The Great Prison had a terrifying increase in the danger level of criminals with each descending level.
So, it didn’t take long for Velocasio’s inflated ego to deflate once he gathered the criminals from Level 3.
“From here on in Level 4, we have large-scale currency forgers, coup plotters, mana disaster creators, major crime offenders, and mass murderers from the lower grades—all sentenced to less than ten million points in bail and under a hundred thousand days in confinement! Thinking of the growing pool of talent makes me so excited!”
“No way in hell can I manage that!”
“You’ve got a contract, don’t you?!”
“Contracts aren’t magic, you know?!”
Strong ones manage their territory.
Territory focuses on mental power.
If you have powerful villains sentenced to Level 4, they’d easily brush off the allure of signing a contract or even the mental restraints just by using their mental power.
“Now, everyone! Choose your path—either die in prison or sign a contract and become an escapee!”
The Level 3 inmates hesitated until someone was about to get killed; in contrast, the Level 4 inmates chimed in before Oknodie even finished speaking.
“Escape is definitely the way to go.”
“Ha ha ha. To serve the full sentence, I’d have to endure 85 years. Better to choose escape.”
“Are you Santa Claus or something? Because choosing to be a model inmate gets me the gift of escape!”
The differences between Level 3 and Level 4 aren’t just the length of the sentences.
There’s also a difference in strength.
Not all criminals who commit major incidents are strong, but typically, only the strong can cause a big incident with intent.
“Are you not scared at all?”
“If the Student Council catches us, we’ll add escape charges! Doesn’t that make it even harder to survive in prison?”
The Level 4 inmates couldn’t hold back their laughter at the fearful demeanor of the Level 3 inmates.
“Ha ha! The charges for escape are nothing; we can volunteer as experimental subjects for the professors’ lectures and clear that out in one go.”
“In the first place, our sentences are at least 100 years and can go up to 270. An escape charge is nothing.”
These hardened criminals had adapted to the unique sentence trading system of the Gift Academy, where volunteering for perilous lab practices could actually reduce their sentences.
Velocasio trembled in fear as he noticed the evil criminals quickly trying to rise above him.
“Wait a minute!”
But did Oknodie, who he thought would obey him as a senior, have any conscience after all?
Oknodie stood in the way of the Level 4 inmates trying to approach Velocasio.
“Even if Velocasio looks insignificant, there’s a reason I allow his survival while distributing contracts!”
“Why would you have someone so insignificant as a squad leader? If you give the position to me, Rosinante, who awakened the true form of beasts—the Third Form [Ancestor Form]—you can expect solid strength.”
The first form for humanoids.
The second form for beastmen.
Rosinante, who awakened the Ancestor Form of a beast’s primal nature, causing a technical revolution among beastmen.
Even Velocasio thought of himself as nothing compared to such a remarkable figure.
Once we escape, he could immediately take the presidency of the Beastman Resurgence Society and get their name back in the top 5 most dangerous crime organizations in the world.
“One must not give faith to those only strong in muscle, little lady. There’s a saying in the East: the wise win against blades with brushes. If you give an opportunity to Guakjo the Evil Sage, I’ll show you a perfect blueprint for escaping the Academy and establishing and operating an organization.”
Unlike the students bogged down in their studies, the tall, slender man with long hair waved a fan, appealing as a strategist.
Velocasio recognized that name.
The cruel strategist from the East, Guakjo the Evil Sage.
A duchy that hired him as a royal advisor, seduced by his sweet words, naturally accepted financial plunder from the Eastern Empire and faced national annihilation.
The country was destroyed, but the ones wanting revenge on the mastermind had chosen to transfer the criminal to the Gift Academy, leading to the present situation.
Why did he know Guakjo so well?
‘No way, that’s my idol!’
He was a model villain, perfect for imitation.
“I agree too! If it’s Lord Guakjo’s devilish wisdom, he’ll guide us escapees splendidly. There’s no better talent among the inmates!”
“Hah. If even he’s saying this, what do you think?”
“What, are you stupid?”
“…Little lady. Did you just call the Evil Sage Guakjo a fool?”
“Of course, I called him a fool. You still don’t understand why they chose Velocasio?!”
What in the world was Dark Princess Oknodie planning to use him for?
“Originally, when a mass escape occurs, the one with the highest sentence takes all the blame!”
“Is that so? That guy seems so pathetic; he’ll likely be treated like a useless petty criminal.”
“But the escape leader gets all the charges for any crime committed during the escape, so no one can take on the role of leader afterward!”
“…Oh?”
“The prison you destroyed! The facilities you wrecked! The guards you knocked out! All the crimes you’ll commit after escaping the Academy! The leader takes all the sentences from those actions as a bonus?”
“No way, what kind of terrifying vile law is that! If a notorious criminal just grabs a black bread thief and makes them the leader, wouldn’t the world’s most fearsome black bread thief be born?!”
At Velocasio’s furious outburst, Oknodie shook her head sideways, rejecting the idea.
“The Academy isn’t that harsh! They don’t recognize a puppet leader enforced by force. The black bread thief is safe.”
“Phew. What the hell. I thought this punk was calling me ‘senpai’ for nothing! It freaked me out.”
“But if you trade loyalty with a contract, then the story is different. That contract, personally written and distributed by Velocasio, hides clauses that he set up voluntarily!”
In other words, if he hadn’t pulled any tricks, he could have shifted all the blame to Oknodie.
‘Got played!! This guy intended from the start to drag me out of prison!!’
It was too late to regret now.
The evil sage Guakjo, fully understanding the situation, looked at Velocasio with a face full of amusement.
“So, a voluntary figurehead. I quite like the little lady’s wicked plan.”
“I don’t like it. The only ones who are stronger than me are the ones above me. I don’t listen to anyone weaker than me!”
Rosinante showed signs of transforming into the werewolf ancestor [Bearwolf], pulling claws out from his fingertips.
Velocasio desperately hoped that if Rosinante transformed, he would have a reason to wipe out those lunatics intent on foisting all blame on him and take charge of the pitiful trap himself.
“That’s enough.”
Velocasio’s final glimmer of hope.
Just as Rosinante was about to throw a tantrum, the woman in the guard outfit who had been silently standing by Oknodie spoke up.
“Though I don’t know much, I can tell Velocasio needs you for your plan. If so, that plan must be maintained. Your plan that even sketched out the larger picture of overthrowing the Emperor can’t possibly be wrong.”
“You, that voice—could it be?!”
It was a junior he saw during the year-end competition.
Before he could even mention the name of Warrior Ishtar, her hand, imbued with pure white holy mana, severed Rosinante’s claws.
Rosinante, interrupted in his transformation, turned red with fury, muscles bulging even more.
BAM!
Then he doubled over, clutching his groin.
“I won, so I’m stronger, right? Then listen to me. Acknowledge Velocasio as the leader and behave yourself.”
“W-w-w-what a cowardly…!”
“Can’t acknowledge it? You’ve got guts. Want to try again?”
Just as Ishtar prepared to kick him again, Rosinante curled up, tucking his tail.
His swelling body shrank, and his proud chest shriveling down.
‘Looks like Oknodie who hits from the head and Ishtar who strikes from the groin are just two sides of the same “blockhead” coin.’
And with that, Velocasio found himself shouldering the inevitable fate of a scapegoat in the escape plan: to read as ‘a nationwide villain and a sentence-taking figurehead.’
