Chapter 303: Starting a Cohabitation
~An interrogation room located in the basement of the Association~
After sitting there for quite some time, I was finally allowed to move.
Perhaps the results of the trial had finally come out.
“The…Mr. Egostic, will be transported to Carqueas from now on, so if you’ll stand up…”
…I was escorted out of the interrogation room by an Association employee, who was strangely polite to a captured villain.
Of course, throughout the entire process, I smiled and cooperated. Inwardly, I was grumbling about why I couldn’t get out of there sooner.
Once outside the interrogation room, I was greeted by the many staff members of the Hero Association underground laboratory.
…All of them cringed at the sight of me. I’m a safe villain, I won’t hurt you. I’m not going to hurt you.
‘More than that…’
I looked around for a moment, then thought quietly.
‘…I don’t see Stardus.’
She was sitting in front of me a few hours ago, pressuring me, and now she’s nowhere to be seen.
…Which, of course, was a good thing, because I’d be in a lot of trouble without her…Not that I can say anything about it now.
Anyway, after being escorted out very politely by the staff, I boarded some sort of villain transport truck and made my way to the underground parking garage to leave for Carqueas.
I must say, I was impressed with how carefully the association agents handled me along the way. You’d think they were escorting the President, not taking a villain to jail.
Of course, at this point, I didn’t think much of it but once we were in the convoy and on the ground I suddenly heard a thunderous sound.
“””Release Egostic!!!”””
“…?”
I couldn’t see out because the convoy was blocked on all sides, but even so, I panicked at the sound of people shouting in what sounded like a huge protest.
…No, what the hell is that sound?
I continued to hear similar sounds from outside, and it didn’t die down until after we had driven for a while longer.
…Perhaps my fans are acting in unison at the news of my capture. Well, I thought it was possible, but I didn’t think they were really doing it. I mean, they’re probably in the minority anyway….But now that I think about it, they were kind of loud… It’s a minority, right? I don’t know. Never mind. I don’t think there are a lot of people who like villains. That can’t be true.
Anyway, after some more running, I was finally able to get off.
And when I finally hit the ground again, handcuffed, I was greeted by…
-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
I was on the beach, with the cold wind blowing hard, with a vast expanse of blue ocean.
“Now we need to transfer to the ship…!”
Looking at the agent waving at us, I smirked and headed for the prisoner transfer boat with the association staff standing on either side.
Finally, it was time to head to Carqueas.
***
It is now nighttime.
On the sea, in a boat rocking violently, I was sitting in the back, watching the waves through the window.
I’m sitting in the back of a large motorized boat, facing the bars.
As I watched the black waves crash menacingly outside, and the fog around the boat, I thought to myself. “We’ll be there soon, finally.”
A few more minutes passed, and finally.
There it was, right in front of me.
-Boom, boom, boom.
A giant gray castle-like structure looming behind a foggy black sea.
A large, isolated island in the middle of a frighteningly choppy sea, with a castle of enormous size sprawling over it.
Prison Island, the Tomb of Villains, Eastern Carqueas.
I silently pondered as I looked through the window at the figure that stood so firmly as if it would not allow any outside intrusion or escape.
…After all, I had seen it in pictures since I came to this world, but it was even more menacing in person. It was indeed the Carqueas that imprisoned the worst of villains. It looked even more bizarre, like a medieval castle intertwined with grayish modern buildings.
A fortress of the highest order, the culmination of humanity’s wisdom, built to house those whose very existence is dangerous. This Carqueas is home to every villain Stardus has ever captured.
I was entering the place that all villains fear on purpose.
…Actually, I was doing this because it was harder to get in than it was to escape from there.
Anyway, the ship finally stopped in front of the island.
I obediently disembarked as instructed, and entered the prison island.
And, I don’t know how much time passed.
-Bam. Bam.
After all the annoying verifications and security protocols I was finally allowed to enter the giant prison castle.
The corridors of Carqueas are gray all around.
I was walking down this corridor, flanked on either side by Association staff.
In contrast to the bizarre appearance of the outside, the inside is quite modern and clean.
However, this area is newer, so…This prison is not where the Sun God’s creature, the Wish Granter, is held, which is my goal and reason for infiltrating this prison in this manner. It was built on the foundation of that Carqueas, so it must be located in the basement of this Carqueas.
And my cell is probably near it. Where a villain is imprisoned depends on how dangerous they are, and since I’m deemed the most dangerous in the country right now, it’s only natural that I’d be down here in the depths.
And that, of course, is good for me.
I need to get to where Wish Granter is, and the closer the better. But this place is too big and too dangerous. It’s probably really old and dirty, though… I’m only going to be here a few days anyway, so it doesn’t matter.
I kept walking, cuffs on, cloak flapping.
…I was handcuffed, but that didn’t mean much. These are handcuffs that inhibit the activation of abilities, and right now I’m wearing them as if they work, but they don’t work at all.
Of course, it’s true that weak teleportation doesn’t work well, but it doesn’t mean much to me, whose telekinesis and teleportation become stronger in proportion to the amount of power I accumulate.
I still need to wear the cuffs so I can enter this prison without suspicion, especially since I’m still wearing my mask, hat, cloak, and coat.
The summary trial itself was meant to keep the dangerous villain in Carqueas for now, and the full trial itself would come later, so they were keen to get me into Carqueas as quickly as possible. The mere act of casting a spell to keep my clothes on is enough to throw me in jail without further action.
All of this, of course, is possible because the Association has absolute confidence in the security of Carqueas.
“Once you’re in, you’re never out”…which, of course, does not apply to me.
“Prisoner Egostic, this is your cell.”
“…Yes.”
Anyway, just like that, I finally arrived at my cell, guided by this Carqueas guard. It’s a perfectly claustrophobic cell, where you can’t see in from the outside and out from the inside.
Once inside, the door slammed shut, leaving me alone.
-Zirrrrr. Tsk.
The handcuffs finally unlocked on their own.
I stand there, finally able to let out a big sigh.
“Ha…”
I’ve finally arrived in Carqueas, the so-called graveyard of villains.
I smiled, brushing my cuffed hands away.
…The process was a bit complicated, but just getting here was already half the battle. With the fortress being what it is, it was the only way in.
“…Whew.”
I sighed as I slipped my hand into my coat pocket and did a few maneuvers, feeling the object naturally fall into my grasp.
…I’ve managed to hide it with magic, and I’ve managed to bring in the recorder. Now I could say that everything was going according to plan.
Suddenly, I looked up at the ceiling. As expected, it was empty, with no TV or anything.
Not for the sake of the villains’ human rights…of course not. Originally, there were such things in rooms where high-level villains were imprisoned but some guys with unusual abilities used it to do crazy things like hypnotize employees who were watching TV and they got rid of it.
Anyway, I’ll stay here for a while and then escape as planned when the time is right.
…Thinking the same thing, I looked around my cell.
“…?”
Only then did I notice something odd.
“Why is this room so nice?”
I muttered to myself.
I thought it would be a dingy room in a dingy part of the basement after all the walking we’d done, but instead it was a large, comfortable room.
There were a bunch of ability-suppressing devices, but it was a nice room with a shower of some sort, and the rooms were big and spacious.
And…The strangest thing was.
‘…Why are there two beds?’
I muttered to myself, puzzled, as I looked at the two beds next to each other.
…What is this, is there some kind of mistake?
Just as I was thinking that.
-Beep, beep, beep.
-Ding, ding, ding.
Suddenly, I heard a sound at the prison door.
Someone had entered my cell.
Who the hell was that and what I saw when I went back out there.
“…Huh?”
“Hi. Egostic.”
It was Stardus, her golden hair flashing, smiling at me.
…carrying some sort of carrier.
And by then my mind was already foggy.
“No…”
…What the hell is going on?
Unexpectedly, my imprisonment had begun just like that.
