Chapter 5: -it’s healing (1)

“The witch… murdered the superintendent? Is, is that even possible…? No, more importantly, couldn’t the guards stop her?”

“I apologize. It happened so suddenly…”

Kail, who had believed all his worries would vanish after sending Elena away, was horrified by the news that arrived.

After Elena was captured, she hadn’t resisted much, so he thought it would be impossible for her to unleash her power externally, even if they couldn’t kill her.

But that wasn’t the case. It was natural for him to be shocked.

It meant that if Elena had truly willed it, she could have torn off her restraints, murdered the guards, and escaped.

‘But why, exactly?’

However, Elena had only killed Krasen, who was molesting her; she hadn’t touched anyone else.

She didn’t flee, nor did she break free from her restraints.

She simply followed Deputy Superintendent Lunara obediently into Tartara, where she was to be imprisoned.

“Wh-what should we do?”

“If she cooperates with Deputy Superintendent Lunara… just promote the deputy superintendent to superintendent and transfer all duties to her.”

Kail’s head throbbed, and he ultimately decided to bury this matter.

He didn’t want to think about Elena anymore.

In a situation where her true intentions were unknown, if she was willing to remain quietly in prison, there was no reason to provoke her.

He simply felt pity for the young deputy superintendent, Lunara, who had suddenly been burdened with such a heavy responsibility.

****

“You’ve certainly decorated it diligently, haven’t you?”

“…Of course. It’s a place to confine such a dangerous being.”

Indeed, Kail’s prediction was correct.

Lunara, suddenly burdened with all responsibilities, was guiding Elena, her tension palpable.

As Elena marveled at the colossal prison, constructed by remodeling an ancient labyrinth, Lunara, who had also participated in its design, unconsciously began to explain Tartara.

“There’s the heavily guarded entrance zone, overseen by the Special Management Bureau for Abyss-level prisoners, beneath which lie 99 management zones, and at the very bottom, the confinement zone.”

In ancient times, the labyrinth, said to have annihilated kingdoms in its vicinity simply by its existence, still boasted its overwhelming presence.

The Revolutionary Army had poured modern technology and magic into this ancient legacy to create this place.

Solely to stop one individual.

‘Just what is this woman…!’

But Lunara was horrified watching Elena observe the overwhelming grandeur, which should have been enough to intimidate anyone just by hearing about it, like a student on a field trip.

Having just witnessed Krasen, her superior, being brutally murdered, she found it difficult to relax.

If Elena were to become enraged upon seeing the prison’s internal system, which the utterly sinister Krasen had spearheaded, then Lunara herself would be the one to bear that wrath.

“What are these?”

“Th-these are…”

Yet, there was no way to overturn everything and rebuild it.

Having arrived at the 45th underground floor via a makeshift magic elevator utilizing levitation stones, Lunara nervously opened her mouth.

“These are new restraints, all made with the latest technology. From now on, you must wear these restraints permanently.”

Finally, Lunara closed her eyes tightly and proceeded with the prepared procedure.

The first step was to confine Elena with sturdier restraints.

‘They certainly are stronger than the ordinary mana restraints I’ve seen before.’

Elena gazed at the items before her with intrigued eyes.

Existing mana restraints were devices that used small-surface items like handcuffs or collars to block the flow of mana, preventing the restrained person from using it.

However, the restraints before her now had a maximum extended surface area. This meant their power to impede mana usage was even stronger.

The problem was their form.

The maximum extended form of these restraints was a leotard bodysuit that clung tightly to her upper body.

It was obvious that her lower body would clearly be exposed if she wore it.

The world may have changed a lot, but it was hardly something to put on a former empress, let alone a streetwalker.

“Th-the form isn’t impossible to change…”

“It’s fine. Go on, put it on me.”

Lunara stumbled over her words, flustered, but Elena snorted and casually accepted the restraint suit.

‘In the original story, Elin Esthel, Len Knaits’s companion and heroine, developed a new spell formula that effectively suppressed dark magic’s power. Without that power, how effective will current technology be?’

Elena was only thinking of testing an interesting hypothesis.

“Fascinating. The mana suppression circuit has been improved. Can you control this as you please?”

Lunara, along with the female guards, personally helped Elena put it on.

Once worn, it became completely integrated, impossible to remove without external control, but Elena paid no mind to such things, simply enjoying the peculiar flow of mana she felt in her body.

“Yes. We can control your power according to our intentions.”

“Why? For eternal sealing, such a dangerous device shouldn’t be necessary. What if someone’s mistake allows me to regain my power and escape this place?”

“That’s…”

Lunara couldn’t answer Elena’s question. It was purely a technology implemented by the upper echelons.

“Alright, never mind. What else do you have?”

“This is an additional restraint suit.”

Though various things had been prepared, Elena, having only confirmed that her mana couldn’t be blocked without the special sealing formula developed by the original heroine, chuckled and pointed to another device placed nearby.

Unlike the jet-black suit, this pristine white restraint suit also had its lining heavily inscribed with sealing spells. The guards put Elena’s arms into the suit and tightened the belts, sealing her firmly.

Unless she intentionally drew upon her power, she couldn’t budge.

Now utterly helpless on her own, Elena smiled faintly, gazing at the mask that would restrain her neck and half of her face.

“From now on, 24 hours a day, you will obey our every command.”

Lunara said with a solemn expression, looking at Elena, whose mouth was sealed by the mask.

Outwardly, Elena was clearly nothing more than a mere powerless, frail woman, unable to even speak.

[That’s good. If I don’t have to think about anything… they’ll just take care of everything for me.]

“…!”

However, Elena’s voice echoed in Lunara’s mind.

As Lunara, startled, stumbled back with wide eyes, Elena’s own eyes curved into an amused crescent.

“Abyss-level prisoner, confinement confirmed on the 100th underground floor, the lowest level.”

The 100th underground floor was special. Once home to the labyrinth’s boss, it was a vast cavern as large as several floors combined, a bottomless pit where gloomy and desolate mana still lingered, thousands of years later.

The Special Management Bureau restrained Elena on an altar in the center of that place.

They forced her to her knees and fixed her in a state where she couldn’t even twitch a finger, using thick chains and immobilization magic.

Unless something extraordinary happened, she would not be released.

Meals and sleep were all controlled and managed by them in that state.

It was akin to taxidermy while alive, yet no one felt pity or compassion for her.

They merely trembled in fear, wondering if even this would be insufficient.

“Deputy Superintendent… no, Superintendent. Is this truly enough?”

One of the subordinate staff members asked Lunara in a somber voice, as she gazed at the motionlessly confined Elena.

“No matter how I think about it, I can’t help but think she’s allowing herself to be captured.”

“Don’t think like that. Even if it were true… our duty is clear.”

Lunara could not answer her subordinate’s doubt either.

Indeed, all of this was the outcome Elena desired, and she couldn’t understand why Elena would want such a thing.

‘It’s fun. Not thinking about the consequences and doing as I please.’

Beside Lunara and the Bureau staff, Elena, her soul separated from her body, stood listening to their entire conversation.

Naturally, the others were unaware of Elena’s presence, freely moving in her spiritual form.

‘And it’s comfortable. Compared to constantly thinking and rethinking to eliminate any variables that might change the future, always worrying about the future.’

Elena looked down at her restrained body.

Though she was constrained to the point of feeling stifled, she felt far freer now than when she acted as empress and mastermind in the imperial palace.

Rather than exhaustingly following the undeniable flow of fate, entering and being confined in prison by her own will was a more comfortable and satisfying choice for her now.

Because no matter how the world flowed, this place would not change.

“I think I’ll just sleep in for a bit.”

Returning to her body, Elena began to sleep with a clear conscience.

With the burden lifted from her mind, she could truly sleep without any worries.

More comfortably and deeply than when she slept alone on the soft, massive bed in the imperial palace.

Anyway, a body that transcended human limits didn’t feel discomfort. Besides, if anything happened, they’d wake her up anyway.

Such was the importance of mental tranquility.

“Wake the prisoner.”

It was two days after her confinement that the Bureau staff woke Elena, who had been sleeping soundly.

“What is it?”

“After your meal, you will move to the 88th floor. Your first labor will begin there.”

The mask was removed, and Lunara, with a tense expression, came with her staff to Elena, who was half-awake and yawning.

“Ugh, get that away from me. I’m not eating this!”

The meal, her first in two days, was presented, but Elena refused with a look of disgust at the gruel-like food in a bowl presented on a long pole.

It was a low-quality meal, similar to gruel, typically given to ordinary prisoners.

The problem wasn’t having to lap it up like a dog using only her mouth.

The menu was simply very unappealing to her.

Since gourmet food was the only way she could relieve stress after her transmigration, her palate was even pickier than the original Elena.

“If you refuse to eat, we’ll force you—”

“What’s this ‘labor’? I don’t recall hearing about that.”

“The newly formed Republic Council has sentenced you to lifelong labor to atone for the Empire’s atrocities.”

Due to Elena’s habit of ignoring things she didn’t want to hear, Lunara could only sigh and comply.

There was no other choice.

They had already witnessed Elena executing Krasen in an instant.

Lunara sternly warned her subordinate staff never to provoke Elena.

“Hmm, so they did manage to establish that republican government after all?”

Elena’s lips curved upwards at the unexpected news from outside.

Indeed, just the day before, Equitas, with Kail as its leader, had renamed the country Lydia and inaugurated a republic.

What was supposed to appear only after the original protagonist, who gradually awakened through various stages, defeated the fully awakened final boss Elena and reached the ending, had already manifested.

At the sight of this progress towards an unknown destiny, one even the transmigator Elena was unaware of, Elena wore a deep smile.

“So, what do you want from me? Labor? Do you want me to carry bricks or something?”

Elena had an attitude of ‘let’s hear it’.

If it was labor she considered too obvious and uninteresting, like carrying bricks or digging, she naturally intended to refuse.

It was unknown how many might die in the process.

But fortunately, the labor Lunara described succeeded in piquing Elena’s interest.

“The demonic power dwelling in your body. The corrupted mana accumulated by exploiting the imperial citizens will be forcibly extracted. The refined, highly concentrated mana will be used to atone for your sins.”

“Oh-ho?”

It was akin to a declaration of challenge.

A laughable declaration that they would try to manage a power that the original protagonist’s party could only obtain after overcoming harsh trials and adversities, using their own abilities.

“Go on. If you can.”

Intrigued, Elena unexpectedly offered her body willingly.

Strictly adhering to her principle of acting ‘as she pleased’ without thinking about the consequences.