2 - Chapter Ii -- Slave
I wake up to a man's loud voice.
Oh, you fell asleep in the bathroom. All right. I'll get up. Shut up.
Suddenly a big hand grabs me by the chest and lifts me up. What the hell is that? I open my eyes and there's a big guy with a beard.
"You're alive! Don't you dare bother me, you slave!
The beard throws me roughly into the wagon. That hurt! What the hell is going on?
There were several children in the carriage. About 5 to 10 years old. All with dead eyes. I seemed to be the only male in the group, and the rest were girls. I talk to the oldest girl to confirm the situation.
"Excuse me, may I have a word?"
A girl with unfocused, vacant eyes turns to me.
"I wish you were dead."
What the hell are you talking about, you little brat? The answer came back so unexpectedly that I was absolutely mortified.
"If I'd died, it would've been easier. It might have been your last chance to die easy.
What kind of a disturbing word is that? As I freeze, the carriage stops unexpectedly.
"Hey! Kids! Dinner! Get down here! Hurry up or you'll miss dinner!
That bearded face is yelling at the top of his lungs. The children are shaking with fear and getting off the wagon. And I, too, get out of the wagon with them.
The food we were given tasted like shit. The first bite was enough to make me gasp, and it was not human food. The children were working, nonchalantly putting the food in their mouths. I gave all the rest of the food to the girl I had just talked to.
It had rained earlier and there were puddles of water everywhere. One of the puddles near me is quite large. As I looked at the puddle, I saw the reflection of a child in the water.
The child in the puddle moves according to my movements. Raise your right hand, raise your left hand, lower your right hand.
Is this me?
He was a child who looked like he was 5 or 6 years old. What the hell is going on?
I freeze, and a bearded face picks me up from behind.
"Hey! Meal time is over! Get in the car! You stupid bastard!
Once again, I am thrown roughly into the wagon. I'm really gonna get hurt.
In the rattling wagon, I try desperately to comprehend the situation. Why am I a child? Where am I? What happened to my job?
"If you don't eat, you won't get a buyer, will you?"
The girl who gave him the bad meal mumbles.
"What do you mean?"
"The slaver said that a man has to be big to be sold to a soldier or a mine. Were you hurt when you fell off the wagon? If you're hurt or sick, they might get rid of you."
"No, I'm fine.
"Yeah? I thought you were badly hurt because you didn't eat.
They were worried about me, being the only boy in the house. After that, I was able to get a lot of information from this girl.
The bearded man is a slaver.
All the people in the carriage are slaves (including me, of course).
Girl slaves are basically prostitutes or maids, but some of them become adventurers.
Men are usually soldiers or do manual labor in mines.
The future of a slave depends entirely on his/her owner. Sometimes they are bought by perverts or homicidal maniacs and become cripples or corpses.
According to this girl, it is rare for a boy of 5 or 6 years old to be sold into slavery. Since men are valuable as laborers, even if their families are a little poor, the people of the village usually cooperate in raising them.
As for me, after I was thrown into the carriage, I cried and cried so hard that I fell off my head. And that's how I met the bearded face at the beginning of this story.
"It looks like we'll be arriving at the capital tomorrow morning. I'm going to bed. I'm sure this is the last day I can sleep freely.
"Aren't you going to run away?"
"You idiot. If you run away, you'll end up as food for demons. I don't want to die as food.
Oh, my God. There are monsters in this world.
After a while the girl began to sleep. How can she sleep in this rocking carriage? Apparently other girls are sleeping too.
It seems I have been reincarnated. In the body of a child, and in the status of a slave.
In the end I could not sleep until morning.
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