Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Loreana’s Past – The Naïve Kid

"Mom?"

"…Hm?"

"So you, um… you never loved father?"

"…"

"I'm sorry, Mom. I know I shouldn't meddle in your affairs, but I was just a bit curious as to why…" Crystal's voice trailed off, as she decided to drop the question.

"It's okay, dear." Surprising her daughter, Loreana removed the pillow from her face and answered, "There was really nothing like that between your father and me."

But that only furthered another question in her listeners' minds. "Why did you marry him, then?" Crystal asked, before she further added, "You also never cleared my doubts about your side of the family, Or, for that matter, anything about the life you had prior to your marriage.. Can you tell me about it now?"

Loreana remained silent for a moment before responding. "Fine."

"Uh, I should go to sleep now. Good night, ladies!" Anom stood up to leave the room to provide them with some privacy.

"Hmph! Stay seated." Crystal snorted as she said disdainfully, "Why are you acting modest all of a sudden? Didn't you just make an impassioned confession to my mother? You haven't even said that to me yet!"

"Well, I have kissed you, but I never did that with your mother. Even now, isn't it?" His reply instantly one-shot'd Crystal.

But Anom realized he had opened his mouth too hastily. Two murderous gazes were directed at him the next instant. Hence, he did what any brave man would have done in his place!

He met the two gazes with equal intensity…

…and obediently positioned his posterior on the bed.

'I'm just a bit curious about Loreana's past. That's all there is to it!'

The room fell silent for a while as Loreana arranged her thoughts a bit before speaking, "I was born in a town outside the borders of this kingdom. It's a place where rules don't extend beyond the walls of the cities and towns, as only one law exists outside them—the law of the jungle."

Crystal was surprised as this was her first time hearing about the topic. She didn't get lost in her thoughts, however, and continued to listen to her mother's words.

"My parents were both ordinary people, like the majority of the town's residents. We led a simple but fulfilling life. And I was just a normal child who dreamed about the boundless possibilities existing outside the confines of the town walls. I didn't understand the importance of those very walls that seemed like a cage, till I stepped out of them for the first time.

I had just turned fifteen when the local institute where I and the other children in town studied, decided to take us all on a journey.

Our first excursion outside the city limits.

We were all so excited that even our worried parents couldn't help but concur and express their faith in the town officials. Fortunately, those individuals were actually powerful. After all, not just anyone could establish a foothold in those lawless regions.

What reassured our parents even more was that the trip was organized collaboratively by a few neighboring towns. Something that no one from any of the communities could recall ever happening. But, maybe there was a reason why it was unprecedented…" Loreana sighed and took a deep breath before resuming her speech.

"We all cheerfully packed our belongings and left. Just the first step outside the tall town-gate sent our spirits soaring! We all went on our way, all excited, without exhibiting any signs of exhaustion.

Our destination was quite near, actually. We reached there in a couple of hours. It was a fresh water lake in the forest. All kinds of animals congregated peacefully there to escape the heat and quench their thirst. The joint group of town leaders selected that location because of its diversity and peacefulness. They wanted us to see various flora and fauna with our own eyes—to better our understanding of them—in case we had to venture out in the future.

What more could we kids have asked for? Following our instructors to learn from them, exploring the woods around the lake, forming groups to bully kids from other cities; perhaps we weren't so dissimilar to the animals that came there to quench their thirst. Overall, it was as peaceful and enjoyable as the instructors had promised.

But, maybe our lesson regarding survival was not over even by then…

The peaceful calm we were all enjoying didn't last long. The horrifying scream of a dying soul signaled the start of our cruel lesson about the reality of life in that land."

Crystal's grip on her mother tightened as she realized why her mother had never liked to discuss this subject before.

"Some teachers ran towards the source of the noise, while the rest gathered and protected us." But before our emotions could settle, more and more screams erupted around us. We were encircled on all sides before anyone realized it.

A gang of individuals dressed as bandits went around killing our instructors.

We all froze when we saw the blood and gore for the first time, our bodies not responding due to the primal fear we were feeling. What could we have done anyway? So we could only stand by and observe as the massacre unfolded.

Our instructors did everything they could to save us. Some, including children, attempted to flee. But those of us who remained realized that fleeing was pointless. The only fate that awaited them was to be killed or caught in advance. Yes, we realized by then that they were kidnappers—slave traders, to be precise. Those jackals had been welcomed to the delicious piece of meat that was the gathering of over five-hundred students. And they were not going to leave without finishing us off.

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But, suddenly, in that darkness, we saw the first ray of hope. The town leaders had somehow arrived at the scene, and they were proven strong enough to change the situation. Despite their overwhelming numbers, none of the bandits could withstand a single attack from the leaders.

But before that hope could take root in our hearts, it was already crushed.

Two of the town officials had abruptly defected and attacked their fellow leaders. Before any of the other leaders could respond, one was killed and another was severely injured. But that wasn't the end! More members of the bandits' side began to emerge. Hearing the earlier bandits' greetings, we realized that the newcomers were all their leaders. They were all as powerful as our leaders, albeit in smaller quantities. But perhaps that was the intention of our traitorous leaders: to undermine us from within.

The remainder of the situation unfolded exactly as we predicted. 

Except for the two traitors, all of the adults were eventually slain. Then one of those two explained to the other bandit leaders why the town officials had shown up.

As it turned out, their plan was for their subordinates to kidnap the children while the bandit leaders proceeded to finish off the town leaders.

However, one of the kids present, who was also the son of one of the town leaders, had at some point called his father using a short-range communicator, which was unusual and not something one would expect to find in the hands of a child, as none did the bandits. But, fortunately for them and unfortunately for us, it still happened the way they had wished it would.

They even dragged the kid, the town leader's son, who had called his father.

Some bandits mocked his courage, while others speculated on how much he could be sold for because he appeared to be quite strong and brave for someone his age. But not even the bandits expected one of the town leaders to abruptly attack and decapitate that kid. He was apparently irritated by the deviation the child had made in their plan. They could have almost failed if any of the town leaders had been astute enough to seek assistance from their towns.

After that, there was nothing noteworthy. We were all herded into large carriages after being collected. But, for reasons we didn't discover until later, the bandit leaders and some other men had abandoned the entourage. After that, we spent around a day on the journey before finally arriving at the place where our ultimate fates were to be decided—the Slave Market.

If we hadn't been numb from the traumatic experience, the size of the market and the throng gathered inside would have been enough to surprise us. It's difficult to picture such an organized place existing in those lawless lands. It was similar to a large farmers' market, except instead of produce, they traded human lives.

We were all going to be sold there.

By then, those bandit commanders who had deviated from us had returned. But what came with them was news that totally broke down all of us kids. We overheard them talking how they had established new bases for themselves by taking over our towns. They also smiled as they told us about how they had taken "special care" of our families. They laughed even harder when they saw our despair when they told us that by taking extra care, they meant they had killed them.

They did not, however, kill the remainder of the population. For one thing, it was impossible, and for another, they required those human resources. It was to guarantee the survival of their dark kingdom. Our parents were just unstable variables that the bandits would not tolerate.

They quickly sold us to the traders there and continued on their way to their new bases, paying no mind to us. Meanwhile, we were all led to what appeared to be a storehouse. The traders had dispatched some individuals to sort us out as if we were some kind of things. Girls and boys were separated, and the strongest-looking ones were given special care. One of those appraisers was conducting a different sort of test at the same time. He was testing our blood using a device.

And those who passed his test—whatever the criteria were—were divided into a totally distinct group, regardless of gender, physical appearance, or anything else. It was a special group of children with exceptional abilities at energy control.

"I was one of them."

Loreana paused, as if preparing herself for the remainder of the story she was about to tell.

Just as she was about to speak, her brows jumped as she found Anom standing in front of her. He was holding a glass full of water as he offered it to her.

She wished to refuse, but Anom spoke first, "Drink it. You'll feel better."

Loreana sat up and leaned her back on the headboard, taking him up on his offer. "Thank you," she thanked him before taking a few sips.

Anom took the glass from her hands and placed it on the table nearby.

Loreana was surprised to discover that Anom had not returned to his seat. Instead, he sat beside her in the tiny space that was left.

She hesitated for a moment before shifting back slightly to make room for him. Crystal, who was right behind her, was also compelled to back up.

"Tsk, tsk! How gentle," Crystal remarked, as if watching a drama.

Crystal then took her mother's hand in hers and intertwined their fingers before stretching them towards Anom.

Loreana was taken aback by her actions, as was Anom, but he responded calmly and wrapped his palms around both of their hands, feeling a warm softness.

Loreana hesitated for a moment before deciding to let it go. 'It—it doesn't feel so terrible...'

Loreana took a deep breath and resumed the story, erasing the strange thoughts from her mind.

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