"That can't be considered fair," I complained, even if I knew it was pointless. In a fight to the death, I Indeed would have died.
"Had we been real enemies you would have been slain," Seinaru countered, feeling smug despite his internally shivering arm.
I had pushed him to the tip of his capacity. That, or the constant fighting during the day had weakened his sword's arm.
"But in a real fight we would never use a wooden sword," I said.
Seinaru simply shrugged, unwilling to revoke his win, and why should he? Besides, he knew within himself that a second fight would end in his defeat. My approach had been much too violent, borderline overwhelming.
Shaking my head at his adamant demeanor I smiled. Everything still favored me.
"You owe me something," he said and I nodded.
"It's about your sisters."
A wave of silence descended on us, and though I guessed that he suspected my revelation, his expression still changed nonetheless.
Displeasure was written all over his face, and I knew to act fast.
Suddenly feeling tense, I wanted to speak when he beat me to it. "You smell like shit."
…?
"Uh, w-what?" My features contorted in a mixture of astonishment and confusion. Could he not read the room?... or field?
"I know, but that isn't the point."
"Maybe. But I can't take you seriously nor stand you when you carry the stench of horse dung."
His words stung, and a muscle jerked in my face. If only he knew it was his very sister who put me up to the whole gig. Or maybe I was the one… I introduced them to Devon after all.
"Follow me. I'll take you to a bath," he announced, placing the wooden sword on his shoulders and walking away.
I grit my teeth in growing impatience.
"The soldiers will soon be here to take me away, I don't have the time to take a bath. What I have to say is also important."
Despite my words, the blue-haired man continued to walk away, seemingly unfazed by the urgency in my tone.
"I'll only listen to what you have to say if you wash yourself," he insisted, but I tried persuading him, even if it ended in my loss.
"Why are you so worried? I can ask that they leave you with me," he sneered, at some point, nearly eyeing me.
I felt all my urgency vanish at that simple revelation. Of course, he could! Which slave had as much leisure as he did?
Surrendering, I let him lead me into his quarters, which was surprisingly within a section of the mansion. There had been soldiers at the entrance, but they had allowed him to bring me nonetheless.
Did they not worry that I could be an accomplice in his escape?
Tossing a pair of clothes at my thought-filled figure he spoke, "Change into these when you're done."
'Clothes too?'
"Aren't you supposed to be locked up, or under some heavy restrictions," I asked, taking off my shirt.
"I am," he sighed. "I cannot cross the walls unless with the townslord himself."
I needed no further explanation to understand the full scope of that limitation. It meant he was only an item that could be used for bargaining.
Yukov had taken care of him and his sisters l, after all. His life remained a useful thing.
At that thought even more contempt rose in my heart towards Ushan.
It didn't take long for me to wash myself. Being able to scrub clean had done wonders for my skin. Wonders, I had forgotten I was capable of experiencing. We had never done this at the slave camp.
Speaking of which, I expected that some sort of news would have spread across the camps about the incident. It did not seem so.
"Now we can talk," Seinaru stated, sitting. His quarters were a tad bit spacious—Capable of fitting a moderate-sized bed and a couch big enough to fit two people.
There existed only one window within the room, and despite it being big, it could not eradicate the subtle choking atmosphere within those walls.
It was obvious that Seinaru had not lost sight of his true situation. And that very detail brought gladness to my heart.
He could be saved.
Inclined to speak in a hushed tone, I swept my gaze on the room again. The curtain on the window did not allow much light, but no one could see us too.
Collecting my thoughts, I opened my mouth to speak.
Narrating the events that had happened during the last six months, I brought him up to date on the current situation of things.
This allowed the topic of his sisters planning his escape to carry more weight.
At some point, I could see that he did not doubt me, and I felt glad.
Besides, Eiko told me a certain thing to tell him if he ever revealed distrust concerning my testimony.
And of course, he had doubts. To which I passed the message handed to me.
The result had been a bright light on his face—one that not even his fighting had been able to generate.
From that point, he did not doubt.
"But how will you do It? I'm sure sister understands the consequences of attacking this place as a knight of Yukov. It would lead to the slaughter of the people," Seinaru raised the same concern I had raised during our planning period, and of course, we had come up with a solution.
"We will act as a group of outlaws," I stated. "We even have a name."
Not convinced, his frown deepened. I knew the question in his mind, yet I hoped he did not ask it.
Even with the solution of an outlaw group, there remained a fundamental issue with the setup.
Our goal was to steal him out of that place, and it didn't matter our story, suspicion would rise concerning the perpetrators.
Only Yukov could want to bring him from there. And the argument that Yukov had hired help to carry out that plan was still an issue.
In truth, the very fact that we planned to bring him out of that place alive, was the real problem.
My heart sank when I watched his lips part to speak, knowing nothing easy would come out of it.
"I appreciate the escape plan, but the fact remains that I will have to die for there not to be consequences for the rest of the Yarub."
At that very moment, I watched the fire of patriotism burn in his emerald eyes, and could not but wince at that flame.
He did not let me recover from my daze when he spoke again; this time, his tone had gone dark and the room seemed to grow dimmer as a response.
"Tell sister…. Not to go ahead."
…Eh?