Chapter 7: -it’s healing (3)

Episode 7 – This is Healing for Me (3)

“Warden…!”

“There’s no other choice. If it’s just a meal, I can accept it.”

Lunara decided to accept Elena’s proposal.

Bargon protested, but Lunara resolutely shook her head.

In Lunara’s view, maintaining this prison and carrying out the orders from above was paramount.

Especially since she still didn’t know Elena’s true intentions, she didn’t want to ignore a choice Elena had given that was, at best, understandable.

‘More than anything, if the witch wants something, it’s actually a good thing.’

At this point, Lunara was almost relieved just by the fact that Elena had shown some desire.

In particular, the somewhat unexpected yet minor request to change the meal she detested to high-quality food, Lunara thought, proved that Elena was not entirely complete.

Elena was an Empress until just recently.

One who, within that magnificent Imperial Palace, dined daily on the most precious and expensive meals in the Empire, devised by dozens of chefs.

In truth, Elena didn’t throw parties and consume lavish banquets every day, but Lunara believed she did.

‘Even if she pretends to be calm, she must hate having to lap up low-quality gruel, the kind given to mere prisoners, like a dog.’

Lunara gained a little confidence.

She believed that Elena, who had toyed with them even while imprisoned in Tartara, had shown a weakness.

Of course, this hypothesis was a misconception fueled by Lunara’s hope, but within their differing dreams, the negotiation reached an agreement.

“This time, it’s somewhat presentable.”

“…”

Before Elena, still bound to the extraction chair, luxurious dishes, hastily airlifted, began to appear one by one.

The food, served in containers enchanted with warming magic, certainly looked impressive.

The various dishes, containing a balanced mix of meat, fish, and vegetables, were of a quality that even Lunara, the warden, would have to steel herself to eat.

“You want me to eat with my mouth, even here?”

“I cannot remove the restraints and straitjacket. To begin with, their removal requires an order from above.”

“Then feed me.”

Elena’s demand went a step further. If they wouldn’t free her hands, she wanted to be fed.

In truth, if she put her mind to it, she could have put the food into her mouth without using her hands, but Elena chuckled amusingly as she watched the flustered Lunara and the administration staff.

“What are you doing? Ah.”

Lunara, exasperated by Elena’s playful face as she parted her soft pink lips, opened her mouth, and extended her alluring red tongue, unconsciously sighed.

“Wa-Warden. I’ll do it.”

“No, I’ll do it!”

Perhaps taking Elena’s actions as a form of provocation, the administration staff, who were already being swayed by Elena, felt a great sense of humiliation.

Staff members voluntarily stepped forward, offering to take on that humiliation themselves.

It was proof that Lunara’s reputation, having been suddenly promoted to warden, was not bad.

“No, I will do it myself. According to regulations, the warden is supposed to directly control Abyssal-class prisoners, so this task is also my responsibility.”

And Lunara said she couldn’t pass such humiliation onto her subordinates and would do it herself.

No one dared to refute her declaration, where she cited regulations and stated this was her responsibility.

Her reputation for taking the initiative simply rose a bit higher.

‘She’s certainly a strong-willed woman.’

And the same was true for Elena, who was observing Lunara.

****

“You might not know this, but even in the Imperial Palace, I ate with my own hands. I wonder if it’s really okay for a mere prisoner to be served like this?”

“Quiet. This isn’t for you.”

Lunara picked up a piece of meat cut with a knife, placed it into Elena’s open mouth, and furrowed her brow.

It was certainly a sight she had never even imagined. According to her original plan, the low-quality and humiliating meal was supposed to be one of the factors to break Elena’s spirit.

“Water.”

“Hmph…”

But now, Lunara was in a position where she was serving Elena, acting on her instructions.

What was most absurd was that Elena hadn’t used any of her power throughout the process.

If Elena had instead overpowered them with a strong force that even ignored the restraints, it would have felt less unfair.

No matter how much Lunara thought about it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been drawn into a trap.

“Judging by your appearance, you seem to be from the southwest. Where exactly are you from?”

And when the meal had progressed somewhat.

Elena unexpectedly turned to Lunara and brought up the topic of her origin.

“Though not as passionate as that squat dwarf, you also revealed your resentment the moment you saw me.”

Elena mentioned the moment she first saw Lunara.

The time when Krasen, who should have been the warden, harbored foolish lust and was executed.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m from Ashirian. The place the Empire conquered and enslaved over 50 years ago.”

Lunara dropped the fork with a clatter and glared at Elena with cold, golden eyes.

Dark skin and deep brown hair are characteristics of the Ashirian people, who were once nomads but were absorbed into the Empire and relegated to a minority status.

While the previous emperor waged the conquest wars, it was Elena who forcefully suppressed and oppressed the Ashirian people who rebelled against the harsh and discriminatory treatment within the Empire.

‘The suppression of the Ashirians. That was something I did before I possessed this body.’

Elena, searching through her memories, listened to the story with strange eyes.

It was true that Elena had forcefully suppressed the Ashirian resistance movement, and a considerable amount of blood had been shed in the process, but that was not something ‘the current’ Elena had done.

“When my father, who was diligently running a stable, was dragged away by the Imperial Special Unit and went missing, and my mother fell ill and passed away, I abandoned everything my father had taught me since birth about being an Ashirian and studied to become a part of the Empire.”

Amidst persecution and discrimination, Lunara gained recognition for her abilities.

And those abilities caught the eye of Equitas, leading her to secretly join the organization.

When she finally contributed her strength to somehow overthrow her rumored enemy, Empress Elena of the Valtira Empire, and bring her down as the Empire’s last emperor.

Lunara felt both an exhilarating thrill and a strange sense of emptiness at the same time.

“Why are you uneasy? The revolutionary army you believe in declared they would reform that evil empire and create a peaceful world where everyone lives happily ever after.”

“That’s…”

Lunara was momentarily speechless.

At the same time, Elena recognized Lunara’s feelings.

The typical signs of an identity crisis: gritting her teeth and learning about her enemy to defeat them, but as she learned more, doubts grew one by one, and her faith wavered.

Her appearance, clearly undergoing a typical identity crisis, was the evidence.

“I will not listen any further. The meal is over.”

Lunara bit her lip, gathered the utensils, and cleared the dishes.

Then she re-gagged Elena and put the mask back on. Elena, who had been silently watching her actions, merely smiled with an amused look.

“Now it’s your turn to keep your promise.”

Mana extraction resumed.

As the extractor began to operate with a rough humming noise, Elena chuckled and released her own power.

‘Oh… this, this is a bit…’

The extractor began to powerfully suck in Elena’s mana, which was cooperatively flowing from within, with strong repulsion and suction.

The only help Elena, whose bound body twitched at the strange sensation felt throughout her, provided was a slight push to help her mana flow well.

Then, the mana, which had been pulled with immense force, finally forced open her mana channels, vigorously absorbing the dark red mana gushing out of her body.

“The mana…!”

“Quickly check the purification tube! It’s corrupted demonic energy. We don’t know what will happen the moment it leaks!”

Bargon shouted, urging the staff.

The dark red, viscous mana extracted by the machine flowed through the tubes and steadily filled special containers inscribed with spells.

‘Ugh, this feels good…’

Meanwhile, Elena, as her mana channels were forcibly widened and her mana was extracted, closed her eyes, feeling not the scream of pain but a sense of refreshing relief.

It was as if a low-frequency massager was relieving muscle pain.

While the intensity was a bit strong for a massage, it was still tolerable as a pleasant sensation.

Moreover, there was the added benefit of her mana channels, which were difficult to widen, being forcibly expanded.

Given this situation, there was no reason for Elena not to enjoy this mana extraction labor.

“As expected…!”

Unlike Bargon and other staff members who cheered, exclaiming that they had already extracted Elena’s mana and filled 10 special containers, Lunara kept her gaze fixed solely on Elena, beads of cold sweat trickling down her face.

Elena still held them in the palm of her hand.

Lunara, the only one who, though not perfectly, had grasped a fragment of it, looked down at her arm, which had goosebumps, and gritted her teeth.

[So, is today’s schedule finished with this?]

“…The original plan was to extract mana ceaselessly until the target amount was met.”

Expected time: 24 hours. However, the first mana extraction labor concluded in just 2 hours.

To Elena’s question, after being released from the chair, Lunara let out a small sigh.

“Re-imprison and seal the prisoner.”

Lunara decided to stop here.

The quota was already more than filled.

The special regulation made by her predecessor, Krasen, who died on his first day in office, stated that even if the quota was exceeded, they should continue extracting until Elena cried and begged, but Lunara had no intention of following such a regulation.

Thus, Lunara watched Elena’s back as she was quietly led back to the 100th floor.

She would be sealed in an uncomfortable, immobile posture until the next labor.

Labor, seal, labor, seal.

It was an eternally repeating cycle from which she could never, and should never, be released, no matter if the next warden came, or the one after that.

[I know it’s useless to say this, but I’m sorry about what happened then.]

“…!”

But at that moment, Elena’s voice echoed in Lunara’s ears again.

It wasn’t the voice that mattered, but its content.

Lunara, who had turned to leave for her duties, froze stiff on the spot, her eyes wide.

“A-Are you alright?”

Long enough for another staff member to notice her and ask about her well-being.