Chapter 1 (1/2)
01.THE HEAVEN INSIDE h.e.l.l
This world isn´t just.
If there are people that can casually sip their wine in their gla.s.ses, there are many others that need to drink muddy water that was stepped on. If there are people that can cover their body in warm furs, there are others that can only cover themselves with thin rags.
There is no happiness in this world.
In the moment people are born, they fall in different cla.s.sifications. Children born from rich people, from poor people, n.o.ble children, peasant children, children of slaves. If you are born as a slave, life isn´t good even if you crawl out through it.
This world is cruel.
Someone´s happiness leads to someone´s unhappiness. For resources, people fight each other, steal and kill. To live is to dance over corpses. People become crazy and eat, rape, and kill.(TL note: Literally eat. Dunno what else to write there .-. 狂え、喰らえ、犯せ、殺せ。)
This world is h.e.l.l.
The kingdom of Arcadia. This kingdom whose name means utopia in the ancient language had considerable power in comparison to its neighboring countries. This was the aggregation of their military power, their economy and the immensity of what they´ve been acc.u.mulating during their history. It was the kingdom that had the most honorable origin among the seven kingdoms.
At its royal capital of Arkas, differently from their beautiful and well maintained places, there were also places that were dark and desolate. The people that lived there were dirty and the mood was stagnant. Most of the people living in places like that were slaves.
“Nee-san, Arlette-nee-san. I got bread from the church.”
“Ara, did you properly said thanks to them, my cute little boy?”
“Of course. And by the way, stop with that “boy” thing. I am nee-san´s knight after all.”
“Yes, yes. Then, let´s split the bread in two halves, my little knight.”
There were clear cla.s.s distinctions in this nation. Generally speaking, the king would be the top, and then there would be the n.o.bility, the normal citizens and the slaves. This was something unchanging, and in order to change your social cla.s.s, you would need a large amount of money.
“Munch munch munch… It´s tasty, nee-san.”
“Yes, it is very tasty. We need to give our thanks to the priest later.”
The siblings were slaves. Right after giving birth to the little brother, their mother died, and because their mother was a prost.i.tute, they didn´t know who their father was. Their little family was only the two of them.
“Tomorrow, I will go buy eggs with the money I saved up.”
“Then, let´s buy two of them with both of our money combined.”
Finis.h.i.+ng to eat the bread made of kabi, they made their plans for tomorrow. It was already hard enough just to keep themselves alive. With both of their effort combined, they would work from morning to night, to then finally eat bread, drink water and have some very diluted soup. Sometimes, they would have the luxury to eat one egg. This was the quality of life of slaves.
“Now, let´s go sleep. Tomorrow we need to be up early, so we have to sleep when it is night.”
“Then, nee-chan, sing a song. I will go sleep too if you do that.”
“Yes, I will sing you a song.”
Even if it was only a little kid, as long as the kid was a slave, he would need to work. The view that child labor is something bad is something that has been created only recently. Children of farmers would help with the crops, children of merchants and of craftsmen would watch their parents doing their jobs, sometimes giving a try to that themselves, and would learn about it with time. The children of slaves would be included at society only as a form of labor force. Only privileged cla.s.ses had access to education.
“Nee-san, the song!”
“Yes, yes.”
Putting down the small candle, the small family of only the two of them went to the small bed.With how the bed was so small to the point it felt to them like they would fall down from it if they didn´t hug each other and with them being covered by a very thin cloth that a bit of the cold wind would go through, the bed could be considered a bit too shabby to even be called a bed. But even so, the two were happy with that.
“Nee-san, it is so warm.” (TL note:¬¬)
“Forgive the robber. Forgive the thief. Forgive the murderer. Forgiveness has more value than anything; if you pray and look up to the sky, G.o.d will grant you forgiveness and compa.s.sion. Let´s forgive. Let´s forgive. Let´s forgive. My little treasure, love the beautiful world you were born in.”
While listening to the gentle song, the little brother could feel the warmth of his sister. He was hugging her tightly as if he wouldn´t let go no matter what. They were a family of only the two of them. That´s why he couldn´t let her go.
“Nee…-sa..n”
The sister was hugging her little brother that had fallen asleep as if he was a precious treasure.
“Good night, Al, my cute little treasure.”
Slaves were human. However, the world wouldn´t recognize them as people.
“Don´t slack, little ones!”
An angry shout went flying through the construction site. The job of the slaves here was to transport materials. Children, which were cheap, were specially prefered for hiring for the simple labor jobs. Even if it was a job that required strength, it didn´t matter. If they pa.s.sed out, it would be fine enough to just buy another one as the replacement.
“Hey, Al. Let´s meet at that same place at lunch break.”
“Alright. Until then, let´s both do our best, Kail.”
In the instant they pa.s.sed by each other, in a low voice, they exchanged words. If they showed any signs of slacking even if for only an moment, their owner would have no problems in having them whipped. Slaves like them weren´t considered people.
“I should have told you already you are not to slack!”
As they carried their stones, another child was being whipped to their side.
“Really, it would be nice if the next guy that buys me is a bit more gentle in dealing with his slaves.”
“For stuff like this job we are at, people get really rushed up because of the deadlines after all. Well, but if you are talking about rich old men in particular, nine out of ten… It would be [that], right?”
“Ah… [That thing] is really bad news. Just by thinking about that, my b.u.t.thole starts to hurt.”
There were varied types of slaves. It was obvious that depending on their types, the person who bought them would have them do different jobs. That certain building company bought Al and Kail in order to finish the work they were contracted for. The construction had a set deadline, and now the were in a position they had to finish it in one go.
“If we are talking about ideal jobs, it should be the sort of thing like helping the guy with his personal a.s.sets, right?”(TL note: Apparently, slaves organizing your a.s.sets was a common thing in the ancient roman empire. Since the master can easily have his slave dead if something happens, it was safer to have a slave do this kind of job. I didn´t get this until somebody stated it in the comments, so I am just putting it here in case someone gets confused by that like me ^^)
“I don´t want that. I would need to be separated from nee-san in that case.”
“Here he comes; this siscon.”
“Shut up!”
Slaves didn´t have the privilege to choose their jobs; they would simply go to the place they were sold to. They were an existence that was there only to work. However, for the slave dealers, the mediators in the trades, there was a certain “situation” for the slaves that are easy to sell. While n.o.body wanted to be sold to a place like this one, a construction work that has a deadline set, if the slave wished for something in exchange for being sold to a place like that, it was more or less possible to have it granted. Al willingly accepted to be sold to a place like that just so that he could express his wish to the slave dealers. Everything was for the sake of him not being separated from his sister.
“Well, it´s weird though. Even though you are a slave, you are living in family.”
Kail was someone from a distant country. That country doesn´t exist anymore, and Kail himself didn´t know if he used to have a family there or not. All he knew was that his country lost the war, he was abducted, was made into a slave, and now, was bought by someone here in Arcadia.
“Things like the whole family being bought together happens a lot of times.”
“That wasn´t the case for you guys though… It must be very harsh.” (TL note: I didn´t understand well what he was talking about…「お前はそれ以外だろうが……苦労しているだろうな」I guess he is talking about the siblings there (in particular his sister I guess?0.0) having to do the “harsh” works so that they can stay together.)
“I guess.”
“…I´m not talking about you.”
While saying that, Kail turned his eyes away from Al.
Tilting his head to the side in confusion, Al looked to another direction.
“She is late. She was supposed to be arriving by now.”
Al was anxiously looking around at the surroundings. However, he couldn´t catch sight of her.
“Sorry for the wait.”
A small rock hit Al at his head. The stone that was of about the size of a finger and it gave him more surprise than pain. Al staggered because of that. There was someone standing on the stone wall.
“Havella? You are late.”
The person called Havella looked at both of them with apathetic eyes, which gave off a feeling that was very different from arrogance.
“Sorry. It took time to lose them.”
After saying that, the girl threw to each of them a red fruit.
“Oh, is that an apple? Thanks for the treat! Munch munch”(がじゅむしゃぐじゅ)
Although Havelia was giving a side-look at the two eating their apples furiously, she herself was eating her own apple with the same speed, though in a methodical and calm way. The eating speed of the lower cla.s.ses was fast.
“Fuah, this brought me back to life. Thank you like always, Havella.”
Havella nodded silently to Al, who was expressing his thanks. Her att.i.tude and movement felt very mechanical, but the two of them were somewhat able to understand her feelings even with that att.i.tude. It wasn´t too long that they started to go along with Havella, but they were more or less able to understand her thoughts.