Became a stagnant person in a squalid prison cell

Chapter 35:

“I won’t die. Never…”

A child’s voice whispered near his ear. It was his own voice from when he was little.

It was what he had muttered over and over when he was locked in solitary confinement for hitting someone.
Those sleepless nights vanished in a flash.

Yes… he had to admit it now.

“I understand.”

“…What strange thing are you going to say this time?”

That his student was a soft, fragile, normal person… and also weak.

“You make this face when you start saying nonsense. And right now…”

“Want me to put you to sleep?”

Helios shut his mouth immediately.

Mint wasn’t even looking at him.

“Want Mama to hold you?”

Someone he didn’t want to remember smiled beside him.

“It’s okay. Having nightmares isn’t that scary.”

“Wait. Who said I had a nightmare?”

“They melt away with a warm hug.”

Helios stopped talking again.

“Someone told me that once.”

For a moment, a strange mix of sadness and gentleness passed over Mint’s face.

Helios wondered why that brief look stayed in his mind.
Maybe because it made Mint seem human?

The kind of person who would say, “Oh well,” even if the world ended tomorrow…
A cold, emotionless, odd human being showing that expression?

“Nightmares don’t stand a chance against warmth.”

“…Who even said that?”

Helios asked quietly, like he was muttering. Mint smiled slightly.

“Mama?”

“Your mom?”

“Something like that.”

“….”

“Wow, is that the face of someone thinking, ‘You had a mom?’”

“What—! I didn’t make that face!”

“Well, you’re not wrong. She’s dead.”

Helios was speechless. He hadn’t said a word, yet suddenly he was being treated like a rude brat.

“Come on now.”

Because of that, Helios didn’t resist when Mint pulled him along.

By the time he realized what was happening, the two of them were lying side by side on the small prison bed.

“Let me go—this is too tight!”

Helios struggled in shock.

“Yeah, yeah. Time to sleep.”

“Let go of me!”

“Sure, sure. But I’m too tired to sing a lullaby.”

“You—!”

Mint pushed down gently on his chest.

“Yeah, yeah. Even when you curse, your voice is kind of sexy.”

“I’ll kill you! Let go!”

Helios flailed like a madman as Mint mumbled nonsense with his eyes closed.

But for all his size, Helios couldn’t move at all.

So unfair…!

Mint was using kia (energy) to keep him pinned.

When Helios finally stopped struggling, Mint patted his back.

When Helios kept complaining that the bed was too small, Mint used kia to make it wider.

…Ugh. So annoyingly competent.

“Yawn. You’re such a troublesome student.”

“……”

“You should sleep. Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘Health is power’?”

“……”

“Oh, wait. Maybe that’s not a saying here.”

Mint rambled on for a while, then closed her eyes.

Silence filled the room.

Tap.

Helios shut his eyes tightly. Mint’s head had rested on his shoulder.

Her still-wet hair brushed against him. The moisture made his neck feel dry.

“Sigh…”

A sleepy sigh escaped him.

He looked down. Mint was already asleep, breathing quietly.

She looked young—almost like a kid.

It was hard to believe she was older than him.

The warmth of her body felt so real.
It was hard to imagine this was the same person who treated him like ice.

“Why…”

Helios muttered, lowering his gaze.

Now that he thought about it, he had never really felt another person’s warmth before.

His mother had hated his father so much, she ran away as soon as he was born.

His nanny, following orders from his father, gave him a dagger instead of a rattle.

The only thing he could hold as a child was the cold bars of his crib.

Even as he grew up, nothing changed—and he never expected it to.

He figured he’d always be alone.

And now the first time he felt human warmth…
was in a prison cell full of the worst criminals.

What an irony.

Helios slowly closed his eyes.

…It’s too late.

Yeah, it’s already too late.

He was broken. And now he couldn’t stop these strange thoughts.

And he would never forget the warmth he felt today.

“…It’s your fault.”

He whispered bitterly.

Then, he carefully turned and looked at Mint’s sleeping face.

Do I have to admit it…?

Sure, it was Mint who kindly gave him this warmth out of nowhere.

So why did he have to be the one to worry about it?

He should just accept it.

Mint’s pretty face turned slightly red as she slept—but of course, she didn’t know.

Sure, if he poked her, she’d probably wake up instantly.

But Helios didn’t plan to do that.

Strangely, the longer he looked at her, the calmer his heartbeat became…

And before he knew it, he fell asleep too.

Next Day

“Maintenance time, you say?”

Today was the day Helios and Ged’s team would challenge the 29th floor.

Normally, that floor is where most people fail. But Helios and his team had been clearing each level in one try, so they had become the talk of the prison.

Of course, since they were still in the low ranks, only prisoners around them cared.

Well, not exactly—Helios had taken down a mid-rank 3rd class opponent, so he was being watched even more closely.

“Yeah. The whole tower’s undergoing maintenance.”

The person speaking was Sergeant Steven.

He leaned on his hand, looking amused.

“Tower maintenance…”

When the tower is under maintenance, no prisoners are allowed inside. Everyone is forced to rest.

“Why now?”

It was definitely something worth thinking about.

“Judging by your face, you’ve figured it out too.”

“Yes. If the tower’s being maintained… doesn’t that mean the leader of the prisoners has changed?”

Exactly.

Tower maintenance usually meant that the person in charge had changed.

The top-ranked prisoner. The king of the tower.

They were called many things—because they had a lot of power.

“I’m impressed every time. How did you memorize that boring manual? You’re really ambitious.”

“……”

“Well, anyway. The tower doesn’t announce it, but this is how they let us know a new boss is in charge.”

It was strange.

“After I stepped down, someone else must’ve taken over.”

The next leader was a top-rank 1st class prisoner who ruled the 96th floor.

He had always been ranked 4th overall.

Mint had known he was hiding his strength, and when he took over, she hadn’t doubted it.

He was calm for someone so high up, so she even thought it was a good thing.

But now…

Leaders don’t change easily. Usually, someone has to defeat the current one to take the role.

So that means… someone beat the last boss and took over.

“Who’s the new one?”

“Would you even know if I told you? You’re still a rookie.”

“…True.”

“Haha! Didn’t expect you to admit it so easily. I don’t know who it is either, honestly. But apparently it’s a woman. Seriously, women here are scary.”

Mint tilted her head.

Who could it be?

“But there’s something strange about it…”

Still, it didn’t directly affect Helios’s climb up the tower, so Mint didn’t think much more about it.

But not completely unrelated either, so she kept alert.

“The trials inside the tower might change a bit.”

Mint didn’t know where or why the tower was built—but she knew exactly how it worked.

Tsk. She clicked her tongue.

She could already guess what was coming.

And sadly, she was right.

A few days later

Maintenance ended, and the tower reopened.