RE:WRITE

34.0 Grayscale_Chapter 9: Pewter

The little girl lay sleeping in her bed, muttering something in her sleep. She was twisting and turning, caught in a nightmare no doubt.

I was sitting next to her bed, casting healing magic on her from time to time while Kai and the others sat around a small table in the center of the room.

"Thanks for taking off her collar, Kai. Are you sure they won't be able to find her anymore?" I asked, casually casting another healing spell.

"Don't worry, they'll think she's dead. They might come after us for stealing their merchandise, but we won't be staying here for long anyway." replied Kai, leaning his chair against the wall.

I was relieved. We could handle ourselves but the girl wouldn't have been able to escape her pursuers for long. She was too skinny, too weak, and definitely couldn't fight off a bunch of grown men and women. She probably didn't know a lot of magic either.

Besides, after seeing her status...I knew we had to help her, no matter what.

"Should we help her find her family?" I asked.

"No, there are only two ways to get stuck in a hell like this; you either get sold into it or you're born into it." answered Runir.

Neither of those options were appealing, so I gave up on the idea of taking her to her family. But...

"What do you mean born into it? Are her parents slaves too? We can go rescue them if that's the case." I asked.

"Her parents probably were bonded laborers but since factory owners encourage procreation to help increase the number of laborers, the kids don't even know who their parents are. They're tossed into a collective nursery as soon as they're born and forced to sign a contract before they can even walk." He said.

"Fuck," I said, slapping my fist onto the table. This world was more fucked up than I thought.

Surprisingly, Kai spoke up in anger too. "Born into slavery? Enslaving children? Disgusting. Why would anyone do that?"

"Money, of course. All the worst shit happens because of money. I don't know what they make them do, but I bet there's a whole lot of Tel involved," I said. "But here's the real question. This world's a shitty place just like ours, I get it. But what I don't get is why no one is doing anything about this? The King or the government-"

"Are bought out by the factory owners." said Runir.

Some things never change. Greedy bastards and corrupt assholes exist in fantasy worlds too. I thought, gritting my teeth.

"But why here? Why weren't there any in the Southern Continent? Is it because of the Demon Lords? Did they do this? This place is part of their turf, so I guess their evilness spreads here." I said.

"No, bonded laborers are used all over Erath. There were many of them in the Fire and Light Kingdoms too, we just didn't see them. The Air Kingdom has the most though, since every factory has dozens of them." said Runir as he flipped through a book. "I still can't find what they use them for. I have a few hunches but I can't find anything to prove them." He frowned, closing the book.

"They're in the other kingdoms too? But why would they..." I said, my voice trailing off.

"You know why," said Runir, smiling. "No one can refuse cheap labor when they know how thick their pockets are going to get."

I'd never trusted that damn Light Goddess or the sleazy king, but to think they'd do this kind of shit too.

Guess running away was the right thing to do after all. I thought.