Sin—the deed exclusive to humans, guided by their conscience. Sins were created along with laws, and as a result of sins, punishments were introduced and reinforced.

Punishment came in many different forms, often adhering to the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” where the consequences matched the gravity of the crime.

A criminal would pay a fine that matched their offense or endure imprisonment according to the severity of their transgression. Of course, the most heinous crimes led to eternal imprisonment and even regular corporal punishment.

The Eurasian Empire enforced life imprisonment for the worst criminals, but it didn’t employ the death penalty. The reason for that was simple—death was too light of a punishment for those kinds of people, and not painful enough.

A cold wind blew from the north. This desolate, frozen land had never had a warm gust of wind in the history of the continent, not a single flower blooming from this soil.

This land was considered lifeless, but ironically enough, there were more people living here than one might imagine.

“Am I seeing things?” asked Karl.

“What’s up?” replied the other guard.

“Look over there. Aren’t two people walking this way?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? We’re not even expecting a supply wagon today.”

“But look.”

“Where… Oh, yeah, you’re right.”

Just as Karl had said, there were two silhouettes in the distance, approaching from the castle walls.

‘Hmm…’

Karl furrowed his brow as he tried to look more closely, but no matter how much he squinted his eyes, he couldn’t get a clear view of those two people. He gave up and searched for his binoculars.

“Got ‘em.”

“What?”

“My binoculars. I can’t see a single thing.”

“Were you looking for your binoculars to see me?”

“What do you mean, to see you?” replied Karl, confused. Just as he had been about to look through his binoculars, he turned to his partner to see why he had asked that strange question. However, he saw someone else instead of him, and he almost fainted after realizing whom he was talking to.

“A-A-Archmage…?”

“How has everyone been?”

“It’s been sooo cold here!”

The two people who had been walking toward Karl and his colleague were none other than Henry and Dracan.

“Is Balak inside?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Alright. Keep it up then.”

Henry smiled as he looked at the two tensed-up guards. He patted Karl on the shoulder a couple of times before entering the prison with Dracan.

The largest prison on the continent was here in Killive, and it was reserved exclusively for the most dangerous criminals who had received life sentences. It had been built at the same time as the founding of the empire, and many people considered that this prison had played a significant role in establishing and maintaining order in the empire.

“Dracan.”

“Yes, Archmage.”

“Can you hear them? The screams coming from the prisoners here?”

At this, Dracan closed his eyes and listened carefully. Then, although it was faint, he could hear them scream every now and then.

“Yes.”

“Right? All the prisoners here at Killive have committed horrible crimes. That’s why they can never see the light of day before they die.”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“Then should I use the prisoners here as test subjects for my research?”

“Yes. They’re worthless scum anyway. They’ve all forsaken their humanity, so there’s no need to feel guilty about using them.”

This was how Henry planned to offer Dracan an endless supply of human test subjects. They would use these prisoners, who were deemed irredeemable, for experimentation.

Henry didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about this. In his view, those prisoners were the worst humanity had to offer. They had committed such heinous crimes that one couldn’t even describe them out loud.

‘They’ll either die from torture or old age. If they’re going to die anyway, they may as well contribute to the development of magic before doing so.’

Henry had gotten this idea from the previous timeline. Dracan had used prisoners for his experiments, but unfortunately, also innocent people from Killive.

Even though Henry’s inspiration stemmed from an awfully grim memory, he believed that Dracan’s issue was one of those things he had to take proactive measures for so that the tragedies of the previous timeline wouldn’t repeat in this one.

As the two found themselves inside the prison, they were greeted by the ear-piercing screams of the prisoners. It was a stark contrast from the faint screams they had heard from the castle walls.

As the screams grew more intense, Henry turned to Dracan, curious to see his reaction. But to his surprise…

‘Oh? Don’t tell me he-!’

A very faint smile crept on Dracan’s face. Even though it was barely noticeable, the smile betrayed Dracan’s excitement. He seemed happy, hopeful.

Henry was very surprised by his reaction. Dracan wasn’t reacting like most people who visited Killive for the first time. Those agonized screams would cause most people to get scared and even panic.

However, Dracan showed no signs of fear. If anything, he actually seemed to be enjoying the moment.

‘Is he actually excited or something?’

Dracan had the face of a child who was too excited to sleep the night before a picnic. The idea of smiling in Killive seemed awfully strange, but Henry could understand Dracan’s feelings. After all, the research that Dracan had been conducting in the dark, hiding it out of fear of condemnation, would finally see the light of day.

The prisoners’ screams were no more than the squeaks of lab rats to Dracan.

“Greetings, sir!”

“Greetings, Archmage!”

There wasn’t a single soul on the continent that wasn’t aware of Henry’s identity and rank. And so, rather than being surprised at Henry’s sudden appearance, everyone was saluting him.

“Where’s the warden?” asked Henry.

“He’s torturing prisoners on the third basement floor.”

“Is that so?”

Henry was referring to Balak, the Punishment King, the one who ruled Killive.

Henry and Dracan quickly got down to the third basement floor, and they found Balak surrounded by a group of soldiers.

As Henry walked toward the center, the soldiers made way. At this, Balak noticed something strange and turned around.

“Archmage?”

He was holding a thick leather whip, and in front of him was a tied-up prisoner. Balak had been in the middle of a public torture session.

Henry took a look at the prisoner and greeted Balak.

“Warden, we’re grateful for your non-stop efforts.”

“Archmage…! What brings you to a place like this…?”

Balak didn’t understand what was going on, as he hadn’t received news of Henry’s visit.

At this, Henry smiled and replied, “I’m here because I have something I’d like to talk to you about. I have an offer, so to speak. But it looks like you’re busy at the moment, so why don’t we talk after you’re finished here?”

“Oh, would that be okay? I was actually waiting for this guy’s turn.”

“I’m guessing there’s a story behind that?”

“Well, as you might’ve assumed, he’s not much different from the other scumbags here. But anyway, we caught him just recently. This animal kidnapped twenty-eight women and sold them to a brothel.”

“Oh, I see. He definitely deserves to be imprisoned here. Then, do you mind if I stay and watch?”

“Of course. Be my guest.”

With that, Henry and Dracan took a couple of steps back to see Balak work. After Balak distanced himself, he swung his thick leather whip.

Slap!

A sharp sound, much harsher than a slap, echoed in the room. The leather whip had torn off the prisoner’s flesh, drawing quite a bit of blood.

The prisoner was already covered in bruises and blood, but his punishment was far from over.

After watching Balak work for a few minutes, Dracan said, “What a shame.”

“Shame? What’s a shame?”

“You’ll kill him if you keep torturing him like that. Physical pain is good, but isn’t prolonging suffering as much as possible the real purpose of torture?”

“Yeah. And they’ll only realize the severity of their sins through prolonged and constant pain.”

“Hmm, but as far as I know, Killive doesn’t have a priest for treating prisoners.”

“I’m also aware of that. The prisoners here are just left alone when they become sick. That’s their fate. And besides, using priests to treat prisoners is just a waste of resources, wouldn’t you say?”

“Then I believe there should be even more advanced medical magic at this place.”

“Interesting. You already have some changes in mind for this place? You sure are a true wizard.”

Dracan had never had the opportunity to truly flourish. However, now that he was a fish in the ocean, all he had to do was to swim freely and explore the vast expanse of water.

“

Sigh

…”

Balak finished punishing the prisoner just as Henry and Dracan started talking. The prisoner had fainted from exhaustion and was bleeding so much that it looked like he would die at any moment.

Balak left the leather whip to a soldier and prepared to leave. But then, Dracan took a few steps forward. He then raised his hand to the bleeding prisoner.

“Unbleeding.”

Following Dracan’s chanting, a warm light emerged from his palm. The light quickly enveloped the prisoner and stopped his bleeding.

Seeing this, Balak’s eyes widened.

“Archmage, this is…?”

“Hehe, he’s the reason I’m here. Should we switch places? I have a lot to tell you.”

“Of course! I will prepare tea and refreshments in my office right now!”

Dracan withdrew his hand after the bleeding stopped. The prisoner who had just been on the verge of death seemed relaxed, even at peace.

This sight excited Balak for various reasons. As he took the lead to go upstairs, Henry gave Dracan a thumbs up. He approved of Dracan’s boldness to prove his worth on his own. That was exactly what Henry wanted to see from him.

“Thank you, Archmage.”

Dracan also put on a faint smile, as though he was slightly embarrassed by Henry’s compliment.

***

“Human experiments, huh…”

The three were now in Balak's office, talking about the policy Henry wanted to implement at Killive, which combined what he had promised Dracan along with his own personal opinions.

There were three parts to his policy.

Firstly, the prisoners serving life sentences were to be experimented on. Secondly, medical teams being appointed to refine the torture methods. Lastly, the knowledge obtained by the wizards would lead to better medical care for the people of the empire.

As Henry explained his future policies, Balak’s expression constantly switched between joy, admiration, excitement, surprise, and agreement.

Having finished explaining his plans, Henry asked Balak, “So what do you think?”

“There’s nothing to think about! It’s amazing! I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you, Archmage! How did you come up with all of this?”

“I didn’t come up with all of this on my own. I wouldn’t have been able to think of these policies without Dracan, my disciple.”

Henry wasn’t trying to flatter Dracan; he was simply telling Balak the truth.

At this, Balak looked at Dracan with eyes full of admiration. Dracan felt slightly pressured, as he had never had anyone look at him like this before, but he also felt somewhat good.

“And so, I want to build a small spire here in Killive.”

“A spire?”

“Yes. I believe that in order to bring the wizards who specialize in anthropology here, I’ll need to provide them with a suitable environment, even if it isn’t quite as good as the Magical Spire near the imperial palace.”

“Archmage, please, be my guest. No one here has anything against people coming to this frigid land, much less against wizards.”

“I appreciate that.”

Henry’s final policy was to build another ivory spire here and develop medical magic.

“It’ll be known as the Medical Spire, and it will focus on developing medical technology for humans. And the master of the Medical Spire will be…”

Henry looked around as he trailed off, and his eyes landed on Dracan. Although Dracan was only 4th-Circle at the moment, Henry was certain that he would continue to excel in anthropology and eventually reach the 7th-Circle just with that.

In other words, Dracan was a diamond in the rough, unaware of his own potential and talent.

“This fellow right here. His name is Dracan Rotique, and he will probably surpass me to become the greatest wizard on the continent.”