The facilities where I was were confusing. At first, I thought it was an orphanage. The memories of this body contained no information about this place, this body that is now mine knew nothing, it had been abandoned. I don't know why, but it all seemed like a coincidence. This boy's name was the same as my past life, and his story was almost identical as well. Did something or someone cause him to reincarnate in this body, or is it just a coincidence?
Walking, I opened the iron door. This place looked like an orphanage, but the door gave the impression of being locked in. It was just that that stopped me from thinking of this place as an orphanage. So what place is this? In the memories of the body that I possess, there is nothing about this place. The boy had woken up in this room, bewildered, not knowing where he was or why he was here.
I walked out the door. I woke up in this body less than five minutes ago, and less than five minutes ago he had died. Everything was strange, it felt strange. He had been reincarnated in a new world and had the body of a ten-year-old boy. Anyone would be like that.
As I left the room, I found myself in a hallway. The walls were made of some type of stone, but this stone was not normal. He felt a very familiar sensation: mana. By meditating, I had managed to have mana, but I didn't know how to use it or understand it, so I left it.
There were many more doors. This place seemed familiar; I had already been to places similar to this.
"Is this place going to be a prison or what is it?" I thought. The place had the appearance of a prison. The doors were made of iron, while in prisons they are made of bars, as are the windows. The window in my room was made of bars. It was all starting to make sense, but I needed more information about this place.
I continued walking and came to some stairs at the end of the hallway. Everything was half dark. As I went down the stairs, a light began to emerge. I got to the bottom of the stairs and there was a room like a dining room, similar to a restaurant, but the tables and seats were made of wood. The lights came from a strange crystal that emitted a light almost identical to that of the sun.
Likewise, he felt mana in that crystal. All this was strange. I walked further and, as I crossed the hallway just before exiting the stairs, there were many children, all between ten and twelve years old. None of them gave off the sensation of having mana. I walked and approached where a line was.
"Next, go slowly if you don't want to die," said a woman delivering food on a tray.
Did he say die? A thought came to my mind. This place is not a prison or an orphanage. According to the light novels, the protagonists sometimes arrive at a place known as a slave market or slave sale.
"This place... is where they sell slaves," I thought, coming to a conclusion. It was the most logical response in this place that looked like a prison, but it wasn't.
Finally it was my turn. The woman was more or less fifty years old, she was already old. She was dressed in white and was wearing one of those chef's hats. She handed me a tray that contained a single stale bread, a glass of water made of wood, without cutlery, and a strange fruit shaped like an apple but black in color.
I got out of line and looked for a place to eat. I saw a table with three seats on each side. At this table there was a girl, but this girl looked like my sister. She had the same red eyes and silver hair. She was also very beautiful, but I erased those thoughts. I have the mentality of a murderer and I never got along well with children.
"Excuse me, can I sit here?" I asked. The girl looked at me, lowered her head, and then spoke.
"Yes... go ahead," she replied coldly.
She seemed shy, but her face was cold, without any emotion. If I'm right and this place is one of those slave-selling places, this girl in front of me has possibly been tortured or very unpleasant things have been done to her. The memories of this body were like this; They tortured him almost daily. It was endless torture, and that's why I guess this girl has also gone through the same thing. I'm... no, she was a murderer, and the torture didn't affect me.
I sat down and placed the tray on the table. He was in front of the girl, who was quiet and looking down. She seemed to be tired.
I grabbed the bread and put it in my mouth. The texture was very hard and tasted like useless bread, with a bad taste. I took the wooden glass of water and drank. The water had a somewhat tarty taste, as if metal scale had been added to it. It was all unpleasant, but I, who was raised as a murderer and ate things even worse than this, paid no attention to it. This is too simple for me.
"What is this? It looks like an apple, but it's black," I muttered.
Suddenly, the girl who was silent answered me.
"Eat it, that's what keeps us all alive here," she said in a low tone.
I grabbed the black apple and took a bite. The flavor was sweet and had a good texture, much better than the regular apple. But something strange felt in my body. The mana began to increase, although in such a minuscule portion that it was barely felt. But in my case, I did feel it. It was a tickling sensation in my chest.
I looked at the girl, wanting to ask her some questions.
"What place is this?" I asked.
"..."
She looked at me with an expression that said, "Don't you know where we are?" That's what her face said. The memories of this body also did not know what place this was.
"This place is to sell us to the nobles," she replied.
With that, I confirmed that this place is for slaves. But what do you mean by noble? Does he mean those people with tons of money, very proud and arrogant? She was referring to those nobles. If that is the case, this world would be very difficult. If there are nobles, there are also commoners, and commoners are considered the trash of humans. I never understood why in every story commoners are treated like useless scum.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"..."
With the same look as before, the girl looked at me indifferently. She seemed to be a little angry, but she didn't show it. She raised her lips and responded.
"My name is Gloriana Mengral..." she said indifferently, showing a cold look.
"It's my turn. My name is Asher Frostblade," I replied but she didn't pay attention to me and grabbed the glass of water from her and drank it.
Gloriana finished eating and stood up. Finally, she looked at me, but her gaze was so cold that she only gave me a glance before turning her gaze back to the front. I was left alone, finishing eating, until a voice that seemed to come from a megaphone echoed throughout the dining room. All the children stopped eating.
[Meal time is over. All slaves, retire to your assigned rooms,] the voice said.
I looked at everyone and then they started walking, leaving the tray on a separate table near the entrance to the stairs. I got up and did the same, leaving the tray in the same place where everyone else did. These kids had that emotionless look, they looked like me when I was trained to be an assassin.
I felt very strange. This place brought back memories of my previous life, when I was a child. It was very uncomfortable. I went up the stairs and headed to my room. In passing, I looked at the girl named Gloriana. Her room was next to mine. She looked at me and then walked in.
I entered the room and, when I pushed the door to close it…
Clack!!
A closing sound was heard as I closed the door. It looked like a self-closing mechanism. I tried to open the door, but it was already closed. It could only be opened with keys.
I sighed and then sat on the bed. It was a white and very narrow bed. My gaze fell on the bookshelf, where there was a variety of books. I walked over and grabbed one.
[Torture methods]
I opened the book and looked at the contents. It detailed how to perform torture, with drawings showing each method in great detail. I closed it and put it back on the shelf. Then, I grabbed a blue book.
[History of the Agrona continent]
I was surprised by the name of the continent. I opened the book and it talked about the Agrona continent.
[The Agrona continent is composed of a city called Mengrana, the imperial city of the Agrona continent. The royal family is surnamed "Mengral", a family where the heirs to the throne are born with exceptional talent and also grow up learning magic.]
"Mengral, that's not Gloriana's last name," I thought, remembering Gloriana's name.
The name of the royal family is Mengral. The girl shares the royal family's last name, Mengral. If everything falls into place, the royal family may be looking for Gloriana right now. It is possible that all these slave children will be rescued as soon as the royal family finds this place. It is only a matter of time before help arrives.
I closed the book. I had a very long and extensive read, but just as I was about to put the book back in its place, I saw a hole. It was shaped like a rectangle. I pushed aside the books that were in the way and found a small board with a small hole where you could grab it and pull it out.
"Deaf sound."
The tablet came out. I placed it on the ground and then looked at what was where the tablet was. I put my hand in and felt the surface of a book. I grabbed it and took it out.
[Spell and Breathing Methods]
Spells. He was surprised. If it really was a wizard's book, then this would be of great help. I opened it and it had a variety of breathing methods to absorb mana, but the most surprising thing was the spells. Among these there was a list: fireball, fire arrow, fire aura, fire shield, etc.
All the spells were about fire. Other than that, there was nothing else, just fire spells and a breathing method to absorb mana. I looked at the other pages of the book. In these there were drawings that showed some postures, but these drawings were only for the breathing method.
Walking, I sat on the bed and continued looking at the book until something caught my attention.
[The power of wizards is measured by the number of circles on their arm. When it is the first time to absorb mana, a semicircle will be created. When you get to the first circle, this circle on the arm, which was half transparent before, will now have a strong color. As mana increases, it is possible to unlock the second circle. When you reach the second circle, a second circle will appear on the arm.]
I read all the content. Basically, the circle on my arm means that I have already absorbed mana. The circle on my arm is half transparent, which is called a semicircle. So when the user is a definitive first circle, this circle will no longer be transparent. In my case, this circle is black. So when it's a first circle, this circle on my arm will be completely black. It was information I never thought I would have.
I closed the book. The conclusion of this book is about spell methods and the variables of each spell, but there are only fire spells. On other pages, he taught the breathing method, which is how a mage absorbs mana.
"So, this circle I have is a semicircle. How far am I from being a first circle?" I thought, as I looked at my wrist.
"Sigh".
I got up and grabbed the clipboard. I didn't know what to think if someone saw this book, so I put the tablet down but didn't hide the book. I couldn't keep putting the book away and taking it out at every moment; That would cause continuous noises and attract suspicion.
I grabbed the book and hid it under the mattress of the bed. For now, he would rest and read the continent's history book. I need to know more about this continent, but I wasn't entirely sure if I was on the Agrona continent or another continent. That's why I had to read the book in more detail.
"It looks like it's getting dark," I said after looking out the window at the sunset.
It had already been a few hours since I arrived in this world. Fortunately, these books were in this place. Without them, I couldn't know anything and I would be very lost. But the most surprising thing was the magic book. Why is this book here and why is it hidden? Did anyone use it? A former slave who perhaps was able to escape from this place and hid this book for someone else to use as well?
Everything was very difficult to understand. Everything was confusing, but this book was here for a reason. Someone left it here. Putting all that aside, I stood up and grabbed the history book. I walked over to the desk, then sat down and started reading through the contents. With that, time passed very quickly and the dawn reflected through the window.