CLANK!
A servant closed the cage's door behind him, finishing his job of giving a piece of bread to all the slave within it.
The cage only had small children ranging from 8 years to 15 years old. They all looked malnourished, with their skin looking pale. The slaves in there wore some thin clothes that could somewhat cover their private areas.
Some had already lost hope, with their eyes looking lifeless. On the other hand, there were some new slave who still had some hope in getting out of this place.
But in the end, even they would fall into despair like any other slave.
The slave named verine knew about this better than anyone. Actually this cage of slave were treated better than the other cages as they were going to be trained to become premium slaves.
To do this, it was better to choose slaves of young age. This slaves get a piece of bread three times a day unlike the slaves in other cages, who don't even get a single meal. Preservative type magic was cast upon them so that they won't die soon. But still many slaves die everyday from starvation.
This slaves don't have the right to kill themselves or hurt each other. Even the right of trying to run away was taken away from them. The moment a slave seal was made on their body, they had lost all their rights.
Only slaves with exceptional beauty or strength are valued here. Others are like disposable items to the black market.
Varine ate the piece of bread in her hand quietly. She had grown used to staying in places like this for a long time. She was currently sitting at the corner of the cage, staring forward blankly.
Varine had black hair and golden eyes, her body stature was small matching her 12 years old status.
'Does it matter? freedom, they will never be able to attain it.' Verine found the hopes in other slave's eyes to be inconceivable. She didn't mock them for still having hope, she had just accepted the reality.
Varine had also hoped for someone to save her just like them once.
'It has been four years since I became a slave now.'
Varine lived in a normal village located on the border of the Mhydrasvil empire. She lived happily with her grandmother there. Her parents had left her there when she was two year old, but after that they never returned again. No matter how she cried or pleaded they never returned. In the end, she had to accept it, they would never return.
Though Varine and her grandmother lived a poor life, they were able to live by somehow.
But this didn't last long, her grandmother died when Varine was Five year old. It was a sudden death from sickness.
Varine was left all alone in the world. She could only cry again with helplessness.
She was accepted by the orphanage in that village, then she started living there still filled with immense sadness.
Not too long from then, suddenly their village was attacked by bandits. At that time she was still an eight year old kid.
The whole village was burnt down to ashes, many people living at that village was taken as a slave.
Varine still remembered the river of blood she had seen four years ago. The bandits or more specifically the people from the black market, killed all the people they found useless without any mercy.
The peaceful village had been turned into a ruin, corpses were everywhere, it was a pitiful sight.
Varine had hidden in one of the sacks, waiting for them to leave. But can she fool the senses of the knight? she was found out almost immediately.
The bandit who found her lifted his sword up, looking at her with an evil smirk on his face.
"Stop!" Another bandit who looked to be their leader came towards them with a frown on his face.
"Take her with the other slaves." Saying this with an uninterested expression, the bandit leader left.
"Tch!, Come with me you shit!" The bandit dragged Varine by her hand. She couldn't resist the power of a knight at all and was dragged along easily. No matter how she resisted by crying or wailing around her limb, it was pointless.
This is how Varine's slave life began, she was sad at the lost of her orphanage but she was already use to it. There were other slaves from her orphanage, but she didn't know about them much, as she liked being alone in the orphanage.
Varine was taken from one slave market to the another, being displayed as a slave. But not many people were interested in kids, so she ended up in this black market after a long time.
While she was still being taken to one after another black markets, Varine had still hoped for someone to save her, but it never happened. She wanted to escape but it was impossible with the slave seal. In the end, she also fell in despair just like any other slave.
Living such a life, Varine matured faster than others.
A life without meaning, a life without a goal. Her whole life was a tragedy.
It was almost like she was cursed.
Varine remembered a memory from a long time ago. It was something an another slave had spoken once.
['' Is there any meaning in this life? We don't have a place where we belong, we can't even protect the thing we hold dear to.....Really, we don't even have the right to kill ourselves.... hahahahaha!!!''] The slave started laughing crazily, He had gone insane. This was actually the best way a person could escape from his misery in a place like this.
'A place I can belong...and the power to protect what I hold dear to me....' These words resonated with Varine. She clearly didn't have both of this.
'But in the end, even I will turn out like the other slaves being sold to another customer.....' It was hopeless to think about it now. Varine didn't feel despair on this matter, she had long grown used to it.
Finishing the bread in her hand. Suddenly, Varine could see a person's leg standing outside the cage, right in front of her. Someone had walked in front of her without Her noticing a thing.
''Hm?" Baffled, Varine lifted her head up with squinted eyes.
The person standing in front of her, looked directly at her eyes with his blue eyes. He had white hair and a white mask on his face.
(End of volume 3)
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