Chapter 264 – Epilogue – A Story of the Past

In the alley where the wheels were rolling around, a man with a stern look was slapping a young boy on the cheek. The hearts of those who live in the alleys of the slums are heartless, so they casually passed the process of unilateral corporal punishment and raised the boy’s misery.

The man, who had been annoyed by slapping the boy in the face several times, smiled again and said.

“Okay, let’s do it again. What should I say when the guards come?”

“I-I did… ! I’m instigating the kids… ! They made me steal money and steal.”

“Okay. Now you’re doing better uh? How good is it if you don’t get hit and do well?”

The boy cried and trembled his body. I couldn’t cry out loud. It was because he knew that it would fit better if he said it out loud. The man looked at the boy’s face and said in a sullen voice.

“You are uh? You should thank me for being so good to you. Where are you going to open your eyes and talk like that? If you feed and put them to sleep, shouldn’t your hands naturally go up first? Uh? Mister! I guess I did! I just have to come out and say it. This is why uneducated children are no good. Listen to it when it fits.”

The boy clenched his fists. But the boy couldn’t resist this man. It was because the man’s formidable strength and log-like trunk made the boy’s resistance no more than a child’s joke. The man would beat the boy just enough to keep him from dying and roll him across the street whenever the boy resisted.

The man scratched his head and spun around in place, then looked down at the boy and said.

“Answer.”

“Go, thank you… Do…”

The crying voice was a reason to be hit more, but the man didn’t bother hitting it more. It was because the value of a slave with many wounds on his body was reduced. This boy had a fairly smooth appearance, so he could have sold it for a high price, but he didn’t want to go out and destroy his wares.

In time for the promised time, the captain of the guard moved slowly.

He was a pot-bellied man who was repulsive even to the slums, and he was more filthy than a nobleman to reveal bribes.

Beggars ran away for fear of being caught, and skinny old men spat on the floor or cursed outright. The captain of the guard met the man face to face, ignoring the resistance of the elderly who were about to die. He was about to visit the man for this ‘performance’.

“Okay. Where is the bastard who hired them to pickpocket this time?”

“Ah, guard chief. Here, here it is.”

The man held the boy forward as if he had waited. Seeing the skinny boy, the guardsman let out a ridiculous laugh, then tapped the man lightly on the cheek and asked,

“Hey, are you fucking kidding me? You want me to take him? Uh? Aren’t you supposed to do it in moderation? If I take him to court, will you believe that he is the boss there?”

The man said to the captain of the guard, rubbing his paws like flies.

“Oh, please don’t do that, look at me. I’m training hard and preparing for the academy that one of my kids will become a knight this time. If there is a special criminal record in the family, it is not possible. The dragon is flying in Gaecheon, isn’t it a bit wrong to hold your ankle like this? Please take a look.”

The captain of the guard laughed again. A look of displeasure appeared on the man’s face at the blatant ridicule, but he servilely bent his back and laughed along. Said the captain of the guard.

“How much will you give me?”

“First of all, this guy is an orphan and has a smooth face, so it would be great to sell him in the slave market. On top of that, I’ll put this much gold on top.”

The man handed the paper to the chief of the guard. The captain of the guard alternately looked at the paper and the man, then glanced over at the boy. As soon as the boy met his eyes with the captain of the guard, he flinched, trembled, and cried again. Said the chief of guards.

“I look at it with an open mind just this once. Uh? If you know, live a good life from now on.”

“Oops, of course. Hehe…”

The chief of the guard folded the papers and put them in his pocket, then stroked the boy’s head. And he said to the guards who followed.

“You go and pick up the wagon. A certificate of the slave trade is also taken.”

“Yes!”

The boy did not understand what was happening in front of his eyes. He had no idea how this chatter about him would change the future. He just blinked his eyes and wished he wasn’t punished.

******

The carriage rolled at a slow pace deep into the slums. The wagon could not speed up on the soft and muddy ground. The chief of the guard checked his papers and signed his name.

“Why, there are a lot of old people rolling around in this neighborhood.”

The captain of the guard said that and kicked the boy in the butt.

“Go, pocket money. I hope you have a good price.”

The boy fell inside the wagon feeling like an animal being led to the slaughterhouse. The guardsman looked at the boy and clicked his tongue.

“You are very pitiful too.”

However, the guard’s words were nothing more than a feeble act of masturbation to alleviate the guilt. He had no intention of rescuing the boy or solving this deep-seated corruption. The boy did not understand that he was being enslaved, and he did not know where he was going now.

“Am I going to jail?”

“No. I will go to a better place.”

The guard said that and turned his head away. The captain of the guard said without getting into the carriage.

“Hey, go first. I’m coming here to see that guy’s face.”

“Ah yes. All right.”

The guardsman nodded his head and shouted at the coachman. The coachman shook his head, grabbed the reins, and drove his horse. Slowly, the wagon rolled its wheels through the mud to get out of the slums. The boy leaned against the carriage wall and closed his eyes.

The captain’s voice sounded strange, drowned out by the noise of the slums. The man’s servile voice was also fading away. The boy was full of hope that maybe he would end up in a better place than he was now.

“Oh, yes. Are you the guy who wants to be that knight?”

The captain of the guard tapped the shoulder of the young man who appeared in front of him and asked. He was quite large, and he was strong enough to make the captain of the guard shrink. He said, raising his voice to hide the fact that he was overwhelmed.

“Hey, is it possible to become a real knight? What is your name?”

The young man glanced at the carriage going away. The man stabbed the young man in the side and said.

“Isn’t the captain talking here?”

The young man finally came to his senses and bowed his head to the captain of the guard. And he said his name.

“Ah yes. Wolf. This is Wolf.”

The carriage was rolling. The boy was dreaming of eating well in a better place. Wolf dreamed of becoming a knight, commanding the world and living happily.

“Wolf, hey. I’ll make it big from the name. Shouldn’t you forget me when you become a knight?”

“Of course.”

The young man who dreams of becoming a knight once again bowed his head to the captain of the guard.

Suddenly, the carriage turned around the alley and disappeared from Wolf’s field of vision.

The boy, whose legs were shaking, gradually calmed down as the noise of the slums receded.

The two of them went so far without ever seeing each other.

Wolf stared blankly at the alley where the carriage had disappeared without realizing it.

The boy peered through the carriage’s open door at the slums receding.

“What are you doing?”

The two of them stared at each other for a while, startled by the voice calling them, and turned their heads. And I thought about my dream.

Some dream of becoming a knight

Someone dreams of eating full and falling asleep.

Revenge with Harem [END]