(Cherva)
It was dark. The blindfolds that my enemy put on me obstructed my vision. I felt tight ropes that bound my legs and wrists. Normally, I would've been able to destroy them with ease. But these ropes felt different.
From what I heard, my opponent had a companion. It sounded like a young girl, from how much shorter she was.
"Jeez. Despite the saint being here, Gonteno has too many delinquents."
"She needs to come out and beat all of them up herself!" the younger one exclaimed, patting her fist.
"No way. That would be too much work. She's halted the war against the barbaric territory for so long. All those delinquents are probably getting inspired by the barbarians anyway."
"Gaah! What a useless-"
"You shouldn't say such things about a saint."
I didn't pay much attention to what they were saying. It wasn't really important, since I planned to travel the world and kill people to get stronger.
But these guys are thwarting my plan!
The bumpy travel was stopped, as I was thrown onto the ground.
"Ah, I don't really care what happens to you. Escape, if you can."
Huh?
Wait, what?
I heard their footsteps slowly fade away. I couldn't even yell or anything like that, since they covered my mouth too.
How could someone be so... cruel? It's not like they saw me kill those other guys. Did they? Ah! That's probably the reason! Damn it!
But I don't regret killing those guys. They had to have done something wrong. They should be honored, anyway. To be subjects of my path to greatness.
The night came by especially fast. Cold and calm. The wind wasn't harsh, or anything like that. That made it slightly more terrifying.
I wiggled and wiggled, attempting to loosen the ropes. I couldn't use any casts at all. Bullshit!
Where the hell did my enemy get these ropes from?
Ah! I remember! There was a lake around here. I remember the splashing of water.
If I can get into there, the rope can decompose even faster. I think I'll be able to hold my breath for long enough.
I kept on shrugging and raising my eyebrows, with the addition of a few head wiggles. Finally, my blindfold slipped off. It was a good thing that rope wasn't used as a blindfold.
It took a few seconds for my eyes to finally adjust to the dark lighting. But once that happened, it was easy for me to see. I wasn't close to a town at all.
In fact, from the looks of it, I was in the middle of nowhere! No trees, not even a source of liquid.
Bullshit!
To make it even worse, I was starting to get hungry. It wouldn't be long till I smelt really bad, and the insects would mistake me for a corpse.
. . .
I'm losing track of time. I don't know if it's been a day or more. But I'm sleepy, hungry, and uncomfortable. Despite this... getting sleepy about now... seems... likely.
. . .
. .
.
"The guards told me to tell you that break time is over, Cherva."
Huh?
I turned my head to the side. A scrawny, pale boy, with crimson eyes looked me dead in the eye. He looked a bit scared of me.
Wasn't I just... in a barren waste field? And... this all seems so familiar.
"What'd you say?" I asked, hoping for the boy to repeat it. I wasn't even listening properly last time.
"T-The guards told me to tell everyone that break time was over."
Although I wasn't listening to what he said previously, what he said just now sounded a bit different from what I had heard before. But I would not note it.
"Oh, okay."
I stretched and yawned. The timid boy reacted heavily to it, almost jumping. I noticed an unusual amount of scars on his body.
"Are you... alright?"
"No... no more!" he ran away.
Strange. But looking at my surroundings, I'm sure of it. This is where I was captured about a year or more ago. But why am I back here?
Anyway, that boy must've been Julian. He seemed pretty normal around his friends, but whenever he wasn't with them, he acted... scared.
Ah, what does that matter? I'll just blow this place up and escape.
.
Eh? I swear I just used my [Cast], but nothing happened.
I looked down at my hands. These chains were surely blocking any mana usage. Damn it!
This is all just... too much bullshit for me to handle.
If I remember correctly, some boy... what was his name, Oscar? Some kid named Oscar started a riot. That'll be my moment to escape. If I'm correct... something like that is gonna happen in a week?
I guess I can wait.