It had been a week since Belite had arrived in the Prison which was built inside a Dungeon.
"Here you go!" He scooped up a big spoonful of soup and handed it over to the prison inmate no.6969 in front of him, but the prison inmate just grumbled.
"I've been here for thirty years, you know... Thirty... Years!" He enunciated every word as he spoke. "But never have I served food or gotten such special treatment such as yourself."
Sensing the obvious malice from his tone, Belite shrugged nonchalantly. "It just worked... And people pity me since I'm a kid."
"There are many kids—"
"Next!"
Before the prison inmate could continue, Belite waved his hands as he sent him off, the prison inmate merely grumbled and muttered something under his breath before walking away.
The next-in-line, who wore a grey shirt and pants, took his serving from Belite as he whispered slowly. "Rumours say that the Lower Street District in Cvoilics has been chaotic recently. Apparently, many Superhumans have gathered together."
"Rumours say everything..." Belite muttered with a smile. "Next."
The single week he had stayed here, he had gathered information about this peculiar Prison which was inside a Dungeon. And even though the information he gathered wasn't as vast as those staying here for years, it was still enough to satisfy him.
'After all, it was done in a single week...'
Since the food that was served was dinner which was served at 10pm. After finishing all the work, he went to his prison cell which had a bed, toilet, and a small sink with a small vat of water inside while a curtain was hung on the entry point.
Sighing, he laid on the bed when a voice rang from outside.
"Um... Big Brother Belite?"
Belite half got up from his bed and looked at the entrance of his prison cell, where a figure of a young boy of fourteen was outlined on the curtain.
Shaking his head, Belite called out. "Yes? Did something happen?"
The boy aged fourteen looked a bit embarrassed as he spoke. "There... Um, when I was cleaning the sewers today, I noticed a strange thing."
Belite stood up from his bed and walked over to the boy, he then asked. "That is?"
"Th-there was this massive group of rats that were gathered," What's strange in that?Belite thought as he waited for the boy to finish his sentence. "They all um... Had big red eyes and were licking a bone. And when I arrived i-in front of them, they all turned to me simultaneously a-and... And..."
Before the boy could continue his sentence, Belite patted the head of the boy, who was tall and almost reached his shoulders as he sighed. "Alright, I will inform the authorities... And I will take a look myself."
The boy's expression immediately brightened upon hearing this.
"Which unit's sewer is it?"
"Unit 208!" The boy gave him the ready made answer he had repeatedly thought to not forget as he asked. "Big brother, didn't you also work in the sewers and drainages? Didn't you face those rats?"
"I did." Belite replied with a grin. "But they got scared and tucked their tails and ran whenever they saw me."
"Damn you really are strong... I would've gotten scared out of my wits just like today." The fourteen year old boy, who had somewhat recovered from his fear, didn't miss the opportunity and started flattering Belite who was pretty much some sort of a role-model to all the children.
After some small talk, the boy felt reassured as he returned to his own cell.
After the boy left, Belite muttered. "They are all kids... Kids who chose the wrong path." he then chuckled as he added in his mind. 'Well, I'm a kid myself.'
Since he had to maintain the appearance of a reliable older brother, he had no choice but to get out of his cell and strode over to the sewers after getting permission from the guards.
The sewers were well maintained within the Dungeon as they had a pathway on each side with the dirty water flowing in the middle.
It was still as dirty and had a bad stench as before, with people rarely cleaning it. So he pinched his nose as he continued onward.
There were many pathways and intersections connected to others, but since there were marks signalling them and the unit's number written on the walls, Belite strode over with familiarity as he reached the administration office and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
"Hello! Anybody there? I'm here to report an activity of swarms of rats reported by inmate no.4269."
He waited for a minute and frowned slightly when there was no response from the other side.
Tap, tap.
'Is that guy dead?' he grumbled as he tapped his shoes on the ground, emitting noises to keep over his boredom and small rats at bay.
After a minute or two when he had run out of patience, a shrill voice sounded from the other side. "What?"
The voice sounded arrogant as if it had been disturbed in the midst of something Important, but Belite knew that the administrators bore harsh behaviours against the inmates so he didn't mind it and said in an even voice.
"Inmate no.4269 has reported abnormal activities of rats within the sewers, so I thought I'd bring this issue up to you upon his request."
Belite had expected the administrator to shoo him away for bringing up such a stupid issue, but the administrator's next word surprised him. "Elaborate."
Slightly surprised and curious, Belite elaborated the administrator on what inmate no.4269, the fourteen year old boy had said.
Creek!
The door that mostly remained closed opened fully as Belite jumped back in surprise and caution like a scaredy cat.
The one who emerged out of it along with a gush of green smoke was a thin and pale looking man who had squarish glasses upon his nose bridge.
He had an annoyed expression as he said to Belite. "Lead me to inmate no. 4269."
...
"Where did you find those rats, brat? That monster's smell lurks all over you." The administrator of unit 208 asked the fourteen year old boy, who was pretty much trembling at his presence and the word 'monster'.
"I-I encountered a monster?!" The boy asked with a voice that resembled a fading wind.
The administrator didn't bother with him anymore and sighed. "What a pain, there is a monster equivalent to that of 8th Circle lurking inside the sewers."
'8th Circle... What does it refer to? Class 8 in terms of Superhuman Ranks?'
The administrator spared a glance at Belite and told him. "Go to the administrator of unit 302 and ask her to come to my unit's sewers. Ask her to bring along the 9th Circle Knowledge Keeper or Flaming White."
Belite kept the words 'Knowledge Keeper' and 'Flaming White' in his mind as he nodded solemnly.
...
"Unit 208?" The administrator of unit 302 sighed. "Alright," She then unequipped the microphone embedded at the edge of her shirt as she held it near her mouth and ordered. "Monster suspected to be 'Ratland' spotted at unit 208's sewers. Dispatch Knowledge Keeper or Flaming white..."
She then waited for a few seconds and nodded. "...Alright, Blazing Fury works as well."
It wasn't the first time Belite heard these names, which seemed to be a coded name at the first glance. But he suspected that there were more to these than mere coded names.
After giving out several more orders, the administrator of unit 302 looked at Belite and asked him while she stood up. "What's your age?"
"...Sixteen."
Looking at Belite with a suspicious gaze, she asked. "Can you fight?"
"What?"
"I said," The administrator took a deep breath. "Can you fight?"
Frowning slightly, Belite thought. 'Are they trying to kill me in a crossfire or something?' But outwardly, he suppressed all the doubts as he forced out a smile. "Ofcourse, but I can only fight the likes of sixteen or seventeen year olds, and they have to be weakened... Because I'm quite weak you see..."
"Alright then, come with me."
"...I received less nutrients and proteins because of... Huh?" Belite, who was in the midst of his rambling, froze as he looked at the administrator in front of him in shock.
But the administrator merely chuckled before she dragged him out of the building and brought him in front of her vehicle.
"W-why must I come with you? Like I said, I have no experience in fighting!" Ignoring the futuristic three seater which was coated in silver metal, Belite anxiously asked the administrator. "Madam administrator, I'm just a kid!"
He even resorted to honorifics but the vile witch in front of him chuckled as if she found it cute.
He was seized by the wrist and thrown inside the three seater's back before he could retort as the door closed by itself, his thoughts turning chaotic.
'Wh-what is she going to do to me?' He thought in anxiety as he tried calming himself down. But it didn't help much with thoughts such as:
'She's an administrator and undoubtedly a Superhuman! How can I escape?'
'And even if I do escape, how long is it going to take her to find me? Not to mention her prowess, just her influence alone is enough to convince others to kill me.'
He then forced himself to calm down as he saw the administrator open the door to the front seat(driver's seat) and sit down.
After calming down by regulating his breathing, Belite came to his senses as he thought. 'Just how useful can someone of my stature even be to fight monsters? Are there any sort of sixteen or seventeen year old who's going to trouble them while they are dealing with it?'
'No, it's unlikely. There's no way she's asking me to fight unless...' A grim possibility took over his mind. 'Unless she wants to kill me for having knowledge about that monster, which could threaten an administrator's position due to lack of negligence!'
But it wasn't rational either. 'Why would she take me that far to kill me? I've heard that a drunkard administrator had gone on a killing spree of killing more than a hundred inmates before he was finally suspended for a week.'
He snorted softly as he looked at the woman who was in her early-twenties and was driving the vehicle and asked.
"Can you please mention why I'm coming along, Miss administrator?"
The "Miss" administrator finally turned around as she spoke. "Looks like you have calmed down," After seeing Belite nod, she said calmly. "You will be recording the entire fight."
'Oh?' Excitement surged within Belite's entire body as the corners of his mouth curled up, which entirely curled down after the administrator finished her sentence.
"...And fight the monster."