Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

in arrested everyone there after beating them up.

 

The State was a country way crazier than I had thought.
I tried my absolute best to defend myself, but they threw me past the trials without any witnesses or evidence.
It took less than a day for me to become a criminal.
In a court with no jury, I was sentenced to Tantalus without any chance for defense.

 

My ability to read minds did nothing for me in the court.
The soldiers claimed that we were plotting treason while pretending to gamble.
The judge pounded his gavel despite being fully aware of the lack of evidence.

Thud, thud, thud.

Guilty.
Not a single voice was raised when the symbol of justice bowed to the floor thrice, apologizing for its injustice.

 

Logic? Fairness? If something like that existed, the Military State would never have raised the coup.

 

I was thrown to the cold, damp floor of a holding cell and hoisted to the worst prison in the world—Tantalus.

 

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator – Tails and aquamage

Proofreader – yukitokata

* * * 

 

It depressed me to reminisce about the past while tied up, but the officer took no regard for my emotions and continued to drag me along the ground.
Thanks to him, I was able to feel the earth with my entire back.
Each tug caused the gravel and sand to tear through my back.

 

‘O Dear Mother Earth, your skin really is quite rough.
We must moisturize it right away.’

 

As I raised a blasphemous prayer, the officer that was waiting at the sign spoke worriedly to the officer who had been dragging me.

 

“Inspector, is that okay?”

“What’s wrong with it? He’s a damn criminal.”

“No, I mean, he’s someone meant for Tantalus.
Will we be okay? What if he escapes and—”

“We’ve blindfolded him since the very start.
He doesn’t know my face or name.”

 

The inspector hoisted me up and dropped me to the ground again.
Smashing against the floor, I grit my teeth at the impact that shook my entire body.

‘I can read minds, you know that? Dear Inspector Evian of Edelphite.
I’ll see you when I get out.
I’ll take my revenge on you first.’

 

“And how will he ever escape from Tantalus? Quit worrying and send the telegraph.”

“I’m worried for you, sir.
You heard about the rumors of an incident at Tantalus that time.
If this guy breaks out…”

“If he could break out of Tantalus, he would’ve escaped from our escort vehicle.
Stop wasting time.
Let’s hand him over and head back.
Even a single trip here is one too many.”

“I’ve sent the telegraph.
If we just wait for the reply…”

 

At that moment, the white arrow painted on the metal sign began to shake.
The two officers and I tensed up.
For some reason, the arrow—which should’ve been nothing more than a painting—was rattling like crazy, as if it were affected by an isolated earthquake.
We all stared silently at the sign.
The arrow kept shaking, and it began spinning around and around until…

It pointed at the ground.

Clang.

The sound of something shattering echoed.

The officers stared at the sight in front of their eyes and doubted their own mind.

 

The place that had been nothing but a regular wasteland moments ago now had an endless and bottomless abyss that carved itself into place.

 

The abyss was completely incomparable to anything.

An open plain.
In the middle of a sandy land without any vegetation, a bottomless hole existed for no apparent reason.
It was too large and deep to be an artificial trap, and it was also too unnatural-looking to be called a natural land formation.

 

The officers and I—after reading their minds—questioned if it might be a hallucination, but the darkness that only a true void could produce deeply supported its reality.
The officers stared into the abyss, speechless.

As they wondered whether they were in a dream or not…

 

[Verified.]

 

A monotonous voice came from the sign.
As the officers freaked out at the voice of unknown origin, the sign carried out its task in a mechanical manner.

 

[Completion of Mission Observed.
Please end the process by handing the prisoner over to us.]

 

The officers saluted the sign.
It was almost a humorous sight, but they were petrified; as if they believed that the sign was responsible for creating the abyss in front of their eyes.

 

“I-I am Inspector Evian of Edelphite.
Where shall I lead the prisoner to?”

[Your job is to escort the prisoner to Tantalus.]

 

Tantalus.

The prison of the abyss that gods made to seal off the titans.

It had obviously borrowed its name from the myths, but I wouldn’t have doubted that the darkness in front of me was the real deal.
The officer gulped as he stared down into the bottomless pit.

 

“D-Do we need to go down with him?”

[There is no need for you to accompany him.
I shall leave the method of transport to your jurisdiction.]

 

‘Hey, sign.
Hold up.’

 

The officer grinned.
No need for accompaniment.
He had figured out what that meant.

In fact, he had been filled with the desire to toss me into the hole from the very start.
The sign simply justified his plan in a lawful manner.

 

“Hey, get his legs.”

 

The other officer realized what he meant and hesitantly grabbed my ankles.

 

“I-Is this okay? There’s no way he’d survive the fall…”
“Who cares? We’re tossing him into Tantalus because he’s an irredeemable piece of shit.
What does it matter if he dies?”

 

‘Wait, sir.
Sir.
Please.
Calm down.
I swear I’ll be good.
I’ll read less minds and swindle a little less.
At least lower me with a rope or…’

 

“Even so…”

“Do you want to carry him down there? Huh?”

 

The other officer was too scared for that.
He hoisted me up by the legs.
I tried my best, but I couldn’t do anything in my tightly secured binds.

They matched their breaths as they swung me side to side.
One, two, one, two.
I swung higher as I went from right to left.
And on the third swing, I reached the peak.
They let go, and a complete sense of overwhelming freedom filled my body.

 

…Oh.

 

 

And so, I plunged into the bottomless abyss.

 

—————

Note: Yes, the prison is called ‘Tantalus’, an inhabitant of Tartarus, despite it having the same description as ‘Tartarus’ itself.
We are also not sure as to why the author chose to go with it, but we will be keeping it as is since it is what they intended.

—————