lives long by staying low.”
Deon clicked his tongue again and got back to whatever he was doing.
“You’re here?”
“‘You’re here?’ Is that all? Do you know how terrifying it was not being able to see inside that bag while being swung like a damn mace?”
“That wasn’t me. That was Deon. If you want to complain, take it up with him.”
The inspector glanced at Deon and immediately went quiet. With the commotion dying down, Deon finally rolled up his sleeves and looked at us.
“Get in. We’re heading straight to Block D.”
“Is Block D safe?”
“Of course not. You’d probably think a wild rabbit from the Southern Empire’s northern grasslands was a monster.”
“Isn’t anything untouched by humans basically a beast?”
At the inspector’s retort, Deon’s handsome brow twitched. They clearly didn’t get along. If Ian were here, maybe the mood would’ve been a bit lighter.
Wait—where is Ian?
Ridiculously, I only now realized he wasn’t with us. I’d been so focused on Deon for the past few days that I’d completely forgotten Ian was missing.
Could he have died?
Block C was now swarming with monsters because of the whistle. If he hadn’t gotten out, there’s no way he survived. Casualties were inevitable in survival, but I never thought Ian would be one of them.
“What are you doing?”
I felt… a little sad. I looked at the distant silhouette of Block C, a whirlwind of complicated emotions swirling inside me. He was crazy, sure, but not someone who should’ve died just yet. If the plot had changed, did that mean all the original main characters were just dying off?
…What if they all die because I’ve altered the story?
Lost in my dark thoughts—
“You always have to be dragged along by me.”
Deon suddenly grabbed my wrist and hauled me into the boat. The force of it rocked the boat slightly. And just as it did, a hand shot up from the water and grabbed my ankle.
