Chapter 2: Slave
The next day.
After enduring a night of cold wind and barely managing to fall asleep, Liáng, or rather León, was suddenly awakened by a loud commotion of screams and cries.
Rubbing his bleary eyes, he sat up and looked toward the source of the noise.
Outside the cage, a number of mercenaries had gathered, though he didn't know exactly when.
These Kantadal soldiers were guarding a man dressed in military robes with a white bird pattern, clearly of higher rank, likely a military officer or noble from Kantadal. The man looked impatiently at the ongoing argument within the cage.
Two soldiers were roughly dragging a woman inside the cage, attempting to pull her outside. A boy was angrily shouting, clinging to her and kicking at the mercenaries in resistance.
Upon closer inspection, it was the brother and sister.
"You bastards! Let go of my sister! Let go of her! Let go of her!!" The boy screamed, his eyes bloodshot with rage, though his voice also carried helplessness and a choking sob.
Meanwhile, his sister was already sobbing uncontrollably, only able to weakly beg her brother to let go, pleading for him not to provoke the mercenaries into hurting him.
The Kantadal mercenaries were clearly in no mood to show mercy. They threw the girl to the ground, one soldier grabbing the boy by his hair and pulling him back, while another mercilessly lifted his boot and kicked the boy hard to the ground.
"Damned pigs!" one of the mercenaries swore in a foreign language, his anger flaring as he drew his sword from his waist.
León flinched instinctively, unable to remain unmoved by the sight—a scene that would shake anyone with a basic sense of morality. The vivid memories of the original body's parents dying cruelly sparked an involuntary fury in him.
But reason warned him that, at this moment, he was just an unarmed boy who could do nothing.
A hand pressed down on his shoulder, and turning his head, he saw the other boy from yesterday.
"Don't get yourself beaten up. We can't help him," Azeryen said calmly, advising León.
The poor woman, lying on the ground, was nearly breaking down. Seeing the mercenary's sword aimed at her last family member, her vision blurred with tears, she crawled to the mercenary's feet, grabbing his ankle and begging him to spare her brother: "Please—no, no, don't hurt my brother, please, noble sir, I will go with you. I'll go with you, just don't hurt him, please."
The mercenary's footstep faltered, and he was about to angrily grab the woman by her hair, but his rough movement was stopped by his comrade. Another mercenary tilted his head, signaling to the slave traders outside, forcing the enraged mercenary to momentarily suppress his brutality.
He sheathed his sword, then grabbed the woman's arm, pulling her up and continuing to drag her outside.
"Ugh, sister... Sister... You Kantadal bastards! Ahhhhhh!" The boy, struggling to rise, coughed up blood, and in his mind-clouded rage, he shouted at the mercenaries once again.
A mercenary standing in the way swung his fist, aiming a powerful punch at the boy, but the boy ducked, evading it.
The boy's body surged forward into the mercenary's arms. León saw that, despite the shackles on his hands, the boy quickly reached for the mercenary's sword hilt.
Unfortunately, the mercenary calmly raised his hand to secure his sword, shifting to the side. With a swift motion, he kicked his knee into the boy's abdomen.
The sound of armor clashing followed, and the heavy blow knocked the boy to the ground, his battered body curling up in pain.
His weakened body could no longer withstand the surge of blood and adrenaline, and the mercenary mercilessly stepped forward, delivering another kick that knocked the boy completely unconscious.
"No! Please don't hit him anymore. Noble sir, please…" The sister's broken sobs were dragged further and further away.
"Little bastard, if you weren't worth anything, I'd chop you into pieces," the mercenary spat at the unconscious boy, cursing in a foreign tongue, his mood soured. Without further delay, he stormed away from the cage.
Finally.
The area fell into a heavy silence once again.
The captives, either numb or sympathetic, cast their gazes back to the ground. No one could help him, nor could anyone help themselves. Such tragic encounters had become routine.
Moreover, in some ways, the boy was luckier than most of the other prisoners, for the majority of those here had already lost all their family in the earlier massacre.
Seeing that the mercenaries had finally moved away, León sighed and stood up, walking over to the unconscious boy. He crouched down and briefly examined the boy's injuries.
The mercenaries' beating had left bruises across the boy's body, but fortunately, there were no fatal wounds. The sturdy boy was still breathing evenly despite being unconscious.
León turned him over, making sure the boy lay on his side to keep him comfortable.
But aside from that, there wasn't much more he could do.
When the boy woke up again, it was already afternoon.
The boy opened his bloodshot eyes, his throat raspy like that of a beast's, filled with rage and sorrow. He struggled to rise, but the pain in his chest and abdomen made him bite his teeth, his body trembling in agony.
The pain instinctively made him curl up tighter, his sorrowful howls gradually turning into sobs.
León watched the boy tremble, his face buried in the ground, and remained silent. If it had been himself, no pale words of comfort would have had any effect at this moment.
A long time passed, so long that even the boy's low sobs eventually ceased.
As dusk fell, it was time for the mercenaries to feed the prisoners again. This time, León did not delay like the previous day. He quickly got up and went forward to gather the food.
Yesterday, the half piece of food the boy named Azerian gave him barely lasted until now. Perhaps the memories of feasting to the point of nausea before his transmigration were too vivid, which only intensified his hunger at this moment.
It was unclear whether it was due to the absence of more people or because the food was just tossed carelessly by the mercenaries, but this time, the food they threw in was a little more than the number of people in the cage.
Leon picked up a piece, glanced back at the boy who had lost his sister, and noticed that he was still curled up in the corner, motionless. Leon then grabbed an extra piece from the ground.
Walking back to the corner, Leon placed the extra piece of dry food in front of the boy, who had a vacant look in his eyes, and sat down to eat on his own.
By the time Leon finished chewing through the tasteless, woodchip-like dry food, he still hadn't seen the boy make any movement, as if he were a soulless doll.
"If you want to starve to death here, then you'll never see your sister again," Leon couldn't help but advise.
But the boy still didn't move.
Realizing that he wasn't good with words, Leon sighed helplessly and added, "Since you don't want to eat, then I won't be polite. I don't want to stay in this cage forever."
After saying this, he reached for the piece of dry food. The days of fine dining before his transmigration were still vivid in his mind, and now his head was spinning from hunger. Even though this dry food was terrible, it was still better than starving.
Perhaps something Leon had said triggered the boy. Before his hand could touch the food in front of the boy, the boy suddenly raised his hand and snatched it away.
The boy grabbed the dry food, his knuckles tightly gripping it, and his face, which had been lifeless, now twisted with a fierce expression as he began to devour the food ravenously.
Seeing this, Leon shrugged. It seemed there would be no extra meal for him.
The boy wolfed down the food, then painfully straightened himself, his eyes fixed on Leon.
"...?" Leon was puzzled by his unblinking gaze.
After a long silence, the boy slowly approached and, with gritted teeth, asked in a quiet voice, "You said you don't want to stay in this cage forever... Do you have a way to escape?"
Azerian, who was nearby, seemed to have faintly heard the words and couldn't help but glance over.
Leon then realized what had triggered the boy. It seemed he had misunderstood Leon's words, thinking there was hidden meaning.
"I don't want to be a slave, but right now, I have no way to escape," Leon said, shaking his head in regret.
Seeing the boy's eyes slowly fill with disappointment, Leon furrowed his brow and added, "As long as we're alive, there will always be a chance to get out."
The boy slowly lowered his head, staring at the filthy ground beneath him. After a long pause, he muttered, "As long as we're alive..."
The boy, dragging his wounded body, leaned against the corner of the cage next to Leon.
Leon looked at the silent boy and suddenly asked, "I'm Leon, what should I call you?"
"...Lohak," the sturdy boy answered in a deep voice.
Leon looked at the boy's solid frame, covered with bruises, and kindly advised, "Don't do stupid things like that anymore."
"...What?"
"Do you want to get beaten to death before you have a chance to escape? At least stop getting yourself hurt." Leon looked at the boy's wounds and continued, "If you die here, who will save your sister in the future?"
Lohak stared at Leon deeply, said nothing, and silently nodded.
Leon sighed again, not knowing how many times he had done so, and looked down at his hands, tightly shackled by the manacles.
It was easy to say nice things, but reality was still hopeless. The chance to escape seemed so distant, and not to mention, just getting these shackles off was a problem.
With no other choice, Leon closed his eyes and rested.
Regardless, just like the advice he had given to the others, in the face of the coming opportunity, they had to preserve their strength and spirit to survive.
(End of Chapter)