The desk in the Prison Warden’s Office.
For once, the scent of coffee drifted through the air, replacing the usual pungent smell of alcohol.
Resplendent silver hair and green eyes.
A man, gaunt but exuding a noble’s dignity, was seated there.
A name tag was attached to the black uniform of the 21-year-old.
Derek Minster.
「Goal」
Survive your first week as the Prison Warden.
「Passive」
Gloominess: Haggard and scary-looking from long-term alcohol abuse.
Corrupt Noble: The Minster Family is infamous for contract killing and loan sharking.
Noble’s Handsomeness: Possesses a handsome appearance befitting the second son of a Count’s Family.
However, this effect is halved due to the infamy mentioned above.
Right, this was about my level right after I transmigrated into the game.
No matter how well I did in the previous regression, right now I’m just a trashy young lord who bought the position of warden with money.
「Perks」
You can inherit some of the experience learned in the previous regression.
However, the current Derek Minster has low base stats, so only one class is possible.
If I had to choose right now, it would definitely be from my time as a Sword Master in the first regression.
I have to at least get rid of this alcoholism that makes me tremble just from holding a pencil.
「Some of the Tough Body and experience from the first regression will be applied.」
Some of the stats I’d built up in my past life filled my limp body.
With my senses returned, I lightly swung a fist.
It wasn’t all the strength I had as a Knight Commander, but at least the tremors were gone.
With a satisfied expression, I rose from the leather chair.
And I met the eyes of the adjutant who had been staring at me strangely for a while.
「Clea Lockhart.」
The 20-year-old adjutant with blue hair tied in a ponytail.
Her beautiful face, a rare sight in the borderlands, was wary of me.
“You’re full of energy on your first day.”
“Of course.
I didn’t expect to find such a capable-looking talented individual as my adjutant.”
I offered a compliment first to try and leave a good impression.
However, Clea’s blue eyes were as cold as could be.
“I hear you were a famous scoundrel in The Capital, but this is not a place to be taken lightly.”
“Don’t worry.
I’m well aware of the rumors.
I came here fully intending to work hard.”
In this game, you can get a rough idea of who the important characters are just by their looks.
Minor extras are drawn plainly, but most of the powerful characters have excellent looks.
As far as I remember, the woman before me also had considerably high charm and intelligence stats.
But, perhaps because she wasn’t a main character, she had the major flaw of having a ‘rotten’ personality.
In the past, a few players had hit on her based on her looks alone.
But no matter how they approached her, even starting a romance was impossible.
“Well, if you’re simply planning to focus on your work, I can help you.”
Clea took a monocle from her uniform pocket and put it on.
Then, she brought a well-organized ledger and slammed it down on the desk.
“However, if you’re thinking of approaching the prisoners with ulterior motives, you’d better give up now.”
Berihill Prison Incident Log.
10 incidents in the last month.
6 guards began suffering from hallucinations during meal distribution.
2 guards were murdered after making amorous advances toward a prisoner.
2 previous prison wardens were executed for corruption after soliciting bribes from a prisoner.
‘Damn, this is brutal when you see it all together.’
My green eyes darted toward Clea.
The adjutant stared at me blankly, like an indifferent fox.
“I’m tired of cleaning up corpses.”
I’m pretty sure I’m a year older, but she’s looking at me with such pity, as if I were a child.
I want to get rid of this damned infamy already.
“You might not know this, but I’ve been through worse.
I’m more than prepared.”
“I like the look in your eyes.
I don’t know how long it will last, though.”
Clea showed a faint smile, as if intending to tease me.
She intended to see if I was really here to work hard, or if it was just a scoundrel’s bravado.
“Very well.
Let’s get to work right away.”
The hair tied in a ponytail danced lightly.
The adjutant opened the office door herself and gestured elegantly.
“I will prepare for the prison warden’s first task: the prisoner interviews.”
We left the old corridor and headed for the underground stairs.
The stairs were so deep that it took several minutes just to go down.
“There are no guards in sight.”
“Aside from myself and the personnel guarding the entrance, most are injured.”
Clea pushed up her monocle and said articulately.
“With so many incidents, weren’t there any measures from the superiors?”
“Most who are assigned here are cast-offs from The Capital.
I suppose it means they don’t care if they die.”
Clea, standing beside me, was a former Imperial Secretary.
She was kicked out for the crime of assaulting a member of the Imperial Royalty who had been fanatically pursuing her.
“So this prison is essentially a lawless zone.”
“Yes.
That’s why I sighed when you were assigned here.”
Why me?
“I thought you’d just pathetically drink away your days and waste your official’s salary like the past wardens.”
“The rumors about me are all fake.
As you can see, I’m a handsome figure, aren’t I?”
Clea’s eyes widened like a shocked fox.
Still, in previous regressions, there were plenty of noble ladies who liked me…
If it weren’t for the ruin, I could have lived comfortably somewhere as a gigolo.
“I’ll give you my honest assessment of you, Warden, when you come back alive.”
At the bottom of the stairs, I saw a small table.
On it were white flowers honoring the guards who had died so far.
“The first prisoner you will meet is the Fake Saintess.”
The Fake Saintess.
Hearing that familiar name, all trace of a smile vanished.
A beautiful woman with pure white hair and red eyes.
A being in a red dress who claimed to be the saintess from the holy scripture.
“Her real name is Ange Lenoir.
She’s 19 and was arrested in the nearby city of Bern.”
The charge is public instigation.
She brainwashed 300 citizens and had them beat a local lord to death.
It took 10 priests from The Holy See to barely subdue her and put on a sealing necklace.
However, her power kept leaking out even after it was put on, so they decided to exile her to this borderlands prison.
“Why did they stop at exile instead of killing her?”
“This is still just speculation, but… there’s a rumor that the Saintess was actually a secret test subject of The Holy See.”
“A test subject?”
“Yes, she kept getting stronger, so they probably hid her here to avoid the risk of being discovered.
They intend to seize control of the Imperial Court by making her brainwashing magic talent explode.”
An accurate guess.
The reason she hasn’t reported it to her superiors is likely the lack of evidence.
Accusing The Holy See based on suspicion alone is an extremely dangerous act.
As the religion sought to swallow the Imperial Court, they would take thorough revenge on the accuser.
“Thanks to the barrier they placed on the prison, she can’t escape, but she’s still dangerous.
Until a method to control the Saintess is developed, it’s like we’re just throwing the guards to her as prey.”
A quiet fury could be felt on Clea’s face as she arrived at the door.
As if she hated herself for figuring everything out yet being unable to do anything.
“So please be careful.
Even steadfast former knights are suffering from hallucinations.”
“They’re probably vulnerable precisely because they’re former knights.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Knights are people who have often been exposed to mentally shattering situations.
To survive, they must have killed someone.”
In the dim passage lit by a single lantern, my gaze became utterly serious.
Dark circles formed under my eyes, just like in my Sword Master days in a previous regression.
“The guilt that comes with that is good prey for the Saintess.”
Clea placed a hand on her smooth chin and pondered for a moment.
Then, after a glance at my face, only the corners of her expressionless mouth lifted.
“At least it’s an attack that won’t work on you, Warden.
Since you must have lived a completely selfish life.”
“Are you messing with me right now?”
“No, I was complimenting you as someone suitable to deal with the Saintess.”
It certainly seems like she’s complimenting me, but…
Just as expected of the speech style of a top-tier supporter personality.
“I have to praise you here so you don’t get scared and run away.
Fighting.”
The expressionless beauty raised both her fists.
Even if her face was pretty, it didn’t really give me any strength.
“Well then, I’m going in.”
“I need a moment to prepare.”
Clea took off her monocle.
Then, she placed a pair of black glasses over her sharp gaze.
“What’s with the sudden glasses?”
“If you make eye contact with the Saintess, you get charmed without realizing it.
So I intentionally blurred my vision.”
Makes sense.
“Let me have them.”
“No.
This is the only one I have.”
“I’m going alone, so let me borrow them.”
“Ah, if you’re going alone, I’ll give them to you.”
This time, I narrowed my eyes like a snake.
My adjutant is so honest.
“Take care of the surviving guards while I’m gone.”
“I will take good care of them.”
I grabbed the doorknob to the underground corridor.
Soon, the blue text that only appeared when I died floated in the void.
「The duties of the Prison Warden begin the moment you open this door.
Do you wish to proceed?」
Why are you trying to scare me again all of a sudden…?
Having come this far, there’s no place to return to.
‘Of course.’
I pushed the old doorknob with all my might.
At that moment.
Despite having inherited the Knight Commander’s perks, my whole body began to tremble.
「Commencing the duties of the new Prison Warden.
The list of available bad endings will be updated.」
「To the Saintess’s sweet embrace.
(Failure to reform the prisoner will result in automatic suicide by throwing oneself.)」
「The Great Elder’s retribution.
(Failure to reform the prisoner will result in all of the family’s corruption being exposed and your execution.)」
「Curse of the Moon.
(Failure to reform the prisoner will result in having both eyes gouged out and a painful death.)」
……
…
…
「The list of bad endings has been updated from ‘3’ to a total of ‘999’.」
“Huh…?”
The life of a Prison Warden, which I thought would be over once I reformed the three disasters.
The moment it began, hundreds of endings where I could die were updated.
‘I think I really picked the wrong job.’