......The next day.

After barely falling asleep in the cold night wind, Dona—or rather, Leon—was startled awake by a cacophony of shouting and crying.

He rubbed his drowsy eyes and sat up, looking toward the source of the commotion.

Outside the cage, a number of mercenaries had gathered at some point.

These soldiers of Kantadar were guarding a man wearing a military robe adorned with the emblem of a white bird—a man of obviously higher status with a sword at his waist. He was likely a Kantadar officer or noble. The man gazed impatiently at the quarrel inside the cage.

Two soldiers were roughly hauling up a woman inside the cage, trying to drag her outside. A young man was shouting angrily, clutching onto her and continuously kicking and resisting the mercenaries.

Looking closely, it was that pair of siblings.

“You bastards! Let go of my sister! Let her go! Let her go!!!” The boy's bloodshot eyes were filled with rage in his hoarse screams, but one could also hear his helpless panic and sobs.

His sister was already sobbing uncontrollably, only able to plead intermittently with her brother to let go and not further provoke the mercenaries into hurting him.

The Kantadar mercenaries clearly had no patience. They threw the girl to the ground; one grabbed the boy's hair and yanked him back, while another mercilessly lifted his boot and kicked the boy heavily to the ground.

(In Ulian) “Damn pig!” The mercenary cursed in foreign profanity, furious as he drew the sword at his waist.

Leon involuntarily flinched at the sight. Any modern person with basic moral sensibilities would be moved by such a scene, and the vivid memories of his body's original parents' tragic deaths stirred uncontrollable anger within him.

But reason warned him that he was just an unarmed youth at the moment—there was nothing he could do.

A hand pressed down on his shoulder. Turning to look, he saw it was the boy he had met the day before.

“Spare yourself a beating... We can't help him,” Azerion advised Leon calmly.

The poor woman thrown to the ground was nearly collapsing. Seeing the mercenary's blade pointed at her only remaining family member, her vision blurred with tears. She crawled to the mercenary's feet, grabbing his ankle, and pleaded, “... No—no, please don't hurt my brother. I beg you, merciful sir. I'll go with you... I'll go with you. Please don't hurt him, I beg you...”

The mercenary's steps were halted. Just as he angrily reached out to grab the woman's hair, his rough action was stopped by his companion. Another mercenary tilted his head toward the slave buyers outside, so the angry mercenary had to restrain his brutality for the moment.

He sheathed his sword and grabbed the woman's arms with both hands, pulling her up and continuing to drag her outside.

“Cough... Sis... Sis... You Kantadar bastards! Ahhhh!” The boy struggled to get up, coughing up blood. Consumed by hatred, he roared and charged once more.

The mercenary blocking his way swung his fist fiercely at the boy, but unexpectedly, the boy ducked his head and dodged.

The boy's body plunged straight into the mercenary's arms. Leon saw that his hands, bound by shackles, swiftly reached for the sword hilt at the mercenary's waist.

Unfortunately, the mercenary calmly gripped his sword and sidestepped, lifting his right leg to knee the boy directly in the abdomen.

With a thud from the movement of his armor, the heavy blow sent the boy crashing down. His battered body was kicked into a curled-up position on the ground.

His weakened body could no longer withstand the surging of agitated blood. The mercenary ruthlessly stepped forward and added another kick, rendering the boy completely unconscious.

“... No! Please don't hit him anymore... Sir... I beg you...” Outside the cage, the boy's sister's heartbroken sobs grew more distant as she was dragged away.

(In Ulian) “Little bastard, if you weren't worth some money, I'd have chopped you into pieces...” The mercenary spat on the unconscious boy who had taken the heavy blows. Unwilling to continue entangling himself, he cursed and left the cage.

Finally.

An oppressive silence fell once more.

The captives lowered their gazes back to the ground, their expressions numb or sympathetic. No one could help him, nor could they help themselves. People had grown accustomed to such miserable fates.

What's more, in a certain sense, the boy was luckier than most captives here, as most had lost all their family members during the previous massacres.

Seeing the mercenaries finally walk away, Leon sighed, got up, and went to the boy who had been beaten unconscious, squatting down to quickly check his injuries.

The mercenary's beating had left bruises and welts all over the boy's body, but fortunately no fatal injuries. This sturdy boy's breathing was still steady in his fainting state.

Leon reached out and turned him over, letting the unconscious boy lie on his side.

But beyond that, there was nothing more he could do.

......

When the unconscious boy woke up again, it was already afternoon.

He opened his reddened eyes, his throat hoarse like a wild beast filled with grief and anger. He struggled to get up again, but the pain in his chest and abdomen made him clench his teeth as his body convulsed.

Pain instinctively made the boy curl up tighter. His sorrowful howls gradually turned into sobs as his powerless rage subsided.

Leon watched the boy trembling with his face buried in the ground and remained silent. If it were himself, no comforting words could have any effect at this moment.

After a long time—so long that even the boy's low sobs gradually ceased.

The sky grew dark again; it was time for the mercenaries to toss food to the prisoners. This time, Leon did not react as slowly as the day before. He promptly got up and went forward to pick up the food.

The half-piece of food that the boy named Azerion had shared with him yesterday hadn't filled his stomach at all. Perhaps his memories of daily feasting before transmigrating were too vivid, which only heightened his current hunger.

He didn't know whether it was because there was one less person this time, or if the amount of food the mercenaries threw was always random, but this time the rations thrown in were slightly more than the number of people in the cage.

Leon picked up a piece, looked back at the boy who had lost his sister. The boy was still curled up motionless in the corner, so he picked up another piece from the ground.

Returning to the corner, Leon placed the extra ration in front of the vacant-eyed boy, then sat beside him and began eating on his own.

By the time he had finished gnawing on the hard, sawdust-like dry bread, the boy with empty eyes still hadn't made any movement, like a soulless doll.

“If you want to starve to death here, you'll never see your sister again,” Leon couldn't help but say.

But the boy still made no response.

Admitting he wasn't skilled with words, Leon sighed helplessly. “Since you don't want to eat, then I won't be polite. I don't want to stay in this cage forever.”

With that, he reached out to take the piece of dry bread. The days of feasting before transmigrating were still vivid in his mind. Now, feeling faint from hunger, even if this bread was hard to swallow, it was better than starving.

Perhaps something he said stirred the boy. Before Leon's hand touched the food in front of him, the boy suddenly reached out and snatched it away.

The boy grabbed the bread, his knuckles clenching tightly. His expression seemed to come back to life, and he fiercely devoured the food in his hands.

Seeing this, Leon shrugged—it seemed he wouldn't get an extra meal.

The boy gobbled down the food, then painfully and with difficulty straightened up, staring directly at Leon.

“...?” Leon felt somewhat baffled by his gaze.

The boy was silent for a moment, then slowly approached, lowering his voice and gritting his teeth. “You said you don't want to stay in this cage forever... Do you... have a way to escape?”

Nearby, Azerion seemed to have vaguely heard their conversation and couldn't help but look over.

Only then did Leon realize what had prompted the boy. The other thought there was more to his words.

“I don't want to be a slave, but I currently have no way to escape,” Leon could only regretfully shake his head at the boy.

Seeing the disappointment in the boy's eyes, Leon frowned and added, “As long as we're still alive, there will always be a chance to get out.”

The boy slowly lowered his head, looking at the dirty ground beneath his feet. After a long while, he murmured, “... As long as we're alive.”

Dragging his scarred body, the boy leaned against the corner of the fence beside Leon.

Leon looked at him silently and suddenly asked, “My name is Leon. What should I call you?”

“... Lohak,” the sturdy boy replied in a deep voice.

Leon glanced at the bruises covering his strong body and kindly advised, “Don't do such foolish things again.”

“... What?”

“Do you want to be beaten to death by them before you have a chance to escape? At least don't let yourself get hurt anymore,” Leon said, looking at his injuries. “If you die here, who will rescue your sister in the future?”

Hearing this, Lohak gave Leon a deep look, did not retort, and silently nodded.

Leon sighed for who knows how many times, lowering his head to look at his own hands firmly bound by shackles.

It's easy to say encouraging words, but reality remains despairing. Relying on a chance that comes only through waiting is so elusive. Not to mention, figuring out how to open these shackles on his hands was already a problem.

Leon helplessly closed his eyes and continued to rest.

No matter what, just as he had advised others, before any possible opportunity arrived, he had to conserve his strength and spirit to stay alive.