GalaxyTL
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This is a side story related to Arcs 6 and 17.
——
The Zakzak Mine.
It is the name of a mine located at the northernmost tip of the Deswaar Duchy, which itself is situated at the northernmost tip of the Teenidys Kingdom.
Despite being an extremely old mine, having been in operation for about 300 years, it still produces vast amounts of magic ore, and it’s no exaggeration to say that it’s the source of the Deswaar Duchy’s wealth.
Its tunnels, dug over a long history, resemble a labyrinth, and it takes more than a day to reach the current mining site.
Therefore, an underground town was actually built in this mine for the miners to live in.
The name of the town is, without any originality, “Zakzak Mine Underground Town”.
Built on the site of a former large-scale mining area, the town’s streets, skillfully carved out of bedrock, naturally glow thanks to the yellow luminous magic ore, creating a cramped yet fantastical atmosphere that even attracts a few tourists.
But, however.
Deep inside the mine tunnels, beyond Zakzak Mine Underground Town, where mining is currently underway, the environment is harsh.
It’s dark, the paths are narrow, the air is filled with dust, and it’s hard to breathe.
Thanks to the efforts of Ijiwaar Deswaar, the Duke’s daughter, the working conditions for the miners have dramatically improved, but it’s still harsh.
That’s why the Teenidys Kingdom has a punishment called “mine labor”.
The prisoners spend their days endlessly mining magic ore in the underground prison at the deepest part of the Zakzak Mine, until their sentence is over.
The improvement of working conditions brought about by Duke’s Daughter Ijiwaar’s strong sense of human rights has also affected the prisoners’ lives to a certain extent. They can now wear warm clothes in the winter, and with the corrupt prison guards having been purged, they’re less likely to be subjected to unreasonable violence.
But the labor is still harsh.
Furthermore, in addition to the harsh labor, Zakzak Mine Underground Prison has a thorough personality correction program.
It’s said that even prisoners who initially showed no sign of law-abiding spirit would be completely changed after a month, and the creator of this program is also Duke’s Daughter Ijiwaar.
…But…
No matter how hard the prisoners are subjected to harsh labor every day.
No matter how thoroughly they are subjected to the personality correction program.
There are always some prisoners who stubbornly cling to their evil ways, their hearts completely unchanged.
“Aaaaah, I’m so… tired of digging stones every single day! I get dirty! I’m bored! I don’t want to do this anymore, anymore, anymore, anymore, anymore, anymore, anymore!”
This female prisoner, currently scratching her head and muttering to herself alone in her cell, because her cellmate finished her sentence and was released, is one of those prisoners.
Her face, twisted with hatred towards others and society, born from constantly shifting blame onto others and never reflecting on her own actions, shows no trace of her former cuteness.
“Why…? Why do *I* have to be in a place like thisーーー!!”
The name of this woman, who finally shouted at the ceiling, is Pilitza.
…She’s the woman who used to work as a receptionist at the Adventurers’ Guild Yoshanka branch office.
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Now, it goes without saying that magical power exists in this world.
Therefore, the people of this world can use a technique called 【Body Strengthening】, whether they’re conscious of it or not, so there isn’t much of a social notion that ‘physical labor is for men’.
As long as they can use magic properly, even a small woman can beat up a giant man.
So the Teenidys criminal code doesn’t consider gender when it comes to sentencing people to mine labor, and thus, Pilitza was thrown into this underground prison without mercy.
Of course, frail people who would die if they were forced to do mine labor aren’t sentenced to it.
Mine labor is a punishment, not a method of execution.
And in fact, Pirizza’s aptitude for being a mine laborer was… extremely high.
Since she was a child, she had always longed to ‘be loved and supported by a handsome, rich, and powerful man, and live a life of luxury’, thinking that it was unthinkable for her to do manual labor.
So she had always refused to do any work that required using 【Body Strengthening】, even at the level of helping out as a child, so she hadn’t realized… but she had a decent amount of mana, and above all, her sense of mana manipulation for using 【Body Strengthening】… was genius-level.
The prison guard who measured Pilitza’s abilities was dumbfounded, saying, ‘Why the hell were you working as a receptionist instead of being an adventurer…?’ So there’s no doubt about how high her ability is.
And that’s why she was able to endure the harsh mine labor.
Furthermore, by protecting her mind with the sycophancy she cultivated during her time as a receptionist, her incredible ability to shift blame onto others, and her self-affirmation, she was completely unaffected by the personality correction program.
In other words, even after several years of imprisonment…
Pilitza shows zero remorse.
“I’m pissed, I’m pissed, I’m piiissed…!”
And so, today, as always, Pilitza was endlessly complaining after her prison work was over and before bedtime.
…And usually.
Usually, it’s about this time that the female prisoners in the neighboring cells would get pissed off at the noise of Pilitza’s muttering, and start punching the wall.
But today, it was quiet.
For some reason, there was no sound other than her muttering…
The inside of the prison was enveloped in silence.
Pilitza realized that fact…
When she looked up from her muttering and saw…
That in her cell, which should be empty except for her…
…A jester, with his face painted completely white, was standing there.