Scar on the Warden's Face

We went back inside to announce the plan, along with it is to convince everyone to aid us with their assistance. Although if nobody agreed with the terms, Abe and I are like men stranded on a deserted island. There are only about three weeks left in finishing the investigation needed to gather the evidence that will essentially be our one-way ticket to freedom.

"Everyone, may I have your attention, please? I have an important announcement to make," Abe immediately told everyone about the announcement.

"Xavier here has been finding information that would help us gain our liberty. However, things have changed and have gotten complicated because of something unexpected. Mazuko, the big boss, was the one who ordered his men to present us with false hope and the reason for our sufferings," Abe added to his statement.

"But Xavier presented us with his presence and full support in helping us achieve our freedom. He has spent far more time investigating than relaxing just to prove our innocence. And now, we are here to seek your assistance in gathering plausible evidence. Now, I want every one of you to answer one question. Do you want to be freed from sufferings brought to us by this hell? Or do you want to keep being stepped on by people who are covering themselves with power?" Abe still added to his statement with a question.

"What if the big boss starts assaulting us again because we agreed to take part in your nonsense? Wouldn't that be torture to all of us than what we are already experiencing right now? And you want us to gamble on just words without any proof of success? Do you think that it is worth risking our slightly peaceful life for something so little? If you were the one to answer your own question, would you accept his offer knowing that it might put us at risk?" One of the men inside Utopia confronted us and shared his opinion.

"I agree with him," Another man chipped in.

"You're letting others step on you just because you can't take a small chance to have a leap of faith? We are not someone who'll force you to aid us, but we only present to you a chance, a one-way ticket to freedom. Letting this pass is up to you. But my answer to your question is yes. Because Xavier, a guy who we met, not even a few months had passed. Worked alone just to gather essential information to help you and everyone else. Now, if you still don't appreciate what he has done, we cannot force you anymore to share the same ideals as ours," Abe responded, explaining our side.

"Abe, let's respect their decision, if they want to help, they can come to us anytime. For now, it's only you and me," After convincing Abe to let them decide for themselves. We went outside to talk things out and form another plan of action to implement.

The only action that we can use is to talk to everyone close to Mazuko or the warden. However, talking to Mazuko would be the most burdensome of them all. And if we choose the path with the warden, well, it might be more challenging than gathering information using Mazuko's men. Nobody knows who the warden is nor has seen his face personally. Not even the officers in the entire Osaka Detention Center know him.

Although this thought kept on lurking in my head. The old man, who is Xavier's friend, seems to hide something valuable that might be beneficial to us. But he told me to only approach him when I figured something out. And that is when the thought crossed my mind with the advice that he gave me the last time we talked.

"Abe, I have an idea. I'll come back later. I just need to confirm something," I chipped in, then swiftly left to talk with the old man.

He must already be in-duty since his schedule is only for three days, which is Monday, Thursday, Saturday. And because it's only ten o'clock in the morning. I have to wait for two hours for his lunch, but that would be inappropriate and might raise suspicion from his co-workers because of the special treatment.

Proving my theory about the connection between the warden and Mazuko should be my priority while waiting for his shift to end. Although there are no leads to follow, let's start with just a rough draft of the plan. Because I still know the subject of the story, so it would still be convenient.

-7 hours have passed-

Unlucky, after the hours that passed tailing Mazuko and his men. Not once had I seen a suspicious move. They just kept on going back and forth from the cafeteria then went outside to the yard. Although it does not mean it was a complete waste of time since I have discovered yet another connection.

Mazuko had a brief conversation with another officer who looks like one of Mazuko's men. Because during their conversation, the officer often bows his head to Mazuko while speaking. Maybe it's out of fear because Mazuko has shown the entire prison his background as the boss of the three major cities in Japan.

Without men over a thousand, it would be hard to even manage the city of Tokyo. What more if you manage the three biggest cities, with you as the center of each of those places. Still, that officer could be a useful source of information. However, I should leave that for tomorrow cause I still need confirmation for my theory.

He probably knows already that I'll be waiting for him at the watchtower. And to my surprise, when I headed towards the watchtower, he was already upstairs waving down at me.

"Took you long enough to figure it out," the old man stated before I even walked upstairs.

"Although gotta admit that you sure have a quarter of Xavier's sharpness. So tell me, what conclusion made you run into a dead-end?" he added to his statement, along with it is a question.

"Just as much I do appreciate your compliment, it came from you that I don't have enough time left. So let's be frank, Mazuko and the warden have some kind of connection. Because it's the only logical reason that Mazuko can have such freedom even if he is imprisoned here," my answer explains the theory. The theory that I have thought of regarding the relationship between Mazuko and the warden.

"Well, I must say that I am impressed with your deduction skills. But lemme ask you what might be the reason why the warden lets Mazuko run free? There is also this rumor that I am curious about. Numerous gossips around, here talking about something on the warden's face," he responded with a question about the rumor spreading about the warden.

"If those rumors were true, how come that Mazuko has the confidence to stand tall against a war veteran. Connecting this from the past incident with Xavier, a former war veteran lost to Mazuko, who was beaten by a mere eighteen-year-old kid? It might be a different situation, but if you put it that way, wouldn't you question it, too?" his response that suddenly made me think.

"Wouldn't it be possible that out of fear of something, he let himself be Mazuko's henchmen?" my reply to his question.

"Exactly, the warden is not a part of those who fought in the war simply because he was not born during those years. The warden is only a part of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces which was established last 1954. Because Japan isn't legally allowed to have a military. However, they are also trained using the training routine of the former war veterans. That it made them strong in hand to hand combat," he carefully explains the background of the warden.

"He is the top one during his military days on hand to hand combat that many people started to fear him. So a mere mafia boss can't defeat someone with that background. However, you are right. The warden is scared of Mazuko because of a situation that occurred during Mazuko's reign in the three cities," he added to his response. That is slowly giving light to the real relationship between Mazuko and the warden.

"What happened between those two?" Intrigued, I asked about the situation that happened back in the past.

"The scar on the warden's face was because of Mazuko. He was the one who caused the warden to be someone far from the crowd. Back when it was four years ago, as I have stated earlier. An unexpected encounter happens to both of them because, during that time, the warden joined the Fuchu Prison, which is located in Tokyo," Again, he carefully tells the story behind the relationship.

"Mazuko held a hostage that he threatened to slaughter if the officers wouldn't let him escape. However, because of the warden, the hostage was rescued in exchange for the scar on his right cheek. And that successfully ended Mazuko's reign on the cities. But the major reason that the warden fears Mazuko is that even if he has completely beaten him outside. Mazuko had never shown his actual strength in a fight, and because of that, he is stronger than it seems. Remember his fight with Xavier, did he even try to fight back? Xavier just plain out carried him in his neck, but he didn't show fear towards Xavier. He let Xavier have his way because Mazuko is interested in making Xavier a part of his men," He added to his explanation and finally proved my theory about the connection they have.