Became a stagnant person in a squalid prison cell

Episode 17 —

“……”

“Did you get hurt without me knowing? Or—”

“I know, okay? I know, so shut up…! Just answer me. Are you going to keep the promise or not?”

Helios wasn’t asking for anything difficult.

“Don’t get hurt.”

In fact, that black knife flying through the air earlier? Mint had made it herself, and the “attack” was staged—it was a form of self-harm.

“Alright. I’ll try.”

Why did she do this? So the remaining prisoners wouldn’t try to attack her again.

They were bigger cowards than she expected.

She acted this way to make it look like “self-defense,” which was allowed under the rules.

Yes—Mint always followed the rules well. A model prison guard.

“Anyway, Prisoner Helios. This is serious.”

Mint said with a serious face.

“We’re probably out of meat in the cafeteria.”

“……”

That night, a rumor spread quickly.

The upper-rank prisoner Grogi and his gang had been beaten unconscious by the new guard.

It was said Grogi’s wrist was now permanently damaged.

Everyone in the prison, even other guards and lower-rank prisoners, was shocked.

Mint was quietly and urgently called in at dawn.

To the Warden.

Knock, knock.

In the dark office, the only sound was the quiet knocking.

“You said you learned basic rules, right?”

Warden Ralph Garman, a bald man with just a bald spot on top, held his throbbing head in pain.

Mint confidently replied, “Yes, I did.”

Ralph groaned and held his head again.

“So beating up a high-ranking prisoner is part of the basics now?! You broke him!”

“Ah… Didn’t you say we don’t need useless people in the prison?”

“When did I say that?!”

Mint thought hard.

“There’s nothing more annoying than a useless guy being labeled ‘high-rank.’”

She realized the warden had said something similar, but not exactly that.

Anyway, it looked like he was mad about what happened with Grogi earlier.

Mint proudly answered, “Don’t worry. It was self-defense! That makes it okay.”

“I’m not worried about that! You weren’t supposed to cause a fight in the first place! Didn’t I tell you to handle things quietly?!”

Mint thought again.

No one died, no blood spilled everywhere, and it was just “minor” violence.

“Wasn’t this a clean solution?” she thought.

Even if she avoided the fight, those thugs would’ve come back.

Actually, today’s attack in front of the tower was lucky—no witnesses.

“If it happened in the main building, Helios might be dead now. I wouldn’t have been able to stop it.”

Even as his assigned guard, Mint couldn’t follow Helios into the sleeping quarters.

So Mint had a point.

“Yes, you’re right… But it’s the kind of ‘right’ that makes me want to punch you,” Ralph muttered.

“If you hadn’t stood out so much, none of this would’ve happened! You think I don’t know protecting Helios started this whole mess?!”

“Hmm. I’m not sure what the problem is?”

“You could’ve just let him get beat up a little!”

The warden slammed his desk.

Honestly… that wasn’t wrong.

Mint could’ve kept her distance and only stepped in at the last moment.

But many prisoners wanted a pretty and fragile toy to play with. And things could have gone way worse than just violence.

She couldn’t even imagine what might’ve happened if Helios was dragged off.

Not to mention the perverts and creeps that would have kept showing up—gender didn’t matter here.

Just because Helios is the male lead of a novel didn’t mean things would magically be okay.

Mint knew this prison far too well.

“Why did I step in anyway?” she wondered.

In the novel, maybe Helios would’ve overcome everything with his own power.

Still, it was true—Mint had acted more aggressively than she should have.

After thinking for a long time, she said:

“He’s just… too pretty to be broken.”

Even she wasn’t sure what she meant, but it was the only answer that made sense.

It wasn’t sympathy—she hadn’t felt that in ages.

And it wasn’t some dreamy admiration of her favorite novel either. All the “shiny” things had long lost their meaning.

Her broken emotions still messed with her judgment, especially about feelings.

“Huh. Since when did you start caring about someone’s face?”

“If I really hated him, I would’ve taken care of him myself. You wouldn’t have called me in if that were the case, right?”

The warden closed his mouth tightly.

She was right.

Mint might have acted clueless and laid-back for someone ruling the prison from the shadows…

But she always made sharp, accurate decisions.

“Even when you’re being creepy smart…”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment. Shut up. I’m changing your role starting tomorrow.”

He couldn’t punish her.

There was no one better for the job than Mint.

“Now that ‘he’ is probably going to make a move after today…”

The warden thought about a snake-like face from his memories.

Mint didn’t show any reaction—calm as ever.

But the warden knew how much she wanted out of this place.

She would do anything to be released.

She didn’t even care how loyal her followers were.

Perfect chess piece material.

The warden’s tired, calculating eyes darkened.

“From now on, your role is…”

Sergeant Steven looked at me with a strange expression.

“Wow… This is just… What kind of nonsense is this?”

He was full of mixed feelings—confusion, shock, disbelief.

But I saw it—curiosity in his eyes.

Well, to a third person, this was probably quite entertaining.

“Alright, alright! You dogs in this cell, listen up!”

Steven knocked on the door loudly as he opened it.

It was thick steel, but the sound rang out clear.

Small action, but not easy. That meant Steven was pretty strong.

‘Maybe an elemental-type user? Or maybe material-type.’

“This room’s getting a new arrangement. It’s a four-person cell, but now only three will live here. Good news for you.”

I glanced at one of the prisoners watching us.

‘Some of them were in the fight with Helios on the first floor.’

The one staring hardest?

Helios.

“Prisoner Helios. Come with me.”

Helios stood up and walked toward Steven, but he kept glancing at me with a confused expression.

Well, of course he’d be curious.

We finally arrived at a cell.

“What a dump.”

The rusty metal door looked ancient.

Creeeak.

The sound of it opening was creepy. I walked in and looked around.

Old walls crumbling. Beds that probably smelled like dust.

Stains on the wall—maybe blood, maybe something worse.

“This is the only 2-person cell available.”

I knew from experience—those stains don’t wash out.

“Yikes. Poor newbie.”

“I’m fine.”

Steven chuckled.

“Man… You must really want to climb the ranks to accept this punishment. I would’ve quit.”

“……”

Since I didn’t say anything, he patted my shoulder.

“Hang in there. You’ll probably be back on duty soon.”

‘Not likely,’ I thought.

But I just bowed quietly.

Steven became serious again and stood in front of us.

“Prisoner Helios, meet your new cellmate, Prisoner Garrett.”

Helios looked shocked.

What’s he surprised about?

‘He saw me in prisoner clothes earlier.’

I just stared ahead blankly.

“Former guard Garrett has been punished for a recent killing and will serve time as a prisoner.”

I hadn’t actually killed anyone. But the higher-ups were using the incident with Grogi and his gang to explain it.

They probably thought it was convenient to get rid of trash like Grogi.

Some people are like that.

Too much trouble to remove, but too harmful to keep around.

“From now on, you’ll protect the target as a fellow prisoner. The mission stays the same.”

The warden’s voice echoed in my head.