Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I Proposed While Drunk and Now the Princesses are Obsessed.

Episode 6: Penitentiary (2).

Dice.

A cubic toy. It provided random numbers from 1 to 6, each with an equal probability. Its simplicity made it popular in games.

But one day, very suddenly.

If you had to bet your entire life on this small dice, could you get the number you want? What number would the dice show to a human?

“It should have been a six back then…. No, even a five would have been enough.”

On the way to the Imperial Palace.

A man tied up and handcuffed muttered weakly.

“It was a life-and-death dice game. If I had won, I could have proudly paid my academy tuition. Maybe I could have become an outstanding student that everyone recognized…”

The man muttering so weakly was named Balton.

Currently, he was the most wanted criminal in the Yurgo region.

Balton muttered to himself, then suddenly chuckled and shook his head.

“No, that’s not it. The moment I faced that annoying professor, I would have killed him. Maybe I was destined to commit murder from the start…”

It was then.

Thud!

A soldier’s knee slammed into Balton’s abdomen.

“What’s this disgusting murderer muttering about?”

The two soldiers nearby, as if waiting for this moment, immediately joined in the violence. They seemed to have been itching for it. Soon, the area was filled with dull thuds.

Thud! Thud!

“You must have mistaken yourself for a guest since we were being gentle.”

“As soon as you reach the palace, you’re dead. You worm!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“…Ah, dice.”

Balton endured the beating, repeatedly muttering about the dice. The assault continued for a long time until it was finally stopped by the leading escort captain.

“That’s enough beating.”

The escort captain clicked his tongue and spoke.

“I understand wanting to kill him, but our mission is to escort him. We have to take him to the palace alive. That’s enough.”

“Ah… Yes, sir!”

The escort captain checked Balton’s condition.

He had been beaten badly. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to walk for a while.

“Have you all eaten?”

“Not yet!”

“We haven’t eaten yet!”

The captain thought that since Balton couldn’t walk anyway, they might as well take the time to eat.

“We’ll eat first and then continue.”

The soldiers tied Balton to a nearby tree trunk and began their meal in front of him.

“The guys working in the palace deal with nobles every day, but we always deal with scum… What is this?”

“You don’t know anything. Catering to nobles is much more difficult and tiresome. I’ve done both, and this job is easier.”

“Really?”

Naturally, their conversation during the meal was about work.

But then, one of the soldiers seemed to remember something.

“Captain, is it true that the Penitence Palace is being filled for the first time in a long time?”

“Surprisingly, it’s true. I was quite shocked when I heard.”

“The guy we’re escorting now isn’t going to the Penitence Palace, is he?”

The soldiers glanced at Balton and then looked away.

Balton was a heinous criminal who destroyed an entire village with black magic.

“The Penitence Palace is a place even scum like him can’t enter. Who could possibly be going there?”

“We have no way of knowing. It’s a place for people beyond our imagination.”

“Beyond our imagination…. Like someone who killed their own family?”

“That’s within your imagination. The Penitence Palace, as I said, is for those beyond our comprehension.”

“…I see. Suddenly, I feel a chill.”

“I heard one of them is already in the Penitence Palace, and the other must have almost crossed the Yurgo Mountains. They’ll kill each other soon.”

“Hey, really?”

A strange voice suddenly interrupted.

The problem was that the voice came from very close by. The soldiers quickly turned their heads to where the voice came from.

“If there’s such an interesting place, you should have told me earlier!”

“…”

The owner of the voice was none other than Balton. He was now sitting cross-legged between the soldiers and the escort captain.

As if he had been eating with them from the start.

“…!”

Everyone’s eyes widened a moment later.

They quickly grabbed their weapons and stepped back. How did he free himself, and when did he get so close? The more they thought about it, the more it gave them chills.

Whistle.

Silence fell between the soldiers and Balton. Surprisingly, Balton didn’t immediately attack.

Instead, the fugitive just spat out something he had been chewing.

They thought he might have spat out a tooth from the beating, but it was a cubic object. A soldier soon recognized what it was and muttered.

“…What’s that, a dice?”

“Yes. It’s a three.”

Balton looked so ghastly that it was a wonder he could even stand, but the soldiers heard him clearly.

“You all roll it once. If you get a number higher than three, I’ll let you live.”

“…”

“The odds are 50-50. For those of you facing certain death, it’s quite an enticing offer, isn’t it?”

The three soldiers and the escort captain exchanged glances.

Then the captain scoffed at Balton’s words.

“I don’t know how you got free from the tree, but that was your last chance. You’ll regret not attacking us for the rest of your life.”

“So you won’t roll it? The odds are 50-50.”

“You lowly criminal! It looks like this time I’ll have to rip your─”

Thud.

A spike rose from the ground and impaled the escort captain vertically. The righteous soldier became a corpse in an instant.

“C-Captain?”

“What is this…?!”

The soldiers muttered in disbelief, but their words soon became their last. More spikes began to rise from the ground.

Thud. Thud.

“Gah… Ugh…!”

“Aaagh…!”

For a while, only the sounds of screams and the brutal noise of flesh and bone being pierced filled the area. The blood staining the ground was a bonus.

.

.

.

As the sunset painted the world red. The edge of the Yurgo Mountains.

With the shattered carriage and the soldiers’ corpses scattered around, Balton stood tall in the center.

He wiped the blood from his mouth with a sinister grin.

“So you’re the guy going to the Penitence Palace…. That was fun. It was dangerous.”

“Spare me, please….”

A wretched criminal at Balton’s feet begged for his life.

“No. Your dice roll is only two.”

Balton’s dice showed three. This guy had two.

He never made exceptions in his dice game.

“Please, spare me…. Aaagh─!”

Balton ruthlessly ended the other criminal’s life. He was somewhat satisfying. The guy in the Penitence Palace should be more fun.

He muttered as he slowly changed into the clothes of the man he had just killed. Now he would sit quietly and wait for the imperial guards to find and escort him.

“I can’t wait to get to the Penitence Palace.”

Who would be waiting for him there?

He just hoped it would be someone fun to kill.

Late night. Finally, at the entrance of the Penitence Palace.

Knock, knock.

Balton, who had finally reached the Penitence Palace, knocked on the entrance. He exuded the aura of black magic, almost flaunting it.

‘This should be enough to scare them.’

If they were weak, their scared expressions would be worth seeing. If they were strong, they’d feel his aura and immediately tense up, ready for battle.

Either way, the serious posture was fun for Balton.

Such strong determination crumbling from just one dice game?

…Ah, that would be indescribably thrilling.

With pleasant thoughts, he kicked the door open.

“Hello friends! I’ll give you a chance to play dice with me. How about it?”

He shouted for added effect. What reaction would he get?

But no one appeared in Balton’s sight. That couldn’t be right. The soldiers mentioned someone else was in the Penitence Palace.

“Dice game? Sounds fun.”

“…!”

Balton’s head snapped around at the sudden voice.

“…What?”

And then he was surprised again.

Upon entering the Penitence Palace, Balton checked the corners and ceiling first. Anyone sensing his powerful aura would be preparing for battle. They would usually be waiting in such spots.

…But that wasn’t the case.

A man and a woman. They were leisurely sitting on the central sofa.

But then he realized there was another surprising thing.

‘What did I just hear?’

Didn’t they accept the dice game too easily?

The man across from him nodded as if reading Balton’s thoughts.

“Let me finish smoking this first, then we’ll start.”

“…”

“Oh, do you want one too? I have an extra.”

He even offered a Sun Grass with a flaunt.

Balton reflected on his life and came to a conclusion.

…That guy was the type of person Balton had never met before.