Chapter 18 : Facing the past

"I will help you."

"Really! Thank..."

I interrupted her, saying "Don't misunderstand. I will help you only because I want something in return."

She said with interest "I will pay you whatever you want."

"Who told you that I need your money? I want something else, but I won't tell you now."

She smiled, saying "No problem, I won't blame you if you still hate me. I really hate myself."

She was silent for a while and then continued "It seems that Luna has fallen asleep. She looked tired."

"That's better. I didn't want her to hear any of this anyway."

(I don't know what she means by saying that she hates herself, but saying that while smiling indicates that she is enduring a lot of pain and regret.)

We walked in the forest for long hours at night. The white moonlight lit the way for us until we reached an old hut.

Elena said with a face filled with some sadness and nostalgia "This hut belongs to our family since a long time. I used to come here with my father and brother."

She stared blankly at that place and her eyes shone with the reflection of the bright moonlight on them like a mirror as if she was recalling some memories. "Sorry for mentioning that now. Ah, yes, let's go in and get some rest."

The hut contained a bed that could accommodate two people, a wooden table, four chairs and a fireplace.

"This hut looks good."

"Thank you. Make yourself comfortable."

Elena put Luna on the bed and then lit some firewood in the fireplace and we sat around the table talking.

"So you say you know King's place."

"Yes, I got this information a while ago."

I asked her "What confirms to you that your brother is in that place?"

"One of the humanoids told me that he had seen him before when I showed him a picture of my brother. He was held with him."

"So what made you sneak into these bandits specifically?"

She said with a serious expression on her face "These people work for King. There is no doubt that what happened today will reach him soon and someone may come to this place."

I rested my head with the palm of my hand on the table and then said "Despite that, I will say it again. Nothing confirms that your brother is still alive."

Sadness appeared on her face clearly, but at the same time she smiled faintly. "This may be true, but I won't lose hope and at least I will have known my brother's fate."

I got up from my place and headed towards the door. "No problem. I will go tomorrow night. I will go out now to watch outside. You can sleep a little and then we will take turns."

She nodded in agreement and I sat outside leaning on the wall of that wooden hut. I stared at the stars while receiving cold breezes and listening to the sounds of the night animals that I couldn't see.

(I feel a great relief in my body even though it was hurting me a while ago. This makes me feel very sleepy.)

"I have to stay awake because..."

I woke up to the stings of the strong sun rays hitting my face. "This is bad. It seems that I fell asleep."

When I looked near me, I found Elena sitting on a chair too and she had been overcome by sleep. After a few moments, Luna came out of the door and said with a wide smile "I didn't want to wake you up until the breakfast was ready."

I said "How long have you been awake?"

"For several hours."

(My body must have been very tired, but I didn't realize it.)

"Good morning."

Elena said that after opening her eyes.

"Ah, hello."

Elena looked amazed. "Did you prepare all this?"

Luna replied "Yes."

"It's really delicious. You're very lucky, Jin, to eat like this every day."

Luna was happy to hear that, but I didn't say anything because I had already decided the end of this matter, but I didn't know how yet. Maybe because I'm trying to lie to myself.

(What a fool I am.)

We ate the food and then Elena showed me a map of the place.

"It's a big and old house surrounded by a high wall and they hold the slaves in the basement under the house. If you can get inside the house, it will be possible. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my brother now, but..."

I interrupted her, saying "If I can get in there, I will free everyone, not just your brother."

She was silent as if she was embarrassed. My words must have made her feel guilty again for what she did.

We walked on the road to that place. It took us a whole day and we finally arrived at night.

There were two guards in front of the gate and two others walking around the wall surrounding the place.

"I'll go in alone. Wait here."

Elena objected, saying "This is dangerous by yourself."

Luna agreed with her, but I said "If you come, you will only hinder me. I can't take you with me in the shadows every time. It's risky."

I said that and walked away. When I got close, I hid behind a tree.

(As I expected, I don't feel any power from them. They must be using the same necklace I saw before. I can get past them from the shadows, but I don't want to use my left eye unless necessary because I might lose control of myself again and this time I might not be lucky.)

When the guards got close to me, I moved some branches of the trees. When they heard the noise, one of them decided to approach to check it out. While he was between the trees, I approached the other one who was waiting for him and surprised him quickly with a blow from my sword. Then I went back to the other one and hit him on the head. He lost consciousness.

(I don't have much time before they notice their disappearance. I have to move quickly.)

I sneaked in the dark and climbed that stone wall. It wasn't too high, so it was easy to some extent. When I reached the other side, there were several people standing in front of the main gate of the palace. I was lucky this time because most of the guards were there. I was able to move freely around the place in the dark until I reached the basement door where the slaves were held. There was one person guarding the entrance.

(Well, I'll use that cloak and necklace that I took from that guard.)

I disguised myself as one of the guards and approached slowly.

"You stop. What brought you here?"

"I came to check the guard situation here. I need to enter the basement too."

The guard pointed his sword at me. "What are you babbling about? We are forbidden to enter the basement. Take off that cloak from your head and tell me your name."

He started to move his hand slowly to take off the necklace from his neck.

(He must have started to doubt me.)

"Okay, no problem. I'll show you my face."

Before he could do anything, I surprised him by putting my hand on his head and then shocked his body with a large amount of mana. He lost consciousness.

(Damn, I used that eye again involuntarily. I reached a bad stage. I don't know what's happening to me.)

I walked cautiously in that cold and dark corridor while smelling the smell of death emanating from everywhere. It made me feel fear in my heart. Or maybe it happened because of memories that I had forgotten. I didn't know anymore.

After a short while, I heard a faint cough, but I couldn't see its source because of the darkness. So I approached slowly towards the sound and I felt with the palm of my hand until I got very close and suddenly I touched iron bars. I said in a low voice "Is anyone here?"

When I said that, I saw a spark followed by a weak fire in front of me. A thin-bodied person appeared wearing torn clothes and he was staring at me with empty eyes. He said in a very weak voice "Who are you?"

If he hadn't answered me, I would have thought he was just a corpse. "Don't worry. I came to free you."

"Free me! Who do you think you are?"

I said confusedly "What do you mean?"

The man shouted loudly "Don't you understand? Get away from me. Who told you that I want to leave the place?"

"What!"

I was astonished by what he said. I didn't expect that someone would prefer to stay imprisoned to be sold as slaves. After he said that, I started to hear many voices around me and I was wandering from one cell to another like a madman, but they all answered the same thing.

"What? I will never leave."

"I prefer death to leaving."

"I have nowhere to go."

I kept hearing those words around me. It made me in a state of shock. I felt a great despair for what I saw. "Stop!" I screamed that and I was kneeling on the ground and holding my head that I couldn't bear anymore because of the pain. I wasn't trying to be a hero or anything like that, but I wanted to face this chapter of the past so that I could move forward, but I was shocked by the reality that I had always run away from. These people, after living this life for a long time, became dependent on it. Their will was completely shattered.

And while I was sitting on the ground trying to gather myself, the place was lit up completely and then I heard a voice from behind me saying "As I told you, someone sneaked into the place."

"As expected of you, Draco. No one can sense mana from a long distance like you."

When I raised my sight, I saw three masked men wearing a very black cloak that didn't show any part of their bodies and standing next to them was the person I hated.

(King! I expected to see that bastard here, but I didn't realize that it would be so fast.)

After I saw him, the painful memories started to wander in my mind. Those memories that I always wanted to forget badly, but it seems that this is not that easy.

"You have a lot of courage to break into this place."

King said as he drew his sword. He was a man with a huge build, short brown hair, but what really distinguished him was that scar on his right eye that was closed.

I adjusted my stance and then gripped the hilt of my sword tightly and all the fear disappeared from inside me, but I didn't utter a word. Maybe because at that moment I was ready for the first time in my life to kill someone by my will.