Chapter: 30
As soon as Jiso had left, the Odol-like man, who seemed to be mimicking a child’s voice, dropped the act and pointed at Iris and me with a heavy voice.
Knowing that any rebellion here would only bring violence, I stood up and approached the Odol-like man. Even though I rushed over, his face was still a picture of discontent.
“Ugh! This is why slaves need a good smack to come to their senses!”
With his face turning a shade of red that could rival a tomato, the Odol-like man pointed at Iris and barked. I turned around in disbelief, only to see Iris sitting there with a blank face, as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
“Damn slave girl!”
The Odol-like man pulled a whip from his waist and swung it around wildly.
Crack, whooosh!
When the whip hit the cell floor, it made a sound so vicious it echoed through the place.
‘Gasp?! Wouldn’t that kill someone if it hit them?!’
Seeing a stone break apart from the whip’s snap sent chills down my spine, and I hurried over to Iris.
“Iris, get up! Let’s go, now!”
“…?”
Iris just stared blankly at me, her mouth slightly ajar. She looked completely out of it. Forcing myself, I yanked her up.
“Get up… oomph!”
Fortunately, as I lifted her, she actually stood up on her own. It didn’t seem like she was ignoring me on purpose; she just looked totally zonked.
“How dare you! How dare you little brats ignore me?!”
The Odol-like man clearly didn’t like me helping Iris and swung his whip again, fiercely.
WHOOSH!
The whip whipped across my back, tearing at my skin. It felt like ripping off a band-aid, and I could smell blood in the air.
“YOWCH!”
The sting made me hop around on my toes. It felt like someone had dumped ice down my shirt, and I shivered.
“Get up!”
With a harsh shout, I pulled on Iris’s wrist. Like a rag doll with frayed strings, she followed me without protest.
“If you defy me here, you’re gonna regret it!”
After a few more whips against the floor, the Odol-like man spun around and started swaggering away. He was a whole head taller than me, making him a short dude compared to most adult men.
Because of that, I could easily catch up to him, even though he was striding quickly. As we walked past the cells on both sides of the wide corridor, the hallway split into different paths.
There were four paths total, including the one where Iris and I were standing. The front and back paths were the same as the ones we’d come from. The center had cells on either side.
To my right stretched a long corridor, ending with a massive door that was at least 10 meters tall.
On the left was a shorter path that ended with about ten steps. The Odol-like man opted for the left path.
‘Wow, is this an elevator or something?’
Atop the steps was a rickety old wooden elevator that looked suspiciously like something left over from an abandoned mine. Once Iris, the Odol-like man, and I piled into the elevator, he yanked on a rope by the side.
Creak, bang!
The elevator jolted, then slowly started to descend, like we were going down a dark cave.
Even with two lanterns attached, they didn’t seem bright enough; they looked like they were on their last legs.
Creak.
The elevator suddenly brightened again when we reached the floor below. Without saying a word, the Odol-like man shook the rope again.
Then the elevator started to descend even deeper.
The rope had been tugged three times in total, meaning we were definitely at least four floors underground.
‘They’ll probably hand out spoons later, right?’
A spoon is pretty handy as a digging tool in a prison! Even if we were ten floors down, I could probably make a clean escape in no time.
“Okay, from now on, this is your room.”
The Odol-like man pointed at a sturdy door and swung it open, revealing one cramped interior of a cell. It was so small, three adult men lying down would fill it to capacity – and it was dark enough to suffocate you.
“Get in quickly!”
I pulled Iris into the cramped cell, her dazed expression still floating by, as the Odol-like man’s hand twitched like he wanted to smack the whip right away.
Creak, clang! Boom!
Iris and I were swallowed by the darkness, unable to see a single inch ahead.
*
Crack, snap!
“…!”
Noah’s eyes widened as she stared at the broken practice wooden sword she held, splinters scattering about like leaves in the wind.
[Great, it’s broken. Must not have been taken care of properly—snapped easier than I thought.]
Julianna grumbled about how someone should get her a new sword. Noah remained silent for a moment, looking at the wreckage before eventually nodding.
‘Why do I feel so on edge?’
Noah clutched her chest, where uneasiness started to gnaw at her, and she released her grip repeatedly. Her gaze drifted to where Lian had been sitting.
It was empty, like a ghost town.
‘He must have left for other business. Lian is always busy, after all.’
Trying to suppress her rising anxiety, Noah headed for the storage where they kept the wooden swords.
[Ugh, this is giving me the creeps.]
As soon as she walked into the storage, the first thing that greeted her was a dead bug the size of her palm near the entrance. Julianna, obviously not a fan of bugs, shivered and retreated slightly behind Noah.
Thud, thud, thud!
A shattered wooden sword, a corpse of a bug.
What would typically be chalked up as not a big deal felt terrifyingly eerie. Noah looked down at the carcass and sifted through her memories.
‘Why am I feeling so uneasy? Did something happen to make me feel this way?’
With nothing specific popping into her head, Noah’s worry only grew. Eventually, she left the storage without even grabbing a wooden sword.
[Eh? Where are you going? To the bathroom?]
Noah’s heart pounded loudly, like it wanted to leap out of her throat, and her mind went blank, leaving her unable to respond to Julianna’s question. Her fast walk turned into a full-on sprint.
“Huff, huff…!”
Noah realized where she had felt this anxiety and fear before.
“Lian! Lian!”
A horrific scene flickered through her mind from a moment she had peered through a door.
“Lian!”
First on her list was the kitchen, but all she found there were kids busy chopping vegetables.
“Looking for Lian bro?”
“I saw him! He took something like this to the sleeping rooms just a while ago.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t ask me.”
Without paying any heed to the children’s chatter, Noah dashed toward the dormitory. The closer she got, the more her anxiety intensified.
“Lian!”
With a voice soaked in desperation, Noah pushed open the dormitory door to find only neatly dressed dolls waiting for her on the beds.
Eyes nearly rolled back, Noah immediately opened another door. There was no sign of Lian in the second room, nor the third.
“Lian, please… tell me you’re here?”
With a quivering voice, Noah forced a weak, sad smile as she opened the last door.
Creak.
The door opened cautiously, revealing Pia sitting on the floor, her hair grasped between her hands in despair.
“Why? Why aren’t you saying anything? Is this it? Huh? Please talk to me! Please, please, please!”
Pia pleaded repeatedly, desperately seeking validation that she hadn’t been wrong, but with Dovan’s magic having waned, silence was her only answer.
“Pia…?”
Noah didn’t recognize Pia right away due to her darkened hair and purplish-black eyes, but once familiar features came into view, she realized who it was.
Pia lifted her head at the sound of Noah’s voice.
“Ah ah -.. Noah.”
Pia managed a twisted smile and staggered to her feet, sending a chill down Noah’s spine.
“Listen. I saved you guys finally.”
“What?”
“I finally kicked out that hypocrite torturing you and everyone else! But my sister… she won’t respond to me. Ah ah -, has she finally freed herself from her attachments and left me?”
Pia rambled incomprehensibly, appearing utterly unhinged. Noah, fighting the overwhelming desire to run away, managed to ask,
“Pia, have you seen Lian?”
“..Lian?”
Pia’s smile instantly vanished, her eyes rolling down to the floor. Following her glance, Noah spotted a doll lying there.
The very dolls that had been neatly arranged on beds in other rooms were merely rolling on the floor in this one.
“Why is this on the floor…? Pia, what on earth… what happened here?”
As Noah asked, her voice quaked, and Pia blinked slowly, forcing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“I told you earlier. That damn trash, Lian? I’ve sent him packing!”
“What..?”
“Don’t you think so too? Lian is trash! He just smiles like a hypocrite trying to use us!”
Tension stirred in Pia’s previously unfocused eyes, now dancing in a whirl of confusion. Her voice slightly trembled, laced with an obsessive need for confirmation.
“Right? Lian the bastard is trash! Trash that needs to be disposed of immediately! Having him around is useless, isn’t it? It only makes things worse!”
Pia’s gaze flitted around the ground. Affixed at the end of her sight was a doll resembling her hairstyle.
“…Right? It’s true, isn’t it?”
Pia’s voice trembled, barely concealing her unstable emotions.
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