The guards monitoring the prison should have made a squeaky noise with their keys every time they moved.a
But not a single sound like that reached my ears.
Feeling uneasy, I turned my body and pretended to be asleep, but a low voice cut through the silence.
“Hey, wake up. I already know you’re awake.”
How did they figure it out?
Was it because I wasn’t actually sleeping, or did they just test me?
I couldn’t tell.
So, I shamelessly continued to feign sleep.
“We’re here to take you out of here. But we don’t have much time. If you’re thinking of escaping, you’d better get up from that bed right now.”
Could it be that the Slimella family has already sent someone?
But that seemed too fast.
How could they have figured out where I was trapped?
Just in case, I slowly sat up, following their instructions.
“…Who are you?”
There were two people in front of me.
Both wore suspicious black masks.
Since neither of them had horns on their foreheads, I guessed they weren’t Yansu individuals.
One was unusually tall, and the one right in front of me was of a more petite build.
The man standing at the front stared at me with sharp, narrow eyes.
“Now you’re willing to talk? Tsk-.”
“Why do you want to take me out of here?” I asked.
“Our client wants us to do that.”
“Client? Who is this person?”
“That’s not something you need to know. What’s important is whether you want to come with us or not.”
If it were Emperor Hamilton, he wouldn’t have come to find me in this way.
And if it were someone from the Slimela family, they would have tried to reassure me from the start.
‘So, neither of those are the case…’ I thought to myself.
I perked up my ears, trying to listen.
The surroundings instantly fell silent.
I had passed countless doors and encountered numerous guards when I was brought into the prison.
How they managed to bypass all that and come directly to me was a mystery, but it meant they were dangerous individuals.
Before I could think much more, the man pressed for an answer.
“So, what’s your answer?”
Honestly, who would want to stay in this dreary prison?
But I couldn’t just blindly follow people whose intentions I didn’t understand.
“…What if I refuse?” I asked.
“Then you’ll regret it.”
“Why?”
“I was ordered to kill you if you don’t cooperate. Tsk!”
At that moment, the man standing behind the speaker let out a sarcastic laugh.
“Cat, this is why we can’t have you do this. You thick-headed idiot. Who would understand you if you speak like that?”
Shaking his head, he stepped forward.
He grabbed Cat by the head and forcefully shoved him back.
“Ugh…! What the hell is this, Jay?!”
“Watch how I do it and learn,” the man named Jay said.
He drew a sharp knife from his coat.
The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant.
The murderous intent was palpable in his gaze as it seemed to pierce through me.
“You don’t know your place, do you? Shut your mouth and follow me. If you don’t, I’ll slit that mouth of yours open.”
Startled by the sudden words, I took a step back and ended up sitting down hard on my backside.
As soon as I sat down, I quickly looked around.
‘A place to hide…!’
There was nowhere to go.
It was strangely apparent again, but one of the biggest disadvantages of being trapped inside a cage was that not only could I not escape, but there was also no place to hide.
Jay looked down at me as I sat on the floor and continued with a chilling threat.
“Still not getting it? Want me to put a nice, big hole in that pretty body of yours?”
It didn’t feel like he was just trying to scare me.
That made it even scarier.
But if I went along with them, I could be mistaken for one of them.
What would happen to my family left in Medderland?
I had risked my life to come all the way to Hamilon to prove my innocence.
Seeing my helplessness, he stiffened his face.
Then he quietly ordered Cat, who was blankly standing behind him.
“Cat, open this door. I think I need to show this idiot what a real taste of pain feels like.”
Cat hesitated and looked at Jay for approval.
With a deep sigh, Jay kicked Cat in the backside.
“Ah!”
“I told you to move faster! Want to get scolded like the old days?”
“Ugh, fine! I’ll open it!”
Cat pulled a long, thin wire from his pocket.
He inserted it into the lock of the cell and twisted it around.
“If I turn it like this…”
Click, clink, clank!
With the sound of the lock clicking, the metal door opened.
A bright smile appeared on Jay’s face.
As he shoved Cat aside and was about to step into the cell, I hastily called out.
“I’ll come with you. That’s all, right…!”
In an instant, the smile on Jay’s face disappeared.
His expression, full of disappointment, sent a chill down my spine.
“Why?”
“Why? Of course…!”
“If you had said that just a bit later. Well, I didn’t hear anything, so does it matter?”
Just as he was about to approach me with his knife, Cat stepped in front of me.
I could see that he was trembling.
“D-Don’t you remember? The client said to bring her back alive if possible! Do you remember, Jay?”
“Wow, if it’s not me, you can’t even make a living, and now you’re stopping me? You’ve really grown, Cat. Oh, is that it? Do you like this woman? Half and half, you wanna try something out?”
“No, it’s not like that! I just want to successfully finish this request!”
Jay sighed deeply as he looked at me.
He then put the knife down and took a step back.
“This was getting interesting, but someone ruined it. If you’re so great, Cat, take responsibility for this job and finish it properly. I won’t care what happens to you while you’re at it. Got it?”
“Y-Yeah, I got it….”
As Jay raised his hand and stepped back, Cat quickly turned his head toward me.
“Understood? Hurry up, let’s go! We don’t have much time.”
Cat led the way, and I followed behind.
Jay walked behind us, grumbling with visible dissatisfaction.
I glanced around, hoping for somewhere to escape, but the path was so confusing and labyrinthine that I couldn’t figure out where I was.
It was hard to distinguish.
Even in this situation, Cat effortlessly found the way.
It was such a strange thing to witness.
“Have you ever worked in the Hamilton prison?”
At my sudden question, Cat looked back at me.
“Huh? What kind of nonsense is that?” he asked.
“No, it’s just… you find your way so well. I can’t tell where I am at all…”
At my words, Cat gave a small chuckle.
“That’s not it. I just never forget a blueprint once I’ve seen it in my head.”
“Is that possible?”
“It’s the only talent I’ve got. Not that it’s very useful.”
“Why isn’t it useful? Such a cool ability?”
“Well, unless it’s for doing disgusting things like this, I don’t really need it. Squeak…”
There was a strange bitterness in his voice.
In fact, neither Cat nor Jay were good people.
But Cat had stopped Jay from trying to kill me, and it seemed like he had his own reasons for being stuck in this bad situation.
Maybe that’s why I couldn’t help but feel a little concerned about his defeated attitude.
“No, no, it’s just… it feels so impressive. I always get lost, even on the paths I’ve walked before. Maybe that’s why your ability feels so amazing to me.”
“…Really?”
“Of course! No matter how much money or status you have, if you keep getting lost, you’ll never find your way in life!”
“Well, thinking about it that way, it doesn’t seem so bad.”
Cat’s expression brightened a little.
Not only that, but his steps became lighter as well.
Seeing that his mood had improved, I decided to subtly ask the question that had been on my mind.
“But, is there anyone else here besides me? I don’t see anyone on this huge floor.”
I thought the voices of other people might not be heard because the cells were so far apart.
But no matter how much we walked, all I saw were labyrinth-like paths.
I couldn’t see any other prisoners.
“You just noticed that now?”
“I had a blindfold on when I was brought into the prison. I couldn’t see anything.”
“This isn’t an ordinary prison. It’s the underground prison of Hamilon, called the Labyrinth. Only murderers who’ve killed dozens don’t end up here.”
“Why?”
“You idiot. I told you, it’s a labyrinth. This prison changes internally every so often, as if it’s alive. So, if you get lost in the wrong path, even after you die, you’ll never escape.”
What kind of thoughts did the emperor have when he sent me to such a dangerous place?
Did he think it was too dangerous because I was a Grade A assassin targeting the emperor?
‘But if that’s the case… I don’t think I showed any dangerous side of myself.’
Or maybe the elephant aphrodisiac was that shocking.
Perhaps he thought such a crazy beast shouldn’t be allowed to roam free in the world.
But this was all just my guess.
“What was the emperor thinking, locking me up here?”
Without thinking, I muttered to myself, and Cat responded in a monotone voice.
“It looks like he doesn’t plan on killing you. Or maybe he thinks he can’t kill you.”
“He can’t kill me? Why?”
At my words, Cat shrugged his shoulders.
“How would I know? My role is just to take you to the client.”
Now, another question arose: the identity of the mysterious client.
If they were caught trying to smuggle out the assassin who was aiming to kill the emperor, handling the aftermath wouldn’t be easy.
It seemed like they weren’t afraid of making enemies with the emperor of Hamilton.
I hesitated before carefully opening my mouth.
“By any chance… have you ever seen the person who’s the client?”
Cat, who had been walking ahead, looked back at me.
“Of course not. We just have to do our assigned roles. That’s it.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s cleaner that way. Even if things go wrong and we get caught, we have no useful information to spill, so we can just discard it. Rip-.”
Discarding someone if things go wrong…
The way he spoke, treating people like disposable tools, was shocking.
Not knowing what to say, I just moved my lips.
Then, Cat stopped.
His voice seemed oddly excited.
“Oh, we’ve finally arrived.”