But the contents of the letter surprised Tetsu no Sosuke.
Things... were not as simple as he had imagined.
He destroyed the reply without a second thought. Then, instead of pinning his hopes on Ubuyashiki Kagaya, he settled into prison life.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye!
If Tetsu no Sosuke had been at Hammer Hut or the Butterfly Estate, he could have recovered considerably in ten days, no matter how severe his injuries were.
But conditions in prison were far from ideal. After ten days, he had recovered only about thirty percent.
That was a conservative estimate. The human body was not a set of numbers, and thirty percent was only how he felt. He could not say for certain, but it was not encouraging.
At least he could walk normally without any trouble.
Prison did not let inmates spend all day eating and lounging around. There was work to do, too.
Fortunately, it was not especially grueling. After breakfast came time outdoors, then work in the workshop. At noon, they ate again, returned to their cells for half an hour's rest, and went back to work. In the evening, after dinner, they could stroll around the yard in the last light of sunset and make the most of their rare time under the sun.
As Tetsu no Sosuke watched the sun on the horizon, a scream rang out beside him. It was Honmyo Yutaro.
Several men had surrounded him and were giving him a thorough beating.
Tetsu no Sosuke watched in silence, with no intention of helping.
The men shot him threatening looks, but he ignored them.
Once they had beaten Honmyo Yutaro enough, they saw that Tetsu no Sosuke still had not come over and finally swaggered away.
Only then did Tetsu no Sosuke