BXBX NOVEL Chapter 11: Swain
Chapter 11: Swain
Tartarus was an institution made for two purposes; reformation and sealing.
To reform criminals and to seal threats of society. That was the vision of the united alliance government when they established Tartarus.
There were thousands of criminals within the prison, and each week a lot more enter while some leave, ending their time in confinement.
Before being imprisoned, these criminals were appraised by the united alliance government and classified according to their crime and threat.
Depending on the criminal\'s threat-level and criminal background, the treatment they would receive by the government could range from a short time in prison or a life sentence.
To be exact, if they were not threatening enough to society or had a considerably low background, they could still be "reformed" and be released.
Most of the prisoners, including Elias and his subordinates, were under this category and could still be released.
They had lower security placed on them and could exercise a higher degree of freedom on the prison.
However, on the other hand, if the criminals were to be considered threats to society and highly dangerous, they would then be sealed for their lifetime.
These types of prisoners were almost never seen by anyone, located at the third and fourth floor of Tartarus.
By the government\'s orders, these prisoners were never to be released, eternally sealed within the confines of Tartarus.
Most of these prisoners were B Rank powerhouses, genuine living disasters that could terrorise society if handled wrongly.
Swain, the Right Hand Man of the Godfather, was one such threat.
***
On the second floor.
In front of the stairs, there were two silhouettes standing around, one was a security guard while the other a prisoner.
"The chief approved of your request and 005 also approved."
The security personnel while standing in front of the stairs.
"Lead me to him then."
Hearing that, Elias nodded calmly.
A while earlier, he had just filed a meeting request with Swain to the security team—and just now it was approved.
In Tartarus, you could meet sealed level prisoners only through a request and approval of both the security team and the sealed prisoner.
And as he expected, both the security personnel and Swain agreed.
The security personnel didn\'t talk any more and nodded before walking to the stairs to the next floor.
Elias followed him to the third floor, stepping on the spiralling stairway of darkness.
Not long after, they arrived at the third floor.
The third floor was dimly lit, as though light barely existed within. As soon as they arrived, different voices drifted across the floor.
"Revolution… hahahaha! It\'s not over yet… each one of you will regret what you have done…"
"The devil! The devil is alive and it will soon destroy the world!"
"Release me! Release me! I didn\'t do anything wrong!"
"I\'ll kill all of you… I\'ll kill each and one of you bastards when I come out…hehe.."
A confusing echo of madness, screaming, and vast killing intent came out in the confines of each sealed room.
As they made their way, some of the rooms suddenly went silent while some went increasingly louder.
During all this, Elias quietly observed the place while following the security personnel, looking at the sealed rooms.
He paid more attention to the sealed rooms which were eternally quiet as autumn than to those who were loud.
In his opinion, the rooms of those who were silent were more terrifying than those who were maddeningly loud.
If someone were to be confined in a small room for a long time, it wasn\'t strange for them to go mad. It was even stranger if it didn\'t happen.
As Elias followed the security personnel, both of them arrived at another spiralling stairway.
Looking at the stairway, it was obviously the stairway to the fourth floor.
He originally thought that Swain was located on the third floor, apparently he was wrong.
The security personnel ignored the voices and directly led him to the fourth floor, eventually stopping when they arrived.
"I\'m going to guard here. Disaster-class 005 is in the fifth confined room. Don\'t try any funny business, I\'m watching you."
The security personnel coldly warned.
Elias waved his hand in dismissal, ignoring the warning as he walked to the fourth floor.
The fourth floor, compared to the third, had considerably fewer rooms and was less noisy to the point of silence.
Occasionally, he would hear some weird sounds, but they quickly vanished mysteriously.
Elias arrived at the fifth confined room, staring at it for a moment.
Knock—!
"Uncle Swain, it\'s me."
He announced his presence calmly.
At that moment, at the other side of the door, Swain widened his eyes.
The chains restricting his body moved slightly while his eyes squinted, and after a period of hesitation, he asked.
"Little Elias, is that you..?"
\'What kind of nickname is that…\' Elias sighed before answering.
"It is me, Uncle Swain. I\'m glad I finally had the chance to meet you… after what happened to my father…"
At the other side of the room, Swain suddenly flinched, wearing a bitter smile and shook his head.
"It\'s all my fault… I failed… I failed to protect the Godfather… I deserve death… I\'m... I\'m sorry, young master."
Somehow, Elias could feel that the grief and sorrow the man was experiencing was real and true, making him question his father.
To his father, who could inspire such admiration and trust... how did he do it?
For him, as a person that never trusted anyone innately, he could never be like his predecessor\'s father.
Elias shook his head, forgetting those thoughts. He sighed before he spoke.
"Swain, stop it. What\'s done is done. I don\'t blame anyone for it, and father wouldn\'t also. Stop crying like a little baby."
After he said those words, Swain evidently stopped expressing his grief. Although Elias couldn\'t see the man\'s face, he was sure it was as familiar as the man in his memories.
Seeing no response, Elias smiled and continued to speak.
"Father would\'ve cursed and beat you guys up if he saw you and the rest grieving like that."
Hearing that, Swain let out a low, painful chuckle.
"The Godfather is such a person indeed…"
Andolinio Castellano was indeed a man of action and a dragon amongst men. He induced fear to his enemies, admiration to his subordinates, and love to his family.
To Elias Vito Castellano, the man was a large mountain shadowing over him.
Perhaps that was the reason his predecessor became lazy, subsequently souring his relationship with his father a little.
Elias shrugged and smiled.
"Father was many things, but he rarely was soft. He was a hard person, especially to me. He would impart a lot of lessons and such."
Swain nodded and laughed in response, as though knowing what he was thinking.
"It was for your own good, young master. The Godfather might have pampered the little miss, but he was strict to you, his successor."
Elias pursed his lips and snickered.
"Tsk. He practically never left me off! If I never knew how much that old father of mine loved me, I would\'ve thought he had a grudge."
Not waiting for Swain to reply, he sudden changed the topic.
"But nevermind that. My little sister, what happened to her?"
At that moment, Swain was about to laugh, however the drastic change of tone caught him off guard.
After a period of silence, Swain replied.
"Little miss… she\'s fine. She\'s safe. I managed to send her to the Godfather\'s relatives before that night. I\'m sure she\'s being well taken care off."
To that, Elias sighed in relief and muttered "thank goodness" under his breath. From his memories, he didn\'t know the exact situation of his sister.
It was strange. Despite him knowing clearly that the family and sister in his memories wasn\'t really his family, he still felt something towards them.
Elias bit his lip uncomfortably and stayed silent.
After Swain answered and didn\'t hear anymore questions, he turned quiet as well.
The two temporarily entered a period of calm silence, with neither talking and just looking at the ground, unknown what they were thinking.
After a while, Elias asked one last question.
"Uncle Swain, don\'t you have a family?"
It was unknown what happened to the man at the other side of the room, but Swain didn\'t answer for a long while.
"...I do."
Elias nodded and closed his eyes before speaking.
"...A family. That\'s all we have and thus we do everything for it. It\'s something so simple. Father always told me that a family is the most important thing for a man."
Swain didn\'t respond, silent. It was unknown what his expression was or what he was thinking.
"I\'m sure father would\'ve understood if he knew,"
Elias said. After a while, seeing no response, he stood up and smiled.
"Well, that\'s all. I was happy that my sister is fine and well… I\'ll talk to you again for some time, Uncle Swain. I\'ll take my leave first."
As Elias walked away, Swain was still unresponsive and didn\'t answer.
Thump! Thump!
It wasn\'t until Elias was already down to the second floor, did a mutter echo silently in the room.
\'...I\'m sorry.\'