Free Web NovelChapter 21: Ch 21: Prisoners of the Empire
[A/N: Wish me luck as my features begin!]
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Soldiers moved between the caravans, taking a final note of everything. One of them, a man in his early thirties, approached the caravan Enzo was sitting at.
The man moved through the pages in his hand as his tired eyes looked at the miserable state of the captives with an unsympathetic gaze. It almost looked like routine work to him.
"Hmm, I shall be calling your names. Just respond once alright?"
He didn’t wait for an answer as he quickly started calling out the names listed in his page.
"Enzo?"
At his name, Enzo flinched slightly. He nodded meekly to the soldier as he responded, "That would be me."
The soldier hummed indifferently before moving on to the others.
But inwardly, Enzo wasn’t as calm as him. He had been wondering since the man arrived on what he would be called by.
He had even been thinking about names he could use if the man asked him to pick a name for himself.
But it seemed he had been overthinking. Someone had been quite generous and had freely given away his true name, that she no wonder had discovered from the Aspirants groupchat.
It wouldn’t have been a problem in most cases. But he was a barbarian of the Great Forest and people like him weren’t just birthed with a name.
There was a good reason to it as well.
Legends say the barbarian clans of the Great Forest had once signed a soul contract with some deity. From thereafter, any barbarian with an outstanding achievement can officially be named.
And this name assigned to them triggers the soul contract inside them. Granting them a significant boost in their powers.
Obviously, Enzo hadn’t received that blessing. He neither had a great achievement in this planet unless one counted the Unique Mana Core nor could he find a clan elder, who are the only ones capable of granting these blessings. Both the conditions are necessary.
Enzo noticed that other than him, every other captive inside his caravan was a named member of the Hermann clan.
’Valerie made sure I won’t be feeling left out.’ He thought sarcastically.
But assuming Valerie had also registered him as a named member of the Hermann clan, he wondered what had been the negotiation that Draven had been able to come up with. He was really, really curious to know about that.
"Yeah, captain, all the mudcracks in here." The man who had come for inspection shouted after he confirmed everyone’s presence. He left but not before leaving an insult hanging in the air.
Surprisingly, not a single soul inside the vehicle reacted to the provocation. They all sat down in silence, their minds filled with conflicting thoughts and their eyes brimming with sadness, anxiousness and uncertainty.
That is...other than a girl who was sitting just beside him. He glanced briefly at her direction, her youthful face still radiating a palpable energy as she took in her new surroundings. Even the steel handcuffs binding her wrists wasn’t able to bring out any sign of uncomfortableness on her face.
Enzo shifted his gaze to the doors, which were being closed by the soldiers, leaving the entire space in darkness other than the few strays of light entering the insides through cracked wood.
Only faint silhouettes of the Hermann clan’s captured members were visible in this low intensity of light. There were no windows either to ventilate fresh air in the space.
The caravan gave a jostle as they leaned against the walls for balance, before the vehicle started moving.
The journey had started and they had no idea where they were being taken to.
***
After hours of travelling in a monotonous silence, the caravan skidded to a stop.
The silence inside the caravan suddenly broke into shifting noises as almost everyone tensed, wondering if they had reached their destination.
Heavy footsteps approached as the doors flew open. Two soldiers in the gray armours - the Sihapis, as Enzo remembered them being called, made way.
"You!" One of them pointed at Enzo and ordered, "Move aside and make some space. Tell the others to push towards the wall as well."
Enzo stared at the raised finger before mechanically nodding. He rose up, being careful enough to not get by the low ceiling.
He heard the other soldier ask in confusion, "There wasn’t any need of that, you know. Just make those five sit in the available gaps."
However, the other guy argued back that his arrangement was more effective and not a wastage of time.
The words sounded more like an excuse and for one split second, Enzo found himself looking at the wall he had been leaning on.
The wooden plank there had been rather soft.
Then he looked at the girl who had been sitting a distance away from him. Now staring at him with those naturally wide eyes as she pointed at herself and asked, "I move?"
Enzo nodded as the girl hurried to the next person, asking him to move as well. The entire row followed soon and Enzo sat next to the girl again, his nose scrunching at the smell of dried blood sticking to her clothes.
He tried to ignore the smell as he turned to look at the five men who were being huried inside the already congested caravan.
The smell of sweat and grime that had been lingering instantly turned even more unholy as Enzo had to start breathing from his mouth, just to stop himself from vomitting out everything in his empty stomach.
Two of these five sat on his left, on the space he had made. Their clothes were tattered and soiled with dried mud. At their close proximity to him, Enzo felt their stench invading his nostrils.
He looked at their hands which were bound by the metallic chains as well. But they weren’t wearing a slave collar unlike the captives of the Hermann clan. These five were not slaves and rather only prisoners. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
A man in chacoal black armour stepped into view. The Sihapis who had been settling the prisoners inside the small caravan instantly straightened up as they sensed his presence and bowed to this newcomer.
Enzo’s pupils narrowed slightly at the sight of the armour.
A Legion.
Enzo instantly recognised the title the man held. And from the way he carried himself, Enzo guessed the man was a noble as well.
’Ah well, most of the Legions are nobles anyways. Unless you are some highly talented commoner, there is no other way you would be taken in by the Citadel and trained as a Legion.’
The man cast one dismissing look at the groveling barbarians before turning his attention to the five men. In his eyes, the barbarians were just the newest batch of slaves being brought into the market. Nothing unusual at all.
And so he spoke, addressing the five prisoners with a sneer.
"Goodbye, morons. I hope my hospitality was a treat you shall remember once you become mere slaves to the Empire."
Only one of them, a man on the other row stirred. He had brown long hairs flowing down his face, which appeared bruised and battered. But as he looked up, his eyes held a chilling resolve behind them.
"With pleasure, My Lord." He stretched the last two words in a venomous tone. "How can we even start to forget your hospitality? Afterall, your...cowardice and entitlement had been a show I have enjoyed. Too fearful to even pick up a stick against us and too prideful to let go of your noble arrogance."
"Zen, stop it. Not now, not here." A growling voice stopped the man named Zen as the Legion’s face flushed crimson with indignation.
Enzo glanced at the man who shut down Zen. The man was sitting where he had been a few moments ago. He was aged and looked haggard. And the way how the other four had reacted to his words made him look like their unofficial leader.
"You scums never learn. The illusion your common blood can indulge in is always fascinating. And you!" The legion soldier pointed at the old man and spoke in a voice full of disappointment.
"How can a blood like yours even allow you to follow a group of commoners?"
"I lead them." The casual response gave way to a deep silence, only broken by the disgruntled laughter from the legion.
"As you say, Sir John. Let’s hope your presence didn’t taint the Imperial Council with your rebellious thoughts."
Faced with the sneer, John raised his head and looked at the legion with a cold glint in his eyes.
"Young man, you mistake my call for change as conspiracy. Not just you but the other prideful nobles in the Council as well, who are more bent on warming their own Imperial seats. And as for whether I have tainted the Council..."
He sighed as he finished, "Don’t worry about that. Had I been able to turn to them on my side, I wouldn’t be sitting here with my companions. But rather in the Imperial Hall, savouring the victory."
