Chapter 35

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s good for you too.”

Good.

Quilbion lifted his head toward the rain beating down on him. The sky that had been spewing torrential rain vomited out blue lightning.

Flashing light and thunder battering his ears.

He flinched and stopped in place, and his father roughly yanked his hand.

“When you get there, behave yourself. Got it? That house is your home now. Understand?”

“What about Mom?”

“Forget her. I’m forgetting her too. Forget your siblings too. A man has to build his own family.”

At the time, he couldn’t understand what his father was saying even while listening. Thinking about it now, what a load of bullshit he’d been spouting.

Had that bullshit come from the sadness of having to sell his son, or had he just been blabbering whatever to hide his embarrassment?

What was the point of wondering now?

At some point, he’d become aware that it was a dream.

He’d realized it, but nothing changed.

Little Quilbion just stood there getting rained on.

“This is him.”

This one.

His father bowed his head toward the owner who’d come out of the house. The owner approached with an umbrella unfurled and crouched down.

“Open your mouth.”

“Huh?”

The owner didn’t say it twice. He used his hands instead. His thumb lifted Quilbion’s upper lip.

“The teeth look sturdy. Ones with rotten teeth die quickly.”

“He’s healthy. Doesn’t eat much either. He’s quite bright too. If you put him to work, he’ll do well, so take him in.”

“Work? Well, if you beat them they learn to do it properly anyway.”

The owner examined little Quilbion here and there with murky eyes.

“The balance is in three months. If he dies before then, I’m at a loss.”

“Don’t do that—just pay it all at once. We need to leave this place too.”

His father pleaded.

“Then I’ll have to deduct from the original price. I’m taking on the risk.”

“He’s a smart kid. As you can see, he’s healthy. Please, consider my situation…”

The owner clicked his tongue and went back into the house. After a while, the owner who returned held a silver rod the size of a finger.

“It’s a credit slip. Exchange it at the bank.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“I’m giving it to you because I like that he’s not crying.”

The owner approached and roughly tousled his hair.

“I’m your master now.”

At the same moment, blue lightning struck. Little Quilbion looked up at his father, but his father’s eyes were fixed only on the credit slip.

“Right, right. This person is your master from now on. Don’t cause trouble, okay? Behave yourself.”

“Dad.”

“Don’t even think about coming to find me. We’re each living our own lives now.”

His father was walking away.

Little Quilbion tried to run toward his father’s back, but the owner’s hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Dad, Dad.”

“That’s not your dad anymore. So forget him.”

“But…”

Smack—his head twisted with the sound. He didn’t understand what had happened.

Only after feeling his cheek burning did he realize he’d been hit.

“Don’t make me say things twice. Just do what you’re told.”

He didn’t know why, but the moment he got hit on the cheek, he understood everything. No tears came, disappointment disappeared, and he just nodded.

“You listen well.”

He followed the owner into the warehouse beside the house.

“This is your home from today. Those kids are your family.”

He pointed at three children sleeping curled up. Quilbion squeezed between the children and closed his eyes.

“Good, well done.”

The owner was smiling, seeming quite satisfied.

The world became blurry and he was in front of the pigsty. Little Quilbion silently moved the feed.

“Hey.”

A girl he’d never seen before was calling him. The moment he saw her, he knew she was different from him.

“Are you the one who came a month ago?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing?”

“Working.”

“Is it fun?”

“No.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

“Because I have to.”

The girl tilted her head, then turned her body. He saw the owner in the distance.

The girl who’d run toward the owner was embraced in his arms.

Quilbion stared vacantly at the sight. The hand that had struck his cheek gently cradled the girl. Like handling something irreplaceably precious in the world.

“What are you doing?”

Another child moving feed grumbled with a voice full of complaints. Quilbion went back to doing what he had to do.

How much time had passed like that?

The girl came back.

“Do you want to eat this?”

What she held was food he’d never seen before. Since edible things had to be shoved into his mouth, he took it and brought it to his mouth.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah.”

“Should I give you more?”

“Really?”

It had been such a long time since the word ‘gratitude’ came to mind.

After that, the girl appeared occasionally to give him food. The food she gave was so delicious that when the girl’s visits became sparse, he’d worry about her.

“I’m here.”

The girl who hadn’t been seen for a while returned. The moment he saw her, relief and a smile came.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Do something I tell you to.”

After hearing those words and wearing a blank expression for a few seconds, he soon smiled and nodded.

It was a smile filled with understanding.

It was also a smile that knew its place.

What the girl demanded was simple. She wanted him to pull another girl who’d come to see the pigsty into the pen.

Quilbion did as he was told.

Because that was how you survived in this place.

The girl who’d fallen among the pigs with her pretty clothes dirtied cried like the world was ending.

A man whose name he didn’t know came running frantically and kicked Quilbion, and Quilbion grinned as he slammed into the wall.

Ah, so I’m going to die like this?

The owner beat him efficiently. He persistently struck his back and thighs with a thin rod.

Just when Quilbion thought if he beat him just a little more he wouldn’t be able to work, the owner always stopped the beating.

Every time he beat him, the owner said,

“I know, you only did what my daughter asked. That child has a lot of jealousy. To do something like that just because her friend was a bit unpleasant.”

He took a deep breath and said again.

“Slaves have to do as they’re told. Right, that’s correct. But what can I do? I save face by you getting beaten.”

The daughter who’d envied her friend, the daughter’s friend who’d rolled in the pigsty, and the owner’s reputation.

He didn’t understand what kind of connection there was.

Actually, he didn’t want to know either.

After all, the fact that he was getting beaten didn’t change.

It was three days after the beating began.

One of the kids who shared the warehouse died. It was a kid who’d been working while constantly sick, but at dawn he vomited yellow fluid and just went.

“Clean it up and go to work.”

That day, the beating stopped.

When he finished work and returned to the warehouse, the owner was waiting.

“Take it.”

It was money. Silver coins he’d never touched before.

“Payment for the beating.”

“…Thank you.”

Strangely, he was genuinely grateful.

Even though it was money received for getting beaten.

The next day the owner’s daughter came to see him. With the same clean clothes and clear smile as always.

“Hey, do you want to eat this?”

Food was still held in her hand.

Little Quilbion smiled and extended his hand.

“Thank you.”

So this is how the world works.

Little Quilbion finished the food and watched the owner’s daughter walking away, whispering quietly.

“Fucking hell.”

It was what the kid who’d died in the warehouse used to say constantly.

*

“Fucking hell, seriously.”

Quilbion muttered as he opened his eyes.

He was hazily at the boundary between reality and dream, then looked around. He moved his eyeballs and wiggled his arms.

They were tightly bound.

Inside a room. He immediately realized where it was.

“You’re awake.”

Lil entered the room holding a cup. Quilbion raised his head.

“Where’s Drich?”

“Looking for the one who abandoned you and ran first?”

“I would’ve done the same, so it doesn’t matter. People are all like that anyway.”

“You’re young but you know the whole world?”

Lil sat on the floor.

He tried to attack but it was futile. It wasn’t just his arms that were tied. His legs were wrapped tightly around a pillar.

There was nothing he could do except wriggle like a worm.

“Because of you two, those kids left earlier than planned.”

Hearing those words, Quilbion looked beyond the room.

The children weren’t visible. Geron wasn’t there either.

“You killed them already? Ate them?”

“The expression ‘ate’ is a bit much.”

“Goblins are all like that. In the end, you just devour them.”

“…Right, I ate them. But it wouldn’t have been painful. It ended while they were asleep.”

He twisted his body with force. The rough rope dug into his flesh.

“Stay still. I have no intention of harming you.”

“Our owner would have slapped you across the face if you were in front of him.”

“Owner?”

“That person used to emphasize every single time that you have to speak precisely. If you speak vaguely, the slap comes first.”

Quilbion glared at Lil as he looked up.

“Say you have no intention of harming me for now. You’re going to devour me eventually anyway, right?”

“…”

Lil remained silent with her lips pressed together.

“I’ll understand if it’s about offering us as feed to goblins to survive.”

“It’s not that. It’s not just eating to survive. We can get out of here. It won’t be long.”

“What?”

Lil lowered her body. He saw her face bearing a kind smile.

“Geron’s sorcery power is increasing. He’ll soon become a different being. Like becoming a butterfly, he’ll transform into a completely different form.”

Her eyes were full of hope.

“Geron is someone who dreams of the outside. He’s not a monster that indiscriminately kills people like other goblins.”

“But he killed them anyway.”

“I told you! It was necessary work. It couldn’t be helped!”

Lil’s two hands enveloped Quilbion’s face.

“Geron is special. Because he’s special, his nark needed to be refined. It was an unavoidable sacrifice for that.”

“So you’ve been devouring kids like that for four years? To survive together?”

“Don’t look at it narrowly. When we achieve our goal, all the kids trapped in the dormitory will be freed. Yes, we’ll make it happen. The day isn’t far when Geron and I become those children’s saviors and end this nightmare.”

The sound of a door opening came. Geron entered the room. Blood was smeared on his body here and there.

“Geron, how is it?”

Geron’s tail wrapped around Quilbion’s body. The thorns that emerged gently pricked his entire body. Like checking the seasoning.

“As expected, unusual material.”

“We’ll have to watch him.”

Swoosh—Geron withdrew his tail.

“Where’s Drich?”

Quilbion asked while looking at Geron.

Geron, who’d left the room without a word, brought in the unconscious Drich. He was wrapped tightly in rope.

Drich, who’d been thrown on the floor, groaned and twisted his body.

“…What.”

Being half-conscious, Drich kept turning his head and his eyes met with Quilbion’s. As Quilbion stared at him, Drich cursed quietly, “Fuck.”

“What? I couldn’t die with you.”

“I know.”

Looking at Drich speaking nonchalantly, his heart actually felt more at ease. Quilbion asked since it came to mind.

“That thing about your father trying to kill you, that was a lie, right?”

Drich didn’t answer. Instead, he just glared at Quilbion with fierce eyes.

“It’s the opposite, isn’t it? You were the one who stabbed your father?”

“You little shit, you’re smart. But does it matter right now in this situation? You and me both.”

Drich looked up at Lil and continued.

“We’re fucked anyway.”