479 The Systems History: Their second encounter III (1/2)

Reaching the farthest area of the camp, Tora and Chiharu stopped in the huge cage where there were women inside. Most of them seemed traumatized with their current situation as their shoulders slightly shuddered just the sight of Chiharu.

Seeing that another woman was held captive, Tora saw the glint of pity flashed across their helpless eyes. Yet, none of them made a single noise as they had lost all hope of their future.

Every single one of them gave up on life, that's for sure.

”Where is she?” Tora murmured. Her tone was toneless. She didn't have a single emotion that could be discerned in her voice, which made Chiharu swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Chiharu looked inside and sees that these women were the only ones inside. Knitting his brows, he pondered where they placed Churu's body. After a beat, he recalled that they somehow caged a few men merchant which their master held hostage for his own reason.

”I — I think it's on the other side.” He stuttered lowly and led the way towards the other cage.

Soon, they reached the cage that contained a few men, three to be exact. Tora glanced at the three and she caught a figure that inflicted the most injuries.

By the looks of it, they used him as a sandbag to release the frustration of whoever was upset. He had his head hanged low yet, the bruises on his arms were evident, his disheveled hair dangled down his face, and blood smeared on his stained silk clothes.

Regardless, Tora didn't even blink an eye as her gaze shifted to the side. There, a small figure that was covered by a cloth which made her eyes softened. By the looks of it, the beaten man used his haori as the cloth seemingly matched his kimono.

She didn't wonder why Churu was placed in this cage and not in the female's cage. Regardless of the reason, Tora wanted Churu's body to be properly buried as she would set this whole camp on fire. She couldn't let Churu's body burned to a crisp along with her abductors.

”Huh,” Sensing the presence of Tora and a member of this damnable group, the man who was already beaten black and blue scoffed in mockery. ”After you brought a dead child, now a woman? You vermin's are truly fascinating.” Slowly, he looked up, his lips mangled and his face was a little swollen.

Still, he was recognizable: it was none other than Suzuki Akihito.

Blazing flames lay beneath his eyes as a smirk formed on the side of his lips. Earlier, a group of men tossed a child inside their cage. Their reason? To mock them and witness how a child's body began to decay to make them feel powerless.

In normal days, Tora would have been surprised to hear Aki's voice. However, even after distinguishing his identity, Tora remained unfazed as her gaze locked on the small figure. Taking a step forward, Chiharu snapped as he opened the cage and let her in.

Still, he remained standing outside as he watched Tora approach and kneel in front of the child's body. Her hand trembled as she reached for the haori that was used as a cover of the body.