A Death Row Convict Teaches at a School of Magic

“Well then, I am going to ask you two to stay here.”

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

The two of them responded with a dumb comment when I remarked to them before exiting the inn, and I ended up emitting a similar sound.

“Is something wrong?”

“No… I thought you were definitely asking for our help with something…”

“Oh, this time I only prepared for one person to infiltrate the camp beforehand. Entering the camp with the three of us in one piece would be tough.”

“Even so, is there anything else we can be of assistance to you!?”

With both hands folded, I gave a mild smile to Sasha, who was asking me imploringly.

“You can rest assured. I have been planning to operate on my own this time, so you two can relax for tonight.”

“But―”

“Just this one time, I want to conduct it by myself.”

To Sasha, who was still insisting, I gave a blunt reply.

Not being knowledgeable about who I was going to meet, they were seemingly taken aback by my uncommonly unyielding willpower.

“…Sasha.”

“…I get it. I wish you all the best of luck.”

“Yes. I am off.”

I nonetheless left the base, expressing my gratitude to the two individuals who sent their words of support without prompting any questions.

From this point on, it was a personal matter for me.

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Getting into the camp turned out to be a breeze.

Drawing on the information I had sought out in advance, I set out for the changing room undeterred. I positioned myself inconspicuously at the edge of the changing room and feigned a slow pace in getting dressed, and after ascertaining that no one else was in the room, I called Envy, whom I had brought along with me.

“Transform yourself into the person I taught you the other day.”

Envy instantly adopted the figure of the person I had instructed it to transform into, and to the outsider, it was as if it were the perfect replica of the person I had taught last time.

After that, I would remotely operate Envy and engage it in its work while I would pay a visit to that person. Compared to the infiltration I had undertaken during my time in Japan, this facility was considerably less complicated, as there were no surveillance cameras inside for which I was extremely appreciative, even if the outside was protected by barriers.

Having changed into work clothes, I parted from Envy and proceeded to the area inside the camp where the criminals were being detained.

The area was distinctly more crowded, and in contrast to the general area, the interior was guarded by barriers. Only those equipped with a specified bracelet-type magical device could access the area, and the individual wearing it was an outstanding garrison soldier who had been recruited from another city and was distinguished from the general workforce.

Even so, if the barriers were only set up on the ground, breaking through them would be a piece of cake.

I went into a private toilet room near the barrier, touched the floor, and crushed the magic crystal stone.

―”Destruction”.

Following the invocation of the magic, a hole materialized at my feet, which led to the inside of a cell, safely past the barrier. As I passed through the hole and stepped out into the cell, my eyes fell on a scrawny man with a startled expression on his face. I offered him a reassuring smile, and when he tensed, it was replaced with a warped smile.

Shortly after, I closed the gap between us and strangled the man’s neck. From the pressure on his carotid artery, the man’s consciousness soon faded away. I lay his prostrated body silently on the floor and ensured that the prisoners around him had not spotted us.

Bearing in mind that I will later frame this man as the one who dug this hole and made an attempt to slip out of here, I decided to hasten onward. The cells were devoid of any specific escape prevention devices other than a steel cage since the inmates here were administered a special drug that inhibited them from generating magical power.

I deployed a minuscule Chakrameth on the tip of my index finger and plunged it into the keyhole. After several minutes, I successfully opened the lock and quietly escaped from the cell.

In this area of isolation cells, the cells were arranged in rows on the left and right sides, with a passageway in the center that was barely wide enough for two people to pass through, extending to the rear of the cell block. The prisoners in the cells shot me a glance, but soon lost interest and withdrew their gazes. I had thought that if the prisoners raised a ruckus, I would, in the worst-case scenario, unlock all the cells, liberate the prisoners, and spark a revolt, but my fears were apparently unwarranted. Perhaps the work clothes I had donned only for temporary peace of mind had misled them into assuming that I was a worker at the facility.

After wandering through the corridors for a while, the number of unoccupied cells gradually rose, and the faces of the prisoners imprisoned instead became well-known wanted criminals that I had recognized at some point. The further back the prisoner was imprisoned, the more dangerous they would be. Judging by the charges against the person I was searching for, they were likely very deep in there.

Eventually, having gone quite a bit further, I reached a point where I was almost at the center of the prison camp.

An intuitive feeling dawned on me that she was in the cell to my right.

“…”

I moved slowly while wiping my mildly perspiring palms on my trousers.

Before long, I came to the cell where the prisoner was being confined, and she glanced at me with a look of annoyance.

“―What～Didn’t you just torture me the other day, and now you’re doing it again?”

At the very sight of this familiar face and voice, my body automatically shuddered, and a flurry of varying emotions swelled through my chest.

I had thought I had organized my feelings, but it seemed I was still a little out of sync. But this time, after taking a deep breath, I compelled myself to speak to her in my customary tone while concealing my emotions.

“Hey, it’s been a long time. Have you been well, Ms. Alice―”