"Run? Where to run? The plains are barren in every direction." The lieutenant's face had a smile that wasn't quite a smile as he patiently explained, "Moreover, those who come here are only serving light sentences. A few months of work and they can go home. If they run away, they'll be wanted for a lifetime. Actually, I'm quite hoping that a few would run every now and then, so I could have a bit more fun."
"Do Paratu people always replace imprisonment with labor?" Bard asked.
"Those day-sheep bastards are stingy as hell. How could they tolerate convicts eating for free in prison?" Whenever Mason spoke of the Paratu People, he always did so with dissatisfaction: "But working for two months for stealing a chicken is still better than having a hand chopped off, don't you think?"
"That's true," everyone agreed.