Capítulo 22: Chapter 22 - Imprisoned

"Come on, let me hear you scream, you little shit! It hurts, doesn't it!?" Came the sadistic, gleeful cackle, as my torso was struck with a spiky whip, "What's the matter, don't you like whips!?"

"Go...fuck yourself...," I muttered weakly, my body trembling in pain.

I'm...I'm not sure how long it's been since I was brought to and imprisoned here. I was in a basement, in the Knight Commander's home, a large mansion estate. It's been several days now, I lost count a while back.

After I arrived here, he introduced me to everyone in his family, as well as his other slaves, of which included several young women with lifeless eyes. Nice of him to introduce them all to me, right?

Why would he do that, you ask? To ensure that I know the faces of the people whom, if I attack them, the Enslavement Collar will get triggered.

His name's Duke Jasper Duralles, and he had six wives and twenty-four children, and normally, it'd be easy to forget most of them, especially after only seeing them all only once.

But I don't forget stuff so easily...photographic memory, remember? This must be some sort of sick, cruel joke...the only part of my previous life I brought with me into this world, working against me.

"Okay, I suppose that's enough for today. No point in breaking you beyond repair, after all. You, heal him!" Barked the Duke at one of his slaves who was in the basement with us, a woman from the Light Continent.

"Y-yes, my Lord," She replied meekly, as she walked over towards me.

She muttered the chant, before the Magic Circle formed and I felt the pain all over my body fading. She doesn't have an Enslavement Collar around her neck, he probably messed with her head using a Dark Spell. That, and/or fear, is likely why she obeys him.

I'd like to use Magic Eater when she heals me in order to learn how to use healing Spells myself, but I don't want to do so while he's here.

He's beaten me brutally to try and get me to reveal my Skills, but I've managed to keep my mouth shut so far. I'm clinging to my hope and resolve with everything I've got, so I won't let myself succumb to him in any way whatsoever.

But...it hasn't been easy. Because he's not the only one who's been torturing me. He's been letting some of his older sons and daughters have a crack at me from time to time, going a day without being tortured more than once is a good day.

Afterwards, my physical condition is restored as good as new, without so much as a scar left behind, but that doesn't mean I simply forget everything I go through.

There's another reason why I'm hesitant to use Magic Eater...this woman is completely obedient to Duralles, there's a strong possibility that she'll tell him if I use it.

And that's risky for two reasons. The first, being that he'll figure out what one of my Skills are. And the second is that he might realize that I'm a Heretic, and who knows how he'll react to that?

After all, while Magic Eater is a very rare Skill, there's still the possibility that he knows about it, and the fact that the user will learn how to use the Spells that are swallowed up by it.

It's just to risky right now, I have to wait for a better opening. I can't help but feel frustrated...it's right within my reach, but I can't afford to reveal my hand just yet.

As she finished healing me, she left with Duralles after he undid the chains around my wrists, before he shut the door to the basement. Regarding why I haven't been chained up, it's only because there's no reason to do so. So he only chains me up when he wants me to be still for his torture sessions.

The door is unlocked too, he never bothers locking it. But then, he doesn't need to. Trying to escape triggers the Enslavement Collar, and the pain it inflicts is far greater than physical torture. So I can't just walk out through that door.

I then reached out for the jug of water beside me and took a swig of it, letting out a weary sigh as I stared up at the ceiling.

This basement is cold and dank, with a musty smell to that nauseates me. And besides a toilet in the corner along with a shower head, it was pretty much empty.

Each morning, a slave would show up to refill the water jug, and give me three bread rolls. The water was barely enough for a day, but not so little that I'd get dehydrated.

And the bread was just about enough to keep me from starving. There are also some instructional books with Spells in here, and while I hate to play into his hands, I need to get as strong as possible.

So I also work out and train each day, to keep my body from weakening too much. If I ever get an opening, I'll be ready to strike immediately, and for that to work, I need to sharpen my skills and get stronger in every aspect.

I've been working on learning new Spells, as well as a new technique, called Distance Casting, which is exactly what it sounds like. It's super tricky to get the hang of though, I haven't yet been able to use it.

There's more to it than just getting stronger...doing all of this also helps keep me sane, and tiring myself out by training helps me fall asleep, even though all I've got for a bed is a dirty bundle of hay.

I've also been given a bunch of worn out, raggedy clothes, but they're clean, so yeah. I use the shower head every night and change into clean clothes, the slave who comes to give me food and water takes the dirty clothes away to be washed and then returned.

Duralles wants me to become strong enough for him to use as a weapon, a combat slave, so he won't neglect my health too much, otherwise my current living conditions would likely be so much worse.

I'll play along with him for now, that's why it's important that I hold onto my sanity and avoid letting him break me mentally.

I try not to think about anything that'll depress me...after I was first brought here, and Lycia's death really sunk in, I felt myself drowning in sorrow and despair, the pain of my first torture session was what took my mind off of her in the end.

I'll...I'll never see her again. After my bitch of a mother in my previous life, Lycia was like a saint, she could be firm and strict at times, but she was always really good to me.

Rhyle...I wonder where he is right now? Probably in the Royal castle, he is a Prince, after all. He should be fine, I doubt they'll be too harsh on him, at least when it comes to physical torture.

But he's likely been strictly monitored now, the Nobles wouldn't want the fact that one of their Princes ran away and got married to a Commoner for the last two decades to become public knowledge.

That much was obvious by the demeanor of the Knights when they attacked my village...until they decided to kill everyone, they didn't mention anything about him other than his appearance.

Then there's Argent...he'll probably figure out what happened if he goes back to the village and sees the state that it's been left in.

Fortunately, the Knights don't know about him, they didn't even know that Rhyle had started a family when they showed up. And no one mentioned another son, so they won't be looking for him.

I then glanced across the room as I heard a slight scuffing sound coming from the wall. I let out an exasperated sigh. Seriously, again? I'm getting tired of this.

One of the blocks in the wall got pushed out, before a small, blonde head poked out of the gap, crawling out.

"Didn't I tell you to stop coming here? I have no intention of playing nice with any of you people," I sighed irritably.

"Um, I'm sorry...I just thought I'd bring you these," Came the response, as she took out a bundle and unwrapped it, revealing some fruits.

Prysm Duralles, the youngest daughter of this rotten family. A couple of days after Duralles introduced each member of his family to me, she showed up, through a secret tunnel she'd discovered that led to the basement.

Apparently, before I showed up, she used this basement as a place to hide out and play. And she shows up here at least every other day.

She seems like an innocent kid who doesn't understand that Nobles are supposed to treat Commoners like dirt, and often brings me food and stuff out of pity or whatever.

Which annoys me, but well, I'm certainly in no position to turn down more food. But I'm still not sure that this is a deliberate ploy that Duralles is using to wear me down.

So naturally, I'm very suspicious of her. I mean, what kind of seven year old would go out of their way to come hang out with their parents' prisoner, and in such a dirty place at that?

I'd like to hold her hostage and see if I can use her to force Duralles to remove the Enslavement Collar, but doing so would immediately trigger said collar, so I can't do anything to her.

"Leave the fruits and get out of here. I don't know why you keep showing up, but enough already," I remarked icily.

I can get rid of the fruit cores and skin by flushing them away.

"I don't know why you're always so mean to me, aren't you bored and lonely?" She responded, as she placed the bundle of fruits down beside me.

"Your father is the reason why my mother is dead, so do you really think I want to have anything to do with his family?" I shot back, starting to get pissed, my voice starting to raise slightly as I glared at her.

"O-okay, I'll go now...um, I'll see you tomorrow," She replied meekly, as she picked up the cloth she'd used to wrap up the fruits and headed back to the hole in the wall.

Yeah, that's right, get lost. Stupid brat...

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