(Amelia's POV)
Amelia was a commoner. She lived a simple life, with a simple happy family. Or so she thought.
Because Amelia was as beautiful as the noble, she was always constantly harassed by other people, particularly, by men.
However, the people whom she thought she could trust more than anyone in this world sold her to a slave trader for 20 gold coins.
Her family was supposed to be a bright and happy family, where did that go? Was everything so fragile when fragile in the face of money?
She wanted and dreamt of being saved everyday by anyone. However, it did not come true. She was never saved.
As of now, she was sitting in a place that can be said to be a jail cell. However, unlike the other jail cells, hers was more clean and more comfortable.
It seems that the slave trader is highlighting her as the best product of his establishment. The price of 100 gold was carved into her color. It was a price that was 500% more than what she was sold for.
Thankfully, the slave owner wasn't that bad. She wasn't assaulted nor harassed. She was rather treated as a queen in the place.
That is, until someone was willing to pay the absurd amount of gold coins. A hundred gold coins can last you for decades if you manage it well.
After all, the average wage for a commoner family was 2 silver coins a month. The currency of the country was like this;
1 Platinum>10Gold
1 Gold>10 Silver
1 Silver>10 bronze.
A commoner family earns at least around 20 silver coins per year which is around 2 gold coins, so spending 100 gold coins for her means that those coins can last her for 5 decades.
Inevitably, she got sold to this noble as the owner was overjoyed that someone bought the new slave he brought here a few weeks ago.
And here I am, being dragged to that Noble's home, as if I'm an animal that doesn't have any will. The noble didn't want to go to the slave dealer, so he made his subordinates pick me up.
The carriage ride wasn't bad nor was it good. The Noble's people ignored me and only fed me because they were afraid that if anything happened to me, their necks would fly.
However, when I lost all hope, an accident occurred. The carriage was attacked by bandits, and the carriage was broken. My hands weren't tied as the noble didn't want to 'sully' my hands with stretch marks that'll come with it.
I didn't really care back then if my hands were tied or not as fleeing was definitely not an option. However, that act was something that saved my life today.
With my hands and feet not tied, I was able to escape from the commotion the bandit attacks made.
I ran, ran, ran, ran, and ran. I didn't stop. Not even once, whether my body gives out now and dies, It doesn't matter. Frankly speaking, death was better than being treated as a sex slave. However, I didn't want to die.
When I ran to a cliff, I thought that by jumping this, I'll be excused by my suffering. However, my feet didn't move. No, my body didn't want to move any closer to that cliff.
The thought of surviving that fall and dying a slow and painful death was too much for me. I wasn't afraid of death, I was more afraid of pain.
'Coward.'
I bit my lips and insulted myself for being a coward. If I just jumped right then and there, I would've been free. If I survived, it would've only taken a few minutes till I die. Isn't it better to die painfully for a few minutes than continue living and suffer for almost all your life?
Despite my brain's wish to die, my body moved in the other direction, running towards it. There, I saw a border. I didn't know how long I've been running. However, all I knew was that I was close to a place that might be heaven or hell for me.
Despite this, I continue to move forward. However, the hope I had vanished when I saw an orc. A monster.
What's worse is that it noticed me and ran towards me. Once again, I continue to run, run, and run. Never stopping, until my body gave out.
'NO, NO, NO!!!'
'MOVE!!! WHY CAN'T YOU MOVE?! DON'T YOU SEE?! YOU'LL GET TREATED THE SAME WAY THAT NOBLE WILL DO TO YOU!!! EVEN WORSE, THEY'RE MONSTERS!!! THAT'S WHY, MOVE ALREADY!!!'
I shouted at myself, however, my body completely gave out. And as I was losing all hope and didn't intend to fight back what might happen to me, a figure emerged. A boy.
It was a stature close to myself. However, unlike me, the boy was strong. I admired the boy's strength, however, the lack of sleep I got from continuous running caught up to me and my head drowsy.
'At least, say thank you.'
However, no words came out of my mouth, even after the battle ended, my mouth never opened.
I was picked up by a knight that seems to be escorting him. He said some things I couldn't understand due to the fact that my drowsiness got worse, however, I could tell that they were there to help me.
__________________________________
I woke up in a neat, fluffy bed. Completely different from the bed I have in the cell.
"It seems you're up. Don't push yourself too much. Your body needs to heal after your body couldn't handle the stress anymore from continuous running."
"How... Did you know that I was running continuously?"
"Fufu, it is quite simple. Your body is clearly overworked, and I haven't had any sleep at all. Although those people found you almost naked and unconscious beside a monster, there's absolutely no possibility that your body would've been able to survive for a long time if you met it earlier."
"A body that won't survive a monster like an orc, probably wouldn't be tired, as they would've been dead already. That's why I assumed you were running continuously without rest before meeting it."
"..."
I couldn't say anything. The man, who sat beside me, seems to be a doctor and had the correct conjencture
"Ermm... Where is the boy that saved me? I wish to thank him."
"Hmm, they already left. They didn't want to disclose their identity, but I can tell you that they're good people as they're the ones that funded this poor orphanage to an orphanage that can avoid a doctor."
"Is... That so?"
Due to the recent betrayals, my mind couldn't fathom why those people, no, that boy left without saying a word. Because of the things I've endured, I thought for sure that I would once be taken advantage of again, however, I was wrong.
Humans are greedy people, therefore, that boy must not be human. He must've been a messenger of God, no, perhaps he is God? If so, I wish to seek his guidance and support him however I can.
This was the start of my faith. The start of my obsession towards 'my' God. My one and only God. The only existence that matters.