<h4>Chapter 4: Help</h4>
"You are right... go check the other boy; it looks like he needs your attention," The white-haired man said while showing a serious expression. "Calm down, son. We are not your enemies. We came to free you all... but it seems that you already have a n to escape in motion."
The girl went to check on the other boy, and Raiden stepped forward while still holding the sword with both hands. He didn''t know those people, and he knew better than to trust strangers. While he only had a few days of experience in thatnd, he already knew that he couldn''t trust many people.
Still, Raiden couldn''t help but drop his guard a bit when he saw the girl treating the boy. Some green light began to leave her hands, and she was absorbed by his body after she checked his condition. That could only be magic...
"It seems that you stole the weapon of their Capitan and killed him with a strike from behind," The white-haired man said after he checked the bodies. "As for the other guy... you ambushed him and finished off by cutting his throat. You know a thing or two about killing people at your age, kid. Are you the son of a soldier or an officer? Where do youe from?"
Raiden hated the idea of being the one answering questions in that situation. Still, he wasn''t the one who had the upper hand there. The white-haired guy smelled like a cut way above the guards... his strength was the real deal.
"... I don''t know, I don''t remember," Raiden replied.
"Hmm... could it be that you have been here for as far as you remember?" The white-haired man asked while frowning. "I find that hard to believe... ve kids don''tst that long, nor would they try to free themselves after being ves for so many years. Amnesia, perhaps? Do you have a wound in your head or something?"
Raiden couldn''t say since he didn''t have the chance to check it. He didn''t even know what he looked like aside from looking like a walking skeleton. In any case, after not so long, some other people appeared, and Raiden confirmed that he was more outnumbered than anything. They also seemed better soldiers than the guards as well... Raiden couldn''t do a single thing against them, even with a sword in hand.
"Boss, all the other kids are at the base of the mountain already," One of the men wearing simr clothes to the white-haired man said. "Most of them are in pretty bad shape; reaching our camp before nightfall will be difficult."
"I suspected as much... a lot of them are coughing as well, so we will take our time," The white-haired man said while looking at Raiden, who was trying to contain his coughing. "Just clean the ce with whatever you can find and burn the bodies. Our base is the closest to this ce, but no one will be able to tell who did this."
"Yes sir," The others said and then nodded.
"Father, this one here is a little better, but I can only do so much when he is withering away due to the malnourishment," The redhead girl said. "His bones were broken in several spots, so carry him with caution."
"All right... we are leaving this ce, kid," The white-haired man said. "You may not trust us yet, but you should at leaste with us. You can keep the sword with you if you want, but you won''t be able to surprise the beasts in the forest if you try to leave by yourself."
While Raiden didn''t like having limited options, he decided to follow those two to the exit of the cave since he was offered a meal as well and since he could keep the sword. While it was a dangerous weapon, no one would fear a ten-year-old malnourished boy in a fight.
Regardless, Raiden rxed a bit when he saw the bodies of the guards piled outside and ready to be cremated. Going that far to fool the kids would be too much... Raiden didn''t know those people''s intentions, but they were on their side.
The path down the mountain had been easy since there was a route that the ve trader used. That being said, while Raiden was used to working all day, he got tired of walking downhill the mountain. When he almost fell, he noticed that the redhead girl had almost helped him, but she was quick to retreat when she noticed Raiden recovering his bnce. When he looked at her, she tried to y dumb.
In any case, the people working for the white-haired guy were close to twenty, and at the entrance of the forest, they set up a camp and cooked a meal for the kids. They wanted to depart at noon, so they had to help them recover even some strength. They looked like good people, but Raiden wasn''t able to rx around them without knowing what they would gain in all that. Unfortunately, he was the only kid interested in that... the others were only looking at the pans that were cooking some kind of bird soup.
"What''s up, kiddos." The white-haired man said. "My name is Harth, but you can call me Uncle from now on since I am the cool uncle that rescued you all. We are going to take you all to a safe ce, I assure you. You might not remember how your old lives were, and I am not going to promise that you will recover everything you lost. Still, you will have the chance to start over and live a new and happier life. Chains won''t slow down your feet any longer."
The kids didn''t know what to make of that, so they didn''t react much. They were probably too traumatized... While Raiden didn''t think too much about that, he could easily assume that wars were what turned the kids into ves. Wars and invasions.
In many ancient and medieval societies, women and children of the defeated group were often captured and enved by the victors. They could be sold as ves or forced into servitude, enduring various forms of exploitation and mistreatment.
Unfortunately, sexual and other types of violence have been used as a weapon of war throughout history. When men lost wars, women and sometimes even young girls were subjected to sexual violence by the victorious soldiers. This was a traumatic and grotesque aspect of warfare in many conflicts.
Wars often left behind orphaned or abandoned children. Without the protection and support of adult family members, they face a high risk of exploitation, violence, and neglect.
Raiden could tell that the women and girls older than ten were probably sold somewhere as servants or worse. At the same time, the kids could only be used like that for simple tasks.
"Here, eat slowly," The redhead girl said while passing a bowl of soup to Raiden when the food was ready. "There is plenty for everyone, so don''t hold yourself back."
"... What do you all gain from doing this?" Raiden asked while receiving the bowl and then gulping when the nice smell filled his nostrils.
"I suppose it makes sense that you are doubtful of our intentions," The redhead girl said. "We don''t gain much; we are just following tradition. We are from a ce that was created hundreds of years ago by a runaway ve. He created a vige that grew when he began to fight to free others who were in the position that he once had been in. His friends, followers, and descendants decided to follow in his footsteps since he made a promise to the goddess of freedom. As long as our vige exists, we must continue doing this. We don''t do this often or all the time, so it isn''t troublesome at all for us to help each other when it is necessary."
That seemed too good to be true, but Raiden was more worried right now about the food. He began to eat the foot, and he felt almost as good as when he leveled up. He couldn''t even remember thest time he ate something so good... since his memories were sealed.
"My name is Iri; what is your name?" The redhead girl asked.
"Raiden," Raiden replied and then resumed his meal.
"That is an unusual name. Are you from a farawaynd?" Iri asked while looking at Raiden''s hair.
Raiden didn''t know the color of his hair, and he didn''t think that everyone was different since they were all dirty, but the guards had some weird hair colors. Brown, yellow, blue, red, and white... they didn''t feel unnatural, though.
"Don''t know," Raiden replied after he looked around.
"Can I check your head for wounds?" Iri asked. "I am not a full-fledged healer, but I am almost there. You said that you don''t remember anything... what is the oldest thing that you remember?"
"No... don''t get closer," Raiden got up when the girl approached.
"All right, all right," Iri said and then moved away. "Sorry for bothering you."