## Chapter 1117 – A Prison Visitation Filled With Emotion and Tears

A few days later.

I hadn’t finished the book yet, but I rushed to the prison. The royal decree hadn’t arrived yet. They said news would come soon, so I needed to manage the prison before things got too hectic.

When I arrived, it was around the morning repentance labor time.

“Ah, Paladin-nim, you’ve arrived.”

Jabon Daily Johnson, the prison warden, greeted me warmly.

“Good to see you, Warden Jabon. Any unusual incidents?”
“Well… the change in the schedule has increased labor costs for the staff, and we need to hire additional personnel.”
“Handle everything according to your judgment, Warden Jabon.”
“Yes.”

I guess I can leave this to him.

“Anyway, what are you planning to do today?”

Jabon said, showing me the ledger. I checked the increased staff costs, prison operating revenue, and net profit while answering.

“I was thinking of adding a new rule to the prison while I’m here. Gather all the prisoners in the exercise yard. Without exception.”
“Excuse me? But it’s morning repentance labor time. Stopping work will reduce production.”

That’s not a problem.

“I have something to announce. It won’t take long.”

I just need to make sure production doesn’t fall.

“And if production falls because of this gathering, don’t let them sleep until they’ve met their quota for the day. That should solve the problem.”
“Ah.”
“That will shorten the assembly time. To control these lazy bastards, you have to take away what little rest they have.”

Until now, even if they didn’t meet their quota, they were simply punished but still allowed to sleep on time.

But I have no intention of doing that.

If they don’t meet the quota, they don’t get to sleep.

Those who don’t work hard don’t deserve to sleep… that’s what heinous criminals are. They don’t deserve the basic human right of sleep.

“You have great insight, Paladin-nim.”
“It’s only natural.”
“Then I’ll gather everyone.”
“I’ll wait in the exercise yard.”

I headed straight to the empty exercise yard.

This yard is used for gathering prisoners, roll calls, and for waiting for wagons when supplies arrive from outside.

“One, two!”
“One, two!”
“One, two!”

As I stood on the platform waiting, prisoners under the supervision of guards began to march in an orderly fashion towards the exercise yard.

They were all walking properly in time with the commands. After all, they’re human, and they can do it if you make them.

The number of prisoners gathered exceeded 500. Still, they seemed used to gatherings like this, lining up in the yard in order, starting with room number 1 on the first floor and filling in the back.

Well-trained.

It’s satisfying to see them doing so well.

Purification of the mind begins with observing order and rules.

Originally, heinous criminals prioritize their criminal impulses over social rules. Drills are one of the most basic ways to correct such abnormal mindsets.

I quietly watched them gather.

“Everyone’s here, Paladin-nim!”
“I see.”

Soon, a guard who seemed to be of higher rank reported to me. I looked at the prisoners with their mouths shut tight.

—Swish.

I took out a stick-shaped bell I had brought with me.

This is the Cursed Laughing Bell.

If it rings, even the most depressed and sad people must laugh against their will. It’s such a terrible artifact that just hearing about it makes you want to tear your hair out.

The Laughing Bell doesn’t discriminate by time.

Day or night.
Dawn.

Even when you’re asleep.

When you’re drowning.
When you’re burning.

You must laugh no matter what.

Forcing this Laughing Bell on ordinary people is an outrageous act that deserves punishment.

But using it on these heinous criminals is not only not a problem, but there’s also a highly reliable report from the UN Human Rights Committee that it’s good to do it more than 89 times a day.

“From now on!!!!!”

I shouted loudly.

“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”

The prisoners shouted. Good. I was going to pick a few and beat them up if they didn’t answer, but it seems they’ve adapted well.

“From now on, when I ring this bell, you must grab your bellies and laugh like crazy. Understand!!!”

—Ting-a-ling!

“Ring the bell, ding ding ding!”

I immediately shook the bell, making it ring.

—Ting-a-ling!

But.

“Hmm?”

The prisoners were frozen.
For a moment, my vision seemed to darken.

“Why!!!!!! Why isn’t anyone laughing?!?!?!”

When I came to my senses, I was flying through the air.

—Whoosh!

I was flying.

“Kieeeeeeeeeeek!!!”

Like a missile, I crashed into the middle of the prisoners.

—Thud!!!

“Uwaaaaaaagh!!”
“Aaaaaaagh!!”
“Aaaagh!”

Prisoners were crushed under my feet, and the prisoners around me screamed, knelt down, rubbed their hands together like flies, and chanted apologies.

“So, sorry! I’m sorry!”
“I was wrong!”
“Please save me!”

No.

Wrong.

You shouldn’t be begging for forgiveness right now.

You should be laughing.

—Ting-a-ling.

Because I was still ringing the bell.

“I told you to laugh when I ring the bell!!!!!!”

These bastards are looking down on me and still ignoring me!

—Flash!

I did a handstand, spread my legs wide as if doing a split, and spun around like crazy, delivering the Heavenly Demon Top Blade.

—Whirr!
—Thwack!

A whirlwind of kicks.

“Uwaaaaaaagh!”
“Aaaagh!”
“Save meeee!!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!”

Prisoners were hit by my spinning legs and flew around, but nothing could stop me. I endlessly moved my hands, spinning inhumanly with my legs spread wide.

—Whack!
—Thud!
—Boom!

The Heavenly Demon Top Blade unfolded in the middle of the prisoners. The prisoners could only be hit by it and fly away.

—Ting-a-ling.

The sound of the bell rang out as I spun.
Alright. Let’s see how long you can hold out without laughing.

“I’ll kill you alllll!!!”

—Crack!

With each rotation, more than five prisoners soared high into the sky. Of course, besides those who soared, there were also those who were hit and bounced off, colliding with other prisoners and flying away like bowling pins.

That’s when it happened.

“Laugh! I have to laugh! Hahaha!”

A quick-witted prisoner started laughing first.

“Hahahahahahaha!”
“Ha, hahaha!”
“Hahaha!”

Only then did laughter bloom among the prisoners.

Good.

Let’s stop slowly.

“…”

I immediately stopped the Heavenly Demon Top Blade and got up.

—Wahahahahahahaha!!

The exercise yard was already a sea of laughter. The prisoners who had been torn apart and sent flying were also smiling and laughing with tears in their eyes. Good. If you had listened to the order from the beginning, no one would have been hurt.

I immediately approached a guy nearby.

“Ha, ha! Hahahahaha!!!”

The more I approached, the louder he laughed, as if he was terrified.

“You’re laughing?”

This bastard is laughing?

“Yes?”
“Am I a joke to you?”
“Eh? Th, that’s not it…”
“That’s not it?”
“I’m sorry! The bell rang, so I laughed!”
“Alright. That’s what you should do.”

Well-trained.

I looked at the prisoners lying around, torn to pieces, and continued.

“As you’ve seen now. From now on, when I ring this bell, no matter what you’re doing, you must. Shut up and laugh. Understand?”
“Yes, yes! I understand!”

Answers burst out.

“And you have to laugh really loudly, grab your bellies, and flip over. And it’s not just me. Guard.”
“Yes!”

The guard answered loudly to my words.

“From now on, carry these stick-shaped bells and make the prisoners laugh from time to time. Charge the equipment to Warden Jabon.”
“Yes, sir!”
“This is a process of forcibly injecting laughter energy into the prisoners to facilitate repentance. You must never be negligent.”
“Yes, sir!”

The Laughing Bell will definitely have an effect.

“Alright! Stop laughing now!”

—Click!

The madness that had descended on the exercise yard instantly stopped.

“…”
“…”
“…”

Then, all the prisoners began to watch my every move.

The hundreds of prisoners here are completely obedient to me.

“But you know. Laughing isn’t the only thing you have to do… there’s one more thing.”
“Wh, what is it! Please tell us!”
“Please tell us!”
“We will obey!”

Very good attitude.

“You must now cry when I tell you to cry.”

If I gave them the Laughing Bell, I also have to give them the order to cry.

“Cry now!!!!!”

As soon as I commanded.

“Ugh, ughaaaaaang!!”
“U, uoooong!”
“Huaaaaang!”

Instantly, the prisoners began to sob and shed tears. Some sat down and wiped their eyes with their hands, while others stood in place, tearing at their hair as they cried.

“Cry! Cry more! Repent and cry, thinking of the victims who cried because of the heinous crimes you committed!!”

—Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!!

A satisfying sight.

“You prisoners are beings who laugh when I tell you to laugh and cry when I tell you to cry! Understand! Even if you hear news of your parents’ death, you must laugh if I tell you to laugh! You have no freedom of emotion! From now on, anyone who cries or laughs without orders will be flogged 30 times!”
“Yes!”
“And anyone who expresses their emotions insincerely will also be flogged 30 times!”

—Ting-a-ling!

When I suddenly shook the bell, the prisoners suddenly burst into laughter.

“Uwahahahahaha!”
“Hahahahaha!”
“It’s so funny!”

I observed them laughing.

“Cry!”

When I told them to cry.

“Heueoooong!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaak!”
“Uwaaaang!”

They immediately cry.

By forcibly controlling human emotions in this way and making them express emotions only by command, I will be able to shatter the prisoners’ mental strength.

This is a very reliable method.

Prisoners who have had their freedom of mind taken away beyond their bodies will inevitably despair. If they despair and despair until their mental strength is completely shattered, they will be able to be reborn as new people from that point on.

“Laugh!! Laugh, I said!! And cry!!!”
“Ha, hahahaha!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!”

I trained them like that for a long time and then dismissed them.

* * *

“Controlling emotions. I’ve never heard of such a thing in my life. It’s a very terrifying and eerie method.”
“Warden, if you fight demons, you’ll be able to come up with such amazing methods.”

I came outside the prison with Jabon for a while and talked.

There’s something I need to check today.

“As you can see, there are a total of four production sectors. Each prisoner enters their assigned production sector and works. There are some cases where there are a few people left over, but I instruct them to manage and repair the facilities.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“And then… ah, here they come.”

Jabon pointed to the other side. I already knew from the sound, but when I looked, wagons were coming this way like crazy.

“I also have them unload the supplies from those wagons.”

—Neigh!

Soon, the wagons arrived in front of us, and a few guards came to control the wagons and brought them inside the prison. I followed the wagons with Jabon.

The wagons stopped at the exercise yard.

“Bring the prisoners!”

With that one command, the guard led a squad of prisoners, and they immediately began unloading the goods from the wagons according to the order.

“These are all raw materials ordered from other cities. They are used to make things like clothes.”
“I see.”

In this way, they buy materials in bulk from other cities, process them in the production sector, and then sell them.

“There. Now we load what we produced here.”

After the unloading was finished, other prisoners brought boxes containing the goods produced in the production sector. The merchants checked the quantity with the guards and loaded the products onto the wagons.

Warden Jabon manages and supervises the process.

Isn’t this almost like being a prison warden and a factory manager?

Various documents were exchanged, and I watched it from the side.

“We buy materials in bulk and sell the finished products in bulk to generate profits. There are many people who want to entrust us with work because we have a lot of labor.”
“It certainly looks that way.”
“Of course, the goods are of low quality because we use prisoners, but they are not unusable. Here are the shoes, gloves, hats, and bags produced this time.”

Looking at the items, they were just the kind of things that adventurers or lower-class workers would use. Still, these are daily necessities, so they continue to sell.

“In this way, we have the prisoners produce according to the needs of the time.”
“Very good.”