1 The Man in Chains

*CLANK*

The sound of metals colliding rang throughout the dimly lit corridor. Walking along the center of the corridor is a man roughly 40-50 years old in a pale jumpsuit bound by leathers and chains. He was followed by a row of prison guards to the left and right side of his back.

"This place is gloomy as hell..." Said the prison guard holding the chain standing behind and to the left of the man, his voice was soft as if not wanting to break the silence.

"First time here newbie?" A reply came from the side, it was the other prison guard holding the chain to the right of the inmate.

"Yes, this is my first time delivering a death row inmate, I've only been in the facility for 2 months!"

"Haha, nice spirit, considering where you are! I've been here for 10 years, if you have any questions around here don't hesitate to ask!" The older guard laughed even louder, his voice resounding through the long corridor.

After a moment of hesitation, the younger prison guard finally decided to satiate his curiosity, he inhaled a bit of air through the mouth before carefully speaking his mind.

"Sir, this... do you know what crime has this man committed? I mean..."

"I understand what you wanna ask, it is unusual isn't it?" The older man interrupted the younger guard, for a moment both of them went silent and turn to look at the man at the front-center of the formation.

It was only at that moment that both of them actually took a careful look at the man they're supposed to send to his death.

The man to their front had a long and messy black hair covering all his forehead and falling to his nose and cheek, the little gaps and slits in-between showed a dead-looking barely opened pair of blue eyes that doesn't reflect any light, but that is not the most peculiar thing about his appearance.

The lower half of his face was all covered by some sort of metallic neck brace that went from the base of his neck all the way up to halfway below the nose bridge. It was designed such that any movement above the shoulder and below the eye is not feasible.

"Well, truth be told, even in my 10 years of experience working prisons, this case is one that I've never seen before either." The older prison guard kept his sight on the man in the jumpsuit and continued.

"24 hours after his transfer here, he was denied any foods, drinks, and rights to speak while we were told to put that thing around his face. During that time, the people upstairs also finished the procedure to move him to the top priority list for death row inmates."

The younger guard had his mouth agaped listening to the story, he finally understood how he got to be chosen as one of the escorts delivering a death row inmate while only having 2 months experience on the job.

'It was simply a rush job... they were probably gathering every stand-by ready personnels to carry out the proceedings.'

He suddenly felt his hairs standing up, 'what kind of person warrants this sort of treatment?' Is the only thought occupying his head at the moment.

"What has he done?" At last only this question remained to be spoken by the young prison guard.

"Simply speaking he's a con artist, a swindler... Just with a far larger scale of operation than the rest." The old guard replied.

"How large?"

"I heard that just before his arrest, he held total control over the political power of three small countries, even now interpol has no idea whether he is an individual or a group. Considering what he has achieved just by using his gift of the gab, the higher-ups didn't want to take any chances by letting him interact with anyone."

"..." The gaze of the young prison guard was like that of a man meeting a living historical legend in person. He has no doubt in his mind that if any of this details were to be made public, that the guy in front of him will surely be recorded in history books for days to come.

After the conversation, the long line of prison guards finally reached the end of the corridor. A 4m tall metal door stood in wait before them.

After the door opened, the man in question slightly turned his eyes forward trying to look around the room unfolding before him.

The room itself was in the shape of semi spherical dome with radius of 20 meters, at the center of the room stood a single chair with a not-so-subtle design.

Even though it was not a public execution, the perimeter of the room was filled with both men and women in suits standing quietly behind the railing.

'Governments... are they trying to make sure he's dead?' The older guard pondered.

During the silence inside the execution room, suddenly a heavy exhale sounded from inside the neck brace that the prisoner was wearing and every single person standing feel tensed.

***

'How tiring...'

Walter didn't have anymore desire to fight back or plan his escape like the last couple of times he was arrested, otherwise he wouldn't have let it reached this point.

'That one should be the one offering the deal to David and Leila, and beside him is the prime minister?' Walter kept walking towards the chair while counting the people present.

'...This many people to confirm my death, guess the wealth of a country would make anyone do anything huh, especially if they can claim it under the cover of justice.'

Walter didn't really have any heroic spirit, he didn't just steal from the deserving or give back to the poor, but he did held some regrets over how things turned out.

'Leila...' In the end it was a relationship of benefits.

Socializing never feels real to him ever since he got into this field and found out he has a knack for it. At a certain point normal conversations became a game of points with trust as the stake, and he's the only player.

Reaching the end point, what he feels was only exhaustion and, ironically, yearning for real human connection. Walter did realize that with his ability to read and manipulate people, that yearning was bound to be left unfulfilled.

With a heavy exhale as his last message to the world, Walter was seated and cuffed to the chair. The executioner fiddled with the remote control for a bit before attempting the last eye contact with the man in chains.

When the executioner's fingers twisted the dial on the remote, a surging pain extended throughout his whole body causing a low sounding scream to resound across the dome-shaped room.

The pain, unbearable as it was, kept Walter conscious throughout the whole ordeal. His body spasmed uncontrollably up until his heartbeat stopped.

In his last bit of clarity, what he could see was a couple of unfamiliar faces in suits. Some were smirking while others were tensed up seeing the spectacle before their eyes.

And then everything went dark.

As the pain subsided, Walter was flushed away by a sense of relief. He couldn't feel his body, his senses weren't working, and he's not even sure if he's thinking.

Yet what he did feel was a sense of being, the feeling of existing as if he was just passing a dreamless night.

Without sensing any passing of time, he didn't know how long it's been until he seemed to regain his ability to think. But when he tried to concentrate, what appeared beyond the everlasting darkness were strings of words floating in front of his vision.

[Mind Mastery Lv.2]

Mental Capacity 50.0%

MENTALITY 3.0