The Place Where I Was Sold as a Slave Was the Imperial Palace

＜ Slave Market ＞

* * *

Clinging to the wooden plank wall of the wagon, he stared blankly out.

Once again the sun was setting and it was dark all around, but the carriage did not stop.

It keeps moving rumblingly.

There is a torch stand on the coachman’s seat of the chariot chasing from behind.

Torches danced as the wagon rocked.

It’s like a goblin’s fire.

It might make your nose go numb at the repulsive smell, but things weren’t so convenient.

“…”

People in the same wagon are sleeping close together like bean sprouts.

At first, there were so many people that I couldn’t even move.

Once I sat down, I couldn’t even move my legs, let alone stand up.

However, at dawn on the third day, one person died. Another died the next day. Thanks to that, the seat was a little more spacious.

I wonder if they died because of dehydration.

If you eat thin porridge with little salt once a day and continue to have diarrhea, of course it will.

Normally, Rudy, the youngest, would have died first.

However, he survived thanks to the beef jerky that the woman with the tooth marks gave him.

The beef jerky, smaller than a finger, was too salty to eat.

Maybe she was expecting this situation.

Even if he didn’t know that he had to consume salt, he probably knew from experience that if he had it, he was less likely to die.

If the day comes when we will meet again someday, we must repay the favor.

It doesn’t matter what she thinks or does.

If the recipient thinks it is grace, it is grace.

Whatever the intentions of the giver, if the recipient thinks that he has saved his life, that is the truth.

‘I should have known her name.’

I don’t know the name of anyone who was there.

‘Come to think of it, she was the only one who asked for my name.’

Suddenly, I thought of my parents, siblings, and friends I left behind on Earth.

colleague I worked with.

She had just started dating.

Rudy, the cat I love who passed away while sleeping with a pretty face…

When I lived on Earth, I didn’t think that daily life was special, but now I know. How warm and happy it was, now I know.

‘I want to go back.’

When the body becomes young, the mind may be drawn to it as well. Sadness came to my heart like it was raining.

The tip of his nose grew cold, and Rudy looked up at the sky deceptively.

The pale yellow moon looked exceptionally large.

On the fifth day, the carriage arrived at a riverside.

It was a place where the city walls could be seen from afar.

“Everyone get down!”

The men escorting the wagon opened the door and started pulling people out.

The slaves who had been curled up in one place for a long time could not stand properly and rolled on the floor.

The escorts strike clubs at the people who fell down with their hands tied.

“Where are you hanging out!”

“I can’t stand right now!”

“Get into the river!”

The escorts brandished clubs and threatened people.

The slaves scrambled to their feet and jumped into the shallow river.

Rudy got off last.

There is no strength in the legs. I almost fell over, but I managed to keep my balance on the floor with both hands.

As Rudy dipped his toe into the river, an escort called several slaves.

They are strong men with at least some strength left.

The escort untied the ropes that bound their wrists.

“You guys are going to pour water into this bucket from now on and pour it into the wagon!”

“Why are you standing there blankly! You can’t bring water right away!”

When the escorts shouted, the male slaves hurriedly lifted the wooden barrel.

While the male slave poured water on the bottom of the wagon and washed it, the other slaves washed their clothes and bodies in the cold river.

The sun was high, but the river felt cold as ice.

Shivering, Rudy rubbed the cloth with his hands and shook it in water to wash it.

It’s even colder because I’m wearing clothes.

His teeth clashed up and down, and his body trembled like an aspen tree.

I thought I wanted to clean my body, but that wasn’t what I wanted.

When the escorts seemed to have cleaned up the filth, they ordered them back into the carriage.

Slaves wet like rats in the rain climbed onto the wagon again.

Rudy also got on board in the procession of people.

There is no longer the far-flung passion like the first time.

Energy enough to dig into people’s legs, and finding a hole where you can breathe because you want to live…

I even thought that maybe it would be better if I just died.

You don’t have to reincarnate again.

I wondered if it would be okay if I could just sleep forever.

But it seems that others have been similar.

Rudy sat back in his original seat.

No one tried to stop him or get a better seat.

I just moved closer in the narrow carriage to warm the dripping water with the warmth of others.

The carriage started moving again.

Rudy leaned forward, holding a wooden plank with his tethered hands.

To a lesser extent, there was still a stench from the wagon.

I thought it was funny.

By pouring water all over the body, several people will die in the future.

The cold night comes again, covering the weak body with water. I couldn’t live with all of them.

Knowing that, the escorts would have put people in the river.

because it is efficient

For quick and easy transportation, do not get off the wagon, and wash all at once when entering the last city.

And even if a few people die, thanks to the war, it is possible to supply it cheaply.

It may be a business that can survive even if not a few people die, but half.

Rudy tried his best to hold back the retching as the chill swelled up from within him and his teeth clashed.

If you treat me as something that doesn’t matter if I live or die, yes, I will definitely live and stand above you. One day, I’ll make you guys fall down in front of me and ask for forgiveness.

The thought of dying was gone.

* * *

Upon reaching the gate, the carriage stopped.

Whether there was a certificate or a toll, the carriage moved again after a while.

With a rattling sound, the carriage enters the city.

The city itself was not very different from what I had seen so far.

But there are too many people

As soon as we entered the gates, we could hear people shouting and shouting from all directions.

Here and there stood large tents with only roofs.

And around each tent there were several slave wagons.

All are full of slaves to the limit.

‘Ah, this is the city where the slave market stands.’

It probably wasn’t like that from the beginning. It is probably a market created by invading this country.

If you catch a slave in another area, it seems that you bring it here and sell it. Maybe it’s a concept like a wholesale market.

Here and there people bargain for slaves.

He turned the slave’s face around and opened his mouth to check inside.

Some slaves took off all their clothes on the spot and showed their bodies here and there as the merchant instructed.

Right next to it, a slave was being beaten with a club for doing something wrong.

‘I’ll have to stay alert.’

Even the slightest mistake will result in dog death.

The wagon drives past the slaves.

The slave who was being beaten no longer showed any movement to defend. I don’t cover my head with my arms up, and I don’t cry. My body was shaking just as I was pounding.

Rudy looked at him and clasped his small hand.

Rudy’s wagon went deep into the city along the highway.

After passing a similar scene several times, the carriage stopped at a place with a wide square.

It seemed that many merchants were gathered here. There are more tents than anywhere else.

A few other merchants’ wagons were standing at a distance.

Slaves get off the wagon.

Rudy’s wagon was discarded when a slave died in the middle to expand the space.

But in another merchant’s wagon, the body of a dead slave remained inside.

The condition of the people seemed even worse.

Perhaps the slave trader who bought him from the soldier was in the category of good management.

If the merchant I thought was the lowest was a good guy, I don’t know how trash this world is.

While Rudy was blankly thinking about that, the carriage door opened.

“Get down.”

“Hurry! You slugs!”

The escorts pounded the wagon with clubs and shouted.

When I rushed off the carriage, several men with metal necklaces around their necks were waiting for me.

The men with the metal necklace began to carefully examine and classify people.

“You this way.”

“Hey, you there! Come out.”

Women are divided into women, and men are divided into men.

From there, they were further divided into old and young, and then into good-looking people and bad-looking people.

I wonder if it’s something I do every time, and the work is done quickly.

When the sorting was over, the men on iron chains took the slaves and went into the tent.

It was a large tent.

There were several poles supporting the tent, and men with swords were standing here and there to watch over the slaves.

There were quite a number of slaves in the tent, some sitting on the bare floor tied to ropes and some in cages with iron bars.

The ironclad men put the slaves they had already sorted into their proper places.

Rudy ended up in a wooden cage in the far corner.

There were about twenty skinny kids in the cage.

The oldest child was a girl in the upper grades of elementary school.

Other than that, most of them are around 10 years old, and there are no children as young as Rudy.

The kids glanced at Rudy as he entered, but that was all.

The children sat still with their heads bowed, seemingly uninterested.

Unlike adult slaves, the man on the chain released the rope while letting Rudy in.

I don’t know why, but I’m glad.

Rudy went into a corner and took off all his clothes.

Wearing wet clothes only takes away body heat. In that case, it is better to take it all off.

Rudy twisted the clothes and brushed them off.

After repeating it several times, put the clothes in the gap between the wooden boards and take them out again through another wooden board.

After the clothes were properly taut, I gathered the sleeves and tied them up.

Trousers are tied at the legs.

The shoes were turned inside out to drain the water.

After that, they diligently rubbed or moved their naked bodies with their palms.

Every time the little penis moves, it shakes.

The children in the cage as well as the men watching looked at him strangely.

Trying to ignore that gaze, Rudy muttered to himself.

are you okay. It’s not embarrassing, at this age, it’s not a crime to go around naked.

His body is the age of a tiny child, still suckling at his mother’s breast if he’s slow.

Being naked is nothing to be ashamed of. Probably.

I justified myself in my head, but my face was as hot as if it were on fire.

After a couple of hours, it was still damp, but slightly dry.

Rudy hurriedly puts it on, but the tent entrance becomes noisy and a man enters.

＜ Slave Market ＞ End