Time passed so quickly, and reality was as confusing as a dream. I was soaring high, only to fall so hard.
Tap!
"Where am I?"
I muttered as a small branch from the tree I'd been leaning against last night fell on my head, compounded by the glare of the morning sun, which tried to penetrate my retinas.
The atmosphere was unfamiliar, but not too unfamiliar, as vague memories of last night swirled rapidly and flowed through my head.
"Ahh, I feel so dizzy!" I complained softly, trying to reach for my sword, which lay not far from where I was leaning.
It felt like déjà vu, but slowly but surely, I moved the joints in my legs and stretched. It truly felt like my body had been ground repeatedly with a flour mill last night.
However, despite the pain, I tried to stand, leaning on my sword, which I had stabbed into the ground for support.
Crack!!
"Ouch!"
I whimpered as the sound of my poor, shattered bones began to echo as my feet slowly began to take steps.
Slowly but surely, in excruciating pain, I tried to descend the forested hill to find the stream below, hoping that a few sips of its water would sustain me for a few moments on earth.
Clap!
Unable to hold on any longer, I fell when my foot accidentally hit a rock blocking the path. Luckily, I landed right on the edge of the gently flowing stream. Without wasting time, I scooped up as much water as I could in my palm and drank it.
"Oh crap!"
I grumbled again, realizing that what I was drinking was river water mixed with human blood, likely from the village upstream.
But never mind!
Nothing truly scares me in this world right now except starving to death.
It's truly unfortunate when you can breathe in the morning but the unbearable pain in your stomach eats away at your intestines.
"Arrgghhh!!"
I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. I threw myself into the river, drowning in the rough, scarred skin. "Ahh!" The pain was so intense, it seemed to penetrate my bones.
In moments like these, I'm reminded of the past. Although not particularly beautiful, it at least provided memories I'll never forget.
The anxiety returned, as if refusing to give me a chance to feel at peace. But I remembered my original goal: I couldn't die like this.
And after my spirit returned, I tried with all my strength to stand, even though I was trembling. The pain couldn't contain my desire to live, and I slowly explored the river to find the village I was looking for.
I'm Balt—at least that's the name I've been given since forever, and it was also given to me by someone very important to me. However, my story won't begin at the end of this river, but that's where I'll end it.
The Rogue & The Way Home
........
Splash!!
"Get up, you lazy, useless bastard!"
A man's harsh, harsh words pierced my eardrums, forcing me to open my still-sleepy eyes.
With my hands tied to a rope, which was tied to another, larger rope, I tried to move unsteadily with the last of my strength, along with the other children.
Yes, you heard me right. I was indeed tied up with other children my age and forced to walk several kilometers through mountains, forests, and barren plains to a port city, located in a bay between the rocky cliffs outside the city walls where we had rested last night.
But for some reason today, we were suddenly forced to wake up at the crack of dawn and told to clean ourselves up a bit. And as the sun began to rise in the east, we were led into the city gates.
As I walked, several children, even the smugglers, seemed to be watching me with expressions I couldn't quite describe.
Snap!!
"Arrgg!"
The child next to me whimpered in pain from being whipped, as he walked a bit slowly. The same man who had doused me with a bucket of water earlier had whipped me.
Once inside, I was stunned by the horrifying sight. It turned out we weren't the only children brought here; the day before, many children, even adults, and young women had been brought to this city.
Once inside, we were ordered to line up at the edge of the pier. The brown-haired boy who had been whipped was still beside me, as we were closely tied. I could see his tears flowing freely, though he made no sound or expression.
I could see that the children who were being sold with me were not that far apart in age, between 8, 10, and 12. There were several other children from my village who had been brought with me, but I didn't recognize them. Several others appeared to be from other regions, including a blond-haired boy tied up behind me, who was crying, although I was somewhat taken aback by his appearance, especially his face, which looked more like a girl's than a boy's.
The cruel man who had treated us like animals earlier was still pacing in front of us with a grin that I found incredibly annoying. Meanwhile, the other smugglers seemed to be negotiating something with the people guarding the docks.
"Sob sob."
I heard sobs again, this time coming from the blond-haired boy behind me. His expression was clearly terrified. I didn't know what had happened to him, but the look in his eyes before he was tied up with me suggested he had probably suffered quite a bit.
Tantara!!
A trumpet sounded, and I saw several ships slowly approaching the harbor.
"Get ready!!!"
Several dozen men dressed as knights, whom I knew to be soldiers from a kingdom, began to disembark and line up. This was the first time I'd seen real soldiers, so I was a little intrigued.
"Sob sob."
But the blond boy behind me was still crying.
"Leon! Stop crying or they'll hurt you," said the brown-haired boy who had been whipped, who was also still tied up near me.
"Oh, so his name is Leon? They know each other, I think," I thought to myself, but my attention was diverted again when I saw several people in flashy attire starting to disembark the ship.
Most of them appeared to be nobles, but there were also a few dressed as knights, and—I rarely see these, but they might be members of a religious sect.
...
One by one, they turned to look at us, and it was clear we were indeed being bought and sold. I could see the brown-haired boy still trying to get the blonde-haired boy behind me to stop crying. Because of this, my hands, which were tied close to his, were being pulled, and it made me quite annoyed, and I snapped at him.
"Shut up, jerk! Or I'll beat you!" I blurted out, my wrists hurting from being pulled.
The boy looked angry and swore at me.
"Are you heartless? I just wanted to keep him quiet so I wouldn't get beaten!" the boy said, acting like a hero, which made me even more annoyed.
"He'll be quiet because he'll probably die soon anyway, so you don't have to bother keeping him quiet," I said again, somewhat sarcastically, because I was fed up.
"You!"
Snap!!
"Arrggh!!"
"Shut up, you guys! Who told you to talk, huh!"
Before the boy could say anything, the fierce man came again and hit us both with the whip repeatedly.
Snap!!!
Snap!!
It seemed the commotion, which we hadn't realized, had made us the center of attention. I could see from my inadvertent glances that some of the men and some of the knights were looking in our direction.
It was painful, but after the whipping, I realized that my words had indeed been quite excessive. I looked behind me at the blond boy, who was now completely silent, his eyes blank and tear-stained.