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#64 Mermaid Prisoner No. 1
🕑 Added 2021-03-16 17:02:10 +0000 UTCMy name is Puffer, a mermaid criminal sentenced to 500 years in court.
But honestly, the Mermaid Kingdom really has neither guts nor brains. They interrupted my grand research and threw me in jail just because they don’t understand it.
Had my research succeeded, our kingdom would have become a superpower nation by now and would have exterminated every single land-dweller.
But alas. That glorious future has fizzled out like a princess in a fairytale, all thanks to some ignorant fools.
Whatever.
I was doing everyone a favor by using my precious brainpower and magic, but since they told me I’m being a hindrance, I might as well not do anything.
Get overthrown by the demon and human races while you continue to indulge yourselves in peace and indolence for all I care.
With that in mind, I spent my mundane life in solitary confinement...I think it must have been ten years since the last time they let me out. But then they told me that it had only been less than two years since they handed down the sentence.
Damn, seriously?
Life in solitary confinement is so tedious and agonizing.
Those two years felt more like a decade.
It’s too cruel of a punishment for a genius like me who can think several times faster than the average person.
Will I be sent back to my cell once they’re done with me?
Damn it. If I’m not getting out of here till I die, they should just hand down the death penalty.
While I was lost in thought, I met someone unexpected across the visiting room I was brought to.
Oh dear, he’s such a hottie! ♡
A handsome man with a refined face.
“I am Arowana, the eldest son of King Nagus, ruler of the Mermaid Kingdom. You must have heard of his name before.”
So, he’s a prince?!
No wonder he’s so handsome.
Wait, no.
He’s a future king, belonging to the top-most echelon I detest so much.
Damn it, my heart throbbed for nothing.
“Surely you must be one of the six Great Mad Witches, Puffer, Witch of the Bitter Cold?”
Please don’t use that nickname.
It’s like some cocky kid racked their brain to come up with something so embarrassing.
“Pioneered the research of artificial mana manipulation of the seas, which is prohibited as per the laws of the Mermaid Kingdom. Suspected of attempting to overthrow the nation by manipulating mana as she sees fit. That definitely sounds like a crime deserving of a life imprisonment sentence.”
Noooooo!
My proposed theory is tremendously useful in that it could even be used to destroy the whole world!
It’s all about not misusing it!
“We already went through all the proceedings in legal court. Let’s put all of that aside now.”
Put it aside?
Then for what purpose did you come to see me?
“I came to make a deal with you.”
A deal?”
“The sentence handed down to you was five hundred years in trench prison. Normally, it would be impossible for you to serve your sentence whilst being alive. However, by changing your type of punishment, shortening your sentence has been made possible.”
For real?
And by shortening my sentence, how many years are we talking about here?
“Ten years.”
Huh?
Ten years?
So, a prison term of 500 years to 490 years?
“No. A prison term of 500 years to 10 years.”
Seriously?!
I’ll do it! Sign me up!!!
If I can be free in just ten years with this other sentence, then I could ask for nothing better!
“Calm down! ...But are you really sure about this? You didn’t even ask what your new sentence is!”
Anything’s better than rotting to death in this boring place!
Let’s get on with the procedure already before the idiot who thought of this changes their mind!!!
“All right, all right! Well then, Puffer, Witch of the Bitter Cold— “Pass.” That makes one slot filled.”
There are only limited slots? Woo-hoo!
I’m so glad I didn’t think twice and agreed to it right away!
“You’re going to have to wait until I finish interviewing the rest of the candidates. We’ll call you again once we’ve fixed the lineup. You will then be sent to a new prison. Oh and, your sentence will change from imprisonment to penal servitude, please keep that in mind.”
Yessir! That means, I’m serving a prison sentence instead!
Staying in this boring place is far more agonizing for me, so if anything, it’s a huge help!
Today’s such a great day! I feel like I’m being liberated!
Hurry and wrap up your interviews! I’ll be waiting for you to return!
Oh, right, Prince!
I almost forgot to ask you something important.
Do you have a girlfriend right now?
＊ ＊ ＊
Thus, I was given a new sentence in a new place.
Two other prisoners made the same choice as me, both of their names familiar to me.
Witch of Hellfire, Lampeye, and…
Witch of the Plague, Gara Ruffa.
They are also members of the Great Mad Six.
Damn.
The name “Great Mad Six” sounds embarrassing enough, but there’s no doubt about the excellent ability each member possesses.
I say that, yet I’m also one of the members...
I wonder what kind of place we will be serving our sentence?
They won’t throw us in the middle of the land-dwellers' battlefield as some suicide attack force, right?
Either way, that’s still better than spending my life in solitary confinement till I turn into a hag from boredom.
The mermaid guards were strictly keeping watch on us as we kept on swimming...
How far are we going?
I swam blindfolded, so I had no idea where we were swimming to.
And at last, we arrived...on land.
What?!
The land is our new prison all along?!
“We have arrived!” said Prince Arowana who was accompanying us throughout the journey.
“This is the settlement Lord Saint resides in! From this day forward, you will be working under Lord Saint’s orders! This is your new sentence!”
