Chapter 1

EP.1 There Is No Country for Criminals

The carriage came to a stop at the end of the road.

A barren wasteland, devoid of a single tree. With no shade to block the scorching sun, every being on the ground groaned under the heat. Even the mounds of earth, weary from the heat, emitted wavy breaths of heat. A signpost stood tall, declaring the end of this road.

The two officers, upon seeing the signpost, realized they had arrived at the right place and that they needed to proceed with the next task.

The officers split up. One approached the signpost, while the other, fidgeting with the steel truncheon hanging from his belt, headed to the back of the vehicle.

The officer heading to the back of the vehicle was tense, gripping his only weapon, the steel truncheon, in one hand. The sweat on his palms made the truncheon slippery, but he had no time to worry about it.

The transport vehicle was typically used to escort ordinary criminals, and those who defied the laws of the military state were prone to rebellion whenever they saw an opportunity. Until now, the officer had shown the harsh taste of the steel truncheon to such criminals and was quite satisfied with its effectiveness.

However, today, for the first time since he had pinned on his badge, he felt that the steel truncheon might not be enough.

Their destination was the prison of the abyss, Tartarus, a place that housed only the most heinous criminals who could never be reintegrated into society, and a legendary land from which no one had ever returned.

It was said that to know the prisoners there, one should look to history books rather than newspapers, and that even the powerful military state could not kill them, only imprison them. A land of sin where monsters with combat power rivaling that of a nation, kings of beasts, and warriors who could defeat entire armies alone roamed like ordinary citizens.

Today, they were bringing a criminal who would be imprisoned in Tartarus.

'Damn, I heard he was a first-time offender. What heinous crime could he have committed to be sent straight to Tartarus?'

I wholeheartedly agreed with his thoughts. What crime could someone have committed to be sent to Tartarus without a proper trial? This seemingly harmless and decent person must have been a victim of a significant error.

The officer took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the back door with his steel truncheon.

"Move away from the door if you don't want to get hit!"

The way the military state treated criminals was similar to how they handled explosive materials that needed to be discarded. They approached with extreme caution, as if wrapping the criminal in layers of packaging.

Even for a petty criminal who had committed a minor offense, the standard procedure was to apply restraints and a hood, and the officer had the discretion to add a gag and a restraint suit.

Upon receiving the information that the person they were escorting would be imprisoned in Tartarus, the officer applied all the restraints he knew. A blindfold, a hood, a gag, and a restraint suit. Measures that would not be surprising if they caused suffocation in an ordinary person.

And I was an ordinary person, so I was actually suffocating. Save me.

Even with a prisoner whose breathing was restricted, the officer did not relax his vigilance.

One should not expect common sense from the other side. After all, this was a criminal who would be imprisoned in the notorious Tartarus.

Judging from the fact that such a low-ranking officer was assigned to this task, it might not be a highly dangerous criminal, but vigilance could not be relaxed. For his own life, not just out of duty.

Well, actually, it wouldn't have mattered if he had relaxed.

I didn't even have the ability to untie the restraint suit, let alone the ropes.

"Opening!"

The damn officer showed no weakness. He opened the back door and quickly stepped back, his body tense, gripping the steel truncheon and aiming it at the criminal.

The back door opened, and the notorious criminal reappeared in the world... still trapped in the restraint suit, rolling on the ground.

The officer, slightly relieved to see the same appearance as when they were cuffed, approached... but suddenly raised the steel truncheon above his head. I let out a silent groan, reading his thoughts.

Ah, wait. Stop...

"Oof!"

The steel truncheon hit my abdomen. The shock reached my bones, and I let out a painful groan, but it was muffled by the gag. I couldn't resist and was hit by the steel truncheon.

The officer, as if confirming a kill, struck me with the steel truncheon five or six times and was relieved by my reaction.

'Fortunately, the restraints haven't come off. There's no risk of a surprise attack.'

The officer, now confident, grabbed the belt of the restraint suit. My body, sprawled on the vehicle floor, was dragged and rolled onto the ground. The officer, seeing my weak and dragged body, was puzzled.

'I heard this is a criminal who will be imprisoned in Tartarus. What's going on? The feel is similar to an ordinary petty criminal.'

Reading the officer's thoughts, I swallowed my rising anger and twisted my body.

Of course.

I am not a criminal who will be imprisoned in Tartarus, nor am I a world-renowned terrorist. I'm not even a criminal who will be recorded in history, just a petty criminal who reads minds and pulls off a few scams in back alleys.

***

I was playing a card game with some suckers and laying out house deeds as usual.

Gambling is a prejudice. If you have money, connections, or, in my case, a special ability like mind reading, gambling is like scooping money off the ground. There are many fools who are willing to pay all their wealth for a moment of thrill. I was like a priest in a confessional, fully understanding their secret desires. I just took half the money instead of a tithe.

As usual, I was on the verge of making a house when the outside became noisy.

The old lady from the apartment below, who always gets a cut without joining the game, signaled, and the sucker, who was struggling with a bad hand, flipped the table with a smile. I delayed my dream of buying a house, hid the evidence, and waited. Then, unfamiliar military police burst in.

The surprise inspection by the military police and the gamblers tidying up the table. That was a regular occurrence. As always, I reached into my pocket to share a cut with the military police.

At that moment, the military police grabbed my wrist.

'According to military law, we are arresting all of you.'

The military police who came for a surprise crackdown beat and arrested everyone present.

The military state was even more insane than I had imagined. I tried desperately to defend myself, but they sent me to trial without any evidence or witnesses. It took less than a day for me to become a serious criminal. In a court without spectators, I was sentenced to hard labor in Tartarus without any resistance.

My ability to read minds was of no help in the unjust trial. The military police claimed we were conspiring while pretending to play cards, and the judge, knowing there was no solid evidence, hammered the gavel.

Thud, thud, thud, guilty. The wooden gavel, symbolizing justice, struck the table three times, as if apologizing for its injustice, while no one raised their voice.

Logic? Principles? If they existed, the military government wouldn't have staged a coup.

I was thrown onto the cold floor of the detention center.

And I was escorted to the world's worst prison, Tartarus.

***

Thinking back on the past while bound made me even sadder, but the officer didn't care about my situation and dragged me along. Thanks to that, I could feel the ground with my entire back. Every time the officer pulled the belt, the gravel and sand scratched my back.

Oh, Mother Earth. Your skin is a bit rough. I need to moisturize you.

While being dragged like a piece of luggage, I saw the officer standing by the signpost worry about the officer dragging me.

"Inspector, is this really okay?"

"What's the problem? He's a criminal, after all."

"No, what I mean is, is it really okay to treat a criminal who will be imprisoned in Tartarus like this? What if he escapes and seeks revenge later..."

"He was blindfolded from the moment the authorities handed him over to us. This guy doesn't even know our faces or names."

The inspector lifted the belt connected to my restraint suit and then dropped it. As a result, my body hit the ground, and I shivered from the shock.

I'm a mind reader, Inspector Evian of Edelfait. If I escape, I'll find you first and exact my bloody revenge.

"And how is he going to get out of Tartarus? Don't worry unnecessarily and send a telegram."

"I'm worried about you, Inspector. Didn't you hear about the incident at Tartarus last time? If this guy escapes..."

"If this guy had the ability to escape, he would have done so from our transport carriage. Instead of worrying uselessly, quickly call the responsible person. Hand over the prisoner and let's get back quickly. Coming to Tartarus once is too much."

"I've already sent the telegram. We just need to wait for a response..."

At that moment, the arrow on the signpost began to shake. The two officers and I, reading their thoughts, instantly tensed up.

The arrow, painted on the steel body, was vibrating wildly. They watched the signpost in silence. The arrow, which had been steadily shaking, began to spin like an earthquake and then—

pointed to the ground.

Snap, something broke.

At that moment, the two officers, seeing the scene before them, doubted their eyes.

Where there had been a wasteland a moment ago, a bottomless pit now stood.

The sudden appearance of the pit was so out of place.

The vast wasteland, where it was hard to find a single tree or blade of grass, but thanks to that, the horizon was clearly visible. In this open plain,

a bottomless hole was inexplicably open. It was too large and deep to be a trap dug by someone and too unnatural to be a natural formation.

The officers, and I, reading their thoughts, suspected it was an illusion, but the endless darkness and the inward-moving wind currents asserted that it was real. The officers, speechless, looked down into the abyss.

While the two officers wondered if they were dreaming the same dream,

a monotone voice came from the signpost. The two officers, startled by the voice of unknown origin, continued to listen as the signpost spoke mechanically.

The officer, overwhelmed by the scene, saluted the signpost. It was a ridiculous sight, but the two of them were so reverent, as if the signpost had the power to create the pit.

"Y-Yes, Inspector Evian of Edelfait. Where should we take the criminal?"

Tartarus.

The prison in the depths, said to have been created by the gods to imprison giants.

Of course, it was named after a myth, but it was easy to infer that Tartarus was in that deep darkness. The officer, looking down into the abyss, swallowed hard.

"Should we go down ourselves?"

Hey, signpost. Hold on.

The officer smiled faintly, understanding the true meaning of the signpost's words. He didn't need to go down with me.

Actually, it was more like he had always intended to throw me into the hole.

The signpost's words were like a justification for his plan.

"Hey, you, come here."

The subordinate officer, understanding the meaning, hesitantly grabbed my leg.

"Is this really okay? If I fall, I won't even be able to collect my bones..."

"So what if you can't collect your bones? He's just a hopeless piece of trash being sent to Tartarus. What does it matter if he dies like this?"

Wait, hey, no, sir. Calm down.

I'll reform. I'll read minds more moderately and pull fewer scams, so please, if you're going to throw me, at least tie me to a rope...

"No matter what..."

"Do you want to hold hands and go down there with me? Huh?"

The subordinate, not wanting that, quickly lifted my leg. I struggled desperately, but with my body tightly restrained by the belt, I couldn't resist.

The two officers, holding me from both sides, synchronized their breathing and swayed me from side to side. One, two. With each movement from left to right, I was lifted higher and then dropped.

On the third swing, as I reached the highest point, the grip on me disappeared.

A sense of complete liberation enveloped my body.

...Ah.

And so, I was thrown into the bottomless abyss.