The Shield of the North (2) - 16

Disclaimer: There are depictions of violent, cruel deaths in this chapter. Please read at your own discretion.

"Who the hell are you to be calling me Big Sis Karina?" She asked, whilst kicking me, hard, in the side.

Wheezing, trying to get my breath back, I just said,

"Look in my pack."

"Don't take me for a dumbass you damn salve trader!"

She spit on my face, before punching me, and then knocking me out.

...

I woke up in a dark, damp, and cold cell.

I rubbed my cheek and moved my jaw a little, trying to recover a little bit from the hard punch.

Feeling the cold chains stretched across my body, I didn't even try getting up, and just laid there in silence.

Trying to turn my head just a little, I found myself behind a set of bars, and, as an even bigger overkill, I saw two guards standing in front of my cell, staring directly at me with disgusted faces.

'Hmm... This isn't a really pleasurable experience, but... I can't wait to see her face when she realizes what she's done!'

This thought brought convulsions to my body as I started laughing like a crazed madman, I mean, even the thought of what her future face would look like was cracking me up.

Well, it was better to play the innocent victim right now, so I ceased my crazed laughing and stayed quiet.

"Hey, you want to go beat up this mad filth?"

"Yeah, why not? The commander will just cover for us anyways because of how much she hates slave traders. I mean, what? This guy is like, the 10th slave trader that's tried to get past us this year?"

"Yeah, and she's beheaded each and every one of them in the public square in the town below! Don't you remember their faces when she let their own slaves do it? I mean, they were begging to the point of tears to the people they formerly raped and sold. Ahhh... that was so satisfying."

"Degenerate shit should just be put to death, I mean, at least we saved all those pretty snow elf children."

"Amen brother, amen."

'Well, I'm fucked.'

They went to unlock my cell, and then they started beating the living shit out of me.

Let's just say, I was more like a bunch of grapes than a human afterwards.

...

I was starved for 3 days, as it took them 3 fucking days to set up my execution.

I knew this, because, on the third day, I was blindfolded and put on a cart.

We traveled for a little bit before the cart stopped, and I was hauled out and thrown on the ground like a piece of baggage being treated by a Unified Airlines employee.

I was kicked a few times, before being picked up and thrown onto the stage.

Being forced to kneel with my hands tied tightly behind my back, the sack that they had put over my head was ripped off forcibly.

Blinking a few times, I was surprised to find that it was a rare clear, sunny day today.

"Citizens! This is what happens when you become a slave trader!"

"Boo!"

"Behead the scum to society!"

"Send him to hell!"

Hearing these harsh words, I could only smile widely at the irony of the situation, and how, in actuality, I was a worse creature than what they were all saying.

"I will now name the crimes that this piece of shit has committed!" Yelled Big Sis Karina to the crowd that was basically rioting, trying to kill me, at this point.

"One, trespassing over the Garrison!"

"Two, carrying an unverified weapon."

"Three, molesting children."

"Four, slave trading."

"And finally, five, my personal one, and one that I will name on this disgusting piece of trash from the deepest corners of the slums. He has made it so that his slaves have fallen in love with him! Such cheap tricks to try and weasel his way around the law!"

"That inhuman bastard!"

"Kill him now!"

"Bring justice for those slaves!"

This all just caused my smile to grow wider, as I knew, only family could be trusted.

The common people, given one rumor, one piece of knowledge, one reason, would turn on you in a heartbeat.

They held no loyalty, they are just here to find happiness in my pain and suffering.

They were the true pigs, and I was just another victim.

Humanity truly was a scum.

Of course, these would have been all the things that I would have been thinking as I faced my certain death, if, only if I hadn't noticed Char in the crowd.

But, because Char was here, I could trust her enough, and knew that everything would be okay.

"KILL THE SLAVE TRADER!"

"KILL THE SLAVE TRADER!"

"KILL THE SLAVE TRADER!"

The chanting from the crowd echoed across the town as Karina raised her sword in the air.

Then, she brought her sword down, too quickly for the regular eye to see.

But, before her inhumanly fast sword could even touch an atom of my neck, a figure blurred into existence in front of it, stopping the sword in its trajectory.

"Clang!"

"Young Master! Are you okay?"

"Yes, just a little bruised and battered as you can tell."

Taking a look at me, her eyes widened in horror as she saw my pitiful, broken state.

"Gwen! Take the Young Master back to the castle immediately! He needs treatment right away."

Another figured blurred and appeared right next to me, before we both blurred away from the stage.

And the next second, I found myself back on my bed in the cold, gray castle.

"Young Master, let me treat you, so, please rest, you must have been tired from your struggles and the subsequent imprisonment."

"I'll leave my body to you, Gwen."

"Just close your eyes, Young Master, and I'll take care of the rest."

"Thank you, Gwen."

"..."

I didn't stay awake long enough to hear her answer.

...

<Char's POV>

Karina had grown, but she was still too weak to even hold up against me.

I easily deflected every one of her sword swings before catching it with two fingers, squeezing, and shattering the sword into pieces.

"Stand down Karina."

Not hearing me due to her intense bloodlust and hatred, she motioned to the soldiers next to her, and they all surrounded me whilst one of them gave her a new sword.

Knowing that she wouldn't listen unless I gave her a true beating, I released my pressure on the entire area.

"I said stand down, Karina."

And, although there words were said calmly, the weight that they carried pinned all of the soldiers to the ground as their weapons shattered into fine dust, and by now, all the civilians had been completely knocked out.

Even Karina was on her knees, struggling to keep herself like that, her knees shaking as she gritted her teeth.

"Who... Are... You?" She struggled to spit these words out as she tried to control her breathing.

"You don't even remember your own teacher? I'm disappointed in you Karina."

"W-what?"

She looked up to try and get a better look at my face, and when she finally saw it for the first time, with a mind not clouded by rage, her eyes widened as shock completely overtook any other emotion shown on her face.

"M-master..."

"And what you've done to the Young Master is unforgivable. Your debt will be paid by blood, with the lives of your men."

Saying this, I increased the weight on her soldiers' bodies, and they crashed through the wooden floor of the execution box, breaking all of their bones in the process, the white shards sticking out of their bodies and into their vital organs, as they all bleed out and died slow, painful deaths.

"Come to the castle in a few days to apologize to the Young Master, and I'll also be taking those children, after all, the Young Master worked so hard to save them." I said, a hint of warmth flashing across my face as I thought of how caring the Young Master was, before I replaced it once again with my cold, expressionless face.

"Y-yes... Master..."

Looking at my pitiful disciple one last time, my figure blurred, and I reappeared back in the castle, with all the children and Sari in tow, of course.