Justia Empire.
Territory 1030, the Wheat City of Taul.
Hidden in an alleyway, I ran my left hand over my face.
I felt the rough stubble and weathered skin. My cheekbones were sunken, and my nose seemed slightly larger.
Not bad. Even the wind feels real against my cheeks. It's like this is my true face.
Thanks to the item Elena had given me, I had transformed into a man in his mid-thirties, altering everything from my physique to my skin tone.
Transformation Potion
Upon consumption, this potion allows you to transform into the person you're thinking of for three days. It alters your very genetic structure.
Undetectable by exploration skills below SS-Rank.
Type: Consumable
Rank: SS
This expensive item cost at least 300,000 AP to acquire. I admired Elena's generosity, thinking that the nobles of the Empire truly had deep pockets.
For the record, an SSS-Rank Transformation Potion can even turn you into a woman. Not that I have any intention of doing that.
That woman.
A woman walked down the street, her elegant dress standing out from the crowd. She appeared to be in her late twenties, her long brown hair styled into an updo like a noblewoman's. A young girl, likely her maid, trailed behind her.
Anyone could tell she was someone of high status.
Currently, I was carrying out Elena's assignment related to Helten. I had accepted the job because I wasn't being exploited for free.
This is also a kind of test for me.
I quietly followed her. A mansion came into view, slightly smaller than what one would expect for a noble's residence.
After confirming she had entered the mansion, I activated Deception (SS) to turn invisible and scaled the wall to infiltrate the grounds.
A servant, presumably male, was sweeping the courtyard with a broom.
I mustn't kill him. I mustn't kill him...
Focusing on controlling my strength, I struck the servant's neck with a knife-hand strike.
Thud!
"Gah!"
The man collapsed to the ground. I checked his pulse he was still alive.
I opened the mansion's front door and entered. I encountered a maid carrying luggage, who tilted her head in confusion.
"Why did the door suddenly open?"
She couldn't see me.
Thud!
I knocked the maid unconscious and turned my attention to the woman I had been targeting.
The presence... it's coming from over there.
The woman was bathing in a bathtub, attended by the maid. I revealed myself.
"Kyaaaaah?!"
The maid screamed at the sight of me. I struck her neck. Since there were no other presences in the mansion, her scream didn't matter.
"Wh-who are you?!"
The brown-haired woman gripped the edge of the bathtub with her pale, slender hand, her voice trembling with alarm.
"My identity is irrelevant... Heh... What matters is that your husband made a powerful enemy."
I examined her body in the bathtub. Her breasts were around a C-cup, slightly sagging, but her waist was slender. Her thighs and calves were long and shapely.
I reached out and helped her to her feet.
"Ah... wh-what do you want from me?"
"Calm down. Everyone else in this mansion is only unconscious. I only came to talk in private."
"Why... why are you doing this? What did I do to deserve this?"
"You did nothing. But if you want a way to pay your husband back for dragging you into his mess, listen to me."
I led her into the bedroom next to the bathroom, and she sat on the plush bed, still dripping wet.
"Aaaaaah!"
Her legs spread as she shifted, revealing her pussy. Beneath the dark bush, her crimson labia minora boldly asserted themselves in a provocative display.
As I pulled down my pants, my half-erect, massive cock sprang into view.
"Hah!"
"Your shocked expression is priceless. These kinds of things aren't exactly common, are they? How does it compare to your husband's?"
"D-don't come any closer until you explain everything! Do you even know who my husband is?!"
"Of course. Merchant Koum. He was originally from a farming family, but became filthy rich when a magician bought his father's land for an exorbitant price."
"You know him well! If this is really about disgracing that man, then say it clearly!"
"Foolish woman. If I were afraid of that bastard, I wouldn't have even set foot in this house to begin with."
"If you don't want this, say so now."
"Aaaah... I want it. Just don't rush me."
I roughly sucked on her bright red nipples, and she wrapped her arms around my neck before spreading her legs for me and rubbing my cock against her pussy.
"Heh... if you keep welcoming me like that, I could stay here all night."
Two months prior, Koum, her husband, had drunkenly insulted the Phantom Duke, one of the Imperial Five Dukes, at a tavern, calling him an arrogant bitch, a clueless wench, and a bully who relied solely on her power.
The insults were uttered in a drunken stupor, and since the tavern wasn't within the Phantom Duke's territory, Koum faced no repercussions.
Koum's resentment toward the Phantom Duke stemmed from a failed trade venture. To succeed, he needed to pass through her territory, but at the time, the Phantom Duke was conducting a large-scale monster extermination campaign, blocking all passage. Forced to detour, Koum arrived several days late, incurring significant losses.
Elena is a high-ranking member of Helten, and their intelligence network is the best on the Continent. Moreover, she's not the type to let insults slide.
If she didn't know, she wouldn't care. But if she had the chance, she'd seek revenge by any means necessary.
"Oh, quite a decent pussy. I could enjoy this."
Three hours later.
Koum returned home, and I rose from the bed where I had been fucking his wife. She was lying there exhausted, her body drenched in semen.
"You bastard! If you thought you could defile my house and live, you're gravely mistaken! Kill him! Kill him now!"
Koum roared, and his guards drew their swords and charged at me.
I dodged past them and fled.
I can't kill them. I can't kill them...
Koum's guards pursued me relentlessly.
"Stop right there!"
"Pay for your crimes with your life!"
I fled to the city's Gendarmerie. At the entrance, I shouted at the bewildered soldiers staring at me.
"I confess! I confess! I confess!"
Territory 1,030, the Wheat City Taul, was one of Count Osten's territories. The laws in Count Osten's territories differed slightly from Imperial Law.
While capital punishment remained for heinous crimes like murder, rape could also result in the death penalty depending on the victim, but confessing reduced the likelihood of execution.
Koum is just a nouveau riche, not a noble. Since he confessed, he won't be executed.
I confessed to my crimes at the Gendarmerie. As a result, the trial was brief and swift, and I received a 15-year prison sentence.
That night, I was transferred to Osten Prison in Territory 1,066.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
The law here is harsh. In Korea, the minimum sentence is three years, but here it's fifteen.
"Rohan! Don't think this is the end! Ten years in prison? Don't make me laugh! Do you think that paltry sentence can atone for the sin of defiling my wife? I'll kill you! Even if it costs me every last coin, I'll kill you!"
Koum shouted at me with venomous hatred as I was being transported in the carriage.
His words only made me yawn.
Still, he's a wealthy bastard. He could cause trouble later. I'll have to kill him eventually.
Territory 1066, Osten Prison.
This prison can hold over 30,000 criminals. And the more prisoners Osten locks up, the stronger he becomes. That's why Viscount Osten is obsessed with imprisoning criminals.
To give you an idea of how severe it was, they'd sentence an orphan who stole a single piece of bread out of hunger to two years in prison.
From the orphan's perspective, this might even be a good thing. At least in this prison, they wouldn't starve to death.
"Prisoner 756487."
A prison guard in light armor read the number on my prisoner uniform and led me to a cell. The cramped cell, barely ten square meters, housed four prisoners sitting with their backs against the wall.
"This is Room 7214, your sweet home for the next fifteen years. You're all rapists, so try to get along."
Clang, clang.
The guard indifferently unlocked the cell door.
"Just so you know, one of your roommates is in here for raping a man."
"...You're just going to leave him alone?"
"As long as he doesn't die, it's none of our concern. Since it's your first day, I'll give you some advice: our job is to manage you, not protect you. Get inside."
I entered the prison cell with a face like I'd just eaten shit.
The cell was full of unique characters:
One guy was small and scrawny, yet wore a sinister grin.
Two others were burly but covered in scars on their faces and bodies.
The tallest and most muscular of the bunch was a bald man with a naive, innocent look.
One of these guys is a gay bastard?
Clang!
The guard slammed the iron bars shut.
"Lights out in thirty minutes. Quiet down and get some sleep."
The guard left.
As soon as he was gone, the men who had been sitting rose as if on cue.
"Heh heh heh. It's been ages since we had a new rookie."
A short, wiry man grinned at me, his eyes raking up and down my body. The way he looked at me made my skin crawl.
"Two weeks, to be exact."
"That last one killed himself during exercise time. You won't do that, will you?"
The two burly men seemed to be in perfect sync.
"I'm Seviya. Let's get along."
A pig-like man with an innocent-looking face extended his hand. His palm was covered in small cuts and calluses, suggesting he used blunt weapons like hammers.
When I showed no intention of shaking his hand, he chuckled and introduced the others around him.
"It must feel awkward being here. Since we'll be living together for years, let's get along. These two guys here might look intimidating with their muscular builds, but they're good people. They're also my seniors. Well, we don't really care about seniority we just treat each other like friends."
"Gu Dong."
"Gu Jin."
The two men greeted me curtly.
"They look like twins, but they're actually a year apart. Gu Dong is the older brother."
Sebeige then pointed to the smaller man.
"Renji. He's been here the longest among us and he's also the head of our room."
"So?"
"So... let's just get along, okay? As I said earlier, I'm Sebeige. I've been here for two years. I'm the youngest in this room."
Sebeige took a step forward. I tilted my head, looking up at his towering figure. He was trying to exude an intimidating aura, but I decided to hear him out.
"...Until you came. From now on, you're the youngest here. And you're my lover too."
He reached out to touch my shoulder.
I clicked my tongue softly and kicked his left knee.
CRACK!
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Sebeige collapsed with a deafening scream. I could feel the shock radiating from the three nearby inmates and even those in other cells as they stared in horror.
And for good reason. Sebeige's thick knee had been twisted beyond 180 degrees, the bone shattered and piercing through his flesh.
"That pig bastard... How dare he try to touch me..."
"Aaaah! My leg! My leg! My leg!"
I frowned, annoyed by his incessant screaming.
"Shut your mouth before I make the other one look the same."
"Hngh!"
Sebeige clamped his mouth shut, tears streaming down his face. He seemed to have taken my warning seriously.
...Fuck. I lost my temper and went too far. I didn't mean to do that...
Fortunately, he wasn't dead. I'd worried about the severity of the injury, but seeing him still conscious and sobbing reassured me he was tougher than he looked.
I glanced sideways.
The Gu Dong and Gu Jin brothers met my gaze and flinched. Their earlier arrogance had vanished, replaced by cold sweat dripping down their faces.
"Look away."
"Yes, sir!"
The brothers moved swiftly.
I then turned my gaze to the smaller man. Renji, was it? The sinister grin that had been on his face had frozen into a deathly pale mask.
"H-how...?"
His eyes darted to my right ankle, where a steel shackle was clamped. This wasn't an ordinary shackle; when worn, it sealed 80% of the wearer's stats.
"Hey. You were laughing at me earlier, weren't you?"
"W-well..."