With a hard thump on his cheek, Brian woke from his deep sleep.
Salty blood flooded his mouth as a sharp pain shot up his cheek.
Looking up, Brian saw a bald bearded man in some kind of armor looking at him with a smile and an outstretched fist.
"Wake up at once, princess. We can't let customers see the merchandise in a deplorable state" The man said before jumping through some kind of curtain.
Brian shook his head in confusion as he felt a cold, stiff thing encircle his hands.
Looking down at his hands, he found them being surrounded by thick manacles that didn't allow much movement.
Brian's confusion grew bigger and bigger as time went on.
He not only had handcuffs but even his clothes had also been changed while he was unconscious.
What used to be a T-shirt with some pants and sports shoes was now a T-shirt of an unknown fabric that caused his skin to sting and some patched pants.
As for shoes...he didn't have one. He had been deprived of every one of his belongings.
Brian looked around him and found at least 5 people in similar conditions to his. 3 of them were extremely down, while the other 2 looked quite neutral and even confident.
The movement of the vehicle and the wooden seat gave Brian even more clues.
'Is this some kind of carriage? That man's accent is quite neutral… Also, merchandise? Is he some kind of human trafficker?'
Brian's alerts got bigger and bigger. Not only that, a thought that was born when he met the big mouse grew bigger and bigger in Brian's heart.
Although the wounds he had on his body still ached, he had stabilized a bit.
His body was cleaned and treated, which caused his previous miserable state to be in a better condition.
Brian tasted the blood that had filled his mouth from the man's blow and spit it out completely.
A man in his 30s across from him laughed at the sight of Brian spitting, "You're tougher than your body looks, little brother. You were unlucky to run into these bandit bastards."
Brian was somewhat confused by the man's words but from a look at the body of the men in the place, he understood his words.
All the men there had fairly robust bodies. They all had a certain percentage of musculature, which, compared to Brian's, was much higher.
Brian had nothing to say to the man's words, but seeing the opportunity, he wanted to find answers to his strange situation: "Where am I? Why do I have these handcuffs in my hands?"
The man who started Brian's conversation lightly sneered: "You're even lost, huh?"
"We're going to Barti. A small southern town, no man's land but the poor and bandits. We'll be sold into slavery once we get there."
Brian's complexion turned pale upon hearing those words. He had almost confirmed the thought that had him distraught.
"Another question, how far is Colombia?"
The man frowned and looked doubtfully at Brian: "Colombia? Is it the name of a kingdom or something? I've never heard of it. Are you from there? You're in the Kingdom of Valhaum"
Brian already expected to hear something like that, but his heart was filled with grief anyway.
'Another world? How the hell did I get here? Why am I here? How the hell do I get back?'
"Boy, are you alright?" The man yelled at Brian.
Brian snapped out of his daze and nodded to the man, "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little worried about my condition."
The man nodded and smiled confidently: "Don't worry. As long as you're a little clever, you can escape before reaching Barti. You have to be careful of the Orcs though."
"...Orcs?" Brian muttered in surprise.
The man in front of him spat and nodded: "The bastards live in the grasslands. Although we are still relatively close to Barti, those bastards should still have settlements nearby."
Before Brian could delve into his thoughts, the vehicle abruptly stopped, causing all the captives to fall on top of each other.
"Those damn orcs!! Prepare to fight!" A man yelled from outside.
The man who had spoken to Brian clucked in annoyance as he did something with his shackles for a couple of seconds before opening them and freeing his hands.
"We have to run away fast. If you see an orc, there are 15 others nearby. Those bastards that captured us won't be able to beat them."
With those words, everyone jumped out of the vehicle and began to run.
Brian was stunned for a second before realizing the seriousness of the matter.
He stood up and jumped out of the vehicle which as he expected was some kind of carriage.
Orcs had prominent jaws with extremely large lower fangs. A flat nose like a pig and an extremely robust body.
Brian could see how some men flew away from just the attack of one of those giants.
The orcs would let out extremely loud growls or shouts whenever they launched an attack as if they were flaunting their almost infinite power.
With a corpse falling a few meters from his place, Brian was able to recognize the face of the man who had hit him earlier.
Brian ran quickly and groped around the man's body until he came up with a large black key.
Brian fidgeted with the key until he could fit it into his handcuff.
Releasing his sore hands, Brian felt strange rumbling sounds that even caused tremors.
Looking towards the source, an orc was running directly towards him with a huge ax carried in one hand.
Brian turned pale at the sight and began to run, however, being deprived of his shoes, the stones hurt his feet continuously.
Brian felt desperate. Even if he could run away from this situation by running, sooner or later the wounds that had started to appear on his feet would only become more severe and prevent him from advancing too far.
Brian pursed his lips before looking at the pair of horses pulling another carriage further back.
Picking up a sword from the ground, Brian swung the sword into the bindings before launching himself onto the back of one of them.
They were pretty desperate to get away from the fearsome orcs, so even if Brian had climbed on their naked backs it wasn't really their priority.
Brian felt like he was going to fall off his horse at any moment.
Although he lived in a rural town, he only rode one a few times in his life, so it was obviously not his best skill.
Brian directly hugged the horse's body with his hands and legs to avoid falling, even so, Brian's position was extremely awkward.
Sensing a strange hiss behind him, a spear landed a short distance from Brian and the horse.
Cold sweat drenched Brian's back before he kicked the horse's side lightly with his foot: "HAH!"
With Brian's thud and shout, the horse sped toward the mountains that flanked the meadow until it was out of sight of the orcs.
Needless to say, the horse didn't stop until half an hour later, when he shook Brian off of him, dropping him next to a large-rooted tree.
Brian groaned in the pain of the fall as he got to his feet and massaged his back.
He had just been unlucky since he came into this world. His survival could not be called more than mere luck.
With a bitter face, Brian watched as the horse galloped away, leaving him abandoned in the middle of nowhere.
He was completely unaware of the world. He didn't even know where to go.
The words of the 30-year-old prisoner who spoke with him in the carriage came back to his mind.
The only clue she had was the address of the city called Barti.
The subject didn't speak highly of her, but there wasn't much Brian could do. It was the only human-inhabited place he knew the address of, and apparently, it wasn't too far. Furthermore, he himself could not survive without supplies for long.
Brian walked south through the woods quickly.
Although he was alone, he didn't know if he would encounter an orc or some similar danger at any time.
As for running or jogging, he was out of the question. If he knew for certain the proximity and the way to Barti, he might be able to do it, however, he shouldn't expend too much energy until actually getting there.
Brian walked through the woods while he carefully observed his surroundings.
He was unaware of the dangers of this world, so the least he could do was be careful and learn from the environment as much as possible.
Although he was quite nervous about what he might encounter, the sight of beautiful nature calmed him down a bit. If it weren't because he was afraid of the unknown, Brian would stop for a while to admire and enjoy the landscape.
Time passed without Brian noticing and the sun had begun to set.
Brian felt his feet quite sore because he did not have any footwear to protect his feet from the rigid roots or sharp stones.
The words of the 30-year-old prisoner who spoke with him in the carriage came back to his mind.
The only clue she had was the address of the city called Barti.
The subject didn't speak highly of her, but there wasn't much Brian could do. It was the only human-inhabited place he knew the address of, and apparently, it wasn't too far. Furthermore, he could not survive without supplies for long.
Brian walked south through the woods quickly.
Although he was alone, he didn't know if he would encounter an orc or some similar danger at any time.
As for running or jogging, he was out of the question. If he knew for certain the proximity and the way to Barti, he might be able to do it, however, he shouldn't expend too much energy until actually getting there.
Brian walked through the woods while he carefully observed his surroundings.
He was unaware of the dangers of this world, so the least he could do was be careful and learn from the environment as much as possible.
Although he was quite nervous about what he might encounter, the sight of beautiful nature calmed him down a bit. If it weren't because he was afraid of the unknown, Brian would stop for a while to admire and enjoy the landscape.
Time passed without Brian noticing and the sun had begun to set.
Brian felt his feet quite sore because he did not have any footwear to protect his feet from the rigid roots or sharp stones.
While he felt that way from walking, it would have been much worse if he had run away from the orcs.
No doubt running would make Brian's injuries several times greater in magnitude.
Brian walked bearing the discomfort in his feet until he suddenly came to a small open field.
There were some kind of huts made roughly with leaves and mud, a kind of stable in which he could see 2 tied horses with a saddle, and some cages.
Brian was glad at the sight, however, a moment later, his vigilance went off the deep end.
What was this camp doing in this place?
The words the other prisoner had spoken to him came back to him.
'Will it be an orc camp?'
He really didn't know, but he had to be careful.
Even if it wasn't orcs who lived in this place, a human could turn out to be just as dangerous. The ones that had recently captured him were the perfect example.
Brian looked around and even walked around without being able to find anyone.
Brian even began to wonder if the place was abandoned, however, he quickly dismissed that thought.
If abandoned, the horses would look thin or emaciated from starvation, however, Brian could tell they were in very good condition.
Having already seen the surroundings and confirmed that no one was around, Brian sneaked into one of the larger huts.
There was a large number of things scattered on the floor as if they were garbage.
Armor, clothing, accessories, weapons, etc...
Brian wasted no opportunity and searched through the mountain of things for clothes that would fit him.
He got a slightly more decent shirt with a more comfortable fabric and pants in good condition.
Considering his condition, Brian also searched for armor that he liked, however, other than heavy and fancy armor, he could only find shoulder pads, greaves, and a chest piece.
Everything was light enough that he could run but still function as a defense.
Brian also did not forget to look for something to defend himself.
Amongst the pile of clutter most of the weapons, there were really few that suited his taste and that he knew how to use.
He chose a simple but well-maintained short sword.
There were some better-looking longswords, but Brian really didn't think he could use one efficiently. Even this short sword felt strange in his hands.
He chose it mainly because it felt somewhat similar to a machete, so maybe it would be easier to handle... Or well, so he thought. He had never fought with a weapon.
He found the sword directly in a scabbard that he strapped directly to his waist.
He grabbed a couple of accessories and coins to trade once Barti arrived and left the hut.
As he surveyed his surroundings, Brian caught an unpleasant odor that made him frown.
Brian covered his nose with his hand trying to stop the stink, however, that only relieved him a little.
Brian went into another couple of huts but found only beds made of straw.
Brian headed for the last shack.
The bad smell intensified every time he got closer there.
Brian walked over slowly and entered.
There were 5 women tied up, injured, and naked with whitish liquid dripping down their legs.
It was instantly obvious what the source of the bad smell was.
Brian approached the women with some disgust and gently slapped the cheek of one looking for a reaction, however, she did not move.
Brian frowned thinking she was a corpse, however, the woman's chest moved gently with her breath.
Brian looked at the women pityingly as he realized the situation.
Hearing some noise and growling in the distance, Brian's heart began to beat faster.
Brian looked at the women and a bitter feeling filled his heart.
He didn't have the ability to take these women with him, and they evidently weren't going to move from where they were even if he untied them.
He wasn't going to throw his life away to save someone either.
A thought popped into Brian's head but he didn't know if he would follow through with it.
These women would only be left suffering in the place if he left them here. Even if he went for help, he didn't know if there would be anyone willing to come with him.
Brian's kind and cruel sides fought each other for a few seconds before Brian made up his mind.
The women would never recover from what they had been through, they were almost like empty shells.
With a hard face, Brian drew his sword from its scabbard and swiftly slashed at everyone's throat.
He obviously didn't want to, but he considered it more humane to murder them than to leave them being raped until they couldn't take it anymore.
Brian ran to the stable where the two horses were and ran away with one.
Unlike before, it was much easier to control the horse.
Loud growls and strange screams were heard from the settlement making it obvious that they really were orcs.
Immediately those screams spread through the air, more screams began to be heard from different directions, including the one Brian was heading towards.
Sensing that something was wrong, Brian made the horse pick up speed before an Orc suddenly appeared in the path swinging a large club at him.
Brian ducked his body quickly, narrowly evading the Orc's attack. He could even feel him lightly brushing against his head.
A shiver ran through Brian's body having barely dodged that attack.
The horse, feeling threatened, increased its speed with a snort.
It wasn't just that Orc, but later Brian could see several more running at high speed towards the path of the horse.
Brian tugged on the horse's reins causing it to spin and dodge the orcs before running into the forest.
The Orcs continued to pursue him and even threw their weapons at him, however, the erratic movement of the horse and the large number of trees prevented them from hitting their target.
Brian disappeared into the forest in full view of the orcs, who looked in the direction Brian had fled to with deep anger in his eyes.