CHAPTER 35
The prisons for holding inmates are separated by gender.
So Babiyen, Horizon, and Miren were taken to a different prison from me.
Miren was taken away separately because she wouldn’t let go of Callen’s head.
They seemed to have judged that she was mentally unstable.
Vandal’s head injury was severe.
Still, this world has at least a final shred of decency.
Since Vandal’s identity was confirmed as a pioneer, they took him to a medical facility.
The Regular Army will likely detain him there until the situation is clarified.
So, what happened to me, the one in the best condition?
Needless to say.
I was dragged straight to prison and locked up.
Thanks to my resurrection magic, I was the healthiest person in the world!
Thank you as always, resurrection magic!
After all the trouble of ruining the criminals’ plan and successfully escaping, I end up in jail.
If only Babiyen had kept her mouth shut, they would have confirmed our identities and let us go quickly.
The fact that she was a disciple of the Red Flame Lord made things much more complicated.
It was clear they would treat us as related parties and wouldn’t let us go easily.
“……And I didn’t even earn a single coin.”
To think I would waste a day out of my precious month like this. It was just giving me a headache.
Leaning against the cool, dark prison wall, my stray thoughts began to disappear. My life is anything but smooth.
Swallowing my bitter resentment towards Babiyen, I glanced around.
These savage This-worlders don’t know how to distinguish between victims and perpetrators. Thanks to that, the criminals from before were also in the same cell as me.
The ones who had thrown themselves out of the exit to escape Arachne.
They were gathered behind me, whispering about something.
Causing a disturbance in prison could lead to immediate punishment.
In an era where summary execution, far more efficient than wasting taxes on imprisonment, was rampant.
Fortunately, the criminals didn’t cause a ruckus in here.
So I remained silent, leaning against the wall where the light didn’t reach well.
The criminals didn't seem to recognize me.
I guess in that frantic situation, Arachne left a much stronger impression than I did.
“What do we do now?”
“We never should have trusted those Black Dawn bastards…………….”
The prison cell wasn’t very large.
So I could hear their conversation clearly.
Black Dawn.
The moment they were mentioned, my brow furrowed.
The criminals' plan clearly had some objective. But to think that Black Dawn was involved again.
Does that mean this was a form of terrorism orchestrated by Black Dawn?
What reason could there be to tie up pioneers in the 2nd World using criminals?
After thinking it over, I came up with one possibility.
The fact that from now on, the Regular Army will be deployed whenever a gate to the 2nd World opens.
First, the appearance of the No-Named murderer.
Then, the group terrorist attack by criminals.
These two consecutive incidents had put the Regular Army on high alert.
And if Black Dawn was involved, they couldn’t just stand by and watch events unfold in the 2nd World.
Therefore, it was highly likely that the Regular Army would form a patrol unit for the 2nd World.
Considering the dangers of the 2nd World, they couldn't just form a half-assed unit.
It was almost certain that a portion of their main forces would have to be diverted for 2nd World patrols.
Is Black Dawn aiming to split their forces?
I still don’t know what picture those bastards are painting.
“It’s our own fault for trusting them. We shouldn’t have associated with a Transferee in the first place.”
“Haaah, we’re going to be executed, aren’t we?”
“Wait. We don’t know yet.”
Among the criminals who were naturally expecting execution, one of them spoke up.
He was a man who had been unusually quiet compared to the other criminals.
“There’s a rumor that someone in the Regular Army is cooperating with Black Dawn.”
“What, really?”
“Quiet, lower your voice. That’s why there’s a high chance that person will get us out.”
“But honestly, why would they bother with us?”
“It was this big of a disturbance, wasn’t it? If they let not just us, but all the other criminals go, they can show the whole world how incompetent the Regular Army is.”
“Ah.”
“True, those Black Dawn bastards hate the Regular Army with a passion.”
“So let’s just wait a bit.”
Someone in the Regular Army is a Black Dawn collaborator.
Hearing that, I thought of the Red Flame Lord, and my brow furrowed again.
Just how far have those Black Dawn bastards extended their reach?
This rotten world was already a lawless mess, and now, thanks to Black Dawn, the entire judicial system was shaking.
Thanks to the one criminal’s statement, the others quieted down.
They all seemed to be dreaming of the hope of escape.

Even so, there was nothing I could do.
I just sat quietly, leaning against the wall.
All I could do was wait to be cleared of suspicion and released as soon as possible.
"Hey, you."
Just then, a voice came from in front of me.
I slowly shifted my gaze to see a man with a thick beard sitting in the cell across from mine.
He was quite large.
His clothes were shabby, but the muscles visible underneath spoke of years of training.
Maybe it was because I’d seen so many powerful people lately.
This man was strong.
His dark black eyes glinted from between strands of his long hair.
“Did you rent this place out? Shut your mouths, it’s noisy.”
Hearing his words, the criminals looked at each other.
Then they made faces as if to ask, ‘Is he talking to us?’
“Oi, are you talking to us?”
"You must be deaf. Explains why your voices are so loud."
In an instant, the criminals were labeled deaf.
Their faces twisted with rage, finally realizing the insult was directed at them.
Ignoring them completely, the man let out a long yawn.
“If you interrupt my nap one more time, I’ll kick you out to somewhere other than a prison, so shut up and stay quiet.”
"Is this bastard crazy?!"
“Go on, try it!”
The criminals immediately rushed to the bars of their cell, screaming their heads off.
The man watched them with half-lidded eyes, then sluggishly rose to his feet.
Both parties were locked inside their cells.
The criminals had nothing to fear, whether he stood up or not.
Screeeech—
That is, until he casually opened the door to his cell.
The cell door hadn't been locked from the start.
In other words, the man hadn't been detained in the first place.
Now that I looked, there was no one else in the opposite cell.
It was just that man, peacefully lying on the floor napping.
There were no other criminals to begin with.
Clang—
The door of the cell the man had walked out of swung shut again.
As he stretched, the sound of his joints popping echoed through the space.
"Prisons don't get much light and the basement is cool, making it the perfect place to sleep. But it's just too damn noisy."
He slowly stroked his bearded chin and grinned.
In response, the color began to drain from the criminals’ faces.
Their earlier remarks.
The man had heard every single one.
I didn't even have to guess the identity of a man who could freely enter and exit a prison cell.
This guy was a member of the Regular Army.
And a weirdo who napped in a prison at that.
"Still, it's nice to hear interesting stories like this from time to time."
And right in front of him, the criminals had just mentioned their connection to Black Dawn.
“W-Wait a minute.”
“Sir Regular Army soldier, that’s not what we meant!”
Just as the criminals scrambled to make excuses.
KWAAAAANG!
A loud explosion from above violently shook the floor.
Successive shouts rang out from outside, followed by the sound of footsteps rushing about.
It was clear that some kind of incident had broken out.
The man looked up as well.
In that gap, I saw one of the criminals pull something from his mouth.
I had no idea how he’d stored it, but I instinctively knew.
That thing was a weapon meant to harm the man.
I kicked off the ground and threw my body toward the criminal.
"Wha—?!"
The criminal, not expecting me to move, collided with me and we tumbled to the floor.
The object he’d pulled from his mouth rolled away.
It was a tiny poison dart launcher.
I knew these criminals were dangerous, but I never imagined they'd be carrying poison darts in their mouths.
I'd have to be careful of things like this when dealing with people from now on.
The poison dart launcher on the floor was crushed and broke apart.
It looked unusable now.
"The hell do you think you're doing, you bastard!" the criminal entangled with me shouted, swinging his fist.
I got up before I could get hit again, only to see the other criminals glaring at me.
Their murderous intent was so thick it felt like they could leap at me and kill me at any moment.
But they didn't know.
I may not be good at much, but I have an eye for people.
Especially…
"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?"
…for spotting the kind of guy who absolutely will not tolerate an attack directed at himself.
Screeeech—
The Regular Army man had already used a key to unlock our cell door.
Seeing this, the criminals immediately turned toward him.
Their plan was to charge him head-on.
“Did this idiot just open the door for us?”
“Fuck, what a moron.”
“Get him!”
The criminals charged the man all at once.
Watching them, the man stood calmly, then pulled his hands from his pockets.
“Why do you people always think violence is…”
Then, the man thrust out his hand.
“...something only you can use?”
His outstretched hand cleanly struck a criminal's jaw.
And with that, the criminal’s head exploded.
KWAAAAANG!
The explosion rocked the inside of the prison.
The blast sent the other three criminals who were charging him tumbling to the floor.
Thud—
At the same time, the criminal collapsed next to the man.
His head was burnt black.
It was just like he’d been hit by fire magic.
That… that’s an Ability.
Now that I looked closely, this man had no irises.
A missing body part and a powerful Ability.
He’s a No-Named.
The man fumbled in his clothes and pulled something out.
It was a pair of black sunglasses.
They looked like special, magically treated sunglasses.
He put them on and swept his hair back. The criminals' faces began to turn deathly pale.
His appearance was familiar to them.
One of them opened his frozen lips.
“L-Lieutenant General of the Regular Army… Inferno.”
There were a total of ten Lieutenant Generals stationed in the capital, Valterion.
No one would have ever imagined one of them would be lying around in a prison.
The Regular Army was originally a private organization created during the war.
However, they made a pact with the Imperial family, were officially commissioned as a military force, and are now in charge of maintaining peace throughout the world.
In other words, for someone at the rank of Lieutenant General…
…crushing criminals like these was perfectly legal at any time.
"Right. Let's have a nice, long chat after you wake up."
“W-Wait!”
The criminals tried to flee, but this was a prison.
The only way out was blocked by Inferno.
They pleaded and begged Inferno, but his hands showed no mercy.
He was not an opponent they could handle.
Inferno viciously exploded the heads of every single criminal.
For a few, he was kind enough to break their arms and legs as well.
Then, as if to find out what the earlier commotion was about, he casually walked toward the prison entrance.
"Hmm."
As I watched him quietly, Inferno looked over at me.
"You, there."
He was calling me.
I had no intention of getting caught in one of those explosions, so I stood up.
"Follow me."
"Is it alright to just take someone out of a prison cell like this?"
Inferno stared at me for a moment from behind his sunglasses, then chuckled.
"The ones who think they're innocent always act just like you."
It seemed he hadn't been sleeping in a prison for nothing.
"And so what if you really did commit a crime?"
Inferno clenched and unclenched his fist.
I immediately understood what he meant.
If I was found guilty, he would execute me on the spot.
In the first place, I didn't think I could find an opening and escape from a Lieutenant General of the Regular Army.
He would blow me up faster than I could run.
"Come on. I'll repay you for trying to protect me. Seems like that young lady who came with you is causing some trouble."
Damn it. So that’s why he was taking me.
That tomboy Babiyen was the cause of the earlier explosion.